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Hearing this, Long Ming also lapsed into silence. No wonder solo players had such a hard time surviving. Against methods and playstyles like theirs, a solo player couldn't possibly compete. If nothing else, take this instance as an example: out of a thousand players, over two hundred belonged to their guild. That was a remarkably high match rate, and many aspects could be controlled by design. For instance, when queuing, all the major guilds coordinated their timing to avoid matching against other guilds, aiming to draw solo players as much as possible. Even if they ran into each other through bad luck, their alliance roster would filter out part of the threat, while unfamiliar guilds would reach compromises out of mutual caution. What was more, the game had been open for less than ten days, yet they had already developed so many strategies. Moving forward, things would likely become even tougher for solo players. Just then, Mila issued an order to all the combat personnel. "Move out!" Cao Jie and a few others immediately walked up to the factory building's closed heavy door, pressed against it to listen to the outside, and seeing nothing amiss, pulled it open. Clatter— The iron door rattled aside. Mila led her squad out with vigilance. Once she confirmed there was no danger, she gave a wave toward the other combat units behind her. The numerous combat squads filed out one after another, then fanned out by unit. Long Ming and the others turned their eyes toward Xiao Qi. "Everyone stick with me. Without my order, no one acts on their own!" With that, Xiao Qi led the group through the doorway and onto the street outside. A hazy morning mist carried a rancid stench of rot, drifting among the weathered buildings all around. Long Ming looked around. The concrete-paved street was riddled with fissures, and dark red bloodstains could be seen everywhere. Vehicles were piled up in multi-car collisions, and streetlamps on both sides of the road lay toppled onto the pavement. In the surrounding buildings, windowpanes were shattered; gusts of breeze blew through them, howling in a dissonant clamor. Scanning along the street, he saw no monsters yet. Mila led her team forward a short distance, then spotted one or two figures loitering in the mist. Looking closely, those wandering silhouettes were corpse monsters with rotting faces and blood-spattered clothes. "What disgusting monsters," Yun Yu and the other girls murmured in nervous fright. "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you." At that, several Rat Squad members confidently drew handguns from their pockets. Although most people joined the Rat Squad to make money, some players weren't here just for the cash; they were mostly here to show off and hit on girls. Cao Jie glanced sideways at Xiao Qi and volunteered to Mila, "Captain, leave these corpse monsters to us!" "Go ahead. Don't make too much noise." Looking at the wandering zombies, Mila gave a slight nod. "Understood!" Cao Jie calmly strode toward the nearest emaciated corpse monster. Long Ming and the others turned their gaze toward him. Cao Jie showed no intention of using firearms. With an effortless flourish, he drew his tactical dagger from his tactical belt. The scrawny corpse monster quickly caught scent of Cao Jie, turned around unsteadily, and lunged at him with its jaws wide open. Cao Jie thrust out his left hand and clamped down on the monster's jaw, then cleanly drew the tactical dagger in his right hand across its neck. Black blood sprayed everywhere. Its throat severed, the corpse monster collapsed to the ground, twitching violently. "Whoa, Brother Cao is so cool!" "Yeah! That was amazing!" Seeing this, several girls chattered in excitement. Hearing the praises behind him, Cao Jie felt a flicker of pride on his face, his peripheral vision drifting toward Xiao Qi. Unfortunately, Xiao Qi's expression remained as cold as ever. Then Mila waved her hand, giving the order to all combat squads: "Move!" The combat squads surged forward in a fan formation to begin their reconnaissance and clearance mission. Xiao Qi waited with the Rat Squad for a dozen or so minutes before solemnly issuing her orders: "Everyone turn on the auto-recording function on your wristbands now." Hearing this, Long Ming and the others bowed their heads and tapped their wristbands, turning on video recording in the system settings. Xiao Qi continued with her instructions: "No turning off recording during the instance. Also, when scavenging, watch whether building entrances have any form of checkmark. Marked buildings have already been cleared, so normally there won't be any monsters. If there's no squad mark, it hasn't been searched, so be extra careful!" "Understood!" "Also, when scavenging, no fighting among ourselves. First come, first served." "All right!" "Begin the operation!" "Yes!" At Xiao Qi's word, the Rat Squad members scurried out like rats released from a cage. Xiao Qi, Yun Yu, and the others dashed toward a five-story roadside building, heading straight for the ground-floor convenience store facing the street. Before Long Ming could react, the people around him had already vanished. The scattered Rat Squad members showed off their respective skills: some pulled crowbars straight from their backpacks and set about prying open closed metal roll-up doors, while others bolted into apartment buildings, producing lockpicking tools to gain entry. A strange look crossed Long Ming's face. Every trade truly had its masters. Being a "rat" was no easy job either; these people moved with blistering speed and were exceedingly experienced. Exhaling softly, Long Ming walked toward the convenience store Xiao Qi and the others were scavenging. It was a modest convenience store, its shelves overturned and cluttered goods strewn across the floor. Tang Ye, He Zhong, and Yun Yu were rummaging through the beverage coolers and canned-goods shelves. Long Ming stood at the doorway, watching. Noticing Long Ming standing motionless at the entrance, Xiao Qi walked over and asked out of concern, "Mr. Long Ming, why aren't you scavenging?" "Well..." "Long Ming, we're the Rat Squad. Compared to the combat group, the base pay isn't very high, and part-timers like you get even less. Everything depends on your scavenging performance. So when searching for supplies, don't be shy." "Mm." Long Ming nodded. "Being shy will get you starved! Sister Qi, look at the can of beef I found—it's in perfect condition!" Tang Ye strolled over proudly, holding up a can of beef he had uncovered. "Not bad. Keep searching." Xiao Qi stepped forward and tried to right an overturned shelf. "Let me help!" Tang Ye immediately hurried over to help with eager attentiveness. Long Ming let out a soft breath and stepped forward to sift through the scattered foodstuffs, only to find that most of the packaging was torn and spoiled. Ten or so minutes later, the entire convenience store had been turned upside down. Long Ming managed to find only a fruit knife. While the quality didn't look great, having something was better than nothing, so he kept it. As for Yun Yu and the others, they had all scavenged decent items. "There's not much left here. Spread out and search. We'll meet up at the intersection ahead later!" Xiao Qi told Yun Yu and the others. "Okay!" Yun Yu and the rest walked out of the convenience store and dispersed to scavenge.