First Wilderness Mission (Thanks to Alliance Leader Ning Le Jia Bing!)

"Swish, swish~~"

With two soft sounds, Zhang Ruolin and Ling Baiwei were teleported into the Morning Glow Plains map with me.

Turning around, I saw the teleportation array in Morning Glow Plains hidden beneath a large banyan tree. Quite a few players had already gathered under the tree, their health bars almost all visible, with their levels and IDs floating above their heads.

A burly man with a bright green sniper rifle strapped to his back walked straight towards us. His eyes swept over Zhang Ruolin and Ling Baiwei before he chuckled, "Hey there, looking to team up? I've already got two people, and with you three, that makes a perfect five-person party. It's safer with more people."

Zhang Ruolin frowned, clearly displeased with his gaze.

Ling Baiwei, however, smiled calmly and replied, "No, thank you. The three of us not only need to level up, but we also have a quest to do together, so teaming up isn't ideal. Sorry..."

"Ah, I see. That's a shame..."

The big man nodded and didn't say anything else.

As we headed north, leaving the teleportation point, several more people eyed us from the roadside, one of them even resting his hand on the pistol at his waist.

In the wild maps, players could engage in free-for-all PK. The dangers here were truly incomparable to those within the city.

My gaze was calm as I held Roarer in my arms, scanning everyone present and revealing my own health bar.

Instantly, their gazes softened. Some even nodded and greeted me, "So it's the great Shadow Chaser from the rankings... We've heard so much about you!"

I simply smiled and nodded in acknowledgment, not stopping. I then led the two female players away, out of their sight.

After passing through a wooded area, we officially entered the Morning Glow Plains map.

"That guy earlier was probably no good," Zhang Ruolin said, frowning. "The way he looked at me... it was really off-putting. He's definitely not a good person."

"Mm," I replied. "Star Abyss is a world where the strong prey on the weak. Some players truly treat this world like a game. After tasting the thrill of PK and getting loot from killing others, they naturally don't want to grind monsters anymore. It's to be expected."

Ling Baiwei pursed her red lips and said, "Next time we plan an outing like this, we need to be more thorough. Fortunately, Ding Han was with us this time; his level was high enough to keep things in check. Otherwise, it might have been a bit troublesome."

Zhang Ruolin nodded in agreement.

"Who goes there? Stop!"

As we were making our way through a thicket, a group of people suddenly rushed out from ahead. They appeared to be NPCs.

Each of them had green health bars and names above their heads. One of them had a thick beard, carried a bomb gun, and wore crude Power Armor, approaching step by step with mechanical whirring sounds.

"I am He Xiangyang of the Crimson Dragon Country's Border Defense Legion. Who are you, daring to intrude upon the wilderness?"

"We're from Stream City." I stepped in front of the two female players and said in a deep voice, "We have no ill intentions towards the Crimson Dragon Country. We're out here to hunt wild Aberrations and gather materials to sell for money."

"Ah, people from Stream City..." He Xiangyang raised his hand. "Friendly forces, lower your weapons!"

He breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze softening. The soldiers surrounding us also visibly relaxed. Their situation wasn't good; many were already injured.

He Xiangyang had "lv20" displayed above his head, but his health bar was less than half full, and there were bandaged bullet wounds on his leg.

Furthermore, he was wearing first-generation Power Armor. This type of armor was crudely made, using a cheap and practical basic power system. The armor plating didn't cover the entire body; essentially, it was a combination of exoskeleton power equipment for the legs, torso, and arms. It could assist the user in long-distance travel and lifting heavy objects, allowing them to wield some heavy weapons. However, in terms of defense, it was practically zero.

During the beta testing of Star Abyss, the saying "First-gen Power Armor? Even a dog wouldn't wear it" had circulated widely.

"These guys look a bit... interesting," Zhang Ruolin said in the party chat. "Do you think they'll give us a quest?"

"There's a real possibility of that..." Xiao Bai seemed a little excited and gave me an encouraging look.

So, I stepped forward and asked, "Officer He, you all seem to be injured. What happened? Were you attacked by Aberrations?"

"Not Aberrations, Aberrations," He Xiangyang's expression turned grim. "Two days ago, a group of Crawlers and Devourers attacked our camp, costing us several brothers. These damned beasts stole a lot of supplies, and we've been struggling with it."

"If that's the case..." I said gravely, "Perhaps the three of us can help."

"Oh?" He Xiangyang's eyes lit up. In a tone that sounded exactly like an NPC giving out a quest, he said, "Young man, if you can truly help us, that would be wonderful. Please, you must help us reclaim these precious supplies. Otherwise, our camp will fall into a great deal of trouble!"

Before he finished speaking, a ding-dong sound echoed in our ears!

[Please note, your party has accepted the side quest [Reclaim Supplies] (B-rank)! Quest objectives: Defeat 200 Crawlers and 200 Devourers respectively, and reclaim the lost supplies for He Xiangyang's border patrol squad. Quest rewards: Large amount of experience points, Crimson Dragon Country faction reputation, and a chance for additional rewards!]

