Easy

In line with the intelligence obtained before entering this place, Wang Zhifan found that these green twisted monsters he was cutting down were indeed rather weak. They were small, slow-moving, and not particularly tough. The only troublesome thing was their tenacious vitality. Even if he split one in half with a single slash, it would not die immediately; only after being chopped into more than a dozen pieces would it completely lose its life.

"My mission is to protect Chu Wei and A Liao, so I only need to deal with these few. I don't need to bother with the others."

After Wang Zhifan swiftly cut down the few minor monsters that had approached him, he did not charge toward the others farther away. He knew perfectly well what his duty was. If it was not his responsibility, there was no need for him to act. He could leave it to his teammates.

Bang! Bang bang bang bang~ Sure enough, just as Wang Zhifan sheathed his blade and stood still, A Liao, the gunner who had entered the Ash Domain a few meters behind him, began to act. He skillfully aimed and pulled the trigger, shooting a rifle round through the body of a green twisted monster not far away. Then he noticed that the green creature, now with a hole through it, was still moving toward him at an unhurried pace. He had no choice but to switch from single shots to automatic fire, using the multiple impacts of several bullets to completely destroy it.

"A Liao, using guns on these monsters wastes too much ammunition. Stop shooting for now and leave it until stronger monsters show up. I'll handle these."

A Liao had only just killed one monster when Chu Wei beside him spoke up, leaving the teenage gunner in sunglasses looking rather speechless.

"Sister Weiwei, do we really need to be this frugal? I brought more than a dozen boxes of bullets with me."

The youth stopped firing and turned to Chu Wei beside him.

"We do. A Liao, Ash Domain outbreaks are becoming more and more frequent. Ammunition supplies will definitely become scarce soon. If you don't conserve them, it won't be so easy to apply for more later."

As Chu Wei explained this to A Liao, she remotely controlled her female ghost summon to begin a massacre of monsters across the grassland.

Her summon's killing efficiency was extremely high. Although the female ghost did not appear to possess any area-of-effect attacks, it moved so quickly that it was impossible to see clearly. It might even have had some kind of blink skill similar to teleportation. At the same time, the attack power of its ten sharp, slender nails was complete overkill against these minor monsters, and its attack speed surpassed even Wang Zhifan's all-out slashing. Whenever its figure swept past a green twisted monster, that monster was instantly sliced into fragments. It was difficult to see the actual attack process in between.

"Chu Wei's female ghost summon has definitely become stronger."

At this moment, Wang Zhifan, standing four or five meters in front of Chu Wei and A Liao to guard them, compared it to when he had previously teamed up with Chu Wei and concluded that her summon's strength had improved considerably. It might have been because of the silver bracelet now added to her right wrist.

"Sister Weiwei, is the situation really that urgent? Things like bullets shouldn't become scarce that easily, should they..."

Because Chu Wei was going all out now, A Liao could no longer find a suitable target to shoot at, so he continued questioning her.

"If you don't believe me, just wait and see. Anyway, I still suggest that you conserve your ammunition."

As Chu Wei answered A Liao, she started walking toward the forest ahead. Wang Zhifan, who was in front, began moving as well, watching for any suspicious activity around them.

Suddenly, several multi-legged monsters several meters long came wriggling out of the forest ahead, prompting Wang Zhifan to loudly warn the two behind him.

"Monster bugs coming out ahead!"

The moment his words fell, several gunshots rang out. Wang Zhifan then saw the bodies of those creatures that had just crawled out of the forest explode and break into segments one after another. Clearly, A Liao had picked them off with his rifle from behind.

This showed that A Liao's marksmanship as a gunner-class player was entirely up to standard. Even from such a distance, his accuracy was impressive.

Then Wang Zhifan heard the sounds of fierce fighting and the screams of certain monsters coming from the forest ahead. Chu Wei's female ghost summon had likely already charged inside and begun slaughtering everything.

Sure enough, Chu Wei's voice soon came from behind him:

"Brother Fan, A Liao, I found a lot of monsters in the forest ahead. To be safe, we shouldn't go in. I'll use my summon to clear them out, but some monsters will definitely escape from the forest later. Those will be up to you two."

"No problem."

Wang Zhifan immediately replied without turning around. In this environment, he had to remain completely focused and watch for every disturbance ahead.

As for Chu Wei's current decision on the spot, he rather approved of it. She seemed to have a steady and cautious style as well.

But at this moment, with no new monsters to fight yet, A Liao had an idea of his own. His voice came from behind them.

"Sister Weiwei, wouldn't it be easier if we just set fire to this forest and burn it down?"

"That won't work. The grader already tried it when he entered this place. His records say that even Molotov cocktails couldn't set it alight."

Chu Wei immediately answered A Liao, making it clear that he was not the only one who had thought of that idea.

"Ah Wei, what exactly does this grader do?"

Wang Zhifan, who was in front, was focused on something else. He had heard Chu Wei mention graders more than once, but he had never figured out what they were.

"They're Administration investigators who specialize in scouting the conditions inside newly formed Ash Domains."

Seeing Wang Zhifan ask from ahead, Chu Wei explained while remotely controlling her summon from several hundred meters away to slaughter monsters in the forest.

"They're said to be Assassin-class players specially trained by the Administration. Most newly reported Ash Domains are first explored by them, then graded according to their danger level. Otherwise, it would be extremely dangerous for ordinary players like us to rashly enter an Advanced Ash Domain."

"Assassin-class players... the kind that can turn invisible?"

Wang Zhifan immediately recalled having seen players of that class when running dungeons before, though it seemed to have happened only once.

"That's right. Assassin-class players are the most suited to scouting among all classes. Brother Fan, A Liao, watch out! About thirty monsters are about to come out of the forest toward us! Prepare for battle!"

After answering Wang Zhifan, Chu Wei raised her voice to tell the two of them that the first test had arrived. Their time for chatting was over.

"It's fine. I'll hold them back. A Liao, it's time to show off your shooting."

Wang Zhifan remained calm inside after hearing this. From what he had seen so far, every monster in this Ash Domain was pitifully weak. Even thirty charging at them would not create much pressure.