I'm A Wasteland Giant

Chapter 340: 339: Promotion Mission!

Upon returning to reality, Du Gang turned his head and saw another figure, who, just like him, was peering around curiously.

It was Zhang Xinyi, who had also participated in the solo assessment task. It seemed she had passed.

“You passed?”

“Yes!”

Du Gang curiously asked, “Can you share what you encountered inside?”

For him, the Heavenly Court had crafted a film-drama scenario based on the memories in his mind.

He wanted to know what kind of task world Zhang Xinyi had experienced.

Zhang Xinyi didn’t hide anything and laughingly said, “The task was quite simple this time. I was just asked to kill five demon cultivators. I joined the righteous path people and exterminated demons everywhere, and I finally accomplished the task!”

Seeing her halt, Du Gang was surprised and exclaimed, “That’s it?!”

“Yeah, that’s it!”

Zhang Xinyi looked puzzled, what else would it be?!

Du Gang opened his mouth and asked, “How many tasks did you have?!”

“Just one, kill five demon cultivators!”

He realized that the tasks given to him by the Heavenly Court had traps, while those given to others might not!

That’s just not fair…

Suddenly, a thought struck him. Zhang Xinyi was directly hired by the Heavenly Court, rather than entering like the others via the Summoning Jade Pendant.

So, was Zhang Xinyi special and treated differently by the Heavenly Court?

If that’s the case, her dad would be flabbergasted…

After all, with Zhang Xinyi’s special status, going solo was clearly more fun, but if she joined him, it would be a disaster. The difficulty level would rise from easy to hard.

However, he didn’t say anything about it and laughed it off, “Well done, my task was also quite simple. Delivered a matrimonial affair and then killed three monsters, and that’s it!”

Zhang Xinyi was not interested in his monster hunting, but she curiously pressed about the matrimonial affair he had mentioned.

Out of options, Du Gang had to weave a love story for her.

As for the matter of Ning Caichen, he did not mention a word.

In the following days, Du Gang made preparations at the Jiuyang Villa.

He sorted out the films and dramas he had watched in his mind.

Given what had previously happened, he feared that similar stories might come up in the future.

Time went by, and since the last grand event, it seemed the entire continent calmed down, with no major events happening.

Even the Human Ranking had not changed for two months, as if people had forgotten all about it.

Finally, as the last day of the third month ended, Du Gang and Zhang Xinyi once again received a message from the Heavenly Court, urging them to enter as soon as possible.

This time, the two people entered at the same location as before.

“It seems that the entrance location is chosen based on proximity, and if you’re close enough, you will enter at the same place!”

With Zhang Youwei surreptitiously safeguarding them, they quickly arrived at the nearby entrance and decided to proceed.

As soon as Du Gang entered the Heavenly Court space, he used the Golden Scroll.

[Ding, you have used the Golden Scroll and can create a Golden Team. Please name your team!]

Du Gang had long thought of a name, and he blurted out, “Ace Team!”

[Ding, naming successful. Your team is Ace Team, current members: 1 person.]

After forming the team, Du Gang quickly sent out invitations, first inviting Zhang Xinyi.

“Shua!”

Having been briefing beforehand, Zhang Xinyi had no surprises when she arrived.

The only difference was that the space where Du Gang was located started expanding, and two doors appeared not far away.

“That is an individual space gate, leading to a world that the homeowner can imagine freely!”

Du Gang nodded his head and chose to invite again.

At his invitation, Tao Xuanzhu and Kou Yingwu also joined the team.

“My goodness, Du Gang, you actually made it to the top of the Human Ranking?”

As soon as Kou Yingwu entered, he began to squeal, entirely lacking his usual composure.

It was no surprise, a team member who was originally weaker than him had, in just one or two tasks, become the strongest. It was too exaggerated!

Du Gang shrugged and asked, “Have you guys completed your assessment tasks?”

He couldn’t contact the two in reality, so he thought he would ask.

