Group Action

Xiao Qi led Long Ming out of the office and toward the stairs. A large number of club members were arriving for work just then, and they all smiled and greeted Xiao Qi when they saw her. "Xiao Qi, no shift for you today?" "Mm, I'm leading a team today!" Xiao Qi replied with a sweet smile. "Huh, who's that behind you? I've never seen him before!" A rugged-featured, hearty-looking middle-aged man eyed the fellow trailing behind her with some curiosity. "This is Mr. Long Ming. He just joined our Rat Squad Five, and I'm taking him along on a guild group quest right now." Xiao Qi introduced him to Li Gao. "Got it." Li Gao smiled as he looked at Long Ming's handsome face. Soon Long Ming followed Xiao Qi up to the second floor. Compared to the star café's second-floor layout, the club's was open-plan. Row after row of reclining gaming chairs, each with a helmet mounted at the top. Players could lie back in the chairs, put on their game helmets, and play Civilization Paradise. Nearly half the chairs already had players stretched out in them, already inside the game. Xiao Qi explained warmly. "These game helmets are all shared — there are no assigned seats. Anyone in the guild can use them." "Mm." Long Ming nodded indifferently. "Xiao Qi, you're here." An eager-to-please voice came over just then. Long Ming turned to look. Cao Jie was walking up with a few friends, all beams and smiles, to greet Xiao Qi. "What does it matter to you whether I show up or not? You're battle group, and I'm Rat Squad." Xiao Qi's attitude turned cold at once — a far cry from how she treated Long Ming. At her words, the smile on Cao Jie's face froze. Then he noticed Long Ming beside Xiao Qi, and his heart sank, though he still asked without letting anything show. "Xiao Qi, who's this?" "Mr. Long Ming, a new member of our squad. Is that a problem?" Xiao Qi replied coldly. "Of course not." Hearing that, Cao Jie's eyes grew all the warier as they rested on Long Ming. What a joke. Xiao Qi might be in charge of Rat Squad Five, but the Rat Squad had plenty of people — when would she ever need to lead a team herself? And the more Cao Jie looked at Long Ming, the more familiar he seemed. Then it hit him — wasn't this the guy whose Weiliao Xiao Qi had tried to get before? A barely noticeable trace of hostility appeared on Cao Jie's face. Long Ming keenly sensed that hostility too, and a hint of puzzlement rose in his eyes as he rapidly searched his memory. Before long he confirmed that he had never seen this man before. "Long Ming, go ahead and log in. I'm going to change. The assembly point is in Fanxing City, coordinates 7784, 5214, 1523. Whatever you do, don't go to the wrong place." Xiao Qi stopped paying Cao Jie any attention and gave Long Ming his instructions. "Okay." Long Ming nodded, found a reclining gaming chair, lay down in it, and put on a game helmet. Swoosh! When Long Ming opened his eyes again, he was already inside Fanxing City. He raised his wristband to check his location, then headed for the assembly point. Before long, Long Ming arrived near it. Right ahead of him stretched a dark mass of players, all wearing matching armbands on their shoulders, and their numbers were still growing. He didn't know a single one of them, so he stood in place and waited alone. He raised his wristband for a look: it was about ten minutes to 8:30, so he idly flipped through the wristband's various screens. When Long Ming got to his character status, surprise flashed across his face. At some point, without his noticing, his agility and intelligence had become 6 points. Long Ming frowned and queried the wristband, but found no notification of any kind. Then he suddenly remembered something. When he'd jumped through that window, his movements really had felt unusually nimble — Shi Qiang and the others hadn't even been able to reach the window. But when exactly had his base attributes grown? And what conditions did growing them require? That left Long Ming rather baffled. "Long Ming." A sweet voice came over just then. Long Ming looked up and saw Xiao Qi walking straight toward him. She had shed the maid outfit and changed into a fitted camouflage uniform, her ponytail tucked away and a cap on her head. In an instant, the sweet maid image had turned into that of a dashing, capable woman. "Xiao Qi, you're here." "Mm." "Xiao Qi, why are there so many people here? How many are taking part this time?" Long Ming asked, curious. "Not many — two thousand. One thousand are battle members, and one thousand are Rat Squad." Xiao Qi explained with a smile. "Oh." Long Ming nodded. Just then the noisy scene suddenly went quiet. Long Ming turned instinctively to look. Mila was coming over with a group of people, dressed in a gray combat uniform, a brand-new rifle in her hands. She was a completely different person from her old sexy, seductive persona. "Captain Mila!" The battle personnel greeted her one after another. "All battle personnel, start your head counts!" Mila gave the order crisply. Watching this scene, Long Ming asked Xiao Qi curiously. "Manager Mila plays too? Doesn't she need to keep an eye on the star café?" "Our star café has five managers who rotate shifts! Each manager leads one battle team — Sister Mila leads the Fifth Battle Team, our regular partners." Xiao Qi gave Long Ming a rough explanation. "Mm." At that, a thoughtful look crossed Long Ming's face. It seemed the five managers must have been appointed by the five shareholders. Then again, that sort of arrangement was perfectly normal in a partnership setup. Seeing that most of the Rat Squad members had arrived, Xiao Qi walked to the front and addressed the crowd. "Everyone, listen up. At 8:30 sharp, use your Level 1 random civilization experience scrolls. And remember, time it to the second — not a second more, not a second less!" "Understood!" "Once you're matched into the transmission platform, everyone gather and regroup toward the northwest corner. Whoever on site has the highest guild rank will take command, and everyone obeys unconditionally." "Yes." The crowd answered one after another. "Everyone, take out your Level 1 random civilization experience scrolls now and get ready!" Xiao Qi pulled a trial ticket from her backpack. Long Ming took one out as well and kept his eyes lowered on the time displayed on his wristband. The seconds ticked away, and soon it was 8:29. Then Mila and Xiao Qi called out to the whole assembly. "Sixty-second countdown." "Three!" "Two!" "One!" Long Ming activated the trial ticket in his hand in an instant. Swoosh! As the trial ticket in his hand lit up, Long Ming was engulfed in white light. When the white light faded, he was standing on a small mechanical platform shaped like a spinning top. The entire platform was packed with people. Long Ming immediately ran toward the northwest corner, and before long he spotted Mila, Cao Jie, Xiao Qi, and the others. He was a little surprised — he hadn't expected to be matched together with them. Then Mila called out crisply. "Head count!" "Yes!" Cao Jie and the others began counting at once.