The so-called team reward means that if 100 soldiers of the 2nd Airborne Battalion survive, they will be awarded 2,000 Bloody Points. Adding the 1,000 Bloody Points for the two battalion commanders, this 3,000 Bloody Points reward belongs to the entire team. It will be distributed according to each member's contribution ratio, rather than each individual receiving 3,000 Bloody Points. The contribution ratio is analyzed and judged by the City and the final evaluation is made without any bias.
As for special rewards, they are only given to the adventurer with the highest contribution ratio. In fact, these are the real high-level rewards, generally consisting of rare items not available in the City.
According to the City's standards, the highest contributor, without exceeding 10% of the average contribution ratio, can choose a non-graded reward item. Exceeding 10% earns a D-level item, and 20% earns two D-level items. Regardless of the grade, these items are absolutely not available in the shop and are also hard to come by in the mission world.
Seeing the prompt, everyone's eyes turned red with eagerness, rubbing their hands together, ready to eliminate the enemies and seize the highest rewards. Even the adventurer who was initially stopped by Shen Yi from releasing a large-scale spell was now eager to try, thankful that he hadn't used his spell earlier, or he wouldn't have the chance to showcase himself now.
However, compared to most people's enthusiasm, only a few were sober enough to realize that this optional task would probably not be as easy as the main missions. A single airborne task for 500 Bloody Points had already caused heavy casualties among the adventurers. Now, with the optional task offering 4,000 Bloody Points and additional rewards, the difficulty was likely to increase tenfold. High risk, high reward - this is the eternal theme of the City. Expecting a rainbow without weathering some storms is truly a fool's dream.
Originally, the 2nd Airborne Battalion had over six hundred people. After adding paratroopers from other units who also landed in this area, the number increased to around eight hundred. After several hours of battle, only six hundred remained, with more than two hundred dead and half of the survivors injured, including dozens with severe injuries. In just four hours since their landing, the casualties were already so severe, indicating the brutality of the battle.
And such battles would continue for another ten days.
The adventurers completed the main mission eight hours ahead of schedule. The advantage was that they could join the battle early, reducing the casualties of the 2nd Airborne Battalion. The downside was that they had to defend for eight hours more than the scheduled task.
After the appearance of the team additional reward task, it was clear that using the soldiers of the 2nd Airborne Battalion as cannon fodder while reaping benefits from behind was no longer a viable strategy. They not only had to fight hard but also ensure that as many soldiers of the 2nd Airborne Battalion survived as possible. After all, protecting the soldiers would also be counted towards the team contribution.
Jin Gang looked at Shen Yi with a strange expression and then pointed to the wounded lying nearby, saying, "It's up to you now."
Shen Yi could only smile wryly: "I'll do my best. Under the premise of keeping myself energized, my healing spell can save a person every twenty minutes."
To his surprise, both Jin Gang and Hong Lang exclaimed, "Impossible!"
"What's wrong?" Shen Yi didn't understand their surprise.
"Your willpower can't be that high, can it? How can you recover one point of spirit every two minutes?"
"I only have 10 points of willpower, and it takes ten minutes to automatically recover one point of spiritual power." Shen Yi was puzzled by their reaction.
Hong Lang and Jin Gang looked at each other and shouted in unison, "Does your healing spell only consume 2 points of spiritual power?"
Hearing this, Shen Yi was also momentarily stunned.
He suddenly realized that he had overlooked something very important: how could such a useful and practical healing ability only require 2 points of spiritual power?
Judging from the tone of Hong Lang and Jin Gang, an ordinary healing spell would at least consume seven or eight points of spiritual power, and its effect would probably be similar to a small bottle of healing potion.
He paused briefly and then said, "Indeed, my healing spell only consumes 2 points of spiritual power. It's a reward I received when passing the newbie stage. I don't understand why it only consumes 2 points of spiritual power."
Jin Gang asked seriously, "Can your healing be used remotely?"
"No, it must be in contact with the wound."
"Can it mend bones or reattach limbs?"
"No, it only restores vitality. It cannot repair deficiencies, and it cannot even restore life in case of special attack injuries."
