Chapter 510

"Ding~ Task released: Escort the civilians of Wanyang City safely to Zhangcheng City; death rate must not exceed one in ten!"

"Ding~ Task reward: You may designate one pet beast to randomly gain one level of talent enhancement—mythic-tier talents excluded!"

Got it!

One casual remark from City Master Yu got Su Yang assigned a decent task.

With a death quota allowed, this task isn't too difficult.

If the requirement had been to escort tens of thousands of civilians to Zhangcheng City with zero casualties, Su Yang would have had no confidence at all.

In the wilderness, there are too many causes of death.

Poisonous insects, ferocious beasts, ingestion of toxic substances, physical weakness, accidental falls… all could lead to death.

About an hour later, Hao Ren rejoined the team.

He was extremely glad to see Su Yang return safely.

At dusk, the massive force of tens of thousands came to a slow halt.

The Beast Masters cleared all ferocious beasts in the vicinity.

The civilians were directed to gather firewood and light bonfires.

Most civilians had not brought tents or much food.

But when Yu Hao evacuated Wanyang City, he emptied all its grain stores, loading over twenty large trucks.

With some frugality, this grain should barely suffice for the journey's consumption.

Su Yang and Liu Mengyun went out together to hunt ferocious beasts and returned with four large Platinum-tier ones.

"City Master Yu, boil them all together!"

"Alright!"

Liu Mengyun had the Shadow Phantom Cat divide the ferocious beast carcasses.

With help from the Beast Masters, the cooks set up dozens of giant pots, happily tossing bloody chunks of flesh and bones into the boiling water, then dumping in several large ladles of salt.

The aroma of meat spread out; many Beast Masters and civilians smelled it and turned toward its source.

As for the smell of blood, Su Yang and Yu Hao had never intended to hide it.

The tens of thousands gathered here could be easily detected by ferocious beasts.

Whether or not there was a blood smell didn't really matter anymore.

Once the meat was cooked, distribution began.

The members of the Fourteenth Emergency Squad were given priority, followed by the Wanyang City Beast Master unit.

Medical staff tending to the wounded and the City Guard each got barely a mouthful of meat.

Only then did it reach the civilians.

But of course, the tens of thousands behind them couldn't all be satisfied.

At first, ten people shared one piece of meat and one bone; later, only broth remained; finally, the cooks began diluting the broth with water…

They worked until deep into the night; the cooks, frantically watering down the broth, grew embarrassed, and the fire trucks shuttled back and forth several times before Yu Hao ordered the civilians in line to return to their posts.

The civilians were naturally disappointed, but they could accept it.

Grain had already been distributed; even without meat, they wouldn't starve.

Su Yang looked at Yu Hao and realized how incredibly difficult it was to be a city master.

At dawn the next day, Su Yang heard shrill loudspeakers and a few gunshots, packed up, stepped out of his tent, and learned the convoy would depart in ten minutes.

In Yu Hao's words, they should cover more ground while they could still see.

Su Yang released Stormhawk to scout the movements of powerful ferocious beasts nearby.

More than a month later, Su Yang finally saw the gates of Zhangcheng City; he let out a quiet sigh.

He glanced back at the tens of thousands of civilians—each pale, emaciated, and ragged, much like refugees.

Or rather, they were refugees, plain and simple.

No matter how hard Su Yang tried, over two thousand people had fallen behind during the month-long journey.

Upon entering Zhangcheng City, its city master received them.

After ten days of rest in Zhangcheng City, Su Yang bid farewell to the Zhangcheng City master and Yu Hao, then led the Fourteenth Emergency Squad back to Changwu City.

Su Yang returned to Changwu City more than twenty days later.

One mission, round trip, had taken four months.

Su Yang could only sigh that completing Emergency Corps missions was no easy feat.

He met with Commander Yao and briefly reported the situation in Wanyang City.

"So you killed a King-tier Dragon Frost Spider?!"

"Yeah!"

"Are you now at Star Radiance level?"

"Yeah!"

Hearing Su Yang's confirmation, Commander Yao sucked down nearly half his newly lit cigarette in one breath.

He exhaled a thick smoke ring, stood up from his chair, and paced back and forth in his spacious office.

"I don't even know why it happened so fast!"

Commander Yao's lips twitched violently; he had a strong urge to throw the files at Su Yang's head.

But he couldn't hold back!

This guy was a treasure!

"Probably just talent," Commander Yao said firmly. "Don't tell me you didn't know—you must've noticed it long ago!"

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Major Yao laughed and scolded. "You definitely have a talent for making your beast grow fast—this kind of talent isn't rare in the Huaxia Federation!"

"Oh!"

Su Yang nodded, acknowledging it.

Since it wasn't rare, everything was easy to handle.

"But your beast is genuinely absurdly strong—especially your Earthquake Bear!"

The Earthquake Bear wasn't hard to trace.

It had already been exposed back in Qixing City.

The Earthquake Bear's growth potential was only Gold-ranked, yet Su Yang's Earthquake Bear had already risen to Starshine-ranked!

The Seven-Colored Illusionary Butterfly is now Platinum-ranked; sooner or later, people will notice something's off.

"I've realized my beast's rank seems to keep rising indefinitely, with no limit to its growth potential!" Su Yang chuckled awkwardly. "That must be my talent too!"

Su Yang decided to be slightly more honest, so Yao Xing and the others would be prepared.

After all, everything could just be blamed on his talent!

That's just his talent—what could he do?

"Uh…" Major Yao froze. "You're sure?"

"Sure!" Su Yang nodded. "I think I'm just one of those uniquely gifted Beast Tamer types!"

"Good kid, you're pretty self-absorbed!"

Major Yao couldn't help laughing.

The talent Su Yang described was indeed powerful.

But for Beast Tamers, it wasn't truly that crucial.

Fierce Beasts do have growth potential, but Beast Tamers can always swap their beasts!

"Since you're already a Starshine-ranked Beast Tamer now, have you thought about what kind of beast you want for your next one?"

Su Yang briefly explained his idea to Yao Xing.

"We have healing-type Fierce Beast eggs in the Southwest Military District, but their growth potential is low—the highest is only Platinum-ranked!"

"As for the Fierce Beast eggs with strong offensive capabilities that you want—we have those too!"

Yao Xing looked at Su Yang seriously. "Your talent isn't simple. Choose whatever beast you want—anything we have in the Southwest Military District is yours. I'll apply for it; General Qin will definitely approve."

"Thank you, Major Yao!"

"It's what you deserve. You completed this mission excellently—Yu Hao and Tan Shulong praised you endlessly!" Yao Xing said. "As for Yangcheng, I've already sent elite scouts to investigate. I expect intelligence to return soon."

"Mm."

At that moment, Yao Xing's adjutant appeared at the door.

Yao Xing asked, "What is it?"