Cultivation Online

Chapter 2621: Corporal Yuan

”Safer? How is it safer?” one of the soldiers couldn’t help but ask.

”I have heard from others that deaths are not uncommon when fighting the Void Guardian,” Yuan said. ”Since I can defeat them alone, why risk others’ lives?”

”But wouldn’t that just put your own life at risk?”

Although the soldiers were grateful that Yuan cared enough about their safety to endanger himself, the thought of him doing so still didn’t sit right with them.

Yuan chuckled and said, ”My life is not at risk. I can fight a dozen of them alone if I wanted to, let alone a single one.”

The soldiers’ jaw dropped to the ground at his arrogant claims, but they decided not to comment on it.

They left the city shortly afterward and began their mission.

Meanwhile, inside the facility that extracted Unknown Ores and Unknown Crystals for energy, a group of individuals gathered to discuss a certain issue.

”So, the anomaly isn’t limited to Unknown Ores, and even some of the newer Unknown Crystals have been found to be missing some of their energy,” one of them muttered in a troubled tone as a small mountain of Unknown Cores and Unknown Crystals lay piled on the table before them.

”Are the Unknown Crystals truly missing energy? What if they’re simply of lower quality? Not every Unknown Crystal contains the same amount of energy, after all,” someone asked.

”Did you even read the report before coming here? They aren’t missing just a small amount of energy. Most have lost at least twenty-five percent, while some are missing more than half of what they would normally contain! The discrepancy is far too great to dismiss as a difference in quality!”

”Are these all the affected ores and crystals?”

”They are... so far. The amount may seem insignificant for now, but if we fail to identify the cause and the anomaly continues to spread, we could be facing a catastrophe in the near future.”

”Have we learned anything about this anomaly yet? Could it simply be a natural phenomenon? If that’s the case, I’m not sure there’s anything we can do about it.”

”Not yet. However, we have discovered a coincidence—or a connection.”

One of the individuals snapped her fingers, causing a screen to materialize before the group. Displayed on the projection was the profile of a certain individual.

”Corporal Yuan?” another individual read aloud, a puzzled look crossing his face.

”After discovering the anomaly, we began tracing the origins of the affected resources. According to the records, every one of them was collected by soldiers during missions, and Corporal Yuan was the only one who had participated in all of said missions.”

”That is certainly suspicious.”

”Wait until you hear more about this Corporal Yuan...”

The screen flickered, revealing more detailed information about him.

As the individuals examined the new information, their expressions gradually shifted from curiosity to disbelief.

”As you can see for yourself, there’s practically no information about him, except that he’d joined the military a few months ago and broke multiple records during his recruitment.”

”No records before joining the military? It’s like... he materialized out of thin air...”

”Look at those data! There’s no way someone this talented could be a nobody! I’m willing to bet that someone erased his data to keep his identity a secret.”

”Haven’t we seen something like this before?”

”You mean the Ironwoman? She’s a different story. Her information wasn’t erased, but sealed. There’s a big difference. Also, nobody has the authority to completely erase an individual’s background from the system.”

”I beg to differ.” Someone said. ”There is one person who can do that—the one who made the system.”

”...”

The room suddenly fell silent.

”Are you suggesting that Gaia is responsible for erasing Corporal Yuan’s information? Why would they do something like that?”

”You already know that no one but Gaia could answer that question.”

”So, are we supposed to assume that Corporal Yuan is somehow connected to Gaia now?”

”What? Of course not. There’s no evidence that—”

”There is, though. Corporal Yuan’s lackluster record that looks like it’d been deliberately cleaned.”

”That’s just an assumption.”

”It’s also an assumption that he has anything to do with the anomaly. We can’t go around accusing someone like that, especially if they’re connected with General Mei.”

”Speaking of General Mei, looks like she recruited him... just like she recruited the Ironwoman.”

”Must be a coincidence. That woman attracts the strangest but also the most talented people, after all.”

”In the end, it all points to Gaia.”

”Then how should we proceed with this new information?”

”...”

”If Gaia is truly already involved, then there’s nothing for us to do.”

”Haa...” The most senior there sighed while rubbing her eyes. ”In any case, since we still lack concrete evidence that Corporal Yuan is connected with the anomaly, we will continue monitoring the situation and Corporal Yuan closely.”

The meeting ended shortly after with no real progress.

”Corporal Yuan, huh? Just who are you... and where did you come from?”

A week later, Yuan returned from his fourth mission.

”My lord, Corporal Yuan! You’re even more capable than the rumors give you credit!”

The soldiers in his squad praised him as they returned to the military base.

”If you ever want to go on another mission, don’t hesitate to find me!”

”Sure.”

Yuan didn’t bother trying to ask them to go on another mission this time.

The squad disbanded shortly afterward.

Instead of heading straight to the mission hall to accept another assignment as one would expect, Yuan made his way to the training hall.

Of course, he wanted to see how much closer he’d gotten to defeating the entity on the 46th floor.

A few hours and many attempts later, Yuan emerged from the training hall.

’Although I am still nowhere near defeating it, I can at least see clear progress. If I continue defeating Void Guardians and absorbing energy from Unknown Crystals, it won’t be long before I have enough Eternal Essence to conquer it!’ Yuan thought to himself as he made his way toward the mission hall.