Desert Eagle's Advanced Mission

"You rich kid! Drop the gold coins!" Baozi muttered while stripping the guy's clothes.

The level 30 orange-quality shield was undoubtedly the most valuable piece of equipment; the purple-quality armor was merely a bonus.

Baozi's movements were highly professional as he easily stripped the man's clothes and wrapped them in a black cloth from his tool bag.

Then, he happily ran outside with the loot, planning to move the stolen goods first.

Seeing Baozi leave, Sha Tu signaled Xu Jiang to cast a healing spell and wake the man up.

Xu Jiang watched from the side, shaking his head in speechless disbelief. What a world!

The rescuers actually knocked out the victim and stripped his gear first. What kind of rescue was this? It was utterly shameless!

But I like it...

'Little Lei, hit him with one.'

"Got it, watch me go boom..."

'No! Wait! I meant cast First Aid.'

"Oh, oh, General, you should have said so earlier. You almost sent him off."

The grenade lit up with a white light, reviving Duan Quan, whose head was split open.

As soon as he regained consciousness, Duan Quan felt a chill all over his body. He was only left with his underwear.

"Wh-what happened to me? Right, the monsters, help!"

"Don't panic, we are Team 17 from the Hunter Department, here to save you."

The perpetrator, Ying Xiaoxiao, stood heroically at the front of the formation, one gun in hand, facing countless zombies. Her cool pose almost brought tears to Duan Quan's eyes.

"Great, someone's finally here to rescue me, but my equipment..."

"Oh, when we found you, you were already like this. We suspect it was the gold-snatchers."

"Yes, very likely! I just felt a sudden blow to the back of my head. Hiss! That hurt!"

"It's okay, just rush out along this path. We've cleared the monsters along the way, so it's very safe."

"But I don't have any equipment! I don't even have my shield. It's too dangerous to rush out like this."

"It's fine, you can use this shield for now. Hurry, we'll cover your retreat!"

Ying Xiaoxiao said this with righteous indignation, volunteering to stay behind and cover their retreat.

But after hitting someone and stripping them of their gear, and not even escorting them out, wasn't that a bit too much?

And was this thing she gave him even a shield?

It was snatched directly from a zombie, the same as the wooden pot lids the Ya Ya People used. Was she sure he could make it out alive?

Duan Quan didn't grasp the malice behind her actions at all. Instead, he looked gratefully at Ying Xiaoxiao and thanked her, "Thank you so much. After today, you are my benefactor, and I will definitely repay you."

"Alright, enough nonsense. Take this communicator. Once you get out, contact your dad and have him arrange someone to pick you up."

"Okay, thank you all. I'll be going now."

The night was cold. Duan Quan, wearing only his underwear and carrying a wooden pot lid, ran and swayed in the biting wind...

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, the boss is truly ferocious!" Baozi, who had returned, saw Duan Quan running naked and said with a grin.

"Boss, that Duan Quan was really loaded. He actually carried 300 Exotic Crystals with him. Has this kid lost his mind?"

300 Exotic Crystals were worth 6 million Credit Points. Would a normal person carry 6 million in cash and run to a cemetery in the middle of the night?

"Never mind him, let's retreat first. Something feels increasingly wrong here." Ying Xiaoxiao made the decision.

They were only here to accept a commission and get paid. Now, this cemetery seemed to be undergoing a massive change.

But just as everyone was preparing to turn and leave, Sha Tu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke, "You guys leave first. I need to take care of something."

His words made everyone stop in their tracks.

"Take care of something? Here?" Baozi looked confused.

He glanced around. Apart from the peeled and de-fleshed zombies emitting hungry growls, there were no living people breathing. What private business needed to be handled here?

Seeing Sha Tu remain silent, Ying Xiaoxiao didn't press further.

"Okay, since you still have something to do, we'll continue forward."

"But, Captain? This is my personal matter, there's no need to drag everyone along."

"Alright, your business is our Team 17's business. Stop rambling and give us a direction."

Although Ying Xiaoxiao shouldered her spear with great force, her loyalty was undeniable. If Sha Tu was in trouble, they would face it together.

Of course, the team members still needed to be arranged.

Xiao Zhen could no longer travel with the team. Her strength was more supportive, and the environment here was becoming increasingly dangerous. It would be difficult for her to focus on taking care of her.

Baozi also had to fall back to move the zombie corpses they had buried back to the vehicle and find a safe location to await backup.

As for Xu Jiang...

"I'll go deep with you all," Xu Jiang said, flashing his revolver. "I need to practice my skills; I didn't get any good opportunities just now."

During his time with Team 17, he had been well taken care of by Sha Tu, so now that someone else was in trouble, of course, he had to help.

What's more, there were too few zombies earlier. Even if Xu Jiang wanted to practice his skills, he never found an opportunity. Now that he had two experts escorting him, he certainly couldn't waste it.

As the three ventured deeper into the woods, the number of zombies also increased.

By Xu Jiang's estimate, at least several thousand zombies had revived in Corpse Mountain Park. If not handled properly, it could turn into an undead disaster.

Moreover, this revival wasn't limited to humans; it also included beasts.

In front of Xu Jiang stood a giant lion, its physique appearing even stronger than when it was alive. Its entire body was jet black, its eyes emitted a red glow, and it roared at the three.

Ying Xiaoxiao, naturally, wouldn't tolerate this. She raised her gun, ready to strike the lion, but Xu Jiang stopped her.

"Team Leader, can you leave this lion to me? I want to practice."

"You want to fight this lion alone? Alright, just don't get squashed! We still have supper to eat later." Ying Xiaoxiao hadn't forgotten their plan for the night.

But are you really sure you can still eat after seeing so many zombies?

Xu Jiang calmed himself, holding his twin guns, and stood before the lion. If in previous battles he relied on firepower for long-range suppression and elimination, then the skill he was about to learn was close-quarters combat.

'Qing Wu, I'm about to start practicing [Revenge Counter]. Are you ready?'

"Ready anytime!"

A concise reply. A faint gleam flashed on his revolver.

[Congratulations, Death Dance has initiated an advancement quest. You have temporarily gained the skill: Revenge Counter.]

[Within 1 hour, if you complete 10 Revenge Counters, you will permanently obtain this skill, and Death Dance will advance to blue quality.]

Seeing the notification, Xu Jiang was overjoyed. Following Qianji, he finally had a second weapon among his subordinates that had initiated advancement.

Is this the benefit of ambition?

The weapons at home have vastly different personalities, and most aren't in a hurry to get stronger.

On the contrary, Qing Wu, who just joined, with her indifferent yet ambitious personality, immediately gave such a great gift.

Just as Xu Jiang was beaming with joy, a shout echoed in his ear, "General! I understand!"

'...Little Deagle? I haven't even started fighting yet, what do you understand now?'

"I understand why Miss Qing Wu looks down on me."

"Really? Why?"

"It must be because I'm not strong enough! I can't meet Miss Qing Wu's standards for a partner. I need to become stronger!"

[Congratulations, Desert Eagle has initiated an advancement quest.]

[Within 1 hour, if Death Dance advances, Desert Eagle will also advance, becoming green quality after advancement.]

Xu Jiang: ...

Is this your motivation for advancing?