After the brief introduction, the members of the Valkyrie set up their temporary camp at Sector 3.
Sector 3 was located on the East Border of Sector 1, and it was marked as a safe place for setting up a camp.
On the contrary, Thirteen’s Camp was in Sector 13, which was the newest sector that the 69th Battalion had personally claimed for themselves.
It was in no way a safe location for camping, given the Hordes of Monsters that would pass through it from time to time, but Thirteen didn’t care.
In fact, he even regularly asked his subordinates to sleep on the ground in a curled-up position.
At first, all of them thought that their Commander wanted them to become monster food since he was asking them to sleep right in the open.
However, they soon realized that most Rank 1 and Rank 2 Monsters would just walk past them, so they started to gain confidence in their light-green military armor.
Thirteen told them that if they ever found themselves surrounded by Jinns on all sides, they must drop down to the ground and curl up, lowering their presence as much as possible. After that, they should press a button from their military armor to make their armor inflate, covering their entire bodies and making them look like a small boulder.
The military armor that they wore not only made them look like small boulders when they were curled up, but it also prevented any kind of smell from leaving their bodies.
Jinns were sensitive to the smell of humans because they were their favorite food.
But if they couldn’t see and smell them, then the Wanderers’ lives wouldn’t be in danger even if they slept in the open.
As for those who snore in their sleep? Thirteen also had a fix for it.
The helmets they possessed could cover the entire face with just a touch of a button, and they also had a soundproofing mechanism.
At first, all the soldiers were hesitant to execute their Commander’s orders.
But when Cristopher, Colbert, and the Mafia Boys moved as they were told, everyone observed them from a safe distance with binoculars.
To their surprise, the monsters did indeed just walk past them, not even giving them a sidelong glance.
Thirteen said that they could do this as a last resort just in case they had nowhere else to go in the Jinn-infested lands of the Rigel Continent.
This was why he asked them to sleep using this technique—to let them gain confidence in their military armor’s ability to save their lives.
As long as they didn’t have to worry about being discovered, they could sleep anywhere without worrying about becoming a Jinn’s midnight snack.
Of course, Thirteen told them that not all Jinns and Majins were dumb creatures.
There would come a time when these monsters would be able to see through their disguise.
However, this was only meant to be used as a last resort to give them a chance of survival in the worst-case scenario.
Of course, Thirteen also asked Rocky to stay under his sleeping soldiers, so that he could save them just in case something unexpected happened.
As the days passed, the 69th Battalion followed Cristopher’s and Colbert’s attitude in regard to Thirteens’ orders.
Just like these two Captains, they no longer questioned their Commander’s orders and followed them without complaints, even when it sounded like they were gambling with their lives.
After meeting with Shana, Marion, and the Valkyries, Thirteen returned to Sector 13 to see how his troops were doing.
Just as he was nearing the site, he heard the sound of gunfire.
However, he didn’t feel anxious because this was already a normal occurrence in their base of operations.
“Good job, everyone,” Thirteen said as he looked at the countless dead Jinns that were lying on the ground.
Most of the hordes that frequented Sector 13 were usually made up of Rank 1 Monsters, with a Rank 2 or Rank 3 Leader mixed among them.
However, with the 69th Battalion’s superior firepower and newfound ability to escape unharmed using their powerful and fast Avatars, none of them was in any real danger.
All the soldiers stood in attention and saluted their commander.
“At ease, everyone,” Thirteen stated as he returned their salute.
“Sir, did the Saintess really arrive here in the Rigel Continent?” Cristopher asked excitedly. “Did you ask for her autograph?”
Thirteen blinked as he looked at the chubby boy, whom he didn’t expect to be one of Shana’s fans.
“I didn’t,” Thirteen replied. “But I gave some of the Valkyries my autograph because they asked for it. Why? Do all of you want to get the autograph of the Saintess?”
“””Yes, Sir!”””
‘What a bunch of simps,’ Thirteen thought.
Almost everyone in the 69th Battalion made their opinions known, which made Thirteen smirk.
“Don’t worry. She will be visiting us today or tomorrow after they finish setting up camp in Sector 3,” Thirteen stated. “I don’t know if you already know about this, but the Saintess is being escorted by the Valkyries.
“I saw them just now, and all of them looked formidable. However, I have confidence that when it comes to special forces in the Central Government, no one can beat us. Even the 1st Battalion can’t compare.”
Among the divisions in the army, the 1st Battalion gets the highest funding because it was the place where the “elites” of the army were sent.
In fact, the Hero was from the 1st Battalion, further boosting their reputation.
But in Thirteen’s eyes, it didn’t matter what the other Battalions did. Once his subordinates had completed their Spartan Training, they would be a force to reckon with anywhere on the battlefield.
What Thirteen was trying to do with his subordinates was desensitize them from Jinns and Majins, significantly reducing their excessive fears.
Some soldiers, especially those who were newly drafted, would panic when they saw themselves facing off against a horde of monsters, whose Rank was higher than theirs.
Thirteen wanted his Battalion to be able to think clearly in any given situation.
He wanted to ingrain to them that they had the means to escape, fight, and hide at their leisure and that they had more options to keep themselves alive.
He also chose Sector 13 as their base so that his soldiers would develop a sixth sense when it came to detecting Jinns and Majins.
Thirteen believed that this sense of awareness would come in handy once they were deployed to the Cygni Continent to help defend it from the Jinn invasion.
“I’ll give you half an hour to finish collecting the Cores from those Jinns,” Thirteen ordered. “An hour later, we will head North East. Captain Colbert found a nest of Centipedes, so we are going to take them out. After that, I believe all of you will be able to sleep easier tonight.”
The soldiers couldn’t help but smile after hearing their Commander’s words.
Every day, they would clear up potential threats near their campsite so that they would have to deal with fewer nocturnal enemies that would often visit their camp in the middle of the night.
An hour later, three hundred Wanderers mobilized and left their camp, riding atop their mounts.
Another day of hunting was about to begin, and Thirteen would make sure that all of his soldiers would be able to return to their camp in one piece.