Xiao Hei shouted at Jing Shu's group, "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. They're taking over from here, so we don't need to handle it anymore. 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, sending splashes of green blood flying, then smiled. "Oh, so they're here to pick peaches, huh?"
"Nice timing," she thought.
Monkey, who'd just dragged himself off the ground with blood pouring down his shoulder, scowled darkly. If the mission got taken over now, who'd compensate him for his injuries? His shoulder might be useless for a while.
Tank kept slamming his iron ball into the ground, each impact leaving a deep pit. He couldn't crush the rotting creatures, but at least it looked intimidating. "Tell them no need," he said coldly. "We've already finished the job. The monsters are dead, and the diamond mine's ours again. If they don't like it, too bad."
Right as Tank finished, Ling Ling fired a shot from the shadows. In an instant, both sides drew their weapons.
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 stack of limbs, and the top held three massive, hideous heads.
The scene was unsettling, to say the least. The intel had said these beasts were terrifying—but they didn't look so scary now.
A moment later, Xiao Hei came back with an update. "They said they'll pay us the original 2,000 Black Market coins as promised. That's enough to promote us to full mercenaries. They'll handle the rest from here. Apparently, these creatures aren't worth anything dead, but they won't argue with us about it. They'll 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. Of the monsters left, three still had some fight in them—just enough for each squad to take one.
Jing Shu studied their gear. They wore bulletproof vests and armor, and carried weapons popular among mercenaries: G36s, FAMAS rifles, FAL light machine guns, and AK47s for suppressive fire. They looked like pros, the kind who'd been taking contracts and killing for money long before the apocalypse.
They were professionals. Jing Shu wasn't afraid to face them head-on, but it'd be risky. She had to remember why they'd come to America—to make a profit, not to die.
Xiao Hei, still being held at gunpoint, handed over a document. "This is their commission letter. It's directly authorized."
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes and said to Tank, "How about we let them handle it? We can go recover the loot from the diamond mine."
Tank frowned. "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'll 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'll pick up the scraps later." She chuckled, realizing she might've just praised herself too much.
Tank's cheeks flushed. As a proud Chinese A-tier elite, getting schooled like this stung a little. "Fine, we'll 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 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 was almost bitten off earlier. Jing Shu had already slapped a full 100-contribution-point hemostatic pill on it and said he'd need stitches when they got back. It wasn't too serious, though—he'd be fine in ten days or so, and it wouldn't stop him from scouting.
"Thanks for saving Ah Huang just now," he murmured.
…
Jing Shu had imagined the diamond mine would be filled with glittering gems you could just pick up off the ground, or maybe she'd 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 rock walls, some nearly invisible, and most impossible to pry out.
She brushed her fingers over the stone. Even the faintest light made the embedded gems shimmer. Diamonds weren't much use industrially anymore—they were 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 carefully pried out fingernail-sized diamonds one by one, storing them all inside her space. 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, 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, embarrassed. She'd 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. "With the artificial sun project, China and America are leading the field. They've both been working on a new conductive material. Diamonds are a crucial heat conductor for the artificial sun. Since oil extraction's becoming harder, finding new energy sources—and the components for them—is vital. In the future, diamonds'll 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 were 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 it, 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 earlier were now unkillable demons to the other mercenary squads. No matter how much they shot, trapped, or drugged them, nothing worked. Even with chains and tranquilizers, those creatures refused to die.
The canyon was a disaster zone.