Chapter 48 : Chapter 48
Chapter 48: You Want Me to Raise the Difficulty for the Nation’s Geniuses?
He picked up a mission for me?
Ye Ze was bewildered.
He had no idea what the City Lord of Linyuan City, a sixth-rank powerhouse, was trying to do.
At the same time, however, he realized that this was probably the place Wan Feipeng had mentioned before—the one he would take him to once he was strong enough.
He probably would not set me up... right?
As Ye Ze was still thinking, Wu Ming, who had just been blocked by Wan Feipeng, took a long stride and came straight to his side.
“Everyone, calm down! Come to the office with me first!”
“This is not the place to talk.”
Not only Ye Ze, but even Wan Feipeng agreed.
There were simply too many reporters and spectators gathered around them.
Those reporters had originally come because they had heard that Dongwu City No. 1 High School was here to break the record.
But who would have thought that an even more monstrous figure would appear?
The first clear of Hell difficulty!
At a moment like this, no journalist in the world could afford to miss a story like that.
For a time, the area around Dongwu City No. 1 High School actually became deserted instead. Even the few Qingfeng City officials who had originally gone to them started squeezing their way toward Ye Ze.
Even Xia Qing had been pushed outside the crowd, unable to catch even a glimpse of Ye Ze.
The moment Wu Ming spoke, however, everyone immediately stepped aside and made a path for Ye Ze and the two big figures.
One was among China’s top sixth-rank powerhouses.
The other was one of China’s five chief administrators with real authority.
At a time like this, nobody was foolish enough to get in either of their way.
...
Ye Ze followed them to a VIP reception building.
Normally, it was the place Qingfeng City used to receive high-ranking figures and top-tier powerhouses.
Wu Ming slyly led Ye Ze inside first, then took advantage of the moment Wan Feipeng was shutting the door to speak first.
“Student Ye Ze, it is time you started thinking about your future.”
“I guarantee you, Dongwu City is a choice you will never regret!”
Wan Feipeng immediately snapped back, “What is wrong with Linyuan City? It is close to the Abyss! That already makes it far better than the greenhouse-raised students under you!”
Watching the two of them clash like needle against needle, Ye Ze could only feel a headache coming on.
At the same time, however, he activated Eye of Insight...
And he finally began to understand why they were fighting so fiercely over him.
Wu Ming was the chief administrator of the East China Region and, for all practical purposes, represented the entire region.
Wan Feipeng, meanwhile, was not only the City Lord of Linyuan City—he was also the Honorary Regiment Commander of the Demon Suppression Army, representing the military side of things.
No wonder the two of them were fighting so fiercely.
The forces behind them were completely different.
It was exactly as Wu Ming had said about “thinking about your future.” If he joined one side or the other, then the direction of his future development would become entirely different as well.
At last, Wu Ming and Wan Feipeng finally got down to the real matter at hand.
Wu Ming was the one who spoke first, going straight to the point.
“Ye Ze, you awakened some sort of Talent, did you not?”
Talents were not common among Class Users. Only a tiny minority ever awakened one.
But looking at Ye Ze’s achievements, both Wu Ming and Wan Feipeng had reached the same conclusion almost immediately.
Hearing the question, Ye Ze did not bother hiding it. “Yes. I awakened it the moment I advanced.”
There was really no need to conceal it anyway. Although Talent-Awakened individuals were rare, there were still more than ten thousand of them every year.
After all, this was China.
With a population base that enormous, even if the chance of awakening a Talent was only one percent, the actual number was still considerable.
Hearing Ye Ze confirm it, Wu Ming nodded. He felt both satisfied and worried.
Satisfied, because Ye Ze had not tried to hide anything.
Worried, because according to decades of experience with the development of Class Users...the stronger a talent was in the early stages, the more often it weakened in the middle and late stages.
The stronger the early stage, the weaker the late stage. The weaker the early stage, the stronger the late stage.
This had long since become something of a law among Class Users’ Talents.
For a moment, it made Wu Ming hesitate in his judgment of Ye Ze’s long-term potential.
Of course, what Wu Ming could never possibly imagine was this: that there existed a Talent which was strong in the early stage, strong in the middle stage, and even stronger in the late stage.
A Talent that completely defied the usual laws governing Class Users.
Wan Feipeng, however, was not nearly as concerned.
His own Talent had also been strong in the beginning and weak in the later stages, yet by sheer luck he had encountered a great opportunity in the Abyss and had still gone on to become a sixth-rank powerhouse.
Because of that, he did not attach too much importance to the issue of Talents.
“Listen, kid, let us put everything else aside. If you take this mission of mine, then the stronger you are, the more you will gain!”
Wan Feipeng spoke in his usual carefree manner.
At his side, Wu Ming cast him a glance and exposed what he was planning.
“You want him to take part in the National Special Training Camp? That is far too hasty!”
“Ye Ze has no experience fighting top-tier Class Users. Sending him to face a group of talents cultivated with full effort by the major powers across the country is not a good suggestion.”
