'Team' and Rewards

Chapter 20: 'Team' and Rewards

The "zombies" attacking the Skeleton Soldiers were clearly different from those in the Undead army. On closer inspection, they were all wearing the clothes of Dawn City's residents. Some even wore Crusader armor, and they ranged from young to old. Judging by their wounds, they were all recent; blood still trickled from the torn flesh.

"What's going on?"

Why had these monsters started fighting among themselves?

Even more astonishing, the bespectacled man who had been presumed dead was now standing outside the horde, waving at Li Wei and the others.

By the time the three of them broke free of the Skeleton Soldiers and made it to safety, they still hadn't recovered from the shock. Zheng Yutong and Bai Jie, in particular, looked at the bespectacled man as if they'd seen a ghost.

They had personally confirmed that he'd been crushed to death by the falling rocks. Now he was standing right in front of them, alive and well. Anyone would have needed a moment to process that.

Of course, Li Wei, who possessed Eye of Perception, was the exception.

"Thank goodness! I thought you'd already left the city. I forgot to introduce myself earlier. My name is Wang Kai, and my number is 1627!" The bespectacled man—Wang Kai—adjusted his glasses and smiled.

Seeing the two women's puzzled looks, Wang Kai continued, "I forgot to tell you: I'm a T-Virus Enhancement user. I may not have much strength or agility, but I do have two abilities, 'Regeneration' and 'T-Virus Infection.' Those zombies just now were created by me!"

Wang Kai's words confirmed Li Wei's suspicions. He'd been careless to think that the man had been crushed to death in the rubble earlier.

His Stamina was 39, the highest of the five. High Stamina meant strong vitality. Without some special ability to explain it, how could a newcomer like him have such an outrageous stat?

As they watched the few "zombies" created by the T-Virus shambling around nearby, Li Wei and the others couldn't help feeling safer. The zombies were even uglier and more disgusting than the Undead, but being on the same side made all the difference. Looking at those rotting corpses now, they even seemed a little familiar!

"All right, our team has another member now. Li Wei, according to your reasoning, everyone in a multiplayer scenario is indispensable. Bai Jie has the support spell Slow Spell, Wang Kai can infect and control corpses, and I have the highest combat rating. So what role do you play on this team?"

Zheng Yutong summoned the Yellow Paper, and a pile of food instantly appeared on the ground. She picked up a sandwich and took a dainty bite, her eyes fixed on Li Wei.

This perceptive woman gave Li Wei a headache. She already knew the answer, yet she'd asked anyway. She wanted to know how he'd figured out Bai Jie's special ability and chosen their escape route.

If he didn't explain at least a little now, the other three would surely misunderstand him. With that in mind, Li Wei came up with a plan.

He grabbed a vacuum-packed chicken drumstick from the pile of food, tore open the package, and wolfed it down. Between bites, he said, "My special ability lets me see a target creature's attributes and abilities. As for choosing a suitable escape route, that takes a little know-how. Dawn City is built on flat ground. Of the four directions, only the west has a forest, which makes it ideal for escaping. There's also a Knight Training Ground in the forest, so that's the only place where reinforcements might come to our aid. Didn't you look carefully at the scenario map on the Yellow Paper?"

Li Wei's casual remark left the other three stunned. Of course they'd read the mission description and looked at the scenario map on the Yellow Paper. But things had been so urgent that they'd only had time to check it at the beginning. After that, they'd been running for their lives. How could they have remembered the details on the map?

They hurriedly summoned their Yellow Papers and checked the mission details. Before long, all three wore astonished expressions. Li Wei was right. If they'd just studied the mission description and map carefully, choosing a suitable escape route wouldn't have been difficult.

But who would have paid attention to such things in a crisis? Even if they had noticed the information, there'd have been no time to consider every detail of their escape. Those decisions could only be made on the fly, when they encountered the actual situation.

Anyone capable of doing that needed a cool head, superhuman memory, and excellent analytical and reasoning skills. Zheng Yutong, Bai Jie, and Wang Kai all knew they couldn't have managed it.

When they looked again at the man gnawing on a chicken drumstick, their expressions had completely changed. Zheng Yutong suddenly had an absurd thought: the most indispensable person on this team was the man standing right in front of them.

Just then, the same message appeared on all their Yellow Papers.

Mission: Escape Dawn City. Complete. Mission Completion Rating: A. Reward: 500 points. Additional rewards for an A rating: 1,000 gold, First Aid Tent ×1, Militiaman ×10, Trainee Crossbowman ×5.

Mission Scenario 2: The Griffin Empire's Counterattack. Mission: [Retake Dawn City, Occupied by the Undead]. Difficulty: B. Cannot be interrupted. Time limit: 7 days... Enraged by the Undead Necromancer's invasion, the ruler of the Griffin Empire has dispatched his most elite Griffin forces, determined to wipe away the humiliation. Over the next seven days, gather as much strength and as many soldiers as possible, and help the Griffin Knights reclaim their lost territory!

