Chapter 231: The Battle for Huaxia

After a brief moment of stunned silence, anger and shock flashed across the faces of those still in the temporary space.

“Is that kid threatening us?”

“Where does this pig get his nerve?”

Amused sneers turned into puzzled glances. Somehow, even though Yenir’s threats seemed as insignificant as a mere ant before them, an inexplicable unease suddenly began to form.

“Something’s off…”

“That kid’s too composed, and Ming Luo’s attitude towards him is unusual.”

“He’s supposedly only Third-Stage Beginner, yet he doesn’t seem like a regular team member. His status within the team appears rather exceptional.”

Unlike their earlier, mindless taunts, the top Awakeners from each Battle Zone quickly hid their disdainful expressions and began to discuss matters seriously.

Humiliating the enemy before battle and gleaning intelligence from their reactions was something they never failed to do.

“There really is something strange.”

“But it shouldn’t be a major concern.”

“The intel from the Huaxia Battle Zone was wrong. That means even if they held some trump card, they’d never have expected us to join forces.”

“Fourteen mid-level fighters—even if a high-level Awakener appeared, they’d be worn down to nothing.”

“I can’t imagine this kid having the guts to spout off like that.”

“Who cares? Maybe he’s just hotheaded. Everyone boasts a little. What worries me is that once they’re in, they might hide.”

“If they hide, they might not be able to haul off too much ore, but they’d still manage to snatch some profit. We can’t afford to wipe them all out; that would screw up half of our plan.”

Among the crowd, several Captains wore expressions of irritation.

None of them had expected that by joining forces, the system’s evaluation would reveal that their combined strength utterly overwhelmed Yenir’s side, causing them to enter way too late.

They’d assumed they’d have at most two or three hours; the Huaxia Battle Zone wouldn’t even have located the mission site. But six hours were enough time for plenty to happen.

“Forget it. It’s all the same.”

“Time might be on their side, but it’s clear that their strength is far inferior to ours. Once we locate them, death is all that awaits!”

“Everyone, the plan to invade the Huaxia Battle Zone is doomed to fail if they pull this off. Our success hinges on this first step.”

Suppressing his ferocious grin, Captain Ming Luo’s expression turned ice-cold as he issued his order:

“Once inside, everyone must secure local intel networks at the fastest pace possible. Activate the instance NPCs to track their movements.”

“Don’t rush to complete the mission—killing them is our top priority!”

“As long as they all die here, the Huaxia Battle Zone won’t dare enter any resource instances ever again. Then, the borderlands’ population and resources will all be ours!”

“Slaughter their men! Seize their women! Devour their supplies! And claim their lands!”

“Our dream of a prosperous East Asia rests on every one of you!”

Hearing these words, everyone nodded dreamily in agreement.

They had long coveted the Huaxia Battle Zone. Their own zone was brutal—a world of survival of the fittest where the number of survivors dwindled rapidly. Without seizing resources, even their own lives were at risk.

While they disdained the fact that the Huaxia Battle Zone still clung to pre-apocalyptic policies, trying to protect the lower class survivors, if it became their personal ranch, then nothing mattered.

…………

“Bang bang—bang!”

A series of heavy impacts echoed as objects crashed.

Without warning, Yenir and his team appeared as if out of thin air, materializing right in the middle of a parking lot.

Before they could process their surroundings, a series of system notifications began to ring out.

“Beep! Entered Intercontinental Instance [Zombie Nation]. Current Difficulty: B. Overall Difficulty: A.”

“Time remaining for other Battle Zones’ entry: 5 hours, 59 minutes, 58 seconds.”

“Mission 1: Locate the Research Institute’s doctor and obtain abnormal data from the past three months.”

“Mission 2: Acquire Spirit Ore. A minimum of 1000KG is required; the more you secure, the higher your rating.”

“Mission 3: Find the world’s main character, Lin Rui. Once located, the next phase of tasks will activate.”

“Note: You can only exit the instance once all three main missions are completed.”

“Eliminating enemy Awakeners will boost your mission rating by an extra 1.2% per kill, along with special rewards.”

After quickly scanning the mission details, Captain Ming Luo’s face darkened. He glanced around the parking lot and without hesitation started pulling Yenir towards the exit.

“Yenir! Hurry!”

“We need to find a system terminal with internet access to trace the coordinates of these mission targets!”

“If we’re fast enough, we might even complete all the tasks before they do and escape!”

Growing impatient, Ming Luo saw Yenir standing motionless and assumed he hadn’t adjusted yet. Without another word, he reached out and grabbed Yenir to move.

“Wait a minute.”

Yenir, though his reasoning was sound, couldn’t help but remark at Ming Luo’s impatience.

He had already read the mission details, but not yet those of the Sword God System…

In the beam of light visible only to him, several lines of text flickered continuously:

“Beep, mission update.”

“Seize absolute control of the instance: Alter the course of the world and the future! The greater the alteration, the higher your control level!”

“Warning: Try to avoid killing key instance characters. Eliminating them can drastically change future events but may also trigger extremely challenging scenarios. Current key characters: Lin Rui, Su Yuqing, Krock…”

Alter the future? The more changes, the higher our chance of mission success?

Puzzled by the ambiguous task criteria, Yenir quickly hashed through the possibilities in his mind until a rough plan emerged.

Could he alter the world’s course as much as possible without killing the key characters?

Wasn’t that just like in movies, where the protagonist is never meant to die?

So, what change would have the greatest impact?

In an instant, an odd gleam flashed in Yenir’s eyes—a determined resolve solidified within him.

“Yenir! What are you waiting for? Let’s move!”

“Remember, do not attack the instance NPCs—we can’t get bogged down. Their NPCs are battle-ready, especially those from the Military!”

Listening to Ming Luo’s increasingly frantic orders, Yenir calmly raised his head and replied:

“I’ll take command from here.”

“I’ll lead us to victory in this instance.”

Before his squad could even register his words, Yenir chuckled softly and cast his gaze toward a towering skyscraper in the distance.

“So, we’re supposed to seek out the mission NPCs, and try not to antagonize the world’s powers?”

“No—we should first carve through this world and seize its supreme authority!”

Six hours will be plenty!

Ignoring the shocked and bewildered expressions on his teammates’ faces, Yenir nonchalantly shattered the glass of a hovering vehicle with brute force, gesturing for everyone to board.

He had been in this instance before.

Coincidentally, he knew a lot about key military codes that allowed him to control several strategic weapons.

……