Even bandits needed to grow a certain amount of rye, so Li Ban didn't think the secret to cultivating it was too private to share.
At most, they just wanted to protect whatever trick they used to increase their crop yield.
But even if they refused to tell him, Li Ban could figure out the key details just by observing.
If Cliffside Camp refused to share this secret with him, he could negotiate for other terms, but it would also mean leaving the camp as soon as possible.
Gu Sa didn't disappoint him. The camp leader nodded almost immediately. "That isn't a problem. It's just that Cliffside Camp's planting method doesn't produce the highest yields."
Even if Li Ban established his own camp, he wouldn't be feeding many people. He nodded, and the two sides reached an agreement.
Since Li Ban requested to act independently, and Lu Dong was an out-and-out civilian, there was no need for either of them to sit in on the rest of the personnel arrangements.
Li Ban returned to his room and found Zhu Yao waiting at his door.
"Finished with your business?"
They entered the room, and Li Ban explained his plan.
Zhu Yao fell silent for a moment. "Are you... planning to leave?"
Li Ban smiled. "Not just me, us. I didn't invest a Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruit in you just so you could throw your weight around here as a vice-captain."
Zhu Yao pursed her lips, holding back an eye roll.
She didn't deny it, however.
Li Ban brought up Tail. "...If she agrees, I want to bring her along, too."
Zhu Yao was sharp. "You know her, don't you?"
"Yeah." Li Ban nodded. "The her from the outside."
When Li Ban said "the her from the outside," his tone carried a gentleness he didn't even notice.
Zhu Yao's eyes flickered, but she quickly regained her composure.
She gently advised him, "Since she's quite capable, it's fine to bring her along. But you need to keep in mind that Tail isn't the woman you knew."
"I know," Li Ban reassured her.
Late at night.
Lu Shi put down his fountain pen, slowly sliding the slightly rusted cap onto the barrel.
He was slightly distracted this time, so much so that it took him two tries to cap it.
Finally setting the pen aside, Lu Shi stood up, pushed open his door, and walked out.
He navigated the dimly lit corridors with familiar ease, turning once, then again, before knocking on a door in an adjacent hallway.
He was so familiar with the place that he could have knocked on the door with absolute precision even in total darkness.
"Come in."
The response came immediately.
It was as if the room's occupant had been waiting for someone to knock.
Lu Shi pushed the door open. Inside the brightly lit office, Camp Leader Gu Sa was smiling in welcome.
Lu Shi stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
"Actually, it would be fine not to let Li Ban participate," Lu Shi said.
"He only joined the camp a few days ago. This can be easily investigated."
Gu Sa smiled, then offered a word of caution.
"Be careful."
Lu Shi wasn't in as high spirits as Gu Sa.
"Do you think I'm taking a risk?"
Their tacit understanding told Gu Sa exactly what Lu Shi was thinking.
Lu Shi remained silent.
Gu Sa kept talking. He was already used to the fact that whenever it was just the two of them, he was the only one speaking.
"I want a peaceful life, too. Unfortunately, the Recycling Station won't let us stay comfortable forever. You should understand the nature of this place. It's a recycling station, but it's also a meat grinder."
Lu Shi finally offered a reaction.
Even if it was just a simple nod.
Early morning, three days later. Li Ban and his team prepared to set out.
The roster was set, but the final combat arrangements still required a discussion with Shu Yu and the others at Underwoods Camp.
Before leaving, he considered that if Tail agreed to join his team, she would likely come looking for him at the camp today.
But today just happened to be the day he had to go to Underwoods Camp.
So, Li Ban spent two wheat flatbreads to hire Ed, having him wait outside the camp all day in case Tail came asking for his whereabouts.
As for why he didn't spend three wheat flatbreads...
That was because Ed had already wolfed down his breakfast the moment he opened his eyes that morning.
The group once again rode man-powered Tricycles toward Underwoods Camp.
This time, Camp Leader Gu Sa had dispatched a total of thirty-five highly capable members of the Guard Team.
Although this number was less than a tenth of the camp's total population, it represented the vast majority of Cliffside Camp's elite forces.
Li Ban felt that if something happened to these people, Cliffside Camp's vitality would be severely damaged for a long time.
They would be forced to act with extreme caution and wouldn't be able to participate in any dangerous battles for a long while.
Sitting next to Li Ban, Zhu Yao also hadn't expected the camp leader to send out so many elites this time.
"He's really going all out," she whispered.
"Have the three camps ever collaborated like this before?" Li Ban asked.
"Supposedly, a long time ago. That was before I even joined Cliffside Camp," Zhu Yao recalled. "By the time I joined, the relationship between Blue Sea Camp and Cliffside Camp was already extremely stiff. Aside from the trade fairs organized by Underwoods Camp, they almost never gathered together. Even if they ran into each other outside, they would either go out of their way to avoid each other or end up fighting."
"How did the two camps fall out?" The journey was boring, so Li Ban asked casually.
"I think they were fighting over some resources, and the previous leader of Blue Sea Camp died at Gu Sa's hands."
Li Ban gently tapped his fingers.
