Drawing Lots to Choose Territory

"I know what you're going to say. Yes, it's true that becoming the top National Exam Top Scholar was unexpected, but there was also an element of luck involved. For example, you were the only one in your year with a Hero Class, while everyone else had Elite Class. Also, you got a perfect score in the General Knowledge subject. It's hard to say whether there was any bias on the part of the examiners..."

Nie Kong rattled off a long string of lines that sounded like they'd been memorized, then tilted his head and said with apparent difficulty, "... Yes, you've really worked hard, you've improved..."

Bai Xiaowen: "..."

Li Shuyi: "..."

Everyone: "..."

The Old Demon chuckled, "Captain, is it so hard to admit you misjudged someone? Who hasn't made a mistake? I didn't think Little Bai could be the Top Scholar either. Besides, it's all in the past, no need to bring it up again. Little Bai, don't you agree?"

Bai Xiaowen nodded silently: I should stay away from Nie Kong from now on. I've heard that mental illness is contagious.

"The president is here!" a low voice exclaimed, and everyone's expressions turned solemn.

From afar, Li Beihai's bear-like figure approached.

"What's wrong with the president? He looks gloomy and unhappy."

"Yes, although it was already quite dark-skinned..."

A low murmur rippled through the group of dozens of Awakened Ones, but it was kept extremely low. Li Beihai's prestige within the Super God Guild was no empty boast.

"How many people participated voluntarily?" Li Beihai asked.

"There are forty-eight members who registered on the guild website. I printed out a list," Old Demon handed over an A4 sheet of paper. "I just counted the number of people, and we're four short of everyone."

"The agreed time is 7:30 AM, it's 7:20 now. Wait another 10 minutes!" Li Beihai waved his hand. "Old Demon, explain the mission of this gathering to everyone first."

"OK."

The Old Demon cleared his throat and addressed the forty-odd awakened beings:

"This mission involves clearing two sections of road north of the base city, totaling 129 kilometers in length. As per the Awakened Association's requirements, each section will extend 10 kilometers to the left and right. All mutated beast hordes and invading Spirit Realm creatures are within the clearing area..."

"What level of terrain is it?" asked Bao Wen, an Awakened One with dark skin and carrying a tower shield. He was a key member of the guild team, nicknamed Black Bear, and his role was tank.

"Both are C-Tier road sections, specifically C31 Route and C107 Route according to their numbers," the Old Demon said after looking through them.

"Boring." Nie Kong curled his lip.

"Captain, don't be too demanding. If it's B-Tier or higher section, it's questionable whether we can clear it within the allotted time," said Hou Zihua, an Awakened One nicknamed "Hua Zi," who was thin and resembled a large monkey.

Each time the authorities organize a road clearing mission, they divide the road sections into three levels: A, B, and C, based on the level of threat. A-Tier road sections are generally far from the base city, with high-level and powerful roaming monsters, while the closer the road section is to the base city, the weaker the roaming monsters become.

Above this, there are occasionally S-Tier danger sections, usually where Lord Tier monsters lead hordes of monsters—these powerful hordes of monsters generally come from the depths of the Wilderness Zone.

Sometimes, when a strange group loses its original habitat, it's quite normal for the entire group to migrate, although this is relatively rare.

A-Tier sections are generally only open to bids from the A-rank Guild, because the Awakened Association believes that B-rank Guild cannot complete the cleanup task on time.

Then, the B-Tier road sections are open to bids from the top-ranked B-rank Guild in the Development League, while bottom-ranked guilds like Super God Guild can only bid for the C-Tier road sections.

As for S-Tier sections, unless it's Super Cup- level guild, it's very difficult for a single guild to clear them. Base cities that lack sufficient strength often organize elite personnel from various guilds for coordinated battles.

The amount of Psionic Points earned varies greatly depending on the grade of the road section. In addition to funding, large guilds that can complete the A-Tier road section clearing work have a higher status in the base city and will receive a series of hidden benefits, which will not be listed Yi-Yi.

Bai Xiaowen recalled that when he first returned, he vaguely heard Li Beihai on the phone, arguing about the road section and hoping to win a B-Tier road section. But the result was obvious: the bid failed, and the Super God Guild could only clear the C-Tier road section near the base city.

This was probably why Li Beihai had a dark expression. Bai Xiaowen knew Taishan quite well; he seemed rough and tough, but in reality, he was a proud little princess at heart. He certainly didn't want the Super God Guild to be seen as a weak guild that could only eat scraps, especially since bidding for this section of the road involved real interests.

