Fu Xin Ci saw the notes passed by her teammates and learned that Long Cheng had received some new personnel recently, all of whom were mercenary teams with good reputations in various bases.
Fu Xin Ci: "Is it really okay for these mercenary teams to leave their original bases?"
"Of course not. These mercenary teams consist of high-level ability users. Their departure will reduce the attack and defense capabilities of their original bases."
"Then the people left behind will be even more in danger."
"Exactly."
Fu Xin Ci sighed, "What are they trying to do?"
"My dear, it's naturally because of you. Your existence gives many people hope. That's why those teams have successively abandoned their original bases and come to Long Cheng, braving hardships to join us."
"Long Cheng has been quite turbulent these past two days. The new mercenary teams have clashed with our established ones several times, and the captain has forbidden us from going out."
"The captain is right, safety first." Thinking of how only a few of her companions remained in Long Teng, Fu Xin Ci's heart was filled with a mix of bitterness, sweetness, and everything in between.
"Long Teng is just like it was in the beginning."
"Yes. However, many people in Long Cheng now want to join Long Teng, especially those who have been in Long Teng before and wish to return. The captain just doesn't want to take in any more people. He says: our current group of a few people is good, and it's less trouble."
"Yes, it's like me. The main thing is to take good care of the people in Long Teng. Other people are just a bonus."
Fu Xin Ci didn't know that after she passed that note, many people secretly peeked from behind her teammates, resulting in shattered hearts.
Shattered to pieces, beyond repair.
So what? That's how it was meant to be.
Captain: Once again, heads held high with pride.
The teammates, with their chests puffed out and spirits soaring, returned to their dormitories to retrieve their damp bedding, wanting Fu Xin Ci to help them dry it.
After all, in the winter of Long Cheng, the sun was rarely seen, and the sky was perpetually gray.
It was cold outside, and not warm inside. Thinking of the damp and chilly beds, almost everyone there frowned.
The somber atmosphere was broken by the members of Long Teng. Led by the captain, they each carried their cotton quilts and stood in line behind him.
The captain raised his eyebrows, gave his teammates a charming glance, and placed his own neatly packed bedding on the vending machine.
The lights on the opposite side lit up, and the screen displayed a set of gray-blue checkered bedding and pillows.
The captain's eyes immediately brightened, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards.
His teammates were surprised that the eyes of this hardened warrior also chased dreams that they couldn't comprehend.
Not to mention the female ability users around them, who instantly transformed into a swarm of passionate bees, their starry eyes fixated on the captain's mighty and tall figure.
Xiao Ai quietly approached Yang Xin Jie and whispered in her ear, "Xin Jie, if our captain were a king, wouldn't he have three thousand concubines following him?"
"No, at most three."
"Why so few?" Xiao Ai glanced at the female ability users, who looked as if they wanted to devour the captain, and asked with great curiosity.
"Can the three of us handle more?"
"What...?"
Yang Xin Jie, encountering something Xiao Ai couldn't quite grasp, spoke assertively and generously enlightened her, "If we encounter another vixen like that, we'll definitely take her down in one fell swoop."
"We'll go together and annihilate them all." Thinking of Xin Ci's tragic situation at that time, it was a pain that their teammates' hearts could never touch.
The captain didn't want everyone to dwell on this matter. Although they all understood that Xin Ci was alive and well, just in a different dimension from them.
Still, certain images would surface in their minds from time to time.
The captain then changed the subject to the present matter, urging them to move away from their memories. "Hurry up, so we can go back to sleep early." As he spoke, the captain, to everyone's exasperation, took a deep breath, "I can already smell the sunshine."
The captain's sudden display of artistic flair almost made his teammates' old backs ache.
Xu Ru Yi: "Someone help me up, my back is twisted."
Xiao Ai: "My back is also feeling a bit wobbly."
Yang Xin Jie: "Seeing how easily you two get weak, I haven't strained my back."
"Yeah, you haven't strained your back, you've just gotten goosebumps all over."
"How do you know?" Yang Xin Jie hadn't noticed until Xiao Ai pointed it out.
"Just look in the mirror, the little hairs on your cheeks are standing on end." Xiao Ai gave Yang Xin Jie a look and then focused intently on the vending machine.
"Haha, look, my quilt is the prettiest. Pink strawberries, anyone feeling peckish?"
"Xiao Ai, it's over. With that sentence, I feel like we're all going to get cravings."
"Tch, not necessarily."
"Sweet strawberries, who wouldn't crave them? I don't believe that."
"The captain won't crave them, I guarantee it."
Captain: "This time your guarantee is wrong, I also want to eat strawberries."
"..."
Everyone: Seeing the people of Long Teng laughing and chatting, and even mentioning craving strawberries in the middle of winter, they felt like they couldn't go on living.
Some of the more emotionally fragile female ability users wanted to cry and run home, never to come out again.
Sob sob, the people of Long Teng are too much.
Fu Xin Ci was unaware of the situation in the trading hall. She eventually traded a few sleeping bags for her teammates, who readily accepted them.
The two mercenary teams that had recently joined Long Cheng looked with envy at the people of Long Teng carrying new quilts and brand-new sleeping bags.
Their captains took the initiative to approach and negotiate with the Long Teng members. "Hello, my dear ladies and gentlemen."
Xu Jia Can gave his teammates a knowing look and stood silently behind the captain. Pang Dun'er slowly moved to stand in front of the three girls.
The captain of the Wolf Pack, seeing the formation of the Long Teng members, raised his hands first. "We mean no harm. It's just that we've lost some supplies on the road since we just arrived. We'd like to buy a few sleeping bags from you, and quilts would be even better."
The captain, seeing that the Wolf Pack captain was being sensible, calmly replied, "For the items you want to buy, we'll have to ask Xin Ci."
After speaking, the captain returned to the vending machine and asked the Wolf Pack captain how many sleeping bags they wanted.
"Eight."
"We want eleven." The captain of the Wushuang Mercenary Team also said with a flattering tone.
"Okay, I'll ask. If we have them, great. If not, please don't be upset."
"We definitely won't be upset."
Afterward, the captain wrote a note and sent it over. A few minutes later, the note was returned.
The words on the note made the people from both mercenary teams overjoyed.
"Yes, you can trade anytime."