The commander of the Great Wall was Li Xin, while Su Lie was considered Mulan's direct superior.
Mulan exclaimed in surprise, "How could this be?"
The Great Wall Guard replied, "Someone suddenly appeared beside General Su Lie without any warning and launched a surprise attack. Fortunately, General Su Lie reacted quickly enough to avoid a fatal blow. However, we couldn't apprehend 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 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 barracks first," Mulan said. "I'll go and see General Su Lie."
Mulan hurried away, while Bai Ye suddenly understood.
Bai Ye knew why his hidden mission had changed.
The previous hidden mission stated to help Mulan investigate the ghost, which had led Bai Ye's thinking astray. Since this matter was related to Mulan, it naturally meant investigating 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 demon race at that time, there was a high probability he would have encountered General Su Lie's assassination. If he could have held the attacker back, at least identifying 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 Bai Ye anymore.
However, although he had missed the opportunity, Bai Ye's mission had not failed. Instead, it had branched onto another path, which was not an entirely bad outcome.
It was just that the mission content had changed, not that the mission had failed.
Meanwhile...
Mulan went to find Su Lie, others returned to the barracks, and Bai Ye went to the quartermaster to exchange merit points. The final merit points obtained were 1122, an absolutely terrifying number, indicating that at least five to six hundred demon creatures had died by Bai Ye's hand.
Even so, over a thousand merit points could not exchange for much. Only some green-quality items could be redeemed, which Bai Ye truly disdained.
After exchanging merit points, Bai Ye returned to the barracks. Mulan also returned, with Dun Shan following behind her, holding a large pile of documents.
Bai Ye asked curiously, "Sister Mulan, what's wrong?"
Mulan replied, "General Su Lie is injured and cannot handle official duties for the time being, so he has handed all these documents over to me to process."
Bai Ye exclaimed, "So many?"
Mulan sighed, "There have been many troublesome matters outside the Great Wall recently, so there are more things to handle."
Bai Ye's eyes darted around. Were there any clues about the mechanical men here?
Would those documents be related to his hidden mission?
As Bai Ye pondered, he asked, "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 idle. Yue is capable, but he's responsible for handling miscellaneous affairs within the camp and is already very busy."
"Gugu guagua gu 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 are good at, so don't force yourself."
Bai Ye said, "I should know a little. I can help you sort through them. 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 immediately. She pulled Bai Ye into the military tent and 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 to read the documents.
For this hidden mission, Bai Ye figured that relying solely on brute force might not be enough; he would need to use his brain as well.
These documents were likely the key. As long as he could find clues in the documents, he could unravel the mystery of the mechanical men.
However, after flipping through the documents for a while, Bai Ye didn't feel anything special.
The three major enemies outside the Great Wall were the demon race, bandits, and barbarians.
The content of these documents mainly focused on these three aspects. Most of them were hunting missions, simply stating that demon creatures, bandits, or barbarians had appeared somewhere, and the Great Wall Guards naturally had to exterminate them as much as possible.
Bandits and barbarians were elusive and difficult to catch. Low-level demon creatures, on the other hand, were brainless and easy to hunt.
Besides hunting, the Great Wall, in addition to being a gateway to resist foreign enemies, was also a trade route.
To reach Jade City, Golden Court City, Thousand Caves City, and the Sand Alliance in the Yunzhong Desert, one had to pass 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 also established border markets.
Thus, in addition to escorting merchant caravans, maintaining order in the border markets also required the Great Wall Guards to do so. However, the Great Wall mainly provided support, as that area was a bit distant and primarily under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate.
Bai Ye looked at the documents before him. The matters that needed to be handled were all of this nature. Although complicated, they were all part of the daily routine of the Great Wall Guards.
If there was anything to point out as problematic...
Bai Ye frowned, "It seems that the bandits have been particularly active recently. The barbarians usually only appear after winter sets in, relying on plundering food to survive the winter. However, it is still early for winter, yet barbarians frequently appear around the Great Wall. Also, the frequency of demon creature appearances has increased significantly compared to last month."
Of course, there were also the mechanical men!
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."
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 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 taken back by the gacha machine. It remained at 581 points, just like before.
This meant that Bai Ye's conjecture was correct!
He could use the items from the gacha machine to increase the Steel Slime's growth value!
Since that was the case, what was there to hesitate about?
It was past 12 o'clock anyway!
*Snap!*
Bai Ye snapped his fingers. Immediately, the air around Bai Ye began to distort, and the gacha machine quickly appeared. The sound of the machine spinning followed, and it began to draw gacha.
Bai Ye said devoutly, "Give me some good stuff!"
However...
...