Monster Siege

"Commissar, although it sounds unbelievable, I think it's most likely true."

Zhong Feng described his meeting with Su Yu in detail.

At the end, he added, "Whether Kexing really is Zhang Jiao or not, since he knows about the Singer Civilization, he must know some inside information. I think we need to take this seriously."

Political Commissar Zhang did not answer. He rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought.

After a long while, he let out a long breath. "Whew. No matter what, the organization has already made its decision. We've decided to double the resources and personnel allocated to your department. What do you think?"

"Only double?" Zhong Feng frowned, the veins on his forehead threatening to bulge. "If strength in the game can truly manifest in reality, then I think we must explore this game at any cost! Even with doubled resources, it's still far too little. It's nowhere near enough for us."

"Enough, Xiao Zhong." Political Commissar Zhang pressed down with his palm, signaling for him to calm down.

"Evolution has always been within the organization's field of view. Even if the game truly can manifest strength into reality, there are still too many uncertainties."

"For example, how much time and money would it take for an ordinary person to reach Level 50?"

"To what extent could game strength manifest in reality? If you could still be shot dead with one bullet after manifesting it, wouldn't that be a joke?"

"If manifested strength was still weaker than a child holding a gun, wouldn't that also be a joke?"

"Could it generate sufficient returns in a short time and thereby affect the entire war situation?"

"Was Guo Jia worth investing massive resources into?"

Faced with Political Commissar Zhang's questions, Zhong Feng was speechless. "This..."

He truly had no answer.

Political Commissar Zhang interlaced his fingers and held them before his lips. "From our standpoint, we can't stake everything on an uncertain future. We would rather invest as many resources as possible into areas with reliable returns, such as—expanding our hydrogen bomb stockpile."

"I understand." Zhong Feng smiled bitterly.

From the nation's perspective, it was indeed impossible to immediately pour massive resources into a completely unknown field. If such an enormous investment failed to produce satisfactory results, the consequences would be grave.

Besides, making a hasty decision based on a few unsubstantiated words from Kexing would be far too rash.

"Unless..." Political Commissar Zhang abruptly changed tack.

"Unless?"

"Unless you can obtain sufficient proof that Evolution can truly change the course of the war. Only then will I give you the resources you want."

"Understood!" Zhong Feng stood and saluted the commissar. "I'll work hard to level up and reach Level 50 as soon as possible."

"Fine, go on." The commissar waved a hand. "There are currently no signs of ancient powerhouses reviving. If it's real, I'll handle it. You focus your energy on Evolution and level up properly!"

Back in the game.

Su Yu went nowhere else and diligently leveled up in Wolf King Valley.

There were still quite a few Hidden Quests in the village.

However, their rewards were either poor or they took far too much time, so he did not bother with them.

Besides, Su Yu had Star Point Hand now. He had no interest in the equipment awarded by ordinary Hidden Quests. He might as well spend all his time leveling up.

At around two in the afternoon, Su Yu reached Level 8.

"At this pace, I should reach Level 10 around six tonight."

As Su Yu thought this, his hands did not slow. He continued slaughtering Howling Moon Wolves with spells.

"Still, I've killed so many Howling Moon Wolves. The boss should have spawned by now, right?"

The thought had barely crossed his mind.

Awoo—

A resonant wolf howl echoed through the distant forest.

At the same time, winds whipped up sand throughout Wolf King Valley, dead leaves swirled through the air, and the wolves in the valley seemed to have received some sort of summons as they began howling in response.

Before long, the wolves' howls spread throughout the entire Novice Village.

Whether they were players grinding levels, doing quests, or idly chatting in the village, everyone turned toward Wolf King Valley.

"What's going on?"

"That sounds like my husky when it's in heat!"

"Idiot! That's a pack of wolves! It sounds like it's coming from Wolf King Valley."

In the Level 7 monster zone, Skycutter Sword looked at the teammates beside him. "What's that commotion? Should we go take a look?"

Skycutter Sword had spent so long in Novice Village No. 6 lately that he simply decided to stay there rather than return to Village No. 1.

When it came to leveling up, every Novice Village was pretty much the same.

Leisurely My Heart stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance for a while before saying, "I don't think we should go. The sound came from Wolf King Valley. Even if a boss has spawned, we won't be able to deal with it."

"That makes sense."

Skycutter Sword did not argue. He pulled another five monsters and continued leveling up.

But at that moment, every online player in Novice Village No. 6 received a system notification:

"Ding! Howling Moon Wolf King lv10 (Rare) has appeared in Wolf King Valley! All monsters in Nolan Village have gained +20% to all attributes, experience, and drops for one hour."

"One hour later, the Howling Moon Wolf King will lead the wolf pack in an attack on the Novice Village. Those who participate in killing the Howling Moon Wolf King can share massive rewards!"

The system notification had barely sounded when the Level 3 Black Boars, Level 4 Hillside Sheep, and Level 5 Silver Snakes—

All the animals were empowered by a red energy, their eyes turning blood-red as they launched fierce counterattacks against the players attacking them.

The players were caught off guard.

Some players had lured too many monsters and could not hold out against their attacks, vanishing into light one after another.

Scattered white lights rose from the leveling zones.

As a top-tier Defense Warrior, Skycutter Sword had pulled five monsters at once. With every monster's attributes now increased by 20%, he nearly died on the spot under their combined assault.

Fortunately, he promptly used the Shield Wall skill he had bought at a high price, narrowly avoiding being instantly killed.

After cutting down the last monster, Skycutter Sword let out a breath. "Good thing I didn't die. Getting kicked offline would've been a huge loss. But should we take part in this Monster Siege?"

"Of course we should!" Overlord Tiger was eager to try. "Monster Siege events like this usually give extremely generous rewards! Since we're here, we definitely have to participate!"

"Alright!" Skycutter Sword nodded. "I'll notify the guild members."

Skycutter Sword opened his friends list.

But when he saw Kexing at the very top, marked as lv8, Skycutter Sword froze. "Kexing is already Level 8?!"

"What? He's Level 8?"

Upon hearing Kexing's name, Qing Li, who usually kept silent, immediately showed interest. "We wasted quite a bit of time clearing the dungeon, but several people in the guild have been focused solely on leveling! They were only Level 7 when they logged off!"

"Yeah! Even Cangshan Youjing, the highest-level player in the guild, is only Level 7." Skycutter Sword gave a bitter smile. "Kexing only logged in at ten o'clock, and he still has eight hours of game time left. Looks like the gap is gradually widening!"