40: Chapter 40 Advantages are also disadvantages

Wei Ming's tone became noticeably serious and solemn:

"Choose the right mission and the right timing, and even a mediocre team can break into the top five with point multipliers. Choose wrong—for example, by clashing with a powerful team or misjudging a mission's difficulty—and even if you complete it with everything you've got, you might lose points due to a low ranking, or even ruin your rhythm for the entire month."

He pointed at the exchange list: "Do you see these resources? Wind Spirit Fruit, Earth Pith Liquid, Spirit Condensation Dew... these are simply unavailable on the market, and this exchange list refreshes once a month."

"Some materials that might be vital to you may only appear once this year. If you miss them, they're gone forever. Not to mention, this also relates to the total point rankings and final graduation rewards."

"So, the application of monthly points..."

"Oh, on that point, not needing to consider teammates is an advantage. But..."

"Similarly, that is what I want to say—it is also your disadvantage."

He looked straight into Qin Ce's eyes:

"You are only one person. No matter how strong Qingluan is, it can only fight in one place at a time. Other squads, with seven or eight people, or even a dozen, can split up. One group can scout, one can prepare items, one can hunt, and they can even progress through two or three missions simultaneously."

"And you? You have to do everything yourself. Finding monsters, fighting, gathering, traveling... your efficiency is naturally slower than others."

"What's more troublesome is that you slapped the entire class in the face as soon as you arrived." Wei Ming lowered his voice. "Although Wu Zhou was driven away by you, he managed the Elite Class for three years; his connections are still there. Those six original members of the Thunder Squad have regrouped into Team 13 now, but do they harbor resentment toward you? Will other teams become wary or even hostile because of your dominance?"

Qin Ce did not answer. He knew Wei Ming was telling the truth.

"Most importantly, intelligence!" Wei Ming tapped the table with his finger. "In the Elite Class, intelligence is sometimes more critical than strength. Which mission is highly competitive? Which area has high-value ferocious beasts? Which team is in bad shape? This information usually flows between squad leaders. But you—"

He paused:

"You might find it difficult to get first-hand intelligence. You might even be intentionally misled."

"So, what are you suggesting, Teacher?" Qin Ce asked.

Wei Ming hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Actually... those six people from Team 13 are also at a natural disadvantage now. They lost their leader and team token, and under the new elimination system, they are under immense pressure. If you could take the initiative to show some goodwill, perhaps... you could try to absorb them. Of course, this requires finesse and time to integrate. But at least it would solve your manpower problem. Integrating people from different backgrounds, even those you've had friction with, is also an extremely valuable skill."

Qin Ce swallowed the food in his mouth and looked at Wei Ming, his tone calm but unquestionable: "Teacher Wei, thank you for the advice. However, those with different paths cannot make plans together."

In his mind, he flashed back to how those six had remained silent when Wu Zhou provoked him, and then unhesitatingly sold out mission intelligence after their defeat.

"Unifying people with different interests and philosophies is indeed a skill. But the prerequisite is that these people must have a basic bottom line and loyalty. I don't feel comfortable leaving my back to them."

Except...

What Teacher Wei said was indeed the reality.

"Slow efficiency, lack of intelligence, being isolated..." Qin Ce repeated Wei Ming's words in a low voice, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

He remembered three months ago when he first started; everyone thought that because he had contracted an unappraised Pet Beast, he could never amount to anything.

He remembered during his freshman year, being casually pushed out of seats by those children of the powerful and wealthy.

He remembered standing on the arena stage, facing the six members of the Thunder Squad alone, and the skeptical expressions of everyone below the stage.

"Disadvantages?"

He had never been afraid!

Qin Ce's eyes sharpened: "Since I chose to form a squad alone from the beginning, I was prepared for the problems that come with this situation. If I could defeat a squad by myself before, I can fight a whole class with my squad now. If they choose to band together against me, fine. I also want to test the weight of these so-called 'favored children' of the Elite Class, to see if my 'one-man squad' can tip the scales against this group of so-called elites."

...

The aroma of the food on the canteen table was still wafting, but Qin Ce put down his chopsticks and injected his mental energy into the team token once more.

If the key to squad competition in the senior year was missions,

then he first needed to see exactly what missions were in this team token.

What was the difficulty?

Then, he saw the [Accepted Missions] column.

There were already missions there!

In addition to the mandatory daily mission of "bringing back the corpse of one black iron rank ferocious beast," there were four uncompleted missions listed:

[One-Star Mission: Clear Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodiles]

- Requirement: Kill at least 10 Black Iron High-grade Swamp Rhinoceros Crocodiles and bring back intact crocodile hides.

- Progress: 0/10

- Reward: Base 50 points, ranking bonus up to 50 points

- Remaining completion slots: 6

[One-Star Mission: Expel Golden Claw Shadow Monkeys]

- Requirement: Kill at least 50 Black Iron Mid-grade Golden Claw Shadow Monkeys.

- Progress: 0/50

- Reward: Base 50 points, ranking bonus up to 50 points

- Remaining completion slots: 6

[One-Star Mission: Exterminate Sand Land Poison Scorpions]

- Requirement: Kill at least 30 Black Iron High-grade Sand Land Poison Scorpions and bring back poison sacs.

- Progress: 0/30

- Reward: Base 50 points, ranking bonus up to 50 points

- Remaining completion slots: 6

[Two-Star Mission: Track Cavern Rock Lizards]

- Requirement: Track and mark three Cavern Rock Lizard nests, and bring back at least five Bronze Rank rock lizard corpses.

- Progress: 32% (Three nests marked, rock lizard corpses not yet obtained)

- Reward: Base 200 points, ranking bonus up to 100 points

- Remaining completion slots: 3

Qin Ce's brow furrowed slightly.

Where did these missions come from?

Could it be that because he inherited the Thunder Squad's team token, he naturally inherited these uncompleted missions as well?

The one-star missions were all black iron rank ferocious beasts, which wasn't difficult.

The two-star Bronze Rank ferocious beasts were clearly a solitary species, also within his capabilities.

According to the mission rules, these all had to be completed within this month. Qin Ce calculated the time; there shouldn't be a problem.

With his ability, he wouldn't end up finishing outside the top six and facing point deductions.

Especially that two-star mission with 32% progress—this meant the original Thunder Squad had already invested a lot of time and resources.

It was even less likely for him to fail!

However, what Qin Ce didn't know was that his challenge did not lie in the missions themselves.

Shortly after the dismissal, while Teacher Wei was taking him to collect supplies,

Wu Zhou was already privately contacting various squads with eyes full of resentment.

...