Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 392: Chapter 270: This Warehouse Is Suspicious

The battle a couple of days ago, even for Qu Jianlei, was enough to be called a fierce fight.

His Inner Breath was completely depleted, almost costing him his life, and hastily using a B-level Crystal for Replenishing Qi also harmed his body.

So, he planned to take a few days to rest, focusing solely on gathering intelligence and guarding this warehouse.

Having witnessed the overwhelming artillery attack, Qu Jianlei was still filled with lingering fears.

Previously, he only speculated that at the Imperial’s technological level, the heavy firepower would be extremely formidable, but this time he truly saw it.

Over the next few days, he gradually received some follow-up intelligence on this battle.

There was no need to deliberately gather intel, as even within the Star Thieves, people were quietly discussing it.

The military discipline department of the Star Thieves specifically emphasized that discussing the matter was forbidden, even executing a few for breaking the rules.

But it was in vain, in a short period, they had already lost three of their leaders.

The thirteenth leader was B-level, so the impact wasn’t large, but the seventh and ninth leaders were both A-level Warriors.

The death of the seventh leader had already put the Star Thieves in a passive state, and now with the ninth leader dead, everyone was truly on edge.

Since arriving on Zarif Star, when had the Star Thieves encountered such a passive situation?

Moreover, the two A-level warriors who escaped from the ships had joined the Pioneer Team’s ranks, adding insult to injury.

Some of the Star Thieves even started quietly discussing if they should leave Zarif Star.

The upper echelons of the Star Thieves realized that continuing to suppress such sentiments might lead to internal instability, so they changed their approach.

They publicly announced the deaths of the seventh and ninth leaders, openly stating that strong retaliation was being prepared.

They hoped that the raiders wouldn’t panic—the organization’s strength was more powerful than they imagined.

Among the publicized information, there was one peculiar item: they would not accept the surrender of Blazing Fire Pioneer Team members!

This implied fighting to the end, but the Star Thieves were a bit curious: what exactly did Blazing Fire do?

In fact, not only the Star Thieves were curious, but Qu Jianlei himself was, knowing well that the seventh leader killed himself.

But I’m not a member of Blazing Fire, not even considered an affiliate!

As for the death of the ninth leader, it had even less to do with Blazing Fire, since the act was committed by an A-level Warrior from Garbage Star.

However, Qu Jianlei wasn’t hung up on this issue, what concerned him was: how is Blazing Fire doing now?

He then turned on the radio to contact Mu Guoguo, but unfortunately, this time it was Mu’s radio that had gone silent.

From this fact alone, it became evident that Blazing Fire’s situation was not good.

Qu Jianlei couldn’t keep his radio on indefinitely, so according to previous arrangements, he turned it on at certain fixed times.

After persisting for three days, on the fourth day, he finally got in touch with Mu Guoguo.

Commander Mu stated that currently, Blazing Fire’s condition was acceptable, with most personnel and supplies safe, though they didn’t dare show themselves recklessly.

However, there were many wounded, and medical supplies were scarce; he hoped Black Heaven could assist by helping some of the wounded break out and receive treatment.

Without hesitation, Qu Jianlei agreed, and as for how to specifically proceed, Commander Mu said careful planning was still required.

Currently, the Star Thieves’ defensive arrangements had significantly changed, so understanding the new patterns was essential to ensuring maximum safety.

They agreed upon a new time frame for communication, and Qu Jianlei couldn’t resist asking one last question.

”Have you heard? The Star Thieves are not accepting the surrender of Blazing Fire members?”

”Blazing Fire never planned on surrendering,” Commander Mu replied without hesitation, ”From the moment they beheaded the gravely wounded for public display, every Blazing Fire member decided there would only be fallen Blazing Fire warriors, no surrender!”

Qu Jianlei wanted to say more, but realized his radio had been compromised, forcing him to hide it away quietly and retreat.

The next evening, the large warehouse he had been watching finally showed signs of movement.

The ground vibrated slightly, and a plot full of cobblestones slowly cracked open, revealing an entrance.

Soon enough, one Mecha after another emerged, none carrying supplies, all combat mechas.

After around a hundred mechas had come out, silhouettes of people finally appeared, all of them Ultimate Warriors... including about ten at B-level.

Qu Jianlei didn’t act hastily; right beside him was a mid-sized Military Station of the Star Thieves.

If he dared to make a move, the Star Thieves within the station could focus their fire on him in an instant.

The key was he thought there might be A-level beings in the warehouse, so the most correct choice now was to watch and wait.

Then came the appearance of Modified Warriors, who, upon exiting the entrance, assumed various defensive stances.

After about a hundred Ultimate and Modified Warriors came out, various vehicles began to emerge.

There were motorcycles, tricycles, and light trucks, with rows of Warriors sitting on them.

But there were no heavy trucks, nor were there many supplies being transported out.

