Chapter 42 : Chapter 42
Chapter 42: The Reserve Force Is Full of Small Fry
And the person who had caused all of this, Li Mu, had already finished the enlistment ceremony in the Abyss.
Joining the Reserve Force meant having Li Mu's information entered into the military system.
His official designation was now Reserve Force personnel.
But he already had his Merit Points and Contribution Points.
Fifty Merit Points, one thousand Contribution Points, and one Third-Class Merit Medal.
This portion of his merit had come from his improvement of Flowing Cloud Triple Shock.
Within the military, the greatest source of merit was battle merit.
Aside from merits earned in war, most other military contributions were issued in part in the form of military merit medals.
That was because the military revered strength.
No one would submit to a spineless officer whose combat strength was lacking.
And Merit Points were the standard by which officers were measured.
This ensured the obedience of the Abyss-Suppressing Army.
Of course, that did not mean an officer with more medals was necessarily inferior to one who had earned battle merit.
It was simply that officers with battle merit were better suited to leading troops into battle and carried greater prestige among the soldiers.
As for officers with more military merit medals, although their rank might not necessarily be high, their importance could not be underestimated.
They were more highly valued by the upper ranks internally, and they likewise possessed a certain degree of prestige.
People like Professor Xu and Minister Song were examples of that.
They had many medals, their military rank was not high, yet they were deeply respected.
At the Abyss-Suppressing Army base, Li Mu had already changed into an Abyss-Suppressing Army uniform.
The uniform was mainly black, tight-fitting and neat.
There was a blue ring on both the chest and back, and inside the ring were golden clouds.
Amid the clouds was a large character: "Suppression."
The black background symbolized the endless dark Abyss.
The blue ring and clouds represented the sight of the Abyss entrance when looking up from within the Abyss.
The mission of the Abyss-Suppressing Army was precisely to prevent Abyss monsters from passing through that opening and reaching the human world again.
Looking around the Abyss-Suppressing Army base, Li Mu could only marvel.
It was enormous!
The base was exceptionally broad and level, with countless soldiers moving back and forth through it.
Seeing Li Mu's surprise, Qin Zhanye took the initiative to explain.
"To the left are the residential area, leisure area, dining area, and so on. Everything inside can be exchanged with Contribution Points."
"To the right are the mission area, supply area, training area, and so on. You can accept and turn in missions in the mission area."
"The Abyss-Suppressing Army generally operates in five-man squads, so the most common missions are sweep missions."
"You came at just the right time today. Recently, the sweep missions suited to someone at your stage are exactly the ones most short-handed."
"The Eastern District's Abyss First Battle is over."
"Next up is the South District."
"The South District begins military training today."
"So within three days, we need to clear out a large stretch of red and yellow zones suitable for them."
"Just like the battlefield you had back then."
After Qin Zhanye finished speaking, his tactical watch started ringing.
The moment he looked at it, his brows furrowed.
"Instructor Qin, if you have something to deal with, go ahead. I'll look around on my own," Li Mu immediately said.
He had originally planned to come and handle the enlistment procedures himself today.
He had not expected Qin Zhanye to come over on his own initiative and guide him through the entire process.
Being accompanied by such a high-ranking officer the whole way had drawn almost every eye on him.
It made him very uncomfortable.
"All right, then have a look around yourself. If anything comes up, call me."
Qin Zhanye nodded, then hurried away.
After watching Qin Zhanye leave the main hall of the base, Li Mu headed straight for the mission area.
There were quite a few people gathered there.
But there were not especially many standing in front of the mission counters.
Li Mu walked up to one of the mission windows and asked, "Miss, I'd like to see what missions are available."
A female soldier sat behind the counter. She smiled warmly and nodded.
Then she pulled a translucent large screen in front of Li Mu.
"Please scan your tactical watch first."
Li Mu held out his watch.
All of his information had already been integrated into his military tactical watch.
One scan was equivalent to logging in. Li Mu's talent, cultivation, weapon type, and all other information would appear in the system.
"At peak Second Grade Realm, you're most suited to sweep missions in the First and Second Grade zones."
"There are quite a few squads standing by at the moment. You can choose from among them here."
The female soldier patiently showed Li Mu how to swipe through the mission list on the screen.
On the translucent screen were mission categories. Among them, by far the most numerous were missions such as "First Grade Zone Sweep" and "Second Grade Zone Sweep."
Of course, there were also other missions such as "Long-Range Escort" and "Resource Gathering."
Further down were missions such as "Blind-Zone Exploration," "Special-Zone Exploration," and "Specific BOSS Elimination."
