Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Quotas
The numbers were quickly finalized. 80 combat personnel were matched, along with 126 members of the Rat Group, for a total of 206 people.
At that moment, Mira and Xiaoqi shouted out.
"Everyone, get into groups of five! Form your own teams!"
"Yes!"
The crowd immediately began forming teams where they stood.
Long Ming turned to look at the people beside him, but he didn’t recognize a single person.
They were currently in the process of teaming up with one another.
"Johnny, let’s team up!"
"Sure!"
...
Long Ming scanned the area and spotted a four-person team looking for a fifth member. He walked over and asked.
"Hey, you guys wanna team up?"
The leader, a bald man, glanced at Long Ming. Seeing that he didn’t even have a knife in his hand and was only carrying a starter backpack, he said with a smirk.
"You’re a complete newbie, aren’t you, buddy?"
"More or less,"
Long Ming nodded.
"Go find someone else."
The bald man rejected him outright and turned to find someone else with his companions.
Seeing Long Ming, the surrounding members of the Rat Group also started to avoid him.
Even though they were all just cannon fodder—mere scavengers—there was still a pecking order. No one wanted to be on the same team as a complete newbie like Long Ming, who didn’t even have the most basic equipment.
Seeing that no one was willing to team up with him, Long Ming simply stood there quietly.
’It’s not like I really care, though.’
Just then, Xiaoqi saw Long Ming standing alone with no one willing to team up with him, so she walked over with her three teammates.
"Mr. Long Ming, you haven’t found a team yet?"
"Mm," Long Ming replied with a slight nod.
"Why don’t you join our group?"
Xiaoqi extended the invitation to Long Ming.
At this, a woman next to Xiaoqi—somewhat short, with fair skin and sparkling eyes—spoke in disbelief.
"Sister Qi? You’re going to team up with this newbie?"
"Yeah, that’s not a good idea, is it?"
A big, brawny man with a stubbly beard also replied, looking bewildered.
"Cloud Fish, He Zhong, what’s not good about it?"
Xiaoqi replied, frowning slightly.
"We’re just worried he won’t be able to keep up, you know?"
Cloud Fish explained with a smile.
"Exactly! Our mission is already tough as it is. We simply don’t have the energy to look after him. It would be better to let someone else take him."
He Zhong chimed in agreement.
However, the last team member—a rather handsome man with a few freckles on his face and his hair slicked back with shiny gel—spoke up in a fawning tone.
"I unconditionally support Sister Qi’s decision. Sister Qi is never wrong."
"Tch."
Cloud Fish rolled her eyes at Tang Ye.
Long Ming, for his part, just stood there quietly without a word. He was well aware that he wasn’t welcome.
’But I’m not planning on turning down Xiaoqi’s offer. After all, she’s the overall captain of the fifth Rat Group. Following her will definitely be the fastest way to get intel and understand how the guild operates.’
"Alright, that settles it. First, let’s see which civilized world we’ve been matched with."
Xiaoqi said to Cloud Fish and the others.
Hearing this, Long Ming looked down at the information on his wristband.
Teleportation Platform No. 115.
Civilization Unlocked: Kamduo
Civilization Level: 1
Personnel: 887/1000.
...
’The name Kamduo is unfamiliar,’ Long Ming thought. ’I’ve never been matched with it before.’
At that moment, Cloud Fish looked at Xiaoqi in confusion and asked.
"Sister Qi, we got matched with Kamduo. What kind of world is that?"
"This world... it sounds so familiar."
Xiaoqi couldn’t quite recall it at the moment.
Just then, a delighted shout came from nearby.
"Sister Mira, we got matched with an Infected World!"
"Excellent!"
Hearing her subordinate’s report, a bewitching smile appeared on Mira’s face.
However, after hearing this, many of the women present started to complain.
"No way, what terrible luck! We got matched with a Zombie World. That’s terrifying!"
"Yeah, it’s so disgusting!"
"I was eaten alive by a horde of zombies before. I had nightmares for several nights after."
...
Meanwhile, He Zhong excitedly slapped his thigh and said to Xiaoqi,
"Haha, Sister Qi, we’ve hit the jackpot!"
