The eight teams in the instance fell silent in unison after hearing Lu Nanling’s words.
It had long been speculated that there were NPC residents in the instance, and it was undeniable that providing help to these NPCs could indeed increase the contribution value in the instance. However, the current situation required them to divide a group of people to assist in the transfer of residents.
In this case, they needed to judge which one could obtain a higher contribution value between resisting the alien army and relocating residents. After all, there was a competition between them.
Chi Ting wasn’t surprised by such hesitation. He waited patiently by the side with his arms crossed.
Finally, someone from one team stood up and said, “Our team is willing to help relocate the residents.”
Chi Ting was somewhat surprised as he saw the face with the gentlemanly smile.
He really hadn’t expected Qu Leng to be the first to stand up on behalf of the Jazz team. However, he immediately understood and looked toward the man not far behind.
Qi Xiu felt his gaze and looked up. The moment their eyes met, he smiled and nodded from a distance.
It seemed that the Jazz team made this choice at his instruction.
Chi Ting didn’t find Qi Xiu’s cooperation strange, but he was a bit curious about what happened to the Jazz team in such a short period of time that made Qu Leng willing to listen to Qi Xiu’s advice. After all, from the previous contact in Strange Stories Arcade, the captain of the Jazz team obviously wasn’t the type of person who was easy to talk to.
Still, it was definitely a good thing that Qu Leng was willing to be the first to stand up.
With the Jazz team taking the lead in expressing their stance, the other teams also gradually made their choices.
In the end, the Prisoner team led by He Yuanqing, and the Seven Sea team led by Qiu Ji, also chose to act together with Dawn.
In this way, there were four teams left out of eight to deal with the third wave of surprise attacks.
The two tasks were divided in half. In the end, which side could gain a higher contribution value depended on their own ability.
Before leaving, Lu Nanling glanced at the four teams that remained and made a final confirmation, “Captain, are you sure you don’t need to remind them to retreat?”
“No need.” Chi Ting’s eyes swept over the players of the top teams. “We don’t know how many alien species will be in the third wave, but these people understand this unlimited world better than we do. They can accurately judge whether to retreat and when to retreat.”
At this point, he smiled slightly. “For humans, sometimes not reminding them is the best reminder, especially for our current status in the instance. What do you think?”
Lu Nanling thought for a moment before nodding. “Indeed.”
Ji Xingque passed by and looked a bit bewildered when he heard this. “What are you talking about? Then again, what if they really block the third wave of attacks? Will they continue to stay at the No 1 stronghold after it is over? You know, the radiation intensity of that area is already a bit over the limit. What if…”
“Don’t worry, there won’t be any accidents.” Chi Ting interrupted him and stepped forward. “They can’t resist.”
Ji Xingque rarely saw the captain being so cold-blooded and ruthless, so he was slightly stunned.
He saw this figure gradually disappearing from sight and quickly followed.
However, he didn’t follow Chi Ting directly. Instead, he quietly walked to the side, approached Lou Yueren, tugged on his clothes, and lowered his voice. “Brother Ren, do you think the captain’s condition is a bit strange?”
“Of course. You just found out?”
Ji Xingque: “.”
He thought for a moment before asking, “Could it be related to that thing?”
“Maybe.”
Ji Xingque’s heart skipped a beat. “What should we do?”
“In any case, we have to leave the No 1 stronghold now and won’t face more alien attacks. I will stay beside him and check the situation. As for the rest of you…” Lou Yueren thought for a moment before looking at Ji Xingque solemnly. “Little Bird, can I give you a difficult task?”
“Brother Ren, you say it!”
Lou Yueren pointed in the direction next to him. “No matter how I think about it, I still feel that this team has no good intentions. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble during the transfer of residents, you should keep a close eye on them. In short, I will keep an eye on your captain, and you will keep an eye on Qi Xiu, understood?”
Ji Xingque nodded, not quite understanding.
It wasn’t until he turned around that he belatedly scratched the back of his head.
It was strange. Why did he still feel that something was wrong?
Based on previous contacts, it was indeed difficult for the Jazz team to have any good intentions. But if they were going to target someone, they should be targeting the captain called Qu Leng. Why were they targeting Qi Xiu?
Qi Xiu… wasn’t he the captain’s former partner?
Ji Xingque couldn’t understand it. He thought about it for half a minute before he simply stopped thinking about it.
Forget it, why think so much? Just follow the instructions.
