Chapter 28: Everyone Is Growing

On the mountaintop, Adams disassembled the glider and stored the materials in his quantum ring. He then turned to look at Garen and Angus, who were squatting beside him, and chided them, “You two are really worrying. Why did you come out without rhyme or reason?”

Garen and Angus exchanged glances with each other and said in embarrassment, “There’s not much food left in the base. We wanted to come out and look for some, so that we can share some of your burden.”

Hearing that, Adams said solemnly, “I think I left too much food left for you guys. That’s why you’re running around because you have nothing better to do! Since when did I make you think that I’m stressed? I just went to gather some mission materials and pick some food. What stress is there?”

Garen and Angus were at a loss for words. They wanted nothing more than to find a hole in the ground and crawl into it.

Needless to say, completing the missions and gathering food was very easy for Adams.

However, for Garen and Adams, who had nearly died on the mountaintop, it was difficult for them to even take a single step in this dangerous world.

Compared to them, Adams seemed to be in the Zerg Realm for vacation.

Being Adams’ first follower, Garen had a closer relationship with Adams. Seeing that Adams was really angry, he could only flash him a flattering smile and say, “Big Brother, we just wanted to do something for you. Besides, we’ve been busy these past few days. You’ll know when we get back to the base!”

Looking at Garen, who was intentionally keeping them in suspense, Adams sighed in resignation and said, “In that case, let’s hurry up and head back!”

Seeing that Big Brother was no longer pursuing the matter, Garen and Angus heaved a sigh of relief. They immediately stood up and trailed after Adams.

Adams turned to Vivian, who was studying the blue liquid, and asked in a loud voice, “Vivian, did you find anything? We should head back!”

Vivian raised her head and excitedly told Adams, “These blue liquid creatures should be A-rank Zergs, and they’re also my last mission material!”

“Hmm?”

When Adams heard this, he immediately walked to Vivian. Curious, Garen and Angus also went over.

Looking at the frozen liquid on the ground, Angus still felt slightly traumatised but he couldn’t help but go forward and ask, “Miss Vivian, this liquid doesn’t look like an insectoid at all. Are you sure it’s a Zerg?” .

Vivian nodded, and said with certainty, “That’s right, it should be a Solvent Insect. According to what is written in the books, a Solvent Insect is an extremely small insect, and it relies on moving in groups for support. It will quickly gobble up everything except rocks and soil, and then share the energy absorbed with the entire group!”

Garen nodded in agreement and said, “That’s right! That’s how they were. They even ate the B-rank scrolls that I threw out. They’re absolutely terrifying!”

Upon hearing this, Vivian was even more certain of her opinion. She took out a bottle from her ring, knocked on a frozen insect, and carefully sealed it up. Then, she excitedly walked towards the base with Adams and the others.

“Adams, I can now obtain an S-rank evaluation! Do you know what this means? This means that I will become the successor of a high-level cultivator and obtain his entire legacy!

“This is different from an ordinary master-disciple relationship. Every high-level cultivator must transfer the resources that the Empire had given them to a qualified successor. Those who obtain an S-rank evaluation are the successors acknowledged by the Empire!”

Along the way, Vivian was unable to suppress the joy in her heart. She held onto Adams and kept telling him about the benefits of the S-rank evaluation.

On the other hand, Adams acted like he was coaxing a child as he furiously nodded his head and said, “I know, I know! There are only a dozen or so high-level cultivators in the empire and all of them enjoy treatment of the highest respect. As such, obtaining an S-rank evaluation is equivalent to becoming the heir to this treatment!”

“That’s right!” Vivian nodded and said in excitement.

Garen and Angus, who were trailing behind Adams and Vivian, were extremely envious, but they didn’t hope for much. After all, it wasn’t easy for them to even survive in this place. They would be thankful if they could just get an A-rank evaluation!

The mission materials that all of them had collected were all given by Adams, so they were too embarrassed to ask Adams for help in completing their mission.

However, when he heard Vivian’s enthusiastic response, Garen couldn’t help but be concerned about the progress of Adams’ missions. He asked curiously, “Big Brother, have you completed all of your missions? Did you encounter any danger along the way?”

Adams said smugly, “Of course I’ve completed them! We didn’t encounter much danger, just that it was a tad too far!”

In the past two weeks, aside from running into Constantine and the Wanderers on the first day they left the base, Adams and Vivian did not encounter any other danger. It was just that the three remaining materials were very far away from each other, so they had to travel for a long time and almost delayed their return.

“Big Brother, you’re amazing! I bet no one has been able to achieve an S-rank evaluation for difficult missions since the beginning of the coming-of-age ceremonies!” Garen couldn’t help but praise Adams.

Angus also said enviously, “Big Brother and Miss Vivian are really awesome to be able to become one-in-a-million cultivators, whereas there’s no hope for us to become cultivators.”

Adams smiled and said, “Regarding your missions, let’s take a look when we get back to the base. Maybe there’s a chance!”

Garen and Angus didn’t know what was going on, but they still happily returned to the base with Adams.

To Adams’s surprise, Garen and Angus had been gone for so long, yet the others hadn’t noticed. In fact, they were nowhere to be seen.

“Where are the others? Did they all run out?” Adams asked in surprise.

Garen, on the other hand, was used to it and said, “They’re all busy with their own stuff. I’ll bring you to them!”

Adams and Vivian exchanged looks with each other. Then, they followed Garen into the base.

Behind a heavy iron door, there was a large quantity of fuel and a forging table that was blazing. A tall thin boy was continuously swinging a hammer in front of the casting table and repeatedly knocking on a piece of red-hot metal. He was sweating profusely, but still remained very focused.

When the metal door opened, Garen walked in with Adams and the others. Pointing at the boy who was still engrossed at the forging table, Garen said, “Before Bob attended this coming-of-age ceremony, he was an apprentice at a blacksmith shop. Usually, he would just help his Teacher to start a fire and didn’t have the opportunity to forge anything himself. After we found the forging table here, he has basically been staying here all day and never stopped!”

Upon hearing this, Adams merely nodded. Vivian said to him, “Looks like the subordinates you recruited are all promising talents! Judging from his focus, he must be very passionate about the Blacksmith profession. If he has the chance to become a warrior in the future, he might be able to change his profession to become a Forger that forges magical objects. That’s an extremely rare sub-vocation, and he’ll be treated very well by the Empire!”

“Looks like everyone has been growing while we were away!” Adams said in satisfaction.