Li Ban rejected Hemira's invitation.
Joining the Guard Team would take up too much of his time.
If nothing else, the mandatory defense missions every three days would restrict his freedom, making it impossible to go on explorations lasting more than two days.
Although he hadn't traveled far from the camp yet, he would eventually have to venture into more distant, dangerous places to look for a way out.
Hemira spent a few more minutes trying to persuade Li Ban, even offering more generous compensation.
But Li Ban had already made up his mind; he wasn't going to change his stance for better terms.
After his polite but firm refusal, Hemira left in a huff.
As soon as Hemira was gone, the wooden door opposite his opened, and Ed squeezed his large head between two iron bars.
He looked at Li Ban, a trace of confusion in his simple eyes. "Are you leaving?"
"Awesome!" Ed clenched both fists and thrust his arms through the bars.
Through the gaps between Ed and the bars, Li Ban saw Zhu Yao sitting in the small living room opposite him.
She sat in profile, arms crossed, not looking at him.
But when she heard Li Ban's answer, she uncrossed her arms and walked back into her own room.
Li Ban chuckled to himself. He actually found this version of Zhu Yao much more vibrant than that Dark Moon Priest from the Wizard World.
Hemira's brows remained tightly furrowed after leaving Li Ban's room.
It wasn't that she had never been rejected before, but that this Li Ban was now Zhu Yao's teammate.
This fact gave her a sense of crisis.
Hemira passed through tunnels illuminated by Luminescent Moss, rounded a few corners, and climbed a soft rope ladder suspended in midair.
The Second Level of the cliff was the territory of the camp's leadership.
The camp leader, the camp leader's two assistants, the captain and vice-captain of the Guard Team, and a few core technicians basically all lived up here.
Hemira was the vice-captain of the Guard Team; when she ran into trouble with her duties, it was only natural to seek out the captain.
Even though this captain's interests did not perfectly align with her own.
—
But some differing goals could still be unified through certain means.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, then knocked on Captain Lu Shi's door.
"Come in."
A somewhat stern voice rang out.
Hemira felt slightly nervous. As she pushed the door open, her eyes immediately began to size up the captain sitting inside.
"You're the vice-captain of the camp, not a thief. What is this sneaking around? If you're coming in, walk in with your head held high."
Before entering the Recycling Station, Lu Shi had been a soldier from a minor world. Even though he was no longer a soldier now, and his subordinates had all become the dead through years of hardship, he never relaxed his strict standards for himself and those around him.
Even though Hemira had served as vice-captain for a long time, she was still more or less afraid of him.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat and quickly adopted a proper posture to walk into the room.
The camp's total area was limited, and the safe residential area was even smaller. Even the captain only lived in an ordinary one-bedroom apartment.
Therefore, his living room also served as his normal workspace.
Hemira walked up to the desk. "Captain, I've noticed an anomaly and wanted to ask for your opinion on it."
Lu Shi set down his ink pen, folded his hands, and looked up at Hemira with a slight frown.
"Speak."
"Five days ago, Zhu Yao brought a legless man back to the camp. But that very day, this man purchased a pair of legs that weren't particularly strong. Furthermore, the next day, he joined Zhu Yao and Ed on gathering missions outside. They've gone out for four consecutive days now, bringing back excellent hauls almost every day, and have earned nearly 90 wheat flatbreads."
"From what you're saying, the man is an expert. What's his name?"
"Li Ban."
"Mm. You went to see him?"
Although phrased as a question, Lu Shi's tone was incredibly certain.
"Yes. I was hoping an expert like him would join the Guard Team. But he rejected it without a second thought. On my way back, the more I thought about it, the more off it felt. Do you think this Li Ban could be an undercover spy sent by an enemy?"
Lu Shi was not surprised by Hemira's somewhat sudden theory.
As members of the Guard Team, detecting spies was also part of their daily duties.
Resources in this world were limited, and cultivating rye was difficult, so not everyone was content to quietly be a production-type lord.
Some people naturally took pleasure in plunder, and that was even more true in this world, where the significance of death was diminished.
He considered the information Hemira had just provided; it was a bit vague, and he didn't have the time to analyze every single suspicious individual one by one.
"Tell me your reasons for suspecting him."
"Yes." Hemira had already organized her thoughts on the way over. "One, I met him when he entered the camp; he was very composed, completely lacking the anxiety of someone seeking asylum. Two, he put on his legs on the first day and went out on a mission the next. When he returned, he had a bow and arrows on him and showed signs of combat, yet his legs had no abnormalities whatsoever. I suspect he possesses high-purity clean water, and chopping off his legs was just a way to feign weakness. Three, since entering the camp, he has gone out every day, possibly to pass information to accomplices outside."
Lu Shi shook his head gently after hearing this. "None of your suspicions have a solid basis. These anomalies could all be explained by other behaviors. For example, he might be an outsider who just entered the Recycling Station; occasionally, people do unfortunately fall into the Recycling Station. Or he really did lose his legs fighting a monster."
Hemira lowered her eyes, unhurried. "But Captain, he didn't show a hint of the panic of having just entered the Recycling Station. Even people once as strong as Priests need a long time to accept the facts after learning about the situation in the Recycling Station."
"You make a fair point. Do this: send two people to follow them and observe for two days. If you discover any new suspicious circumstances, report back to me. Temporarily hold off on issuing Li Ban an official residence permit."
Official residents and temporary residents had different ranges of movement within the camp and differed in the supplies they could purchase.
"Understood." Hemira nodded. Although she found it a bit regrettable to only send people to tail him, this still gave her some room to maneuver.
When Li Ban and Zhu Yao went out again, they realized that someone seemed to be following them.
"They seem to be from the camp." Zhu Yao glanced back; although she didn't get a clear look, they had some traits she was familiar with.
"Followed us out?" Li Ban kept his head down, organizing his bow and arrows.
The number of arrows he had snatched from the wandering bandits hadn't been large to begin with, and he couldn't guarantee he'd recover all of them every time he shot them. He was now down to three, and their arrowheads were all somewhat worn.
"Not necessarily. They might just be going the same way." Zhu Yao withdrew her gaze and said to Ed, who was pedaling the cart, "Let's go somewhere else this time. Head southeast toward the Swing Forest."
Ed thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "Then I'll stay outside and watch the cart."
This time, he had proactively taken on the task of watching the cart.
Li Ban looked at Zhu Yao, feeling there was definitely a reason behind this that he didn't know about.
Zhu Yao gave a cool smile, a trace of slyness in her eyes.
"Are you afraid of ghosts?"