It wasn't long before Octopus and Chao Lu, the two selected for the assault team, walked over.
Compared to the completely expressionless Chao Lu, Octopus waved his limbs around, looking rather excited.
Upon entering the room, he took off his cloak and spread some of his arms.
The flesh at the center of his torso peeled back, bulging outward to reveal a mouth and a single eye.
"Priest Zhu Yao, Priest Ban, Priest Hao Yang, it is a great honor to join the assault team."
His voice was incredibly hoarse yet carried a bizarre sharpness; his vocal cord structure was very unusual.
Zhu Yao stepped forward. "The assault team will consist solely of you four. For now, you will stay nearby and coordinate your combat tactics."
"No problem," Octopus answered readily.
Beside him, Chao Lu merely bobbed her expressionless head back and forth, saying nothing.
"Oh? Our Chief of Langhuan said the same thing." Octopus laughed, the sound eerie and harsh. "He also mentioned he could help simulate the abnormal gravitational environment of the Sea of Monsters."
In truth, when Priest Lang Jiao had said this, he had also added, "That coward Li He has never even been to the depths of the Sea of Monsters. He definitely hasn't thought this through as well as I have."
But while Priest Lang Jiao dared to say such things casually, Octopus didn't have the guts to repeat a single word of it.
"Good." Li Ban stepped up. "But there's no rush to simulate the environment just yet. I want to understand everyone's combat abilities and characteristics first. Once we're familiar with one another, we can simulate the Sea of Monsters."
Priest Hao Yang glanced at Zhu Yao and nodded. "I have no problem with that."
Octopus was somewhat surprised. He vaguely realized that the person calling the shots here seemed to be Priest Ban, the one with the lowest Tier among them.
But thinking it over, it was probably because of the Director standing behind Priest Ban.
To ensure the operation went smoothly, they definitely needed to secure leadership over the assault team.
And since Priest Zhu Yao wasn't on the assault team, that authority fell into the hands of its weakest member, Priest Ban.
Figuring this out, Octopus repeatedly waved his slender arms. "No problem at all. We will fully cooperate."
Although Priest Lang Jiao had said that Li Ban and the others could use the two bottled people as bombs to clear the way at critical moments, Octopus had no desire to be casually sacrificed. If he could win the favor of the two Priests before the operation, their chances of survival would undoubtedly be much higher.
"I want to ask a question." Li Ban looked at Octopus and Chao Lu. "Why did you agree to be modified?"
The room instantly fell silent.
The expressionless Chao Lu raised her eyes, looking up at Li Ban.
The enthusiastic Octopus shrank his dozen or so arms inward.
After a moment, Octopus asked uneasily, "Priest Ban, do we have to answer this question?"
"Sorry, but yes. There are only four of us on this assault team. Aside from your physical conditions and combat capabilities, I have to confirm your mental states."
He didn't want someone harboring a grudge against society deciding to self-destruct halfway through at a critical moment.
"All right," Octopus said powerlessly. "The truth is, I was too weak before. Only by accepting the bottled-brain modification could I secure a place in the camp and have any hope of leaving. You see, it's precisely because we underwent the modification that we had the chance to join this operation."
He and Chao Lu had been selected for their respective special abilities.
As for the ordinary people in the camp, they didn't even have the opportunity to join this operation as cannon fodder.
Even if the Priests finally found a way out of the Recycling Station, those weaklings wouldn't be able to secure a ticket to leave.
Li Ban nodded, accepting Octopus's explanation.
It was a self-serving mentality, but a completely normal one. It showed courage and decisiveness.
Although it was still unknown whether this choice was ultimately right or wrong.
But if one wanted to leave the Recycling Station without possessing enough power, how could they possibly reap the rewards without making sacrifices?
Li Ban then looked at Chao Lu.
"And Priest Chao Lu?"
Unlike Octopus, Chao Lu used to be a 6th Tier Star Glow Priest.
However, she was the Chao Lu from two iterations ago, and she had suffered the trauma of losing all her companions at once. He wondered if this had caused her to harbor hatred toward people from other iterations, as well as those who now had the hope of leaving the Recycling Station.
As he asked the question, Li Ban also used the Mind Spell.
It wasn't to converse with Chao Lu telepathically, but to secretly observe her mental state and emotional fluctuations.
Since the current Chao Lu had lost her Priest body and was left with only an exposed brain, Li Ban could easily read her disposition.
"I—" Chao Lu's voice emanated from her remaining head. "I want to make myself useful. In battle, I will unconditionally execute all of your commands."
Surprisingly, everything she said was the absolute truth!
The Priest Chao Lu before him didn't seem to have much of a will to live.
She believed she was useless alive, and simply hoped her death would serve some purpose.
Given Chao Lu's past experiences, Li Ban could roughly understand why she had developed such a mindset.
She had fallen into a different kind of extreme state.
He had to admit, this psychological state made her incredibly suited for the assault team's battles.
Come to think of it, Priest Lang Jiao must have kept them by his side because he believed they were perfectly suited for this operation in every way.
Having confirmed the members' conditions, Li Ban announced the official formation of the assault team.
For the entire day that followed, the four team members spent their time out in the forest, coordinating their combat tactics and familiarizing themselves with each other's abilities.
It wasn't until nightfall, when the light grew extremely dim, that they finally returned to their respective rooms in the Priest Camp.
As they were parting ways, Chao Lu took the initiative to call Octopus over, and they handed their respective detonators to Li Ban and Hao Yang.
The two took one each, with Li Ban holding Chao Lu's detonator.
He stored the detonator in his Cubic Space and told Chao Lu that he absolutely would not activate it lightly.
Octopus listened from the side with a face full of envy. Unfortunately, he did not receive the same promise from Priest Hao Yang.
Afterward, Li Ban headed back while inspecting his Cubic Space.
"The red fruit trees have already matured. It looks like they'll start bearing fruit in just a few days. And quite a large number of them, too. That was fast."
As he neared his temporary residence, Li Ban sensed something and looked up to see Tail waiting outside his room.
"What's wrong?"
Tail looked up, staring at Li Ban with a solemn expression. "I heard them discussing how many ordinary people they're taking on this operation. I want to talk to you."
"Do you want to go to another room?"
"Yes."
Although the Priest Camp wasn't very large, there were enough remote, abandoned rooms for Li Ban and the others to talk in.
"What do you want to talk about?" Looking at Tail's face, which was identical to Cat Girl's, Li Ban felt a bit distracted.
If this operation allowed them to successfully leave the Recycling Station—he would be able to see Little Cat again.
He was going to Mist Valley anyway to deliver the Divine Control Needle Technique manual; Little Cat should be there as well.
Seeing Li Ban's gaze, Tail sharply furrowed her brows and waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey, what are you thinking about?"
"..."
Li Ban snapped back to reality, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I might just be a little excited that we finally have a chance to leave the Recycling Station."
Tail pursed her lips, delaying what she had originally wanted to say. "The first time you saw me, the way you looked at me was very distinct. It was as if you were looking at someone else through me. Was it the Cat Girl from your iteration?"
"Yes." Li Ban didn't deny it.
Li Ban's bluntness made Tail's breath hitch.
"Do you like her?"
This time, it was Li Ban who froze.
He instinctively wanted to deny it, but his voice betrayed him when he spoke.
"—Yes."
With that single, simple word out in the open, Li Ban felt as if something at the bottom of his heart had finally broken through the soil.
He pressed a hand to his chest. He recalled the first time he met that arrogant Cat Girl with her chin held high; remembered the prisoner who swallowed bugs and raw flesh whole just to survive; remembered the shameless rogue who threw herself into a full prostration just for a bite of meat; remembered the resolve she showed right before entering the Second Floor of the Death Prison, sneering as she swore she absolutely wouldn't die; remembered the Miaomiao who, despite being heavily injured, still ran over to escort him to the Unreturning Place; remembered the Little Cat in the Imperial Palace who, terrified he would fall from the sky, instinctively opened her arms to catch him—
Li Ban lowered his hand, his expression peaceful as he confirmed it once more.
"Yes, I like her."
Tail pursed her lips before instantly parting them again, forcing herself to relax.
"Actually, my name is Cat Girl." Her chest heaved slightly. "It was only when I saw the way you looked at me back then that I decided on a whim to change my name to Tail. I didn't want you to treat me as a substitute for someone else. I don't know what kind of relationship you two have, and... and I don't care."
After a slight tremble, her voice grew even more resolute. "I am who I am. I'm not the Cat Girl from the previous iteration, nor the Cat Girl from the next. You don't need to consider your relationship with the other Cat Girl from now on, but I'm telling you this: I am definitely leaving the Recycling Station. Whether you bring me along on this operation or not, I have to go, even if it means tailing right behind you."
"Originally, I was slowly building up my strength, wanting to be fully prepared before heading into the Sea of Monsters. But I can tell that this operation of yours has the highest chance of success in history. Because of that, there's no way I can give up this opportunity."
"I just hope you don't cross me off the list solely because I'm not a Priest."
It seemed the large gathering of Priests preparing for the operation over the past two days had made Cat Girl feel insecure.
After all, under normal circumstances, ordinary people truly had no say in front of the Priests.
"Although I also think the success rate of this operation is high, life rarely goes according to plan. You have to understand that no matter how high the odds, there is always the possibility of failure. Furthermore, a successful operation doesn't guarantee everyone makes it out alive. You aren't a Priest, and you have no spells to protect yourself. It's very likely you'll die halfway through. Even knowing this, you still want to go?"
There wasn't a shred of hesitation in Tail's eyes. "Of course!"
Li Ban smiled. Even though they were Cat Girls from different iterations, their personalities were truly identical in certain ways.
"I already invited you to join my team back then. As long as you don't choose to back out, I definitely won't leave you behind."
Tail took a deep breath. She had thought she would be thrilled to receive Li Ban's promise, yet right now, she wasn't as excited as she had imagined.
She heard her own voice reply steadily, "Even if I get mashed into a paste of flesh, I will not give up on leaving."