Chapter Thirteen: Forming a Team

“Was this pet something you redeemed from the system, or was it a gift from the system?”
“This?” Xiao Zhang scratched his head, unsure how to answer. He couldn’t exactly say he hadn’t redeemed it from the system, nor that the system had given it to him as a gift.

While he hesitated, the middle-aged man came to his rescue. “What’s there to ask? Obviously, he bought this flashy thing with the initial points the system gives you. I’ve seen a few newbies like this. There was this one time, a guy spent all his points on a tome for cultivation right after joining, and didn’t even survive the first battle—ended up dead.”

“How interesting. Mod, is there really that much good stuff in the newbie exchange?” Lilia glanced at the zombie pet. “But this little guy doesn’t look very useful to me.”

“Call me Mordekaiser!”

The woman gave a bewitching smile and suddenly slipped her arm around Xiao Zhang’s shoulder. “Don’t mind that slowpoke. Little brother, take a look in your shop later—if you see something I want, could you redeem it for your big sister?”

“Sure, sure. Just tell me what you need.”

Mordekaiser frowned at Lilia. “You know the newbie shop only lets you redeem one thing.”

“Hmph, I don’t need you to remind me.” Lilia smiled, her eyes narrowing. “I just want to see if our little brother still has his.”

Mordekaiser’s gaze settled on Xiao Zhang’s face. “Let’s go. You’ve recovered enough, haven’t you? Hmph, bringing newbies is always a hassle.”

He squinted at Xiao Zhang, muttering, “Your overall combat rating is B+? Kid, are you really a newbie?”

Xiao Zhang narrowed his eyes. Can he see my information?

“My, little brother, you’re quite impressive. Want to team up with your big sister?”

Xiao Zhang checked discreetly. He hadn’t expected Lilia to be an A+ ranked mage, and Mordekaiser an A-ranked warrior.

“Don’t bother looking. We’ve both hidden our information—you won’t see anything. Curious about my skills? Tell me yours first, and I’ll tell you mine—how’s that?”

Feigning uncertainty, Xiao Zhang shrank back a little, but inside, he grew tense. Damn it, I don’t have any skills!

Though Lilia seemed seductive and dangerous, Xiao Zhang felt she was even trickier to deal with than the taciturn Mordekaiser.

Moreover, looking at their stats, Lilia, despite being a mage, actually surpassed Mordekaiser in both strength and speed.

They could see his overall rating was B+, but not his actual abilities—though Xiao Zhang himself didn’t know them either.

Still, the fact that he could bypass their blocks and view their information was a trump card in his hand.

Whatever happened, he’d have to take things one step at a time. Besides, he was confident he could escape if things turned dangerous. The only thing that worried him was Mo Kuang, who had vanished from the map—who knew where that little demoness had gone?

Never mind, he’d just team up with these two for now; they seemed to be a temporary alliance themselves.

On the way, Mordekaiser questioned Xiao Zhang a few more times. Xiao Zhang explained that he’d come out to hunt a monster, but then everyone else disappeared, so he wandered around alone and ran into a big boss.

“So did you come out here by yourself, or with someone else?”

“There was someone else.” Xiao Zhang answered vaguely. “But that guy kept muttering about the system sending him here for some mission.”

“System? Mission? The system doesn’t assign newbie zone missions, are you kidding me?” Mordekaiser eyed him suspiciously.

Xiao Zhang quickly replied, “He told me the system wanted him to eliminate failed players. I don’t really get what that means.” That should keep them from suspecting he wasn’t a real player.

“Huh, looks like we’re not the only ones who got that mission,” Lilia said with a laugh.

“Lilia, I hope we can work well together when the time comes. Otherwise, if someone else swoops in, you know the consequences,” Mordekaiser grunted coldly.

“Just don’t mess things up for me, Mordekaiser. You know how much it cost us to get in here.”

Xiao Zhang was now certain these two were only temporary allies. Still, he wasn’t sure what exactly they were after.

By his reckoning, they should have reached the edge of the instance by now, but despite walking for so long, they still hadn’t arrived. Had the area changed again?

Because of Lilia’s pace, the group gradually slowed. Since Xiao Zhang kept up without lagging behind, both Lilia and Mordekaiser warmed up to him, with Mordekaiser even showing signs of wanting to recruit him.

Mordekaiser was clearly annoyed by Lilia’s slow pace, grumbling more than once, “Lilia, can’t you even keep up with a newbie?”

Xiao Zhang wondered if he ought to start acting tired.

Xiao Zhang suddenly felt like he was playing a game, acting like a newbie in front of pros to find a mentor.

After walking for the better part of a day, he finally saw the players who had disappeared before.

No wonder they’d vanished from the map—they’d gone this far out, and some had even set up camp here?

There were about a hundred people, all dressed in outlandish clothes. Compared to them, Lilia and Mordekaiser hardly stood out at all.

Xiao Zhang himself looked pretty ragged, like a beggar, but among this crowd he was nothing unusual.

He observed carefully and noticed that the group wasn’t all huddled together; rather, they were scattered in several clusters, each deliberately keeping their distance from the others.

Each group only communicated within itself, not with the others.

Was this also a temporary alliance, or…?

Xiao Zhang quietly assessed the size and strength of each group.

As they approached, Lilia suddenly laughed, reaching out to hook her finger under Xiao Zhang’s chin. “Be smart when we get there. If someone tries to recruit you, you know what to say, right?”

Please, don’t make me cannon fodder, Xiao Zhang thought, but he nodded, playing along. “I’ll just say I’m already with Big Sister Lilia.”

“Haha, clever boy. I could just take a bite out of those cheeks.” Lilia giggled, her laughter lilting. “But it’s not just me. Several groups have teamed up for this run, and the team leader this time is a higher-up from Mordekaiser’s organization.”

Mordekaiser shot Lilia a look, suppressing his annoyance. “Do well, kid—maybe you’ll get to join our organization directly.”