Cultivation Online

Chapter 2601: Gaia’s Heaven

”Let me get this straight...”

After a moment of silence, Mei Feng spoke with a dumbfounded look on her face.

”The reason you want to go outside the city alone is so that you can clean up the Void Specters? Do you really expect me to believe that? I cannot see its purpose or how it benefits you.”

”Well, to put things plainly, I get stronger through defeating these Void Specters,” Yuan revealed the truth to her without revealing too many details.

Mei Feng raised an eyebrow at his statement and replied, ”This is the first time I’ve heard such a thing. We’ve been cleaning Void Specters for generations, but nobody has ever gotten stronger from doing so. There’s a reason why they’re considered trash, you know?”

”One man’s trash is another’s treasure,” Yuan responded with a smile on his face. ”Also, in case you forgot, I am not from this world, so things work differently for me.”

”...”

Mei Feng rubbed her eyes and sighed, ”Regardless, I cannot allow you to leave the city alone, especially when you are still a mere Corporal. I have already given you too many exemptions. As much as I want to support you, I am a General, and I cannot give you too much favoritism. If you want to go outside alone, then keep on doing missions, build up your reputation, and increase your rank.”

”How long does it usually take to be promoted to Sergeant?” Yuan asked.

”There’s no set amount of time,” she replied. ”Most soldiers never advance beyond Corporal, since Sergeants are considered elite. To become one, you’ll need to accumulate enough achievements and merit by completing missions. But if you want an example, then the quickest anyone has ever been promoted to the rank of Sergeant from Corporal is three years.”

”Three years, huh?” Yuan mumbled, relieved that it wasn’t too ridiculously long.

”Then how do I go about joining cleanup missions without coming to you? I don’t want to bother you too often, after all.”

”Just go to the mission hall. You can ask about missions and even request them there.”

”Alright. Thanks.”

”From now on, unless you really need my assistance, refrain from coming here. I can’t have a Corporal coming to me for every little issue,” she said a moment later.

”I understand.”

Yuan left shortly after.

”Well? What did the General say? Can you go outside by yourself?” Sergeant Bing asked.

”No. She said it’s too early—that I should do more missions and increase my rank before she reconsiders it.”

”That’s to be expected,” said Sergeant Quang. ”Not only did you just join the military, but you’re just a Corporal. Hell, not even Sergeants are allowed to leave the city alone.”

”Where is the mission hall?” Yuan then asked.

”We’ll take you there.”

Some time later, Yuan arrived at the mission hall.

”There are a lot of people here,” Yuan remarked after entering the building to see thousands of soldiers present.

”If a soldier isn’t resting or training, they will be here to look for missions.”

”How does this place work?” Yuan asked.

”You see those capsules over there?” Sergeant Bing pointed at the rows of machines at the end of the room where most of the soldiers in this place were gathered, most of them seemingly waiting for their turn.

”Once you enter the capsule, you can see all of the missions that are available to you, or request to join others’ missions.”

”What sort of missions are typically available?”

”That depends on your rank, but as a Corporal, you should have a good number of them unlocked.”

”Alright.”

Yuan went to queue up for the machine shortly after.

While he waited, Yuan looked around and noticed that the majority of soldiers present were ranked between Private First Class and Corporal.

”Hey, isn’t that the guy who fought a Captain during the recent recruitment?”

”You’re right! And look at his insignia! He’s already a Corporal!”

It didn’t take long before some of the soldiers there noticed and recognized Yuan.

”That’s the guy who broke all of the previous records? He doesn’t look that capable.”

Eventually, a few of them approached Yuan and asked him, ”Which family are you from?”

”I don’t have one,” Yuan calmly replied.

”What? Surely, you must be joking.”

”What makes you think that?” Yuan asked.

”There’s no way you could’ve broken all of those records without the help of your family!”

Yuan shrugged. ”Then I don’t know what else to tell you.”

”He obviously wants to keep it a secret, just like the Ironwoman.”