However, all of those later missions were marked as unavailable on Li Mu's side.
That was because his cultivation was not high enough.
The minimum requirement for those missions was Third Grade Realm Martial Artist.
For the time being, Li Mu had no intention of learning about any of the other missions.
He needed Triumph Points.
Sweep missions were the most suitable.
"I choose a Second Grade Zone Sweep mission."
Li Mu pointed to one of the categories.
"Very well. Since this is your first mission as a Reserve Force member, you cannot apply for solo deployment."
"Second Grade sweep missions do not provide a Merit Points bonus. Your tactical watch will automatically measure the monster's resentment value at death and settle your Contribution Points."
"The more damage contribution you make during the process of killing a monster, the more Contribution Points you will receive."
"Once the mission begins, the mission recorder on your watch will activate."
"You may access the recording freely after the mission ends."
The young woman explained everything patiently.
Li Mu nodded.
In team combat, this prevented people from coasting along without doing real work.
The tactical watch had a resentment-detection function.
Simply put, the more effort you contributed to killing a monster, the more Contribution Points you received.
The less you contributed, the fewer Contribution Points you received.
If you did not contribute at all, then you got nothing.
And because those Contribution Points were evaluated based on the intensity of the resentment produced by the monster after taking damage,
it was absolutely fair and impartial.
As for the recording function of the mission recorder, it existed to prevent soldiers from doing anything out of line.
Or if they discovered a special monster, a secret realm, resources, and the like,
the command center would intervene immediately.
A live battlefield feed could help the command center quickly grasp the situation on site, issue appropriate instructions, and turn danger into safety.
"Very well. A squad that is currently four members short of one has been matched to you. Please wait a moment."
After the young woman said this with a smile, she extended her palm in a certain direction.
Li Mu looked over.
Not far away, four Martial Artists who had been sitting and standing around chatting all looked down at their tactical watches at the same time.
Then the two who had been sitting stood up, slapped the dust from their pants, and all four of them walked over together.
Three men and one woman. The woman was reasonably attractive.
The captain at the front seemed to be in the Third Grade Realm.
Once the group arrived at the counter, the young woman behind it proactively introduced Li Mu.
"Loyalty and Righteousness Squad, this is a Reserve Force Martial Artist on his first mission. His weapon is a staff."
"Although he is Reserve Force, he is the Eastern District champion of the Abyss First Battle and is currently studying at Blackwater High School."
That second sentence was something the young woman had added on her own to help explain Li Mu's situation.
But the four members of Loyalty and Righteousness Squad all looked at Li Mu at once.
The woman in particular made no attempt to conceal the disgust in her expression.
And the captain, in the same emotionless tone, said to the young woman at the counter, "Sorry, but this time we plan to head into the Third Grade zone. We don't want to bring a newcomer."
Although this was the military, squad missions could not be arranged purely by force.
If the degree of rejection between squad members was too great, it would also greatly affect combat effectiveness.
"Uh... well..."
The young woman behind the counter had not expected Loyalty and Righteousness Squad to refuse, and she immediately looked at Li Mu awkwardly.
At that moment, the woman in the squad said calmly, "Please add one line to our squad requirements."
"The cultivation level does not need to be especially high, but they must be a fighter forged in real blood and fire."
"Greenhouse flowers like school-based Reserve Force members are not suited to our squad."
As she said this, she did not look at Li Mu even once.
But every word was clearly aimed at him.
In truth, this was not her attitude alone.
The vast majority of the Abyss-Suppressing Army, especially those who had already performed missions, all believed that because they had seen blood, then even school students of the same level were nothing more than greenhouse flowers in their eyes.
The kind of trash that would wet themselves the moment they saw a monster.
Even if such a student had a higher cultivation level than they did, they would still think that the student's real combat ability was definitely inferior to that of blood-soaked soldiers like themselves.
That kind of hostility existed deep in the Abyss-Suppressing Army.
Li Mu, however, could not have cared less.
He shrugged and said to the young woman at the counter, "It doesn't matter. Makes no difference who I team up with. Just find me any squad."
The female soldier had assumed that Li Mu would fly into a rage and argue with her on the spot.
But to her surprise, Li Mu did not even look at her either.
And after saying that line, what did he mean by "any squad would do"?
Was the implication not that any random squad would still be better than this one?
That infuriated her!
Their squad was quite strong, and it even had a beauty like her in it!
Yet Li Mu had remained so calm and indifferent.
After being rejected by their squad, he did not show the slightest hint of displeasure.
Just then, a deep, magnetic voice sounded from behind them.
"We're willing to take him!"