Chapter 74: Ability Enhancement Elixir

Chapter Seventy-Four

In the end, it was only Ye Jingnan who needed to worry about the Situ family’s test; the others naturally continued with their preparations for the mission. Lin Shaojie and Qu Wenyuan were given a day to rest, and on the third day, when the six of them were ready to depart, they were stopped by Ye Jingnan once again.

“What is it this time?” Mei glared at Ye Jingnan.

Honestly, why was it so hard for them to just go on a mission?

Ye Jingnan found it amusing when Mei glared at him. He reached out, intending to pat her head, but Ye Jingxuan slapped his hand away, and Mo Chen pulled Mei two meters away from him.

“I’m not carrying any virus, you two! Was that really necessary?” Ye Jingnan grumbled, rubbing the back of his reddened hand in annoyance.

“What is it? Speak!” Ye Jingxuan ignored his complaints and went straight to the point.

“Longsheng Base has sent representatives. They want to collaborate with our base to accomplish a mission,” Ye Jingnan finally got to the main topic.

“What kind of mission?” Mei asked, peeking curiously from behind Mo Chen.

“I’m not sure, but the other side has offered quite a few valuable items to hire our base’s mercenary teams. However, only A-level and above squads are eligible to participate.”

“Valuable items? What kind of valuable items?”

“I haven’t seen them specifically, but from the hints they deliberately dropped, it seems to be something that can stimulate ability awakening or promote upgrades.”

The six exchanged glances. This mission was clearly not simple.

Anything that could stimulate ability awakening or enhance ability level was extremely valuable. Now, the other side was offering such things as rewards for the mission and specifically required A-level or above squads to participate. Clearly, the difficulty was not low.

“So? Are you interested?” Ye Jingnan watched their expressions, focusing especially on Mei.

After spending so much time with them, if he still hadn’t noticed the importance of this little girl within the group, he might as well give up trying to understand them. Whatever she decided, the others would seldom oppose, especially his own cousin, who would surely be the first to support her.

Mei was somewhat interested in the reward they were offering, so she asked, “When does the mission start? Do we accept it at the mission hall as usual?”

“No, at two o’clock this afternoon, the other party will invite all eligible teams for a meeting. They’ll probably give a brief on the mission and specify the rewards,” Ye Jingnan shook his head.

So cautious?

Mei raised her brows but nodded, deciding to attend the meeting that afternoon.

At two o’clock, Mei, Mo Chen, and Ye Jingxuan arrived at the meeting room Ye Jingnan had mentioned. After swiping their mercenary cards and registering, the three entered, only to find the room quite crowded.

The Changyang Base had nine A-level or above mercenary teams—two S-level teams, one being their own, “Reversal,” and the other called “Wolfblood.” Of the seven A-level teams, three belonged to the other three families, and the remaining four were independently organized.

Every team sent at least two representatives, and with the heads of the four families also present, the long conference table quickly filled up. The main seats and the four positions at the front were reserved for the representatives from Longsheng Base and the four local leaders. As one of the only two S-level captains, Mei’s seat was beside the leaders, with Mo Chen and Ye Jingxuan behind her. Across from her sat the representative for Wolfblood; their captain was out on a mission, so the vice-captain attended instead. The A-level teams filled the seats further down.

At precisely two, Ye Jingnan entered with three men in military uniform.

Mei studied the man at the lead. Though dressed in uniform, he lacked the iron-blooded air of Yang Hao. Wearing rimless glasses, he looked scholarly, yet his rank was actually higher than Yang Hao’s—he was already a major.

“Everyone, this is Major Ling Feng from Longsheng Base, and also the issuer of this mission,” Ye Jingnan introduced him simply.

Ling Feng surveyed the room, then signaled to the adjutant behind him, who placed a small, silver metal case on the table.

“Given the urgency of this mission, I’ll skip the pleasantries. Longsheng is far from the target location, which is why we are seeking your assistance. This mission is confidential, so I will first show you the rewards. You can then decide whether to participate.”

Ling Feng entered a long string of numbers into the case, confirmed with both fingerprint and iris scan, and finally opened it. A white mist billowed out. Once it cleared, everyone saw two test tubes inside, one holding a red liquid, the other blue.

