Chapter 160 Special Campaign

“Chris, besides the routine recruitment every six months, does the interim government have any other recruitment methods?”

The two off-road vehicles passed the checkpoint smoothly and slowly drove into the safe zone built by the provisional government.

The size of the safe zone under the cover of night is similar to that of an ordinary small town. Compared with the desolation and barbarism of the outside world, the streets here are clean and the buildings are intact. Occasionally, you can see undead guards patrolling with guns in hand under the street lights, as if this place is still part of the civilized world.

As the vehicle drove along, it saw various facilities built by the provisional government, such as trading markets, temporary residences, etc. However, the number of undead gathered here was not large, and it was more like a shelter than a real city.

“I don’t know, but I can ask around… It’s strange. In the past, the recruitment lasted at least half a month, but this time it was over after only one week.”

Chris heard the voice coming from the walkie-talkie, turned around and glanced at the off-road vehicle following behind, only to see Li Nanke talking to several undead who had just joined the team. Their faces looked very solemn.

He had previously believed that it would be a waste of blood and tear crystals to let Li Nanke take part in the combatant recruitment test again. After all, this guy had already taken part in several tests and had not passed any of them.

However, after witnessing Li Nanke’s amazing performance in actual combat, Chris completely changed his mind.

He realized that Li Nanke’s current strength far exceeded his own and other ordinary undead, and might even have reached the excellent level among the official undead.

If he were to participate in the recruitment again now, the one who would most likely be rejected would not be Li Nanke, but Chris himself.

How come this guy suddenly became so powerful after dying a few times…Chris had such a question.

He felt that too many strange things happened today, for example, his good friend Ryan suddenly became very strong as if he had taken drugs, and Iris, a beautiful woman of unknown origin, appeared and insisted on joining the team and following Ryan. Another example was three vagrant undead who were fighting against each other and joined the team, and it seemed that they wanted to join the provisional government with Ryan…

“careful!”

The undead named Hawkeye suddenly warned Chris and he quickly turned the steering wheel. He almost bumped his head into the guardrail because he was distracted just now.

“Thanks for the reminder.” Chris turned his head and thanked Hawkeye.

He came back to his senses and couldn’t help but think to himself: What was I thinking about before… I don’t seem to remember it clearly.

The group came to a shabby little bar in the safe zone. Chris threw a fingernail-sized blood-tear crystal to the bartender, motioning for them to get a drink. He took the opportunity to ask about the recruitment of the provisional government.

“It ends at noon today. The government issued a notice two days ago, so it can’t be considered that the recruitment has ended early. You didn’t know because you just came back from outside.” The bartender seemed to be quite familiar with Chris and joked that he might not have saved enough blood tax and was thinking of joining the provisional government to be exempt from taxes.

“I know a little bit about the specific situation. I heard that the government has some secret operation recently, so they temporarily transferred personnel. Anyway, the recruitment period is already halfway through, and there are not many people applying later. The instructors in charge of the test are usually captain-level figures, so of course they have to join the operation.”

“What secret operation… If even a bartender like me knows about it, it’s not a secret operation.”

Li Nanke didn’t know the exact time when the nightmares of the human and fallen ghost camps entered the dream, but he checked with several people from the heavy artillery and learned that the nightmares of the undead camp should have entered the dream this afternoon.

This means that no matter whether you rush back to the safe zone as soon as possible after entering the dream, you will not be able to complete key node one by participating in the recruitment test.

But this also means that there must be other formal ways to join the interim government.

Li Nanke stepped forward to ask, and the bartender couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Ryan, there is still some hope for Chris to participate in the recruitment. If you go, it will be a pure waste of blood and tear crystals. You have spare money but nowhere to spend it. Why not drink here for a few more days…”

The guests in the bar also laughed and echoed words like “That’s right, instead of wasting money, why not treat everyone to a drink?” For a moment, the bar was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Li Nanke smiled carefreely and threw out a blood-tear crystal: “Then let’s have a drink.”

