Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

Ye Ge said, "Oh, it's okay. Just keep losing. You'll get used to it after a while."

Long Ying: "......"

"Stop thinking about all that nonsense. It's time to hand over the shift. Go back to your tents and get some sleep," Ye Ge said. "We still have to keep traveling tomorrow morning."

Long Ying gave him a deep look, said nothing more, stood up, and walked towards the tent.

The forest was quiet in the dead of night.

The harmonious chirping of insects echoed from deep within the woods.

Ye Ge added more firewood to the fire and took out a few skewers from the system space to grill on the fire.

A crow perched on a nearby treetop, its scarlet eyes sparkling brightly. It occasionally trembled its wings slightly and preened its black feathers with its beak.

The little civet cat curled up on a nearby rock and fell fast asleep.

"Stop hiding, come out if you can't sleep," Ye Ge suddenly said.

Hearing this, Xia Xiyao, who was secretly observing from behind the tent, jogged over with a grin and came to Ye Ge's side.

"You noticed me a long time ago?"

Ye Ge looked at her strangely: "Why are you awake so early? It's still a long time before your shift changes, isn't it?"

"Oh, I'm not sleepy~" Xia Xiyao sat down on a rock next to Ye Ge, stretched her arms and yawned: "I've been in the car all day, and I slept several times in the car... Speaking of which, our mission this time is really easy. Although it is a C-level mission, I feel that it is easier than the previous D-level missions. There hasn't been a single Yellow Realm beast that attacked us along the way."

"It's best not to let our guard down," Ye Ge said. "Many dangers come without warning."

"Mmm, I know." Xia Xiyao gently leaned her head on Ye Ge's arm and closed her eyes slightly. "Anyway, I have my childhood sweetheart here... and of course, Xue'er here too... so I'm not afraid of anything."

Ye Ge smiled and handed her the grilled meat skewers: "Have something to eat."

Xia Xiyao took the meat skewer and carefully took a bite.

Because it was still hot from being freshly baked, I blew on it with a hissing sound.

"Speak."

Xia Xiyao curiously approached the large iron box sealed by chains, raised her hand and tapped it: "What exactly is this thing we're escorting?"

As a superhuman warrior, one must not open the transported items during a mission; this is the most basic professional etiquette.

However, even if they wanted to open this large iron box, they couldn't. Not to mention the level nine rune seal, even the outer iron chain was made of Northern Dark Iron, which was impossible for a low-level superhuman to break.

Xia Xiyao pressed her ear tightly against the metal box, trying to listen carefully for any sound inside: "There's no sound at all..."

Ye Ge said slowly, "I guess there's either something really important in here, or something completely useless, or even nothing at all."

Xia Xiyao said in surprise, "Nothing?? What do you mean??"

"If there's nothing there, why would we be needed to escort them?"

Night Singer continued grilling skewers over the fire: "This large iron box is completely sealed with chains of Northern Dark Iron, and it is also sealed with three layers of level nine runes, as well as two state-of-the-art electronic combination locks. Such a level of protection is enough to demonstrate its importance."

"But if it really contains something that important, would they have arranged for us low-level superhumans to escort it?"

"Hmm..." Xia Xiyao bit her finger and thought for a moment, "Maybe... it's because we're short-handed? Aren't all the senior students at the intermediate level or above recently sent out on missions...?"

“Even if we’re short-handed, it’s impossible.” Ye Ge shook his head: “If we’re just using ‘insufficient manpower’ as an excuse, it only means that this task isn’t that important.”

Xia Xiyao tilted her head: "Then why is that?"

"I think there are probably two intentions," Ye Ge said unhurriedly. "The first is to deceive people, and the second is to pass off the real thing as the real thing."

"Uh..." Xia Xiyao fiddled with her fingers, embarrassed to admit that she still didn't understand.

“What I mean by ‘deceiving others’ is,” Ye Ge smiled, seeing that she didn’t understand, “that the Empire deliberately sent a group of low-level superhumans to transport this important batch of supplies. If we encounter enemies on the way, they will see that we are just a group of low-level superhuman warriors and probably won’t think that the supplies we are escorting are anything of value.”

Xia Xiyao suddenly realized: "So that's how it is..."

"Then, there was the deception." Night Song continued, "All the lower-ranking students in the inner sect of the War Academy were sent out and dispatched to various places along the second line of the Great Wall to retrieve the supplies they needed to escort."

"If we divide them into groups of five, then including students who have passed the exams or above, we can make up nearly a hundred groups. If these one hundred groups are separated to transport supplies, there will be more than a hundred completely different routes."

Xia Xiyao finally understood: "You mean, out of these hundred-plus iron boxes, only one might actually contain truly important 'supplies'? And the rest of the boxes are all empty???"

“Yes,” Night Song said. “So even if the enemy discovers that we are trying to cover our tracks, they will not be able to tell which iron box actually contains what they want. Of course, this is just my guess.”

"I see, how amazing. The adult world is indeed full of scheming..." Xia Xiyao stroked the iron box in front of her: "I wonder if there are any real 'supplies' inside this big iron box we are escorting?"

"Whether they have it or not, it's none of our business." Ye Ge shrugged. "Our job is just to deliver it."

Xia Xiyao: "Mmm, you're right..."

......

The snow fell even heavier in the forest.

The cold night wind swayed the shadows of the trees, and the distant howl of a wild beast could be heard from time to time.

The leaves rustled, making a soft, whispering sound.

Ye Ge's ears suddenly perked up.

He heard many deliberately suppressed footsteps...

"Ok?"

Night Song quickly sensed that something was wrong.

From the surrounding woods, it seemed that many suspicious people were approaching and had already surrounded their camp.

And judging from the footsteps... they're human...

There are many of them... but they don't seem to be very strong?

The calamity spirit perched on the treetop flew back to Nightsong's shoulder, conveying certain information through low-frequency sound waves that only the two of them could hear.

Ye Ge narrowed his eyes.

"Calamity, go and deliver the message to Xue'er and the others."

The crow nodded slightly, flapped its wings and took flight, transforming into a cloud of black mist that dissipated in the air.

Then, Ye Ge woke up Xia Xiyao, who was sleeping with her head on his shoulder: "Xiyao, wake up."

"Hmm..." Xia Xiyao woke up groggily, wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth: "What's wrong? Is it time to change shifts?"