Take a Look First

Jade Capital Frontline Command Center.

Inside the meeting room.

The atmosphere wasn't exactly heavy.

However, most of the attendees looked helpless.

Zhou Zhenyue rubbed his temples, looked at the report that had just been submitted, and fell silent.

"----Another batch has arrived?"

He looked at the chief of staff.

The chief of staff nodded. "Yes, another batch has arrived. Currently, all defense zones are basically being held up by those High Sequence players. Apart from the Patrollers who deal with the Variant Monster, only the necessary supervisory personnel remain among the ordinary soldiers."

"How many soldiers are currently on rotation for rest at the Jade Capital front?"

Eighty percent.

The chief of staff replied, "There is still a steady stream of players arriving. Although a plan has been put forward, most players still prefer to come here directly, given that Jade Capital has Lu Xiu and Astera."

Many people came with the idea of triggering an opportunity—simply put, they wanted to see if they could get the head of the Astera's Smithy to make equipment for them.

Members of some large guilds, in particular, held this view, and they had been wandering around the Astera for the past few days.

"----Send more personnel to the Astera to maintain order, and expel them if necessary. No matter what their intentions are, once they come to Jade Capital, they must obey orders. Also, under no circumstances should they be allowed to go to the third Astera."

Zhou Zhenyue waved his hand. "This is the bottom line. If they try to force their way in, just kill them on the spot. No need to report."

"I see."

The chief of staff nodded.

There's really no room for discussion on this. Putting aside the level of attention from above, just the things Lu Xiu did for the Jade Capital front line are enough to make the front line treat her with the utmost seriousness.

but----

"Most of the rotating soldiers have been resting for almost a week now, and apart from regular training, there are still no suitable instances available."

The chief of staff turned to the next page of the document in his hand. "The Patrollers is at full strength. We've already cleared all the remaining dungeons and those that still have bonus attempts. Currently, the soldiers are mainly clearing new areas on their own, but the efficiency is very low."

The Strategy Group couldn't find any suitable system dungeons either. As for the other Architect, let's not even mention them; there were already dungeons with readily available guides, which, according to the frontline soldiers, weren't even worth mentioning.

These words were spoken.

Officers from several major defense zones also spoke up.

"That's right, the soldiers are mostly resting now."

"This is not a solution."

"This is a bit tricky; the Strategy Group is too slow."

"Lu Xiu's side—"

Zhou Zhenyue rubbed his temples again.

The most troublesome problem has now arisen.

The means to strengthen countless soldiers in Jade Capital.

"I understand—let's wait for Chu Huai to come back."

Zhou Zhenyue thought for a moment, "But before that, don't stop the other attempts, just in case."

Upon hearing this, the officers in the conference room exchanged glances.

They certainly knew what Chu Huai was doing.

Lu Xiu has created a new instance—rumored to be specially prepared for the soldiers on the front lines.

Chu Huai went to participate in the dungeon verification and hasn't returned yet.

--Now General Zhou is saying we shouldn't stop trying other things, could it be that the instance isn't meeting expectations?

"General, how long will it take them to verify their passage?"

Zhao Hu, the leader of the first defense zone, said, "Miss Lu Xiu's dungeon shouldn't be too bad, right? Even if it only gives a few points in attributes, the margin for error for the brothers below will be greatly increased."

"Um----"

The chief of staff nodded. "It's already a pleasant surprise that we don't need a strategy guide—not to mention that she completed the dungeon in such a short time, which has been a huge help."

It's obvious.

The group misunderstood Zhou Zhenyue's meaning.

His concern wasn't that the rewards from the Lu Xiu instance were inadequate.

There's no time to worry yet.

After all, the dungeon hasn't been cleared yet, and Chu Huai hasn't even appeared. Judging from Lu Xiu's previous dungeon rewards—only a madman would think Lu Xiu's dungeon rewards are bad.

What he was really worried about was the difficulty of the dungeon.

