This is just a minor test of the ruins; it won't stretch for hundreds of thousands of characters, so everyone can rest assured it won't be too long, destined to be a concentrated essence where everything falls into place...

The system voice announced: "This mission is 'Rescue Humanity.' You are currently in the suburbs of a city called 'Sopher.' In the backstory, a viral crisis erupted in this city a month ago, sweeping through everyone and turning them into zombies. Your squad must now proceed to the city center to locate the anti-virus agent and save the humans who are about to become zombies. Success with four people in your team counts as mission completion!"

"Main quest complete. Reward: 100 points."

Ye Chen paused, then frowned slightly. If a single mission only yielded 500 points, he would need to complete at least 10 of them just to accumulate 5000 points—the threshold for leaving the reincarnation world. And to gain ownership of this ruin, he'd need to complete at least 200 missions!

Thinking of this, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. Completing the current mission was a question, and how long would it take?

Suddenly, a thought struck him. According to his memory, this ruin would be occupied by the Russians around the dark calendar month of August in his previous life. So...

Time dilation!

Ye Chen's eyes suddenly lit up. The flow rate of time outside this reincarnation world must be different from the flow rate inside. Perhaps spending a hundred years striving within this space would only equate to a few days outside.

With this realization, Ye Chen decided he would ask one of the Russians later to deduce the ratio. He queried the system internally: "Besides these, are there other ways to earn points?"

The system voice replied: "Besides the main quest, there are also hidden side quests and so on, all of which grant extra point rewards. You will have to discover those yourself!"

Ye Chen nodded.

This meant a single mission didn't just offer 500 points.

He looked up and saw Bai Long and the others, all with their eyes lowered, likely communicating with the system in their minds. He walked over to Bai Long. After a moment, the young man looked up, his face filled with sorrow, and he forced a wry smile: "A single mission only gives 500 points? By the time we earn 100,000 points, what year will it be!"

Ye Chen said to him, "Go ask those Russians when they entered this place... Only he speaks Russian; otherwise, we can't even communicate."

Bai Long was taken aback, then his eyes lit up. "Why didn't I think of that? Wait a second." He then walked over to the two Russians. After communicating for a while, he returned, his expression peculiar. He told Ye Chen and the others, "They entered this place in the fifth month of the dark calendar, having stumbled in by mistake. He said they have been in this reincarnation world for seven or eight months now."

Mo Feng and the others gasped in shock, grasping the crucial point. Ye Chen nodded: "The time dilation is indeed different..."

Just then, the two Russians walked over. The younger man said a few words to Bai Long with a smile. Bai Long translated: "He says his name is Korovin, and the other is Utkin..."

Early Russians did not have surnames; only the nobility had the privilege to use them later; commoners were not entitled. Furthermore, Russians were extremely superstitious, and surnames evolved from things like animals or skin color. Korovin meant 'bull,' and Utkin meant 'duck.'

Ye Chen nodded.

Bai Long relayed their situation in Russian. The two men smiled and nodded at Ye Chen's group. Bauer laughed, "Are you Chinese students studying abroad in Russia?" (The following dialogue is entirely translated by Bai Long)

"Something like that..." Ye Chen didn't elaborate.

At this moment, a man and a woman stood up from the floor on the other side of the room. They were also Russian. Including Ye Chen's group, there were 10 people in total in the room.

"All..."

Suddenly, a ding-dong sound echoed in the room.

Bauer's smile vanished, and his expression turned stern. "It's starting..."

Ye Chen and the others tensed. In this reincarnation world, they possessed no advantages other than combat experience, so they dared not slacken. The man named Tony seemed to be the captain of this squad. He glanced at Ye Chen's group, his gaze indifferent—a look Ye Chen was all too familiar with... the look reserved for the dead!

"This is a medium-difficulty, 500-point mission world. Don't take it lightly!" Tony said, then drew the pistol at his waist, signaling with his eyes. Bauer understood and went to the side, peering through the peephole to check the situation outside. Seeing nothing unusual, he opened the door.

Outside was a corridor, free of any monsters. Tony glanced at the Russian couple and said, "You two have the binoculars; take the lead!"

The couple seemed to be lovers. They hesitated for a moment before leading the way out. They were quite alert, moving quietly, each armed with two small pistols.

Ye Chen's group exchanged slight, bitter smiles. They quickly searched the room but found nothing. Ye Chen lifted a chair and smashed the office desk, each taking a wooden plank—better than nothing—and followed the four Russians out of the room.

The moment they stepped outside, their safe environment was gone.

Tony's group ignored Ye Chen's six 'newcomers' and took the lead. This was an office building with many rooms. In the corridor lay a bloody corpse, covered in scratches.

