Chapter 2 Mission

The sandstorm outside lasted for three hours before it finally stopped. The survivors breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts finally settling down. Knowing the danger was over, everyone quickly stretched out their bodies, numb from curling up for hours.

Of course, the families of those who were hiding in the tents also came out to pick up the skins from the corpses. They kept the relatively intact ones for themselves and sold the defective ones. As for the intact skins, they were one in ten miles away and were completely beyond the reach of these wanderers.

Even though these hides were taken from corpses, they were still in high demand. Two strong-looking women even nearly came to blows over a single intact hide. These people had their own territories, and the man had died in the wrong place, on the dividing line between their two territories. So, both women claimed the intact hide was theirs, and a dispute ensued.

It's not their fault for fighting over it. The main reason is that the people on their side have limited abilities. Even the lowest-level gray rats are not easy to hunt. Often, if they can successfully kill a gray rat, its fur will be riddled with holes by everyone. If they want a highly intact gray rat skin, several more people will have to die.

The number of people on each territory is fixed. If too many people die, there will be a risk of being swallowed up by other groups. Without sufficient benefits, these people still want to preserve their strength, even if those people are just useless cannon fodder.

In order to keep their position as team leaders, they must give a certain amount of "tribute" to their superiors every month, two complete gray squirrel skins being a requirement. Without them, they will be demoted. Anyway, there are many people below who want to step on their shoulders to get to the top.

The higher the rank and status of those in this safe zone, the closer they were to the center of the energy shield. And so on, with those below them scattered around in circles according to their rank and status, each operating within their assigned territory. This hierarchy, while seemingly simple, was incredibly clear.

When the two women argued over a whole piece of sable fur, everyone else stayed away, expressionless and indifferent, fearing they would be implicated. They wouldn't get the good stuff anyway, so there was no need to get involved.

Wen Le wasn't surprised by this, unlike when he first woke up, when he'd been surprised. In fact, their approach was the right one. Resources were already limited, and leaving them there unattended would be a waste. However, in this safe haven where the strong reigned supreme and the powerful held sway, those things were clearly beyond the reach of an unarmed homeless child like him.

But Wen Le had more important things to do right now. He secretly checked his body while no one was paying attention, and once again confirmed the existence of the Immortal Doctor System. After receiving the system's response, Wen Le nearly went crazy with joy. Fortunately, he quickly calmed down and didn't show it.

This system was simple, not as complex as the large-scale games he had played before. It was just a healing system, without any so-called attack skills. However, there was one thing that was similar to the games he had played before: the healing level of this system required proficiency to increase.

Wen Le checked and found that upgrading to level one required 100 proficiency points. To gain proficiency points, one had to use the system's healing skills to heal people. Since it was at the beginner level, each treatment only gave one proficiency point. As the healing level increased, the proficiency would also increase accordingly.

In the healing skill column, only a simple healing spell is active, which can be upgraded to the highest level and is probably the most basic healing skill. There is also a resurrection spell, which can only be unlocked at level 50. Each resurrection costs the caster 20% of their current health, effectively trading their own life for another's. Fortunately, the healing spell can also heal the caster themselves, but it requires the caster to take blood-tonifying potions and activate their mental strength.

But none of this made Wen Le happy. What excited him most was the alchemy skill, but it couldn't be unlocked until he reached level 5. Furthermore, the medicines inside only contained a small blood-replenishing potion and a spirit-replenishing potion. Wen Le jokingly called these two potions red potions and blue potions.

Although these two potions are initial potions and have limited efficacy, even so, in such a slum where people are dying every day, they are life-saving medicines.

Wen Le seemed to have seen a lot of credit points and resources, twisting her waist and waving at him in an extremely coquettish manner.

Wen Le was so happy in his heart that his teeth were showing and his eyes were not visible, but he still kept a dull look on his face. No one could tell that his heart was already fluttering with joy at this moment.

“Ding ding ding!”

A rapid sound of knocking on metal plates rang out in the safe zone, and the people around quickly gathered towards the source of the sound. However, everyone had a grim look on their faces, and they had obviously realized that a greater disaster was waiting for them.

Wen Le's face also grew serious, and he quickly gathered his composure and joined the others in their march toward the source of the noise. He had a strong premonition that this time, he was afraid, he would have a hard time getting away with it. Every time the metal plate banged, it meant something major was happening in the safe zone, and it also meant the end of these cannon fodder minions.

Sure enough, after the person in charge explained the situation, everyone's faces, including Wen Le's, changed. It turned out that the cracks in the energy shield were growing larger, and many people had died in the safe zone. The higher-ups were frightened and wanted to pay for repairs. This would require a huge amount of money and energy, so they issued a strict order: everyone must hand over a piece of gray squirrel skin every day or a piece of red flame stone every five days. If they failed to complete the task, they would be expelled from the energy shield's protection area.

This is clearly forcing them to die!

Probably because they knew that these ordinary people were not capable of completing such a task, the higher-ups made some adjustments. A team of ten people could hand in five gray squirrel skins or a piece of red flame stone every day. However, if the task was not completed on the same day, they would be fined to hand in ten gray squirrel skins the next day, plus the task for the day, a total of fifteen skins.

No matter how reluctant everyone was, they dared not speak out. Moreover, this rule was relatively light compared to the previous one. So after a few quiet discussions, everyone gathered together and began looking for people they knew to form a team to hunt the gray rat. As for the Red Flame Stone, few dared to take it.

Although Red Flame Stone is considered the lowest grade of fire-type ores, it's often found near magma, so few can withstand the intense heat. For example, the entrance to the Red Flame Stone vein on the Abandoned Planet is located within a volcanic crater. Forget mining; just the sight of the bubbling, scalding magma is enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Besides, this poor place does not have the kind of professional mining tools and work clothes that are resistant to high and low temperatures. People who go in without professional protection will die. Therefore, except for those team leaders who have a relatively high status in the safe zone and have some connections and have such professional mining equipment and can take this shortcut, no one dares to take on such a task. They all form teams to hunt gray rats honestly.

Wen Le clenched his fists. He was overjoyed just now, but now he was extremely sad. Because of his own conditions, no one was willing to team up with him. In other words, if he could not hand over the gray squirrel skin, he would be destined to be driven out of the safe zone. In that case, even if this immortal doctor system was against the will of heaven, he would surely die.

The system, however, joined in the fun at this very moment, announcing the first task: "Ding! Main quest begins. Host has successfully formed a team with at least five teammates. Completing the quest will reward you with 50 proficiency points. Reminder: If the host fails the quest, 100 proficiency points will be deducted. Please note that the host's proficiency cannot fall below 0, otherwise it will be eliminated."

Finally, the system became lively: "Student Wen Le, the Immortal Doctor has high hopes for you, so you must keep working hard~"

Wen Le: “…” Oh your sister!