In the final minutes, all the awakened participants who had signed up arrived.

Such guild-initiated rallying activities are entirely beneficial to Awakened Ones.

Even disregarding the fact that guilds award contribution points based on factors such as the attendance and monsters killed by awakened members, even without contribution points, this activity can be viewed as Wilderness Zone exploration backed by a guild, making it far safer than exploring the Wilderness Zone your own.

All the spoils from killing monsters are distributed among the awakened individuals themselves; even the proceeds from selling the corpses of mutated beasts are allocated to the awakened individuals who participated in the kill.

The rewards haven't decreased, but the security has greatly increased, and there's also a share of guild contributions... So any awakened individual with time and ambition is very willing to participate.

Of course, there are always exceptions. Some awakened individuals who have lost their fighting spirit and are indulging in pleasure are very resistant to such gatherings.

The guild's leadership certainly has a clear understanding of who is diligent and who is lazy. For those awakened members who lack ambition, it will be extremely difficult to get their contracts renewed once the contract expires.

Another type of Awakened One that makes guild leaders unwilling to renew their contracts is one with too low "loyalty." This is easy to understand. The guild invests resources to cultivate them, and once they become capable and promising, they are easily poached by other guilds or simply switch sides... This is, of course, a huge loss for the guild.

"President, all 48 Awakened Ones who signed up have arrived," the Old Demon said in a low voice.

Li Beihai nodded. "Let's divide into groups first. This shouldn't be the first time most of you have participated in a road clearing operation... Well, there are two who are participating for the first time, and I will provide guidance. So, Little Bai, Shu Yi, and I will be grouped together, codenamed Super God 01. The remaining 46 of you will be divided into groups according to the principle of free association. There is no limit to the number of people in each group; three or five people are fine. We will choose our tasks after the grouping is completed."

As for groups of more than 5 people, that's generally not the case. Everyone here is an experienced veteran Awakened One, not a newbie. They all know that if there are too many people, the value of the treasure chests dropped by monsters will be greatly reduced, which will actually decrease the profit.

Li Beihai's grouping method was a common approach used in previous road clearing operations. Most Awakened Ones preferred freedom and disliked constraints, so this free grouping method suited them perfectly. Many familiar Awakened Ones began to call on their friends and gather in small groups.

Ultimately, the 46 people were divided into 14 groups, or 15 groups including Li Beihai's group, with codenames ranging from Super God 001 to Super God 015.

Each group selected the highest-level Awakened as its leader, Old Demon distributed walkie-talkies for communication.

Li Beihai pulled out several pages of documents from his Storage Space: "Two C-Tier road sections, 129 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide, with a total of 18 monster gathering points, including 3 large ones. The other 15 gathering points have varying levels of threat."

"Old Demon will send copies of the information to each group later. Aside from the large gathering points, each of you will choose one... As for the order, we'll draw lots. No matter which group you choose, consider your own strength before you choose—whether you can handle it... Also, if the group that chooses later sees their chosen gathering point taken, don't curse me. It's your own bad luck, not anyone else's fault..."

"If, during the selection process, you feel that you can't handle the remaining gathering points in the data, then discuss with the other groups that haven't been selected yet to see if you can act together. If that doesn't work, then you can be responsible for patrolling along the route."

Upon hearing about the patrol along the route, many people gave a wry smile.

Bai Xiaowen took the photocopy of the document from Old Demon and asked in a low voice, "What does 'patrolling along the line' mean?"

Old Demon quickly distributed the photocopies of the documents, then turned to the others and said, "Besides the 18 registered monster gathering points on these two C-Tier routes, there are also some lone wandering monsters, and possibly even groups of monsters that the outposts haven't detected or missed. Patrolling along these routes involves driving in a continuous S-shaped pattern to explore, killing any lone monsters you encounter, and calling the guild if you encounter a group of monsters you can't handle... Understand?"

Bai Xiaowen understood. The combat strength required for patrolling along the line was not high, but it was undoubtedly a hard and arduous task. It involved bumping around in Wilderness Zone that was 20 kilometers wide and 129 kilometers long, and the rewards were not as high as those at monster gathering points. No wonder everyone was unwilling to do it.

However, this is also determined by strength. If you have the strength to deal with a monster gathering point, of course you won't have to go through so much trouble.

