Chapter 80: How to Distribute the Profits?

"Is anyone injured?"

Hearing that they had dug into earthwork and uncovered a cave, Li Wufeng frowned slightly.

"No one is injured, but the inside of the cave feels a bit strange."

The team leader shook his head.

"How so?"

"The cave bears very obvious marks of artificial excavation."

Marks of artificial excavation?

Hearing this, Li Wufeng was wide awake.

One must know that when they arrived here, there was absolutely nothing besides treasure chests. Now that a cave with obvious signs of artificial excavation had suddenly been unearthed, how could he not be curious?

Regardless of whether this cave was a ruin or something else, as the captain, he had to take a look.

Upon arriving at the cave, Li Wufeng inspected its appearance.

It was very ordinary—the kind of semi-circular cave—but because it was artificially excavated, it was very neat and orderly.

After lingering around the rock walls at the cave entrance for a while, he found that the excavation marks seemed quite ancient.

This was normal, however.

After all, they had been transferred over to repopulate the Kalim Continent.

God knows how long it had been since intelligent beings lived on this Kalim Continent.

"That's it for gathering today. Have your people bring some vines to seal the cave entrance."

After investigating the cave entrance for a while, Li Wufeng made a decision.

"Huh? We aren't gathering anymore?"

"We're stopping."

"But what about Shang Chuan's side..."

"I'll go talk to Shang Chuan's side; I'll take responsibility for any issues."

Although he knew what the team leader was worried about, Li Wufeng still decided to do this.

On the one hand, this might affect their subsequent deployment arrangements; on the other hand, it was because this cave was too close to their Shelter's wooden cabin.

This cave definitely had to be investigated, but not now.

That was why he had people gather vines to cover it up first.

This served as camouflage, and could also be used to observe whether any monsters inside might run out.

If this vine camouflage was destroyed from the inside, then he might have to report to Shang Chuan about relocating their Shelter.

Thinking this way, after concealing the cave with vines, Li Wufeng led everyone back to their Shelter.

Li Wufeng: "While gathering today, we dug out a cave with very obvious signs of artificial excavation."

Shang Chuan, who had been loitering in the trading post, was stunned for a moment when he saw Li Wufeng's message.

Logically speaking, since he gave them the heater yesterday, their squad should have gone out gathering today.

Yet they returned before noon?

Could it be that something had happened?

Shang Chuan wouldn't assume Li Wufeng was slacking off. Everyone under his command was a subordinate he had personally developed, and he knew their character extremely well.

So upon opening Li Wufeng's message, he saw that very sentence.

A cave with obvious signs of artificial excavation?

This was clearly problematic at a glance, and it might even be a massive issue.

So he hurriedly asked.

Shang Chuan: "What's the exact situation?"

Li Wufeng: "I just looked at the entrance. The excavation marks are ancient, exactly how old is unknown. Right now I've had people camouflage it with vines."

Shang Chuan: "Not entering rashly—your judgment was correct. So what are your plans now?"

Li Wufeng: "Use the vines first to see if there are any monsters inside. If there are, we'll relocate the Shelter. If there aren't, we'll go in and investigate."

Shang Chuan: "That takes too long. Let's do this: give me the cave's coordinates. Tomorrow I'll find a capable guy to go in and take a look, and I'll gather a batch of potions for you along the way."

Li Wufeng: "That's fine and all, but is that person reliable?"

Li Wufeng frowned slightly.

After all, it involved handing over coordinates. If this fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, they'd be robbed if they were lucky, and killed outright if they weren't.

It hadn't been long since the giant Mickey incident, after all.

Shang Chuan: "Reliable. He's a cooperative partner and major client of both the Witch and me. He's very strong, possessing an S-rank combat talent."

Li Wufeng, who had been worried, finally relaxed upon seeing that the person was a cooperative partner of both Shang Chuan and the Witch.

After all, although the Witch's reputation seemed quite bad.

Conversely, she was notoriously fair.

If that combat personnel was an existence capable of long-term cooperation with the Witch, then it at least proved that the other party wasn't the kind of scum who would bully small fries like them for amusement.

Moreover, for guys like them with E-rank and D-rank talents, fighting alone in this world was courting death, which was why they chose to cooperate with Shang Chuan.

Choosing to trust Shang Chuan and the famous Witch was the only thing they could do right now.

Li Wufeng: "Alright then. What's the specific meeting time tomorrow?"

Shang Chuan: "I'll go discuss it with the person first and let you know the result."

After saying this, Shang Chuan went to contact Li Huai.

However, that leveling maniac Li Huai definitely wasn't home at this time, so after leaving a message, he sought out Lan Qingyou.

Lan Qingyou: "In other words, you want me to craft a batch of potions so your subordinates can explore this cave?"

Lan Qingyou, who was in the middle of a class with Professor Sam, basically understood the general situation after seeing Shang Chuan's message.

Shang Chuan: "Yes, my merchant's intuition tells me there might very likely be something wrong there."

Lan Qingyou: "Crafting some potions is no big deal, but since your intuition feels there's something wrong, are you sure your subordinates can complete this exploration mission?"

It wasn't that Lan Qingyou looked down on Shang Chuan's subordinates.

But under these circumstances where neither magic nor talents could be used, heading in to explore would more or less be dangerous.

Shang Chuan: "Which is why I hired Li Huai. Although he hasn't agreed yet, it should be no problem."

After all, Li Huai was a monster grinding machine; if he knew of this kind of exploration where he'd very likely encounter monsters, he would definitely rush over eagerly.

Both Shang Chuan and Lan Qingyou knew this very well.

But...

Lan Qingyou: "That's not what I'm talking about. Although Li Huai has an S-rank talent, and I don't doubt his combat capability, did you forget that it's currently the Mana Turbulence period? Even Li Huai might not be able to use mana."

...

Seeing Lan Qingyou's reply, Shang Chuan fell into silence.

Damn it, how did I forget such an important matter?

It seemed he was still too impatient when faced with something that could potentially bring him immense profits.

Shang Chuan: "When Li Huai returns, I'll ask him whether his talent is physical or magical. If it's magical, then we can only wait until the Mana Turbulence ends."

Having readjusted his mentality, Shang Chuan sent this message.

Lan Qingyou: "Hmm, I also think it's better to investigate that cave. But the unknown is often the most terrifying, so it's always better to be fully prepared. Hence, my suggestion is that regardless of which side Li Huai's talent leans towards, it's best for everyone to wait until the Mana Turbulence ends before going."

Shang Chuan: "True."

Shang Chuan: "Then what do you suggest?"

Lan Qingyou: "Antidote potions, resistance potions, attribute potions, attack potions. I think it's best to prepare some of these for your subordinates so they'll have a backup plan regardless of what they face."

Shang Chuan: "Then I'll have to trouble you to prepare them."

Seeing Lan Qingyou put the matter like this, Shang Chuan naturally didn't say anything more.

But his silence didn't mean Lan Qingyou would stay silent.

Lan Qingyou: "Then, if we find some decent stuff, how will we distribute it?"