There were a total of nine stowaways. Zhu killed two, gaining 200 experience points, which just leveled him up to level three.

Jiang Kai took down seven, four of whom were level four stowaways, gaining 400 experience points, and three were level five, gaining 900 experience points.

Just being one level higher increased the experience gained by 200 points, which shows how severe the penalties of a Calling can be!

It takes 400 experience points to go from level three to four, and 800 points to go from level four to five. Jiang Kai directly leveled up to five.

What Jiang Kai and the others didn't expect was that when Jiang Kai took down the last level five stowaway, he should have gained 300 experience points, but only managed to gain 200.

Su Nuannuan speculated that there might be some special rule in the Beginner's Trial area that prevents gaining more experience after reaching level five, even from plundering.

The three of them, lacking relevant experience, ended up wasting 100 experience points.

The Fearless One's watch recorded Jiang Kai's current attributes.

[Strength 20, Physique 24, Agility 36, Mental Strength 36]

"What kind of crazy stats are these! Jiang Kai, even at the same level, I, a Martial Apprentice, can't even touch you?" Yuan Zhu frowned, deep in thought.

Su Nuannuan was also shocked by Jiang Kai's attributes and said softly, "It's said that Barefoot Doctors and Feng Shui Masters have the highest mental strength. When I was level five, my mental strength was only 22 points."

Thinking for a moment, Su Nuannuan seemed to have realized something crucial.

"I forgot that Gamblers, while enjoying double rewards, also have to bear double risks!"

Yuan Zhu added, "The most critical point is that for Martial Apprentices and Barefoot Doctors, the next stage of their professions already exists."

Even Gamblers are a first, let alone any subsequent professions for them.

Su Nuannuan and Yuan Zhu's expressions shifted from initial envy to sympathy and regret.

Jiang Kai frowned, seeing their looks, shook his head, and rolled his eyes, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not worried, so why are you? Let's go, there's still time to see if we can encounter a few more stowaways."

"Let's try to level you guys up too."

The team set off again.

On the way, Jiang Kai couldn't help but recall something else.

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There was one thing that no one else knew.

He had another random talent, Super Critical Strike!

He hadn't mentioned this talent to Zhu at the time, and Su Nuannuan, who was "eavesdropping" nearby, certainly didn't know about it either.

It wasn't that Jiang Kai was intentionally hiding it; he just hadn't had the chance to say it before Su Nuannuan suddenly jumped out, and besides, the minuscule probability was just too insignificant.

He feared that if he mentioned it, Zhu would just laugh at him.

In the few days he had been in the Newcomer Trial, he had made over a hundred moves, yet not once had he triggered a Super Critical Strike.

"Goodness, I've almost forgotten I even have this talent!" Jiang Kai complained to himself, quickening his pace to catch up with his companions.

After a round of searching, unfortunately, the team didn't find any other stowaways. Perhaps they had already gone to catch up with the main group of newcomers.

As noon approached, Jiang Kai gave up on the plan to find stowaways.

Next, they needed to travel continuously and would need to stock up on some food. The three split into two groups, with Zhu and Nuannuan in one group, and Jiang Kai, with the highest attributes, acting alone, hoping to catch some small beasts for food reserves.

The easiest to find here would probably be the Ghost Star Mountain Rat.

They had caught several before, but all had been used to lure the Chameleon Land Snake.

Jiang Kai found a few dead tree roots, but after nearly half an hour, he still hadn't caught anything.

"Is my luck that bad today?" Jiang Kai frowned and continued searching.

A few minutes later, Jiang Kai suddenly saw a large black beast lying in the weeds not far away.

His observation skills for moving objects were particularly sharp, but since the beast was lying still, he hadn't noticed it at first.

"A black panther?!" Jiang Kai immediately identified the black silhouette from the beast's form.

With Jiang Kai's current attributes, he didn't need to be nervous even if he encountered a black panther. He just hadn't expected to find a Ghost Star Black Panther here after not encountering one along the way.

"Strange, black panthers have a very keen sense of smell. Why hasn't it reacted at all when I'm this close?"

The panther was still lying with its back to Jiang Kai. From his angle, he could see its abdomen gently rising and falling...

"There’s a scent of blood..." Jiang Kai frowned, took out a Venomous Sting, and cautiously approached.

When he reached the front of the panther, he discovered that its abdomen had a large hole, with a lot of blood on the ground.

"Do stowaways casually kill black panthers too?" Jiang Kai was a bit surprised. Normally, if they encountered each other, the black panther would sense danger and not attack the stowaways, and the stowaways, having tasks to complete, wouldn't bother provoking the panther.

Besides, even if they killed the panther, they should have taken the corpse card.

As Jiang Kai was pondering, the panther's abdomen slightly moved, as if something was inside it.

Before long, a small red head emerged from the panther's belly.

Perhaps it wasn't originally red, but was stained with blood.

The creature looked a lot like a mountain rat but was much smaller, more like a house mouse!

Its fur was stained red with blood, and it stared at Jiang Kai with wide eyes, surprised.

Their eyes met, and both were momentarily stunned.

"When did this person appear?"

"Is this mouse eating the panther?"

The next second, the little mouse shot towards Jiang Kai at an incredible speed.

Seeing the red blur coming at him, Jiang Kai quickly reacted.

Using Ghost Eye focus and his high agility, Jiang Kai caught the little creature!

"Wow, it's fast!"

The mouse was just the right size to fit in Jiang Kai's palm. Its long red tail wrapped around his fist, its body wriggling, and it squeaked as it tried to escape Jiang Kai's grip.

Jiang Kai frowned, looking at the little mouse, "Does the trial area have such animals? No, there's no record of such a creature in the Calling."

"Can this thing eat a black panther?"

"Hey, little guy, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. You're not even enough to fill Zhu's teeth, but what's strange is, what exactly are you?"

Could it be that a mouse logged into the Calling through the Login Gate?

The little mouse seemed to understand Jiang Kai's words and stopped struggling, its dark eyes quietly staring at him.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

"Huh? Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Jiang Kai felt a bit odd after asking.

In some foreign professions, like beast tamers or animal handlers, it's said that some people have the talent to communicate with animals.

But he was just a Gambler, clearly unable to communicate with this mouse.

Thinking for a moment, Jiang Kai squatted down, slowly lowered his arm, and released his grip, "Little guy, you better hurry and leave. It's too dangerous for you here. Be careful of large beasts coming to eat the corpse."

"If you run into a lynx, you'll be in trouble!" Jiang Kai deliberately tried to scare it.

After speaking, Jiang Kai waved his hand, pretending to shoo it away.

The little creature immediately ran far away, but just as Jiang Kai stood up to leave, it stopped, stood up, and held its two paws together.

Its dark eyes stared blankly at Jiang Kai.

After a moment of hesitation, it suddenly turned back and ran to Jiang Kai.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak?"

Jiang Kai frowned, thought for a moment, and said in surprise, "Do you want to follow me?"