ALL NOVEL Chapter 187 - Training Exercise 35
Among all the teams, the one closest to the coordinate point is the Sunlight Battle Team, with just over 800 kilometers remaining. Next is the Starlight Battle Team, with a distance of over 900 kilometers to the coordinate point.
The third place belongs to another team from the Ability System, followed by the Lightening Battle Team from the Command System in fourth place, and the Mechanical Manufacturing System Battle Team in fifth.
Originally, Wang Zhelan’s Ability System Team One was ahead of the Phantom Battle Team, but they were unfortunate enough to encounter a desert bandit robbery, leaving only Wang Zhelan and Li Nanxi as the remaining team members.
These two stayed with the Phantom Battle Team and were protected by them, so the Phantom Battle Team is now ranked sixth, with Team One from the Ability System coming in seventh.
The members of the Phantom Battle Team are unaware that they are currently ranked sixth. After abandoning their plan to rush toward the finish line, they began searching for an oasis to replenish their drinking water.
The desert of Liva Star is different from the deserts of other planets. On other planets, deserts are often formed over thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
On Liva Star, however, the desert was created in just one or two hundred years due to the over-exploitation of the planet’s resources. As a result, there are many oases within the desert, which have become the last refuge for the native inhabitants of Liva Star.
The Phantom Battle Team had been traveling through the desert, and to avoid trouble, they hadn’t entered any oases.
However, Mai Dongzi had been keeping a close eye on the oases. Under her guidance, the Phantom Battle Team didn’t realize that, along the way, an oasis appeared every certain distance.
Each time, the oasis was about ten kilometers away, and they didn’t know unless Mai Dongzi pointed it out.
They had been on Liva Star for many days now, and despite the extreme heat and low temperatures at night, which dropped to several dozen degrees below freezing, they hadn’t seen a single snowflake, nor had it rained.
Mai Dongzi observed that the oases were all fairly large in size, and she speculated that the water source for these oases must be from underground rivers.
As she continued her journey, she noticed that all the oases were somewhat evenly distributed, forming a relatively straight line. This suggested that there was a substantial underground river flowing beneath this line, with the oases located along the water’s exit path.
So, while the Phantom Battle Team was still unsure of how to find an oasis, Mai Dongzi wasted no time and led them in a specific direction.
In less than two hours, the Phantom Battle Team saw the shadow of an oasis ahead.
This oasis was quite large and was a gathering point for the humans of Liva Star. The small lake was almost entirely surrounded by human-built houses, and to reach the lake, they would have to pass through the edges of these houses.
The Phantom Battle Team arrived during the day, and it was impossible to go to the lake to fetch water without alerting the humans living in the area.
In fact, as soon as they entered the oasis, some of the oasis residents working outside spotted them. The people’s faces showed surprise, but then they quickly turned and disappeared into an alley.
“Everyone, hurry and fetch water!” Mai Dongzi ordered.
The captain’s unusually serious tone made the Phantom Battle Team stop being distracted and quickly rush to the lake to fetch water.
The Phantom Battle Team had planned to take the water from the small lake in the oasis and leave immediately. By this point, Mai Dongzi no longer prioritized the training, so she took out the metal containers that Wang Zhelan had condensed to collect the lake water and planned to boil it once they left the area.
However, before they had even finished gathering the water, they were surrounded by a group of people. Among them were a few familiar faces—the ones who had turned and run when they first saw them.
The highest-ranked individual among this group was only a level five martial artist, but there were over 150 people in total. They stood in groups at varying distances, with about forty to fifty of them holding weapons.
Even without speaking, the Phantom Battle Team could tell from their behavior that these people intended to rob them.
Instinctively, the members of the Phantom Battle Team looked toward their captain. These people were armed, while they only had the cold metal swords condensed by Wang Zhelan. Escaping with just these melee weapons would be no easy task. Even if their captain was powerful, it would be impossible for her to deal with so many people at once.
“What do you want?” Mai Dongzi asked calmly.
Yesterday, when she decided to lead her team into the oasis, she had anticipated this scenario, so she already had a plan in mind to handle the situation.
“All your belongings,” the elder at the front said. His Liva Empire Common Tongue was not very fluent, and he stammered slightly, but his fierce demeanor did not diminish at all.
This elder was dressed better than the others and looked wealthier than the rest, suggesting that he was the leader of this oasis settlement.
In his hand, he held an instrument specifically used to detect spatial devices. This device was quite expensive.
Although Mai Dongzi could use her psychic powers to block the items she carried on her, preventing the spatial detector from identifying the number of spatial devices on her person.
However, she couldn’t block the items on the members of the Phantom Battle Team. If the elder used the spatial detector and couldn’t detect any spatial devices, he would definitely suspect they were trying to hide something.
Moreover, judging by the looks of these people, even if they willingly handed over their spatial devices as payment for the water, they might not let them go afterward.
“We’ll give you four spatial devices as payment for the water,” Mai Dongzi said, her tone negotiating.
Mai Dongzi had always suppressed her aura with her psychic powers, and what was visible to others was the aura of a mid-level sixth-tier martial artist, and a weakened version at that.
When she spoke and bargained with the elder, she completely released her aura.
Her three-system cultivator aura was even stronger than that of a seventh-tier martial artist. The moment the elder sensed Mai Dongzi’s overwhelming presence, his expression immediately soured, and those around him glanced at her with a sense of caution.
The spatial devices the members of the Phantom Battle Team carried for training purposes weren’t worth much. Each person could afford to part with these without much loss.
If these people were dissatisfied and demanded five or six spatial devices, she would give them, as long as there were enough left for them to carry supplies.
These people were natives of Liva Star, while they were just passing through. Once the training ended in a few days, they would leave this planet, and there was a high chance they would never return.
Although these people were clearly no saints, Mai Dongzi had no intention of confronting them. She believed in avoiding conflict whenever possible. However, if they were not satisfied and started making excessive demands, she would not be afraid. She just didn’t want to fight, not because she was afraid of fighting.
Mai Dongzi’s powerful aura became apparent, and the members of the Phantom Battle Team looked at her in surprise. They had no idea her aura could be this formidable.
Seeing their captain’s strong aura and calm demeanor, the members of the Phantom Battle Team quickly regained their composure. They trusted their captain and believed she would lead them safely out of this situation.