The commander of the Great Wall was Li Xin, and Su Lie was considered Mulan's direct superior.
Mulan exclaimed, "How could this be?"
The Great Wall guard said, "Someone suddenly appeared beside General Su Lie without any warning and then ambushed him. Fortunately, General Su Lie reacted quickly enough to avoid the vital points. 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 infiltrated the Great Wall like this before, obtained the defense line formation map, and even killed my superior to frame me. Now he's back!"
Mulan appeared furious, raising her greatsword and smashing it onto the ground, shattering it.
"You all return to the military camp first," Mulan said. "I'll go and see General Su Lie."
Mulan hurried away, while Bai Ye had a sudden realization.
Bai Ye understood why his hidden mission had changed.
The previous hidden mission stated that he should help Mulan investigate the ghost. This had led Bai Ye's thinking astray. Since this matter was related to Mulan, it was natural to investigate by Mulan's side.
But now, it seemed it wasn't like that.
If Bai Ye had stayed at the Great Wall to fight against the demon creatures, there was a high chance he would have encountered General Su Lie's assassination. In that case, if he could have detained the person and at least ascertained their identity, then this hidden mission would have been completed.
However, Bai Ye had left the Great Wall, so this mission naturally had nothing to do with Bai Ye.
Yet, although he had missed the opportunity, Bai Ye's mission was not a failure; it had branched onto another path, which was not a bad outcome.
It was just that the mission content had changed, not that the mission had failed.
Meanwhile...
Mulan went to find Su Lie, the others returned to the military camp, and Bai Ye went to the quartermaster to exchange merit points. The final merit points he received were 1122, an absolutely terrifying number. This represented at least five to six hundred demon creatures that had died by Bai Ye's hand.
Even so, over a thousand merit points couldn't exchange for much; only items of green quality could be redeemed, which Bai Ye truly disdained.
After exchanging his merit points, Bai Ye returned to the military camp. Mulan had also returned, with Dun Shan behind her, carrying a large pile of documents.
Bai Ye asked curiously, "Sister Mulan, what's wrong?"
Mulan said, "General Su Lie is injured and cannot handle official business for the time being, so he has handed all these documents to me for processing."
Bai Ye exclaimed, "So many?"
Mulan sighed, "There have been many troublesome matters outside the Great Wall recently, so there are more things to deal with."
Bai Ye's eyes darted around, wondering if there were any clues about the mechanical beings here.
Could these documents be related to his hidden mission?
While pondering, Bai Ye asked, "Do you need me to help you?"
Mulan's eyes lit up. "Can you? Kai only knows fighting and eating meat, and the bomb cat is unreliable and can't stay still. Zhuiyue could, but he's responsible for handling miscellaneous affairs within the camp and is already very busy."
"Goo goo, quack quack, goo goo..."
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 isn't something you're good at, so don't force yourself."
Bai Ye said, "I might know a little. I can help you sort through them. Anyway, if there are any problems, I can ask you directly."
"That's great!" Mulan said. "Come with me!"
Mulan was straightforward and acted immediately. She pulled Bai Ye into the camp and then threw half of the documents in front of Bai Ye, saying, "Half for you, half for me. Is that okay?"
Bai Ye nodded. "No problem."
Bai Ye sat down at the desk and began reading the documents.
For this hidden mission, Bai Ye figured that brute force might not be enough; he needed to use his brain as well.
These documents were likely the key. As long as he could find clues within them, he could unravel the mystery of the mechanical beings.
However, after flipping through some of the documents, Bai Ye didn't feel anything particularly special.
The three main enemies outside the Great Wall were demon creatures, bandits, and barbarians.
The content of these documents mainly focused on these three aspects, with hunting missions being the most common. It was all about demon creatures, bandits, or barbarians appearing in certain areas, and the Great Wall Guards naturally had to exterminate them as much as possible.
Bandits and barbarians were elusive and difficult to catch, while low-level demon creatures were mindless and could be hunted easily.
Besides hunting, the Great Wall, besides being a defense against external enemies, was also a trade route.
Jade City, Jin Ting City, Qian Ku City, and the Sand Alliance, all heading towards the Cloud Desert, required passing through the Great Wall. Therefore, ensuring the safety of passing merchant caravans was also a task for the Great Wall Guards.
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 also fell under the responsibility of the Great Wall Guards. However, the Great Wall mainly provided support, as those areas were quite far and primarily under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate.
Bai Ye looked at the documents before him. The matters that needed to be dealt with were all of this nature. Although complicated, they were all daily routines of the Great Wall Guards.
If he had to say what was problematic...
Bai Ye frowned. "It seems the bandits have been particularly active recently. The barbarians usually only appear after winter, relying on plundering food to survive the winter. But it's still too early for winter, yet barbarians are frequently appearing around the Great Wall. Also, the frequency of demon creature appearances is much higher than last month."
Of course, there were also the mechanical beings!
Bai Ye mumbled, wondering if these matters were related.
Bai Ye leaned back in his chair, thinking, and suddenly realized it was past midnight.
"Forget it, let's rest for a bit!" Bai Ye had a flash of inspiration. "I almost forgot about the Steel Slime."
Bai Ye quickly reached out and wiped the air in front of him, and a light screen appeared.
The next moment, Bai Ye's face showed excitement.
The Vulcan 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 did not decrease because the Vulcan Gatling and the Yin Yang Talisman were reclaimed by the gacha machine; it remained 581 points, the same as before.
This meant Bai Ye's conjecture was correct!
He could use the items from the gacha machine to increase the Steel Slime's growth value!
If that was the case, what was there to hesitate about?
It was already past 12 o'clock anyway!
*Snap!*
Bai Ye snapped his fingers, and the air around him suddenly distorted. The gacha machine quickly appeared, followed by the sound of the machine spinning as it began to draw.
Bai Ye said piously, "Give me something good!"
However...
...