“We did it!”

Tao Xuanzhu confidently said.

She reckoned that Du Gang, most likely, would participate in the solo assessment task after she found out that he was first in the Human Ranking, thus she had completed her task last time.

“I did it too!”

Kou Yingwu spoke with a smug expression on his face.

Du Gang laughed and said, “Since both of you have completed it, this time we can all enter together!”

“Enter together?”

Kou Yingwu frowned, “I heard that if we team up for the advancement task, the other people we encounter will also be in teams!”

Du Gang laughed and said, “What, are you scared? If you’re scared, you can participate alone, and the three of us will join…”

“No, no, no, I took the individual assessment early so I could team up with you. I’m not scared, I’m just worried for our team!”

Kou Yingwu gave a sycophantic chuckle, “You’re number one on the Human Ranking now. Being with you is definitely better than being alone!”

Du Gang shook his head, “Not necessarily, considering Heavenly Court’s methods. I suspect they won’t let us use our true bodies to descend for this one.”

He had discovered a secret that no one else seemed aware of.

He participated in a lot of missions using the Descending Mode.

For the others, they encountered Descending Mode perhaps once in ten or more missions, usually in a high-level red mission.

But for him, five out of six times he was playing in Descending Mode. This indicated a lot about him.

He suspected that this was related to the different training methods of the Heavenly Court.

For others, they went through training as a fighting force, so naturally, they didn’t use Descending Mode much. After all, Descending Mode often symbolized strategy!

However, he had more rounds in the Descending Mode, indicating that Heavenly Court might have been nurturing him into a strategist, or at least someone who can think on their feet.

“In that case, I’ll just apply for the four-person team assessment mission!”

“Sounds good!”

“No problem!”

The four of them had previously participated in a theme park pass experience together, so they were already familiar with each other.

“Who would have thought that last time we joined as single participants, but this time, two of us are already paired up!”

Kou Yingwu winked at Du Gang with a teasing expression.

Du Gang ignored him and quietly waited with his eyes closed for the mission to come.

After some time, it was time for the mission, and the four were taken away by the teleportation channel.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

Shadowy figures appeared on an moving platform.

Du Gang and his team appeared on the platform as well.

“It really is Descending Mode!”

Kou Yingwu looked at Du Gang in stunned surprise. His body had turned back into that of an ordinary person.

The same had happened to everyone else. The only relief was that the gender of the team members remained unchanged — there were still two males and two females.

“This time, there’s no purple power progress bar, meaning we’ve entered a world completely controlled by the Heavenly Court!”

Du Gang quickly observed this situation and gazed around at everyone else.

“There are so many people in the mission world this time!”

“Yeah, looks like there might be two to three hundred people!”

“No, it should be four hundred!”

Du Gang nodded, “Under normal circumstances, the survival rate is one percent, but since the four of us are teamed, we will likely encounter other four-person teams. Even if some people don’t know each other, they would form teams together…”

The reason he said this was from the expression on the faces of the people who appeared on the platform at the same time as him.

In the short span of three seconds, the number of participants for advancement was full. As Du Gang had said, there were four hundred people on the platform.

[Ding, the mission world for this time is: Deserted Island Survival Mode!]

[There are a total of 100 participating teams this time, each team consists of 4 people, totaling 400 people].

[Deserted Island Survival Mode: After a ten-minute waiting period, everyone will be automatically placed on a plane and begin to fly along a predetermined course…]

[There are various food, weapons, and equipment on the island that can be used as you see fit. Your only goal of surviving is to kill members of other teams and be the last one standing!]

[Note: Every ten minutes, a poison circle will appear. Anyone outside the poison circle will be attacked by poison gas!]

Du Gang listened to the notification sounds in his ear and slowly went blank.

This familiar introduction was very similar to the survival game he played on Earth.

No, it was the same. The only difference was that back then it was a game, but now it was a mission. If you died, you were truly dead!