Died at Gu Sa's hands, and not by Lu Shi or the other guards?
The Tricycle rattled and swayed; it would take another hour of travel.
"Are there really no other forms of transportation? I should have asked about this yesterday, but I forgot," Li Ban said, slapping his own forehead.
It would take three years to reach Wanghai Cliff.
If the Director died in an accident during those three years, that would be a bad joke.
Just like how the Director in the Ring World had died right before Li Ban discovered the truth of that world.
Only now, thinking back, did that death seem a bit suspicious.
'Would the Director of this progression know anything? But they aren't people from the same progression after all... No, the Faceless One said that the Director of every progression is very special. Maybe he can provide me with information that neither the Main Brain nor Chen Dong can offer.'
Within the brief illusion of the Swing Vine, Li Ban hadn't sensed any malice from the Director for the time being.
Sitting across from Li Ban, Xie Xiaowu had no idea his thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
Resting her chin on her hand, she said, rather bored, "There are other transports."
Li Ban's thoughts were pulled back. "Like what?"
"Monsters that fly, monsters that run." Xie Xiaowu offered a faintly mocking smile. "As long as you can tame them, they'll definitely run faster than man-powered Tricycles."
Sitting beside her, Liu Yi quickly tried to smooth over the atmosphere. "Monsters can't be tamed."
"I've seen people tie human meat in front of monsters to drive them forward. But those monsters were quickly attracted by the fleshier people behind them. Even if those people hid in wooden boxes."
Sitting diagonally across from them, Chu Ke laughed. "Yeah, and because they were hiding in wooden boxes, it was too inconvenient to move, so they ended up getting bitten to death by the monsters. It cracked me up."
The last member on this Tricycle was Ming Kai.
He didn't join the conversation, simply staring quietly at the distant scenery.
This was also a seating arrangement Li Ban had specifically set up.
Willis, the guy who constantly tried to curry favor with him but had mediocre combat strength, hadn't managed to squeeze onto this vehicle.
If Li Ban wanted to take a few people away with him, those lacking in strength would be the first to be excluded.
Perhaps feeling that their earlier discussion wasn't helping Li Ban at all, Liu Yi thought for a moment and continued, "Vice-Captain, there actually are some powerful animals here. In their original worlds, they might have been much more powerful spirit beasts or fierce beasts. Because this world lacks spiritual rhinoceros and energy, they've become much more ordinary, but also much tamer at the same time."
Chu Ke stroked his stubbled chin. "I'd really love to catch a tiger to ride. It'd be even better if it had wings."
Li Ban immediately thought of Tower Master Wan's mount, the Black-Winged Qiongqi. Its flight speed wasn't slow at all.
It was just that in all his days at the Recycling Station, he hadn't seen a single spirit beast.
Xie Xiaowu rolled her eyes at Chu Ke. "You want to catch a Qiongqi? Keep dreaming."
Chu Ke didn't care, replying casually, "I'm dreaming right now."
Figuring that Li Ban didn't know the details, Zhu Yao explained in a low voice, "Spirit beasts have intelligence, and most of them want to leave the Recycling Station too. So those powerful spirit beasts essentially all appear near the rift."
"They appear near the rift? Then that's useless."
Li Ban was somewhat disappointed.
He wanted to find a spirit beast to save time and spiritual rhinoceros while traveling, but if the spirit beasts and Wanghai Cliff were in the exact same place, he couldn't count on them.
Seeing the genuine disappointment in Li Ban's eyes, the team members exchanged glances.
Liu Yi asked softly, "Vice-Captain, are... are you really going to leave later?"
Li Ban didn't deny it. "Yes, I'm heading to the Continental Center. Lu Shi knew about this before I even became acting vice-captain."
After saying that, Li Ban began observing everyone's reactions.
Liu Yi looked a bit dazed.
Xie Xiaowu pursed her lips, seemingly not entirely convinced.
Chu Ke revealed a look of admiration.
Li Ban thought he might actually try recruiting this battle maniac.
As for Ming Kai, his eyes were still blank, giving off a feeling that he didn't care much about anything.
But Li Ban knew that when he went to check the nest alone and the building collapsed, Ming Kai was the only one who had volunteered to go look for him.
Liu Yi had told him that afterward, and he had also confirmed the situation with Chu Ke.
However, Li Ban certainly didn't think Ming Kai was planning to lay down his life for him when they had just met.
He might have had ulterior motives for offering to search for him in that kind of situation.
Li Ban wasn't afraid of him having desires; he was only afraid of them having none.
After a brief silence, Zhu Yao drew the conversation to a close.
"I'll be going with Li Ban."
The atmosphere in the vehicle shifted once more.
If Li Ban said he was leaving, it might just be a probe, a lie. But they knew Zhu Yao.
She was someone who had truly entered the Monster Sea and marched toward the rift.
They hadn't expected that after experiencing such a tragic outcome, she would actually choose to approach the rift again.
Xie Xiaowu lowered her head, thinking with mixed feelings, 'A person can survive the Monster Sea once, but it's impossible to survive it twice. Zhu Yao, you won't come back. You'll only become piles of minced meat in the Monster Sea.'