Beside them, Small Eyes dragged Asher to the dance floor in high spirits although he totally didn't know how to dance. Oscar extended his hand to Feng in a gentlemanly manner.
w.a.n.g Zhong smiled at Scarlet. "Wanna try?"
"Okay!"
Looking at the others pair up, Napier's eyes turned round as saucers. He put his hand around Grai's shoulder. "Dammit, they're doing this to annoy us! Grai, let's form a pair too!"
Grai didn't know whether to laugh or cry, pushing him away quickly. "Senior, this isn't appropriate…"
Napier sighed with sorrow. "I knew I should have gotten a girlfriend."
Everyone was dancing and getting high on the dance floor as thunderous music blared out from the speakers. Everybody was having fun. However, on the other side of the bar, there was a table filled with empty beer bottles as a pair of l.u.s.tful eyes stared intently at the women of the Wanderl.u.s.t Team.
"Team Captain, why not we—," teased a trusted subordinate beside Hale, evidently knowing what was going through his mind.
"There's still a lot of time. No hurry." Hale waved him away, his eyes fixated on a figure. Of course, he didn't have the guts to covet Scarlet since her teacher Sophia was a powerful presence who could crush him anytime. He didn't want to dig his own grave. At the moment, his gaze was locked on Sharmie's a.s.sets which were jiggling from her dancing. Hale was mesmerized, drooling over the table. "Dammit, it's getting really hot. I'll conquer this woman sooner or later!"
The army at the northern side had started seeing some results from their 'construction'. Other than finishing the construction of the basic infrastructure and command center, the more important thing was the exploration of their surroundings.
Humans didn't have an in-depth understanding of the Mizobudapi World. They had gained some knowledge about it during the last two years of preparation, but it wasn't that easy to truly grasp the workings of an entire world. Now, their priority was to establish a stable footing and gather more information. The Holy Land shouldn't underestimate a level three civilization, especially since this was a civilization with extraordinary combat feats.
The map of their base's layout was updated every day in the Skylink database. It was constantly expanding, and the low- to middle-tier exploration teams could finally take on some missions. The Wanderl.u.s.t Team was also actively preparing themselves.
Since they came all the way here, they wanted to do something with their lives. Hiding behind the other exploration teams and sleeping wasn't what they came here for. In addition, there were more opportunities for them during this initial stage of the war, and perhaps, they might even be able to find some good stuff.
The Holy City Army had started to disseminate information about the Mizobudapi people to the ma.s.ses so that their warriors could have a deeper understanding of these alien races. Along with Scarlet's 'insider information' that she received from her teacher from time to time, the Wanderl.u.s.t Team was itching for action.
"Though this civilization has a long history, they don't have much variation in their combat methods, which are separated into two extremes. One would be close-quarter combat. Weapons similar to swords in our world are their religion, so their close-combat warriors use all sorts of swords as their main weapon. They call themselves 'Bobogales', but we call them 'Swordsmen'. The other one would be long-range combat. They are good at manipulating elements and have really focused on understanding arcane energy. We call them 'Warlocks'. Their attacks are similar to ours, but their battle systems are different." w.a.n.g Zhong was looking through the information seriously with Oscar and Feng.
The two professions of the Mizobudapi people had a clear division of ranks. For the close-quarter combat profession, their 'Swordsman' rank was equivalent to the Casted Soul Stage of humans, while 'Great Swordsman' corresponded to the Heroic Soul Stage and 'Sword Saint' corresponded to the Heavenly Soul Stage. Beyond that, there was a 'Sword G.o.d' t.i.tle too which was given to peerless experts who managed to survive the Heavenly Calamity, equivalent to the 'Sacred Teacher' in human standards. The long-range combat profession had ranks such as 'Warlock', 'Great Warlock', 'Warlock Saint', and 'Warlock G.o.d'.
The simple names of the ranks were just translations made by humans. In actual fact, the Mizobudapi people had very complicated t.i.tles for the ranks in these two professions, including many honorifics and modifiers. There were many different branches under the two professions too. There were swordsmen who used heavy swords, while others used thin and lightweight swords, et cetera. Nonetheless, humans didn't need to focus on that. The minor differences between the humans' and the Mizobudapi people's way of naming t.i.tles didn't matter much as long as humans were able to identify the main ranks. There was a detailed note on one of the information sheets.
In the 'Sword G.o.d' and 'Warlock G.o.d' columns at the top of the sheet, three names stood out.
There were two Sword G.o.ds and one Warlock G.o.d, existences with the power of Sacred Teachers. Previously, w.a.n.g Zhong was referring to this when he said that their enemy didn't go all out in the landing battle. Earlier on, the claim that the enemy had experts who survived the Heavenly Calamity on their side was just a rumor. However, this was written clearly on the information sheet now. Nevertheless, this made the three of them feel relieved. Since the higher-ups knew this information, they would know that the success of the landing battle was too smooth and that it was just a facade. Their strategy of exploring their surroundings step by step displayed how cautious the Holy City Army was. They didn't let the success of the landing battle go to their heads and rush to attack aggressively.
