Rocky understood a watched pot never boiled. So, after half an hour, he stopped waiting and lifted little
Rubygon, who was already asleep in his arms, and laid it on the bed. He asked Uriah to take care of it,
then left the house and went to the beast farm to get some food for it. Right now, in addition to
breastfeeding, Rocky had started to feed little Rubygon some meat and vegetables in order to
strengthen his body.
Not long after leaving the house, Rocky noticed that people looked at him with disdain and derision on
their face. But it was usual for him. He had been the talk of the northeast military camp ever since he'd
been made captain of the sixth team. A lot of people were of the opinion that it was a huge mistake.
Hence, he'd been reduced to nothing but a joke in the camp. They were waiting for the sixth team to
make a big mistake. In their opinion, letting a loser like Rocky become captain of the team would only
result in trouble. This team would be destined to be made fun of.
Although, under his captain-ship, the sixth team hadn't really made a fool of themselves for now. That
was only because they hadn't had a chance to do it. It had been a while since the sixth team's last
mission. In the absence of any other serious missions, they had only been patrolling. As a result, Rocky
had plenty of free time as the captain. If there was anything that needed to be dealt with, he would just
hand it to Joss and Thor. Therefore, in addition to bringing little Rubygon to the village to borrow milk
every day, Rocky was hiding in the house, cultivating day and night.
However, the progress of this cultivation was indeed unsatisfactory. Even with the assistance of the
magical saliva, Rocky's progress was not as rapid as it had been in the Mortal Stage. Moreover, even
though Rocky had the spiritual crystal with him, he could not use it because the power of the Holy
Dragon Bead in his body was sealed.
Actually, besides the spiritual crystal, there was a variety of treasures in the world which could help
improve spiritual power. However, all of them were extremely precious. Consequently, they were also
rare.
According to the current progress of cultivation, Rocky would need at least a few months to upgrade to
the second grade of the Earthly Stage. Even if he was smart enough, he could not come up with a
shorter way to speed up his cultivation and became stronger.
In truth, Rocky was quite lucky. He already had the magical saliva with him and could use it as an
assistant in his cultivation. It was a very valuable asset. Generally speaking, any regular spirit
manipulator, who wanted to cultivate from the Earthly Stage to the Heavenly Stage, needed to spend
ten or twenty years to do so. Logically speaking, with the assistance of magical saliva, one could surely
reach the Heavenly Stage within ten years, in some cases even faster.
But Rocky didn't have time to wait that long. He had to possess the capability that was able to compete
with Alston before Alston became the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire. Otherwise, everything would
be in vain.
Rocky needed to reach the level of the Supernal Stage within a few years. This was something that
was impossible for spirit manipulators to imagine. Many spirit manipulators would not be able to break
through the bottleneck of the Heavenly Stage and reach the Supernal Stage for a lifetime.
However, Rocky had a strong and evil power in his body, which came from the sealed Holy Dragon
Bead. Marcia had said that only when he could reach the Heavenly Stage, could he regain the power of
the Holy Dragon Bead. The power she was talking about was that evil power that was inside him. In
other words, the faster he reached the Heavenly Stage, the quicker he would regain the power of the
Holy Dragon Bead. With the power of the Holy Dragon Bead and the constant cultivation he was
undergoing, it could become possible for him to achieve the strength to compete with Alston in a few
years' time.
"If I can regain and grasp the evil power, I can get back to the Imperial City!" Rocky told himself with
stone-cold, determined eyes.
After he got food for little Rubygon from the beast farm, Rocky went back to his house, and was ready
to start the cultivation again. Just then, he heard someone knocking at the door.
Rocky opened the door. Thor and Joss were standing outside.
"What is going on?" Rocky asked. He had already told them that they could make the decisions for the
team on their own as far as little things were concerned. They did not need to ask him.
"We have a new mission," Joss said.
