"I asked about Fan Tu." Yi Jun didn't look at Xi Yao, but continued to sized up the two of them.

Li Yingmo smiled and said, "Isn't that because my two teammates were too good, they didn't even give me a chance to make a move?"

“Exactly. With me around, why would a B-level expert need to intervene?” Lian Han met Yi Jun’s gaze, his eyes sharp and composed, displaying the imposing presence of the young master of the Shui family.

"Fine, fine, I can't argue with you guys. I was just saying it offhand." Yi Jun raised his hands, indicating that he was giving in.

"I heard you say you studied in Diluo. Are you from the Imperial Capital Star?"

[Shouldn't you be more concerned about whether they've figured out your relationship?] Xing Yucheng complained.

[Xi Yao thinks I'm close to Li Yingmo, so Yi Jun must have found out long ago. But it's their business if they find out. Since they haven't exposed it, we don't need to admit it ourselves.] Lian Han said lazily.

What kind of logic is that? The reason people aren't exposing them is because they're afraid they'll team up.

Although the four of them are currently in a group and must enter the base unscathed, who knows what the next step will be once they're inside? They might be forced to fight each other! At this point, it's best not to offend those who seem to have a closer relationship, lest they join forces to eliminate him later. After all, not everyone is as clueless about the situation as Xi Yao.

"Then you'll be disappointed. Does studying on the Imperial Capital Star mean you can't be from another planet? My home planet is Nora."

Nora? Lian Han felt a little dazed. She had spent four years on that planet—two years in heaven and two years in hell. It was also there that she met Lian Rui (Jiang Chenrui), the only family she had ever considered.

As Lian Han was thinking, he heard Li Yingmo ask, "How is Nora Star? Xiao Yue and I both grew up on the Imperial Capital Star, and we rarely go to other planets."

This was already a tacit indication of their intimacy. Yi Jun's gaze deepened, and then he said, "Nora Star has skyscrapers just like the Imperial Capital Star, but the environment is worse and it's not as prosperous as the Imperial Capital Star."

"The reason why the environment on the capital planet is so good is because of that half of the desolate area that few people can venture into. It is said that it has not been fully explored even now." Xi Yao interjected, unwilling to be left out.

Li Yingmo's lips twitched, about to speak, but Lian Han had already refuted her, "It is said that the military has already explored most of that half of the wasteland. The rest are either barren land or the beasts in that area are too ferocious to be worth the manpower and resources. These places can be said to have been abandoned by the military long ago. How can you say that they haven't been fully explored?"

Yi Jun looked at the two women with a smile on his face. He hadn't expected that the young master of the Shui family would know so much about these things. To put it simply, one of them said that the military was incompetent for not exploring all the wastelands of the capital star, while the other said that all the valuable things in the wastelands had been explored, and what was left was something the military disdained to touch, which was a way of defending the military.

Wait, maintenance? Yi Jun's smile suddenly faded. As a core member of the Heavens, he naturally knew the situation of the Shui family. The Shui family had long been unwilling to bear that curse and were single-mindedly searching for a way to break it. Let alone just sending a message, as long as they believed that the curse could be lifted, they would probably be willing to betray the Federation.

But Shui Yiyue was just defending the Federal Military? What does that mean?

"I was just saying it offhand."

Lian Han raised an eyebrow. "I was just mentioning it casually. I also broadened your pitiful knowledge and taught you a lesson: if you don't know something, just say you don't know it. Stop pretending to be knowledgeable or you'll be embarrassed."

Xi Yao, her face paling after being rebuked, said, "You don't want to..."

“It’s almost time,” Li Yingmo interrupted, glancing at Lian Han. “You should also keep quiet.”

Lian sneered, "Fine, I'll say no more. But if you dare to show her any more favor... ha!"

So it turns out he was just jealous and that's why he snapped back? Yi Jun suddenly felt that his earlier guess was a bit far-fetched.

However, thanks to Li Yingmo's reminder, Yi Jun had already consciously stood behind Xi Yao, preparing to pick her up and take her into the base when the time was up.

A distance of a hundred meters or so, even carrying an extra hundred kilograms of weight, is really nothing to someone with an A-level physique.

If Xi Yao knew that she was being compared to carrying a heavy load, and over 100 pounds at that, I wonder what she would think, considering she's quite a beauty herself...

The time quickly passed to the three minutes Li Yingmo had mentioned, and the surrounding beasts indeed moved and dispersed into the distance.

The four exchanged glances, Yi Jun picked up Xi Yao, and Lian Han grabbed Li Yingmo. They immediately ran towards the entrance of the base and arrived at the entrance in less than a minute!

However, opening the entrance gate requires deciphering the password, and only the commanding AI can connect, which takes 3 minutes.

"Decipher it quickly." Lian Han and Li Yingmo exchanged a glance, took a step back, and turned their backs to the gate, intending to guard the rear.

"good."

Knowing that time was of the essence, Yi Jun immediately began to operate according to the instructions beside him.

Time ticked by, and in two minutes the decoding progress reached 67%, allowing the monsters to return safely.

When they discovered that there were several tiny insects in their territory, and that these insects were delicious humans, they almost immediately pounced on the entrance.

"Xi Yao, protect yourself and Yi Jun." Lian Han threw down these words, took a step forward, and immediately unleashed her A-level mental power. The word "letting go" was not in her dictionary!

Even though Li Yingmo already knew from their previous sparring that the girl's moves were fierce, he was still shocked by her outburst.

This girl—she was definitely different from the girls he knew. Of course, it would have been even better if she hadn't been exaggerating.

With this thought flashing through his mind, Li Yingmo took out his dagger and entered a state of combat readiness.

Subsequent events proved that even with their strength suppressed, the two were not to be trifled with by mere mortals. The blood of the leading beast spread at their feet, successfully intimidating the remaining creatures. The leopard-like beast took a few steps back, its low growl sounding as if it were in pain.

His gaze fell on the beast's smooth fur, then he casually looked away, before conjuring a water ball infused with a trace of scorpion venom and throwing it at the creature.

As animals, they have a keen sense of danger, and when they see the water ball coming, they quickly dodge like startled birds.

The entrance was finally deciphered. "Let's go!"

Yi Jun approached the entrance first, followed by Xi Yao. Li Yingmo patted her on the shoulder, signaling her to go first. Lian Han glanced at the frightened beast, nodded, and left. Li Yingmo immediately followed them.

The moment they stepped into the base, each of the four received a message on their AI devices.

The message was simple: first, it congratulated them on completing the first round of assessments, and then asked them to go to the base's square to collect their reward and the clues for the second round.

Xi Yao asked, somewhat bewildered, "That's it?"

"Those who win by doing nothing have no right to say that. Let's go." The four of them, without suspecting anything, headed towards the area marked with a plaza, based on the map inside the base.