Prestige

Moving along the outskirts of the small town towards the northeast, they shortly came upon the river. Kitty squatted down and put her right fist up - a signal that enemies were ahead. All the adventurers lay low.

After scoping out the area with the telescope, Kitty relayed, "There are around 40 German soldiers across the river, with 3 main firepower points and a small cannon, no tanks."

"The defense isn't strong," Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief.

"The problem is that we have to cross the river to attack them. Most of us adventurers are not much better than amateurs. Our enhancive skills are limited. How many of you can run over the river? How many of you can ensure that you won't be attacked while crossing the river? Wyatt, your bulletproof ability which can withstand 30 bullets, how will it fare if you're targeted by a heavy machine gun?" Kitty threw in with a soft chuckle.

Wyatt thought for a moment before responding, "How about using the rocket launcher to eliminate the threatening firepower first?"

"I decline," to everyone's surprise, Keanu flatly rejected the idea.

Wyatt was taken aback, "Why?"

Keanu replied coolly, "I rallied everyone together to exploit the collective strength, not to act as some savior so everyone could tag along. I don't care what you all think, but my rockets will be saved for tanks. After all, I have a limited number."

Tanks may yield CP, but these firepower points wouldn't. Keanu didn't want to waste his limited resources on a non-profit venture.

Still, he was right in saying that if the 3 heavy firepower points and the cannon were to be eliminated solely by him, the others would just reap the benefits of his work. Nothing comes for free in this world.

"So, you've decided that even if this challenge is overcome, you'd pursue the optional quests?" Max, quick-witted as ever, inferred that Keanu planned to undertake optional tasks. Otherwise, he wouldn't be concerned about conserving rockets. It was baffling how a brutish man like Max possessed such a nimble mind.

Keanu nodded, "I don't know what Infinity City means to you. But to me, it's a game. There's one invariant in this game and life: the concept of positive and negative cycles. I was fortunate enough to start at a higher point than most. As a newcomer, I already had an advantage. If I, under these circumstances, shy away from challenges, I'd just slow down my progress. The difficulty of the game will certainly increase. If I don't strive to improve significantly at this point, the chance of fostering a positive cycle may turn into a vicious one, due to the increase in difficulty with each mission. Also, the difficulty of tasks differs. The easier tasks are completed more effortlessly while the challenges and risks increase later on. If we falter and dread taking risks now, even at the basic level, we might as well quit altogether."

"But this might put you in a challenging position early on, you might die soon," Kitty added.

Keanu chuckled lightly, "What difference does dying a month early or late make? It's better to perish earlier than live on for torture if one cannot strengthen quickly."

Everyone was left wordless.

Yes, those who refuse to take risks might escape today, but they probably won't evade the next adversity. If death was inevitable, they might as well face the extreme challenge early on, fortifying themselves, courageously confronting difficulties, and creating a positive cycle as Keanu mentioned.

"Alright, we won't use the rocket launcher this time. Let's all brainstorm on how to cross the river and launch an attack against the enemies. I suggest we send over a couple of high-dexterity close combatants." Wyatt steered the conversation.

"I support that idea, it would be great if someone had SP shield-related skills," Kitty suggested.

Regrettably, none of the 22 adventurers present had such skills. Unless they were part of a reliable team, helpers endowed with supportive skills were unpopular during the early stages.

Their discussions were overheard by some of the adventurers. One of them whispered, "I have high Dexterity and possess a beginner-level stealth skill. I should go unnoticed by the enemies."

Keanu laughed, patting him on the shoulder, "You're in. We need at least 3 more to tackle the 3 firepower points and the cannon simultaneously. Each of the 4 pioneers should have some kind of bulletproof item. For those who don't, we'll lend you some. After all, with so many people, no one would dare to default. "

Wyatt tossed his bulletproof item to the stealth-oriented adventurer. "Use mine. Don't be reckless or deplete it too much. Once the firepower points are dealt with, retreat. We'll handle the rest."

Four pioneers were quickly selected from the 22 adventurers: an efficient in deception, one skilled at swimming, another proficient in stealth, and the last one, owner of a pair of Blink Boots. The boots had a built-in skill called 'Blink' which could instantly teleport the user to the other side of the river. However, due to the low level of the gear, the skill had a lengthy cooldown, allowing for only one use per day.

The 4 pioneers, each equipped with their unique methods of approach, donned their borrowed bulletproof equipment and made their way toward the riverbank.

The one with the boots was the fastest. In a blink of an eye, he was at the specified location on the opposite bank, whereupon he lay still in the grass. As the others made their way across, they proceeded to sneak toward their pre-allotted attack points by the plan.

In the Market Garden scene of this world, the real challenge was the endless flood of German soldiers equipped with powerful modern weaponry, but the quality of these soldiers fell far short when compared to the enhanced adventurers.