“Wow, I’m rich.” The bartender handed over a glass of wine amid the cheers of the people in the bar. “I don’t know if there are other ways to recruit, but a few strangers from outside asked about it this afternoon. They probably didn’t make it in time for the recruitment. It seems that they went to the government to inquire about the news. If you are still not giving up, you can go and ask tomorrow morning.”

Upon hearing this, Li Nanke winked at Chongpao, and the few of them left the bar and came to a remote open space.

“The few unfamiliar faces who came to the bar to inquire this afternoon should also be nightmares.”

“Well, everyone is worried about not being able to complete the key nodes. Those people arrived earlier than us, and they may have found out more information.”

Heavy artillery took out a special-shaped red signal gun and pulled the trigger into the night.

With a sharp whooshing sound, a point of red light shot straight up into the clouds, bursting out with an incomparably brilliant and dazzling brilliance, making the night sky as bright as day in an instant, but the undead guards in the distance seemed unaware.

This is the team recruiting signal gun that Heavy Artillery exchanged from the Great Beyond. The item level is not high and cannot block other nightmares, but the natives of the dream world cannot perceive it.

If there were other Nightmares in the safe zone, they would surely be able to sense such a conspicuous flare and come to check it out.

Sure enough, not long after, bright headlights appeared in the distance, and two cars drove up and stopped.

Six people got out of two cars, four of them were relatively close to each other.

When Heavy Artillery saw the leader’s expression, he was shocked and blurted out: “Are you Shadow?!”

The leader had a skinny figure, with a wide black robe covering his entire body. Under the hood was a middle-aged face with black lines painted on it.

The man called Shadow glanced at the few people and said in a hoarse voice: “Iron Blood Team…Heavy Artillery, you guys are too slow.”

The shadow is very powerful… Li Nanke raised his eyebrows, vaguely feeling the powerful and extraordinary strength hidden in the skinny body.

It seems that the heavy artillery knows the other party and seems to be very afraid of the other party.

Feng Ling, who was standing by, felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave when the man’s gaze swept over her. She felt a chill all over her body. She poked Hawkeye with her elbow and asked in a low voice, “Who is this Phantom? He seems very powerful.”

“Remove the word ‘seems’. He is the captain of the Shadow Order and is proficient in dark magic. The Shadow Order is a C+ level team, and the other three members are all top-notch players.” Hawkeye tightly grasped the longbow and responded without looking away, “There was once a dream of free killing, and at least twenty nightmares died at the hands of the Shadow Order…”

“So brutal… Now it’s a faction mode, so can we just curry favor with them?” Feng Ling muttered softly, “Our Iron Blood Team’s name is so tacky, it sounds like a trash team. Why doesn’t the captain learn from others? The Shadow Secret Society sounds much cooler…”

“In that dream, the captain and I almost died at the hands of the Shadow Secret Society.” Hawkeye narrated coldly.

“Uh…” Feng Ling’s expression froze, “So it turns out that he has an old grudge against us.”

Heavy Artillery ignored the grumblings of his two teammates. He strode forward, his tone firm but polite: “Shadow, I know there were some grudges between us, but the situation is different now. We are all in the same camp, facing a common enemy. If we can’t work together, I’m afraid no one will survive this dream.”

“No problem.” Shadow took out a document with the seal of the Provisional Government. “You just want to know how to complete the key node. Your Iron Blood Team needs to take up three places. Pay me 500 points and follow my command throughout the process. Then I will give you a chance.”

The words “Specially Authorized Suppression Order” were clearly printed on the document in black and white. The content roughly meant going to the XXX block of the Fallen Demon Area, clearing out the Fallen Demons in the area and defeating the Fallen Demon leader XXXX. Completing the suppression order would allow one to obtain government status as a member of the Undead Squad.

The key words in the crusade document seemed to be blocked, but the words “special commander” were particularly clear. It was Shadow himself, and the upper limit of the number of members who could be included in the provisional government was 12.

Now, in addition to his own teammates, Shadow also found two individual Nightmares from the same camp in the safe zone. Together with the Iron Blood Team and Li Nanke’s four people, he has gathered ten Nightmares from the Undead camp.

