Astral Apostle

Chapter 504: Dispelling Suspicions (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Everyone nodded unconsciously.

Zhou Jing suppressed his emotions and pretended to be innocent and curious. He asked, “Then under what circumstances will you bring the natives back?”

However, Huang Zhuo did not answer immediately. Instead, he first looked at Shen Xinqin, then back at the team leaders, hesitating if he should answer.

“This shouldn’t be considered a secret, right?” Shen Xinqin raised her eyebrows.

“That’s true…”

Huang Zhuo nodded and looked at Zhou Jing again with a smile,

“One of the reasons is to do experiments, but it’s not as dark as you think… In addition, there’s a certain possibility that the Exploration Bureau will recruit the natives as official explorers and bring them here for a walk to show that we’re not simple.”

Everyone was stunned.

“Recruiting natives? Why is that?”

Lin Kun was surprised.

Huang Zhuo smiled mysteriously,

“You’ve all learned in class that for some high-value astral realms, at the end of the confluence period, the bureau will send explorers to be stationed for a long time… But think about it, how many people are willing to stay in the alternate world for decades? Of course, the ones who are least against it are the natives themselves!

Therefore, developing the offline natives has always been a common plan of the various Exploration Bureaus. Sometimes, we will disguise our identities and pretend to be the natives to develop and go offline. However, sometimes, we will also officially recruit the natives as guests from outer space… Of course, we will only do this when the target is very valuable.”

Zhou Jing was alarmed.

It turned out that the members of the Exploration Bureau were not all from the main world. There were also natives…

In that case, if he encountered the natives in the future, he had to be more careful. Perhaps some of them could actually be “spies” from some country in the main world.

Zhou Jing suddenly had a thought.

If one of his apostles was mistaken by the Exploration Bureau as a native with recruitment value and joined the Exploration Bureau in the future… That would be interesting. Was this called a “double agent” or a “triple agent”?

Perhaps he could think of a way to try out this plan…

After learning an extremely useful piece of information, Zhou Jing was secretly excited. He felt that this trip was worth it and that he had gained a lot.

At this moment, a student suddenly raised his hand and asked a question hesitantly,

“Then… are there any explorers from the main world who deliberately destroyed the mark of the shuttle device and took the initiative to stay in the other world?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the smiles of the team leaders faded.

After a while, He Zhifei coldly spoke out in an expressionless manner, “This kind of behavior violates the exploration laws of the alien worlds. As soon as it’s confirmed, we’ll immediately pursue them. If it’s serious, we’ll eliminate them on the spot. This is also one of the missions of the explorers.”

These words were resolute and decisive, not hiding any killing intent.

The students could not help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes as he started to speculate.

For some reason, the explorers were unwilling to return to the main world and decided to stay in the other world… Wealth, power, authority, love?

They probably could not escape these categories. Those explorers most likely wanted to lord over the other world and be a local emperor.

These people were different from the natives they recruited. If they purposely stayed behind, they might seriously interfere with the civilization process of the other world. They did not conform to the basic guidelines set by the Interstellar Government.

Moreover, once the confluence period ended, the main world would not be able to control these people who had deliberately stayed. There was a risk of leaking the detailed information of the main world and being captured by the natives for research. Therefore, it did not seem strange to treat such “traitors” seriously.

There was silence for a while before a student coughed and changed the topic,

“Other than the shuttle device, is there any other way to travel to other worlds?”

“No.” Huang Zhuo shook his head. “At least, there’s no record of it at the moment.”

The student’s eyes darted around and continued asking, “Then is the shuttle device only owned by the Exploration Bureau?”

“This is confidential, so I can’t answer.”

Huang Zhuo did not hesitate and immediately shook his head.

Immediately after, he paused and clapped his hands. “Alright, I’ve said enough today. That’s all for answering your questions. If you have any other questions, you’ll naturally know after classes in the future.”

Seeing this, everyone could only swallow their other doubts and questions.

Shen Xinqin stood up and called out to Zhou Jing and the others.

“We’ve already delayed the leaders for a long time today. Let’s go.”

Seeing this, the students stood up and thanked them before following Shen Xinqin out of the conference room.

The group visited a few more departments in the Exploration Bureau, and today’s class ended.

Everyone then arrived at the port and boarded the hover car for the return journey.

The car slowly rose into the air. Zhou Jing felt the bump of the seat and his mind drifted away.

He had learned a lot of useful information in today’s class and had gained a lot, making him very happy.

It just so happened that the intersection period between the main world and Plane D19 was getting closer and closer. Sooner or later, his apostles would have to deal with explorers.

He planned to go back and digest this information and mentally prepare himself in advance. No matter what, he felt that it would not be worse than what he had encountered in the Mutant World. At least, he was no longer confused about this group of people.

…

On the other side, in the Exploration Bureau.

After sending off this batch of newcomers, the leaders looked at each other and chatted casually.

Huang Zhuo smiled and said, “This Zhou Jing is not bad, but he still needs to be nurtured slowly. Let me tell you in advance, I’ve taken a fancy to this person.”

“If you like him, then he’s yours?” Another captain snorted. “He’s still only a first-year student. Normally, it’ll take more than a year for him to graduate and join the team. Why should you call dibs just like that?”

He Zhifei slowly said, “This kid has the potential to be an Explorer, but there are too many martial artists in our bureau. He doesn’t have much competitiveness compared to the other veterans. If he wants to join a good team in the future, he should listen to me and change to a more complicated superpower system to fill the gaps in many teams. Otherwise, he might just disappear into the crowd after graduation.”

“Maybe he can take charge in the future and lead a team like us. After all, many of the team leaders are also martial artists. This superpower system is the most adaptable.” Huang Zhuo shrugged.

“How can it be that easy?” He Zhifei snorted. “Even if Planet Aquamarine is a new planet and there are many vacancies, if he wants to lead a team, he has to serve at least ten times before he can accumulate enough merits. Who knows how many years will it be by then?”

“It’s too early to say this. We’ll know when the time comes.”

Huang Zhuo waved his hand, not wanting to continue talking about this. He changed the topic,

“Speaking of which, you and I are going to serve in Plane D19 next time. I hope it’s not dangerous.”

Hearing this, He Zhifei shook his head and said, “The danger in that world is very low. It’s like a vacation for us. What danger can there be?”

Huang Zhuo frowned and said in a deep voice,

“Who knows if there will be a conflict with the explorers of other countries, especially Hein’s dogs. They ruined their plans in the past. It’s not the first day they’ve targeted us…”

“… That’s true.”