Chapter 146

However, soon after, Song Bingyuan came back holding a box, which he shoved into Chen Shicheng's hands.

"What is this?"

Chen Shicheng opened the box and saw a card inside, the card bearing a complex and intricate rune.

"This is a teleportation mark; after entering the other side of the passage, since one's true body cannot be resurrected, you can activate the mark when in danger to teleport back to a preset location—best set the teleport point at the entrance so you can return directly through the passage."

Song Bingyuan said solemnly.

"This thing is great—why haven't I seen it in the exchange list? Does everyone have one?" Chen Shicheng asked happily while touching the card.

"What are you joking about? This is something just recently developed; our C City Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department only issued one copy. If it weren't for you being the only one who signed up, I would never have been able to give it to you." Song Bingyuan's face twitched with pain.

Chen Shicheng nodded and put the card away, but he had no intention of using it—having Hui Siye for teleport escape was enough; even if the distance was too far, he could burn his soul, anyway he could revive inside the mask. Since there was still some time before his squad's gathering, Chen Shicheng first took leave, ran home, put on the Evil Ghost Mask, and also summoned the reluctant Hui Siye back into the mask.

After everything was ready, he then rushed to the stadium to meet up with the others, then concentrated fire to clear a wave of stragglers, and passed through the passage to the other side.

Chen Shicheng walked out of the passage; what met his eyes was exactly as the intelligence had said—a boundless icefield.

Whether underfoot or at the horizon, everything was covered in snow; the sky continuously drifted palm-sized snowflakes, and the biting cold wind struck his face like a steel blade scraping.

Moreover, sensation-wise, aside from being unable to use items on the game character's body, it felt hardly different from a normal game login.

Chen Shicheng took a few steps forward, making way at the passage entrance and scanning the surroundings.

Already many people were waiting here, a dark mass of heads shifting; roughly five or sixty people, a rough assessment showed they were all players above level 10, though these people were clearly divided into several groups by squad, appearing distinct.

"C City Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department, Chen Shicheng, right?"

Just as Chen Shicheng was still observing, a man walked up.

"It's me."

"H City Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department, Zhu Miao!"

The somewhat dark-skinned man extended his hand, saying, "Director Song and I have greeted each other; just follow our team's actions."

"Okay, I understand."

Chen Shicheng also reached out and shook his hand politely.

Immediately, Zhu Miao gave him a brief introduction to the composition of this large force.

In total there were 55 people, thirty of whom were members of various Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Departments, while the rest were personnel dispatched from major organizations, together forming the somewhat loose-looking team before them.

The leaders were three players above level 15—one from the Gold Money Gang, the other two from the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department. These three were also entering the game world with their true bodies for the first time, not very familiar with the situation here, but being the highest level present, they could ensure the safety of these people in danger.

Seeing Chen Shicheng's group of players all arrive, the leader among the three nodded and spoke: "Since everyone is here, I'll first lay out the rules."

As soon as he spoke, everyone present fell silent, all turning their gazes to him.

"First, this task is to contribute for the country, with no faction divisions, so there are no conflicts of interest; no matter which guild you come from, since we are now a team, whenever someone encounters danger, we hope you will lend a hand as much as possible."

"As for combat positioning and command issues, you're all veteran players, so you have that experience—I won't belabor it; I hope to see everyone return alive when the mission ends!"

Next, the leading man briefed everyone on the messages sent back by the masters, and especially emphasized that the wind and snow here are fierce and the roads are hard to travel; however, the three leaders each have markers in their hands that can sense the masters' positions, so you must stick closely to the team and not fall behind.

After his tedious emphasis, the team finally set out.

Chen Shicheng, after the earlier stadium battle, had his persona mask firmly established; he was a support in charge of control.

Therefore, his position arranged along the march was quite comfortable—the exact center of the team.

Meanwhile, the three highest-level leaders walked in front, responsible for intercepting danger; someone also covered the rear, while the others handled the left and right flanks.

Regarding this arrangement, Chen Shicheng didn't know what to say for a moment; judging by combat power, he was the strongest among everyone here, the team set off, the initial atmosphere was still relaxed, as they advanced quickly they could still chat and laugh, each introducing themselves, and meanwhile some quick-witted ones took the chance to trade a bit.

However, as they gradually went deeper into the icefield, this idle chatting and trading situation quickly disappeared.

Heaven and earth were a vast white expanse; aside from the biting cold wind whistling "whoo-whoo" in their ears, there was no other sound, as if the world contained only them.

In such an environment, people unconsciously grew quiet, and their tension gradually increased.

That leader had already explained earlier that the most common dangers on the icefield were two kinds: snow pits, and groups of wild monsters, such as goblins and Thus Ice Plain Wolves.

Snow pits are easy to handle; if acting alone, a misstep could make one vanish into the ice crevasse below, but with so many moving together, whoever slips in will be pulled out immediately.

The main danger still comes from wild monsters! "Watch out, Thus Ice Plain Wolf!"

The player in charge of the boundary on the right side suddenly shouted loudly.

As his words fell, a wholly snow-white wolf-like wild monster leapt from a snowdrift to the side and lunged to bite the player on the extreme edge.

Such creatures usually appear in packs; a solitary one jumping out must have lost the battle for wolf king and been driven from the pack—this Lone Wolf Thus Ice Plain Wolf is therefore even stronger, an absolute major threat to ordinary players.

Unfortunately, this Lone Wolf in the hands of several dozen elite players here was nothing to write home about; its massive maw was easily blocked by a few melee players, followed by a torrent of spell attacks.

Chen Shicheng didn't even have time to use the Taiyin Cold Ice Curse before this Lone Wolf was blasted into a pile of minced meat by spells flung about as if they cost nothing.

(End of chapter)