"That's true. If you die here, you just die. You won't turn into a monster."
The soldier sighed. "But even though the death rate in mission worlds is extremely high, they're relatively fair. Here, though..."
As soon as he finished speaking, some of the students who had just stepped out of the aircraft dispersed.
They all had family connections or had already secured connections for themselves, so they could still get looked after once they entered the fallen zone.
"Times are getting worse, and people's hearts aren't what they used to be!"
Xu Long was full of grief and indignation, strongly condemning such behavior.
"Exactly! Pulling this stuff on the battlefield-who knows how corrupt they'd be in peacetime!"
The soldier muttered a curse, then spotted someone approaching in the distance and immediately turned serious.
"Can't talk anymore. The boss is here!"
"Zhang San of the Southern Theater's Ninth Army Group reporting! The students have been delivered safely!"
"Good work. Return to your unit!"
The valiant-looking commander-in-chief of the Ninth Army Group nodded, then looked at Xu Long. "What a handsome young man. Stick with me from now on, and I'll make sure you eat the finest food and drink the best wine."
"Could you watch your image in front of your subordinates? I'm your younger brother. Don't make it sound like you're keeping me!"
Xu Long looked thoroughly pained. His biological older sister, whom he was meeting for the first time, was downright crazy.
Beside them, Zhang San felt his entire worldview collapse.
He had just finished complaining to Xu Long about people using backdoor connections, only for the biggest backdoor to turn out to be his own supreme commander.
It was the biggest joke under heaven, fucking ridiculous!
"Come on, you're going to camp with me!"
After patting Xu Long on the head, Xu Jiao strode toward the camp.
In this era, women truly held up half the sky, and there weren't as many militant feminists and bitch cancers as in Xu Long's previous life.
Regardless of gender or age, whoever was strong stepped up.
This era needed only the strong; everything else took a back seat.
"Sis, what rank are you now?"
"I'm C-rank now, with all three attributes maxed out. Impressive, right?"
Xu Jiao looked smug.
As commander-in-chief of the Southern Theater's Ninth Army Group, Xu Jiao had always been serious and responsible.
To maintain her image, she had always kept a straight face, but there was no need for that in front of her own younger brother.
All three attributes maxed out? Is that really something to be proud of?
Xu Long muttered to himself. What about the other attributes?
For example, someone who had strengthened only spirit and agility would still be a frail mage even at A-rank, done for the moment a warrior or assassin got close.
And someone who had strengthened only strength and constitution would be vulnerable to an instant kill from someone like Xu Long, who had a soul skill.
"All three of your attributes are maxed out, so why haven't you taken the assessment? As a B-rank powerhouse, you'd be among the top in this world."
Xu Long asked tentatively.
In fact, he had more or less guessed what was going on. The more attributes one strengthened, the harder the assessment became.
For someone like Xu Long, who had strengthened five attributes, the E-rank mission had been to kill The Beast, the strongest boss in the world of Kung Fu Hustle.
It was a good thing it had been Xu Long. Anyone else would have been a hundred percent dead.
"It's too difficult. I'm not confident I can pass. At best, I'd lose attribute points; at worst, I'd be wiped out. If I weren't in this position, I'd be willing to take the gamble. What a pity, what a pity."
Xu Jiao sighed, then said to Xu Long with a grin, "Little brother, I'm tied down, so it's up to you. You don't have to push yourself too hard. Just be a little stronger than me."
"That's easy. Don't worry!"
Xu Long nodded, unconcerned.
Anyone else would probably have been intimidated by Xu Jiao, but as far as Xu Long was concerned, it was no big deal.
He had now strengthened all his attributes to the D-rank maximum. He only had to pass the assessment to advance to C-rank.
When the time came, his knowledge of the plots would let him reach the C-rank limit after progressing through a few mission worlds.
Xu Jiao's request was no trouble at all. He could even surpass the strongest person in the world, the Divine Heavenly Emperor, without a problem.
"What do I do next? Go to the front lines and kill Flame Hell Beasts?"
Xu Long asked.
"Your batch is lucky. With robots holding the line ahead of you, the danger is much lower. All you have to do is stay alive, then kill as many Flame Hell Beasts as you can."
At that point, a gun suddenly appeared in Xu Jiao's hand.
It was about a meter long and looked a little like a submachine gun, but its barrel was thicker and longer.
"This is a Flame Light Machine Gun with unlimited ammunition. It can fire 2,000 rounds per minute and has a range of 200 meters. With this in your hands, those low-level Flame Hell Beasts are all cannon fodder."
That's it?
Xu Long was thoroughly dismissive. He could hardly resist pulling out his big, thick, long Vulcan Machine Gun to show her.
But after thinking it over, he decided against it.
That thing required an access card to exchange for, and Xu Long was the only person in this world who could obtain one.
In other words, the moment Xu Long took it out, his identity would be exposed.
So Xu Long chose to accept it.
Compared with the Vulcan Machine Gun, which fired over 6,000 rounds per minute and had a maximum range of 500 meters, this thing really was just a little flame.
Its rate of fire was slow, its range short, and its power weak. It was trash.
But it was still much better than a submachine gun, so many reincarnators with ambition bought one at E-rank.
Although Xu Jiao was Xu Long's biological older sister, she didn't give him much special treatment.
Ten tanks, twenty armored vehicles, and two thousand robot guards.
That was all!
Of course, that was only what Xu Jiao thought. Xu Long, on the other hand, was inwardly exclaiming, Good grief!
This was hardly going to war. It was plainly a sightseeing trip.
But his sister meant well, and Xu Long couldn't be bothered to argue, so he simply went along with her.
The human leadership planned to first use robots to clear out the Flame Hell Beasts in Southeast Asia, while also letting the students get accustomed to things.
After that, the army would bear down on the Sixth District, the Australasian District, and take it by force.
There were no tactics to speak of in battles against Flame Hell Beasts. It was either a head-on clash or another head-on clash.
Flame Hell Beasts were highly resistant to fire, so human firearms were not very effective against them.
As a result, both humans and robots had no choice but to fight at close range.
Of course, there were limits to how ineffective firearms were.
Ordinary pistols and submachine guns were useless, but that didn't mean sniper rifles were.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Eight kills in a row, very powerful, one headshot and drink the brains!"
"Nine kills in a row, croak croak croak, the big shot's invincible and everyone sings his praise!"
"Enough, you guys!"
Xu Long lowered his gun, feeling that these people really were crazy.
His sister Xu Jiao had clearly sent them to protect him, but look at them now: a whole group clapping and watching the show while he alone fired shots everywhere.
"The capable should do more! If I had a powerful sniper rifle like that, I'd shoot until heaven and earth went dark and the sun and moon lost their light."
Zhang San grinned shamelessly as he spoke.
After wrestling with it for a short while, Zhang San had come to terms with it.
The commander-in-chief's own younger brother! How could he not cling tightly to such a thick thigh?
Besides, Xu Jiao was powerful and beautiful, with an amazing figure. If he got on her good side, who knew? That thigh might even become his brother-in-law.