Chapter 40 - 36: Victory and a Small Profit

Chapter 40: Chapter 36: Victory and a Small Profit

Zhou Zheng stood below the stage, glanced at Shen Xing, then looked toward the murderous-looking Dual-Axe Orcs in the distance. The corner of his mouth curved into a knowing smile.

’This kid is hiding quite a bit.’

’The other two also seem to be holding something back.’

Just then, Shen Xing, who was still on the field, was suddenly hit by a violent wave of dizziness, and his body swayed.

"Shen Xing, what’s wrong!?" Qin Lang noticed something was off and quickly steadied him by the shoulders.

Xu Jiayi was startled as well and rushed over to check on him.

"He’s overdrawn his Spiritual Power. It’s not a big deal."

Zhou Zheng walked over, his tone calm. "Take him to the treatment room over there. He’ll be fine after some rest."

Hearing this, the two of them let out a long sigh of relief.

Qin Lang then supported Shen Xing as they followed a staff member off the field.

「Over ten minutes later.」

In a quiet treatment room in a corner of the third-floor combat zone.

An Array with a special pattern was inscribed on the floor. Several strange stones, which were emitting a faint Blue light, were placed around its edge.

Shen Xing sat in the center of the Array, feeling his Spiritual Power rapidly recovering.

Qin Lang and Xu Jiayi sat on the edge of the Array, also feeling a warm Energy continuously flowing into their bodies.

"This is amazing. This room doesn’t just restore Spiritual Power, it also relieves muscle fatigue."

Qin Lang marveled with a look of astonishment. "I feel like I’ve completely recovered from the exhaustion of that last battle."

Xu Jiayi, however, looked at Shen Xing with a hint of worry in her eyes. "How are you doing?"

"I’m fine. The recovery Effect of this treatment room is really good." Shen Xing had a faint smile on his face, and his complexion had already improved a lot.

The other two breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Shen Xing, you sure were hiding your strength, you sly dog!" Qin Lang teased, seeing that he had recovered. "When that Fireball came down, even I jumped!"

Shen Xing chuckled. "You two were holding back as well. You have the nerve to call me out."

They exchanged a look and shared a smile of tacit understanding.

Apparently, everyone had found their own opportunities in the game over the past few days.

Just then, the door to the treatment room was pushed open, and a middle-aged man in a trench coat walked in with a steady gait.

Zhou Zheng casually found a place to sit and asked with a smile, "How are you feeling? The experience of fighting in the game versus summoning a Soldier Type to fight in reality—it’s completely different, isn’t it?"

The three exchanged glances and nodded one after another.

The last time they encountered that abomination at the mall, they had summoned their Soldier Types as well.

But because the situation was so urgent, they didn’t have any particular feeling about it.

Now they realized they were two completely different modes of combat.

In the game, Soldier Types would fight on their own, autonomously assessing the battlefield to determine the best course of action.

As a Lord, you only needed to command the overall situation from the rear or supplement their attacks with some long-range abilities.

But in reality, you controlled the actions of these Soldier Types, just like controlling a character in a video game.

"A Soldier Type’s combat effectiveness in reality depends partly on the Lord."

Zhou Zheng leaned back in his chair and spoke slowly. "The stronger a Lord’s control and the richer their combat experience, the more they can maximize their Soldier Type’s combat potential."

"The same Soldier Type will perform worlds apart in the hands of different Lords.

A powerful Lord can use their control to make a Soldier Type break through its upper limits in actual combat, raising it to a whole new level.

Of course, if you find it too troublesome, you can also give up control and let the Soldier Type fight on its own.

After all, in this game, some high-Level Soldier Types possess immense intelligence and rich combat experience.

Some Novice Lords might not even be able to match the performance of their Soldier Types fighting autonomously.

All in all, it’s a matter of a skill ceiling."

Zhou Zheng said a lot in one breath before continuing, "Besides that, the Lord’s personal strength is also crucial."

"After all, the Lord is the core of everything. If the Lord dies, it doesn’t matter how strong the Soldier Types are; they’ll be useless."

"This is also why attacking the opposing Lord is allowed in actual combat assessments."

"Because in the future, you will encounter all sorts of enemies, from monsters in the Fog to certain individuals with malicious intent."

"So you must not only upgrade your Soldier Types, but also enhance your own survivability."

"When you have time, you should come to the Jiang City Pioneer Activity Center to practice against other players and gain more experience."

The three nodded again, knowing that Zhou Zheng was imparting his experience to them.

As fresh-faced newbies who had only been in contact with this game for less than seven days, their understanding of the world of Extraordinary Beings was still partial at best.

