A disc-shaped E9 class spaceship was flying cautiously through the void at sub-light speed, avoiding one seemingly dangerous area after another.
Inside the lounge cabin of the spaceship.
“Everyone, please sit down,” Taiwo smiled as he sat on the sofa. His immortal power controlled the wine bottle and glasses, pouring ten glasses of delicious fruit wine. The crystal glasses floated in front of the ten people.
Taiwo raised his glass.
“Let us toast,” Taiwo said.
“Hahaha…”
The nine team members laughed heartily and raised their glasses together.
“To the fortune of this battle, and to our two excellent new recruits, cheers!” Taiwo declared loudly.
“Cheers.”
“Cheers.”
The Monarchs all laughed joyfully. Each of them, if placed in various star regions, would be a dominant figure in their own right. Yet they had chosen to come to the “Outer Battlefield” because they still harbored a burning desire in their hearts—to become even stronger, to fight against even greater warriors!
“Old rule, let’s first reflect on the previous battle,” Taiwo put down his glass. “In that battle, everything was under the enemy machine clan’s control. Whether it was the arrangement of the Thunder Prison, the encirclement by the nine Thunder Machine Puppet Legions, or the 3000 F-rank machine puppets that trapped me and then focused their power to kill you all—everything was according to his plan.”
The nine members listened attentively.
“The other veterans did very well. Each stayed close to me and Poison, ready to risk everything in case of danger. Poison was able to give his all to save you all,” Taiwo smiled. “The two new recruits also did well. Among them, Rock impressed me greatly. He is in no way inferior to the veterans. I believe that with more training, he will become even stronger.”
“Of course, the most joyful thing for all of us in this battle was that we gained a powerful new teammate—the Madman!” Taiwo looked toward Luo Feng.
“Madman!”
“Madman!”
The group looked at Luo Feng and cheered with laughter. In a place like the Outer Battlefield, where danger lurked around every corner, having a powerful ally was a true blessing.
“Thanks to the Madman’s appearance, Poison didn’t have to risk himself, and we saved a precious potion,” Taiwo glanced at Poison, who was crouched on the sofa like a child. “Poison, you’ve got it easier from now on.”
“Hehe,” Poison grinned at Luo Feng.
Luo Feng looked at Poison in surprise.
Is this alchemist really that strong?
“Madman,” the voice of the enchantress sent shivers down one’s spine. “Poison is actually the second strongest in our team. He once defeated an immortal head-on.”
“Defeated an immortal?” Luo Feng looked at Poison in shock.
“What!” Rock exclaimed even louder.
Even at the ninth stage of the Yanlong Art—’Immortal Can Be Opposed’—it usually only meant being able to hold your own and survive. Not to ‘defeat’ them. Of course, on the Path to Heaven, the 13th, 14th, and 15th levels all used this technique. The opponent at the 15th level already possessed the ability to defeat or even kill ordinary immortals.
But that was the 15th level of the Path to Heaven!
The threshold of a Marquis Immortal! Such a rare genius could even become a core member of the Virtual Universe Company’s Monarchs.
“It was mainly thanks to my innate abilities, potions, and the plant life I cultivated,” Poison chuckled. “One potion costs nearly 80 Chaos Units to create successfully. Hehe, Madman, you saved me 80 Chaos Units. Come, let’s drink!”
Luo Feng raised his glass, a hint of admiration in his heart.
An alchemist could create special potions, and even cultivate unique plant life to suit their own needs.
“To be able to reach this level, truly impressive,” Luo Feng mused.
“Besides the Captain and Poison, Madman, you’re now the third strongest in the team,” Kuangwu smiled.
“Yeah, third strongest.”
“And unlike Poison, you don’t need potions.”
The others all laughed as they spoke.
…
This battle allowed the Monarch team to recognize the abilities of the two new recruits, and they were finally accepted wholeheartedly. Especially the new recruit ‘Madman’, who was now recognized as the third strongest in the team.
Luo Feng, however, remained calm.
He didn’t care much about rankings, even though his Earthling self already had the power to kill ordinary immortals.
…
The spaceship continued its journey, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. Along the way, they had encountered two ambushes, but easily dealt with them. After all, an elite Monarch team like ‘one immortal leading nine Monarch warriors’ was not something just any opponent could challenge.
This was also the reason they were heading to a specific destination—because in other areas, the enemies were too weak, and military merits accumulated too slowly.
…
“The last two ambushes were pitiful. The enemies were so weak, and the moment they saw we had an immortal, they fled without even fighting.”
“Yeah, really boring.”
“This way, accumulating military merits is way too slow.”
Inside the lounge cabin, the team members were chatting idly.
“In two days, we’ll arrive at our destination, the 001289038484 Star Combat Zone—the ‘Shattered Star Belt’,” Taiwo said. “The Shattered Star Belt is a well-known battlefield for powerful warriors. Many alien elites lurk there. There, you’ll all be able to fight to your heart’s content. You won’t have to worry about not having a place to earn merits—only about whether you have the strength to claim them.”
“Madman.”
A deep, heavy voice sounded. The tallest and strongest member of the team, ‘Hammer’, looked toward Luo Feng. “What’s your merit quota?”
“My merit quota?” Luo Feng raised his eyebrows.
