Chapter 30: Everyone Reaches Tier Two, Accepting the C+ Rank Mission

Li Xingyue and the three brothers quietly crept up behind Huang Ya. When they looked down, they gasped in shock!

Liu Er shouted, "Damn, there's a little bug here!"

Liu San hurriedly rolled up his sleeves: "Old Huang, don't move, let me pull it out for you!"

Liu Yi shook his head and pulled out a lighter: "There's so much hair, it's hard to find. I'll just singe it off first!"

Only then did Huang Ya notice the four people behind him. Blushing, he hurriedly fastened his belt.

Li Xingyue looked at his watch and saw that it was already nearly nine o'clock.

"Let's go, guys, let's go check out the missions."

"Let's move!"

The group donned their combat gear, grabbed their long blades, and arrived at the mission hall of the Zombie Hunter Branch. They found it already crowded with people, all seemingly busy selecting tasks.

"Boss, let's pick this E-rank mission to kill a first-order zombie."

"Damn, E-rank missions have no profit. You work yourself to death and don't earn many points. Let's pick an E+ or D-rank!"

"Huh? But Boss, we're all only first-order..."

Some squads were fretting over what to choose because the higher-ranked missions were beyond their abilities, while the ones they could complete offered too few points.

Huang Ya stroked his chin: "We're the smart ones. We focus on improving our strength first, so we don't have to be like them."

Liu Yi shook his head: "It's not that we're smart; it's that we're lucky. Most squads from our intake are still first-order; very few have reached second-order, and those who have are all team leaders."

Liu San nodded: "That's true. If the captain hadn't brought in so many points, it would have taken us at least a few more days to save up enough for evolution."

"Alright, enough talk. Let's look at the missions."

The five of them split up to examine the mission board. Ten minutes later, they gathered again.

"Captain, there are no D-rank missions posted today!"

"Yeah, and it's not worth our time to do E-rank missions."

Li Xingyue pondered for a moment: "How about we see if there's anything simple in the C-rank section?"

The four nodded and walked over to the C-rank mission board.

[C-Rank Mission]
Description: There are two third-order zombies in the village near the south entrance of Freedom City. Bring back their cores.
[Reward]: 4,000 points + 400 experience.

[C+-Rank Mission]
Description: A fourth-order zombie has appeared in a small town 20 kilometers from the southwest entrance of Freedom City. Bring back its core.
[Reward]: 4,000 points + 400 experience.

Liu San asked, "Captain, the rewards for these two are the same. Which one should we pick?"

Li Xingyue was indecisive. In terms of rewards, it didn't matter, but choosing between two third-order zombies and one fourth-order zombie was a tough call.

"You guys back to pick missions again?"

The five turned to see Huang Qian.

Huang Ya nodded: "Yeah, we're struggling to decide between these two. We've got a case of decision paralysis."

Huang Qian stepped forward, saw the C and C+ missions, and looked surprised: "Why are you looking at C-rank missions? Isn't that a bit too early for you?"

Liu San smiled and leaned in close to her ear: "Not at all. We're all second-order now. We wanted to pick a D-rank, but saw there weren't any, so we checked out the C-ranks."

Seeing Liu San lean in, Huang Qian's face flushed slightly. She nodded: "I think you should choose the C+. You can handle third-order zombies, but dealing with two at once might get a bit chaotic."

The group thought this made sense. Although a fourth-order zombie was strong, they had managed to kill a third-order one through teamwork when they were still first-order. They could try to challenge a fourth-order now.

"Alright, let's go with the C+!"

Li Xingyue accepted the mission, and the location was immediately marked.

"This mission is quite far. It'll take us half a day just to walk there," Huang Ya worried.

Huang Qian giggled: "Have you never rented a vehicle? The Zombie Hunter Branch provides them; you just need to pay the rental fee."

"Oh, they have that service? Let's rent one, then!"

Huang Qian led them to a large warehouse behind the plaza. It was vast and filled with vehicles—both new and old, though mostly used ones in varying conditions.

Huang Qian pointed to an SUV: "You don't need anything too fancy for missions. Something like this, in decent shape, works well. The price is fair, and it won't break down halfway."

Li Xingyue walked up to the car and saw it was a mid-sized SUV with high ground clearance; it would definitely handle well off-road.

"Fine, we'll take this one. How many points?"

Huang Qian held up one finger.

"Only 10 points? That's pretty cheap," he said, preparing to tap his wristband.

Huang Qian shook her head: "You wish. It's 100 points!"

"Damn, renting a car is that expensive? That's enough for a day's worth of food!"

Huang Qian shrugged: "Can't help it. That's the going rate all over Freedom City."

With no other choice, they had to rent the car. After paying, the five of them got in, waved goodbye to Huang Qian, and drove out of the city.

Li Xingyue handled the navigation, while Liu Yi drove.

After more than an hour, they arrived at the mission site—a slightly larger small town. There were scattered zombies, but not many.

They parked the car at the edge of town and walked in with their long blades.

Whenever they neared zombies, the creatures would roar and charge, but they were all first-order, with the occasional second-order one, all of which were easily dispatched through their practiced teamwork.

Soon, they reached the center of town, where thirty or forty zombies were gathered.

Li Xingyue gave the others a look. They understood instantly and began to slowly close in on the zombies.

The zombies in the distance spotted them and charged with roars.

After a brief, bloody fight, all the zombies lay dead on the ground.

After collecting the cores, the five gathered again.

"The fourth-order one hasn't shown up. Is it trying to ambush us?"

"Possibly. A fourth-order should be smarter than this trash. Maybe we should try to lure it out."

After whispering among themselves, Li Xingyue stayed put while Huang Ya and the others moved off in a different direction.

Li Xingyue pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He scanned his surroundings casually as he smoked, but everything remained eerily quiet.

Is it not taking the bait? That's a problem.

Just as Li Xingyue was about to call the others back, a faint sound came from nearby.

It's here!

He signaled the others from afar, held his cigarette in one hand, and gripped his long blade with the other.

*ROAR!*

A roar erupted from behind him!

Li Xingyue spun around, only to find a zombie lunging at him!

*Damn, it's huge!*