Unlike him, the others all furrowed their brows and looked troubled. After all, this game was too complicated and too strange for them.

[You cannot attack each other at Spawn Point, Countdown: 09:59]

After the last notification ended, everyone was confused.

“The most urgent task now is to understand the rules here!”

“Right, let’s figure out the rules first, then kill the others!”

The people on the platform separated into groups of four, watching the other groups warily.

Here, there was absolutely no crawling on the ground like there was when playing survival games on Earth.

This was a real death game. Once you died, you were really dead. No one dared to act recklessly.

Even those who formed teams temporarily and didn’t know each other at all had to unite reluctantly.

Kou Yingwu was also quite flustered, “Du Gang, we should discuss it…”

The other two came over immediately.

Du Gang gave a nonchalant smile and shook his head, “No need to discuss. I have an idea. Just follow me when the time comes!”

Seeing his attitude, the other three breathed a sigh of relief.

A survival rate of one percent was too terrifying, particularly in an unfamiliar environment.

If it were their real bodies, they wouldn’t be afraid. Apart from Du Gang being first on the Human Ranking, the others also had their own strengths and could handle any situation that came their way.

Unlike the other teams, who were having heated discussions, Du Gang’s team was unusually quiet.

Soon, ten minutes passed.

Everyone’s vision blurred for a moment, and they found themselves on a giant airplane. The airplane had more than ten exits for parachuting.

Each of them was wearing something resembling a parachute.

“[The map is on your wristwatches, and the plane’s flight path is included. Be advised, the poison circle will appear 10 minutes after you all land…]

Suddenly, everyone starts to check the map on their wrists.

Du Gang also checks his and, sure enough, it’s the familiar desert map. Each gathering area has a different name.

Besides that, there is a special line marked with the word ‘flight path’.

This path goes from southeast to northwest, beginning from Puluo Port under Lion City, passing through Pica duo and the power station, going through Ibo City, and ending at the ruins.

Moreover, on this path, there is a model of an airplane, representing their current location.

“Are we supposed to go to Puluo Port?”

Someone looks at the map and raises a question.

Seeing this, Du Gang stands up immediately, beckons the other three to follow him, swiftly walks to a parachute exit, and without another word, jumps out.

“Idiot, going down like this is practically suicide!”

“Yeah, the first one to get down is definitely going to die. According to my understanding, these map names must have some hidden meanings!”

“Exactly, like the one named ‘prison’ definitely isn’t a good place. But I have a good feeling about that military base…”

After jumping off the plane, Du Gang begins to drift in the direction he recalled from the map, and the other three are being flown with him, holding hands.

“Du Gang, where are we going to?!”

Kou Yingwu looks dazed. Despite the wind blowing incessantly in his mouth, he asks about their situation.

To appease their worries, Du Gang replies with two words, “Quiet!”

Tao Xuanzhu and Zhang Xinyi never thought of saying anything while midair, with no magical protection and merely their ordinary human bodies resisting the force. It was too much of a nuisance, and they didn’t want it that way.

After floating in the air for a few tens of seconds, as soon as they can spot a church in the distance, Du Gang shouts again: “Pull the ripcord, aim for the church!”

Immediately, the other three follow suit, all of them pulling their ripcord and flying towards the church.

Although none of them has ever parachuted before, they are all powerful beings after all and manage to control their movements quite well. They land neatly in the vicinity of the church.

“Du Gang, are we supposed to take over this church….”

Kou Yingwu has barely finished speaking when Du Gang shakes his head, runs towards a pickup truck, and yells, “Don’t enter the building! Get in the car with me. We need to relocate!”

“???”

The other three are quite perplexed, but they still completely trust Du Gang. They quickly follow him and get into the car.

Just as the three of them were wondering what this thing is and how to use it, Du Gang, who is very familiar with it, starts it up and pushes the throttle to start moving.

“This is a tool used by ordinary people. You probably don’t know, but I used to be an ordinary person too, from an ordinary country…”

And so, Du Gang drives the other three, heading west.

