One of the team members noticed Ender's unusual expression and asked with concern, "Captain?"
"I'm fine."
Ender came back to his senses, took a deep breath, and said, "Continue to act according to the combat plan and clear the lower cargo hold."
The team members nodded, "Yes."
Ender and the others searched for enemies, sweeping through the lower cargo hold, but found no other smuggler crew members.
From a still-warm drink, it seemed the smuggler crew members in the lower cargo hold had all fled, and not long ago.
According to the combat plan, after clearing the lower cargo hold, they were to remain on standby there, awaiting orders from the Scout team.
So, they stayed in the rest area of the lower cargo hold, from where they could see the entire situation in the lower cargo hold.
Ender sat on the ground, looking up at the neatly arranged shelves on the light screen, feeling somewhat unsettled.
"Captain, is this your first time seeing such a scene?"
The only female team member was very observant; seeing Ender staring blankly at the dense rows of freezers, she knew it was his first time witnessing slave trade.
Ender turned his head, "What?"
The female team member pointed to the neat shelves on the light screen, "Slave trade."
Ender nodded slightly, "Yes, it's the first time I've seen it."
The female team member asked curiously, "Captain, are you from the Molten Rock Empire?"
"Mm."
Ender nodded, then asked, "Does that matter?"
"If Captain, you weren't from the Molten Rock Empire, then it would be impossible for this to be your first time seeing slave trade."
Another team member explained, "For example, in the intermediate universe country I come from, slave trade is an industry many Families participate in. I was even taken to observe slave transactions before I was an adult."
Saying this, the team member shook his head, "The first time I saw it, I was pretty much like Captain, but after seeing it more often, I became numb."
"The Molten Rock Empire is different from the surrounding intermediate Universe countries; slave trade is forbidden here."
The team member continued, "The Emperor of an intermediate universe country holds immense power. The law against slave trade enacted by Emperor Molten Rock leaves no room for slave-catching teams to survive within the Molten Rock Empire.
"But the more something is forbidden, the more people desire to possess it, especially for those with extremely high status and power. Possessing what others cannot brings them immense pleasure!
"And where there's demand, there's supply!"
The team member pointed to the light screen and said, "Take the Spirit Wing Clan inside, for example. An Apprentice-level Spirit Wing Clan slave in other intermediate Universe countries where slave trade is not forbidden would sell for a hundred molten rock coin at most, which is already very, very high!
"But if this Apprentice-level Spirit Wing Clan is smuggled into the Molten Rock Empire, the price can reach thousands or even tens of thousands of molten rock coin!"
The team member shook his head and said, "A price difference of tens or even hundreds of times—the profit in this is too great!"
Ender fell silent. He knew that when profit reached a certain level, it truly made people disregard the danger to their lives!
"Captain, the Universe is just that cruel; we can't change it!"
At this moment, the female team member comforted him, "But we can become strong to protect our Family, and that's the only thing we can do."
Ender nodded, "I understand."
He understood these principles, and this was also his resolve to become stronger!
"To be honest, I greatly admire Emperor Molten Rock!"
The team member suddenly said, "He is not a great Immortal, but to be able to establish the Molten Rock Empire as a World Master is truly remarkable!"
"What?"
Ender's eyes widened, somewhat surprised, "Your Majesty Emperor Molten Rock is not an Immortal?"
"Hmm, Captain, you didn't know?"
The team member was puzzled, "His Majesty Emperor Molten Rock is a World Master; this isn't a big secret."
Ender recalled Emperor Molten Rock he had seen and shook his head, "I always thought His Majesty Emperor Molten Rock was an Immortal."
"Perhaps Captain was misled."
The female team member said, "Your Majesty Emperor Molten Rock once directly defeated an Immortal, so He is often mistakenly believed to be an Immortal by those who don't know the truth."
"Directly defeated an Immortal!"
Ender was somewhat alarmed. "If I remember correctly, many World Masters in the Extraterritorial Battlefield who are evaluated as World Master Generals can mostly only briefly engage with Immortal Military Lords, and those who can match them are few and far between, let alone defeat them!
"To be able to directly defeat an Immortal, this is already a top-tier expert among World Masters, only slightly inferior to the Geniuses cultivated by the five Leviathans of Humanity."
"That's certainly possible."
The team member nodded and did not continue the topic.
The reason they discussed these things was to comfort their young Captain and to befriend this Planetary Level Domain-level Genius.
Now that their goal was achieved, they naturally said no more, understanding that too many words lead to mistakes.
Not long after their conversation ended, the Empire Scout Captain sent a message: all crew members of the smuggling ship had been cleared out, and the Universe Level captain among them was dealt with by the Universe Level instructor leading the team.
Upon returning to the Scout ship, Ender and the others learned that the smuggling spacecraft would be handled by a specific department, and the slaves on board would be arranged to live on life planets within the Empire.
Ender secretly nodded at this arrangement; these slaves living in the Molten Rock Empire would be far better off than being sent back to their hometowns!
After completing this crackdown on the smuggling ship, the Scout ship set sail again, continuing its Scout mission against smuggling.
As the term for this Scout mission ended, Ender and the others completed this trial mission.
"It's finally over."
On the spaceship returning to the Sand Sea Stellar Cultivation Camp, Ender looked at the light screen in front of him and murmured, "I wonder how many points I'll get for this trial mission."
Because Scout missions are prone to unexpected incidents, point rewards are settled after the mission is completed.
And at this moment, the point settlement had been released!
"Ender Royce's points obtained from completing the Scout mission are as follows.
"Scout mission basic reward, 60 points.
"Scout mission unexpected reward, 30 points.
"Served as Captain, no team member deaths, gained 20 points.
"Empire Scout Department evaluated as perfect! Additional reward of 30 points.
"Total points obtained for this Scout mission: 140 points!"
Looking at the points obtained from this trial mission, Ender was somewhat surprised. "140 points, that much?"
Not long ago, an old student had estimated the point rewards for this Scout mission based on previous mission experiences.
Because this trial mission went relatively smoothly, the unexpected reward points wouldn't be much, and even for a captain with no casualties, it was estimated to be around 110 points.
But Ender received far more points than estimated, getting as many as 140 points!
"Hmm."
He found the reason his points exceeded the estimate: "The Empire Scout Department evaluated it as perfect, with an additional reward of 30 points."
If these 30 points were removed, then his points would be similar to the old student's estimate.
Ender was puzzled, "Why was the Empire Scout Department's evaluation of me 'perfect'?"
In this trial mission, he didn't perform particularly outstandingly; he only killed a Stellar Level 4 Martial Artist, so how did he get a perfect evaluation?