Elite ★★★ Abomination, Take It Down!

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window.

As summer approached, the temperature rose day by day, and the cramped rental apartment was growing hot and stuffy.

Shen Xing opened his eyes, glanced at the ceiling, then at the glasses by his bed, lost in thought.

It was his third day since encountering that game, and he felt as though the course of his entire life had changed because of it.

He still didn't know whether that change was good or bad.

Even Shen Xing wasn't sure how long he could last in the game, or whether a monster would tear him apart someday.

But at least his past few days had been exciting compared to his life over the previous few years.

"The great Northeast is my hometown~"

His loud ringtone echoed through the apartment.

As soon as he answered, Qin Lang's excited voice came through. "Shen Xing, come down! Jiayi and I are almost at the entrance."

"Okay, give me a moment."

Shen Xing hung up and climbed briskly out of bed.

After a quick wash, he went downstairs in his wheelchair.

When he reached the street below the old apartment complex, two familiar figures were waiting by the roadside.

Qin Lang was wearing a gray casual T-shirt with shorts today.

Shen Xing couldn't tell if it was his imagination, but the guy seemed a little burlier than before.

Xu Jiayi, standing beside him, wasn't wearing pajamas today, though she only had on a black sweatshirt and jeans.

Her hair was messy, and she looked unkempt.

Still, Shen Xing noticed that her skin looked a little better than before. It was fairer, and she had far fewer pimples.

A silver Lexus SUV was parked behind them.

"Shen Xing, I'll push you."

Qin Lang hurried over and pushed Shen Xing to the car.

Then he hooked both hands under his armpits, lifted him with ease, and set him in the front passenger seat.

Xu Jiayi folded the wheelchair and put it in the trunk.

"Beep beep!"

The car started and sped down the street.

A gentle morning breeze blew into the car, carrying the scent of fresh grass.

Shen Xing leaned against the car window, listening to the snow leopard meme song "Zood" playing on repeat and watching the pedestrians and traffic pass by, a faint ripple stirring in his heart.

Soon, they arrived at a nearby mall.

After parking in the basement, Qin Lang pushed Shen Xing into the elevator and took him to the first floor.

Their unusual group drew the attention of quite a few passersby.

But most of their gazes fell on Shen Xing. They were surprised by how handsome the young man was, then looked at his legs with regret.

They paid the looks no mind and continued onward.

As they passed an elevator entrance, a figure staggered out.

Not paying attention, the person pitched forward and nearly fell on Shen Xing.

Qin Lang reacted quickly, stopping the person with one large hand and shoving them away.

"Fuck, watch where you're going!" he snapped.

The person said nothing, only raising his head to reveal a face so pale it was almost featureless, his pupils bloodshot.

He wore a black leather jacket and was a middle-aged man, around thirty or forty years old.

Qin Lang wanted to say more, but Shen Xing tugged his sleeve and slowly shook his head.

"Hmph, you're lucky. Watch it next time."

The middle-aged man still said nothing. He turned around and walked straight toward the center of the mall.

The incident didn't dampen the trio's mood. They chatted and laughed all the way into an all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant.

The server was very welcoming and introduced the restaurant's signature dishes.

They placed their orders and chatted while they waited.

"Qin Lang, did you come into money recently? You're actually treating us here?" Xu Jiayi could hardly believe it. "This place is expensive. It's over three hundred yuan per person."

Shen Xing and Xu Jiayi both came from ordinary families and rarely took part in activities that cost more than a hundred yuan.

"Haha, I did make a bit recently. My old man dropped a lot of gold coins."

Qin Lang laughed, then waved a hand. "Enough about that. Shen Xing, Jiayi, these are for you."

He pulled two boxes from his pants pocket and mysteriously held them out to the two of them.

The boxes were silvery white and felt premium, their surfaces seemingly coated in silver.

"What's inside?" The two grew even more curious.

"Open them and you'll see. They're definitely good stuff," Qin Lang replied, still acting mysterious.

Shen Xing and Xu Jiayi exchanged somewhat puzzled looks and slowly opened the boxes.

Before them were two glowing orbs, faint silhouettes turning inside them, with two star symbols on each.

Inside the orb on the left was a deathly pale skeleton, a quiver at its waist and a wooden bow in its hand.

Inside the orb on the right was a gray rock, with short, thick limbs and a head protruding from it.

"These are... ordinary two-star troop nests, a Skeleton Archer and a Stone Man?!" Xu Jiayi exclaimed.