Zhang Xinyi, sitting in the passenger seat, looks at the map on her wrist. “We’re currently on this road heading west. Du Gang, where are we going?”

On the map, the locations and numbers of the four people are displayed.

While focusing on driving, Du Gang replies without turning back, “Prison!”

Seeing him not wanting to talk more, the other three in the car start guessing.

“Do you think there’s anything unusual about ‘prison’?”

“Don’t know!”

“Do you think there might be something good inside that could get us through?!”

The three of them are all guessing randomly. They know nothing about the specifics of this game, just that only one team can survive in the end. As time passes, the poison circle will force them to get closer together.

“Du Gang, the instructions said there were weapons in the buildings. Aren’t we going to pick them up?”

Du Gang shakes his head, “No rush. Let’s go to the ‘prison’ first and loot there!”

The car speeds up, the throttle is pushed to its limit and in no time, they cross a bridge and reach the island to the southwest.

“There are two bridges connecting the island to the mainland. This one we took is here!”

Zhang Xinyi says this and marks it for Du Gang, worried he might forget.

Du Gang chuckles lightly, “No need. I’ve got this mission pretty much covered. All that’s left is to verify it slowly!”

After a few more minutes of driving, the car finally arrives at the ‘prison’. The four of them hurriedly get out of the car.

Du Gang leads the four of them to a two-story cottage. After entering the door, they begin to search.

In no time, bulletproof vests and helmets, firearms, energy drinks, and other things are collected.

First, he explains to everyone what defensive and offensive equipment they should take. Then, he says: “These energy drinks, medical kits, and bandages, grab them whenever you see them. Take as many as you can. Did you get that?”

“Also, no need for too much ammunition, three mags per person…”

Soon, under Du Gang’s guidance, the three of them started searching for supplies separately.

He’s played several survival games. They all have similarities and minor differences. For example, in some games, bandages can’t heal poison damage, while in others they can.

That’s why he told everyone to bring them along—it’s for resisting the poison!

This survival mission, with 400 people and only 4 can survive, implies that they must be extremely cautious!

This isn’t a game. If you die, it means you actually die!

So, surviving till the end is the best strategy!

Otherwise, jumping like this, when everyone is just an ordinary person, dying would be a real waste.

Soon, the first ten minutes are up, Kou Yingwu yells: “Du Gang, the Poison Circle has appeared, it seems to be locked onto the northeastern direction, the upper half of the map!”

Du Gang hears this, lowers his head to verify, and sure enough, the map from the old industrial zone has spread to the northwest direction. Their location and several cities connected to the island are all outside the circle.

“What should we do, should we leave now?!”

Du Gang shakes his head, “Keep searching!”

As he spoke, he filled the car with several barrels of petrol. At the same time, he stored a few more barrels in the trunk.

Although the Poison Circle had emerged, there were still ten minutes before it started to shrink. This was the time that Heavenly Court had intentionally left for everyone.

The intention was to allow everyone to gradually familiarise themselves with the game.

In fact, the moment Du Gang received the task, he had roughly determined the direction for this challenge – he was going to hunker down within the Poison Circle!

None of the participants truly understood what the Poison Circle was unless they had actually experienced it.

In their eyes, the Poison Circle was synonymous with certain death. Therefore, the majority of people would undoubtedly be afraid to linger outside the circle.

Just like Kou Yingwu before, when he discovered that the Poison Circle was in the northeast direction, he was desperate to leave.

This provided an opportunity for Du Gang.

Let the others fight desperately to reduce the number of competitors while they played it safe.

Fortunately, each individual’s wristwatch displayed the number of survivors.

In just this short ten minutes, the number of survivors had dropped to three hundred.

That meant that one hundred people had already been killed in combat.

Soon, another ten minutes passed. The entire prison had been searched thoroughly. Everyone was now fully armed and carrying various weapons.