If the upper limit of 12 people is arranged by the Great Other Shore, then it means that there are still two nightmares on our side that have not been found…

“500 points?!” Heavy Artillery was very happy to see the special dispatch order with a seal, but when he heard that the other party wanted to charge 500 points, he was shocked and angry, “Why don’t you go and rob? We are all in the same camp. If we fail to complete the node mission and are wiped out by the Great Beyond, what good will it do you? Shadow, you have to do this to the extreme?”

As soon as these words came out, Youying’s face gradually turned cold.

The black-clad team member next to him shouted, “What an idiot! The captain paid a huge price to get this special crusade order. 500 is too cheap for you!”

Shadow stretched out his hand and stopped the team member beside him: “If it were any other time, you would have been dead if you dared to talk to me like this. Now, since we are in the same camp, I won’t bother with you.”

His eyes flickered, and he said quietly, “I don’t mind your fee, but if you want me to give you a spot for free, you might as well go and get a crusade order yourself.”

Heavy Artillery fell silent. He thought carefully and realized that what the other party said was probably true.

To obtain such a special dispatch order, it is unlikely to be easy, and it will most likely require a certain price.

Youying and his team must have made a lot of efforts for this. In today’s highly competitive environment, any advantage needs to be exchanged for strength and resources.

The heavy artillery considered for a long time.

Finally, he sighed, compromised reluctantly, and stepped forward to pay the transaction fee.

Unexpectedly, after trading 500 points, Shadow actually got back 200 points.

“It takes so long to consider the cost of 500 points…” Shadow sneered and waved his hand. “You and I are both team leaders. We know how difficult it is to support a team. I will only charge you the cost price so that you don’t feel resentful and fail to contribute in the battle.”

Chong Pao was stunned for a moment, said thank you quietly, and silently collected the returned fee.

“This shadow doesn’t seem so annoying after all.” Feng Ling poked his side again, while Hawkeye watched the captain negotiate with the other party expressionlessly, without uttering a single word of his opinion.

“What’s your name, little brother?” Youying turned around and looked up and down at the unfamiliar Li Nanke.

“Dream Master.”

“Oh? Dream Master, Dream Master… The Lord of Dreams, the name is a bit big.” Shadow squinted his eyes and observed the other person, his eyes seemed to see through him.

In ordinary dreams, the probability of matching with nightmares on the same island in multiplayer mode is extremely high.

Therefore, as long as one experiences a few more dreams or stays on the Deep Dream Island for a while, one will most likely be able to recognize the names of powerful nightmares that are of a similar class to oneself.

However, the name in the dream world is just a pseudonym. It is very easy to change one’s appearance and name. The possibility that the other party is concealing his identity cannot be ruled out.

Youying had never heard of the name Dream Master, and was unable to see through the other party’s strength at a glance, so he was somewhat unsure of Li Nanke’s background.

He kept smiling and simply stretched out his hand.

As soon as he grasped it, Li Nanke felt that he was holding a piece of icy ice. A cold and strange aura came from the shadow’s palm and seemed to spread throughout his body.

How could he let the other party get what he wanted?

Li Nanke’s expression remained unchanged, but he suddenly exerted force with his palm. The five fingers on his palm became swollen with blood, and the thick black meridians exploded instantly. His palm was as terrifying as a devil’s claw.

The opponent’s skinny palm was held in his hand, like a lamb’s hoof being held down by a ferocious tiger.

Youying’s face suddenly froze, and he subconsciously tried to pull his hand away but couldn’t.

Several people noticed Youying’s ugly expression. Fengling saw that Li Nanke’s hand suddenly became so terrifying that she almost covered her mouth and screamed.

It was not until Li Nanke let go that Youying pulled his hand out and retracted it into his wide sleeves.

“What strength!” Shadow shook his sleeves calmly. He didn’t expect that the other party was actually a strong physical warrior. As a dark mage, wouldn’t it be a waste of time for him to go up and shake hands and test the opponent?

Shadow didn’t find out anything specific this time, and could only guess based on experience… the opponent’s strength might be no less than that of heavy artillery?

