Chapter 463: Reactions from All Sides

Yamamoto-kun looked at the cola in his hand, his body involuntarily trembling.

I'm just too tired; did I mishear...?

How could it be cola...? Just a minute ago, the Seed of Death in the system was clearly sitting there.

The intense stimulation made him unable to believe this fact.

His face turned pale as he repeatedly denied the fact.

The surrounding team members looked at him and couldn't help but rush forward to support him.

"Yamamoto-kon!!"

"Is this... the Seed of Death?"

Compared to his condition causing panic, the red can of cola in Yamamoto's hand left them at a loss.

Seed of Death... what does it look like like this!?

This clearly looks just like a can of cola...

Not getting a response from Yamamoto, their captain Yamamoto had completely fallen into a cycle of self-denial.

Without receiving a system prompt, a team member couldn't help but snatch the reward prop from his hand, covered in cold sweat.

A routine notification came upon obtaining it.

The system's cold mechanical voice sounded like a death sentence.

"Beep, detected prop: Coca-Cola."

Dead silence.

"No!!!!"

In the nuclear power plant reduced to ruins, a despairing, incredulous roar shot up to the clouds.

"Our reward... why was it swapped out!!"

At the same time, the North American theater.

The global first second-level Awakened One, Ron, fled with no color in his face from the pursuit of Awakened Ones behind him.

His military uniform was tattered, his clothes ragged.

Not long ago he was still a fleet commander, a dominant military leader for a time.

But after he made a wrong decision, everything took a turn for the worse.

"Ron! Hand over the first-place system reward, and we can spare your life!"

"Turn around, Colonel Ron! You've committed a huge mistake! Do you think you can keep fleeing forever?"

"Scoundrel, when you sacrificed the army and masses of Awakened Ones, you should have realized you were opposing the entire nation!"

Threatening and enticing messages flashed one after another, forcing Ron to hand over the system reward.

Seeing one after another message and his reputation in the channel like a street rat, Ron wanted to cry but had no tears.

All of this change came from half a month ago.

After he sacrificed many subordinates, even going against the wishes of other military commanders, he forcibly raised his rank to second level.

I thought he could both complete the Safe Zone mission and obtain the first-place reward, thereby solidifying his strength.

But unexpectedly, the reward announced by the system vanished.

At first it was still fine.

Although his methods were excessive, and he sacrificed too many soldiers and Awakened Ones,

but everyone could only hold their noses and accept it.

But as time passed, whenever people asked him what the reward was or demanded he act, everything began to deteriorate!

Where did the reward come from... where did it strengthen his strength?

He told everyone, "I damn well got an empty box!"

There was nothing inside the box!

No one believed him; everyone thought he not only wanted to embezzle the reward, but also intended to repeat his old trick, using them as foolish cannon fodder.

There was already dissatisfaction with him.

When the second second-level Awakened One appeared in the North American theater, his nightmare began.

The other side clung to his sacrifice of soldiers as leverage, demanding on moral grounds that he at least share the reward, or even just let them know what it was.

But Ron couldn't do that.

When he resentfully placed the empty box in front of that second-level Awakened One, the other's mood was exactly the same as his on the day of the system announcement.

Fuming, he laughed bitterly, "Are you taking me for a fool?"

Will the system give you an empty box?

Thus, the hunt began.

The furious military stripped him of his position and pursued him all the way.

Feeling the spiritual energy within him dwindle, Ron's eyes filled with resentment.

If he were to die unfortunately, he would surely die with his eyes unclosed.

Why! Why did the system give me an empty box!

Clearly the global announcement promised a reward; clearly there should have been something!

If he knew that on some island nation across the ocean there was a group also crying out to the heavens, he would probably be moved to embrace them excitedly.

Really, there was nothing at all!

Reward! It was stolen (swapped) away!

Damn system! Give me back my reward!

Huaxia, the Supreme Command of the Capital Military Region.

"I believe everyone has already seen the compiled report and is aware of the global announcement issued four hours ago."

"Their complexion was fatigued."

"Lin Zhan sat upright in the main seat, hands crossed, and slowly opened their mouth to speak."

"This announcement was also caused by Lin An."

"Although there is some deviation from our previous estimates, it is still within our expectations."

"Long'an Base was the first to complete the establishment of the Safe Zone; calculating the time, it is indeed now that we carry out the city defense mission."

"Everyone nodded upon hearing this, though their complexions were somewhat unsightly."

"We originally thought that completing the city defense mission would at most result in a war zone announcement."

"Perhaps there would be a reward, but it probably wouldn't be much..."

"A middle-aged lieutenant general in a green military uniform looked puzzled."

"The Capital War Zone has completed a large number of system tasks, but the rewards given by these tasks are truly 'stingy'."

"Like my unit under my command, after completing yesterday's emergency task of eliminating a second-level mutant and ten thousand zombies, the reward we received was only ten boxes of bottled water and three boxes of instant noodles!"

"Their words were full of complaint and incomprehension."

"During this period, although the number of issued tasks was not large, their population base is what it is."

"After completing hundreds of thousands of tasks, they have summarized a pattern."

"After completing system tasks, aside from a small amount of spiritual energy experience reward, there is only a pile of 'trash'."

"At minimum, a piece of bread; at maximum, a box of bottled water."

"Even some Awakened Ones, after completing a special event task, could actually receive a pair of slippers?"

"The system's task rewards simply make them furious."

"Rather than saying they are task rewards, it's more like they're just tossing scraps to feed dogs."

"Even they feel that the task rewards have little to do with difficulty."

"As a result, many people, aside from mandatory tasks or tasks with explicitly marked rewards, simply aren't willing to do anything else."

"Lin Zhan sighed and nodded:"

"That's right."

"It is precisely because we have realized this that we have not rushed to complete the city defense mission."

"If we knew that succeeding in the first city defense would yield such generous rewards, we would definitely have launched the mission in advance!"

"Lin Zhan, who usually had no emotional fluctuations, couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow and reddened eyes upon recalling the rewards in the system announcement."

"Blue equipment, a 10% attribute increase for all members, 100 prestige, plus an extra lottery chance."

"Such generous rewards simply exceed his imagination."

"All told, Lin An could obtain at least two pieces of blue equipment!"

"He still only has one piece of blue equipment to this day, which he exchanged for using military merits with the military department."

"Equipment is needed by everyone, especially the Awakened Ones on the front lines."

"Basically, whoever gets the equipment goes all out, and when they die, it's replaced and used again."

"The strongest person in the Capital War Zone, General Li, has only managed, with the military's support, to gather six pieces of blue equipment to garrison the front lines."

"But for some reason, he always feels that something is not quite right."