The Quota

The headcount soon came out: 80 combat personnel had matched in, along with 126 Rat Squad members, for a total of 206. Then Mila and Xiao Qi called out. "Everyone, form up in teams of five. Group yourselves!" "Yes!" People began forming teams on the spot. Long Ming turned to look at the companions around him. He didn't recognize a single one. They were busy teaming up with one another. "Johnny, let's team up!" "Sure!" Long Ming glanced around, spotted a four-person team hunting for a fifth member, and walked over. "Hello, care to team up?" The bald man leading the group gave Long Ming a once-over. Seeing that he didn't even have a knife in hand, only a starter backpack on his back, the man grinned. "Bro, you're a pure newbie, aren't you?" "More or less." Long Ming nodded. "Try somebody else." The bald man turned him down flat and walked off with his companions to look for others. At that, the Rat Squad members nearby all steered clear of Long Ming too. Sure, they were all cannon fodder, trash pickers—but even trash pickers had a pecking order. A pure newbie like Long Ming, without so much as the most basic gear in hand, was the last person anyone wanted on their team. Since nobody was willing to team up with him, Long Ming simply stood there quietly. He wasn't all that bothered, honestly. When Xiao Qi saw him standing there alone with no one willing to take him, she came over with three teammates. "Mr. Long Ming, you haven't found a team yet, have you?" "Mm." Long Ming nodded slightly. "Why don't you join ours?" Xiao Qi extended the invitation. Beside her, a petite woman with fair, delicate skin and clear, bright eyes stared in disbelief. "Seventh Sis? You're teaming up with this newbie?" "Yeah—isn't that a bad idea?" A huge, powerfully built man with stubble on his chin looked just as baffled. "Yun Yu, He Zhong, what's wrong with it?" Xiao Qi frowned slightly. "We're just worried he won't be able to keep up." Yun Yu explained with a smile. "Right! Our own tasks are heavy enough as it is. We don't have the energy to look after him. Better to let somebody else take him along." He Zhong chimed in. But the last member of the group—a rather handsome man with a few freckles and glossy hair gel worked through his hair—said ingratiatingly: "I support Seventh Sis's decisions unconditionally. Seventh Sis is never wrong." "Tch." Yun Yu rolled her eyes at Tang Ye. Long Ming just stood there quietly and said nothing. He knew perfectly well he wasn't welcome. But he had no intention of passing up Xiao Qi's invitation. After all, Xiao Qi was the chief captain of the Fifth Rat Squad—following her was surely the fastest way to get intelligence and learn how the guild actually ran. "All right, that's settled. Let's see what civilization world we matched to." Xiao Qi said to Yun Yu and the others. At that, Long Ming lowered his head and checked his wristband. Transmission Platform No. 115 Civilization opened: Kamduo Civilization level: 1 People: 887/1000 The name Kamduo felt completely foreign to Long Ming. He had never matched with it before. Yun Yu looked at Xiao Qi in confusion. "Seventh Sis, we matched into Kamduo. What kind of world is that?" "That world... it sounds so familiar." For a moment Xiao Qi couldn't place it either. Then a delighted shout came from nearby. "Sister Mila, we matched into the infected world!" "Excellent!" At her subordinate's report, a bewitching smile spread across Mila's face. Plenty of the girls around, though, started complaining. "No way. Talk about bad luck—matched into a zombie world. That's terrifying!" "Right? It's so gross!" "I got gnawed to death by a pack of zombies once. It gave me nightmares for several nights." Meanwhile He Zhong slapped his thigh in excitement and turned to Xiao Qi. "Haha, Seventh Sis, we've struck it rich!" "Mm. What incredible luck." Xiao Qi was thrilled too. Long Ming asked, puzzled. "Why are you all so happy?" "Mr. Long Ming, you may not know this yet. Worlds matched through trial tickets are usually dirt-poor, but this infected world is one of the lucrative ones. There's real hope for the team's quota this time." Xiao Qi couldn't help letting out a breath of relief, a brilliant smile on her face. "Quota? The Rat Legion has quotas too?" "Of course. This time we need to bring in 10 million Yiwei coins in earnings." "10 million? That's not so bad. Do the battle groups have quotas too?" Long Ming did the math in his head. Ten million in earnings really was a lot for one person—but spread across a 1,000-person Rat Legion, it averaged out to 10,000 apiece, which wasn't much at all. "Of course they do. Their quotas are even higher. It's not just earnings—there are quotas for intelligence gathering, kills, all sorts of things." Xiao Qi gave him a quick explanation. "Mm." Hearing all this gave Long Ming a headache. Thank goodness he hadn't officially joined the guild—those quotas would be rough to meet. Still, it made sense. A guild wasn't a charity. The guild master had poured in so much effort and money; of course it had to turn a profit. Then the headcount reached 1000/1000. The patterns on the surface of the mechanical obelisk at the platform's center lit up, flashing with dazzling light. Whoosh— White light swallowed everyone. When Long Ming came back to himself, he was standing in a huge, dim factory building. It was a light-steel structure, with rusted steel and tools scattered about. Mila, Xiao Qi, and the rest of the guild members were all inside the factory—though a few unlucky solo players had been mixed in with them. Cao Jie and the others were already there with tactical daggers drawn, surrounding those few unlucky solo players. "Big bro, let's talk this over—!" "Ahh—" Before they could even finish begging for their lives, Cao Jie and the others moved in and cut them down one by one. At this sight, a guess instantly formed in Long Ming's mind. If everyone crowded together on the transmission platform, there was a chance they would be teleported together when the instance opened. That was why the big guilds' people had managed to regroup so quickly. "Everyone, gather around!" Mila clapped her hands, calling everyone over. Long Ming followed Xiao Qi across. Mila swept her eyes over the crowd, confirmed everyone was present, and spoke gravely. "Everyone, we got lucky and entered Kamduo, a level-1 civilization. According to our current intelligence, this instance is a zombie-infection-type world. The yields are extremely rich—especially weapons, medication, and food!" "Understood!" Xiao Qi and the others nodded. "Now, first we confirm the evacuation points. There are three in total around us; the nearest is 10 kilometers out. Jiang Ying, you take a squad and go seize that evacuation point—and hold it!" Mila raised her hand to glance at the map, then turned to a dark-skinned, briskly capable man. "No problem." Jiang Ying gave a grim, decisive nod. "All of you, listen carefully. Evacuation points are limited, so without my order, no one uses one on their own. We wait until everyone has arrived, and only then do we use them together." Mila fixed a pointed look on the Rat Legion as she gave the warning. "Yes!" Xiao Qi and the others answered at once. An evacuation point could only be used once—but a single use could send everyone out together. "Now we divide the work. All combat personnel, 80 in total—that's 16 squads. Aside from Jiang Ying's squad, the rest will fan out from our current position, clearing all monsters and players along the way. Remember: except for special buildings, combat teams do not search." "Understood!" Cao Jie and the others all replied. Mila turned to Xiao Qi. "Xiao Qi, your Rat Squad sets out a little later. Follow the routes the combat teams clear and search every building along the way. Remember to gather plenty of medication and supplies like that. Those things are very valuable, and they're easy to sell." "I understand, Sister Mila." Xiao Qi nodded.