The experience of these seniors could help them avoid many detours.

"Captain Zhou, so... are our spots for the Secret Realm confirmed?" Qin Lang asked, his face full of anticipation.

"I came to handle it personally. Is there anything I can’t get done?" Zhou Zheng smiled confidently.

"Haha, that’s our Commander Zhou for you! Reliable as ever!" Qin Lang immediately laid on the flattery.

"It’s just ’Captain’ for now, not ’Commander’," Zhou Zheng corrected him.

Qin Lang froze for a second, then smiled. "No problem. I’m sure with your skills, Captain Zhou, a promotion to Commander is just a matter of time."

Zhou Zheng gave him an appreciative look. ’This kid really knows how to play the game,’ he thought.

After a pause, he continued, "By the way, the entry time for the Secret Realm might be moved up by a few days, so you should prepare yourselves."

"Moved up by a few days? How soon, exactly?" Shen Xing was a little puzzled.

"It’s not certain. Maybe a week, maybe half a month."

Zhou Zheng shook his head and sighed. "Right now, Mist Energy levels are continuously rising worldwide. Anomalous events are happening more and more frequently, and as a consequence, the formation time for Secret Realms has been significantly pushed forward."

"You’ll be notified two days in advance when the time comes."

Shen Xing pondered for a moment, then asked, "Doesn’t that mean we only have about half a month left to develop?"

"Isn’t half a month enough?"

Zhou Zheng shot him a look and said irritably, "You kid. Don’t think I don’t know that wasn’t your full strength just now. You’ve still got an ace up your sleeve back in your territory."

Shen Xing’s expression remained unchanged. "Captain Zhou, you misunderstand. I didn’t hide my strength. My Beastman was unfortunately seriously injured last time and is currently recuperating in my territory."

"Is that so?" Zhou Zheng chuckled, then turned to the other two. "Then what about you two? The Elite Soldier Types you summoned in the mall... they were also unfortunately injured?"

"Yes, Captain Zhou."

Qin Lang and Xu Jiayi nodded at the same time, their expressions sincere.

"Heh." The corner of Zhou Zheng’s mouth twitched. He couldn’t be bothered to expose their lies. "Alright, just make sure you’re prepared. Let’s drop it."

After a pause, his tone became serious. "Aside from the matter of the Secret Realm spots, I have some good news for you."

"For this combat assessment, given your excellent performance, the team has decided to award each of you 2,000 contribution points."

"Uh... what are contribution points?" Shen Xing asked, a little confused.

"You don’t know?" Zhou Zheng was taken aback.

The three of them looked completely blank.

’We have no idea. Nobody ever told us what this stuff is for.’

"You can think of contribution points as a type of internal currency."

Zhou Zheng pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. "You can use them to purchase various in-game items, equipment, and so on through official channels, or you can trade them with other players."

"The channels to obtain contribution points are relatively few. Generally, you only get them by making contributions to the city or the country."

"For example, by completing bounties, discovering a hidden Secret Realm, or turning in valuable Rare items."

"If you convert it to real-world currency, 1 contribution point is worth about 100 bucks."

Hearing that number, the three of them stared wide-eyed.

’What did he say?’

’1 contribution point equals a hundred bucks?’

’Doesn’t that mean we each just earned two hundred thousand from that one assessment?’

Their breathing became a little ragged.

Seeing their dumbfounded expressions, Zhou Zheng just smiled and shook his head. "This is a special subsidy from our Jiang City Management Bureau for excellent rookies like you. When you become powerful in the future, don’t forget to give back to the Bureau."

"We definitely won’t forget!" Qin Lang immediately puffed out his chest and promised.

Shen Xing and Xu Jiayi also nodded solemnly, engraving this favor in their minds.

For the vast majority of new players, two hundred thousand was no small sum. It was enough to purchase a significant amount of resources.

With these resources, they could even get through the most difficult starting phase and have a much higher chance of growing stronger.

This incident also revealed the officials’ attitude toward Novice Lords.

As long as you performed well enough, you would receive official support, without having to worry about being coveted or suppressed by others after revealing your strength.

Zhou Zheng nodded in satisfaction, then took out three cards with specific serial numbers from his trench coat pocket.

"These are your internal identification cards. From now on, you’ll need them for everything, whether it’s entering the various Player Association branches or trading with other players."

"It’s like a combination ID and bank card. The contribution points you earn from now on will also be deposited onto this card."

He handed the cards over, instructing, "Work hard. Try to raise your strength a bit more before the Void Realm opens."

"If you can break into the top ten on the Void Realm rankings this time, I’ll get to share some of the glory."