Xiao Hei shouted at Jing Shu's group, his voice cracking with strain as the ropes bit into his skin. "They're taking over from here, so we don't need to handle it anymore! They said they just got a message from the Black Market! The previous intel was wrong, and the mission's difficulty has been reclassified as B-rank. The higher-ups want them to capture those unknown creatures alive and take them back to the Black Market for research!"
Jing Shu flicked her knife, the steel blade whistling through the air as she sent splashes of thick green blood flying into the mud. She smiled, the expression cold. "Oh, so they're here to pick peaches, huh?"
Nice timing, she thought.
Monkey, who had just dragged himself off the ground with blood pouring down his shredded shoulder, scowled darkly. The heavy scent of iron and swamp rot filled his nose. If the mission got taken over now, who would compensate him for his injuries? His shoulder might be useless for a while; he could feel the dull, rhythmic throb of the mangled muscle.
Tank kept slamming his iron ball into the ground, each impact leaving a deep, jagged pit in the earth and sending a tremor through the canyon floor. He couldn't crush the rotting creatures, but at least it looked intimidating. "Tell them no need," he said, his posture rigid. "We have already finished the job. The monsters are dead, and the diamond mine is ours again. If they don't like it, too bad."
Right as Tank finished, Ling Ling fired a shot from the shadows of the high ridge. The crack of the rifle echoed like a thunderclap. In an instant, both sides drew their weapons, the rattle of bolts and the click of safeties filling the silence.
But when the twenty or so newcomers saw the mountain of corpses piled up in the swamp, they froze. The bottom layer was a neat, macabre stack of severed limbs, and the top held three massive, hideous heads with their jaws still frozen in a death snarl.
The scene was unsettling. The intel had said these beasts were terrifying—but they didn't look so scary now, reduced to organized heaps of butcher's meat.
A moment later, Xiao Hei came back with an update, his captors loosening their grip slightly. "They said they will pay us the original 2,000 Black Market coins as promised. That's enough to promote us to full mercenaries. They will handle the rest from here. Apparently, these creatures aren't worth anything dead, but they won't argue with us about it. They will just take the corpses for their report. The rest of the spoils are ours."
The opposing team had eighteen people, a full three-squad unit. They stood in the dim light, their shadows long and flickering. Of the monsters left, three still had some fight in them—just enough for each squad to take one.
Jing Shu studied their gear with a practiced eye. They wore heavy, soot-stained bulletproof vests and armor. They carried weapons popular among mercenaries: G36s, FAMAS rifles, FAL light machine guns, and AK47s for suppressive fire. They looked like pros, the kind who had been taking contracts and killing for money long before the apocalypse began.
They were professionals. Jing Shu wasn't afraid to face them head-on, but it wouldn't be risky. She had to remember why they had come to America—to make a profit, not to die in a canyon.
Xiao Hei, still being held at gunpoint, handed over a crumpled document. "It's directly authorized."
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes and said to Tank, "How about we let them handle it? We will go recover the loot from the diamond mine."
Tank's brow furrowed. "You should have more faith in our strength. Even if they were professional mercs before the apocalypse, they're nothing compared to us now. Don't forget, Viper can take them out in three seconds."
"I know," Jing Shu replied with a grin. "But if even you struggled with those monsters, what makes you think they will do better? And they don't even have grenades, armor-piercing rounds, or rocket launchers. Killing them outright would only hurt our reputation. Better to let them work a bit, and we will pick up the scraps later." She chuckled, realizing she had just praised herself too much.
Tank's cheeks flushed under the flashlight's glare. As a proud Chinese A-tier elite, getting schooled like this stung a little. "Fine, we will leave it to them. Let's go."
No one noticed when it happened, but everyone had started to think Jing Shu's words just made sense. Maybe her savage butchering of the beasts earlier helped convince them too.
Xiao Hei exhaled in relief as he continued negotiating, the tension in his shoulders finally dropping. The mercenaries also seemed relieved. Judging from the battlefield, Jing Shu's team was formidable. Sure, the mercs could probably suppress them if they had to—but mercenaries followed money, not pride.
Monkey's shoulder had been almost bitten off earlier. Jing Shu had already slapped a full 100-contribution-point hemostatic pill on the jagged wound and said he would need stitches when they got back. It wasn't too serious, though—he would be fine in ten days or so, and it wouldn't stop him from scouting.
"Thanks for saving Ah Huang just now," he murmured, his voice low as he patted the dog's matted fur.
…
Jing Shu had imagined the diamond mine would be filled with glittering gems one could just pick up off the ground, or maybe she would have to sift through the sand to find tiny ones. So when Tank and Snake Spirit went to gather the loot, she tagged along, eager to see it herself.
But the reality was different. The diamonds were embedded deep in the cold rock walls. Some were nearly invisible, and most were impossible to pry out with bare hands or knives.
She brushed her fingers over the rough stone. Even the faintest light from their flashlights made the embedded gems shimmer with a sharp, cold fire. Diamonds weren't much use industrially anymore—they're just luxury trinkets meant to fool women—but she really did love them.
Closing her eyes, Jing Shu focused. Through the Cube Space's control over matter, she felt the pull of the gems. She carefully pried out fingernail-sized diamonds one by one, storing them all inside her space. The rock groaned faintly as the stones were displaced. Before long, every visible diamond was gone. Since Tank hadn't called her yet, she got bored and started picking out the smaller ones too.
And just like that, she discovered a new feature of the Cube Space.
"Women really do love shiny things," Snake Spirit hissed, his tongue flicking as he glanced over. "Didn't expect someone like Mirror, all mysterious and powerful, to get all dreamy over diamonds."
Jing Shu jumped, her face heating with embarrassment. She had been sprawled over the rocks, admiring them like a lovesick fool.
To cover up her awkwardness, she laughed lightly. "It's the apocalypse. Aside from using diamonds for industrial drills, they're not really good for anything. So why are so many factions fighting over them?"
Snake Spirit flicked his tongue again, the sound sharp in the quiet tunnel. "With the artificial sun project, China and America are leading the field. They have both been working on a new conductive material. Diamonds are a crucial heat conductor for the artificial sun. Since oil extraction is becoming harder, finding new energy sources—and the components for them—is vital. In the future, diamonds will be strategic resources."
"Oh…" Jing Shu nodded. In her previous life, she vaguely remembered hearing about the government stockpiling diamonds and gold, calling them "strategic reserves." So it was because of new energy tech, huh?
Wait—then she should stock up too. While they were talking, she quickly swept every reachable diamond into her Cube Space. If Tank hadn't called out that they're done, she wouldn't have left. She really loved these tiny, valuable, space-saving treasures.
Snake Spirit's group thought about using machinery to dig up more diamonds, but none of them knew how to operate the rusted, heavy equipment, so they gave up. Jing Shu ended up with a handful of glittering loot before reluctantly following Tank back to the canyon.
What awaited them there was chaos.
The monsters that Jing Shu had so neatly dissected were now unkillable demons to the other mercenary squads. No matter how much they shot, trapped, or drugged them, nothing worked. Even with heavy chains and tranquilizer darts, those creatures refused to die.
The canyon was a disaster zone.