“Besides, the training camp runs in squads, which means those geniuses will naturally be teamed up with other top geniuses...”
As Wu Ming spoke, he failed to notice the golden light that had already appeared in Ye Ze’s eyes.
Talents cultivated with the full effort of the major powers?
Then there were bound to be plenty of rare classes among them!
Would that not mean his Supreme Advancement Quest was practically secured?
Ye Ze tested the waters and asked, “Um... are those geniuses first-rank or above?”
Wu Ming froze for a moment and misunderstood.
He thought Ye Ze considered himself invincible below first rank and wanted to try challenging them.
That sort of mentality was hardly unusual among geniuses.
So Wu Ming immediately struck him down with reality.
“Those great powers—especially the ones from the Central China Region—are far beyond ordinary people in both resources and dungeons!”
“They even keep Level 9 Class Users specifically to carry their younger generation.”
“Anyone who can enter the training camp will be at least first-rank or above!”
As he said that, Wu Ming looked at Ye Ze, expecting to see shock, or even disbelief.
But Ye Ze’s eyes were instead full of excitement!
...The Advancement Quest was settled!
He had just been worrying about where he was supposed to gather five rare first-rank Class Users.
Now not only did he no longer need to gather them—there would be far more than five!
Seeing that Ye Ze showed no sign of backing down, Wan Feipeng’s gaze filled with even more approval.
Ignoring the objections of a mere fifth-rank like Wu Ming, he dragged him outside.
Then he set up a soundproofing item and began speaking to Ye Ze alone.
“Kid, the mission I have for you is not simply to attend the training camp.”
“I will let you in on a little of it first...”
“This year’s training camp has a mode called Dungeon Battle Royale. Have you ever played a battle royale before? It is similar to that kind of online game...”
The moment Ye Ze heard that, he understood.
Plenty of games in his previous life had used that format—various battle royale shooters, various blade-fighting games...
At the end of the day, the essence of battle royale was simple: survive until only one person was left standing.
Seeing Ye Ze nod, Wan Feipeng grinned.
“What I want you to be is not a trainee in the training camp, but an instructor!”
“To be precise, I want you to raise the difficulty for the other geniuses in the training camp during the battle royale!”
Ye Ze’s expression turned strange.
You want me to raise the difficulty for the nation’s geniuses?
Wan Feipeng went on to explain in detail.
“This was originally a mission of the Demon Suppression Army...”
“In the battle royale, there will be around twenty instructors from the Demon Suppression Army playing the role of dungeon enemies, raising the intensity for the geniuses from all over the country and creating difficulties for them.”
“But the problem is that this kind of instructor is hard to find... They cannot be too weak, but they also cannot be high-rank Class Users.”
“So I think you would be a very suitable fit!”
It was hard for high-rank Class Users to restrain themselves, and they would affect the dungeon too much. But someone too weak naturally would not be able to raise the intensity at all.
Ye Ze understood.
Instead of asking why Wan Feipeng did not want him to participate as a trainee, he asked the more important question first.
“Then... what is the reward?”
Wan Feipeng explained, “The training camp trainees are divided into five-man squads.”
“If a squad takes first place, then each member gets at least one Epic six-star item and one Epic six-star exclusive piece of equipment!”
“As for instructors, for every trainee you defeat, you get 400 Military Merit!”
Four hundred Military Merit!!
Ye Ze was instantly thrilled.
It might not sound like much at first glance, but if he defeated twenty trainees, that would already be eight thousand Military Merit!
Enough to pick one item from the Demon Suppression Army Treasury’s third level.
The third level of the treasury held items ranging from Outstanding five-star to Epic six-star quality.
If he took down forty, that would be 16,000 Military Merit, enough to go straight to the fourth level!
And every item in the fourth level treasury was above Epic six-star quality!
And if he took down even more...
Ye Ze suddenly felt his throat go dry. Testing the waters again, he asked, “How many trainees are there in total at the training camp?”
“Why are you asking that?”
Wan Feipeng looked at him suspiciously.
“They are geniuses from China’s five major regions. Each region has twenty slots, so there are one hundred in total.”
Even with all of Wan Feipeng’s imaginative leaps, he still could not guess what Ye Ze was thinking right now.
After all, everyone knew just how terrifying those geniuses nurtured with full effort by the great powers were.
Especially those freaks from the Central China Region. Beating instructors while fighting above their own rank was hardly unusual for them.
And that was before even mentioning the fact that they would be fighting in teams of five...
At last, Wan Feipeng added one final point.
“Because it is a dungeon, every trainee you defeat gives 1000 experience.”
“And naturally, instructors give the same if they are defeated by trainees.”
“The reason I chose you is mainly because you do not have any real experience in coordinated team combat. If you fought as part of a squad, you might be at a disadvantage.”
“Of course, if you would rather join the training camp as a trainee and adapt to team combat for a while, that is fine too.”
“I will have Wu Ming find you a suitable squad.”
“So then—what will it be? Instructor or trainee?”