Chapter 961: Chapter 724: Why Not Take a Gamble!

“Register.”

Ling Mo slightly frowned but ignored the woman.

According to what the guard just said, these people were likely waiting here to receive weapons for their missions.

By the time they return, Ling Mo and Mu Chen would probably be long gone, so there was no need to bicker with them.

Let her have this moment of verbal victory…

Unexpectedly, Ling Mo’s reaction provoked a wave of jeers, and the man standing next to the woman immediately laughed, “He Hongyan, I never thought there’d be a day when you’d be completely ignored. Tsk tsk…” he said, turning his gaze to He Hongyan, making his meaning clear.

“He Hongyan especially loves to see men embarrass themselves and enjoys picking on low-level members. I’ve been caught by her too, but these two guys didn’t even react…”

“He Hongyan must be fuming…”

Even the cold-eyed man turned his head and gave Ling Mo a somewhat surprised look.

These days, everyone is struggling on the edge of life and death, and even Niepan members are no exception.

Long-term survival pressure has made many people’s temperaments quite extreme.

Though killing is not allowed within the Niepan headquarters, minor conflicts like this are commonplace.

Some people even deliberately provoke others to relieve stress.

There are quite a few people with a pretty good mentality, though these individuals tend not to start trouble, they will usually watch if a conflict arises.

The majority in this group fell into this category-they made it clear they wouldn’t participate, but also had no intention of intervening.

If these two were just frightened, it would be understandable, but the young man in the hat seemed calm and indifferent, clearly having an attitude of it doesn’t matter!

As for the other, he was staring at He Hongyan, but not at her exposed parts; instead, he seemed somewhat impatient…

“Shut the hell up,” He Hongyan glared at her companion, swearing.

She licked her lips and smiled coldly at Ling Mo, “You think you’re so great, huh? Just got promoted from a branch and you think now that you’re part of the headquarters, your tail can wag at the sky? You might die on your first mission.” She sneered, giving Ling Mo a look up and down, “You really think you’re that impressive.”

Ling Mo frowned and said, “This is absurd.”

It’s one thing to find trouble, but to speak so maliciously made Ling Mo feel a bit disgusted.

Mu Chen also looked displeased, thinking, “Who the hell is she lumping me in with? I haven’t said a word, okay!”

“What did you say?” He Hongyan’s eyes widened as she stepped forward, head held high, “So cocky! Contribution points, do you dare to bet?”

“Here we go, she loves to pull this trick.”

“She’s got Ah-Long on her side, these two are definitely going to lose…”

The spectators, always enjoying a spectacle, got excited upon hearing He Hongyan propose a bet.

“But they won’t agree, right? They’re not even officially joined yet.”

“Newcomers must go on a mission within three days; it’s a rule. He Hongyan’s doing this on purpose for contribution points.”

Ling Mo looked at He Hongyan, who was acting all menacing, and, thanks to his enhanced hearing, clearly picked up on the quiet discussions of those around him.

Their voices were just slightly lowered, but while Mu Chen could only catch snippets, Ling Mo heard everything distinctly.

“No wonder, she’s doing this on purpose… but this woman probably just enjoys making trouble too…” Ling Mo felt a flicker of impatience. He had come here with serious matters to attend to and had no interest in getting involved with these members. He didn’t expect Niepan headquarters members to be so arrogant and unruly. The middle-aged man had been adopting a nonchalant attitude from the start, clearly not intending to intervene.

“So bullying newcomers is the norm here…” Ling Mo got a preliminary understanding of the atmosphere within Niepan headquarters. The members were in a state of mutual competition, but judging by He Hongyan and her group’s behavior, it was clear they had formed small cliques. This might be to avoid fighting alone, but it also indicated the interpersonal relationships here were terrible, requiring group cohesion for survival.

Thus, even if he hadn’t run into He Hongyan, someone else would have come to provoke them.

“Within three days, there must be a mission. I’m just wondering if, after the incident in Dongming, they will still schedule me and Mu Chen for that…” Ling Mo thought to himself.

“Not daring to?” He Hongyan sneered, “It’s fine if you don’t dare, but…”

She was about to come up with even more venomous words to provoke them, but Ling Mo interrupted her, “We’ll bet.”

He Hongyan’s mocking words were stifled before she could even get them out.

She stared at Ling Mo for a couple of seconds before she reacted, “You really are cocky. Fine, see you then. Let’s bet on whose next mission level will be higher. Just so you know, we’re taking on a B-level mission.”

“Whoa, they actually accepted…”

“B-level! These two are going to lose for sure.”

Ling Mo remained indifferent. This woman was truly exasperating, no matter what he said, it always turned into “you’re so cocky” in her mouth…

In terms of being annoying, this woman’s talent far surpassed her talent for exposure.