He feared that if the frontline soldiers went in, they wouldn't be able to win, let alone get any rewards for completing the mission.

That's why I'm telling others not to stop trying.

It's not that the copy doesn't meet expectations.

My thoughts have reached this point.

Zhou Zhenyue opened his mouth, about to explain.

Bang!

The conference room door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Chu Huai strode in.

He looked somewhat tired, as if he had just finished a very intense training exercise; his brows showed signs of fatigue, but his eyes were very bright.

Despite being at the age of fifty, he was as excited as a young person who had just passed the civil service exam.

"Did you clear the dungeon verification?"

Upon seeing Chu Huai, Zhou Zhenyue temporarily abandoned the idea of explaining and immediately asked, "How is the situation? Is it suitable for the soldiers on the front lines?"

"----Perfectly suited."

After Chu Huai saluted, he took a deep breath and, without sitting down, replied directly, "Not only is it suitable, it can even be said to be tailor-made. Lu Xiu's new dungeon mechanism is very simple, it can be said to be the simplest of all her dungeons."

At the same time, I'm quite certain that her new dungeon doesn't require any strategy guides, because it mainly tests players' tactical cooperation, mental resilience, and the use of firearms—as well as their observation and judgment skills.

Personally, I feel that having a guide or not won't make a significant difference in this dungeon.

Upon hearing this...

Zhou Zhenyue's brows instantly relaxed.

The chief of staff and several district officers also showed delight.

Lu Xiu actually did it!

A dungeon was created in a very short time!

And judging from Chu Huai's words, it really is very suitable for soldiers!

That wasn't easy.

Even if the reward is less than ideal, I can accept it; it really helped me a lot!

Especially Zhao Hu.

The tall, imposing man was the most delighted upon hearing the news, because the first defense zone was the largest and had the most frontline soldiers rotated out. He even slapped the table, exclaiming, "Great! The mechanism is simple! It tests tactical coordination, psychological resilience, and the use of firearms. This is truly a streamlined version of the game tailor-made for frontline soldiers!"

As expected, Lu Xiu did not disappoint.

Even if the rewards are lacking, only basic attribute bonuses, it's still a decent boost for each soldier after three runs!

The chief of staff nodded upon hearing this, then breathed a sigh of relief, "Although the system's settlement rewards might not be very high, mainly attribute points and the skills might be average, it's still a real enhancement—"

"Just the Survival Points alone amount to a huge sum!"

Another garrison officer chuckled, "As long as no strategy guide is needed, given the current situation on the front lines, the Survival Points all the soldiers will gain upon completing the mission will be a considerable sum."

The reward doesn't matter much; as long as it provides attributes, even just three or four points, it's a valuable asset that can significantly reduce frontline casualties.

Obviously.

It seems Zhou Zhenyue's words just now caused the ambiguity, with everyone assuming the dungeon rewards were bad.

"Um----"

Zhou Zhenyue nodded in agreement.

Even I've been somewhat misled----

After all, the biggest weight on his heart had finally been lifted.

As long as the new dungeon doesn't have such a high learning curve as Monster Hunter, and the rewards are decent, that's enough.

After all, this was a custom-made copy by Lu Xiu for the soldiers on the front lines.

It's customized.

It always gives the impression that there will be many compromises.

Listening to my colleagues' discussion.

Chu Huai, who was still trying to calm his breathing, suddenly had a strange expression.

He looked at his colleagues, whose expectations were already plummeting—and couldn't help but laugh.

A skill that's barely passable?

Mosquito legs?

Does it matter if the reward is not good?

Do these people have some misunderstanding about Lu Xiu?

Chu Huai shook his head, opened his mouth as if to explain, but suddenly felt that any explanation in words would seem particularly pale at this moment.

So he didn't explain anything.

Instead, he simply raised his hand and brought up his System Panel.

"Everyone."