"Three experts that survived the Heavenly Calamity?" Sharmie was stunned. "We only have two on our side."
"That's different. A Sword G.o.d or Warlock G.o.d has the same level of power as a Sacred Teacher. The Mizobudapi people have stayed in their world this whole time, and they have a limited outlook, so we definitely have the advantage. Especially since we have Sacred Teacher Leyson, he's known for his battle prowess even among Sacred Teachers. He could take all three of them on by himself!" Small Eyes chattered on confidently.
"Hehe, you're exaggerating. Nonetheless, the Holy Land has been embarking on conquests constantly and absorbing the essence of various civilizations. This caused our experts to be much more superior in terms of structure and acc.u.mulation of power. They won't lose out even if it's two against three. The more important thing is the difference in technology between us and the enemy. We humans have inherited the legacy of the Holy City's high-level civilization.
"The Holy Land was around a level six civilization when it was at its peak previously. It's because of this that we could develop quickly to this scale after entering the remains of the Holy City, despite being humans from Earth which is barely a level two civilization. We make up the power that the Holy City wields now. Of course, that's also due to the fact that the Holy Land civilization is rather compatible with Earth's civilization. Even if it is a battle between level three civilizations, we have a big advantage."
"I thought some professionals had said that the Holy City became a level four civilization not long ago?" Small Eyes prattled on.
"They're exaggerating a little. Every increase in a civilization level is a monumental leap in progress. The Holy City should be considered a peak level three civilization. Well, that's just my take on this. Perhaps it's because we inherited the legacy of the old Holy City, which was a high-level civilization, that we can't sense the revolutionary changes brought about by the monumental leaps in our progress." Asher smiled.
"Don't diverge from the topic at hand. There's no point in bragging about ourselves. The outcome of the battle is the deciding factor." Feng was speechless. These people could actually go on and on about history while reading the information. The youngsters were still in high spirits. Honestly, they didn't have a sense of danger at all.
w.a.n.g Zhong brought them back to the matter at hand. The battle between existences that were at the level of Sacred Teacher, as well as the strategies that the higher-ups were coming up with, were not the main thing they should be concerned about. It was sufficient for them to have a rough impression of those things, but the Wanderl.u.s.t Team needed to know more detailed information that was related to low-tier missions. w.a.n.g Zhong brought up a key idea. "The Mizobudapi people focus on Soul Power too in their cultivation journey. They call it 'Sike'. In this aspect, they are quite similar to us, just that they use different terms. They are divided into two professions, and though that's different from the various supreme forces in the Holy City competing against each other, the Mizobudapi civilization is still very similar to ours in terms of division of ranks and cultivating methods. They might even be better than us."
Beside him, Feng and Oscar instantly knew what he was talking about. These three had made sufficient preparations and read up on their own before they came here.
Intelligent creatures in the Dimensional World were skilled at various types of power. Many races had different cultivation methods and paths, which meant that the resources they required were different too. In the case of the Mizobudapi people, they were quite similar to humans in terms of cultivating methods and division of ranks. This meant that both parties would share many resources; what one required was needed by the other too. This sort of civilization was a very valuable conquest, and the people involved in the battle could reap very useful resources.
This was why the people who truly benefited from this battle weren't the ones who slacked behind in the army and got an honorable medal. They attacked proactively and took on various top-tier missions in order to gain more resources.
"So that's why I'm saying,"—Small Eyes looked at Oscar grudgingly—"Team Captain, you need to work harder! Go and get us a mission. Don't just stand there! Other exploration teams have started to take action, but we're still looking at the information sheet here as if we have nothing to do. My mortar is itching to get some action!"
"Hey, I want to do so too!"
Of course, Oscar wanted to get some action too. Though exploration teams were allowed to roam freely without accepting missions, roaming around aimlessly wouldn't bring them much benefits. In the next three days, there still weren't any missions for them. Not to mention fighting for resources with the other exploration teams, at this rate, they wouldn't even get to start.
After four or five days, several exploration teams that went out to execute missions had already come back. Other than the many military achievements and rewards that they gained from their missions, they gained a lot of additional income too.
The Mizobudapi civilization and the Holy Land civilization had similar needs. The respect that the Mizobudapi people harbored for the natural environment resulted in them not exploiting their world excessively like humans did. Their world's natural resources were relatively well-preserved, and they limited their use of resources. This was also probably why the Mizobudapi people weren't able to fulfill their potential to the fullest and walk out of their world.