”Right? I bet he comes from the same background as that woman.”

”What if he’s that woman’s brother?”

”Is that true? Are you the Ironwoman’s brother?”

”No...”

Since he had nothing to do in line, Yuan decided to chat with these soldiers, even though most of them were just questioning his background.

Eventually, it was his turn to use the machine.

Once inside, a notification appeared.

”>

”Let me see what mission is available to me.”

”>

”>

”>

A moment later, a list of missions appeared before Yuan.

”There are a lot fewer missions than I anticipated...” Yuan mumbled after seeing only about thirty or so missions available.

[Mission: Gather Unknown Ore in the Orange Zone]

”Unknown Ore? What is that?”

He checked the mission details.

[Mission Details: Enter the Orange Zone and gather Unknown Ores]

[Rank Requirement: Corporal]

[Squad Requirement: 4]

However, there was no information on the Unknown Ores.

With no other choice, he decided to ask the others later and proceeded to check the other missions.

[Mission: Gather Unknown Crystal in the Red Zone]

[Rank Requirement: Sergeant]

[Squad Requirement: 6]

”Unknown Crystal?”

There were several other missions that required him to venture outside to gather items that he had no information on. Other than that, the rest of the missions were miscellaneous things, such as acting as a guard for individuals within the city.

”Huh?”

Yuan’s eyes widened with surprise when he noticed a certain mission.

[Mission: Escort individual to Spirit City]

[Rank Requirement: Sergeant]

[Squad Requirement: 4]

”Spirit... City? There are other cities in this world?”

This was the first time Yuan had heard of such a thing. In fact, he’d thought this was the only city in the world.

After taking a moment to digest this new information, Yuan went to look for the cleanup mission.

Although there were other missions that allowed him to venture outside the city, his main purpose was to kill Void Specters.

However, he couldn’t see the cleanup mission on the list of available missions.

”Where are the cleanup missions?” he asked.

”>

”Then how do I join one?”

”>

”Then send a request for me.”

”>

”The sooner the better.”

”>

”>

”That was quick.”

Yuan remarked, as the request was basically instantly approved.

[Mission Details: Cleanup Void Specters up to the Orange Zone. Meet at the Southern Gate at 0600 in 12 hours]

”Tomorrow, huh? That’s great.”

Yuan exited the machine shortly after.

”When’s your next mission?” Sergeant Bing asked when Yuan returned to them.

”Tomorrow.”

”That fast, huh?”

As they made their way back to the residential area, Yuan asked, ”What are Unknown Ores and Unknown Crystals?”

”They are important resources that can only be found in the Orange Zone and beyond. There are multiple uses for them, such as crafting weapons and Gaia Stones.”

”Is that so...” Yuan mumbled, wondering if they were anything like Spirit Stones or treasures in his world.

”Even if you aren’t on a mission to gather them, you should pick them up if you come across them, as you can exchange them for merits and money,” Sergeant Quang said.

”What do they look like?”

”You’ll know when you see one. You won’t miss them, either.” Sergeant Bing replied. ”They stick out like a sore thumb against the barren landscape with their glistening appearance.”

”Unknown Ore or Unknown Crystal?”

”Both. Unknown Ores are much more common, though.”

”I’ll keep that in mind.” Yuan nodded.

”Also, am I right in assuming there are other cities besides this one? I saw a mission to escort someone to Spirit City. Is that a separate city, or just a place within this one?”

Sergeant Bing and Sergeant Quang looked at him with one eyebrow raised, looking confused by his question.

”You mean... you didn’t know there were other cities out there?” Sergeant Bing eventually spoke.

”...No,” Yuan answered truthfully.

”Well, do I have news for you.”

Sergeant Quang chuckled. ”There are eight other cities besides this one, so there are nine cities in total.”

Sergeant Bing added, ”Our city is called Gaia’s Heaven. We are also the largest city out there.”

”I’ll be damned...” Yuan muttered in a somewhat dazed tone.