TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney
“Fifth Elder left?” Han GuangMing and Jiang JinYuan sensed something was wrong when they saw a letter.
“Yes, she left to find her father,” Liu Gan nodded, and gave Yin He the letter.
“There’s so many Black-Spot Variants out right now. If she goes out solo right now, it is like suiciding! Should I arrange to send someone to find her?” Han GuangMing asked Liu Gan.
“No need, she said that she is doing this to save her soul. Her resolve is solid. The moment she made that decision, we shouldn’t look for her. Everyone has their own right to make their own decisions. We have no right to interfere,” Liu Gan shook his head.
“Are you sure we don’t need to search for her?” Yin He read the letter quickly and asked Liu Gan. Her expression said how hurt she was. She didn’t have many friends in this lifetime, Lin ShiYa was one of them.
“If you think of her as a good friend, then hold my hand and don’t leave me,” Liu Gan whispered into Yin He’s ear. He held onto Yin He’s cold hand, he knows that she is hiding something. Since she isn’t ready to talk, he won’t question her about it.
Yin He didn’t say anything more, she embraced Liu Gan’s arm. She was unsure of what would happen to Lin ShiYa.
***
Departing from the College of Agriculture, the mountain routes were rugged. For these players with fortified bodies, it wasn’t a problem to walk through the terrain. It was just that the meandering paths were a huge waste of time.
While wandering along the path, suddenly three Black-Spot Variant Zombies appeared. It was hard to fathom why there were zombies here, since these zombies were similar to the zombies created by the Armored Warriors with forced injections. However, Liu Gan didn’t bother overthinking this problem. There wasn’t enough information to speculate so it wasn’t worth the effort. With a downward slash of the large axe, Liu Gan chopped these variants down. The remaining last hit was given to the freeloading volunteer players.
These Black-Spot Variants were a class above all level 4 players. If any of these pre-level 5 players came across a Variant, it would be fatal. As for level 5 to 7 players, it would be difficult fight against the variant. Level 8 to 9 players could effortlessly challenge them, but if there were several other Variants, then it would be quite difficult.
As for level 10 players, like Liu Gan, they could overwhelm this class of zombies. These Black-Spot Variants weren’t even considered a threat anymore. In Liu Gan’s eyes, they were slow, so Liu Gan could dodge and counter-attack easily.
Killing more of these Black-Spot Variants wouldn’t give Liu Gan any more experience points. So after heavily injuring them, the last hit was left for Jiang JinYuan and Zhao Meng.
As they headed deeper into the mountain forest, more Black-Spot Variants appeared. Large groups of them started showing up, it was lucky this group had Liu Gan and NaNa to attack and defend. Groups that didn’t have powerful allies, were left to fend on their own against the dangers of the wild.
It didn’t take long for members of the group to feel that it was worth the risk to take. Liu Gan gave the majority of the experience to Jiang JinYuan, but soon it trickled down to the other players. With a stronger player leading, they were simply freeloading the experience. This was definitely better than going out solo to hunt.
Ninth Elder QiuTao was also part of the volunteering expedition group. Liu Gan promised him a reward, so QiuTao also received more chances to get last kills as well.
Now that these players were standing alongside Liu Gan, they were able to compare their strength with the Black-Spot Variants as a standard. To put it into perspective, they couldn’t even put up a fight, but Liu Gan chopped up the Variants like chopped salad. The majority of the expedition group were just casual players, they were playing just to get by and survive this game - a survival game. In contrast, Liu Gan was playing it like it was for forever.
***
With the Zhan Nan Shan’s map as guidance, Liu Gan passed through the mountain around noon. Liu Gan stopped to let the team cook the meal. After the short lunch was over, the expedition group continued on their trip. This time, they killed a little over a hundred Black-Spot Variants. After passing through three mountains, the sun was setting and they were at the location on the map.
In front of them was an abandoned factory. The factory didn’t have any mountain roads that connected it to the outside world. It was hard to tell what was built or constructed onsite. Unless the products were transported by helicopters or airships, this factory couldn’t function by normal means.
From the outside, it looked like an abandoned factory. It was hard to tell what was abnormal about it. Within the factory were a few scattered Black-Spot Variants. They couldn’t do anything to hurt the group anymore, since their average combat ability had risen. With Liu Gan and NaNa doing all of the work, these lower-level players just freeloaded the experience.
Entering into the factory, the map guided Liu Gan to a particular room. At first look, it was similar to the many of the other normal rooms. However, after entering the room, they found a certain tile in the far corner of the room had a trapdoor. Without this map, they wouldn’t have known where to even start looking.
This trapdoor had been opened by Zhan Nan Shan and Qiu Zi before. After leaving, they used a discarded metal pot and pressed it onto the surface to seal the trapdoor. Once the metal pot was removed, this is was where the volunteers would shine. Feeding them experience wasn’t really free. If there were any potential dangers, then they will do their duty as cannon fodder. They could only summon up courage and boldy face the unknown.
Out of everyone in the expedition group, aside from Jiang JinYuan, they could all be cannon fodder. If it was within Liu Gan’s ability, he would protect them. In the worst case scenario, if he couldn’t protect them, then he couldn’t help it. They volunteered for this expedition, so they knew the risk involved. They knew that there was a chance they could become cannon fodder, but they chose to risk their life for the rewards. High risk, high gain.
After the metal pot was dragged off the trapdoor, the floor had an opening. According to the map, the secret laboratory began after going all the way down this bunny hole.
“Brother Qiu Zi and Second Elder came by this laboratory before. They all took their trusted aides along with them, I also volunteered but wasn’t chosen,” QiuTao spoke up. He wanted to showcase his value, so whatever came to mind, he just spoke out.
“When Qiu Zi came by, what danger did he come across? Why did he return without achieving anything? Did you ask him about that?” Liu Gan casually asked.
“He wouldn’t talk about it in detail. Since all their trusted aides all died, he just returned with Second Elder back to the village,” QiuTao replied.
Liu Gan already knew about this from his talk with Second Elder. It seems like Qiu Zi went underground with everyone else, while Zhan Nan Shan guarded the outside. Since only Qiu Zi was able to escape, so Zhan Nan Shan didn’t bother taking the risk.
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