Several hours later, Grey and the captain's team members walked out of the corroded zone. The vigilant expressions on their faces slowly faded and soon they were relaxed.
They even started a conversation but Grey kept quiet and listened in though. One of the men who had joined the captain's party earlier had a strange expression on his face as he spoke.
"I heard that the Shadow academy has taken over another corroded zone again in the east." He then turned his head to look at his team members. His gaze swept past Grey for only a second before it retracted.
The other members of the party except Grey and the Captain showed interest, and together they discussed excitedly about the new topic.
Grey's gaze lingered in the captain. 'I wonder what he is thinking about?' Grey was in thought when he heard a question being directed at the captain.
"What will you do if they come for your scavenger camp, Captain." The other young man spoke as he waited for the captain's answer.
The captain stopped in his footsteps but he didn't turn around or say anything. His face only changed a bit into an unreadable expression before he continued walking.
"I guess that says it all." The young woman who Grey later learned her name was Luo said with a slight shrug.
Grey was curious to ask but suppressed his curiosity. He decided that now was not the time and the other members of the party were not yet accustomed to his presence.
By the time the sun was on the horizon, they could already see the faint outline of the scavenger camp in the distance.
When they were close to the scavenger camp, the captain broke the silence by introducing everyone's name and cultivation level.
"That young lady is Luo, she is in the sixth level of Qi accumulation. The big man behind me is Zuro, he is in the seventh level of Qi accumulation. Those two men over there are Trogan and Freis respectively. They are both in the sixth level of Qi accumulation." The captain said calmly as they walked. Everyone beamed him a small smile as they were introduced.
The captain did not introduce himself but he knew who he was. 'Captain, he is the leader of the scavenger camp near Glory city and he is in the eight level of Qi accumulation.' Grey said inwardly with a nod.
As they entered the corroded zone, Grey felt several gazes lock unto him. But when the Captain looked in the direction of those gazes, they dissipated and Grey didn't feel them anymore.
It was already late and everyone had closed up their shop and were inside their homes. Several lights could be seen turning off every once in a while.
'So the technology here is working.'
Naturally, it had been thousands of years since God's descendence and the people of the world had long found a way to cope. Especially the mundane humans.
They had advanced in technology over the years but because of the invasiveness of the corrosive substance, technological advancements were on a stand still.
Grey had not seen these things because he was still in the outer settlement of the scavenger camp. Now that he was walking in the inner settlement, he felt it was vastly different.
Upon getting into the inner settlements, the party said their goodbyes and each went their separate ways.
Grey was still walking behind the captain so he was surprised when he saw him come out of the inner settlements within the scavenger camp and head back into the outer settlements, where a small brick house stood desolately away from other houses.
The house looked cozy but was encroached in total darkness. The captain nodded towards him and together, they entered the small house.
As the light turned on, Grey saw the interior decoration of the small house and thought in shock that it was normal.
'So the leader of the scavenger camp lived in such a house... Ah, I expected more from him.' But Grey only said that inwardly. He didn't dare say it in front of the captain who walked inside the kitchen and turned on the light as well.
'I have really missed electricity...' Grey's eyes wandered the walls and the interior of the house until his gaze fell upon a small bead on a shelf.
That small bead had a rope inside it and he guessed it used to be a necklace. The captain came in and saw Grey's gaze on the bead and he let out a sigh.
"Since I invited you to come with me, you would naturally stay with me." The captain's words were calm and cool. Now he began to wonder how such a young man like himself could be the leader of a scavenger camp. It didn't fit in with his demeanor at all.
The captain beckoned to him as he came out with several dishes. The short time he was in the kitchen he had already whipped out some food.
Before eating, the captain wrapped the small bead around his hand before eating. His gaze was calm and steady but whenever Grey looked into his eyes what he saw was melancholy.
But because he was very vigilant about the captain, he didn't eat at all and instead stared at him. He was a very cynical person and was full of paranoia.
The captain seeing him not touch his food, he stopped eating before letting out a sigh and taking away the dishes into the kitchen.
As he walked towards his room, he stopped then pointed at another door. "That's your room..." He said and the next moment, he disappeared into his room.
Grey looked the entrance of his room with a single thought running through his head.
'I wonder how he became like that.'
Grey entered the plain room and looked at the single bed by the side. It had obviously not been used for a long time with the amount of dust layered on the bed sheets.
He instead sat down cross legged and began to cultivate. He would not sleep this night and the next as he was very vigilant about the personality of the Captain.
In his room, the captain sensed this then closed his eyes and began his own cultivation.