Qu Jianlei furrowed his brow; so this wasn’t a warehouse, but a hidden troop cave?

The commotion here was so large, yet the Star Thieves’ Military Station showed no reaction, obviously, both sides had communicated.

Realizing this, Qu Jianlei became all the more cautious: is this what the Star Thieves meant by the ”organization’s true strength”?

People continued to come out of the warehouse, and later, many people were walking out.

This operation lasted for about two hours before the warehouse door slowly closed again.

Qu Jianlei roughly estimated that about six to seven thousand people had come out in total.

He was genuinely curious, what on earth did this mean?

In this situation, he couldn’t even get close enough to eavesdrop; he could only release his perception from a distance to see if he could gather any information.

However, unfortunately, this group was also well-trained and disciplined, and no one whispered to each other.

Qu Jianlei also had no intention of perceiving the movements inside the military station—the guard of the military station should be stronger than in the core area.

This is how in the world, the older one gets, the more timid one becomes; the more one knows, the less likely they are to act rashly.

Strictly speaking, even if his actions were a bit more noticeable, it might not necessarily endanger his life.

When it comes to the ability to escape, he really felt he was second to none.

But first figuring out the situation, then making targeted arrangements to maximize benefits, was the correct way to use intelligence.

Just when he decided that for the next few days, he would spend time on this matter, a passing Modified Warrior muttered something softly.

”Why not be a good Pioneer, instead of joining the Star Thieves...what’s all this about.”

It was like a lightning bolt cutting through the night sky, and Qu Jianlei’s eyes lit up; he finally realized what was unusual.

These were originally members of the Pioneer Team, who, for some reason, had gotten mixed up with the Star Thieves!

So these people didn’t dare to show themselves at all and only hid in the warehouse. Only when things got tense would they come out.

But how were these people organized together? Were they from the same Pioneer Team?

And who integrated the team, allowing them to obey orders so strictly?

The questions were too many, but Qu Jianlei didn’t hurry to find the answers. He quietly watched this group of people enter the military station.

Early the next morning, a large number of Star Thieves started preparing to set off to support their companions fighting at the front.

The military station is where the Star Thieves gather their forces, so personnel movement is quite normal.

But this military station had just over three thousand people, and suddenly dispatching two thousand five, was that reasonable?

However, always watching coldly, Qu Jianlei really understood it.

It turns out that the Pioneers coming out of the hidden army cave were here to help the Star Thieves guard their home base.

No matter which teams these Pioneers came from, it’s certain they had stayed on Zarif for more than six years.

During this long period, no matter how careful they were, there was a chance they’d be recognized by the Indigenous People.

Thus, if they appeared elsewhere, it would be easy to expose their origin, which was not subject to their own will.

It was only in the military station of the Star Thieves that it was different; the place was under pure military management, and Indigenous People absolutely could not enter.

So they entered the military station to cover for the Star Thieves’ absentees—defending the camp is our responsibility, you go off to war.

The Star Thieves would not oppose such an arrangement, as the front did indeed need support.

After all, when they went out, the neighboring Indigenous saw clearly it was the raiders making a move.

As for whether the home base was defensible or not, the Star Thieves didn’t need to explain to anyone.

However, if the Pioneer Team received the news and thought the Star Thieves’ rear was empty, trying to seize the opportunity, they would definitely run into a mess.

Qu Jianlei observed the entire process clearly; the people coming out of the hidden army cave successively took over the defense of three medium-sized military stations.

He was quite shocked and wanted to contact Captain Mu, but... the other side was silent.

Two days later, he finally managed to make contact with Mu Guoguo.

However, before he could ask, Captain Mu already declared, ”Don’t worry, I’m opening the passage.”

What passage...of course, it was the channel for transporting Blazing Fire’s wounded out.

”Speak slowly about the passage,” Qu Jianlei interrupted him, ”I discovered something unusual.”

”What unusual thing?” Captain Mu was still very concerned about his news.

But the next moment, he quickly stated, ”The radio has been exposed, let’s pause for now... contact at the next scheduled time.”

The next contact time was six hours later, and the two re-established communication.

Captain Mu’s voice had a strange tone, ”I’m a bit busy here, you first tell me about the unusual thing you encountered.”

Just as Qu Jianlei was about to speak, his face suddenly changed, ”Oh no, shells are coming, contact at the next scheduled time.”

He put away the radio and turned to run like the wind, his heart couldn’t help but wonder: They’re already shelling?

Once the radio breaks silence, it’s easy to be detected, and in the past, he often got discovered.

But those Star Thieves, once they found the radio, usually sent people to capture the spies, hoping to get more information.

In cases where a radio exposure leads to artillery fire, it mostly happens during battles between two armies.

But clearly, this was a security zone, part of the Star Thieves’ territory. If an unusual radio appeared, it should have been a spy.

On what grounds did the Star Thieves conclude that there was an army here, even to the point of shelling their own territory?