Not far away, the Long-Tusked Boar trotted along, noticing Zhang Yang in the distance.
But to it, Zhang Yang posed no threat at all.
A little kid barely a meter tall, with Soul Power so weak it was practically negligible.
And the Martial Soul he held in his hands wasn't releasing any Soul Power, either.
Whichever way you looked at it, the advantage was mine.
Once I got around this patch of obstructive bushes, all it would take was one charge. My tusks would punch two gaping holes through this human.
Just like that Nether Wolf earlier.
But the Carbon-Based Lifeform Calmer's power was beyond anything the native creatures of Douluo Continent could comprehend.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and a burst of dust kicked up behind the Long-Tusked Boar.
The boar's steps faltered. It felt the strength draining rapidly from its body.
"This..."
Before the Long-Tusked Boar could react, another gunshot rang out.
Its health instantly emptied, and its body went limp, collapsing to the ground like a pile of noodles.
Through the hole in its forehead, bright red blood gushed out like water from a burst pipe.
The next moment, the boar's body vanished, turning into a loot box.
Seeing the Long-Tusked Boar dead, Zhang Yang let out a quiet breath and relaxed.
This was the final boss in the beginner tutorial.
The map was clear.
Zhang Yang put Lord M14 away, went over to the box, and instinctively lay down before reaching out to open it.
A 6×6 search interface popped up.
"Ding."
"White, paintbrush, value: 1,368"
"Blue, low-grade fuel, value: 14,412"
"Blue, military canned food, value: 14,426"
"White, Ten-Year Soul Ring ×1, value: 1"
Zhang Yang put Small Blue and the Soul Ring away, then quietly waited for the final 1×2 item to be revealed.
He had a feeling this wasn't going to be anything minor.
"Ding!"
A flash of red light, and a crescent-shaped antique object appeared in Zhang Yang's hand.
"Red, Tusk Fossil"
"Value: 350,040"
"Craftwork collectible"
"0.93 kg, 1×2 slots"
"A fossilized animal tusk. The passage of time has failed to conceal its essence as an instrument of slaughter."
"Red collectible special effect: enhances the penetration of M14 attacks."
After closing his personal information interface, Zhang Yang headed toward the extraction point, but his mind kept turning over the matter of the "red item special effect."
"Special effects? So red collectibles aren't just more valuable to the system?"
Zhang Yang realized what that meant, though it seemed reasonable enough.
"Whether it's a big red or a small red, with drop rates this low and values this high, it makes sense for them to have an extra special effect."
With six minutes left on the extraction countdown, Zhang Yang finally entered the extraction point.
It was an open clearing with no canopy overhead, sunlight pouring in to form a massive patch of light.
At its very center, two signal flares spewed thick green smoke.
It gave him a sense of security.
After ten seconds, the deafening chop of helicopter blades came from overhead, and a fast-rope descended from the cabin door.
"Package confirmed in transit. Welcome home."
Zhang Yang's body moved on its own, clipping a quick-release hook onto the electric ascender on the rope. After checking that it was secure, he raised a thumbs-up.
The extraction animation ended there. Zhang Yang's vision blurred, and the results screens popped up one after another.
"Extraction successful."
"Extraction point: Quiet Forest Extraction Point"
"Duration: 00:25:22"
"Haul this round: 235,559"
"Total eliminations: 3"
Then the warehouse interface appeared.
On the left side of the screen was Zhang Yang's in-game backpack, its five pocket slots and nine secure slots crammed full. On the right was his personal warehouse, empty as could be.
Zhang Yang immediately selected [Transfer All], moving all the loot from the round into his warehouse. While he was at it, he also took off the green armor he was wearing—the "Martial Soul Hall Deacon Uniform Set"—and put it in the warehouse.
The next moment, Zhang Yang's consciousness returned to the real world.
Then the system panel abruptly went black, and a line of ornate lettering slowly appeared.
"Season One: Beginning from Duckweed"
The image remained on screen for ten seconds before slowly fading away.
A new system notification appeared.
"Congratulations, you have unlocked [Season Mission: Breaking Doubt]."
"You can view it under Season Missions."
Zhang Yang was completely dumbfounded. "Wait, didn't I just pick up a secure container? Why is there still a 3×3 mission? You can't just buy the 9-slot secure container, is that it? System! Linlang Tiangshang! Where's my 3×3?"
