Optional Tasks

Killing in Infinity City was fundamentally different from killing outside of it.

In the former case, it's often a matter of necessity, compelled action that many people find psychologically distressing and face with a sense of dread towards death.

In the latter case, it's a willing disregard of all laws and consequences, where one is prepared to face sacrifices and death. Regardless of whether they were justice or evil, they held a great psychological advantage in Infinity City.

So, when Wyatt mentioned that Keanu had killed plenty before even setting foot in Infinity City, it signaled Keanu as a person who had truly experienced bloody trials, unlike others who were forced into the city and underwent life-or-death trials, many of whom hadn't psychologically adapted yet.

Of course, things changed once they moved into the more difficult areas. But in these low-difficulty areas, Keanu's experiences left many in shock.

The group sprinted through the small woods towards the Arnhem Bridge, occasionally encountering some German soldiers, who were easily dispatched.

After battling at Arnhem Town and the riverside, the main quest had largely been conquered. Keanu's approach had successfully minimized threats and so far, he hadn't faced much difficulty.

Not far away, flames engulfed the Arnhem Bridge as the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion fought desperately for it. They had successfully occupied the northern part of the bridge, but unbeknownst to them, their advancement would end there.

Kitty was the first to halt, examining the battlefield with her binoculars. "The path ahead is virtually clear, with few enemy forces. The Germans are mainly concentrated at the southern part of the bridge, clashing fiercely with the 2nd Paratroopers. The Germans surrounding Arnhem have entirely occupied the town. The adventurers who chose to break south are out of luck, they're under full-scale attack from the Germans. The good news is, they've drawn away a majority of the German soldiers, who're unlikely to return to Arnhem Bridge and instead head towards the jungle to meet the primary forces of the First Airborne Division," She finally confirmed.

"So you're saying, if we continue just a few more steps, we'll be able to complete the main mission successfully?" Wyatt asked.

Kitty nodded confidently, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

Wyatt's fist pumped the air excitedly, "Damn, this feels good! It's the first time a task's gotten this easy."

Max also added with a laugh: "If Keanu hadn't reminded us to gather and find the detour, it might not have been so easy."

Wyatt rolled his eyes: "I'm not going to give him CP as a thank you. That kid ended up not firing a single shot and just ran his mouth."

Kitty chimed in with a chuckle, "Leaders are always like that." She looked at Keanu and quipped, "The head of murderers."

Keanu chose to ignore the double entendre and said, "Well, since that's the case, we should join up with the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion and see who's willing to stay and complete the optional missions."

Surprisingly, many adventurers were willing to stick around to complete optional tasks. This might be due to the successful completion of the mission - aside from the initial landing casualties, no member from the group of 22 adventurers had died so far. Maybe experiencing the strength in unity gave them the confidence and dared to take risks.

Apart from that, the optional mission's lucrative reward of up to 4000 CP and a skill point greatly lured the adventurers into risking it. Skill points are used to enhance skill proficiency. Active skills gain one point of proficiency each time they're used, passive skills can only be upgraded with skill points, and variant skills only through proficiency.

Over time the requirements for advancing skill proficiency increase, the more you advance, the more proficiency you need. Initially upgrading a skill only required 400 proficiency, then 800, followed by 1400, and so on. Each skill point directly increases 1000 proficiency, a valuable reward, especially for special skills that require considerable SP cost.

Keanu's Despicable Healing and Spiritual were already at level 2, achieved after a month of uninterrupted training. Spiritual Exploration requires 3 SP, and Despicable Healing needs 2 SP. Keanu's total SP could only allow 6 uses of these skills and required 5 hours to recover. With sleeping factored in, he could only improve 20 proficiency per day. So, he barely reached level 2 with 200 proficiency after a month. After that, he adopted a habit of waking up in the middle of the night to train his skills.

Thus, getting more skill points would greatly enhance Keanu's skills. And like Keanu, many had an urgent need for skill points. So after some discussions, out of the 22 adventurers, a whopping 21 decided to stay, and only one chose to leave.

Surprisingly enough, the fatty also asked to stay. When Keanu asked him why he wasn't leaving, he responded that he could earn more CP trailing behind them, thus earning more chances to lose later. It seems he was prepared to accumulate some CP for future mission failures.

Regarding this, Kitty derisively said, "I can't understand how you passed the newbie mission."

Wyatt laughed. A newbie mission also includes stages that multiple newbies carry out together, perhaps the fatty was just lucky enough to encounter several quality newbies who brought him along into the city. After all, with his overbearing presence, he'd likely have failed at the first stage.

The fat man nodded emphatically in agreement. He lacked any other skills, but he did have a thick skin and wasn't the least bit bothered by Wyatt's comments.

However, Keanu was a little bemused.

Is that the case?

Capable people often have something in common, that is, they do not despise incompetence, but they despise the lack of ambition. It's okay if you're not capable, but you can't remain without putting in any effort.

The fatty's attitude could be categorized as a classic example of incompetence coupled with a lack of ambition. Keanu could not understand what kind of newbie would be willing to accept such a burden.

Nevertheless, it was related to another's privacy, and he chose not to dwell on it, merely stating with a smile, "It's surprising he's made it this far."

"He's just lucky," Wyatt disagreed remorsefully.

"Luck is also a skill," Keanu immediately countered, shrugging his shoulders, "But it's unreliable. You can only enjoy the surprise of an unexpected windfall, but it's not something to rely on in desperate times."

Everyone laughed at his justified comment.

Regardless, even if the fatty explicitly stated his plan to freeload, no one would push him away. It was clear that this was a team task, and even a small ant could be of use, an extra gun was always a good thing.

Since 21 people chose to stay and perform the task, everyone rearranged their respective roles again. At this point, Keanu was, undoubtedly, seen as the leader.