Ling Mo couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. Contribution points might mean living standards and safety for these Niepan headquarters members, but they had no significance to him…

Seeing Ling Mo’s lack of reaction, not only was He Hongyan even more infuriated, but the cold-eyed man also fixed his gaze on Ling Mo.

“Heh, you don’t understand the value of contribution points and the difficulty of missions, do you? Let me tell you, contribution points can be exchanged for all kinds of supplies, can buy you accommodation time at the headquarters, and can even get you women.” He Hongyan said this with an expression of calm, even a hint of mockery, “As for mission difficulty, don’t even think about S-level, a B-level is enough to send you to your death.”

Ling Mo frowned deeply at the way she kept saying “to your death.”

Mu Chen also looked upset. What kind of princess complex is this? Did she think everyone needed to cater to her? A Shamate

1

princess, really?

Ling Mo had come across information about contribution points and mission levels in some spoils of war, but these had little relevance to him. He’d only glanced through it to get an understanding of the situation within Niepan headquarters.

“Anything else?” Ling Mo asked coldly.

Once again, He Hongyan was left speechless. She glared at Ling Mo who then turned his back on her, a vicious glint flashing in her eyes, “Let’s see how you die.”

The middle-aged man and the receptionists behind the counter were all surprised at Ling Mo. Even after Ling Mo turned away, their gazes lingered on him.

“Can we continue with the registration?” Ling Mo asked the middle-aged man.

“Of course,” the middle-aged man snapped back to his senses and said, “Li Yang, bring the registration form.”

“Oh, sure,” Li Yang put away the two shabby weapons, but couldn’t help stealing glances at Ling Mo.

Even the middle-aged man occasionally cast his gaze over at Ling Mo, who, though aware of it, showed no change in his expression.

“Avoiding trouble here seems impossible! Retreating is hard, too. If that’s the case, I might as well face it head-on to prevent more entanglements,” Ling Mo thought.

The environment at Niepan headquarters clearly impacted Ling Mo’s plans, but as he had said before, since he was here, he would adapt as necessary.

“Dragon Flame Squad, come get your stuff,” another receptionist called out, bringing up a large bag.

He Hongyan walked over, yanked open the backpack, revealing several gun magazines and some shiny yellow bullets.

She lifted her chin, gave Ling Mo a provocative look, and then turned on her heels and walked away, clutching the backpack.

Ling Mo glanced back and indeed saw the trio walking together.

“So, not only can they form cliques, they can also officially establish squads…” Ling Mo mused.

Seeing that the excitement was over, others in the area quieted down, although some still occasionally cast curious looks at Ling Mo.

Ling Mo ignored it entirely, but Mu Chen couldn’t help but feel concerned.

This situation was turning out to be too troublesome for them…

“Aren’t missions assigned here?” Ling Mo asked after a moment’s thought.

The middle-aged man shook his head, “Missions are assigned in the upstairs hall. Every day, tasks are posted there, and you can check them out to decide what to take.”

He seemed disinclined to say much more, which was understandable.

Ling Mo briefly recalled that the way they earned contribution points was different from that of ordinary members.

Without intersection, naturally, there was indifference in their attitude.

The so-called registration form was brought over, and the middle-aged man pushed it in front of Ling Mo. He glanced at Mu Chen, who was standing behind, and said, “Fill this out, and once you’re done, I’ll take you upstairs.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Though it was called a registration form, it was actually a separate booklet.

The cover had a place to fill in names, though in a place like this, using a nickname would probably be fine too.

Opening it, Ling Mo saw it was a personal history form. To his surprise, the fields to fill out were all printed out.

“So high-tech…” Ling Mo thought to himself as he scanned the lines.

“Hmm… From which branch… Age… Gender… Hmm, superpower?”

His eyes lit up when he saw the “Superpower” section.

He glanced over at the bookcases behind the counter. It seemed like this new registration form was taken from there…

“All the registration forms should be here. I wonder if the Experimental Group’s forms are here too… If I could get a heads-up about them, it would improve our chances…”

Thinking this, Ling Mo shot another glance at the middle-aged man.

“This spot is directly facing the entrance; the chance to steal a registration form is too small. I will need to observe more.”

He looked at Mu Chen, who had already picked up a pen and started filling out the form.

Seeing Ling Mo looking, Mu Chen immediately covered his form nervously, “Don’t peek!”

“Isn’t your handwriting all crooked anyway…” Ling Mo scoffed, quickly writing two characters on his cover: Ling Ge.

Mu Chen peeked over and almost burst out laughing, “Seriously?”

Footnote:

Shamate(杀马特):

Shamate (杀马特) is a subculture in China, typically referring to a fashion style among teenagers that became popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s.  Influenced by Japanese Visual Kei and punk culture, it is characterized by exaggerated hairstyles, heavy makeup, and trendy clothing.  Shamate youth often use this style to express individuality and rebelliousness.