Before Zhang Yang could recover, a second notification followed.
"Congratulations, you have unlocked the Collection Room."
"You can place red collectibles found during operations in the Collection Room to activate their special effects."
"You can manage your Collection Room via Special Operations Bureau—Collection—Collection Room Management."
"Each red collectible has four levels of special effects that can be activated. Enter the Collection Room to see the conditions required to activate each level for each collectible."
"Collection Room?" Zhang Yang's nerves, wound tight over the 3×3, loosened a little. "Oh? A Collection Room? Let's see what that's all about."
He'd already dealt with the 3×3 mission plenty of times, but this was his first time encountering red collectible special effects. He had to check them out.
In the Collection Room management interface, Zhang Yang placed the Tusk Fossil inside.
The next moment, a wave of heat rose from beneath his feet and swept over his entire body.
Zhang Yang closed his eyes and slowly let out a breath.
Once the heat had dissipated, Zhang Yang exited the Collection Room interface.
Then Zhang Yang opened the [Season Missions] interface.
The Season Missions interface used the same task format as the one from after the Prison Season.
Three tabs of equal size lined up across most of the screen.
[Action Plan] [Collector] [Endgame Contact]
"Damn [Collector] followed me all the way to another world. It's like a ghost that just won't leave me alone."
Zhang Yang muttered a curse.
For a solo-trio veteran like Zhang Yang, losing contact wasn't hard to complete once he split off from the others. A round or two of brick-farming would get it done.
But the [Collector] mission was different.
Whether you were a solo-trio veteran, a three-stack rusher, or a rat in a windbreaker doing knife runs, if you didn't have enough of the specific collectibles, you had to go to the Trade Bridge and try your luck.
Zhang Yang opened [Collector] first.
The [Collector] mission required five kinds of collectibles.
"Gold Bar (0/3)"
"Olivia Champagne (0/3)"
"Luxury Mechanical Watch (0/3)"
"Hunting Pocket Watch (0/3)"
"Premium Peace Apple (0/3)"
"Operation Reward: Mechanical Worker Bee Model ×9"
Looking at the Collector mission, Zhang Yang suddenly felt a flicker of doubt.
These requirements... didn't seem that harsh.
All five collectibles were high-drop-rate, one- or two-slot small reds. If he kept going on runs, he really could find them all pretty quickly.
"That's weird. Since when has Delta Force been this generous?"
Still suspicious, Zhang Yang opened [Endgame Contact].
[Endgame Contact]:
"※ On any map, while carrying an undeciphered Mandel Brick, eliminate one enemy Soul Master. (0/1)"
"※ On any map, successfully decipher a Mandel Brick once. (0/1)"
"※ On any map, extract successfully once. (0/1)"
"Note: Complete all mission objectives in a single operation, or the entire mission progress will reset."
"Operation Reward: Mechanical Worker Bee Model ×9"
This was a normal [Endgame Contact] mission, too.
Zhang Yang closed the [Endgame Contact] interface and opened the first [Action Plan] interface.
Then Zhang Yang finally understood why [Collector] and [Endgame Contact] were so normal.
"[Action Plan 1: Starting Capital]"
"Mission Briefing: To ensure that subsequent missions can proceed smoothly, you must have sufficient funds to support them."
"※ Across any operations, accumulate earnings of more than 500,000,000 Haf Coins. (0/500000000)"
"Operation Reward: [Current-Level 3×3 Secure Container Experience Card] ×1"
"[Current-Level 3×3 Secure Container Experience Card]: Use it to obtain a 3×3 secure container. It can only be used at your current level and expires when your level increases."
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5... No, I'm getting dizzy."
Zhang Yang was dizzy from counting all the zeroes.
Even in Chengdu, Zhang Yang had never seen so many zeroes.
Furious, Zhang Yang slapped the table. "System, you son of a bitch! Do you know how much five hundred million is? Rounded up, that's one B!"
"Do you know how long it takes to grind out one B? Would you even dare dream of that much money? If I gave you one B, would you know how to spend it? How dare you ask for that much?"
Furious, Zhang Yang closed the [Season Missions] page.
He couldn't look at it anymore. It was making his balls ache.
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