A Last-Minute Decision

Speaking of the tournament, Lin Maoxian asked the group, "You're all planning to enter the Squad Leader tournament, right?"

Eel shook his head. "I don't know how much of a boost becoming a Squad Leader gives you, but judging by the boost for regular soldiers, it should be pretty significant. Still, I know my limits. With my stats, there's no way I'll place in the top ten." He glanced at Tiger, sitting beside him. "Tiger, on the other hand, has a pretty good chance of winning if he enters."

Shasha chimed in. "Yeah. I'd really like to get the Squad Leader boost so I'd have a better chance of surviving on the battlefield, but I know my limits too. My stats definitely aren't good enough to place in the top ten."

"Yeah! My stats are still too low." "Same here. I don't stand a chance." "My chances aren't great either." The others chimed in as well.

Tiger shook his head at Eel's words. "I'll enter the tournament, but I don't know how many strong people there are, so I can't say I'll win and get the Squad Leader boost. Still, even if none of us wins, we can all join under the same Squad Leader and look out for each other. What do you think?" He turned first to Eel, who was sitting beside him.

Eel nodded. "Tiger's right. Even if none of us becomes a Squad Leader, we can still join the same one and look out for each other on the battlefield."

"Sure," Shasha said. "It's safer to stick with people you know. We can look out for each other."

"Sure." "No problem." "I agree." The others chimed in as well.

Seeing that Lin Maoxian was the only one who hadn't spoken, Tiger asked, "Adventurer, what do you think?"

Lin Maoxian glanced at the group. While they had been talking, he'd used Probe on each of them, so he knew all their stats well. He shook his head. "I'm definitely going to become a Squad Leader, but I won't take all of you into my squad."

Wumu immediately stood up. "What do you mean by that? And how can you be so sure you'll become a Squad Leader? You sure like to brag."

Lin Maoxian wagged the index finger of his left hand. "I mean exactly what I said. Don't you understand? Fine, I'll spell it out for you: you and the others beside you are too weak. As for whether I can become a Squad Leader, I'm confident in myself. Whether I'm bragging is none of your business."

"You..." "Arrogant!" Lin Maoxian's words clearly angered the other four as well, and they immediately gathered around Wumu.

Seeing the situation getting out of hand, Tiger called out, "Everyone, calm down! Calm down!"

When they quieted down, Tiger turned to Lin Maoxian. "Adventurer, can't we all stay in the same squad? People who know each other are safer together."

Lin Maoxian smiled at Tiger, his tone calm. "Are people who know each other really safer? The problem is, I barely know them, and their stats really don't meet my standards. I don't want a bunch of useless men under me. They won't help me on the battlefield—they'll only drag me down."

Seeing the others start to get angry again, Tiger quickly said, "Adventurer, you're joking, right? How do you know their stats are low? Maybe they're actually pretty high."

"I know what their stats are. At most, two of their stats are above ten; the rest are just average, and they don't have any skills. Would you call stats like that good?" Lin Maoxian casually summed up the others' stats.

Hearing that Lin Maoxian had described stats nearly identical to his own, Wumu asked in shock, "How is that possible? How do you know my stats?"

Lin Maoxian ignored Wumu's question and turned to Tiger, Eel, and Shasha. "So, what do you think? Will you join the squad I'm putting together? I'll only recruit strong people, so my squad should be safer on the battlefield."

Seeing them still hesitate, he added, "What are you thinking so hard about? You're not even that close to those others. If you want to keep yourselves safer, joining me is the right choice."

Before Tiger and the others could reply, Wumu—furious at being ignored—snapped, "You dare ignore me? I'll see just how high your stats are!" He threw a punch at Lin Maoxian.

Watching Wumu's fist come at him, Lin Maoxian shook his head helplessly. He really had brought this on himself. Without another word, he activated Copper Skin and chose a temporary +3 boost to Strength, then punched Wumu as he charged at him.

"Thud!" "Thud!" Then came a heavy "Bang!" as Lin Maoxian's punch sent Wumu flying out of the tent, where he crashed to the ground.

Wumu clutched his chest in pain, still unable to believe the system prompts he'd just received: "Adventurer cannot break through the defense of an enemy Adventurer. The target's HP remains unchanged."

"Adventurer has suffered crushing damage from an enemy Adventurer, losing (35-11)*3+10%===79.2 HP. Current HP: 110-79.2===30.8."

The damage was far too high. If he'd aimed his punch anywhere other than Lin Maoxian's chest—at a vital spot or somewhere that could cause a fatal injury—Wumu would surely be dead by now. Thinking about it, he broke out in a cold sweat.

It had all happened too quickly. No one expected Wumu to suddenly attack Lin Maoxian, much less get knocked flying with a single punch. Judging by the way he lay on the ground in pain, he'd lost at least half his HP. The others who had witnessed it all in just a few seconds could hardly believe their eyes.

Lin Maoxian left Wumu lying on the ground. They were in the army, after all, and he had no idea what punishment he'd face for killing Wumu, so he let him live. After deactivating his skill, he turned to the three stunned onlookers. "What do you think? Will you join the squad I'm putting together? If not, I'll have to find other people. With my strength, I'm sure plenty will want to join."

Eel was the first to react. "I-I'll join. I'll join your squad."

Tiger and Shasha quickly followed. "We'll join too." Just as Lin Maoxian had said, they weren't very close to the others, and naturally wanted to keep themselves safer. They'd only been wondering whether his stats were really as high as he claimed. Now they were completely convinced; Wumu's miserable state made it obvious just how strong Lin Maoxian was.

Lin Maoxian was pleased that the three had agreed to join the squad he was about to form. Their stats were pretty good. Eel and Shasha's stats were fairly average, but each had a useful skill. Tiger didn't have a skill, but his stats were high: both his Strength and Stamina were at 15. He was quite formidable.

Once the three had agreed, Lin Maoxian turned to the others. "I'm taking this tent. You can find somewhere else. On your way out, take the one lying on the ground with you." He pointed at Wumu, who was still groaning in pain.

"Yes... yes, we'll go now." They hurried over to Wumu, lifted him up, and rushed out.

Seeing Xiao Zhang approach after hearing the commotion, Lin Maoxian said, "Kid, this has nothing to do with you. Go wait somewhere else. I'll call you in a bit."

After Xiao Zhang had left, Lin Maoxian turned to the three. "Since we'll be together for a while in this mission world, we won't work well together if we don't know much about one another. I already know your stats, so I'll start by telling you mine."

Lin Maoxian saw the three listening attentively and continued, "My Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence are all above ten. I also have a skill that boosts my Strength a little, but I won't go into the details. You can each tell us a little about your own stats too, while keeping some things to yourselves, so the others can get to know you better and we can work together."

"Captain, your stats are amazing. No wonder you're so strong!" Eel started by buttering him up a little, then said, "My stats aren't as high as yours, Captain. Only my Agility is above ten, but I have a skill that gives another Adventurer a buff, increasing their Agility by three for thirty minutes. I spent most of my Source Points on that skill."

After Eel finished, Shasha said, "My stats are about the same as Eel's, and I have a skill too. My Intelligence is above ten. The skill immediately restores 30 HP to a target, then restores another 20 over the next five seconds. I can use it in combat."

After hearing Shasha, Tiger said in surprise, "Shasha, that's a powerful skill! You know how ridiculously expensive the Space Shop's potions are if you want to use them in combat. With your skill, everyone will be much safer."

Tiger's words made Shasha a little embarrassed. "Not really. I put most of my Source Points into the skill, so my other stats are pretty average. I'll still need everyone to protect me on the battlefield."