"Oh...wait for me here." Rocky nodded and closed the door. After changing into military robes, Rocky
asked Uriah to take care of Rubygon. He then walked out of the house.
"Captain, why don't you bring your spirit-manipulated beast with you on the missions?" Thor had
spotted Uriah lying on the bed when Rocky closed the door behind him, and hence asked the question
with curiosity.
Joss too was equally curious. Since Rocky had arrived at the military camp, they had never seen Uriah
with him when he came for the missions, which they found quite strange.
Rocky took a look at the two of them for a second, then walked away with a strange coldness on his
face.
Thor and Joss looked at each other in confusion. They didn't say anything further, and followed Rocky
hurriedly.
Rocky had thought that this new mission was just another patrol. It was unexpected for him when
Deputy Commander Chen, who was responsible for assigning tasks, gave them something new as
soon as the sixth team gathered in front of him. Their mission was to escort a batch of military supplies
to a post in the front line.
"Deputy Commander Chen, our team never gets missions like this one. Why suddenly..." Thor asked
as he realized Rocky wasn't going to say anything.
"The other teams are already occupied with their own escort missions and there is a batch of
temporary military supplies to be escorted. I discussed with the Commander and we decided to give
this mission to the sixth team," Deputy Commander Chen replied.
"Is it dangerous? How long do we need to go for?" Rocky asked lazily after hearing his reply.
"There shouldn't be any danger if you follow the route properly. There aren't going to be any spirit-
manipulated beasts around. Common bandits who are also spirit manipulators dare not attack the
troops of our Holy Dragon Empire, so it should be very safe. If you leave now, you will reach by tonight.
You can return tomorrow by the same route," Deputy Commander Chen explained while taking out a
map, and then he handed it to Rocky.
Rocky took the map and took a look at it. He saw the route, which was drawn from the northeast
military camp to the post on the western side of the front. This so-called front line was the boundary line
of the Holy Dragon Empire's defense and jurisdiction in the Gehenna Border. It was also the area
where wars broke out most frequently.
"As long as you are careful, there should be no problem. Rocky, you're so unlucky that you just became
the captain and got this kind of missions. The Commander asked me to tell you that if this mission goes
wrong, you would get the same treatment as Zander. You'd better prepare carefully. When you are
ready, you can go to the logistics to get three carts of military supplies," Deputy Commander Chen
announced curtly, then turned around and walked away.
"Captain! If we complete this mission successfully, the other teams will be definitely impressed!" Thor
said with excitement. The other members of the team were also very keen for the mission.
But Rocky's expression was tensed. Even though the route to be taken was safe, they needed to be
very careful. The Gehanna Border was a very dangerous place. No one could foresee what could
happen on the mission. It seemed it was necessary for him to take Uriah with him this time.
"Thor, you guys go to the logistics and get the military supplies. Wait for me two miles to the west of the
military camp. I will meet you there right after I finish some errands," Rocky added.
When he got back to the house, he picked little Rubygon in his arms, who was still asleep. He then
asked Uriah to follow him to sneak out of the military camp. Then, they went to the village, which was to
the east of the military camp.
At the village, Rocky saw Sue playing with the local children. He walked toward her.
"Have you come to borrow milk again?" Sue shouted in his direction. She pouted, looking at him
walking toward her with Rubygon in his arms.
"Do me a favor!" Rocky continued.
"Really? Why should I help you?" Sue asked with a snort.
"I need to find a nanny for little Rubygon. I just got a new mission, and may not be back for a couple of
days. I need someone to look after my little Rubygon. If you don't want to help, I will find someone
else," Rocky said, and was about to turn around to leave. Sue didn't reply, only staring at him intently.
Sue suddenly tore little Rubygon out of Rocky's arm. "You are so pathetic! Even though I don't want to,
I will take care of little Rubygon, but for its sake, not yours!" she said and ran away from him without
wasting another second.
Behind her, Rocky stood with a slight smile on his face. He then went to meet Uriah and together they
headed to the decided meeting point...
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