We had a quest, and it was a B-rank side quest!

"Young man," He Xiangyang said with concern, "those Aberrations are very powerful. You must be careful. Even if you can't complete the mission, it's alright. Just make sure you come back alive!"

"Don't worry."

I nodded, then set off with Zhang Ruolin and Xiao Bai.

On the world map, the area ahead was blood red, marked as the "Mission Execution Zone," and also an extremely dangerous region.

"We've seen Lickers before, but never Devourers."

I frowned, "But we have to be careful. In the game's internal testing settings, Aberrations don't have normal monsters; they all start as elites. Lickers and Devourers, being Tier 1 Aberrations, might just be elites. Anything above them would be BOSS-level. We need to be extra cautious."

"Mhm."

Xiao Bai nodded, "Ding Han, you're the highest level and have the most experience. You should be the captain and lead us two."

With that, she transferred the captain status to me.

"Alright."

I turned and looked at them, "Since you really want me to lead, you have to listen to me later. If I say go west, you don't go east. This isn't a joke. One wrong step in a place like this and you could lose your life. We lost Chief Helmsman Chen last time; we absolutely cannot lose anyone else this time!"

"Don't worry,"

Zhang Ruolin said, "Xiao Bai and I will definitely listen. We'll give you all the emotional support you need."

I had a dark expression, "Let's go."

The three of us moved forward along the edge of the bush area. After not walking far, I stopped. In the party chat, I said, "Stop! I think I heard something!"

As I spoke, I tilted my head to listen to the sounds in the breeze.

Indeed, a rapid sound of footsteps came, not like human footsteps, but more like those of some beast.

"Over there!"

I suddenly turned, pointing the muzzle of my gun towards the leeward side.

The surrounding bushes were dense. The enemy couldn't have seen or heard us from a great distance. That meant there was only one possibility: they smelled the three of us from downwind!

As expected, the trees and bushes shattered, and instantly three Lv. 20 elite Lickers burst out from the bushes, opening their massive jaws!

"Attack!"

Without a word, I raised my gun and unleashed a barrage of fire.

Ling Baiwei lowered her stance slightly, suppressing the second Licker with her submachine gun. Zhang Ruolin, meanwhile, charged forward, using a steel shield to block the third Licker's lower jaw while firing her submachine gun at it with one hand!

"Roar~~~"

The Licker seemed to feel no pain and charged madly, ignoring its injuries!

I twisted my body sharply, using Step Slash to shift sideways and create an angle. In an instant, the three Lickers were lined up.

Now!

Explosive Charge!

"Boom!"

The Essence within me burned and erupted, my body turning into an afterimage that instantly pierced through the bodies of the three Lickers. As three damage numbers appeared, all three Lickers were stunned in place!

"426!"

"444!"

"453!"

The moment the damage numbers floated up, I abruptly switched my main hand weapon to Vanguard Bee Sting and instantly unleashed a series of normal attacks, Dragon Blade, and normal attacks on the Licker Zhang Ruolin was holding back. The entire sequence was smooth as flowing water!

"302!"

"664!"

"299!"

In an instant, the Licker that Ruolin was dealing with slumped to the ground, its health bar completely depleted!

"Whoa, what kind of damage is that?"

Zhang Ruolin stared blankly, holding her submachine gun.

"Don't get distracted, kill the monsters!"

"Mhm!"

I charged towards the second Licker with my sword. This time, I only used a combo of normal attacks, Ground Spike Slash, and normal attacks. The movements were still fluid and seamless!

Thus, the second Licker's health bar was instantly cleared. A Level 20 elite monster only had about 2500 health, which couldn't withstand this level of close-quarters damage.

The next moment, Zhang Ruolin and Ling Baiwei simultaneously fired at the third Licker. To conserve ammunition, I directly closed in with Step Slash and then finished it off with three consecutive sword strikes!

"Swish, swish, swish~~~"

The three Lickers fell to the ground, each condensing into three beams of white light that flew towards us.

I have to say, killing monsters with melee attacks is really satisfying.

After all, melee weapon damage is based on your own stats. My Strength is off the charts, so the damage I deal is naturally high. It's unlike firearms, where the final damage is solely determined by the weapon's firepower.

Looking at the three Licker corpses on the ground, Zhang Ruolin and Xiao Bai were both silent.

"Ding Han, the shock you've given us is just too great..."

Zhang Ruolin said, "Where have you been all this time? How did you manage to get so many skills? Explosive Charge and Dragon Blade, fine, but how do you even have the rare skill Ground Spike Slash?"

"Just lucky."

I smiled faintly. "I soloed two dungeons during this time, and I also did a lot of daily quests. Combined with good luck, I managed to gather quite a few skills."

"No wonder..."

Xiao Bai nodded, relieved.

"Something's coming again!"

I pricked up my ears, suddenly turned, and pointed the spearhead in another direction. "This time it's from the east!"