Chapter 136: Good Grief, So That's Why He Ended Up in the Monster Squad

Who knows what this spatial dimension will eventually turn into if it continues to upgrade.

Jiang Huan had traveled alone for a long time and naturally harbored a deep-seated vigilance toward other people. Yet, with the changes in time and environment, her previous certainty had been shaken to some extent. Whenever she felt such wavering, she would repeatedly remind herself of the tragic fate of her past life, and warn herself not to play the role of the apocalyptic savior.

Throwing these distracting thoughts to the back of her mind, Jiang Huan immersed herself once again in studying the data on sea beasts inhabiting the fifth-tier sea-blocking net zone. On the fifth tier, calamity-grade sea beasts were by no means rare, and most operations involved driving them away. The people stationed here could hardly be described merely as elites; they were the absolute best in their respective industries, possessing top-tier mastery of specific skills. Among them, one could hold their breath underwater for nearly ten minutes. Another had a diving depth exceeding the current human limit, while someone else possessed a swimming speed comparable to a motorized vessel. With such a diverse array of talents, each displaying abilities as unusual as monsters, insiders referred to them as the Monster Squad.

Jiang Huan had been somewhat dumbfounded when she was brought in to meet these team members. Although she did have her own unique advantages, surely she didn't warrant being sent to such a gathering of monster-like geniuses? Which of her skills had possibly been classified as top-tier by these people? Unable to hold back, Jiang Huan finally asked Wu Bing about it.

Wu Bing laughed out loud. "Your luck is top-tier. How about that? My observation skills are pretty spot-on, aren't they?"

Jiang Huan thought to herself, *Gee, thanks a lot.*

So, she had simply been dumped into this Monster Squad to serve as a lucky mascot?

As a newcomer to the Monster Squad, Jiang Huan spent her first few days cramming knowledge, reviewing various compilation videos of kills and decoys, and preparing to gear up and go out on patrol with her seniors. The island's medical station also administered anti-radiation injections. Before the apocalypse, a similar shot allegedly cost 1.2 million. *Emmm*, how could one not consider that high consumption?

After receiving the shot, Jiang Huan didn't notice any adverse effects, but just to be safe, she also administered herself an anti-radiation injection produced by her loot-opening tool. Once injected, her entire body felt remarkably refreshed, and even the faint, lingering odor that usually hovered around her nostrils no longer made her feel dizzy.

Since she only had twelve doses left, Jiang Huan specifically inquired about the routine. The teams here basically never stayed at their posts for more than half a year; they were usually rotated out in batches every two months. Those who rotated down would rest, and if they were fit to return to the front lines, they would be rewarded with better benefits. If they could no longer bear the strain, they could retreat to the previous net layers.

Well, that was a relief—she could figure out her next steps after a while. However, with physical examinations taking place once a week in this place, Xie Congzhou wouldn't find it convenient to come inside. As Jiang Huan wondered how to send him this message, she was hit with an even greater shock: Xie Congzhou had been kept in the capital with an indefinite return date.

A wave of panic rippled through her heart. It was impossible not to panic; Jiang Huan had long since regarded Xie Congzhou as one of the only two people in the world she could truly rely on. Like her, he harbored a secret that could not be shared with others, one that carried an even greater layer of danger than her own mysterious abilities. Given his unique physical constitution, she truly feared that some research institute might treat him as a test subject, or worse, view him with the fanatical greed of people trying to consume the flesh of Tang Monk to attain immortality. That would be disastrous.

Jiang Huan didn't have much time to worry. In her second week with the Monster Squad, she was assigned her first underwater mission. Donning her new equipment and quietly applying a protective membrane just in case, she followed the rest of the team as they tumbled out of the vessel and into the ocean like dumplings dropped into a pot.

Today's mission wasn't particularly difficult. Earlier, a section of the fishing net had torn, and now several sea beasts seemed to have remembered that a passage used to exist here. They kept lingering in the vicinity and occasionally attacking. The higher-ups were worried the net would fail again in the short term, so these beasts needed to be driven away.

