Cultivation Online

Chapter 2604: Unknown Ore

”General Mei, are you making Corporal Yuan partake in the cleanup missions nonstop?” one of her officers asked during a meeting.

”What sort of question is that? Why would you think that?” she asked with a puzzled face.

”That’s just what the others have been saying.”

”I’ve also been hearing it,” another replied. ”They claimed that you’re trying to assert dominance over the new recruit by forcing him to do these missions over and over again.”

”How stupid.” Mei Feng sneered in disdain at such outrageous claims. ”Why would I even need to assert any dominance? It’s not like he’s being disobedient.”

”So it’s true that he’s willingly doing these cleanup missions himself? Why? While I am happy to see a soldier finally eager to do something that everyone else finds a chore, it’s a little concerning how eager he is...”

”Right? It’s literally all he does. Mission after mission. Without rest. It’s like he’s possessed or something.”

”General, shouldn’t we assign him something more fitting for someone called the upcoming Ironman?” someone suddenly suggested.

”Why?”

”I mean... we’ll become a laughingstock if someone so talented keeps on doing these cleanup missions...”

”Let them laugh. In case you forgot, Corporal Yuan joined just a little over a month ago. Do you remember what you were doing during your first year, let alone the first few months? Give him some time to adapt and familiarize himself with his new surroundings, and if he wants to spend all of his time doing cleanup missions, let him. It’s not like he’s harming anyone.”

”I agree with General Mei. We should give him some time... at least until those who joined at the same time as him finish their training.”

”So a year, huh? Fair enough.”

Meanwhile, Yuan began his second month of cleanup missions.

As his name and reputation continued to spread, more and more soldiers were willing to let Yuan spend some time in the Orange Zone cleaning up Void Specters, which extended his time outside the city but at the cost of completing missions more slowly.

Time continued to pass swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the start of Yuan’s third month in the military.

However, instead of going on a new cleanup mission after completing his last, Yuan went to the training area to see how much closer he got to defeating the enemy on the 46th floor.

”Foolish mortal...”

After several intense rounds later, Yuan sighed in defeat.

”I knew it wasn’t much, but I didn’t think two months of absorbing the Void Specters’ Eternal Essence would only help me last a few seconds longer...”

At this rate, he’d need to keep on doing cleanup missions for decades to have any noticeable results.

”This won’t do. I will need to head further into the Red Zone, if not even deeper. However, I doubt they’ll agree to let me venture so far away from the city so soon...”

He considered doing the gathering missions that would allow him to enter the Red Zones, but upon asking Sergeant Bing about it, he learned that attacking Void Specters during such missions was highly frowned upon since it was unnecessarily risky for everyone involved.

”Guess I’ll give it another month and ask Mei Feng if I can go outside alone again. My reputation has risen quite significantly, and pretty much everyone is aware that I can handle the cleanup missions alone without issue.”

With that in mind, Yuan started doing cleanup missions again.

”So, just to be clear, we won’t be doing anything but following you, right?” asked the squad leader.

”That is indeed correct,” Yuan confirmed.

”I’ve heard a lot about you, Corporal Yuan. If you don’t mind me asking, is there a reason you prefer cleaning alone? I don’t want to feel like we’re taking advantage of you.”

Yuan smiled and said, ”Don’t worry, I am doing this of my own accord, and the reason I prefer doing it alone is simply that it’s much more efficient and faster.”

Although the soldiers didn’t agree with Yuan’s statement, none of them complained because Yuan was going to do all of the work alone. After all, how could a single person clean more efficiently than a whole group of people?

Eventually, they reached the Orange Zone.

”You mind if we spend a few days in the Orange Zone? I want to continue cleaning.”

”Only if you tell us why you’re so obsessed with cleaning.”

”Sure. It’s nothing crazy,” Yuan said before giving them the same explanation he’d told everyone else. ”Cleaning Void Specters is soothing for me. It’s kind of like therapy.”

”Like therapy?” The soldiers raised their eyebrows, looking puzzled by his unexpected response.

Despite their curiosity, none of them dared to question Yuan further, as they did not want to be disrespectful.

However, inside their minds, they wondered if Yuan’s parents were soldiers who died to Void Specters, hence his hatred and obsession to clean them.

”A-Alright... If you want to enter the Orange Zone, go ahead...”

”Thanks.”

A few days into cleaning in the Orange Zone, just as they were prepared to return to the city, Yuan noticed something that stopped him in his tracks.

”Hm?”

Not far away, something glinted in the distance.

”Is that what I think it is?” Yuan muttered as he walked toward it.

A few moments later, he bent down and picked up the object—a fist-sized, glistening stone.

”Oh? You found an Unknown Ore? How lucky.”

”So this is an Unknown Ore, huh? This is my first time seeing one,” he said.

”They’re usually much further into the Orange Zone, so it’s pretty rare to find them in this area.”

Yuan examined the Unknown Ore as they made their way back to the city.

’This thing... it contains Eternal Essence!’ Yuan’s eyes widened slightly after realizing this.

’And it’s not a small amount!’

The Unknown Ore in his hand contained enough Eternal Essence to rival that of a thousand Void Specters—roughly the number he usually wipes out during a single cleanup mission.