Traveling northeast along the town, they soon came upon the small river. Wen Rou crouched down and raised her right fist, signaling the presence of enemies ahead. All adventurers promptly lay down.
Observing through binoculars, Wen Rou's voice carried over, "There are about forty German soldiers across the river, with three heavy firepower points, one cannon, but no tanks."
"The defense isn't very strong," Hong Lang sighed in relief.
"The problem is we need to cross the river to attack them. We're all just a bit better than rookies, with limited enhancement abilities. How many of you can run across the river? How many can ensure they won't be attacked while crossing? Hong Lang, your thirty-round bulletproof feature won't last long under heavy machine gun fire, will it?" Wen Rou said with a light laugh.
Hong Lang, pondering, replied, "Then why not use the rocket launcher to eliminate those threatening firepower points first?"
"I refuse," came an unexpected rejection from Shen Yi.
Hong Lang, surprised, asked, "Why?"
Shen Yi coldly responded, "I didn't rally everyone just to play the savior and have everyone rely on me. I don't care what you think. My rocket launcher is reserved for tanks only, since the rockets are limited."
A tank would yield bloody points, but these firepower points wouldn't be so generous. Shen Yi didn't want to waste his limited resources on unrewarding targets.
However, he had a point. If Shen Yi single-handedly took out the three heavy firepower points and the cannon, the others would just be reaping the benefits. Where in the world would one find such a good deal?
"So, you've decided to take on the optional mission after this, haven't you?" Jin Gang, quick-witted, immediately guessed Shen Yi's intention to undertake optional missions, otherwise, there would be no need to conserve rocket ammunition. It was hard to believe that such a burly figure could possess such a nimble mind, truly not judging a book by its cover.
Shen Yi nodded, "I don't know what Bloody City means to you, but to me, it's just a game. What's certain is that both games and life have a fundamental cycle problem: a virtuous or vicious cycle. I'm lucky to have a better start than most newcomers. If I don't face challenges now, it means slowing down my progress. It's evident that the difficulty of the missions in this world increases steadily. If I don't strengthen myself now, faster than the rate of difficulty increase, any slight virtuous cycle I might have built will quickly turn into a vicious cycle with each new mission. Besides, the difficulty of missions varies. The earlier ones are easier to complete, and the danger increases later on. If we're afraid to take risks now, in the early stages, we might as well give up later."
"But this approach could also put you in danger early on, potentially leading to an early death," Wen Rou noted.
Shen Yi lightly laughed, "What's the difference between dying a month earlier or later? If I can't get stronger soon, it's better to die early and spare the suffering."
Everyone was speechless.
Indeed, avoiding risks might work once, but not always. Since death was inevitable, why not take extreme challenges early on? With the courage to face difficulties, they could continually grow stronger, achieving the virtuous cycle Shen Yi spoke of.
"Alright, we won't use the rocket launcher this time. Let's all figure out a way to cross the river and attack the enemy. I suggest sending a few agile close-combat fighters across," Hong Lang proposed.
"I agree. It would be great if someone had psychic shielding abilities," Wen Rou added.
Unfortunately, none of the 22 adventurers possessed such abilities. Without a reliable team, supportive abilities, which help others, were the least popular in the early stages.
Their debate didn't go unnoticed by other adventurers. One whispered, "I'm a high-agility enhancer with basic stealth abilities, so I won't be detected by the enemy."
Shen Yi smiled and patted his shoulder, "Count you in. We need at least three more to control the three firepower points and the cannon. Each vanguard will carry a piece of bulletproof gear. If you don't have one, borrow it. Don't worry, with so many people here, no one will dare to cheat."
Hong Lang handed his bulletproof gear to the assassin-like adventurer, "Use mine. Just don't be too reckless; if you use it up too much, I won't let you off. Take out the firepower points and retreat. The rest is up to us."
Four vanguards were quickly selected: a stealthy assassin, a swimming expert, a master of disguise, and one with Blink Boots. The boots' skill, Blink, could instantly teleport the wearer across the river. Unfortunately, due to the low equipment level
, the skill had a long cooldown and could only be used once a day.
Equipped with borrowed bulletproof gear, the four set off towards the opposite riverbank.
The one with the boots was the fastest, disappearing in a flash and reappearing on the designated spot on the other side. He lay motionless in a bush, waiting. Once the other three made it across, they stealthily approached their assigned targets.
The real challenge in the Market Garden mission world was the endless German soldiers and powerful modern weapons. However, the soldiers' quality was no match for the enhanced adventurers.
Once the adventurers found a breach, passing the mission wasn't too difficult.