Every soldier who entered the Outer Battlefield had a merit quota to fulfill. Only by accumulating enough merits could one gain ‘freedom’. For example, a new recruit’s quota was one million merits. When a new recruit first arrived, they had zero merits. As they fought and killed in battle, their merits accumulated.
Once they reached one million, the soldier could choose to ‘retire’, ‘exchange for treasures’, ‘continue fighting’, or even fight alone…
They would gain the freedom of choice.
Until their quota was fulfilled, they had to obey military orders without question.
“Yeah, what’s yours?”
“Madman’s quota must be pretty high.”
The group of Monarchs on the sofa all turned to look.
“My…” Luo Feng said casually, “it’s okay. My quota is ten billion.”
“Ten billion?”
The white-armored immortal, ‘Shenling’, widened his eyes. “Did I hear that right?”
Luo Feng, still puzzled, nodded slightly. “Yes, ten billion.” Could it be that this number was unusually high? Shouldn’t it be within the normal range?
“Damn, ten billion?”
“Heaven!”
“It’s ten billion.”
Even the calm immortal Taiwo stood up in shock. The veteran soldiers all stared at Luo Feng in astonishment. The illusionist ‘Wei’, who had been stroking the purple-eyed cat in his arms, suddenly turned to Rock. “Rock, what’s your merit quota?”
“Mine is two billion,” Rock replied.
“That’s pretty good.”
“Very impressive.”
“But Madman is just insane! Ten billion?!”
The veteran soldiers whispered among themselves.
Meanwhile, the two new recruits, Luo Feng and Rock, were both puzzled. What exactly did this merit quota signify? Although Luo Feng had high authority, he had only looked up the questions he wanted to know. He had never looked into what each merit quota number represented.
“If you interact more with other Monarchs, you’ll understand,” Taiwo sighed. “The more capable one is, the more work they are assigned. The stronger you are, the higher your merit quota will be. When a new recruit joins the Outer Battlefield, the assigned merit quota accurately reflects their strength.”
“And the authority granted is only a rough estimate of strength, divided only into ‘Ordinary Monarchs’, ‘Elite Monarchs’, and ‘Monarch Warriors’—a very vague classification.”
“All Monarch soldiers have a minimum merit quota of one million, and a maximum of ten billion.”
“Ordinary Monarch soldiers are usually between one million and ten million.”
“Elite Monarch soldiers are between ten million and one hundred million.”
“Monarch Warriors are between one hundred million and ten billion.”
Taiwo explained, “A merit quota between one hundred million and ten billion marks one as a ‘Monarch Warrior’. However, even among Monarch Warriors, there are still differences in strength. Clearly, Rock here is already very exceptional, as he is a new recruit. To be this strong without having experienced countless life-and-death trials on the Outer Battlefield is already amazing. But Madman… you… you really are…”
Luo Feng was slightly taken aback.
“Ten billion is the upper limit for Monarch Warriors. Anyone assigned such a high merit quota must possess strength not inferior to an ordinary immortal.” Taiwo said solemnly.
“Yes.”
“The Virtual Universe System’s judgment is never wrong. You have the combat power to directly challenge an ordinary immortal.”
The team members were all shaken, looking at Luo Feng.
But they didn’t know…
A Monarch capable of matching an ordinary immortal is indeed assigned a merit quota of ten billion. However, a Monarch capable of killing an ordinary immortal, or even matching or killing a Marquis Immortal, is also assigned the same ten billion merit quota. Because ten billion is the upper limit for Monarch soldiers.
How could they know how terrifying Luo Feng’s current strength truly was? In their minds, being able to directly challenge an ordinary immortal was already a miracle!
“I see,” Luo Feng shook his head and smiled.
“There are many who become Monarch Warriors after enduring countless life-and-death trials on the Outer Battlefield. But those who can directly challenge ordinary immortals are extremely rare. In our entire Base 026, there might only be two or three such Monarchs,” Taiwo sighed. “Conversely, among our allies and enemies—the insect race’s Monarch Queens, and the machine race’s Monarchs—many can rival immortals. Some alien races possess truly miraculous innate talents. Among humans, Monarchs capable of matching ordinary immortals are extremely rare.”
“However, we now have one among us,” Taiwo smiled at Luo Feng.
Poison also looked at Luo Feng.
In their eyes was a glimmer of anticipation. Now the team effectively had three ‘immortal-level’ fighters. Unlike Poison, who needed to use potions, Luo Feng was a true ‘immortal-level’ fighter. Thus, once they arrived at the ‘Shattered Star Belt’, their chances of survival would increase dramatically.
“Ugh.”
Luo Feng could only grin.
Ten billion merit quota?
He really didn’t think it was that high. This ten billion quota was assigned by the military through the Virtual Universe System. It was already ‘standardized’, with every Monarch falling between one million to ten billion. Luo Feng was simply assigned ten billion because of his strength.
However, the Virtual Universe Company’s ‘Monarch Life-and-Death Trial’ also had requirements for Luo Feng.
The requirement was—ten trillion merit quota!
Only after completing ten trillion merits could he leave the Outer Battlefield. This was Luo Feng’s ‘Life-and-Death Trial’.
One requirement was from the military, the other from the Virtual Universe Company.
One was ten billion, the other ten trillion!
Therefore…
Luo Feng truly didn’t think ten billion was that high.
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