"So that's how it is. Am I in the east of the continent?"
Lin Lichuan understood. At the same time, he was glad that he was in the east, which was adjacent to the south. If he was in the north of the continent, he would be in big trouble. He would have to cross the center of the continent and the Loop of Sighs to return. Even the Brilliant Sun Knight would not be able to cross such a long distance.
It was worth mentioning that the Renlan Nation had been destroyed by the Astral army two months ago. Among the three major countries, only the Shiwu Empire and the Wanan Alliance were struggling to hold on. However, the situation was far from good. More than one-third of the territories of the two countries had fallen.
"There's nothing we can do about it."
Fang Jin sighed worriedly. "It's very difficult to deal with a large group of Astral Beasts. The weakest Astral Beast has a biological energy level of Level-11. More than ten Astral Beasts gathered together can fight against a fully armed army of thousands. If more than a hundred Astral Beasts gather together, even the army can't stop them. We have to send Extraordinaries."
"But which country has more Extraordinaries than Astral Beasts? Not to mention the Astral Beasts and the Astral Race. It's said that adult Astral Race warriors have the strength of a Knight!"
Fang Jin's words reminded Lin Lichuan of the trial ruins in the Loop of Sighs. All the trials there were aimed at people who had the strength of a Knight. He had guessed that the average combat power of the Astral Race might be very high. Now it seemed that he was right.
Adult Astral Race warriors had the strength of a Knight. The Astral Race was simply born to fight. No wonder they were full of aggression and had been thinking about invading the human continent.
"Now most of the Astral Race's forces are used to attack the Shiwu Empire and the Wanan Alliance. Otherwise, the Blue Peak Freedom Federation would not be able to hold on. However, if this continues, it's only a matter of time before this country is destroyed." Zhang Chengjie sighed.
At the mention of this, he and Fang Jin could not help but look very serious.
About forty minutes later, the three of them arrived at the outskirts of Wugang City.
After passing through an abandoned ridge road full of weeds, a small hill appeared in front of them. Ten people gathered at the foot of the hill.
Seeing Zhang Chengjie and Fang Jin appear, these people all showed a relieved expression at the same time.
"You guys are finally back. I almost thought that you guys met Xing …" A bald man walked forward and complained. Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly noticed Lin Lichuan who was following behind Fang Jin and Zhang Chengjie. He was stunned for a moment. "Who is this guy?"
"His name is Lin Lichuan. We met him on the road. I was afraid that he would be in danger if he stayed outside alone, so I let him follow us." Zhang Chengjie said first.
"That can't be. We're here for a mission, not a vacation. Wouldn't bringing a burden increase the difficulty of the mission?"
The bald man revealed a look of dissatisfaction. "Also, Big Brother Zhang, you don't need to take the blame for Little Jin. Don't think that I don't know that it was definitely her idea. Even if you want to be a good person, you should know when to stop!"
Fang Jin immediately said, "When we attack the food warehouse, let Lin Lichuan hide here. When we retreat, we will take him with us. He won't hinder our actions."
The bald man looked at Lin Lichuan, then looked at Fang Jin, who had a determined look on her face. He waved his hand helplessly and said, "Do whatever you want. Since you've been keeping an eye on her, you can explain to Mr. Zuo yourself if anything happens."
"People of the same race should help each other. This is what Mr. Zuo taught me. Not only will he not blame me, but he will also support me." Fang Jin looked relaxed and smiled.
The bald man rolled his eyes and did not say anything. The rest of the people laughed and ridiculed Fang Jin's character of being a good person. It seemed that they were used to this kind of thing.
After a few jokes, Zhang Chengjie quickly pulled the topic back on track. He asked in a deep voice, "What's the situation at the warehouse?"
A skinny man with a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck immediately answered, "The door of the warehouse is intact. The food inside should not have been damaged."
Hearing that, a hint of joy flashed across Zhang Chengjie's face. He nodded excitedly. "Very good. In that case, as long as the food in the warehouse is moved back, the shelter won't have to worry about food for at least the next three months!"
Hearing this, many of the people present revealed excited and agitated expressions.
"What about the exotic beasts?" Fang Jin asked. "Although this is the outskirts, there should be quite a number of exotic beasts roaming around."
The skinny man nodded heavily. "A total of six exotic beasts. Three of them are battle models, two of them are giant apes, and one is a killer bee!"
"A killer bee?
That's a level 18 exotic beast with the ability to fly. It won't be easy to deal with. "Fang Jin frowned.
Zhang Chengjie said, "Leave the killer bee to me. I can still hold it back for a while. As for the other five silver-tier beasts, I'll leave them to you guys."
"No problem!" The bald man patted his chest confidently.
Among the dozen or so people participating in this operation, the weakest was at the peak of Black Iron, and there were even six silver-tier Transcendents. Dealing with five silver-tier exotic beasts wasn't difficult.
Zhang Chengjie was obviously the leader of this group. Seeing everyone's confidence, he couldn't help but nod with a smile, feeling gratified. Immediately after, he started arranging the battle arrangements without stopping.
Not long after, the group finished their preparations.
Before they left, Fang Jin instructed Lin Lichuan with a serious expression, "Stay here and don't make any noise. When we're done with our mission and retreat, come back and meet up with us."
Lin Lichuan showed a faint smile on his face and nodded.
Fang Jin was slightly taken aback, thinking that this person's mentality was pretty good. Even at a time like this, he was still as relaxed as if he was going on an outing.
Soon, however, she turned her attention back to the upcoming operation. Under Zhang Chengjie's lead, the dozen or so people crouched down, silently and nimbly crossing the hills, running towards the warehouse a few hundred meters away.
Lin Lichuan looked around, then directly leaped onto a tall tree at the side, sitting cross-legged on the tree crown and looking at the situation in the distance.
Using the knee-high grass as cover, Zhang Chengjie's group quickly approached the entrance of the warehouse. Near the entrance, six exotic beasts of different appearances were patrolling.
Three of them were the lizard monsters Lin Lichuan had seen not long ago. They were most likely the chariot type exotic beasts mentioned by the skinny man. The other two looked like black apes, three meters tall, and resembled small giants. They should be the so-called giant ape-type exotic beasts.
Other than that, an ugly monster covered in yellow and black stripes was circling in the air above the entrance. It looked like a poisonous wasp magnified countless times. It was obviously the only gold-tier exotic beast, the Killer Bee.
When Zhang Chengjie and the others were within fifty meters of them, the exotic beasts finally realized that something was wrong. The closest to them was the Killer Bee hovering in the air. After letting out a sharp, ear-piercing cry of warning, it flapped its wings and swooped down on the group.