The few people gathered beside Smith noticed that he had fallen silent, his head slightly lowered as he stared at the ground in deep thought. No one spoke to disturb him.
Natasha, pale from blood loss and exhaustion, leaned weakly against the rock wall. He was the most injured among them and clearly needed rest, so it was natural for him to stay quiet. As for the others, their silence came from a different reason altogether—Smith was their captain.
Though the group had only been together for a little over half a month, everyone present understood one thing clearly: Smith was a flexible, levelheaded, and capable leader.
Since the day they had formed this team, they had suffered zero casualties.
That fact alone spoke volumes.
Whether it was his mediation with Roy in the early days or the careful daily assignments that balanced risk and reward, Smith's judgment had repeatedly proven correct. In a world where survival often came down to a single poor decision, trust like that was not built easily.
After several minutes, Smith finally lifted his head.
"Natasha," he asked calmly, "can you still activate that defensive wind wall like before?"
Natasha raised his head with some effort and nodded weakly.
"I can," he replied honestly. "But I won't be able to maintain it for long. And activating it exactly the same way I did earlier… that might be difficult."
He paused, then added with a faint, self-aware smile, "Standing in front and tanking attacks for everyone else like before? That's not happening."
His meaning was unmistakably clear.
He was injured. Exhausted. And while he was willing to contribute, he wasn't about to gamble his life recklessly.
Smith didn't argue.
After all, no one here was a saint. Everyone was struggling to survive in this brutal new world, and expecting someone to sacrifice themselves for others violated the most basic laws of survival.
Smith nodded once. "Understood."
Then he asked, "What's the maximum distance you can deploy the wind wall?"
"One meter," Natasha answered after a moment of thought.
"Good," Smith said. "That's enough."
With the effective range established, the calculations in Smith's mind quickly fell into place.
"When the time comes," he continued, "you'll activate the wind wall from inside the shield formation. You won't be exposed."
Natasha let out a quiet breath of relief and nodded again.
Smith then turned his attention to john
"Take this," Smith said, pulling out the quill and handing it over. "Go back to the Shelter. Bring everyone here. Also, have Roy gather as many shields as possible. If there aren't enough, steel plates will do. Bring everything."
He swept his gaze across the group.
"The rest of you john stay here. Eat, drink, rest, and recover your stamina."
The moment Smith finished speaking, Zhaonodded decisively.
"Got it."
He turned and left without hesitation.
Unlike most of the others, john hadn't lost his ability to communicate after relocating. Earlier, when the group discussed merging, john Duhad moved both his Magic Desk and his magic lantern into Smith's Shelter.
That meant his "right to communicate" remained intact.
The round trip—combined with contacting Roy, arranging the gathering, and having the quill appraised—took a full two and a half hours.
By the time john returned with the others, Natasha, who had been resting during that time, had recovered a noticeable amount of strength. While he was still far from peak condition, he could at least stand on his own without assistance.
The clatter of shields echoed through the cavern as the group regrouped.
Smith immediately stepped forward. "How did it go?"
"It's been appraised," john replied. "That creature is called a Mountain-Eating Beast."
Smith and Natasha both listened intently.
"It's an Earth-type D-rank magical creature," john continued. "It gains energy by gnawing on mountainsides and reproduces through fission. According to the appraisal… it has no offensive abilities."
A brief silence followed.
"…No offensive abilities?" Natasha repeated flatly.
Smith's lips twitched.
The two of them exchanged looks, each clearly recalling the violent, high-speed projectiles that had nearly crushed them earlier.
So in the eyes of the Magic Desk, that thing was considered harmless?
John quickly added, "However, killing it yields rare ores. The specific type is random and can't be determined in advance."
That part caught Smith's attention immediately.
Rare ores meant value. And value meant profit.
And profit—especially with a ten percent share—was more than enough motivation.
Without wasting time, Smith began deploying his plan.
The shields and steel plates were stacked into a dense formation roughly half a meter thick, positioned fifty meters away from the Mountain-Eating Beast's location.
At the front was Natasha's wind wall.
Behind it stood Natasha himself and Smith, managing the formation.
The rest of the team took cover around the bend in the forked passageway.
The creature's attacks were fast and powerful, but they traveled in straight lines and couldn't turn corners. There was no reason to expose unnecessary personnel.
As Smith adjusted the positioning, john approached and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Smith," he said, "let me handle managing the shields."
Smith turned to him.
"After all," johncontinued with a grin, "I'm a sports student. This kind of physical work is much easier for me than for you—a liberal arts guy."
Smith snorted softly, then nodded. "Fair enough."
It was true. In this kind of situation, physical conditioning mattered.
Once the final adjustments were complete, Natasha frowned slightly.
"There's one problem left," he said. "Who's going to attack?"
In his current condition, Natasha could barely maintain defense, let alone launch an attack.
Smith smiled faintly.
"That part's simple," he replied. "We'll leave it to Otto."
He stepped aside and pushed someone forward.
The man was thin, quiet, and holding a crossbow.
Otto.
This, in fact, was Smith's original backup plan. Earlier, based on Natasha's behavior, Smith hadn't truly believed Natasha meant them harm, so Otto had remained in reserve.
That was also why Smith had johmbring everyone back.
With more people present, Otto's appearance felt natural—nothing suspicious, nothing out of place. Natasha would never realize that Smith had already been preparing contingencies.
Or at least, that's what Smith believed.
What Smith didn't know was that Natasha, as a combatant, had noticed Otto lingering in the background long ago. He simply hadn't mentioned it. Partners guarding against each other was only natural in this world.
"Oh?" Natasha glanced at Otto with interest. "Then his Talent must be impressive."
"He's decent," Smith replied casually. "Especially against large targets like this one."
Smith had no intention of revealing Otto's true Talent. In fact, he was the only person in the entire group who knew what Otto was truly capable of.
Even Roy didn't know.
Roy never bothered asking about such things. All he cared about was whether the collection team met the KPIs he set.
Talents were irrelevant as long as results were delivered.
"Alright," Natasha said simply. "I'll focus on maintaining the wind wall."
This time was different from before.
Earlier, Natasha had suffered a loss because he didn't understand the Mountain-Eating Beast's attack patterns. Now, with preparation and positioning, he felt confident.
He intended to reclaim the dignity he had lost.
After all, standing alone at the pass earlier—and nearly getting crushed—was not a memory he wanted to relive.
Once everything was ready, Otto stepped into position behind the two men. He moved slightly to the left and raised his crossbow.
Mounted conspicuously on it was one of the Mountain-Eating Beast's own quills.
It would have been a waste not to use something that hard and sharp.
"Natasha," Smith said firmly, "activate the wind wall the moment Otto fires."
"No problem."
Natasha channeled his wind element, nodded once, and met Otto's gaze.
Without a word, Otto activated his Talent.
The crossbow twanged.
The quill shot forward like a streak of lightning.
At the same instant, Otto stepped to the right, slipping back into the shield formation.
And Natasha—without delay—unleashed a wind wall large enough to seal the entire cave entrance.
The countermeasures were finally in motion.
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