Chapter 81: Hidden Blows in the Ruins Battlefield

“Bro, you just let him walk away like that!?”

“What are we going to do about the Ruins Battlefield incident? How are we supposed to explain this when we get back!?”

“You know perfectly well how much the Military Department values the Ruins Battlefield! This awakening quota was meant for Grandfather! Not only did you hand him our haul without saying a word, but you’re planning to cover it up too!?”

Inside the private room, Chen Yong looked at his Little Sister with exasperation and felt a headache coming on.

Little Sister is great at everything—if only she wasn’t so shallow. Or rather, clueless…

Although Chen Yao wasn’t wrong; this matter is really serious. But…

With a serious expression, Chen Yong sighed and looked earnestly at his Little Sister:

“Chen Yao, you’re seriously underestimating their value!”

“I can put it this way: not only will I help cover up the Ruins Battlefield incident for this guy, I’ll also take on the blame for his disappearance!”

“And don’t even mention handing him our haul—even if we gave him ten thousand or twenty thousand more, so what!?”

Seeing Chen Yao’s confusion, Chen Yong decided to explain:

“First, we can’t escape responsibility for the Ruins Battlefield vanishing act! If our father’s rivals get wind of it, they’ll blow it all out of proportion! And if Lord Ye Lin gets dragged into it, we’ll be finished—plus our political enemies will have us over a barrel!”

“Second, even though this mysterious powerhouse doesn’t say much, I can tell he’s a man of deep loyalty! Look at his request—he wants to go to that group of soldiers’ hometown. If I’m not mistaken, he’s planning to keep an eye on things! Maybe Lord Ye Lin is actually much older—a super-strong survivor from the First Apocalypse War! Otherwise, there’s no way to explain his power or his actions!”

As he spoke, Chen Yong’s eyes gleamed.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. In his estimation, Yenir might have known the soldiers who perished in battle! Perhaps his trip to the battlefield this time was just to pay his respects!

Taking a deep breath, Chen Yong’s eyes shone with confidence:

“Little Sister, just think about it! I took the fall for this Third-Stage guy and even lent him a hand. Do you really think he’d forget that favor?”

“As long as we build a good relationship, when the time comes to vie for commander, we’ll have a powerful ally on our side!”

“I’m not exaggerating—if we secure his support, Grandfather’s side could jump up another level!”

“At the very least, that’d be Third-Stage Intermediate!”

Growing increasingly animated, Chen Yong’s excitement built with every word.

“Didn’t you notice? Lord Ye Lin even asked me to retrieve some data for him. What does that mean? It means he has no real backing! If we can get him on our side, forget mere thousands—I’d even be willing to splash out a hundred thousand credit points!”

Struggling to calm his excitement, Chen Yong shook his head as he looked at his dumbfounded Little Sister.

Chen Yao was far too young; she simply didn’t grasp how cutthroat upper-level competition had become.

On the surface, the Military appeared united, yet in reality they had long been fighting their own battles. Outside the Capital’s core, battle zones are busy building their own factions.

From small private enclaves to even the top-tier Third-Stage Peak Safe Zones, everyone’s itching for action.

It’s clear to everyone: Doomsday has been dormant for ages. Unless something unforeseen happens, humanity’s situation will only improve in the coming decades! Then it’ll be a time of fierce competition for supremacy. Even during the darkest days of Doomsday, unity prevailed—internal conflict meant death.

But… what about now?

They’re all Third-Stage—who’s going to admit defeat? Besides, those monsters are just leveling resources; no one cares about the mutant threat anymore.

…….

Late at night, aboard the Black Panther helicopter.

As the chassis trembled, the costly psychic helicopter slowly lifted off, heading straight for its target.

Inside the cabin, Yenir ignored the curious glances around him and quickly reviewed his haul.

At the Ruins Battlefield, he had killed two rookie Second-Stage creatures, one Intermediate, one Peak, and one Third-Stage.

It seemed like a decent number, yet the drop rates were disappointing.

Of the five mutants, they dropped a total of two pieces of White Equipment and one piece of Blue-Grade Gear. Plus, a Skill Book came off a Third-Stage Mutant.

The two White Equipment pieces were hardly worth anything—roughly 1,400 points combined. The Blue-Grade Gear, a leg armor dropped from a Second-Stage Peak fighter, was average, valued at around 30,000 points. Compared to weapons, armor holds the lowest worth.

The only item that piqued Yenir’s interest was the Skill Book dropped by a Third-Stage Giant Foot Beast.

“B-Level Skill: Destruction Stomp”

“Destruction Stomp: Consumes 20% of stamina and 1300 psychic energy to unleash a sweeping stomp attack. It deals bonus damage at 195% of the strength attribute at its core, causing a brief stun. The damage tapers off toward the edges, and using the skill grants a defensive bonus.”

The skill only requires a basic level of raw strength—its demands are pretty modest.

Combining offense and defense, it delivers area damage with a stun effect—a true little gem. Barring any mishaps, this skill should fetch a high price.

After all, among apocalypse survivors, those awakened in the Strength category are the most numerous and arguably the strongest.

All in all, excluding the necklace, this haul was worth somewhere between 90,000 and 110,000 points.

After handing over the Skill Book and gear to Li Dafu, Yenir couldn’t help but feel a tinge of emotion.

It turns out, killing Third-Stage foes was the fastest way to make money.

In just a couple of days, he had far exceeded the credit point target of his original plan. Once this mission wraps up and he clears another dungeon, he can focus on tackling the Second-Stage Peak Fighter challenge.

Gather the gear, max out his attributes, and then comes the all-important Third-Stage Ascension Trial!

So fast, unbelievably fast.

Barely over a week since his rebirth, his leveling speed is like riding a rocket.

If other survivors got wind of his rapid advancement, it would probably drive a bunch of them crazy.

Honestly, even Yenir himself found it a bit unreal.

If his divine talent in his past life was like a cheat code, then in this life—with dual systems in hand—it’s downright cheating.

The only thing that left him slightly uneasy was his own episode of fainting. He always felt that things weren’t that simple, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was off.

If someone really was plotting against him, why just knock him out instead of killing him? If a hidden mastermind can force a knowledgeable person to ‘commit suicide’ right under Tianfeng’s nose, then surely they could target him as well.

Granted, he had the protection of Captain Huang and others in the early stages—but not later on…

Yenir furrowed his brows, pondering for a long time yet arriving at no conclusion.

Forget it—once I hit Second-Stage Peak, I’ll go back and investigate this matter directly.

With Second-Stage Peak strength comes a certain degree of clout, and he could at least justify his SSS-Level Sword Technique.

At worst, he can retest his talents and tell the higher-ups that his true gift is actually divine-level, not the so-called double S.

No one has ever seen divine-level talent—no matter what he says, no one would be able to confirm it!

“…..”