Once the adventurers find a breakthrough, overcoming the challenge isn't overly difficult.

Sure enough, the four adventurers struck simultaneously upon reaching their designated positions, destroying 3 firepower points and a cannon. The German soldiers, taken by surprise, began shouting frantically, turning the riverbank into a noisy battlefield.

The 18 adventurers on the other side of the river collectively lifted their assorted weapons, unloading a relentless barrage of fire toward the opposite side.

The adventurer who mastered the 'Thunderstorm Fury' skill was about to cast the spell, but Keanu grabbed his hands and exclaimed, "You idiot! Your spell drains too much SP. Save your energy for a crucial moment. There are only a handful of soldiers on the other side. Why on earth would you need that?!"

This particular adventurer had little chance to showcase his abilities after trailing behind the group from the town. Finally, when an opportunity surfaced, Keanu scolded him, leaving him fuming, "You're not my boss, why should I listen to you?"

At this, Keanu chuckled.

By that time, the German soldiers across the river had been reduced to a sparse few due to the adventurers' assault. The remaining soldiers put up a defiant fight, each being taken down one by one by the four assault pioneers, thanks to their bulletproof apparel. The adventurers who had lent out their bulletproof items watched these pioneers with dismay as the equipment flashed with each hit, like a punch to their guts. For the first time since entering this bloody world, they were concerned about someone else's well-being.

Without uttering a word, Keanu clapped his hand on the adventurer's shoulder, "You're right, I am not your supervisor and have no right to command you."

As he said this, he suddenly delivered a powerful punch to the adventurer's abdomen, making him double over like a coiled shrimp. Leveling the spirit gun at the adventurer's head, Keanu's voice turned icy cold, "If you want, you can complete the tasks all by yourself. Don't come along with us! If you refuse to follow commands, what's the point of having you around? It would be more appropriate to blast you off right now, don't you agree?"

"You..." The adventurer doubled over in pain, sweating profusely. Keanu's punch was not intense but hit him in the soft spot. Given his SP-centered enhancements, his resistance against physical blows barely matured. So, he couldn't handle the punch. At this moment, all he could do was endure the pain, "I... I was just trying to help the team."

"Then follow orders." Keanu retorted coldly. He noticed a couple of adventurers glaring at him skeptically, obviously still resenting him.

Wyatt noticed the dispute as well. After shooting the last German soldier at a distance, he strode over and turned to the cold-eyed adventurers, saying, "I would like to remind you all that we are in a collaborative attack scenario, where our only hope of survival is to stick together. Keanu is right, large-scale attack skills should not be wasted. You should only use them when necessary, do you agree? That is unless you can cast tens of skills without batting an eye! But if anyone possessed such prowess, they wouldn't need to stick around in this basic difficulty level."

Max added bluntly, "We're not forcing anyone to follow our orders, but those who refuse should please leave our team."

None of the adventurers uttered a single word as the two spoke up.

Kitty just scoffed coldly, "What? Is infighting starting before we even finish the mission?"

Keanu laughed, "No, we're just weeding out the potential troublemakers first. After all, we have a long journey ahead."

Max stated impassively, "Let's cross the river quickly. My advice to you all is to find your way if you want to act independently or form your team. But if anyone plans to follow us to reap the benefits without contributing, I'm sorry, but I'll eliminate them first."

It was crucial to establish a position of authority and ensure credibility from the get-go, otherwise, future battles would be impossible to fight. This was something Keanu, Wyatt, Max, and Kitty all agreed on. Whether or not others accepted this was a different matter.

Once the German soldiers by the riverbank were cleared, they found a small gray box dropped by a German officer. Inside was a Schmeisser submachine gun and a few magazines, worth 300 CP.

It was then Keanu discovered that the German soldiers could drop loot too, but only officer-ranked soldiers, and even then, the drop rate was extremely low, and the rewards were abysmal.

They longed for the generous rewards of the newbie tasks!

After eliminating those Germans, the group quickly crossed the small river and escaped to a grove before more Germans arrived.

En route, the adventurer who was earlier saved by Keanu's healing spell ran up to him saying, "Brother, you saved my life, I'll listen to you. Tell me what to do."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Ezra," he let out a giggle.

Keanu stopped in his tracks, "Alright, my first order is: less babbling during operations."

Ezra stuck his tongue out and dared not to speak more.

One of the adventurers murmured behind them, "What's the fuss about? He just owns a crappy gun and a rocket launcher."

Wyatt's icy voice echoed from behind, "I'd recommend not getting on his wrong side; that guy has a high body count."

An adventurer retorted disdainfully, "Who here doesn't have a high body count?"

With a mocking laugh, Wyatt responded, "I was referring to before coming to Infinity City, you idiot."

Kitty's ears perked up, she caught that remark and glanced at Keanu meaningfully.