“Du Gang, as you suggested, we have collected all the medical kits and beverages from the prison. Is it time to enter the Poison Circle now?”

Kou Yingwu looked worriedly at the map. At this moment, a blackish circle was slowly closing in on the map towards the center. The regions encompassed by it had turned dark grey and seemed extremely ominous, as if everything within it was destined to die.

Looking at the map, Du Gang felt a ripple of doubt. Wasn’t this map potentially misleading to others?

Only he, who had played related games before, understood it better.

In this case, was the Heavenly Court favoring him?

Or…

He looked at Zhang Xinyi, the only person who had been actively recruited by the Heavenly Court.

They might not be favoring him, but possibly favoring Zhang Xinyi. Because she was his teammate, had the Heavenly Court designed a game that only he knew about?

“No, we’ll stay here and wait for the Poison Circle to come.”

“What?!?”

The three of them exclaimed in unison, “Have you lost your mind?”

Du Gang replied calmly, “If you trust me, stay here. If you don’t, see that car across the road? Get in and go.”

“Your words, of course, we trust you, but this…”

“Trust me, just wait. No more discussions. I’m the leader.”

All three turned silent.

However, Zhang Xinyi soon laughed and said, “You are my husband, of course I trust you. I will stay with you.”

The other two, Tao Xuanzhu and Kou Yingwu, had their faces changing color. As they looked at the dark grey Poison Circle on the map, their eyebrows furrowed.

In their view, the Poison Circle was synonymous with certain death. To stay was to die, wasn’t it?

But now, after Du Gang said such things, they felt somewhat helpless.

After hesitating for around thirty seconds, both of them finally made up their minds, “We’ll stay.”

They did so because they had even done solo tasks in order to team up with Du Gang. They saw his wisdom and strength, and now that he had made a decision, how could they suddenly not trust him?!

So, both of them made up their minds, and repeatedly thought to themselves that if this time they survived the Poison Circle, they would obey whatever Du Gang said from then on without any objections!

The Poison Circle didn’t shrink rapidly, but their location was at the edge of the map, so naturally, they were enveloped in it first.

“Ah!”

Kou Yingwu closed his eyes and cried out, looking like he was about to die.

After three seconds without realizing that he had died, he finally opened his eyes, “I’m not dead?!!”

Du Gang didn’t pay him any attention but carefully examined the column regarding life value on his wristwatch.

As expected, a line of status appeared in the life-value column.

[Current Life: 99]

[Current Status: Poisoned, 1 Life Value/Minute]

He smiled, revealing a hint of amusement in the corners of his lips, “One life point per minute, that’s too slow!”

“You all look at the life status column on your wristwatches, and you’ll understand my meaning!”

Upon hearing this, the other three quickly checked.

After a while, Tao Xuanzhu was the first to understand, “Are you planning to have us hunker down within the Poison Circle until everyone else dies?!!”

Du Gang smiled, “Yes, but we won’t be hiding in the Poison Circle the entire time. Based on my calculations, with each contraction of the circle, the amount of life deducted due to poisoning will increase. It will probably become difficult to endure in the later stages!”

“A bandage can restore 30 life points, a large medical kit 70 life points. Along with the energy beverages, we should collect as many of these supplies as possible to endure longer within the Poison Circle!”

After saying this, he entered the car.

“Didn’t you say we’re enduring the Poison Circle?” a confused Kou Yingwu asked.

Du Gang laughed, “Yes, we are, but we need supplies. Let’s go to the next city and continue collecting items!”

“Is what we’ve collected not enough yet?!”

Kou Yingwu was astonished seeing the supplies packed in the car.

“Not enough!”

Du Gang kicked Kou Yingwu off the car, “You go drive the one over there. Also, when we gather next time, bring some petrol cans, fill up the car with fuel, and then put a few cans in the trunk…”

After handing out the instructions, Du Gang drove off with the two girls towards the southern mines. Seeing this, Kou Yingwu quickly followed in his vehicle.