The next day, upon waking, Ye Chen received a mission notification letter sent from above, delivered by a young man who handed it over without a word before departing.

Ye Chen flipped through it while eating breakfast.

The letter stated: This expedition resulted in the loss of 98 soldiers, four captains, and two battalion commanders, deducting a total of 31 from the completion rate. The overall completion rate reached 69, and the mission was successfully concluded, awarding a bonus of 100,000 military merits! P.S. One captain equals 1 point of completion rate.

Ye Chen glanced at it and casually placed it on the table, not giving it much thought. He mused inwardly that although the notification only stated the mission losses simply, those higher-ups must have already formed a favorable impression of him!

Ye Chen paid no mind to the thoughts of commanders and other high-ranking officials. His primary purpose for joining the army was solely to obtain the Divine Blood within Atlantis; everything else was irrelevant.

"From now on, the surveillance on me should decrease. This will make it more convenient for me to manage my influence," Ye Chen curved his lips slightly, his eyes gleaming with sharp intelligence.

...

In a luxurious residence.

A handsome young man tossed the file in his hand onto the desk with a sigh, a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "I thought this person was clever, but he turns out to be nothing more than a brute. What a pity..."

The black-clad youth codenamed "Yin" stood behind the young man and stated coldly, "Those two battalion commanders most likely did not die in battle!"

This handsome youth was Hua Bule. Hearing this, he nodded. "I naturally know that. Yun Shaojing intended to frame him, and he must have realized it through these two commanders. In a fit of rage, he killed them both! As a result, his initial 79% success rate dropped to 69%. I had expected his completion rate to be above 75%, but I didn't anticipate this..."

The black-clad youth said coldly, "If it were me, I would have killed them first before saying anything!"

Hua Bule glanced at him and shook his head. "You are different from him. You are merely an assassin; you only need to learn how to kill. But he was executing a mission this time! Knowing that his completion rate was crucial to the higher-ups' perception of him, he still rashly killed those two out of anger. This indicates he cannot control his emotions well! To kill those two commanders, he could have simply waited until the mission was officially declared complete and dealt with them secretly later."

The black-clad youth remained silent.

Hua Bule sighed. "I thought that since this person could endure in the military camp, his perseverance must be extraordinary. I didn't expect him to be just a hot-headed ruffian seeking immediate satisfaction! What a waste. I had planned to cultivate him fully, help him reach the Great General level quickly, and then make him my trusted subordinate to help me seize the Base City."

The black-clad youth watched him silently.

"Oh, right," Hua Bule recalled something. "How is Bingyun lately? Has she returned to the Base City?"

The black-clad youth shook his head. "You know her personality; I'm afraid she won't be back anytime soon."

A wry smile touched Hua Bule’s eyes. "Keep a close eye on her. We absolutely cannot lose track of her."

The black-clad youth nodded.

...

In a lavish villa.

A handsome youth with long, flowing hair played with a wine glass, a hint of wickedness and a smile in his eyes. "So he’s just a brute. However, the fact that you noticed that the two battalion commanders were intentionally sent by me to sabotage your mission completion rate means you have some brains. If you hadn't even seen through that, I wouldn't have had the interest to move against you."

This youth was Yun Shaojing, his eyes pure black, seemingly capable of sucking in one's gaze. "It's a pity you couldn't endure it. Sending those two commanders to disrupt your mission success was the first step. The second step was to test your reaction upon detecting their scheme—to see how you would respond! If you had held back, you might have shown some capability; a true hero knows when to bend and when to stand firm!"

"But you couldn't even tolerate that, killing them in a fit of rage. While it might have felt satisfying, it only proves you are a mere blockhead!"

There was a flicker of disdain in his eyes as he casually called out, "Uncle Wu."

"Young Master!" A middle-aged man in black entered respectfully. "What are your orders?"

"Dispatch Great General Bloodwind to assassinate this brat. Hmph, an ant-like thing; I've lost all interest in laying a hand on him myself," Yun Shaojing declared arrogantly. He held his position not just through sheer force but also intellect; otherwise, he would have long been tricked out of everything while happily counting the money. That was why he wouldn't personally deal with Ye Chen just to show off his power to Murong Xue.

In his view, Ye Chen was just a fellow with minor cunning but no tolerance—a nobody not worth worrying about.

...

Elsewhere, many major powers that had been observing Ye Chen also formed their own conclusions.

"A bit of cunning, but lacking in endurance; he doesn't consider the bigger picture."

"This person is useless."

"It was a pity we couldn't recruit him back then. Turns out he's just a common thug. However, recruiting someone like this has one benefit: we can assign all the dirty work to him."