Chapter 20: Elite ★★★ Abomination, Take It Down!

"Haha, that's right!"

Qin Lang nodded with a smile. "The Skeleton Archer troop is for Shen Xing. His starting troops are orcs, aren't they? This will round out his ranged attacks."

"And your archers have strong firepower, but they're too fragile. This bunch of Stone Men will make a perfect front line for you."

Looking at the orbs on the table, the two exchanged glances, complicated expressions on their faces.

Clearly, Qin Lang had carefully selected these troop nests with the conditions of their territories in mind.

"Qin Lang, these are too valuable."

Xu Jiayi hesitated. "I saw on the trading board that even the lowest selling price for an ordinary two-star troop nest has exceeded a hundred thousand yuan."

"Troops like Skeletons and Stone Men that don't need extra resources to feed cost twice as much. You should take them back."

Shen Xing hadn't known what these troop nests were worth, but hearing Xu Jiayi say that surprised him too.

Together, the two nests were worth at least three or four hundred thousand yuan!

He'd never seen that much money in his life. His bank balance had never even reached five figures!

"Where did you get so much money? You didn't secretly find yourself a rich woman behind our backs, did you?" Shen Xing asked suspiciously.

"What are you saying? Do I, Qin Lang, look like someone who needs a rich woman to support me?"

He declared righteously, "These are gold coins my old man dropped."

"Your old man?"

The two were puzzled again.

Though they knew Qin Lang's family was fairly well-off, his father had always been very strict with him.

When Qin Lang was in school, his father wouldn't give him any spending money beyond his most basic living expenses.

A few times, he'd spent his living allowance early and had only barely gotten by with help from Shen Xing and the others.

"Yeah." Qin Lang explained, "My old man's had rheumatism for years, right? I happened to gather a Blood Fruit in the game the other day, so I thought I'd let him try it."

"I lied and told him it was a fruit picked from a primeval forest overseas, and that I'd only managed to get it through a friend."

"The old man was skeptical, but he ate it. The next day, after a night's sleep, he transferred me five hundred thousand yuan and told me to thank that friend properly."

"Then I took the money, went to the Pioneer Exchange in Jiangcheng, and bought three troop nests."

The two nodded in realization, understanding where his money had come from.

On second thought, it made sense. After all, although the game had existed for many years, only a small number of people knew about it.

Qin Lang's father had suffered from rheumatism for years and had spent a lot of money treating it.

The Blood Fruit itself had the magical effect of speeding up blood flow. Although it couldn't provide an instant cure, it could greatly ease the pain.

Qin Lang's father was so pleased that he transferred a large sum of money to Qin Lang.

Even so, the two were still hesitant. The two troop nests were simply too valuable.

Qin Lang saw what they were thinking and continued, "Take them. No matter what, I'm the one who dragged you into this game."

"Consider it a way to ease my guilt. I don't want to see the discussion group lose anyone else."

Now that he'd put it that way, the two could hardly keep refusing.

Xu Jiayi accepted the Stone Man troop nest. "All right, I'll take it. My territory really does need a group of front-line units."

Shen Xing nodded as well and put the Skeleton Archer nest in his pocket.

These troop nests really were a great help to them.

After that, the three ate and talked about what they'd gained in the game.

When they heard that Shen Xing had already raised an elite two-star Orc Fighter, both were shocked.

Still, neither of the other two found it strange. Shen Xing had earned an S-rank evaluation in his first battle, and with his gaming talent, it wasn't hard for him to achieve this.

Likewise, Qin Lang and Xu Jiayi had made considerable progress over the past few days.

Qin Lang had spent tens of thousands of yuan at the exchange to buy one complete elite soul and several ordinary souls.

Through the power of money, he'd forced out an elite one-star Halfling Assassin.

Xu Jiayi had also raised an elite one-star Ranger Archer.

Shen Xing gave the homebody a discreet glance, a little surprised.

After all, the game was extremely difficult, and resources were hard to obtain.

To upgrade a troop to elite rank, one first had to kill elite monsters and get them to drop soul fragments or complete souls.

And even if a soul dropped, the breakthrough could still fail.

An ordinary player might not be able to raise an elite troop even after a month in the game.

Shen Xing had the hidden talent Life-Sacrifice Evolution, and Qin Lang had the power of money, but Xu Jiayi was just an ordinary internet-addicted girl. How had she managed it?