Almost at the same time, a group of people came down a small road. They wore leather armor and helmets; some carried spears, while others had wooden crossbows slung over their backs. When they spotted Li Wei and the others, they quickened their pace.

"Thank goodness, honored knight! We ran all day before we finally found our own people. Now we don't have to fear those hateful Undead anymore!" A burly Militiaman was the first to reach them.

A group of Militiamen and Crossbowmen admired you and wished to join your army! Accept?

All four chose to accept. As if they'd refuse! They'd have to be fools to turn down an offer like that. Now that they had these troops, they could at least defeat units like Vampires much more easily if they encountered them again.

The large group, along with Wang Kai's zombies, set off toward the depths of the forest.

It was Li Wei's suggestion!

The closer they got to Dawn City, the more likely they were to encounter Undead units. That wasn't what anyone wanted. The mission on the Yellow Paper required them to gather as much strength as possible within seven days and join the counterattack. Anyone familiar with Heroes of Might and Magic knew what those seven days meant.

They had to use the 1,000 gold and troops at their disposal to seize as many resource points, Creature Dwellings, and other important resources as possible. Then they could assemble an army capable of standing against the Undead Necromancer and retake the lost territory. They couldn't afford to waste even a moment.

After studying the strategic map, everyone agreed with Li Wei's suggestion. Beyond the forest lay a region of mountains and plains, where Dawn City's Knight Training Ground had been built.

"Miss Zheng... You and Wang Kai go to the Knight Training Ground first. Bai Jie and I will explore the resources and Creature Dwellings in this forest. Any objections?"

Even Zheng Yutong had no better plan at that moment. Wang Kai, despite his glasses, offered no better suggestion either. Bai Jie, however, seemed thoughtful.

Looking at her, Li Wei knew what she was worried about. Of the four of them, she was the only one whose special ability had no offensive power. Even Wang Kai had his powerful Regeneration ability. If they ran into danger, Bai Jie was the most likely to get hurt—or even killed.

But that was reality. If they wanted to survive, everyone had to do their part. Li Wei wasn't some kindhearted gentleman. If someone was completely useless, he wouldn't mind leaving them behind as a snack for the Undead.

That evening, in Dawn City, now lost to the enemy.

Fires burned everywhere. Buildings demolished by catapults lay in ruins across the city. The Undead dragged people hiding in cellars and rooms out into the open one by one, then slaughtered them without resistance. The dying screams of the humans rang across Dawn City again and again, refusing to fade.

Guo Jian hid in a crack between the fallen stones of a wall, warily watching the Undead rampaging outside. Even after receiving Strength Enhancement, he was exhausted after a full day of fighting.

If Li Wei had been there, he would have recognized the man as the burly fellow who'd been the first to rush out of the room.

"Those four... Apart from the woman numbered 103, the others should be dead by now, right?" Guo Jian spat and sneered.

He'd been the first to leave the room, but once outside, he'd found that the situation was worse than he'd imagined. Undead creatures had surrounded the entire town. He'd thought his tremendous combat power would let him break through with ease, but instead he'd become more and more trapped. After encountering a Level Three Undead unit, he'd lost his advantage completely.

It was the Level Three unit that had caused all this: Ghosts!

Ordinary physical attacks were practically useless against those things. Even though he'd cultivated Primordial Origin Skill to the second level and possessed an attack skill like Rakshasa Three Forms, he still couldn't deal with Ghosts.

As the sky gradually darkened, Guo Jian grew anxious. He hadn't studied the mission map the way Li Wei had. Otherwise, he would have realized that the escape route he'd taken from the very start had been a mistake.

Just then, Guo Jian noticed the Skeleton Soldiers and zombies wandering nearby begin to gather of their own accord. Though they had little intelligence, they were being herded together, forming ranks like soldiers.

Then Guo Jian heard the sound of hoofbeats. He cautiously peered outside, and his face turned deathly pale!

A large group of Vampires in black robes surrounded someone riding an Undead warhorse. The rider was what terrified Guo Jian.

It was a monster.

Its head looked half-human and half-bat, with huge ears swept back and a pointed snout full of fangs. Its protruding brow and cheekbones made its blood-red eyes look even more bloodthirsty. Long, sharp claws extended from the sleeves of its wide robe, as if they could tear apart a powerful bull with ease.

This monster was strong. Guo Jian was certain that if he faced it head-on, he wouldn't last a minute. He'd already survived seven scenario missions, but this was the first time he'd ever felt such despair.

He couldn't let himself be exposed. If he was, he'd be dead for sure!

Sometimes, however, things didn't go as one hoped. As the monster on the Undead warhorse passed the place where Guo Jian was hiding, it stopped. Its blood-red eyes swept over the ruins, and its fanged mouth let out a terrifying, "Heh heh heh!"...