Many factions recalled the observers they had secretly stationed on Ye Chen, deciding there was no need to waste time on a mere ruffian.

...

In the days that followed, Ye Chen enjoyed a rather peaceful stretch. No missions were assigned from above. He spent his days claiming military merit tasks on his own, often packing dry rations and heading out to the desolate wilderness, deep mountains, and old forests to slaughter monsters wantonly and enhance his strength, staying away for a day or two at a time.

Three days later.

Ye Chen's military merits had accumulated from 300,000 to around 450,000. He was earning forty to fifty thousand merits daily, a terrifying rate of increase even for a Great General. He needed another 650,000 merits to apply for promotion to Lieutenant General!

Upon reaching Lieutenant General status, the missions assigned would be higher level, the merits greater, and the benefits far superior. He would receive 10 bottles of Level 15 Serum monthly! To put it in perspective, one Level 15 Serum was equivalent to 32 Level 10 Serums; 10 bottles meant 320 bottles, 310 more than a Major General received monthly!

In addition to the increased military merits, Ye Chen's strength had also improved significantly, rising from Level 30 to around Level 32. Relying on his Infinite Energy Bullet Pistol, killing monsters had become quite simple; any creature with a physique up to Level 50 could easily be taken down with a single shot!

In a desolate wilderness—

Ye Chen lay prone among the dense trees, utterly still, his heartbeat and breath suppressed to an extremely slow rhythm. If one didn't observe closely, he would seem no different from a dead man. His camouflage uniform was smeared with dirt, and rotting leaves emitting a foul odor lay right under his nose, yet Ye Chen seemed oblivious, completely unaffected.

Still!

He was as motionless as wood, so still that placing a hand under his nose would fail to detect any warmth from his breath, and placing a hand on his chest would reveal no pulse.

In reality, the sensation wasn't entirely absent, merely suppressed to an incredibly slow pace.

Not far from Ye Chen's hidden position, a Three-Eyed Wolf, four feet tall with thick fur and sturdy limbs, was gnawing on a decaying corpse. It was a Level 10 Dark Creature whose body was already rotting, killed by some other monster and discarded here, which the starving wolf had greedily claimed.

The Three-Eyed Wolf had a physique of Level 55 and excelled in speed, possessing extremely acute senses. Its third eye on its forehead could see great distances. Once it reached Level 200, it would awaken its inherent talent and gain "Qi Force," and its third eye could then emit a powerful beam of light, stronger than a laser in penetration!

When humans reach around Level 100, their physical bodies reach a limit, causing their dormant potential to erupt, leading to the awakening of talents and the generation of "Qi Force."

Some monsters, naturally gifted with immense physique, only awaken their talents at seven or eight hundred levels, such as the Blood-Toothed Tiger. This Three-Eyed Wolf was similar; it would only awaken its talent upon reaching Level 200.

Following the normal evolutionary path, most monsters take about a year to awaken their talents. This one had only been three months, so there was still a long way to go.

Ye Chen did not stare continuously at the wolf, as doing so could easily alert it. Once the physique reached a certain level, even a distant glance could cause a subtle perception.

"I can only rely on the energy pistol. If it comes to close combat, I'd have to enter Superman Mode," Ye Chen calculated silently. He was only Level 30 now; while considered top-tier among humans, he was still relatively low-level among the vast array of monsters.

However, humanity's primary advantage lay in technological weaponry, which allowed them to establish Base Cities amidst the monster-ridden apocalypse. Even an ordinary person fighting alone, armed with a cannon, could potentially blast apart a Level 3 or 4 monster.

Ye Chen waited for his opportunity.

This Three-Eyed Wolf was not a Dark Creature, but due to its physique far surpassing that of the carcass, it could eat the blood raw. The virus within that corpse was only Level 10, lower than the wolf's own blood level, so it could be digested directly.

With Ye Chen's Level 32 physique, he could devour a Level 10 zombie monster without being affected. However, consuming a Level 40 zombie monster would instantly infect him with the virus, turning him into a Dark Creature.

The higher the zombie's level, the higher the virus level within it; lower levels meant lower viral concentrations.

The Three-Eyed Wolf was tearing at the corpse's throat, pressing the body down with its claws and ripping with its teeth. Ye Chen watched, his eyes narrowing without making the slightest sound, raising the pistol held tightly in his hand and aiming directly at the wolf's forehead.

The dark muzzle emitted a ghostly gleam.

The Three-Eyed Wolf seemed to sense something, released its grip on the corpse, and looked around.

...

I couldn't hold on; I planned for four chapters today, but the third chapter is already this late. I will make up the fourth chapter later. I put out a burst of effort, but the recommendation votes haven't increased much, making me feel weak.