Home (11)

Chu Yu had a bit of a headache. Not only were the team members unsure whether to take the Rapid Delivery mission—even she was uncertain.

But as the captain, Chu Yu had the final say. "Everyone, tell me what you think about the Rapid Delivery mission."

Brother Kai said, "There's something about this mission I still don't understand. Say I take it, but you don't. Our car gets stopped by the War Police, and they find the X Pathogen on me. I'd definitely be dead, but what about you? Would you get dragged into it too?"

Ding Shi said, "System explanation: The ones pursuing us are AI agents, not War Police. AI agents possess independent consciousness. Whether the entire car will be implicated is determined by the AI agent."

Mu Mu asked, "Where did you see that system explanation?"

Ding Shi answered, "On the mission interface. Click the question mark, and more system explanations will appear."

Chu Yu was startled. "You accepted the mission?" Without discussing it with us?

Ding Shi said, "Mm. I was definitely going to take it."

Brother Kai didn't understand. "Why?"

Ding Shi asked, "What were your Peach Haven Village completion ratings?"

Mu Mu said, "I got C+."

Chu Yu said, "B."

Brother Kai and Sun Heaven said together, "B."

Mu Mu covered her forehead. So she was the weakest one.

Ding Shi said, "I got A. The Peach Haven Village instance gave me a great deal of insight. If we simply follow the leisure route laid out by the system, we can complete missions very easily. Even the Home mission—we're traveling from one end of the country to the other, and only need to drive a few hundred kilometers a day. With five people, we have at least 500 yuan. A car costs 200 yuan, tap water is free, and we can eat the cheapest biscuits. As for difficulty, it really isn't much."

Brother Kai said, "Can I understand it this way? If players don't court death, they won't get rewards?"

Ding Shi looked at Chu Yu. "Fishy happened to see the newspaper, but she bravely captured the wanted criminal. Logically speaking, during the Peach Haven Village instance, everyone was an ordinary person. For an ordinary girl to dare capture a wanted criminal was itself an act of courting death. That was why Fishy received an extra reward of 300 Ita coins."

Mu Mu agreed. "That's how it is. If you don't court death, you won't die."

"That's why I accepted the mission." Ding Shi took out the map pack and laid over a dozen maps on the ground. "There's another reason. There are quite a few no-signal zones along the way. Of course, no-signal zones themselves are extremely dangerous."

Chu Yu looked at the maps, then raised her head. "Ding Shi, what reward did you get for clearing it with an A rating?"

Ding Shi said, "125 dollars." The base clearance reward was 50 dollars, corresponding to a C+ rating. Every half-grade increase added another 25 dollars.

Brother Kai had cleared it with a B rating and received 75 dollars. "You encountered a flying zombie and an evil ghost, and only got 50 dollars more." The implication was that it was no big deal.

Everyone nodded, rather agreeing with Brother Kai. Chu Yu agreed as well. "The rating isn't that important."

Ding Shi said, "While raising my rating, I obtained some things, including something one of a kind."

Chu Yu asked, "A lot?"

Ding Shi said, "Not bad. It included a piece of truth."

"Truth?" Everyone asked in unison, "What is it?"

Ding Shi looked at them. "Didn't you get playing cards? Didn't the truth appear when you got them?"

Mu Mu grabbed at her hair speechlessly. "Are we even playing the same game?"

Brother Kai asked, "What is the truth?"

Rather than answer directly, Ding Shi asked, "Does your system interface have a notepad?"

Everyone shook their heads together.

Ding Shi decided not to provoke them and changed the subject. "The clearance rewards also included five random logistics cards and one friend card."

"Random logistics cards?" Everyone asked in unison again.

Chu Yu said, "I received two ordinary facility upgrade cards. They can upgrade one item in the thatched hut. I upgraded the bathroom and the stone bed." The stone bed had become a sturdy stone bed. At the time, she had nearly wanted to kill Little Candy.

The others said, "More or less the same." Mu Mu had gotten a little less; with only a C+ rating, she had received just one ordinary facility upgrade card.

Mu Mu pressed on. "What's a friend card?"

Ding Shi hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure you want to know?" He had thought everyone got one friend card and some random logistics cards, with only the quantity differing. Now, it seemed that the gap between A-rank and B-rank rewards was far from small. If he had known the difference was so great, Ding Shi would have only said that he had cleared it with a B rating.

Mu Mu asked carefully, "Do you think it'll upset me?"

Ding Shi said, "Not sure."

Mu Mu gestured for him to continue.

Ding Shi said, "If I give you the friend card, you can come to my island. The system explanation says that if you and I enter an instance through the teleportation array on my island, then provided the instance allows it, we'll be assigned to the same instance."

Jealousy made Mu Mu change the subject. "What's fun on your island?"

Ding Shi said, "At the moment, there's only a martial arts hall."

Mu Mu asked, "Built with logistics cards?"

Ding Shi nodded.

The flames of jealousy burned fiercely within Mu Mu. Staring into Ding Shi's eyes, she said, "Say it. Say you're a liar, and everything you said is fake."

Ding Shi said, "I'm a liar."

Mu Mu punched the ground. "I'm taking the mission. Either live like a coward, or die spectacularly."

Brother Kai hesitated. "As long as we clear this leisure instance, we can get one-way tickets and secure a place for ourselves in Southwest Community. If we die, we'll be forcibly sent to North Community: tiny dorms, twenty dorm rooms sharing one restroom, and only four elevators. Southwest Community has private bathrooms and five elevators for five households."

Ding Shi was somewhat surprised. By his judgment, Brother Kai should have accepted the mission without hesitation.

Ding Shi asked curiously, "Brother Kai, do you have family?"

Brother Kai nodded. "My wife isn't good at playing instances. I think she may be forcibly assigned to North District. If I can get a place in Southwest Community, I can take care of her."

The core of Ding Shi's question was whether Brother Kai had decided to use the one-way ticket because of his family. Since the answer was yes, instance-clearance ratings meant little to Brother Kai. Friend cards, random logistics cards, and the like could only be used at the island villa.

Ding Shi and Mu Mu decided to take the mission, while Brother Kai decided not to. Captain Fishy had few options. She couldn't drive, and she couldn't pair up with just one person.

Everyone looked at Sun Heaven. He had spoken the least in the team and always smiled amiably, completing every task assigned to him well. When he suddenly saw everyone looking at him, Sun Heaven stammered for a moment. "Huh? Th-th-then what?" Clearly, while everyone had been discussing it, Sun Heaven had not considered his own choice.

To give Sun Heaven time to think, Chu Yu said, "The two wanted criminals definitely need to be in one car, and Brother Kai will take them. I've decided to go with Sun Heaven. If Sun Heaven, Brother Kai, and I form one group, then we'll give the several hundred instance coins here to Mu Mu and Ding Shi. After all, we still have two wanted criminals on our hands."

Chu Yu asked, "Brother Kai, Mu Mu, Ding Shi, what do you think?"

Ding Shi and Mu Mu said, "Agreed."

Brother Kai said, "I agree, but I want the farm's SUV." The SUV was an automatic and consumed more fuel. On the highway, its ride comfort was far inferior to that of a low-chassis sedan. Brother Kai wanted the SUV for only one reason: it ran on diesel, and the farm had forty liters of diesel in reserve.