Working in coordination with two other team members, Jiang Huan managed—with a few close calls—to lure several calamity-grade sea beasts away from the vicinity of the nets. Afterward, they each hunted down a number of smaller sea beasts. Following a one-hour break, they would have to dive right back down to repeat the process.

When she was finally allowed to rest and headed back up, she had to undergo disinfection and step through the radiation detector. At that moment, Jiang Huan truly understood why people used the mundane grind of factory work as a meme. Except that their job came with an extra dose of risk.

If there was any advantage to traveling alone here, it was that preparing private meals was exceptionally convenient—as long as her taste buds were happy, that was all that mattered.

Having just devoured an entire roast chicken, Jiang Huan was walking around the island to aid her digestion when she spotted a team member in tactical gear coming up from the shore in the distance. Jiang Huan narrowed her eyes and slipped away to the side. A gut feeling told her that something was off about this person.

Choosing to trust her sixth sense, Jiang Huan immediately ducked into a hidden corner. After all, given her fondness for sneaking private meals, she knew the island's blind spots inside and out. The spot where this person was coming ashore was not the usual landing point used by regular team members returning to the island.

Furthermore, what kind of mission required a solo operation?

The person hadn't even removed their helmet after coming ashore. There was nothing inherently wrong with that—after all, it was safer to undergo the disinfection procedure before taking off one's helmet—but Jiang Huan noticed that after landing, the individual looked around cautiously before walking with an uncertain gait toward the cluster of residential buildings. However, the disinfection facility was located in a completely different direction.

Initially, Jiang Huan had wondered why the medical station and the living quarters were separated by nearly a mile. But now, that sense of wrongness grew even more pronounced. Jiang Huan immediately raised her communicator, sent a message to the island's security team, and contacted the senior official in charge of administrative affairs on the island.

The official did not brush off the warning from a new recruit; instead, they immediately dispatched personnel to investigate the person Jiang Huan had described.

Although Jiang Huan hadn't managed to catch up with the individual, she had meticulously noted their gait—pigeon-toed with a subconscious hunch and a posture that looked ready to bow. Because of this detailed description, less than twenty minutes later, someone contacted Jiang Huan to inform her that an outsider from overseas had been captured.

The intruder harbored ill intentions and was preliminarily identified as a saboteur sent by another country. More specific details would have to await the completion of the interrogation, and given Jiang Huan's rank, she likely wouldn't be notified to attend the hearings.

To express gratitude, the official invited Jiang Huan for a chat. Upon meeting her, the official looked her over carefully. "No wonder Wu Bing said you must be a lucky charm and a star of fortune. You really live up to the name. You've only just arrived, and you've already helped us catch a spy. Following this lead, we're bound to secure some excellent intelligence sources."

Jiang Huan offered a stiff, polite smile.

*Well*, she was already awkward about having entered the squad due to her so-called luck value, and now she had completely cemented this bug-like persona for herself.

After this humorous opening, the official asked if she had any recent deficiencies in her living conditions or if there were any upgraded benefits she desired for her family members.

"I've already figured out a way to upgrade my family's quarters myself. But, if possible, I'd like to go and visit my former partners and check up on them."

After pondering for a moment, the official decided to grant Jiang Huan's request, granting her a five-day leave. She was sent back aboard the ferry, took a helicopter ride for a while, and was finally air-dropped onto a mountain peak.

The mountain peak featured a relatively flat area where a good number of crops had originally been planted. However, when Jiang Huan landed, her boots crunched only on a layer of withered leaves.

The weather right now was far less scorching than it had been before she participated in the selection trials; the maximum daytime temperature was around fifty degrees Celsius, while the nighttime lows hovered just above thirty.

Since even ordinary people who had improved their heat tolerance were now capable of going outside, why was the scene still so desolate?

Could it be that without Xie Congzhou, this land truly could no longer nurture any crops?