The commander of the Great Wall was Li Xin, and Su Lie was somewhat Mulan's direct superior.
Mulan was surprised, "How could this happen?"
The Great Wall Guard said, "Someone suddenly appeared beside General Su Lie without warning and attacked him. Fortunately, General Su Lie reacted quickly enough to avoid a fatal blow. However, we couldn't catch the person. The assassin vanished without a trace."
"It's him, it must be him!" Mulan gritted her teeth. "It's that Ghost again! He sneaked into the Great Wall back then, got the defense line schematic, and even killed my superior to frame me. Now he's back!"
Mulan appeared furious, slamming her greatsword onto the ground, shattering it.
"You all return to the camp first," Mulan said. "I'll go see General Su Lie."
Mulan hurried off, while Bai Ye had a sudden realization.
Bai Ye understood why his hidden mission had changed.
The previous hidden mission was to help Mulan investigate the Ghost. This had led Bai Ye's thinking astray. Since this matter was related to Mulan, it naturally required investigation by Mulan's side.
But now, it seemed that was not the case.
If Bai Ye had stayed at the Great Wall to fight the demonic creatures at that time, there was a high chance he would have encountered General Su Lie's assassination. If he could have detained the attacker, or at least ascertained their identity, then this hidden mission would have been completed.
But Bai Ye had left the Great Wall, so this mission naturally had nothing to do with him.
However, even though he had missed the opportunity, Bai Ye's mission had not failed. Instead, it had branched onto a different path, which was not an entirely bad outcome.
The mission content had simply changed; it did not mean the mission had failed.
Meanwhile...
Mulan went to see Su Lie, while the others returned to the camp. Bai Ye went to the quartermaster to exchange his merit points, ultimately obtaining 1122 points, an absolutely terrifying number. This represented at least five to six hundred demonic creatures killed by Bai Ye.
Even so, over a thousand merit points couldn't get him much. Only items of green quality were available for exchange, which Bai Ye found unimpressive.
After exchanging his merit points, Bai Ye returned to the camp. Mulan had also returned, with Dun Shan behind her, holding a large stack of documents.
Bai Ye asked curiously, "Sister Mulan, what's wrong?"
Mulan said, "General Su Lie is injured and temporarily unable to handle official duties, so he has handed all these documents over to me to process."
Bai Ye was surprised, "That many?"
Mulan sighed, "Lately, there have been many troublesome matters outside the Great Wall, so there's more to handle."
Bai Ye's eyes darted around. Were there any clues about the automaton here?
Could these documents be related to his hidden mission?
As Bai Ye pondered, he said, "Do you want me to help you?"
Mulan's eyes lit up. "Can you? Kai only knows how to fight and eat meat. Bomb Cat is unreliable and can't stay still. Yue is capable, but he's responsible for handling miscellaneous camp affairs and is already very busy."
"Gu Gu Gua Gua Gu..."
Dun Shan twisted his head and made a sound.
"I know you want to help," Mulan said with a smile, looking at Dun Shan. "But this is not something you're good at, so don't push yourself."
Bai Ye said, "I might know a little. I can help you sort them out. Anyway, if there are any problems, I can ask you directly."
"That would be great!" Mulan said. "Come with me!"
Mulan was straightforward and acted as she spoke. She immediately pulled Bai Ye into the tent and tossed half of the documents in front of him. "Half for you, half for me. Deal?"
Bai Ye nodded, "Deal."
Bai Ye sat down at the desk and picked up the documents to read.
For this hidden mission, Bai Ye suspected that brute force alone wouldn't be enough; he would need to use his brain.
These documents might be the key. If he could find clues within them, he could unravel the mystery of the automaton.
However, after flipping through the documents for a while, Bai Ye didn't feel anything particularly special.
The three main enemies outside the Great Wall were the demonic creatures, the bandits, and the barbarians.
The content of these documents primarily focused on these three aspects. Most of them were hunting missions – essentially, demonic creatures, bandits, or barbarians appeared somewhere, and the Great Wall Guard had to exterminate them as much as possible.
Bandits and barbarians were elusive and hard to catch. Low-level demonic creatures, on the other hand, were brainless and easy to hunt.
Besides hunting, the Great Wall served not only as a defense against foreign enemies but also as a vital trade route.
To reach Jade City, Golden Court City, Thousand Cave City, and the Sand Alliance in the Cloud Desert, one had to pass through the Great Wall. Therefore, ensuring the safety of traveling merchant caravans was also a task for the Great Wall Guard.
At the same time, near Jade City and the Sand Alliance, the Great Wall had established border markets.
Thus, in addition to escorting merchant caravans, maintaining order in the border markets was also the responsibility of the Great Wall Guard. However, the Great Wall mainly provided support, as the area was a bit distant and primarily under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate.
Bai Ye looked at the documents before him. The matters needing to be handled were all of this nature. Although they were tedious, they were all part of the daily duties of the Great Wall Guard.
If there was anything to point out as problematic...
Bai Ye frowned, "It seems the bandits have been particularly active recently. The barbarians usually only appear after winter, needing to raid for food to survive the cold. But it's still too early for winter, yet the barbarians frequently appear around the Great Wall. And the frequency of demonic creature appearances is also much higher than last month."
And, of course, the automatons!
Bai Ye murmured, could these matters be related?
Bai Ye leaned back in his chair, contemplating. He suddenly realized it was past midnight.
"Forget it, I'll rest for a bit!" Bai Ye had a flash of inspiration. "I almost forgot about the Steel Slime matter."
Bai Ye quickly reached out and wiped in front of him, and a light screen appeared.
The next moment, Bai Ye's face showed excitement.
The Fire God Gatling and the Yin-Yang Talisman had disappeared from the items that the Steel Slime could condense, but...
Current Growth Value: 581/1000!
The Steel Slime's growth value had not decreased because the Fire God Gatling and the Yin-Yang Talisman were recovered by the gacha machine. It remained at 581 points, just like before.
This meant Bai Ye's theory was correct!
He could use items from the gacha machine to increase the Steel Slime's growth value!
If that was the case, then what was there to hesitate about?
It was already past 12 o'clock anyway!
*Snap!*
Bai Ye snapped his fingers. The air around him suddenly distorted, and the gacha machine quickly materialized. The sound of the machine spinning followed, and it began to draw the gacha.
Bai Ye said devoutly, "Give me some good stuff!"
However...
...