These abundant natural resources were the main secondary income for the exploration teams. Not to mention the rewards the mission offered them, they could earn a small fortune from pocketing those resources in just one trip if they were lucky. Yesterday, Sharmie even heard that an exploration team discovered an unmined Soul Crystal ore vein. Just by bringing back this piece of news, that exploration team earned themselves a high-end soul tool from Murphy's Alchemy Workshop at the military supplies area, and they even got to choose which soul tool they wanted! Small Eyes and the others were green with envy, constantly urging Oscar to accept missions.
Well, they had to be able to receive a mission in the first place… The Holy City Army hadn't put up many missions for the time being, but there were many exploration teams that wanted to accept missions. Other than some missions which were specifically delegated to certain exploration teams, the other teams had to queue up to accept missions. The 3rd rank exploration-team t.i.tle that the Wanderl.u.s.t Team held was only enough for them to fight for some low-tier missions against small exploration teams in the Dimensional Hostel. When it came to this Holy Battle situation, their compet.i.tors were 4th rank exploration teams and even the 5th rank exploration teams that were in the top 10 exploration-team rankings. The cake was only that big. The stronger exploration teams didn't even have enough to share amongst themselves, let alone the Wanderl.u.s.t Team.
Oscar could only fret helplessly. He asked around everywhere and practically lived in the mission hall for the past few days. He stayed there for a full three or four days, looking disheveled and unkempt. Perhaps other people took pity on him, or he got lucky, but he finally got a chance to accept a mission that encompa.s.sed amazing opportunities.
Their mission was at the Black Boulder Energy Cave, a Soul Crystal extraction site about three hundred miles away from the headquarters.
Soul Crystals were the main energy source of the Mizobudapi people. They contained an abundant amount of natural dimensional power and could be used in energy replenishment, alchemy, wards, etc. They were similar to humans' energy crystals, but the level of power that they held was much higher, and therefore, they were more valuable than energy crystals.
Of course, such a good thing was one of the important resources that the Holy City Army valued, and one of the biggest purposes behind this Holy Battle. The winner of a battle depended on which party had more resources. Given the Holy City Army's knowledge of this world now, it would be unrealistic to start stealing their resources directly. They didn't have so much manpower too. However, they could at least do something to prevent their enemy from mining these resources. This was a way to reduce the strength of their enemy and preserve more natural resources for themselves at the same time since they would be conquering this world in the near future.
Based on the information that the spies brought back, the Black Boulder Energy Cave was guarded by around a hundred alien-race creatures, as well as several hundred miners. The objective of their mission was quite straightforward. They were to kill these creatures and blow up the entire mining area at the cave with their alchemy bombs.
Several similar missions at mining areas had been announced lately. The exploration teams that executed these missions received generous rewards. All of them were able to gain many spoils, which were Soul Crystals that their enemy had mined and was ready to transport. As long as they didn't hinder the mission, they could take as many as they wanted. This was how those exploration teams made a fortune. During the past two days, once new veins were discovered and mining missions were put up, all the 4th rank exploration teams had heated compet.i.tions over those missions.
This time, the KD Squadron was the winner of the compet.i.tion for this mission. An elite team of 50 people, they were considered a strong team among most 4th rank exploration teams, so it wasn't too shocking that they were able to get this vacancy. However, the Teacher that put up this mission added a condition. "You guys team up with the Wanderl.u.s.t Team. Both teams will work together for this mission."
"The Wanderl.u.s.t Team?" Kevin Dalton, the team captain of the KD Squadron, was so p.i.s.sed off that his eyes almost popped out of his sockets, as blood rushed to his head. If not for the fact that it was a prominent Teacher he was talking to, he could practically devour the other person alive. He was suppressing his anger at the moment. "Tea—Teacher, are you sure? With KD Squadron's strength, we will have no problem at all with this mining mission. I don't think there's a need to ask another exploration team to come along?" he asked cautiously.
"The enemy has been putting up their guard recently. It's better to be safe."
"Ahem. Teacher. I mean, given the Wanderl.u.s.t Team's strength, they aren't going to be of much help."
The teacher in charge of missions just shot him a glance. "So do you want to take on this mission or not?"
"…Yes, of course I want to!"
The teacher in charge of missions held the most power currently, and he didn't look like a person that could be negotiated with. If Kevin Dalton continued blabbering on, he would lose this mission to a long queue of people waiting behind.
Kevin Dalton could only swallow his grievances. He had heard of the Wanderl.u.s.t Team's situation, not because it was a ridiculous 10-man team, but because Scarlet was there.
It made sense if you thought about it. Scarlet was that person's disciple, so it was natural that she benefited a little. He didn't have a choice anyway; he would just bring them along. He didn't expect the Wanderl.u.s.t Team to help, but he hoped that they wouldn't drag them down. As for the fact that he was forced to share such a good deal with this bunch of good-for-nothings, he would just treat it as feeding some dogs.