Feng Ling was thinking that Youying was embarrassed and was about to get angry, but she didn’t expect that the other party was very good at cultivating his energy. Not only did he not get angry, but he smiled and said something that no one present had expected.

“Are you interested in joining the Shadow Secret Society?” Shadow’s right hand was tucked into his sleeve. “After you finish this dream, there will be a vacant spot for a reserve member in the team.”

The Shadow Secret Society is a truly famous and notorious strong team in the nightmare of this class.

Its team level is one level higher than the Heavy Artillery’s Iron Blood Team. Not only can it expand a three-person team to four people, but it can also exchange for a series of powerful team props.

In addition, when the captain’s personal nightmare authority reaches a certain level, he can also apply for a reserve member position, making the actual combat effectiveness almost equivalent to that of a five-person team.

Several members of the Shadow Secret Society are top-notch masters. The entry threshold to the team is extremely high, and others who want to join have to queue up to sign up.

Now Youying actually took the initiative to extend an olive branch, trying to recruit Li Nanke.

“Can I waive the fee by joining?”

“Of course, we are all family now, so why discuss the fees?”

“Let me think about it carefully.” Li Nanke gave Youying 100 points of fees, “But let’s be honest, you are not one of us yet, so I can’t let you spend money.”

Since becoming an alchemist, he had a lot more money. After buying a piece of armor worth thousands of dollars, he still had a few hundred points of savings left in his pocket. The one hundred points was still enough to pay for it.

After Shadow received the fee and integrated the team, he erased the parts covered up in the crusade document.

The target of the crusade on the document is in the D03 block of the fallen demon area, where a powerful fallen demon leader named “Crazy Attack Poison Butterfly” is stationed.

As long as they kill the fallen demon leader and bring back some of his body tissue, they can specially appoint several members of the expedition team as members of the Undead Squad, truly join the provisional government, and become official Undead.

The 12-member upper limit of the expedition team was set by the interim government, and was probably a hint from the Great Beyond. This means that there are probably two Nightmares in the Undead camp who have not joined the big team.

Shadow decided to wait for them one more night. Tomorrow morning, regardless of whether the two had joined the team or not, everyone would report to the provisional government to join the expedition team and set out immediately to carry out the expedition order.

“I don’t know if you have a place to stay in the safe zone. If you don’t mind, you can stay at my place for a night.”

After Shadow invited several members of the Iron Blood Team to his invitation but was politely declined, he did not take it to heart and turned around to invite Li Nanke again.

“Then I’d better obey your command respectfully.”

Li Nanke took Chris and Iris with him, and left with Shadow, smiling.

Looking at the three cars going away, Feng Ling couldn’t help but said angrily: “This dream master followed us at the beginning, but now when he saw a stronger team, he ran away with others without hesitation.”

“Do you still think the Shadow Man is not a bad person?” Hawkeye glanced at her.

“He just has little experience, it doesn’t mean he’s stupid.” Feng Ling couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “That Youying and his team members played the good cop and the bad cop. They collected the fees and acted as good guys. Now he’s the commander of the whole team. We all have to listen to him.”

As he spoke, Feng Ling sighed helplessly: “But there is nothing we can do. Who can help me? I am so strong. The stronger my fist, the more right I am… But I am still very angry. It was the captain who tried to win over the dream master first, but he was forced to pay the money and then ran away.”

“Don’t underestimate the Dream Master. This person’s strength is unfathomable. At least he is not weaker than me, and I am afraid he will not be inferior to others.” Chong Pao returned to the car and called the two to get in. “No one who can survive in the dreamland of the Great Other Shore is a simple character.”

“We are now in a disadvantageous camp. Only if we work together can we have a chance to survive. No one wants to tear their faces and fall out with their allies. I understand this principle, Shadow understands it, and of course Dream Master understands it too.”

Feng Ling in the back row curled her lips and sat there without saying a word.

Chongpao turned the car key, started the SUV and drove towards the hotel in the safe zone. He muttered to himself in a voice that only he could hear: “I just hope he is not the successor.”

The three of them didn’t notice that a small blue butterfly quietly landed under the chassis of the off-road vehicle, listening to their conversations…

(End of this chapter)