The leading man and woman frowned slightly upon seeing the body. Just as they were about to step around it, the corpse twitched, then slowly dragged itself up from the floor, its face ferocious, smeared with blood, its pale green eyes fixed menacingly on the pair as it roared and lunged forward.

The couple was startled. The man quickly retreated a step and pulled the trigger. With a bang, a bullet pierced the zombie's skull.

The zombie collapsed.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The man wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Without pausing, he followed his girlfriend to continue leading the way.

Mo Feng suddenly said to Ye Chen, "Did you notice that man's physical fitness isn't strong?"

Ye Chen glanced at the man's arm trembling slightly from the recoil of the pistol and nodded: "Indeed."

Mo Ji whispered, "These people seem experienced; they must have gone through several missions. But their strength hasn't improved, which means points are useless for physical attributes. In that case, strength is determined solely by equipment and combat skills!"

Ye Chen nodded.

Mo Ji fell silent for a moment. "Logically, the more people there are, the thicker the blood energy, and the more zombies will be attracted. Why aren't these people killing us?"

Ye Chen calmly replied, "There must be a reason they can't kill us. Otherwise, when newcomers enter this reincarnation world, it would just be sending them to their deaths, negating the necessity of continuously bringing in new people."

What puzzled Ye Chen was the true purpose behind this ruin setting up such a trial space. Was it purely for combat training?

Not long after, Ye Chen's group followed the four Russians to the base of the building. On the street outside, there were many vehicles, and numerous zombies roamed the empty road, some lying motionless.

Tony retracted his gaze, standing to one side with a solemn expression. "We need to find a map first before we can reach the city center and get that anti-virus agent."

Bauer forced a wry smile. "Where do we find one?"

Ye Chen pondered. Zhuge Fan, standing nearby, whispered to him: "Brother Ye, I just peeked into an office. It seems a computer inside was left running..."

Ye Chen froze, his eyes brightening. He had found it strange that they woke up in this building specifically. So, it was because of this...

He glanced subtly at Tony's group. Just then, Tony and the others also looked at Ye Chen's group, their expressions shifting strangely. Tony stared for a moment, then pointed at the youngest, Zhuge Fan. "There seems to be an armory across the street. Go take a look..."

Zhuge Fan was momentarily stunned, then turned to look. He saw that there was indeed a hardware store across the street, but there were more than a dozen zombies blocking the entrance. In the past, he could have killed them with a single slap, but now, going there was tantamount to suicide. He frowned immediately: "It's too dangerous."

Tony stared at him coldly. "Without weapons, you'll only drag us down by following us..."

Ye Chen spoke coldly: "If I go, you hand over a gun. I'll go!" He saw it instantly. This man wasn't sending Zhuge Fan to retrieve weapons; he was sending him to draw away the monsters so they could slip away from the building.

Tony looked at him and sneered, "How important is a firearm? Can you utilize it properly? Stop the nonsense; this old man doesn't have time to waste with you. Are you going or not!" As he spoke, he pointed his gun at Ye Chen's forehead, coldly stating, "Although killing a team member deducts four points, disobeying orders will make you wish you were dead!"

Ye Chen stared at the black muzzle pointed at his forehead, killing intent subtly flashing in his eyes. Zhuge Fan, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up: "Forget it, Brother Ye, I'll go!"

Ye Chen kept staring at Tony, then his pupils suddenly contracted. His wide eyes fixed on a spot behind Tony: "What is that!"

Bauer and the man and woman both startled and turned to look. Tony had seen tricks like pointing in another direction before, but feeling confident with a gun in hand, and knowing Ye Chen was just a normal person physically, he instinctively looked back too.

Whoosh!

The moment he turned his head, Ye Chen's body suddenly moved, dashing forward in one stride, maneuvering to the side. Tony snapped back to attention, pulling the trigger in fury and shock. In the near-instant it took, Ye Chen's hand slammed against Tony's hand, jerking the gun upward. The bullet blasted into the ceiling. Ye Chen's elbow slammed forward, striking Tony in the chest.

Tony convulsed, feeling as if his heart had been shattered. In a fit of rage, he pointed the pistol at Ye Chen.

However, at close range, a pistol's utility was minimal, especially against a close-combat expert like Ye Chen. Ye Chen's hand struck down like a blade onto Tony's wrist. A sensation of searing pain caused Tony's entire arm to go numb. Ye Chen flipped his palm, gripping Tony's hand from above, and with a twist and a pull, disarmed him!

Facing this madman who could wield dozens of points of combat power single-handedly, Tony's meager combat techniques were simply trash! (To be continued A)