Chapter 35: Accepting a New Mission, Returning to Star Sea City.

None of them wanted to keep watching. Stepping out through the iron gate, they saw the young man who had guided them sitting outside with his legs crossed, smoking a cigarette.

He looked surprised to see them emerge so quickly.

"How come you brothers are out already? We have several more acts coming up!"

Li Xingyue shook his head. "We're tired and heading back to rest."

The young man nodded. "Alright, alright. Let me leave you my contact info; you can find me next time you want to watch."

Li Xingyue mused for a moment. "I'm curious—doesn't the city leadership care about this kind of show?"

The young man laughed heartily. "Brother, you don't understand. The ones who run things in Freedom City are the Arbitrators themselves. Who in this city would dare to interfere?"

"Besides, there are plenty of people doing this in Freedom City. Of course, none are as popular as us because we don't just show what you saw—we also have women and children, though they didn't perform today. Heh heh."

The expressions of the group darkened further upon hearing this.

Suppressing his inner rage, Li Xingyue gave the young man’s shoulder two heavy pats. "Friend, if there's a chance, I'll come again. I hope you're still here then. Let's go!"

With that, Li Xingyue led the others away from the room.

The young man was left behind, clutching his shoulder in pain. "Damn, that was weird. And he had such a heavy hand."

A few minutes later, they returned to the wide streets.

"Being in there was so suffocating!"

"Yeah, I never expected the Arbitrators to be the ones leading this. Don't the top human leaders care?"

Liu Yi sighed. "The higher-ups probably don't even know about this. And even if they did, who knows if they'd care? Things aren't what they used to be..."

Yellow Tooth spat on the ground. "Damn it, the Arbitrators aren't any better than the rest!"

Li Xingyue had been smoking in silence, lost in his own thoughts.

Liu San glanced at him. "Captain, why so quiet?"

Li Xingyue’s train of thought was broken. He let out an "ah" and realized what was happening. "Oh, I was just thinking about something."

"So, Captain, what's your take on this?"

Li Xingyue weighed his words carefully. "The apocalypse has fully unleashed the evil within human nature. What we saw is just the tip of the iceberg, and we simply lack the power to stop it right now."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "So, we must increase our strength as quickly as possible. That way, we can at least ensure we don't get bullied ourselves!"

"Alright, let's head back and get some rest. We'll continue our missions tomorrow!"

"Right, let's see who reaches the Third Rank first!"

"Hell, that goes without saying—it’s definitely going to be me, Yellow Tooth!"

"Bullshit, I, Liu Er, am the first to disagree!"

After spending this time together, Li Xingyue had gained a rough understanding of the four men's personalities.

Yellow Tooth: Average courage, extremely sleazy.
Liu Yi: Mature and steady, reliable.
Liu Er: Bold and fierce, carefree.
Liu San: Clever and sharp, cautious.

***

At six in the morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Li Xingyue was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly slapped awake, sitting up in bed, completely dazed.

"What the hell, who the fuck hit me???"

Looking up, he saw Yellow Tooth grinning, showing his large teeth.

Seeing the murderous glint in Li Xingyue’s eyes, Yellow Tooth immediately reined in his smile and hurriedly changed to a look of concern. "Oh, are you alright, Old Li? I saw a mosquito on your face and wanted to help you swat it."

The three brothers burst into laughter as Yellow Tooth spoke.

Knowing Yellow Tooth was messing with him, Li Xingyue grabbed a shoe and prepared to settle the score.

"Stop! Stop!"

Yellow Tooth hurriedly called for a truce. "The cafeteria is about to open, and I was afraid we wouldn't get the first bowl of food!"

Li Xingyue was speechless.

"Sometimes I really suspect you and Xiuluo are twins—you're both just as devious!"

After getting dressed, they headed out.

When they arrived at the cafeteria, a dozen people had already gathered.

Li Xingyue ordered three eggs, three steamed buns, two fried dough sticks, and a bowl of millet porridge.

"Mmm, a beautiful day starts with breakfast. Dig in!"

Liu Yi and the others sat down nearby with their own trays.

"Captain, I heard them chatting earlier. They said quite a few people in our C-District have promoted to the Third Rank and moved to B-District. It seems we need to speed things up."

Yellow Tooth stuffed three eggs into his mouth and mumbled, "Damn, you talk about this while we're eating? If you want speed, put down that dough stick and go kill some zombies right now!"

"Damn it, shut up already. Can't even stop your mouth while eating!"

About ten minutes later, everyone had finished breakfast.

Liu Yi handed out a cigarette to each of them again.

Yellow Tooth laughed when he saw it. "Heh, Old Liu has become the cigarette-distributing boy."

Li Xingyue took a few puffs. "Our target for today is a D-rank mission. Let's see if there's anything suitable."

They quickly reached the mission hall and checked the bulletin board. They were in luck today; there were several D-rank missions waiting to be claimed.

[D-rank Mission]
Task Description: A Third-Rank zombie is located 20 kilometers from the southern entrance of Freedom City. Retrieve its crystal core.
[Reward]: 2,000 points + 200 experience.

[D-rank Mission]
Task Description: Over 100 survivors have been found 50 kilometers from the northwest entrance of Freedom City. Bring them all back.
[Reward]: 5,000 points + 500 experience.

[D-rank Mission]
Task Description: There is a small town 35 kilometers from the north entrance of Freedom City. Bring back five vehicles that are at least 70% new.
[Reward]: 2,500 points + 250 experience.

[D+ rank Mission]
Task Description: Explore the outskirts of Star Sea City and bring back supplies.
[Reward]: Based on the actual quantity retrieved.

The group quickly reviewed the four missions.

"I think the first one is the best. It's close, and dealing with a Third-Rank zombie shouldn't be too hard for us."

"Indeed. The mission to bring back survivors is too far. Even though the reward is higher, who knows how long it would take to walk all those people back?"

"Actually, the one about finding cars is okay, too. There's not much danger."

As they discussed the missions, their opinions began to diverge slightly.

"If it really comes down to it, we can do what we did before: split into two teams. One team kills the Third-Rank zombie, and the other goes to find the cars."

"That works for me. Captain, let's take both."

Li Xingyue did not pick up the missions as they had expected.

He shook his head, looked at them, and said with a very firm expression, "Brothers, we’re taking the last one!"

With that, he accepted the mission.

The four men beside him were completely baffled and were about to speak, but Li Xingyue cut them off.

"Brothers, I have a bold idea!"