Chapter Eighty-Seven: On the Team

After more than an hour in the free market, Wang Ling sold off his class-E skill book and earned 2,800 currency points, bringing his total wealth to more than 9,200 points.

While selling the book, he discovered a troublesome problem: Hatsune in his pocket was extremely restless, constantly poking out her little green head and clinging to the edge of the pocket to peer outside.

After pressing her head back in four times with a finger, the Dream Emblem sent him a warning. Dissatisfied with his behavior, Hatsune’s intimacy toward him dropped by one point, so Wang Ling had no choice but to stop interfering and let her curiously take in the outside world. Fortunately, in the free market, he could disguise himself with mist, and no one noticed that such a tiny creature was tucked in the pocket over his chest.

After leaving the free market, Wang Ling placed Hatsune into the emblem’s space pouch, then headed for the entertainment district to gather some intelligence.

He did not go into the fairy bar, which used striptease performances as a gimmick, but instead entered a large establishment called Black Sunday. The bar’s theme was chatting, fooling around, and bragging, and it was packed with Dreamers. More than a hundred people were making a racket inside, with bursts of laughter erupting from time to time, creating a very relaxed atmosphere.

Wang Ling went in and walked up to the counter. The bartender was a Black man, chewing gum. Seeing a new customer, he proactively poured a glass of beer and handed it over. “First beer’s on the house, kid. What’ll you have?”

After spending over an hour selling goods in the free market and haggling with customers, he was indeed rather thirsty. Wang Ling drained the beer in the wooden mug, which was a little larger than an ordinary teacup, then glanced over the simple food menu. “One plate of spicy grilled skewers in Eastern style, one plate of fried potato chips, one plate of assorted fruit, and another large beer.”

These were all the kind of food you could eat while killing time. Wang Ling looked around and noticed an empty oak round table in a corner, so he went over and claimed it for himself, slowly enjoying his meal while the conversations and commotion around him drifted into his ears.

Just as expected, the topic of discussion was the masked man who had killed Elliot in the arena and carried away Bai Feng. Some of the people who had personally witnessed the event in the arena described it vividly, while others exclaimed in amazement from time to time.

“Damn, I’ve become famous...”

Silently spearing a slice of potato with a toothpick, dipping it in a thin layer of red chili sauce, and putting it into his mouth, then taking a small sip of beer and biting into a tender, spicy skewer of grilled loin meat, Wang Ling could not help smiling wryly to himself as he realized that the entire noisy bar was discussing his deeds of valor.

Since he was no longer wearing the golden-red mask, he was extremely unremarkable now, nothing more than an ordinary Eastern youth. The burly, rough-looking Dreamers of all shapes and sizes in the bar would naturally never imagine that this young man sitting in the corner was the mysterious figure who had survived only two main missions, slain Elliot in a duel, and even done something as shocking as carrying Bai Feng away.

Originally intending to buy some information from the bartender, Wang Ling suddenly thought of the German boy named Su, who had already gone through nine missions and could also be considered a veteran. So he left the bar and went to the plaza for arrivals and departures, then sent a message through the Dream Emblem. After receiving permission, he entered Su’s private room.

“Welcome. Tomorrow is the day we enter the mission world, so everything’s prepared, right? Did you come here to chat with me?” Su was very pleased to see Wang Ling take the initiative to visit.

“Well... you could say that. But there’s also something else. I wanted to ask you for some intelligence about the Beastman Squad. Do you know anything about them?”

“The Beastman Squad? They’re one of the stronger teams in the beginner zone. Why are you suddenly asking about them...” As he spoke, Su suddenly gave a start. “I just went out and heard rumors everywhere about some person. Don’t tell me you’re the masked man who killed Elliot from the Beastman Squad and abducted the super-strong Bai Feng?”

“Uh...”

“It really is you! I heard earlier that the masked man spoke Chinese, looked like a youth, and used a short firearm that could fire flame shots, so I was already a little suspicious...” Su hesitated for a moment, then asked somewhat awkwardly, “That girl... Bai Feng, did you...?”

Wang Ling knew what he meant and said with a wry shake of his head, “I didn’t do anything like that to her. She’s already returned to her own private room.”

“Sorry, I asked about your private matters...”

Su did not seem particularly cheerful. After a few seconds of silence, he recalled something and said, “The Beastman Squad... one thing is certain: you killed one of their core members, so you’re going to have major trouble. It may even be far worse than simply offending Bai Feng.”

“Oh? Is the Beastman Squad stronger than Bai Feng?” Wang Ling was somewhat surprised.

“No. No matter how strong Bai Feng is, she is only one person. I’ve heard rumors about her. She almost never interacts with anyone, and has no friends at all. She’s basically a lone Dreamer. With her strength, it would be impossible for her to enter the same world as you, and besides, she’s almost at the intermediate zone already. The two of you probably won’t have any intersection in the future.”

Su said with worry in his expression, “The Beastman Squad is different. It seems to have seventeen members, making it one of the larger teams in the beginner zone. Its members are mainly Europeans, and their captain is highly capable and shrewd, so the team is extremely cohesive. They’ve also formed an alliance with the other two strong teams in the beginner zone—the Violent Gang, which is mainly American, and the Kangaroo Squad, which is mainly Australian. The three teams combined have become a major power.”