"Yes, our luck is incredible."
Xiaoqi was also overjoyed.
Long Ming asked, a little confused.
"Why are you all so happy?"
"Mr. Long Ming, you might not be aware, but while the worlds matched through trial tickets are usually quite poor, this Infected World is a relatively ’fat’ one. There’s hope for the group’s quota this time."
Xiaoqi couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, a brilliant smile spreading across her face.
"A quota? The Rat Group has a quota?"
"Of course. This time, we need to collect a profit of 10 million one-dimensional coins."
"10 million? That’s not so bad. Does the combat group have a quota too?"
’10 million? That’s not so bad,’ Long Ming calculated mentally. ’A profit of 10 million is indeed a lot for a single person, but for the 1000-strong Rat Group, it averages out to only 10,000 per person, which isn’t much at all.’
"Of course they do. Their quotas are even higher. They don’t just have profit quotas, but also ones for intelligence gathering, kills, and so on."
Xiaoqi gave Long Ming a simple explanation.
"I see."
’What a headache,’ Long Ming thought. ’Good thing I haven’t officially joined the guild. Otherwise, meeting these quotas would be a real pain.’
’Still, it makes sense. A guild isn’t a charity. The guild master spent so much energy and money, so of course they need to turn a profit.’
Just then, the personnel count reached 1000/1000. The patterns on the surface of the mechanical obelisk at the center of the platform lit up, flashing with a dazzling light.
SWOOSH~
Everyone was completely engulfed in white light.
When Long Ming came to his senses, he found himself inside a huge, dimly lit factory building.
It was a light-steel structure, with rusted steel and tools scattered about.
Mira, Xiaoqi, and the other guild members were all inside the factory. However, a few unlucky unaffiliated players were mixed in with them.
Just then, Cao Jie and his men, holding tactical daggers, surrounded the unlucky randoms.
"Boss, let’s talk this out!"
"AHH~"
Before they could even beg for mercy, Cao Jie and his men moved in and eliminated them one by one.
Seeing this, a theory immediately formed in Long Ming’s mind.
’If everyone gathers as close as possible on the teleportation platform, there’s a chance they’ll be teleported together when entering the instance.’
’That must be why people from the major guilds can group up so quickly.’
"Everyone, gather up!"
Mira clapped her hands, calling for everyone to gather.
Seeing this, Long Ming followed Xiaoqi over.
Mira scanned the crowd, confirmed everyone was present, and then said with a serious expression,
"Everyone, we were lucky to get into the Level 1 Civilization, Kamduo. According to our current intel, this instance is a zombie-infection type world. The loot is extremely abundant, especially in terms of weapons, medicine, and food!"
"Understood."
Xiaoqi and the others nodded in response.
"Now, let’s confirm the extraction points. There are a total of three near our position. The closest one is in an area 10 kilometers away. Jiang Ying, take a team to secure that extraction point and hold it!"
Mira raised her hand to check her map and turned to a capable-looking man with dark skin as she spoke.
"No problem."
Jiang Ying nodded grimly.
"All of you, listen up. The extraction points are limited. Therefore, without my command, no one is to use an extraction point on their own. You must wait for everyone to be present before we use them together."
Mira directed a pointed, warning look at the Rat Group.
"Yes, ma’am!"
Xiaoqi and the others replied immediately.
Although an extraction point could only be used once, it could send everyone away at the same time.
"Now, for the division of labor. All 80 combat personnel—that’s 16 squads—excluding Jiang Ying’s squad, will use our current location as a starting point and fan out, clearing all monsters and players along your paths. Remember, aside from special buildings, the combat teams are not to conduct any searches."
"Understood!"
Cao Jie and the others replied in unison.
Mira turned her head to Xiaoqi and said,
"Xiaoqi, your Rat Group will set out a bit later. Follow the routes cleared by the combat teams and search every building along the way! Remember to collect plenty of supplies like medicine. That stuff is very valuable and easy to offload."
"I understand, Sister Mira."
Xiaoqi nodded.