Indeed, upon reaching their destinations, they simultaneously struck. The three firepower points and the cannon were instantly destroyed. Caught off guard, the German soldiers started shouting, and the riverbank erupted in a flurry of gunfire.
The 18 adventurers on the other side of the river raised their weapons and unleashed a barrage of fire.
The adventurer who knew the Thunderfall technique was about to cast his spell when Shen Yi grabbed his hands and scolded, "You fool, your spell consumes too much mental energy. Save your strength for critical moments. There are only a few dozen soldiers on the other side. You don't need such overkill!"
This adventurer had followed the group from the town without much chance to show off. Just as he saw an opportunity, Shen Yi scolded him. Angered, he retorted, "You're not my boss. Why should I listen to you?"
Hearing this, Shen Yi chuckled.
By this time, the German soldiers on the opposite bank were almost all dead under the adventurers' assault. The few remaining resisted in vain but were swiftly eliminated by the four assaulting vanguards, using their bulletproof gear. The adventurers who lent out their bulletproof equipment winced as they saw the flashes of light on the gear, feeling each hit as if it were their own. It was the first time since entering the Bloody City that they genuinely cared about someone else's safety.
Without saying much more, Shen Yi patted the adventurer's shoulder and said, "You're right, I'm not your boss and have no right to order you around." Suddenly, he punched the adventurer in the abdomen, causing him to double over like a shrimp. Pointing the Linghuo gun at his head, Shen Yi's tone was icy, "If you're so capable, complete the mission yourself. Don't follow us! Since you don't plan to follow orders, why keep you around? Wouldn't it be more fitting to just shoot you? What do you say?"
The adventurer, sweating in pain, couldn't utter a word. Shen Yi's punch was not very strong, but it hit a vital spot. As a psychic with enhanced mental abilities, he had used all his bloody points to boost his psychic powers, leaving his physical resilience almost unenhanced. So, he couldn't handle the punch and could only endure the pain, saying, "I just... just wanted to help everyone."
"Then follow orders," Shen Yi coldly replied. He noticed a few adventurers nearby looking disapproving, clearly still defiant towards him.
Hong Lang, realizing the dispute, shot the last distant German soldier and strode over, addressing the watching adventurers, "Just a reminder, this is a cooperative attack scenario. We only have a chance to survive by sticking together. Shen Yi is right. We shouldn't waste our large-scale attack capabilities. Good steel should be used on the edge of the blade, right? Unless you're confident you can cast dozens of skills without breaking a sweat or running out of breath! If anyone here can do that, they wouldn't need to be in this beginner difficulty."
Jin Gang bluntly said, "We're not forcing everyone to follow our orders, but if you refuse to accept them, please leave our team."
The adventurers fell silent upon hearing these words.
Wen Rou, with a cold smile, added, "What now? The mission isn't over yet. Are we starting an internal conflict?"
Shen Yi replied with a smile, "No, just eliminating some unstable elements. We still have a long way to go."
Jin Gang added coldly, "Let's cross the river quickly. A suggestion for everyone: if you want to go solo or form your own team, feel free to leave. But if anyone plans to follow us and reap benefits without contributing, sorry, but I'll deal with them first."
Establishing their position and authority was crucial for the upcoming battles. This was what Shen Yi, Hong Lang, Jin Gang, and Wen Rou all thought. Whether others accepted it or not was a different matter.
After clearing the German soldiers by the river, a German officer surprisingly dropped a gray box. Inside was a Schmeisser submachine gun and several magazines, valued at three hundred bloody points.
Shen Yi realized that the German soldiers could drop boxes too, but only officers and at a very low drop rate, with generally poor rewards.
Missing the generous rewards of the novice missions, the group quickly crossed the river and fled to a small forest before more German soldiers arrived.
On the way, an adventurer Shen Yi had saved with a healing spell ran up to him, "Big Brother Shen, my life was saved by you. I'll listen to you, whatever you say."
"What's your name?"
"I'm Ah Sheng, from Hong Kong. I even spent fifty bloody points to learn Mandarin. How is it? Pretty standard, right?" Ah Sheng laughed.
Shen Yi stopped and said, "Alright, my first order is: less talk during the action."
Ah Sheng stuck out his tongue, not daring to speak further.
Some adventurers behind them muttered, "What's so great about him? Just because he has a lousy gun and a rocket launcher."
Hong Lang's icy voice followed, "I suggest you better not mess with him. That guy is a cold-blooded killer."
One adventurer scoffed, "Who here isn't?"
Hong Lang sneered, "I mean before coming to Bloody City, idiot."
Wen Rou's ears twitched slightly, catching these words and casting a meaningful glance at Shen Yi.