Chapter 88: Perishing Together with the Villainous Bandit

Over the past year, with little major warfare, no new death warriors had taken office at the Black Lion Legion headquarters.

This was the headquarters. Recruitment for the death warrior corps was usually carried out in subordinate units, while the Saren mentor at headquarters was responsible only for the induction ceremony of the corps commander. Without a doubt, the person who had entered the mentor’s quarters at that moment was the newly appointed outsider, Iran, whose name had been whispered about for some time.

“This must be the first time a commander has ever been an outsider.”

“Isn’t that the truth? Hey, did you hear? When this Iran was an infantryman in Moroski, he even struck a supervisor.”

“Really? That ruthless?”

“Exactly. Otherwise, why would headquarters have chosen him?”

The soldiers argued eagerly, their voices full of envy but not jealousy. Yet the players who had created characters at the very start of the game and been assigned directly to Black Lion Legion headquarters were all red-eyed with naked resentment.

Why had they not had the courage to choose the death warrior profession?

Why had they not been granted the chance to be favored by the commanding officers?

Human hearts were treacherous, and who knew how much deceit lay beneath the surface.

By all rights, the induction of a death warrior commander should have been a matter of absolute secrecy, so why had this new outsider’s appointment been so high-profile? The soldiers could not understand.

Inside the room, Li Xin had already finished a brief exchange with the elderly mentor Saren.

Ding!

“Class quest: Storm Black Lion Ridge and obtain a tuft of mane from the Black Lion King, no fewer than ten strands.”

Notes:
1. Black Lion Ridge is the place where Black Lions gather and survive. They are powerful, savage, and hostile to humans.
2. The more mane you obtain, the greater the reward.

“Go, young man. I shall await your triumphant return. The glory of the Black Lion Legion will surely belong to you!” Mentor Saren shouted, lifting his arm. Though aged, his voice was steady and deep.

Without giving Li Xin any chance to ask questions, Mentor Saren turned and walked into the deeper part of the room.

“Wow...” Li Xin shook his head with a wry smile. That hawk-nosed old man was truly amusing.

The moment he stepped out of the tent, the noisy, crowded throng startled him. Smiling, he nodded in greeting, then quickly followed the map directions on his quest log, borrowed a vehicle from the convoy, and left the Black Lion Legion.

Once the quest was completed, he would become a true death warrior and be eligible to receive his commission from the headquarters commander’s tent.

After more than three hours on the road, nearing noon, Li Xin finally reached his destination: the Sandra Wildlife Reserve, located 108 kilometers northwest of Magic Camel Mountain. Black Lion Ridge lay somewhere within this reserve. According to the information currently available, there were roughly thirty Black Lions on the ridge.

Excluding the juveniles, the adult Black Lions were roughly equivalent to enhanced monsters of level thirty or above. Li Xin made a rough estimate to himself and judged that the pride’s overall strength was somewhat greater than that of the grassland starving wolves. But he did not dare relax even slightly; the Black Lions’ power could not be summarized by mere numerical indicators.

Like the vast protected zones in Africa, the Sandra Reserve covered nearly a hundred thousand square kilometers. Around its perimeter, a large number of staff were stationed. They were responsible for monitoring and patrolling against poachers, and for the safety of tourists throughout the reserve.

After parking, he paid five hundred gold for an entry pass, then boarded a bus with several dozen tourists and drove into the reserve.

The booklet in his hand indicated that stop number eight was Black Lion Ridge.

“I wonder if the old death warrior commanders’ induction quests were this difficult too,” Li Xin muttered with self-mockery. Then he loosened up and started chatting with the middle-aged man beside him.

Behind him sat a middle-aged woman and a girl of about twelve, his wife and daughter.

Knock, knock, knock.

An urgent pounding suddenly sounded outside the game helmet. Li Xin frowned in confusion. Who was looking for him?

After logging out of the game, it was Wang Xiaoqian, her face somewhat grim.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve run into some trouble,” Wang Xiaoqian said in a low voice, without her usual liveliness.

“Tell me about it. Maybe I can offer some advice.”

“That’s the situation.”

Wang Xiaoqian pulled over a chair and explained everything in detail to Li Xin.

Five minutes ago, or two hours of in-game time, Wang Xiaoqian had led the women’s squad into Bellow Village and witnessed a horrifying scene.

Somewhere, a band of vicious bandits had appeared, armed with mortars and other heavy weapons, about thirty men in all. Their explosives had reduced the eastern end of the village to ruins and killed nearly ten elderly villagers. The remaining elders had been herded together by the bandits, who were interrogating them about one person’s whereabouts.

The female squad exchanged glances, unable to understand what the bandits wanted. After a brief attempt at negotiation, the other side had no intention of withdrawing.

After that, both sides opened fire.

Relying on better weapons and stronger skills, the women’s squad achieved some results, but the situation remained far from clear. Instead, they were trapped among the ruins on the village’s east side by twice their number of enemies, and at any moment they could be wiped out.

“I tried sending a distress signal to the troops, but the Shanyao Basin is virgin forest. There’s no signal,” Wang Xiaoqian said gravely, exhaustion thick in her eyes.

They were seeing what a real small-scale war looked like for the first time. Their adaptability and command abilities were a notch below, and in spirit they lacked the fierce resolve to fight to the death.

“Are you sure they’re bandits? Why would bandits have heavy weapons?” Li Xin asked.

“Yes. They are bandits. They call themselves the Wusi Gang. I looked it up quickly; the Wusi Gang is an evil organization ranked thirty-first on the Red Wanted List of the Jialin Continent.”

“Any other information?”

“No. The Red Wanted List only has the names or aliases of the wanted criminals or gangs. Anything else has to be dug up ourselves.”

Li Xin lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said, “How many chances do you have to revive in place?”

“Two.”

“Two?” Li Xin was somewhat surprised. He had three. Was that one of his small advantages?

“Do your utmost in the fight, and try to draw all the Wusi Gang members present together. Then, at the right moment, have everyone pull the pins on their grenades and go down with the enemy.”

“Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Though you’ll taste the hateful bitterness of death once, it’s also a form of tempering. My intuition tells me the person they’re looking for is probably a hidden NPC. You may win his trust and gain unexpected benefits.”

Hearing this, a flicker of hesitation flashed through Wang Xiaoqian’s eyes before she nodded hard.

“I’m going first. We’ll take this battle as the baptism our Crimson Rose women’s squad needs to enter the war,” Wang Xiaoqian said, her expression resolute, every inch a fearless heroine, her aura sharp and commanding.

“Good. I wish you success. I should get back to my own quest too.” Li Xin smiled gently and put on his helmet, busying himself once more.

Wang Xiaoqian returned to the room, put on her helmet, and entered the game. She quickly laid out the plan with the members of the women’s squad.

A few minutes later, the Crimson Rose women’s squad erupted with their full fighting strength, forcibly drawing all the Wusi Gang villains to them, and then they perished together with the enemy.

The terror of death flooded the minds and hearts of the nine girls, leaving them trembling with fear.

Ding!

A quest progression chime rang out in accompaniment.