Chapter 107. Inside the service hall...
After a day of rest and recovery, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi, hand in hand with their three fluffy pets and two elves hiding in their pockets, headed straight for the resistance army's office hall outside after breakfast.
After arriving at the service hall, you first take a number, then queue up and sit on the chairs on the side of the hall to wait.
People waiting in line in the lobby, upon seeing the red-tailed cat and black cat next to Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi, all chose to keep several meters away to ensure that the cats could escape as soon as possible should they be contaminated.
"Ding-dong—Please proceed to counter number 13 to complete your transaction."
"Ding-dong—Please proceed to counter number 14 to complete your transaction."
...
As the 18 counters began calling out numbers, many people got up and went to the counters to conduct their business.
But those people were all very tacitly in agreement, preferring to take a few extra steps to avoid the location where Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi were.
Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at the 8-centimeter-sized round sign in Xiao Weizhi's hand. The number on it was 166, and the color was gray. Below it was a rectangular scrolling screen about the size of a thumb.
Once a counter calls out this number, the number on the sign will light up yellow, and then the number of the counter to go to will appear on the scrolling screen below.
This is to prevent people from not hearing the call number announcement clearly, thus missing their turn and wasting waiting time.
She rested her head on Xiao Weizhi's shoulder, her gaze sweeping over the people who seemed to be avoiding her like the plague, and chuckled, "Weizhi, they seem very afraid of us."
Xiao Weizhi had one arm around Lin Xiaoxiao's waist and the other hand gently pinching the scruff of the neck of the red-tailed beast that kept trying to jump out. His voice was gentle: "Perhaps we brought too many pet beasts."
The people of Black Abyss have always kept their distance from pet beasts. Only wealthy families or professionals would keep one pet beast, and it is rare to see someone keeping three at once.
Just as the two were talking in hushed tones, a commotion broke out at counter number 18, which was about three meters away from them.
A middle-aged woman with dark skin, wearing gray clothes with patches on her elbows, slammed her fist on the counter, demanding loudly, "What do you mean my son is missing? When you came to recruit for the resistance army, you promised that seventh-level professionals would only be in the logistics and nothing would happen to them."
Sitting behind the counter was a young woman wearing round-framed glasses, dressed in a blue work uniform, with her hair neatly combed back and tied into a round bun.
She remained expressionless, speaking softly: "Squad 0799 encountered a group of contaminated beasts in area C3442 some time ago, and the entire team is currently out of contact. We have already sent people out to search for them. Please go home and wait patiently. We will notify you as soon as we have any news."
The middle-aged woman stood up from her chair and slammed her hand on the table, making a loud 'pang' sound: "What news? I've been waiting for ten days! Every day you just tell me to go back and wait. How long am I supposed to wait?"
The middle-aged woman roared as she leaned forward, trying to grab the staff member sitting behind the counter.
The staff were very familiar with this situation. They didn't even move their bodies, but simply pressed the red button next to them with a cold face.
Soon after, two tall security guards in gray uniforms came over and pulled the emotionally agitated middle-aged woman to a nearby emotional support room, where staff members comforted her as she broke down.
After the middle-aged woman was taken away, the staff member silently pressed the button to continue calling numbers.
Such incidents occur frequently at various counters, sometimes due to missing children, sometimes due to insufficient family compensation causing disturbances, and sometimes...
Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi remained seated, watching with great interest everything that was happening in the hall.
Soon, their number cards lit up, and the loudspeaker announced: "Ding-dong—Please proceed to counter number 18 to complete your transaction."
The two quickly got up from their chairs and walked to the counter.
The female staff member asked gently, "What kind of service do you need?"
Xiao Weizhi shoved Lin Xiaoxiao into a chair, stood aside, and asked in a deep voice, "What are the conditions for joining the resistance army?"
The staff member who was watching the screen looked up at Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi outside the counter upon hearing this, and frowned slightly: "You want to sign up for the resistance army?"
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded: "Yes, we want to sign up for the resistance army."
The staff member frowned even more deeply. She bent down and handed an A5-sized tablet from a drawer, placed it on the counter, and tapped the tablet lightly with her finger: "These are the conditions for joining the resistance army. You can take a look. It is recommended that professionals with a level lower than the seventh job advancement carefully consider before deciding whether to participate."
Although the words did not explicitly state that they were not allowed to participate, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi could both understand that the implication was that joining the resistance army at a low rank would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths.
Lin Xiaoxiao gestured for Xiao Weizhi to pull up a chair from the side and sit down to watch together.
Xiao Weizhi followed the advice, pulled over a chair, and held Hongwei tightly in his arms to prevent it from running around.
The two of them huddled together looking at the participation rules on the tablet:
{Regulations for Participation of the Resistance Army:}
{1. Must be 18 years of age or older, and have an awakened profession...}
{2. Resisting military welfare benefits...}
{3. The duties of the resistance forces...}
{4. Job duties...}
...
After reviewing more than a dozen items, it was not stated what level was required to join the resistance army; it only stated that one could apply to join the resistance army after awakening.
The points earned by the resistance army from hunting polluted beasts each month are as follows: 15% must be paid as citizen tax for 100,000 points; 12% for 200,000 points; 10% for 300,000 points... and so on, until 1% is paid for any amount exceeding one million points.
If your points do not reach 100,000, you will be required to pay taxes depending on the circumstances (details can be found in the Black Abyss laws and regulations; if you have a large number of elderly, infirm, or disabled family members, you may be eligible for a partial tax reduction...).
The welfare benefits of the resistance troops were distributed according to their rank, with the lowest rank being 1 and the highest being 9.
Level 1 grants 20% of your rent in points, with a base salary of 10,000 points per month plus performance bonuses... By level 9, you hardly need to spend any money on food, clothing, housing, or transportation; in fact, everything will be arranged for you.
To upgrade, you must hunt down the polluted beasts.
Upgrading from level one to level two requires hunting one million polluted beasts; upgrading from level two to level three requires hunting ten million... increasing tenfold each time.
During the half hour that Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi were looking at the regulations.
The staff didn't even urge them; they just quietly went about their work and waited patiently.
After watching, Lin Xiaoxiao put the tablet back on the table and nodded with a gentle smile to the staff: "We want to join the resistance army."
Upon hearing this, the staff member took out a document from the cabinet and handed it over: "Here is the document. Please fill it out. Depending on your level, you will be given priority for assignment in logistics. Once your level increases, we may consider assigning you to fight against the polluted beasts."
Lin Xiaoxiao took the documents and held them in her hand, but did not fill them out. Instead, she chuckled and asked, "If we want to bypass logistics and fight the polluted beasts directly, can we sign a waiver?"
The disclaimer is a special clause that professionals who want to join the resistance must sign if their level is not high enough.
Signing this clause is tantamount to agreeing to assume full responsibility for one's own life and death.
Of course, taxes will also be significantly reduced, because once a professional dies in battle, Mona City will not be obligated to compensate the relatives of the professional who signed this clause.
The staff member frowned deeply, his gaze sweeping over Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi's pretty faces, and asked again, "Are you sure? Once the disclaimer is signed, there's no going back."
Even if you haven't signed this clause, you can still back out if you don't want to join the resistance. You just need to pay a large fine to apply for departure.
Once you sign, there's no going back.
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded again: "No regrets."
The staff member turned to Xiao Weizhi: "Is that what you think too?"
Xiao Weizhi nodded with a gentle smile: "Yes."
Seeing their determination, the staff member took the documents from Lin Xiaoxiao's hands and replaced them with a thicker stack of documents for them to fill out.
Fill out forms, enter information, enter pet information...
The whole process took more than four hours, during which the staff member was very patient and never rushed Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi.
They also subtly reminded us several times: 'You can fill out the form after you've thought it through; there's no rush.'
Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi were determined to join the resistance army at the sixth level and even checked the option to clear out the high-risk team of large polluted beast groups.
After registering, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi each received a contact record bracelet.
This bracelet is a common communication device used in the Black Abyss.
The resistance's recording bracelet has several additional functions: map, kill record, points account, resistance forum...
With this bracelet, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi performed a special account transfer, transferring the numbers on the back of their hands to the bracelet through a conversion skill.
After Lin Xiaoxiao left with Xiao Weizhi, the staff in the service hall came over to congratulate the staff at counter number 18.
A woman with high cheekbones said in a slightly sour tone, "Congratulations, Amei, you're so lucky! Those two greenhorns just ran into you, and you've already completed your recruitment target for this month. Remember to treat us when you get your bonus!"
Another young man, who was rather round, was filled with envy that could be almost tangible: "If I had pressed the call bell earlier, I probably would have been the one who completed the task."
Several people gathered around workbench number 18, chattering amongst themselves. The female staff member named Amei was full of envy for Amei's successful completion of the task and the high bonus she received.
Only Amei sighed inwardly with regret. Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi, two young people, were not of high level, yet they joined the resistance army without hesitation in order to return to the inner realm... Sigh.
On the other side, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi, who had just stepped out of the service hall, were also talking about the staff at counter number 18.
Lin Xiaoxiao chuckled as she held the black cat: "That staff member is quite soft-hearted."
Xiao Weizhi put his arm around her shoulder and led her forward: "What do you mean?"
As Lin Xiaoxiao walked, she explained, "While we were filling out the forms, she kept subtly reminding us to think things through, she said it several times..."
Because the Black Abyss is constantly fighting against the corrupted beasts, professionals can easily die in a battle if they are not careful, except for those who have come from the inner realm.
The city here is constantly recruiting soldiers to resist the enemy, so most of the staff have recruitment duties.
For each person successfully recruited, a high amount of points will be awarded.
After listening, Xiao Weizhi led her away from the oncoming people and nodded: "It seems that the staff member is of good character."
After all, the fact that they were reminded of the high reward three times shows that they have a good mindset.
The two strolled around the right city for a while before boarding the city bus to go home.
After all, they don't have many points left, so they can't buy much even if they want to. It's better for them to go home and rest for a few days and wait for their notification.
At 10:00 PM that day, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi's information was transmitted to a team leader's communicator: 'Beep beep beep…'
In the dimly lit room, a dark-skinned man who was exercising put down the 300-pound dumbbell in his right hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel around his neck, got up, took a bottle of water, and walked to his desk.
He picked up the bracelet, opened the data, projected it into the air, glanced at it, and sneered: "A sixth-level inner realm professional, sent over to fill in the gaps? Tsk."
He casually tossed the empty bottle into the corner trash can, sneered, pressed "agree," tossed the communicator back onto the table, and turned back to continue his workout.
A few hours later, the bracelets that Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi had casually placed on the coffee table in the living room started flashing incessantly.
A dozen seconds later, a screen suddenly appeared, displaying a message: 'Congratulations to Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi for passing the review of the captain of the 0468th detachment of the Resistance Army. Please report to the team assembly point on Keda Second Street within three days... Remember not to be late.'
The next day, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi saw the message and went to report immediately.
Despite the pitying and disdainful looks from many people, they received their combat uniforms, gave Red Tail, Treasure Hunter, and Black Cat new entry tokens, and then quickly left the reporting location, which was only 100 square meters in size.
Three days later, three dilapidated buses, each capable of seating about 70 people and covered in patches, slowly and swayed from the parking lot of the resistance headquarters.
On the first bus, in the middle sat a dark-skinned man with a buzz cut, wearing a tight vest, his arms crossed, and a cold face with sharp eyes.
A burly man sitting in front of the first man turned around and asked, "Captain, I heard that there are two sixth-level professionals from the inner realm in this recruitment? You want them both?"
The man sneered: "I don't want it, but do the higher-ups agree to let me not want it?"
We rejected those weak and timid girls a few times before, but the higher-ups gave a firm order: we had to take them, even if it was just for logistics.
The burly man licked his lips and tentatively asked, "I've heard that professionals from the inner realm are all fair-skinned and delicate. Captain, can I...?"
The man with the buzz cut glanced coldly at the burly man in front of him, his tone icy: "Consensual is fine, but in my team, no coercion is allowed. If I catch you doing it, you know what will happen to you."
The burly man didn't dare to speak at all and obediently turned his head back: "Understood, Captain."
On the other side, a man with his hair half-tied up, a scar running from his mouth to the corner of his eye, and delicate features, had clearly also seen the information. He said sarcastically, "Those two sixth-level professionals from the inner realm are a couple. What, you don't care about the woman or the man? Gou Tian, you're really disgusting."
The man with the buzz cut sternly rebuked the man next door with his hair half-tied up: "Jiang Yu, shut up."
The farce was quelled by the captain of Squad 0468 with just a few words.
Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi, dressed in black combat uniforms, waited at the meeting point for about half an hour with Red Tail, Black Cat, and Treasure Hunter.
Also present at the rendezvous point were a dozen or so Black Abyss natives and their professionals, who were divided into two groups.
One group had no expression on their faces, while the other group looked extremely unwilling; both of them were at least at the seventh level.
The only thing they agreed on was that neither of them wanted to accept Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi into their small group.
Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi, who were isolated, didn't take this isolation game, which seemed like something a primary school student would do, to heart at all. Instead, they were whispering and discussing something.
Xiao Weizhi lowered his voice and instructed, "Don't worry about me too much. I heard this mission will take a month, and I don't know what the situation is with the people in this team."
It's fine if you encounter a well-managed team, but if you encounter a team with chaotic internal management, it's simply a disaster.
Lin Xiaoxiao knew what he meant and nodded, "Okay."
Then Xiao Weizhi pinched Red Tail's neck and warned in a low voice: "Red Tail, listen carefully, you can't be willful or run around when you're on a mission."
Redtail wagged its tail, glanced at Lin Xiaoxiao, and, finding that she wasn't even looking at it, muttered, "I know."
Upon receiving Redtail's reply, Xiao Weizhi tightened the zipper of Lin Xiaoxiao's pocket, which contained Xunbao, Monet, and Hill.
Lin Xiaoxiao smiled wryly: "Weizhi, stop pulling, leave some room for ventilation."
Xiao Weizhi pulled the zipper back another centimeter, leaving three centimeters: "Okay, leave it."
Not long after, three buses drove up shakily and stopped in front of the group of waiting professionals.
As the bus doors slowly rose, a 2.2-meter-tall, muscular man with a buzz cut and wearing tall black leather military boots stepped off the first bus.
The man with the cold face introduced himself: "I am Jin Buyi, the captain of Squad 0468. For the next month, you will be following the team to clean up the polluted beast herd... If you disobey orders and act on your own... Now, everyone get on the bus, the third bus."
Soon, Jin Buyi finished his narration and glanced at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was holding the black cat.
His eyes were filled with barely suppressed disgust. It was one thing for him to be a man, but to bring along a woman who looked like an underage child, like a baby hugging a toy.
What exactly are those people trying to do? Do they think their 0468 team isn't chaotic enough?
Lin Xiaoxiao was unaware of the inner thoughts of the 0468 captain. She and Xiao Weizhi calmly followed behind the professionals and slowly boarded the third bus.
The bus traveled north for more than ten hours, swaying and bumping, before finally stopping at a place with a clear boundary line.
The driver's voice, carried through the loudspeaker, echoed throughout the carriage: "We've arrived. Get off."
After everyone lined up to get off the bus, Jin Buyi commanded in a deep voice: "Now, put on your armor and follow me."
The team members who have worked at 0468 for a long time are already used to the command style of Team Jin.
While the new recruits were still stunned and hadn't even realized what was going on, the veteran members had already changed their outfits in just one minute.
To Jin Buyi's surprise, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi changed clothes only half a minute slower than the veteran team members.
By the time almost everyone had changed into their armor, five minutes had passed.
Jin Buyi held a long whip in his hand. His voice wasn't loud, but it was chilling: "After I finish speaking, you must respond within one minute. Like just now, you dragged it out for five minutes. I hope this is the first and last time."
After giving the warning, he led his team of over a hundred people across the boundary and into the area.
Although it was dark where the bus was parked, you could still vaguely see about 15 meters of the road.
Once you cross the boundary, your line of sight is limited to about one meter, and there is also a lot of odorless black mist mixed in with the darkness.
Excessive inhalation of this black mist can easily trigger evil thoughts, negativity, anger, and other negative emotions.
If injured, prolonged exposure to the black fog environment can easily lead to contamination, gradually turning one into a pollutant.
Wearing metal isolation masks, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi followed at the back of the group, weapons in hand, listening intently to their surroundings.
The black cat climbed onto Lin Xiaoxiao's shoulder, its eyes gleaming with a dark, emerald-green light in the darkness.
After walking for about thirty minutes, Jin Buyi, who was at the front of the group, noticed something was wrong, waved to stop the group, and threw a disposable lighting prop into the air.
The warm yellow light from the lighting fixtures illuminated the area.
This also reflects the black vines on the ground that twist and writhe like snakes.
He swung his long whip, snapping one of the black vines that was wrapped around his calf, and calmly commanded in a deep voice: "Fight."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground shook violently, and countless vines surged in from all directions, surrounding the group.
Xiao Weizhi shielded Lin Xiaoxiao behind him and used his longsword to cut several vines in succession. Red Tail stood on his shoulder and spat three or four fireballs the size of baseballs at the vines.
Lin Xiaoxiao raised the energy gun in her hand and shot down several vines that were trying to wrap around their bodies.
While everyone was focused on clearing the vines, many pea mice were hiding among them, waiting for the right moment to launch an attack.
Not long after, a scream rang out: "Get away, get away, don't bite me."
The scream seemed to shatter some eerie balance, causing the vines to lash out even more vigorously. The ground squirrels hidden within the vines emerged one after another, rushing towards the professionals present in a coordinated attack.
Then several more screams rang out.
Many professionals in Team 0468 who regularly clean up contaminated beasts couldn't help but curse inwardly: "That screaming idiot, didn't he learn the first principle of cleaning up contaminated beasts before he came here?"
He who is injured will not cry out, and he who dies will not howl.
The reason for this rule is that most polluting beasts rely on hearing and smell to identify their prey, and loud noises will only attract an endless stream of polluting beasts.
Lin Xiaoxiao blew the head off a pea-shaped mole with a single shot, and then quickly turned the energy gun to blow up another pea-shaped mole that was positioned next to Xiao Weizhi.
[Congratulations to Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi for defeating the level 60 Polluted Beast - Pea Squirrel and gaining experience...]
Congratulations to Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi...
The kill notifications kept refreshing rapidly, and at the same time, more and more polluted beasts were attacking the direction where Team 0468 was located.
Jin Buyi shouted, "Unleash your strongest skills! Clear out the polluted beasts here within ten minutes, then leave!"
These words seemed to open Pandora's box, and all the professionals present mobilized their internal energy, illuminating the space with multicolored lights.
Xiao Weizhi turned around and glanced at Lin Xiaoxiao.
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded.
Without further hesitation, Xiao Weizhi quickly conjured a 3-meter-wide fiery red magic circle in front of him.
Ten seconds later, hundreds of fireballs the size of footballs were launched from the magic circle one after another, falling into the polluted beasts and creating a series of explosions of varying sizes.
Lin Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, seamlessly finished off the corrupted beasts that were almost dead.
Congratulations to Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao...
Congratulations to Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi...
In an instant, their experience and points were increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Their seamless teamwork was noticed by everyone present.
Many people began to change their opinion of them at this moment; while others temporarily suppressed their ulterior motives...
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