Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 186 - 68 Second-level Monster

Chapter 186: Chapter 68 Second-level Monster

At this moment, Chen Jian didn’t know that the Mechanical God Sect within Jinling City had already begun mobilizing, but from Huadu’s actions, he could roughly guess that the Mechanical God Sect and the Holy Blood Temple would probably have some countermeasures.

The situation became even more chaotic, but from another perspective, the more chaotic it got, the more advantageous it was for his team.

No matter what their purpose was, if these two factions could bash each other’s brains out, his ability to reap the spoils in confusion would increase substantially.

How did that saying go?

The rougher the waves, the pricier the fish.

So, Chen Jian didn’t spend much effort tracking the movements in Jinling City, and instead focused on heading straight towards the Jinling Ruins.

After traveling for 16 hours and taking two breaks, the 8-member team finally reached the outskirts of the Jinling Ruins.

According to the plan, they would make their final rest here, then enter the ruins for a close reconnaissance to gather intelligence on that Second-level Monster.

The time was midnight, Chen Jian dug out a smokeless stove to light up a pot, putting all the ingredients they had traded and collected along the way into it, making a big pot of mishmash stew.

The warmth of the fire on his chest, the chill of the wind on his back.

After a mouthful of hot soup, Chen Jian sighed with satisfaction.

Watching his actions, Ji Xing hesitated to speak.

Wanting to speak but not daring, wanting to laugh but holding back.

Seeing her expression, Chen Jian curiously asked:

"What’s up? Something wrong?"

Ji Xing waved her hand, coughed, and said:

"Nothing... just your definition of food... surprised me a bit."

"What do you mean? Not tasty enough?"

"You call this tasty??"

Ji Xing said speechlessly:

"The ingredients were okay, dried meat, rice, flour, vegetables, and even some spices."

"But can you tell me how you came up with the idea to stew all these into one pot?"

"Your skills in every other aspect are so advanced, the knowledge you have is beyond my imagination, but are you really this crude when it comes to food?"

"Limited conditions..."

Chen Jian responded awkwardly, while Shen Yue mocked mercilessly:

"Give me a break, just admit it."

"Our old cook used to make caramel sauce with a beaten soldier’s shovel, you’re just lazy."

"During our field training with the 195th Special Forces, they even knew how to cook the bird eggs they found, but you fooled me into eating them raw, calling them sterile. Did you forget?"

Chen Jian retorted defiantly:

"Bird eggs are naturally sterile, didn’t you know that, being a medical student?"

"...Whatever you say."

Shen Yue couldn’t be bothered to argue with Chen Jian, focusing instead on the sticky stuff in his bowl.

Chen Jian rolled his eyes, and He Shuo, amused, spoke up:

"Our current mission isn’t that urgent, so why don’t I handle the cooking from now on?"

"I’m sick of having mush all day long."

"...True."

Zeng Yi and Xie Liu both nodded in agreement, while Li Shi just kept eating silently.

Realizing there was no other food, Ji Xing forced herself to down two bowls of mush before speaking again:

"Your team is actually quite unique."

"In what way?"

Chen Jian asked.

"...Hard to say."

"But sometimes I feel like you don’t have any goals."

"On this wasteland, some struggle to survive, some aim to become regional rulers, and some want to spread their doctrines."

"Though I’m not like them,"

"But you guys... are hard to figure out."

"Your desires are very low."

"You don’t seek enjoyment, you even consider sleeping in the wilderness as normal."

"You see, although your team members aren’t satisfied with the ’food’ you’ve made, they eat it without any disdain..."

"That’s because you haven’t tasted softened buns from a slop bucket."

Lei Jie quipped as he finished the last of his noodle soup.

"...You have?"

Chen Jian asked, bewildered:

"What generation of soldier were you that you encountered such things? Wasn’t new recruit hazing banned long before our time?"

"...It happened during military training in school when my instructor forced me to eat it."

"...Makes sense."

Chen Jian gave Lei Jie a thumbs up, who waved it off, indicating the matter was best left in the past.

But recalling Ji Xing’s earlier words, he suddenly spoke up:

"Actually, it’s not that our desires are too low, nor that we don’t seek enjoyment."

"It’s just that, having been through the vast ocean, lesser waters seem insignificant."

"It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality."

"If you had really experienced what we’ve been through, you’d likely be in the same state as us."

"Having seen too many good things, the so-called good things here don’t stand out."

"Unless one day, we can fully restore the glory of that era, otherwise... the so-called pleasures here are just fleeting clouds."

"We can’t stop, because there’s a huge carrot dangling in front of us."

"...Got it."

Ji Xing nodded thoughtfully, then asked:

"So you guys really came from before the cataclysm?"

"You... time-traveled?"

"Interpret it however you like."

Chen Jian didn’t plan to hide much, as it wasn’t really a big secret.

He casually replied:

"You can think of it like this ---- we once witnessed the era before the cataclysm, and after a night’s sleep, found ourselves in the present."

"...Truly fortunate."

Ji Xing sighed deeply, expressing her feelings.

"How is that fortunate?"

Chen Jian was perplexed, while Ji Xing gestured to explain: