Universe Infinite Canteen

It took less than half an hour for the air transport to arrive at the location where the iron-eating scarab had previously been sighted.

Then, as before, everyone was let down in turn using a soft ladder.

The blue-haired boy was the first to climb up, but he was the last to go down, his face pale and his calves trembling.

He looked back at Ma Lu and Boggy, his face wearing a mournful expression, "Captain, Vice-Captain, if I run into danger later, you won't just stand by and watch, will you?"

"Of course," Ma Lu said, "at the very least, I would recover your body and bring it back to the city for a proper burial."

"Ah?" The blue-haired boy's face grew even paler upon hearing this, his former dashing demeanor gone.

Ma Lu patted his shoulder, "Next time before you try to act cool, think about how you're going to handle the aftermath."

Seeing him so frightened, Boggy actually offered a practical suggestion.

"If you're really scared, you can follow the transport back to the city. I'll just say you're not accustomed to flying and that you got severely dizzy."

"Thank you, Captain," the blue-haired boy said with a bitter smile, "but now that we're here, I wouldn't be content to just give up. I don't want to lose the most important thing to a hunter."

As he spoke, his eyes also became resolute.

Only to hear Ma Lu say, "The most important thing to a hunter is their life."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Ah?" The blue-haired boy was dumbfounded.

...

Once all the examination candidates had landed, the members of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group also came down to the ground.

Besides Ma Lu, Boggy, Mai Mai, and Seta, there were also more than twenty new official members who had joined the hunting group.

Among them were people brought by Boggy to protect the candidates from the iron-eating scarab, while the rest were just there for the excitement.

Your journey continues on empire

In fact, nearly every hunter stationed nearby had come. They had heard about the mysterious vice-captain's return and had shamelessly insisted on coming along.

Boggy knew what they were up to, and she had already had a batch of fresh ingredients purchased in advance and sent to the guild's station.

Even before they set off, Ma Lu had already unleashed a round of blessing loot boxes, and with the series of strange items he bore, he was ready to face the iron-eating scarab.

However, it wasn't time for him to take the stage yet.

Despite feeling anxious, the 42 examination candidates quickly sprang into action after landing, first collectively electing a leader, then beginning the search for the traces of the iron-eating scarab.

Surprisingly, the most attention-grabbing individual among them was that blue-haired boy.

Ma Lu had seen his performance in the previous test and remembered his name was Aes, a beast-series ability user.

His psychic power seemed to be controlling jumping mice.

Jumping mice are 1-star ingredients and one of the lowest beings on the food chain in this desert, with rather ordinary fighting capabilities, probably only able to take on a young flame lizard.

However, young flame lizards had an extremely low chance of evolving into a lava giant lizard, so the two were evenly matched.

However, this didn't mean the blue-haired boy's psychic power was useless. In fact, his ability was quite rare, and he was marked by Mai Mai as a key observation subject.

He performed poorly in physical testing and combat skills, but fortunately, he recovered some ground with his hunting knowledge. Coupled with high scores in ability demonstration, his overall grade was pulled back to a mid-range position.

In short, he was a guy who was seriously lopsided in his talents.

However, it can't be denied that his ability was indeed quite useful.

Right then, Aes released all fourteen Jumping Mice he had brought with him, and as soon as they hit the ground, they scattered in all directions, burrowing rapidly into the sand as if they had finally been set free.

What was this, a release into the wild?

Just when the other candidates thought this kid was there just to make a joke, the Jumping Mice quickly reemerged from beneath the sands.

Aes stretched out his hand, let the little creatures jump onto his palm, and then leaned his ear toward them.

"My Jumping Mice tell me, it's already gone from here."

"Oh, then do your Jumping Mice know where the Iron-Eating Scarab went?" the temporary leader chosen by the group asked.

Aes nodded, "They can track the scent of the Iron-Eating Scarab, but I need to soothe them first because they are quite frightened of that beast."

After saying this, Aes took out some jerky from his pocket, fed the Jumping Mice, and even petted their heads.

By this time, no one was laughing at his actions anymore. As a support-type Psychic Power User, their combat strength might not match other Hunters, but their utility for a team was beyond doubt.

And Aes's display reminded Ma Lu of a name—Parma.

Parma was a member of the Cyren Hunting Group. Her role was also support, and her psychic power was likely audio enhancement, which allowed her to eavesdrop on all the movements within a certain area.

In terms of practical combat, Parma's abilities could be more useful since her position feedback was real-time, whereas Aes had to send out and gather back his Jumping Mice to learn what was happening underground, and the field of vision of the Jumping Mice was also limited.

But Aes had his strengths. For instance, if they needed to find something that was stationary, Parma would be at a loss, but the Jumping Mice could still work, as in the current situation.

The Iron-Eating Scarab had left the area, and Parma wouldn't be able to collect any information related to it, but Aes's Jumping Mice were still capable of tracking it by scent.

"This kid's ability is quite useful, just a bit too timid," Ma Lu said, "I wonder if it's because he spends too much time with the Jumping Mice."

"Do you have your eye on him?" Mai Mai said with a smile, "Then recruit him."

"Let's wait and see," Boggy replied.

At this moment, Aes had once again released his Jumping Mice, and guided by them, started moving in a certain direction, with the others following behind him.

After walking for about 40 minutes, as many people were beginning to let their guard down, Aes's expression became increasingly tense.

He noticed the Jumping Mice were becoming frantic and agitated, which meant they were very close to their quarry.

Aes immediately reported this discovery to the team leader, who took it very seriously and promptly ordered everyone to be on high alert.

However, after another 20 minutes passed, they still hadn't spotted the Iron-Eating Scarab. Although everyone knew they shouldn't lower their guard at times like this, their nerves had been on edge for so long that their attention inevitably started to wane.

At that moment, a Jumping Mouse suddenly emerged from the sand at Aes's feet and started squeaking at him urgently.

Aes's face turned pale. He had barely uttered a word of caution when from not far away, a golden forelimb thrust violently out of the sand and swept towards a Hunter with a square jaw.