“These are ability enhancement serums developed at our base. After many trials, a single dose has a seventy-five percent chance of promoting a level-three ability user to level four. For advancement from level four to five, two doses are required, with a fifty percent success rate. The red one is for fire ability users, the blue for water. Anyone here may try the effect for themselves.”

Ling Feng pushed the case forward, inviting everyone to examine and, if willing, experience the effects personally.

From the outside, there was no obvious sign of anything special, so after being passed around, most people’s eyes were filled with skepticism and hesitation.

“Are there any side effects?” asked one of the A-level team captains.

“None. If you’re concerned, my men can demonstrate for you,” Ling Feng replied, seeing their doubt.

“No need. I happen to be a level-three water ability user—I’ll test it for everyone, if no one objects,” said a member of a team, standing up at his captain’s indication.

Seeing someone volunteer, the captain of another team got up and took the red serum. “Then my man will test the fire serum.”

The two chosen men opened the tubes in front of everyone and drank the liquids in one gulp, then closed their eyes to await the effects.

After two minutes with no reaction, everyone cast doubtful looks at Ling Feng.

“The serum takes about ten minutes to show results. Let’s wait,” Ling Feng explained calmly. His composure left the others with no choice but to stifle their doubts and wait.

Ten minutes wasn’t long, and before it was up, the two men began to react: expressions strained, sweat pouring down their faces, and their ability fluctuations becoming intense.

As everyone clearly felt the energy inside the two rising rapidly, expectation appeared in their eyes.

That is, everyone except Mei. The moment she touched the serums, she sensed the vast energy within, confirming the other side had told the truth. With sufficient mental strength, the serum’s energy could indeed promote advancement—just like Mo Chen and the others absorbing energy from crystals to raise their abilities. The principle was the same; the serum was simply packed with energy, roughly on par with a level-four crystal, but also contained a lot of death energy.

She guessed they had probably processed and concentrated the crystals into liquid form. Instantly, Mei lost interest in the serums. Still, she couldn’t just leave with Mo Chen and Ye Jingxuan, so she watched the proceedings with boredom.

While she watched others in boredom, others were watching her. Sensing someone’s gaze, Mei turned and found it was the major. When she met his eyes, Ling Feng smiled at her, his gaze full of familiarity, as if to say, “We meet again.”

Had they met before?

She instinctively returned a naive smile, but her mind was clouded with doubt. Mei was always confident in her memory, but for all her searching, she couldn’t recall ever meeting him.

How strange.

Soon, the oppressive aura of two level-four ability users filled the room, proving the two had successfully advanced.

With the effect confirmed, everyone’s attitude toward Ling Feng grew much warmer.

Seeing the results, Ling Feng spoke again, “The serums are precious, so I only brought these two. Longsheng has enhancement serums for other elements, so there’s no need to worry about compatibility.”

“What is the actual mission, and how many serums can we get?” someone asked eagerly, unable to suppress their desire for power.

“Upon completing the mission, each participant will receive two advancement serums matching their ability, and each participating team will be given two ability awakening serums. Please consider carefully.” As for the family heads, he didn’t mention their rewards—that would be discussed privately, and would certainly not be the same as what was given to the mercenary teams.

That final reward was like a spark to dry grass, and the room instantly erupted. The rarity and power of ability users had become well-known in the apocalypse. Gaining even one more ability user meant a significant boost in strength, more resources, and greater authority.

Especially for the four great families—the number of ability users directly determined their influence in the base and even its ultimate control. The awakening serum was thus of inestimable value to them.

Yet, as everyone was dazzled by the rewards Ling Feng promised, Mei, Mo Chen, and Ye Jingxuan stood up.

“Sorry, our team will not be participating in this mission,” Mei’s clear voice rang out, leaving everyone stunned.

Before they could react, Ye Jingnan also stood, regret on his face. “Though the Ye family is very interested in the rewards, the mission’s difficulty is surely high. We simply don’t have enough manpower. The Ye family withdraws!”

The two statements finally snapped everyone out of their reward-induced stupor.

Indeed, if the rewards were this generous, the mission’s difficulty must be equally high. Even if they accepted, would they live to collect the prize?