Lou Yueren watched with satisfaction as Ji Xingque happily headed toward the Jazz team. Then he smiled contentedly, walked slowly to Chi Ting’s side, and put his arm around Chi Ting’s shoulder in a natural and skillful manner.
The sudden physical contact made Chi Ting feel a chill of murderous intent. However, after turning around and noticing who it was, this oppressive feeling disappeared like it was a brief illusion.
Lou Yueren watched the whole process. He lowered his eyes and glanced calmly at the mark on the edge of Chi Ting’s collar.
Even Ji Xingque noticed it… As expected, the abnormality of Chi Ting’s state had become more and more obvious.
The return of the Dawn team made the residents underground very happy.
After explaining their purpose, they quickly expressed their willingness to cooperate to move to the No 2 stronghold.
The massive migration project officially began. The guards led by Conrad volunteered to carry out the integration work.
The other teams didn’t know the specific situation underground. Once they saw these residents coming out one by one from the underground safety zone, they gradually felt somewhat moved.
They had heard early on that the Dawn team had found NPCs in this instance, but they never imagined there would be such a large number of them until they saw it with their own eyes.
“How many people are hidden underground? What a big deal! They actually set up so many NPCs. If we can gain the trust of these residents, the contribution we can get won’t be much lower than fighting against alien species. It also isn’t as dangerous as being on the battlefield. It seems we made the right choice this time!”
Hearing someone say this, Chi Ting continued walking forward as if he was deaf.
After all, the players of this unlimited world had never had any personal contact with these residents. To them, all the people in front of them were just NPCs in the instance. It was understandable.
Lu Nanling had already marked the route on the map. Now all they needed to do was strictly follow the route to reach the No 2 stronghold.
It seemed like a very simple task, but the process wouldn’t be that easy. It mainly depended on what this side quest tested.
The huge migration team formed a long line in the desolate suburbs. It included men and women, the old and the young…
Such a scene was bound to make the people who had experienced it once already feel a bit sad.
Hua Qianmei held a huge scythe in her hand with a complicated expression on her beautiful face. “To be honest, revisiting this old place inexplicably gives me a feeling of confusion in time and space. I should’ve forgotten those things back then, but now I find that it is impossible to forget them. Really, I still remember that time… Alas.”
She obviously wanted to gain some empathy, but no one responded after she finished speaking. She looked back and remembered that her partner at this time was Song Xuefeng.
She looked at their pair of dead fish eyes, which belatedly turned to look at her after waking up from sleep. She was silent for a long time before she sighed heavily again. “Forget it. Reminiscing about the past isn’t suitable for me.”
Not far away, Lu Nanling suddenly said, “It is indeed not suitable for you to reminisce about the past, but have you ever thought that revisiting this old place might be for us to experience it again?”
Hua Qianmei was slightly surprised. Then she realized something, and her expression instantly became serious. “Experiencing it again? It shouldn’t be, right?”
“Who knows…” Lu Nanling’s eyes swept across the team.
In front of his eyes were data that kept jumping around, which no one else could see. It was as if the data was in complete chaos. The numerical values fluctuated wildly, just like the strong emotions that were jumping in his eyes at this moment.
Lu Nanling reached out to adjust his glasses and calmly gave his conclusion, “There is something wrong with these residents.”
These residents had a problem.
In fact, Chi Ting had already felt this even without Lu Nanling’s reminder.
He turned his head and looked at the long queue.
The entire team had been quite active and full of vitality when they first set out. At the moment, they were still moving forward in an orderly manner, but they had unknowingly become completely silent.
It was clearly the same faces as before, but their complexions were a bit too pale.
All the talking and laughing had long disappeared, replaced by a blank expression of staring straight ahead. As if executing some strictly set procedure, their steps on the ground went from being chaotic to gradually becoming consistent.
Eventually, the entire team’s footsteps became completely consistent. It was hard for people to not notice the abnormality.
Before they knew it, all the players had stopped.
Under their eyes, the transfer queue was still moving forward slowly.
As if completely unaware of the weirdness in the atmosphere, they continued to move forward in an orderly manner according to the originally set route.
Seeing such a scene, even the most experienced players would inevitably feel a trace of emotion.
It felt as if they were escorting a group of dead people, not the residents of the fortress.
Chi Ting glanced at the countdown on the virtual panel.
Before he knew it, the third wave of enemy attacks was about to begin.
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