"What should we do with the remaining monster gathering points?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

There were as many as 18 gathering points recorded, and with 15 groups currently in place, it was clearly not enough.

"The three large gathering points are to be dealt with last by the guild's main force. These large gathering points may have Boss Tier and a large number of monsters, making them difficult to handle. For the safety of every awakened member of the guild, the guild leader will definitely not allow any small group to rashly challenge the large gathering points."

Bai Xiaowen understood.

Next, they drew lots. Each group wanted to get a high number so they could choose monster gathering points first. Those with lower numbers naturally had to choose the tougher monsters that others had left over.

The key issue is that even tough bones don't necessarily have much meat on them...

After all that work, the Old Demon came back with a black box. "Come on, there are 15 crumpled pieces of paper inside. Send one person from each group to catch them!"

"I'll go first!"

"I'll do it!"

A group of awakened individuals surged forward with smiles on their faces.

Bai Xiaowen shrugged. Actually, the chances of catching them first or later are about the same, so there's no point in arguing. Besides, as an all-around summoner, Bai Xiaowen can handle any monster gathering point, which is why summoners are good at venturing into the Wilderness Zone —no obvious advantages, but no obvious disadvantages either.

After they had almost all grabbed their pieces, Li Shuyi went over and grabbed the last crumpled piece of paper.

Unfold it and take a look -- number 1.

The Old Demon chuckled, "You guys are really rotten. After all that, no one even bothered to arrest Number 1."

The group of awakened individuals looked at each other, all somewhat frustrated.

"Alright, bring the map..." Li Beihai gestured for Old Demon to unfold a map of the area surrounding Jinghai City. "Which gathering point should we choose? Please give your opinions."

Li Shuyi readily agreed, "I'll listen to Xiao Wen."

Li Beihai: "..."

Seeing Li Beihai's somewhat dark expression, Bai Xiaowen quickly added, "I'll listen to the guild leader." For him, it didn't matter which monster gathering point in the C-Tier section he encountered; even if it was a large gathering point, Bai Xiaowen was confident he could handle it after gathering enough intelligence.

Li Beihai nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, I'm leading the Super God 001 team, so safety isn't an issue. Of course, we should show our style – capable of fighting tough battles and excelling at tackling difficult tasks... How about Spider Demon Valley? What do you guys think?"

Neither Bai Xiaowen nor Li Shuyi had any objections.

The Old Demon shouted, "Our guild leader has shown great sportsmanship by being the first to choose Spider Demon Valley!"

"The president is amazing!"

"The boss is fantastic!"

A burst of flattery rang out.

Spider Demon Valley, according to the information, is a valley inhabited by a group of Calamity Spider Demon. Some of these Spider Demon live in naturally formed caves, while others Stealth in the center of spider webs among the rocks. They are skilled at ambushes and are extremely difficult to deal with.

Furthermore, Spider Demon Valley contains many spider eggs, which hatch into baby spiders upon contact. Although their attack power is not high, their sheer number is extremely annoying.

Furthermore, Spider Demon are actually Undead Species, and their flesh is filled with a putrid stench after death. Their corpses cannot be included in the Enhancement Recipe and must be discarded. In terms of Earth's currency, this represents a loss of some revenue.

Li Beihai waved his hand. "Stop flattering me, who drew number two? Hurry up and choose the land!"

The player who drew number two is the captain of the main team, Blade Nie Kong.

With Li Beihai setting an example, Nie Kong, this immature young man, wasn't going to be outdone and said, "I choose this... Wild Bull Riverbend."

Many more awakened individuals expressed their admiration. The Wild Bull Riverbend was no pushover either. The Mutant Wild Bull had thick hides and flesh, and a pair of horns comparable to daggers. When the group Charge, one would either be stabbed to death by the horns or trampled to death by the herd.

"Why would Nie Kong choose the 'Wild Bulls' herd over so many easy targets?" Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes, somewhat puzzled, but he didn't think Nie Kong would be that foolish...

Although Nie Kong made mistakes time and time again, those were in social situations and had nothing to do with the interests of the Awakened Ones. Now, it was a choice that concerned the benefits. If Nie Kong continued to act impulsively and disregard his teammates' feelings by forcibly choosing opponents that his team was not good at, he certainly wouldn't live long, let alone achieve his current status as a high-level Elite Awakened.

The Old Demon chuckled, "The Mutant Wild Bull does have weaknesses. Captain Nie Kong's fighting style is a perfect counter to this kind of mutated beast; it's a very clever choice."