Chapter 108、Captive of the Little White Bear

"Five Solved? What About the Other Two?"

"One is an S-rank Puzzle Gate, the other hasn't fully formed yet, but it's been occupied."

Wang Shi paused before continuing his report. "There's an S-rank Puzzle Gate in the outskirts. Following your advice, I didn't enter it."

"The other one is in the city center, near a large human settlement. It hasn't fully materialized and is still in the process of coalescing."

"However, it's already surrounded by a large number of survivors. They seem to be from the same settlement, controlling the area, waiting for the Puzzle Gate to fully form."

"I observed that this gate might take a long time to generate, so I returned to report back."

Wang Shi spoke calmly, "Apart from these two, I've basically completed a city-wide search and confirmed that there are no other unaccounted-for Puzzle Gates. But I did notice that many people, due to being close to the gates, entered them before I could reach them, making me miss some opportunities."

"For those gates that have already been entered, I can't access them anymore. Even if they fail, the gate disappears immediately."

"According to my estimates, including the unsolved and occupied gates, the total number of Puzzle Gates in the city is between 100 and 120."

A hundred or so Puzzle Gates might seem like a lot, but considering the random nature of their appearance, Wang Shi securing six (total) gates was actually a significant achievement. Most survivors could only access nearby gates, and they had to ensure no one else was competing for them. Any further gates would be out of their reach, as everyone knew these gates produced upgrade materials. Whenever one appeared, it was always opened immediately.

With so many survivors competing for just over 100 gates, Yi Bai knew it was lucky to grab two or three, let alone six. Fortunately, with Wang Shi's high-efficiency decoding skills, the count was elevated.

"Well done. Take a break for now," Yi Bai nodded. He still didn't know if the Puzzle Gates had a "refresh" mechanic, but from what he could tell, they probably did. However, the refresh time might be long. If the refresh rate were quick, there wouldn't be just a handful of gates in the city—it would barely satisfy everyone's needs.

Yi Bai began sorting through the contents of the bags. As he opened them, a new prompt appeared before him.

"Congratulations! Your talent unit, Wang Shi, has successfully solved 2 B-rank and 3 C-rank Puzzle Gates."

"All rewards for these completions have been claimed by Wang Shi. Please be sure to collect them."

No A-rank gates? Yi Bai felt a twinge of disappointment and proceeded to check the reward items.

1987 Units of Electronic Components1265 Units of Cash1525 Units of Wood (from refugees)2 B-rank Talent Recruitment Tickets3 B-rank Upgrade Tickets2 C-rank Talent Recruitment Tickets3 C-rank Upgrade Tickets

"Looks like the rewards for each Puzzle Gate are fixed," Yi Bai murmured. "As long as all the gates are solved, there will always be upgrade materials and talent-related items."

After briefly tallying the rewards, he wasn't in a hurry to use them. His current issue wasn't talent—he was even wary of recruiting more people. First and foremost, he needed to solve the food problem.

"Team Leader Wang, did you observe any specific intelligence about the large settlement in the city center?" Yi Bai asked in a low voice, looking at Wang Shi.

If he wasn't mistaken, the group Wang Shi encountered during his observations was likely part of the force controlled by the leader of the city center's settlement.

"Yes, I observed them," Wang Shi nodded gravely. "They occupy a villa complex in the city center, with a population of around 20,000. The area they control is vast, covering multiple iconic buildings and landmarks around the city center."

"They seem to have a complete armed force, though their weaponry is quite basic. There's no large-scale, organized firepower; military personnel are estimated to exceed 2,000."

"2,000? Mostly handguns and melee weapons, I assume?" Yi Bai mused, inquiring further. Wang Shi nodded, adding, "There are some grenades and rifles, but they're few in number, nothing to worry about."

For Wang Shi, a future soldier, that kind of force was indeed not much of a threat.

"Seems like that leader has gathered a lot of people," Yi Bai muttered, then suddenly asked, "Wang Shi, how much food do you think they have?"

"At least enough to feed 50,000 people for a month," Wang Shi answered without hesitation. "Based on the details I observed, their logistics are far stronger than ours. However, I didn't see any large warehouses filled with supplies. It's possible they have some kind of special shelter talent that can provide abundant essential survival resources."

Yi Bai narrowed his eyes. "Enough to feed 50,000 for a month?" He fell into a brief silence.

Suddenly, Wang Shi looked up at him, his voice firm. "Sir, give the order."

"Give what order?" Yi Bai asked, confused.

"I sense your fighting will. I'm ready to take the lead and deal with that group of people."

Wang Shi's stance was firm, his voice decisive and unwavering.

"Not yet," Yi Bai shook his head, his gaze drifting toward the fading light of dusk. "Linyue should be back soon."

"If a fight does break out, she should be in charge. Everyone has their role to play."

Yi Bai didn't want to reveal Wang Shi's full power just yet. He needed to keep his trump card hidden for as long as possible. Wang Shi was his strongest card at the moment, and it would be wasteful to deploy him immediately.

Linyue returned shortly before the last rays of daylight disappeared. Her convoy, which had been out collecting supplies, arrived back at the settlement.

Before Yi Bai even called for her, she dashed up the stairs, making her way straight to him.

"Reporting, sir! I've discovered critical intelligence!" Linyue saluted sharply, her voice ringing with authority.

"Critical intelligence? Go ahead," Yi Bai asked, intrigued. Normally, when the military encountered special situations, Linyue would make her own decisions, or at most consult with Jiang Xiaoci. These two women were pragmatic and rarely disturbed Yi Bai.

For Linyue to bypass Jiang Xiaoci and come directly to him with important intelligence, Yi Bai couldn't help but wonder what it was about.

"While gathering supplies today, we successfully captured one of the escaped criminals left over from the previous attack!"

"Criminal?" Yi Bai raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Sir, do you remember the time when Jiang Xiaoci personally led the team to collect supplies and was attacked by criminals?" Linyue reminded him.

Yi Bai recalled it was the one and only time Jiang Xiaoci had personally led a team out.

"During that attack, I killed most of them, but some criminals managed to escape. Today, the search team found one of them. After questioning, we discovered his identity," Linyue continued, her voice lowering slightly. "He claims to be from the Little White Bear Shelter, and he wants us to contact them to arrange the ransom for the prisoners."