Chu Huai spoke up to attract the others' attention. After they looked over, he tapped the air in front of him a few times and said, "Wait a minute—this is the reward I got for clearing the dungeon. One of them is mine, and the other is what Shen Nian got by clearing the dungeon with me. So this means that both of these skills can be obtained."

Before discussing the rewards, take a look at the skills I received.

That's all.

He directly showed the skill information to everyone.

Swish!

Two skills appeared before everyone's eyes.

It was precisely the Deadly Fireline and the Bloodied Survival that Lu Xiu had just witnessed.

The other high-ranking officials of Jade Capital, who were originally discussing the idea that accumulating small amounts would eventually lead to significant gains and that attribute point rewards would be acceptable, stopped their discussion.

Zhao Hu subconsciously squinted and looked over.

The chief of staff gently pushed up his glasses.

Zhou Zhenyue's gaze swept over in that direction as well.

But after they saw the reward clearly...

They froze instantly.

The entire room fell silent.

In the huge conference room, you could suddenly hear a pin drop.

"That's about it, and we've ruled out the possibility that this is a first-clear bonus."

Chu Huai looked at his colleague who was slowly opening his mouth and continued, "Because we cooperated with the Architect to verify the completion of the dungeon, it doesn't seem to count as a first clear. This is clearly stated on the settlement panel."

Although I didn't clear the dungeon for the first time, Jian Li did. I confirmed with her that this was a normal reward, not a first-clear reward. You all know what that means.

Upon hearing this...

The stunned crowd in the conference room finally snapped out of their daze, gasped sharply, and began to breathe heavily.

Next.

Creak!

The screeching sound of a chair scraping against the floor suddenly rang out.

Zhao Hu was the first to stand up.

Because of the sudden movement, the chair behind him was overturned and fell to the ground with a thud, but he didn't even glance at it.

Immediately afterward, the other officers also stood up in unison, as if they had been electrocuted.

They all stared wide-eyed at the rewards Chu Huai displayed.

"Chu Huai!!! Wait!!! You mean!!! These two skills are rewards from the new Lu Xiu dungeon???" Finally, an officer couldn't help but ask.

"Yes." Chu Huai nodded.

Others:

Some officers have already started pinching their thighs.

at last.

General Zhou Zhenyue, who was known for remaining calm even in the face of imminent danger, then braced himself on the table with both hands and stood up.

He stared at the skill description, noting the words "ignores all defense," "group damage reduction," and "heals on kill."

A good ten seconds or so passed.

He then looked away from Chu Huai and asked again, "You mean—this is the regular completion reward from Lu Xiu's new dungeon that doesn't require a walkthrough?"

Chu Huai nodded heavily. "Yes! I guarantee it with my life!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhenyue fell silent.

Everyone else fell silent as well.

Because everyone present was all too aware of the value of these two skills on the front lines.

What is the front line?

It was a meat grinder where you had to face Monster Tide almost every day.

How many frontline soldiers actually need to fight monsters one-on-one?

Almost none.

Each defense involved hundreds or thousands of people lining up to face Monster Tide covering the mountains and plains.

A radius of 30 meters; applies increased or decreased damage to any hostile target!

Heal for every enemy unit that dies!

In other environments, the conditions for triggering this skill might be quite demanding.

But in the Monster Tide on the front lines, this is damage reduction that can be instantly stacked! It's like a mobile fountain of health that's constantly and insanely healing itself!

Not to mention that it directly increases ranged base damage by 50% and comes with Deadly Fireline that ignores defense.

It's no exaggeration to say...

If all the soldiers in a defense zone develop this skill, their survival rate and the power of their firepower will increase exponentially!

Thinking about this...

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

Is this a reward from a dungeon that Lu Xiu hurriedly created?

Didn't you say you would compromise?

So where was the compromise made???

No wonder he was praised as a national hero.

66

Zhou Zhenyue remained silent for a long while, then took a deep breath, muttered something, and turned to leave. "I'm going to the Astera."

He even forgot to say goodbye.

But the others didn't ask any questions; they simply followed suit.