Soon, everyone returned to the stone house.
They began to take stock of their strategic supplies from this trip, which could be considered their first earnings after entering the ruins!
"Brother Ye and I killed thirty-nine stone figures in total, yielding thirty-nine crystals!"
Shangguan Yun was somewhat excited as he opened his backpack, pouring out a large number of crystals. They clattered out like coins, making a rustling sound.
Zhang Liang also nodded to the members behind him. The only female member of the team, a woman named Guo Ling, also opened her backpack.
A small pile of crystals was poured out, but the quantity was much smaller.
"We killed twenty-three stone figures, yielding twenty-three crystals!" Zhang Liang said.
He led five team members, and together they only managed to kill twenty-three stone figures. Even so, they almost capsized in a ditch, being surrounded by a stone figure patrol team outside the stone house and trapped for a full hour.
The other three members of Mu Chenglong's team exchanged glances, clearly hesitant.
However, the three quickly took out crystals from their pockets. "We killed twelve stone figures!"
Ye Cangtian nodded, feeling quite surprised.
It was understandable that Zhang Liang and his team could kill twenty-three stone figures because of Captain Zhang Liang and their larger numbers.
But for the three members of Mu Chenglong's team to kill twelve stone figures, it indicated that the members brought by Mu Chenglong were all strong and brave fighters.
Of course, as members of the Dragon Group who had long guarded the border, their combat experience and the dangers they had encountered were far greater than those of the other team members.
In such circumstances, their advantage became apparent.
Ye Cangtian counted the number of crystals and said with some surprise, "This means we killed a total of seventy-four stone figures this time! And twenty-two stone figures are missing."
The square and the streets around it had three stone figure patrol teams, plus three more patrol teams that came from nearby for support. Assuming each patrol team had sixteen stone figures, there should have been ninety-six stone figures in total.
But the total haul of everyone combined was only seventy-four, a deficit of a full twenty-two stone figures.
At this point, Zhang Liang said helplessly, "Actually, not long after we started, others also thought of this method. The remaining majority of the stone figures were likely killed by the Pandora Mercenary Group!"
Hearing this explanation, Ye Cangtian suddenly understood.
Zhao Ziyang!
It was likely Zhao Ziyang leading the Pandora Mercenary Group. Only he possessed such strength and courage.
With this thought, Ye Cangtian nodded. "It doesn't matter. It's good that someone helped clear out these stone figures. Otherwise, it would have been very tiring for us alone."
The crowd couldn't help but laugh. It was indeed tiring.
Although everyone dealt with one stone figure at a time, these stone figures were incredibly strong and very tough. Each one consumed a lot of physical strength.
"Everyone put in effort this time, so let's distribute these crystals first!" Ye Cangtian said, looking at the crystals on the ground and pondering.
He could see that the three members of Mu Chenglong's team were worried about not getting their share, as they had shown hesitation when taking out their crystals earlier.
Moreover, distributing the crystals would give everyone more motivation.
When distributing the crystals, Ye Cangtian initially planned to divide them equally. However, Zhang Liang felt it would be better to distribute them based on the effort each person put in.
So, the final distribution results were: Ye Cangtian and Shangguan Yun received the thirty-nine crystals; Ye Cangtian got twenty, and Shangguan Yun got nineteen.
Zhang Liang and his team divided their twenty-three crystals equally, with each member receiving three, and Captain Zhang Liang receiving five.
As for the three members of Mu Chenglong's team, they also received a relatively even share, with each getting four crystals.
Although Shangguan Yun acted with Ye Cangtian, his contribution was certainly less than Ye Cangtian's, so he was overjoyed to receive nineteen crystals.
Compared to others, he had more experience. He had interacted with people from the Hidden Group and had even gone undercover in the Dark Association, so he was very aware of the preciousness of crystals.
For instance, in the Dark Association, a Yellow-level member only received one crystal per year, and even when carrying out missions, obtaining crystals was extremely difficult.
Now, he had easily earned nineteen, proving that following Brother Ye indeed brought benefits!
After the distribution was complete.
Ye Cangtian continued, "There are no more stone figures in the vicinity now, and we are only on the outskirts of the entire city. Therefore, I want to explore further into the inner city, but I suspect that the number of stone figures in the inner city will be greater and more dangerous. What are your thoughts?"
"We have no objections. If Mr. Ye says to go to the inner city, then we'll go to the inner city!"
"Since there are no more stone figures, what's the point of staying here? Let's go to the inner city!"
The members of Zhang Liang's team all unhesitatingly decided to follow Ye Cangtian to the inner city.
Previously, they were somewhat apprehensive of the stone figures, but after killing so many of them, their courage had grown significantly.
Ye Cangtian looked at the other three. "What about you? Will you go with us to the inner city, or wait here for your captain?"
Mu Chenglong had not appeared yet. It was unknown if he had encountered an accident or if he had entered before everyone else arrived.
The three Dragon Group members exchanged glances and finally said, "We'll go with you!"
Their captain was strong and didn't need them to worry about him.
Moreover, even if they stayed here, they couldn't do anything.
"Alright, but let me be clear beforehand: if you act with us, you need to follow my commands!"
Ye Cangtian knew that these guys had been somewhat unconvinced of him before, but if they didn't follow orders and faltered at a critical moment, it would affect the safety of others.
"Don't worry, Leader Ye, we will follow your commands!" The three quickly nodded.
"You two, stay here! It happens that Xu Shi'an also needs someone to look after him." Ye Cangtian looked at Shangguan Yanran and Yao Bao'er.
It was truly a miracle that these two girls had managed to reach this point.
Of course, he understood Yao Bao'er quite well. Their safe journey might have been related to Yao Bao'er's abilities.
Apart from often being confused, this girl was otherwise normal.
"Boss, I want to go with you!" Yao Bao'er said, holding a lollipop in her mouth, her peripheral vision glancing at everyone else's backpacks.
She had just seen that some people had snacks in their backpacks.
Shangguan Yanran also stood up and said, "I want to go too. This ancient city involves some of my research fields, and I want to go into the inner city to see and collect some specimens."
"And me too, brother-in-law, don't abandon me!" Xu Shi'an, still lying there, quickly chimed in when he heard everyone discussing going to the inner city.
Ye Cangtian glanced at him. "You're so badly injured, you shouldn't come with us."
"How can that be!"
Xu Shi'an became anxious. He quickly struggled to get up, enduring the pain of his wounds tearing open. He forced a smile and waved his arms a couple of times. "Heh heh, look, I'm much better already!"
Anyone could see that this guy was faking it.
He had sustained such severe injuries before, and although he had eaten some "immortal root" not long ago, it shouldn't have healed this quickly.
It seemed that all three of them didn't want to stay here and intended to follow everyone into the inner city.
Ye Cangtian felt a headache coming on.
Should he really take two burdens and one patient to the inner city?
Not to mention that the inner city would surely have many stone figure patrol teams, as well as other dangers. In fact, the stronger organizations were almost all located there.
If they encountered a crisis, he wouldn't be able to protect the safety of these three.
Shangguan Yun hesitated for a moment, then said, "Brother Ye, why not let them come with us? Now that there are no more stone figure patrol teams in the vicinity, if later comers break in, they will also be in danger."
Ye Cangtian pondered for a while, then nodded.
Fine, then they would all go to the inner city together!