Chapter Fifty: Transcendence

Lin Feier let out a gentle sigh.

The battle was over, but the outcome was not as favorable as she had hoped.

They had failed to wipe out the enemy completely. The duration of Crimson Blood Rain could not be too long, or else the consumption of universal points would be excessive. Once the effect faded, over a hundred—perhaps even more—enemy soldiers regained their strength and escaped.

With each enemy her subordinates felled, her universal points increased. However, without any other units involved, their earnings amounted to only about a quarter of their expenditure.

If it weren’t for his blunder, they could have annihilated the enemy. She glanced at Wright, who stood beside her with his head bowed, having just expressed his willingness to accept any punishment. She reached over and stroked his hair.

After experiencing dozens of ordinary scenarios and risking her life multiple times, she had ultimately constructed three main skills:

Skill 1: Heaven and Earth Wager, Level 6
Effect 1: Randomly generates a number to deal that amount of damage to a target, deducting the same number of universal points (if there are insufficient points, the remainder is dealt to you as double damage).
Effect 2 (Level 4): Can use universal points to pay for the energy cost of other skills.

Skill 2: Crimson Blood Rain, Level 7
Effect 1: Consumes a piece of equipment with over 90% scene compatibility and 90% stamina (replaced by 500,000 universal points due to Heaven and Earth Wager), creating a large-scale blood rain.
The higher the value of the equipment consumed, the greater the area affected; the more stamina consumed, the longer the duration. Casting range is 50 meters. After one minute, the skill consumes an additional 1% of stamina per second (replaced by 10,000 universal points). If universal points are insufficient, the blood rain ceases immediately.
Contact with the blood rain inflicts mental attacks on creatures within the area, lowering their defenses.
Effect 2 (Level 4): Defensive equipment within the rain’s area gradually loses effectiveness over time.
Effect 3 (Level 7): Scene adaptation protection on creatures within the rain’s area is weakened to a certain extent.

Skill 3: Fortune’s Favor
This skill had no clear description. Long after Lin Feier acquired it, she discovered it had two effects.

First, when team members gained universal points by killing enemies or completing tasks, she would receive one-third of those points (team members’ gains are reduced, and they receive no notification).

Second, when other teams were on the same mission as her (regardless of alliance or cooperation), any negative status effects on her would be transferred to them, and this would not be considered an attack.

After she figured all this out, these three skills allowed her to turn battlefields—a nightmare for many contractors—into her own domain. Her influence steadily expanded, her team grew day by day, until she had reached her current level of power.

This was the true source of her strength: the foundation for her indulgence and pleasure, the root of her confidence and composure, the reason for her leisure and nonchalance, and the cause of her subordinates’ loyalty, respect, and trust.

Now, though she had lost some universal points, the enemy would feel the pressure and be unable to expand recklessly; and after this victory, her subordinates’ confidence in triumph would be restored. Some betrayers would reconsider their choices.

Once reinforcements from the Han army arrived, her forces would firmly suppress the Yellow Turban rebels before them. When the time came, victory would be hers.

Her hand slid down, caressing his cheek. “It’s fine. They’re just outsiders.”

“I know you did this because you love me, didn’t you?”

Wright trembled, clearly overwhelmed with joy and excitement at her understanding.

She drew him into her embrace. “In the future, even if it’s for my sake, don’t act on your own like this, alright?”

There was no doubt he would be even more loyal, even more dedicated to carrying out her every command.

Victory always thrilled her. After a great battle, she needed to relax and enjoy herself, and this fresh and delicious morsel had been left waiting too long—it was time to savor it.

----

“He made such a demand and left you to choose?”

After Wang Luo had revealed his hand, Zhou Suyan wept in Charles’s tent, pouring her grievances about her humiliation to the former vice-captain of Wu Zhou.

“Wait, by the timing, the battle should be starting soon.” Charles checked his watch, picked up the phone, and dialed.

Indeed, after he arrived at the Revolutionary Army’s main camp, another phone had been handed from Zhou Suyan to Wu Zhou’s side. Now, it was Red Electric—the man who always wore black, a head taller than the other team members, previously mentioned—who held the other handset.

It took quite a while to connect. After a brief conversation, Charles broke into a smile.

“We won the battle,” he said after hanging up. “Just as I expected. This counts as our contribution, and the captain is willing to forgive us. Gru just got reprimanded, but we don’t need to worry about him.”

“I know you can’t stand him. If it’s really unbearable, going back isn’t out of the question. You found the marching route, after all—that’s a major contribution. But if you ask for my opinion, I suggest you stay by his side. He wants your obedience? That’s easy—just pretend to submit! Gathering this kind of intelligence is what’s truly critical for the bigger picture.”

“Both sides are strong now. What we’re doing is the most advantageous. No matter which side wins in the end, we’ll be able to stand with the victors.”

Her gaze at him was complicated, but in the end, she said nothing and merely nodded.

----

“Are you willing to surrender?”

In the Revolutionary Army’s camp, Rank heard the question and looked up at his interrogator.

A contractor as well—black hair, black eyes, seemingly Chinese. He lowered his head again, and the other made no further inquiry.

Intense pain seared his soul. Since entering this scenario, one defeat after another had driven this naturally optimistic man to the brink of collapse.

After the first defeat, he thought only of making up the losses; after the second, he longed to avenge his teammates. But after yet another failure, he had completely lost faith in himself.

Why had it turned out this way? Wouldn’t he just fail again next time? If he surrendered, the Yellow Turban contractors wouldn’t kill him, but what would be the point? He’d just fail again in the end.

Beside him, Getini chose to surrender. But what difference did it make? Whatever he did, he would lose.

Maybe this wasn’t real, just a nightmare. Maybe, if he opened his eyes again, he’d find himself resting in his own room. He and his buddies had just entered interstellar space, piloting the Gundam and Zaku they’d spent their life savings on, winning runner-up at the exhibition. They’d gotten carried away with excitement, and now he’d dreamed all this up.

Yes, this was a warning for the future—he’d need to be careful in the next scenario. Ancient battlefield scenes seriously suppressed weapons like Gundams, so he’d have to be cautious. At first, Wu Zhou’s team had made preparations; he could go with them. And at night, he had to watch out for the valley, where the enemy had set fire traps; he couldn’t trust Wu Zhou’s intel, or he’d walk right into an ambush...

He began to cry.

“Well, well, Captain Rank.” At that moment, a familiar voice sounded by his ear. “What a coincidence.”