Jin Gang immediately said, "I understand now. This might be a key reason for your low spiritual consumption. The biggest feature of your healing spell is not in its restoration but in its low consumption and narrow application range. Simply put, it only treats common injuries, more suited for personal combat and temporary maintenance. Obviously, this healing spell is specially developed for adventurers. After all, no matter how severe the injury, as long as you can return to the City and spend some Bloody Points, you can recover. But in battle, excessive consumption of spiritual power without effective recovery means can be a matter of life and death. Your healing spell is clearly designed for frequent use, aiming for practicality."
Continuing the conversation, Jin Gang asserted, "I suspect your ability is a mutant skill, not a standard City skill."
"A mutant skill?" Shen Yi was puzzled. "Aren't those skills created by adventurers themselves? How could it appear as a City reward?"
"I'm not sure either, but such highly practical skills with specific targeting are usually mutant skills. What's your healing spell called?"
"Benevolent Healing Arts," Shen Yi replied reluctantly, finding the name rather unappealing.
Jin Gang and Hong Lang exchanged glances, wondering why a healing skill would have such a name.
Hong Lang laughed, "I think Jin Gang is right. Your ability is most likely a creation of some adventurer, otherwise, it wouldn't have such a name. But we've never heard of 'Benevolent Healing Arts', and logically, the Bloody City shouldn't include adventurer-created abilities as rewards."
"Unless..." Jin Gang suddenly interjected.
All three exclaimed together, "Unless the adventurer who created it has died!"
The inventor of Benevolent Healing Arts was undoubtedly a genius. By limiting the range of healing and giving up the ability for remote treatment, he reduced the spiritual consumption to a mere 2 points, focusing mainly on common injuries. For uncommon injuries, the choice was to use medicinal treatment or wait until returning to the City, significantly reducing the cost of healing. Otherwise, healing even a common injury would consume too much spirit, making it impractical. Moreover, the adventurer who possessed this skill was likely not a spiritual power specialist but a close-combat fighter with a certain degree of self-healing ability, able to maintain combat readiness for an extended period. Anyone who could create their own skills was a powerhouse; if such a person were a tank fighter, they would be an indomitable force; if they were a dedicated healer, they would be a terrifyingly efficient killer doctor.
Now, it was apparent that the adventurer who invented this skill had died, and for some reason, the Bloody City had recorded this skill and awarded it to Shen Yi. Shen Yi suddenly felt like he had hit the jackpot, as the practicality of Benevolent Healing Arts far exceeded that of ordinary healing spells.
"Looks like my luck isn't too bad," Shen Yi said with a smile.
"It's not just luck, but strength too. If it were us, surviving would be a question," Hong Lang commented, not showing any envy.
Jin Gang muttered softly, "Strange, I've never heard of the Bloody City giving mutant skills as rewards to adventurers. What's going on?"
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a whistling artillery shell that exploded not far from Shen Yi.
With this shell's arrival, a new wave of attack by the Germans began.
"Tanks! Tiger tanks!" shouted a British paratrooper.
Across the bridge, a row of Tiger tanks appeared with a rumble, their 88mm cannons crazily firing at the positions of the 2nd Airborne Battalion. The booming cannonade was an impressive sight.
The adventurers, who had been elated and excited about the upcoming high rewards, were instantly dazed by the barrage from the Tiger tanks. One unfortunate adventurer was directly hit by the shell and disintegrated into ashes in a flash of white light.
"Get down, everyone!" Shen Yi shouted.
Those who had never experienced real combat could hardly imagine the scene of surviving amidst bullets and artillery fire. The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder, and aside from the sound of gunfire and artillery, there were only the heart-wrenching cries of the wounded. Bullets poured down like hail, hitting the hard ground, with just the splinters enough to kill a person instantly.
Tracer bullets in the sky wove into a net, crazily swooping down to sweep everything daring to expose itself to the air. A British paratrooper tried to stand up and fight back but was instantly torn apart by the barrage.
Shen Yi lay down behind a cover, listening to the sound above his head like frying beans.
He shouted, "Wen Rou!"
"Here!" Wen Rou replied from not far away.
"The enemy's firepower is fierce, observe the situation!"
"Got it!" Wen Rou replied. She rolled over and quickly ran to the forefront of the position, carefully observing the movements ahead.
She quickly retracted and shouted, "There are more than twenty German soldiers rushing up. At least three heavy machine guns, and an Elefant tank destroyer!"
"Use grenades!" Shen Yi yelled, pulling out a grenade from his Bloody Emblem.
