Chapter 22: A Solo Draw, Pulling the Longevity Pill!

Jiang Yi’s request was, frankly, quite absurd. Their five-man team was already considered a vulnerable group, yet he had the audacity to request to move independently. This defied all logic!

Zhang Peng immediately retorted, "Are you trying to dodge the mission and hide here until we return at midnight to regroup?"

Jiang Yi ignored Zhang Peng entirely, instead assuring Luo Shan, "I’ll catch up with you in fifteen minutes at most."

Zhang Peng rolled his eyes. "You’re certain? What makes you so sure—"

Before he could finish, Luo Shan nodded in agreement. "Fine, fifteen minutes it is. We’re heading in this direction; you should be able to follow the lingering scent of the beast-luring incense along the way. Just make sure to catch up."

Jiang Yi and Luo Shan shared a bit of personal history, so he wasn't surprised that Luo Shan had agreed. With that, Jiang Yi finally had the personal time to act on his own.

He turned to the shrewd-looking guy from the trio of shopkeepers and asked, "You guys have a restroom here, right?"

The shrewd guy nodded. "Sure, but the water's been out for a long time, so the conditions are pretty grim..."

"That's fine."

Jiang Yi entered the shop. The interior was indeed in poor condition; it was a hardware store. When Liao Yuanfeng’s team had first arrived, the three men seemed to be tinkering with homemade weapons. Jiang Yi noticed an almost-finished crossbow sitting on the oil-stained, grimy floor.

He glanced at it briefly and raised an eyebrow at the shrewd guy. "One of you knows how to make a crossbow?"

The shrewd guy patted the short man beside him and chuckled. "This guy’s just messing around with it, but unfortunately, it doesn't have much power."

Jiang Yi nodded, said nothing more, and headed to the restroom at the back. The stench was indeed foul, but his thoughts were elsewhere: that unfinished crossbow was indeed weak. It likely wouldn't be very effective against fierce beasts, but if it were used against fellow humans...

As expected.

Just after Jiang Yi entered the restroom, the expressions of the three men, who had been so cooperative moments ago, shifted. Even the shrewd guy, who had been the most friendly, now had a dark, inscrutable look in his eyes.

The short man beside him knelt down, picked up the unfinished crossbow, and lowered his voice. "I think I’ve figured it out. In that team, only Captain Liao seems to have any real strength. The other two team leaders are probably a bit stronger, but the rest of the members are likely on par with us."

He gestured pointedly toward the restroom. The shrewd guy was clearly the mastermind of the trio. Another one of them leaned in and whispered, "What's that kid's game, suddenly needing to use the restroom? Do you think he... noticed something?"

The shrewd guy swept a gaze over them, his tone flat. "Noticed what?"

The two men quickly lowered their heads and fell silent. The shrewd guy looked at the crossbow again and said in a low, heavy voice, "If that kid leaves on his own to catch up with his team within fifteen minutes, we’ll leave him be. But if he refuses to leave after fifteen minutes..."

He didn't finish the sentence. It wasn't that he was being coy; it was because they suddenly heard a familiar prompt sound coming from the direction of the restroom—

[Ding—]
[Congratulations on drawing a reward: Longevity Pill!]

A Longevity Pill!

The three men, whose faces had been grim just moments before, instantly widened their eyes! Even the calm and composed shrewd guy found his breathing hitching. The other two were so excited they could barely contain themselves.

They struggled to suppress their emotions and their voices, but even in hushed, breathless tones, the excitement was palpable.

"A Longevity Pill! That kid stayed behind just to sneak in a round of gacha pulls! And he pulled a Longevity Pill on his first try!"

"A Longevity Pill! Even one from a white-tier wheel adds at least ten years to your life! What if it was a green-tier wheel?"

"Then that’s a hundred years minimum, Brother Kuan!"

"Brother Kuan! Brother Kuan! A green-quality Longevity Pill! I... I..."

The two men were practically incoherent. Brother Kuan, the shrewd one, was the most mentally resilient. He quickly regained his composure, gripped the arms of the two men tightly, and hissed, "Calm down! All of you, calm down!"

"Whatever the quality of the pill, it has nothing to do with us!"

"That kid stayed behind to pull the gacha in secret; he must have been hoarding a high-quality wheel, otherwise he wouldn't have pulled a Longevity Pill so easily!"

"He prepared so thoroughly that the moment he pulled the pill, he would have consumed it immediately!"

"We shouldn't even think about something that’s already in someone else’s stomach!"

That was true. The two excited men quickly realized the truth. The kid must have been even more thrilled than they were when he pulled the pill. He wouldn't have cared about being in a restroom; he would have swallowed it right away. No matter how much envy or jealousy they felt, they couldn't exactly dig it out of someone else's gut.

So, stay calm, stay calm...

They had learned a thing or two from Brother Kuan. They forced themselves to settle down.

Brother Kuan warned them in a low voice, "When that kid comes out of the restroom, act like we don't know he pulled the pill. Keep your wits about you."

The two lackeys nodded, signaling they would follow his lead.

They expected Jiang Yi to emerge after the pull, but instead, they heard that familiar, telltale sound of a gacha wheel spinning again—

[Ding—]
[Congratulations on drawing a reward: Spatial Watch!]