“In the beginner region, I don’t know exactly how many teams there are. I’d guess somewhere between thirty and fifty. The overall strength of the Beastman Squad and the Kangaroo Squad should be around tenth place or so, while the Violent Gang is one of the top teams in the beginner zone. They only have three members, and they are not an ordinary team formed through currency points, but a special team formed through an item. Every one of them is extremely strong. The strongest man in the beginner zone, the American named Vajra, is in that team.”

Wang Ling thought for a moment and said, “So you’re saying that if I killed Elliot and offended the Beastman Squad, I’ve also effectively offended all three of these teams at once?”

“That’s right. The influence of these three teams is deeply intertwined, and they can probably affect a hundred Dreamers or more... By the way, you were wearing a mask, so your face wasn’t exposed, right? If it wasn’t exposed, then that’s fine. But if it was, you may be hunted in the mission world by certain Dreamers.”

“Do they actually have a way to enter my mission world?”

“By using a mission scene card, one can enter a designated world. If you happen to be carrying out a mission in that world, then an encounter is possible. Besides, there are so many rare items that there may well be something capable of tracking you into that world. Also... the many Dreamers influenced by those three teams mean that in the mission world, the chances of running into them are not small. If your appearance was exposed, then once they recognize you, they may well launch an attack.”

Su’s voice grew heavier and heavier. “There’s another point as well. The captain of the Beastman Squad, Visak, is a reserve member of the Beast King Squad in the intermediate zone. Back when people from the intermediate zone came to recruit, it caused quite a stir throughout the beginner zone, because the Beast King Squad is a very powerful team in the intermediate zone. It is said to have been founded by the Beast Heavenly King. That name, Beast Heavenly King, is not merely a casual nickname, but a title. Of course, I’m not entirely sure what it specifically refers to.”

After hearing Su’s words, Wang Ling found it hard to believe. “So I killed Elliot from the Beastman Squad, and that’s going to cause a lot of trouble? It feels like I’ve kicked over a hornet’s nest!”

Su gave a faint sigh. “Maybe I’m worrying too much. After all, mission worlds are arranged by the space itself, and it isn’t easy to hunt down one person... In any case, from now on, once you enter the mission world, you must be careful!”

“Worrying won’t help. It’s no big deal.” Wang Ling spread his hands. “When the water comes, I’ll cover it with earth; when the soldiers come, I’ll block them with generals. I’ve been pretty poor lately anyway, so I’m just waiting for someone to send me wealth. I’m not so easy to kill. Besides, this is still the beginner zone. Thinking about the Beast King Squad in the intermediate zone is a little too early.”

“Mm, I was overthinking it.” Su smiled awkwardly. After a brief silence, he lifted his head and fixed his green eyes on Wang Ling’s face. “I was so busy worrying that I forgot something. You’ve only gone through two main missions, and you already have so many powerful summoned figures? And last time you bought the white-steel firearm from me, you should have only just come out of the newbie world. Yet after leaving the newbie world, you were already able to pay 35,000... no, counting the 6,000 you spent buying skill points to help me!”

“In your newbie mission, you obtained more than 40,000 currency points. Newbie missions are supposed to be very easy, so how did you gain so many benefits? It’s unbelievable!”

“My newbie mission was cleared with an S rating...”

“An S rating in a newbie mission!” Su drew in a sharp breath, his face full of astonishment. “For ordinary main missions, a D or C rating is already fairly common, B is considered good, and A is even rarer. But you actually got an S rating in the newbie mission? Back then, your strength was extremely weak, practically no different from that of an ordinary person. How was that possible?”

“Heh heh, I’m pretty impressive, after all...” Wang Ling smiled smugly, then asked, “By the way, could you tell me about information related to teams? How do these people form teams?”

Su nodded. “A team is a small group formed by Dreamers. Whether it’s completing main missions or exploring hidden missions and benefits, moving as a group is much more convenient and easier than going alone, and mission ratings are also easier to improve. On top of that, some main missions simply can’t be completed by a single person. So some Dreamers specifically form groups.”

“After making an oath before the Main Brain and paying a certain amount of currency points, a team can be formed. I looked into it specifically: creating a team requires paying 20,000 currency points. The team starts with only two people, after which more members can be added. Each additional member requires another 10,000 currency points.”

“What is formed this way is only an ordinary team. If one team member dies, each of the remaining members only loses 5,000 currency points, and leaving the team only requires paying 10,000 currency points, so the restrictions are very weak. If the team lacks cohesion and mutual trust, suspicion will develop between members. At crucial moments, they may even kill their companions in order to seize benefits.”

“But some special teams are formed through contracts using special and rare items. The ones I know of include the Three Arrows Oath contract from the Warring States world, the Peach Garden Sworn Brothers contract from the Three Kingdoms world, the KOF contract from the King of Fighters world, the Club contract from the Final Fantasy world, and so on.”

“When a team is formed through an item, the number of members is fixed, and the members receive certain bonuses from one another. Some hidden abilities may even appear. After death, the other team members suffer huge losses. As a result, the cohesion among the members is extremely strong, far surpassing that of ordinary teams.”