The grenade was average in power and not expensive, costing only 5 Bloody Points each. Shen Yi had bought ten, mainly for use in such situations of intense fire suppression. Apart from one used to save Wen Rou, there were nine left. After spending his remaining 1,000 Bloody Points on rocket launchers, grenades, and learning to parachute, as well as buying two bulletproof vests, he had spent all his Bloody Points, ready to either succeed or perish.
"Give me some distance!" Shen Yi yelled.
"Almost there!"
"Understood." Shen Yi pulled the pin without a second glance and tossed the grenade.
Inspired by Shen Yi, several adventurers who had grenades also began to throw them. A series of loud explosions filled the Arnhem Bridge with smoke. In an instant, over half of the charging German soldiers were killed or wounded, significantly weakening their suppressive fire.
Like a magician, Shen Yi took out his rocket launcher and aimed it at the tank destroyer, firing a shot.
"600 meters away, there are about ten Tiger tanks," Wen Rou shouted, "constantly firing this way. We must find a way to take them out, or we won't be able to capture the bridge!"
The effective range of the Tiger tanks was 1,600 meters. They were firing from a distance, making life difficult for the airborne troops who lacked heavy weapons and firepower.
Hong Lang yelled, "Shen Yi, can your anti-tank rockets reach over 600 meters?"
"No problem, even the worst are beyond the Tiger tanks' era," Shen Yi replied coldly. "Wen Rou, help me find a target, and I need a few people to cover me!"
"First, aim at 10 o'clock direction, behind a wall. Just hit that wall," Wen Rou directed.
Meanwhile, Hong Lang and Jin Gang rushed forward, shielding Shen Yi. They fired their guns forward with all their might, with Hong Lang's body emitting a white light, indicating he was being hit.
Under their cover, Shen Yi loaded the rocket launcher and aimed at the small wall far away, his eyes cold: "Hey buddy, not hidden well enough."
He pressed the button lightly.
The rocket skidded across the ground in a red streak, flying through the hole in the dirt wall and directly hitting the Tiger tank. The tank exploded into a massive fireball.
"Oh!" The soldiers of the 2nd Airborne Battalion cheered in unison.
To them, those Tiger tanks were their biggest headache and seemingly invincible. In the late stages of World War II, the Tiger heavy tank was a nightmare for the Allies, once single-handedly defeating seven or eight enemy tanks.
After destroying one Tiger tank, Shen Yi loaded another rocket, aiming at the next target, successfully taking down a second Tiger tank. Before the other tanks could adjust their aim to him, he quickly moved to a new position to fire a third shot.
Although Shen Yi had never been a soldier, his physique was enhanced, and he had undergone a month of rigorous training, making him no less capable than the paratroopers, except in experience and skill. However, his high-tech equipment effectively compensated for this shortcoming.
Colonel Frost and Major Ralph had not expected much from these late-arriving airborne troops - what could 21 people do?
They were surprised to find that not only were their weapons diverse and strange, but many of them were also impervious to bullets!
What was that white light on their bodies? How could it block bullets?
And the weapon Shen Yi used against the tanks was something they had never seen before. In World War II, tanks were the main force of ground troops, and the development of anti-tank weapons was still in its infancy. Shen Yi's rocket launcher resembled the German "Panzerfaust" anti-tank gun, but the Panzerfaust was a disposable item and didn't have such a long range. The British used the PIAT anti-tank launcher, but it was complex, had a huge recoil, and required two people to operate. By comparison, Shen Yi's anti-tank rocket launcher was a groundbreaking weapon for World War II soldiers.
"My God, who are these people?" Major Ralph exclaimed in awe.
Despite the deep night, the artillery fire revealed the position of the tanks. With Wen Rou continuously helping him find targets and report positions, Shen Yi changed positions four times in a short period, destroying six Tiger tanks. As the number of Tiger tanks decreased, the shells falling on their position also lessened. Two of the tanks even began to retreat, clearly shocked by the weapon capable of instantly destroying tanks.
"I swear on my head, that guy didn't bring that thing with him when he came. Where did he get it from? Is he a magician?" Frost exclaimed.
"Maybe a messenger of God?" Ralph suggested.
"No, he doesn't have that status yet," Frost asserted confidently, then added after a thought, "Perhaps a messenger of God."