After walking a few more dozen meters, the emblem indeed alerted: The main task is completed, now you can choose to return or complete the optional task.

The first step of completing the optional task: Meet with the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion and Colonel Frost.

※※※

Arnhem originally had 2 bridges, and the mission of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion was to seize and hold at least one. However, in the process of seizing the bridge, the Germans had already destroyed one of them.

This forced the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion to immediately capture the other bridge, consequently losing the chance of a surprise attack and being forced to engage in direct combat.

Colonel Frost of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion was now engaged in a blood battle with the enemy on the northern section of this bridge.

Facing them, a horde of German soldiers unleashed a barrage of violent artillery, forcing the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion into submission. Paratroopers, despite being composed of elite fighters, couldn't carry heavy weapons, thus lacking suppressive firepower which inherently disadvantaged them in trench combat.

Generally, paratroopers were better suited for raids behind enemy lines rather than being involved in large-scale airborne combat. Especially since they were now enveloped in enemy territory, Montgomery had, in the hopes of pulling off a miracle, sent the allied forces' best soldiers to what amounted to a suicide mission, it could be considered the biggest blunder committed by the legendary leader.

"Mayday, mayday, this is the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion, I'm Colonel Frost, and we've taken control over the northern part of the Arnhem bridge. The Germans have heavy troops here, their firepower is horrendous. I need backup, I need backup!" Frost shouted into the receiver.

Above him, the German artillery rained down like a storm, forcefully landing on the battlefield, and littering it with deep craters. The German soldiers poured relentless fire across the battlefield, illuminating the air with bright flashes, and bullets whizzed through like vibrant rainbows, occasionally snatching away a life.

"Ahh!" A paratrooper screamed an artillery shell exploded not far from him, blasting off one of his legs.

Yet, he remained mobile, continuously wailing while holding onto his injured leg.

The tide was turning rapidly, a short while ago the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion was on the offense, and now they were locked in a stalemate with the Germans, it was only a matter of time before the German forces would counterattack, completely obliterating the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion on the bridge.

"I need bomber support!" Frost continued shouting, becoming more frantic as his men fell. His soldiers had lost nearly a third of their numbers in the past few hours, with the Germans relentlessly hammering the paratroopers striving to seize control of the bridge. Artillery shells exploded freely and tanks rolled in one after another.

To assist the parachute division in their objective of capturing the bridge, the Allied Air Force was dispatched once more. Unfortunately, the German anti-aircraft firepower was ferocious. Many aircraft were shot down before they could even reach Arnhem. The few planes that did manage to reach the Arnhem Bridge hurriedly dropped a few bombs and swiftly retreated, with no apparent help to the situation.

At present, a few planes still loomed in the sky, all German. Their bullets zipped across the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion's territory, joined by a 150mm caliber gun, slaughtering the soldiers of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion remorselessly.

The distant, impassive response came over the receiver, "Colonel Frost, unfortunately, under these circumstances, we cannot provide you greater assistance. We need your valiant efforts to seize control of the bridge, hold it, and await the arrival of the Army Group's ground forces."

"I need firepower support, I need tanks, I need artillery, not orders! Your superiors must be notified immediately. If this continues, we will all be dead on the battlefield within a day!"

"I will relay your needs, but I must remind you, Colonel Frost, don't have your hopes high. From the moment you received the mission, you should have been prepared to fight in challenging conditions."

"Yes, to fight under challenging conditions, not to die under them!"

There was a pause on the other end of the line, then a sentence came through: "May God bless you."

The call was cut off.

"Damn it!" Frost cursed, hopping angrily.

"Frost, where are our regular forces?" Major Ralph, the deputy commander, bellowed at his superior.

Frost helplessly said, "They didn't drop in this area, they're stuck in the southern woodlands of Saives. I don't think we can count on reinforcements, and the allies can't provide us with more air support."

"SHIT!" Ralph cursed angrily, "So we're left to fight this battle alone?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Oh, God!"

God seemed to be answering; as soon as the words left his mouth, a soldier ran over and announced, "Colonel, a small force has appeared behind us; from what we can see, they're ours."

"Backup's arrived!" Both officers exclaimed in joy.

However, their joy quickly faded upon realizing the reinforcement amounted to a measly handful of soldiers. It was likely just a group of stragglers that had stumbled into them.

Wyatt came striding forward, "Who is Colonel Frost? We are a direct combat unit from the First Airborne Division, ordered to support the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion."

"I am," Frost stepped forward, "How many of you have arrived?"

"21."

"Only 21 were sent? That's not even enough to stick in the enemy's teeth," Frost chuckled bitterly.

Ralph simply commented coldly, "What we need is at least 2,100 soldiers, not 21. The government's promises are always watered down... damn bureaucrats!"

Keanu chuckled lightly, saying to Kitty, "It seems we aren't held in high regard."

Kitty snorted, "Even the most basic reinforcement is enough to open their eyes. We'll show them we're worth more than 2,100 soldiers."

With a soft 'ding' sound, as the adventurers arrived at the Arnhem bridge, the optional task officially commenced.

Seize the bridge, and hold it for 10 days and eight hours.

An additional team reward mission has been initiated: Ensure the safety of Colonel Frost and Major Ralph. A reward of 500 CP will be given if at least one person survives.

For every survival member of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion, 20 CP would be rewarded.

The task reward will be distributed according to the contribution ratio.

Killing an ally adventurer during the optional mission will lead to the loss of team reward distribution qualifications.

The one with the highest contribution ratio can get a special item reward.

The value of the special rewards depends on the following extra conditions: Every 10% contribution ratio above the average survival adventurer pushes up the reward grade by half a level. There is no level for Basic rewards.