Chapter 50: Captain Han’s Curiosity, Misunderstandings Downstairs

“So, the third savior reward will come with a solution? I can train as much as I like for now?”
“That’s right. By then, you might be especially, relatively, perhaps quite miserable!” the Black Dragon shamelessly replied.

The next day, a cold wind swept through. Hua Tian, awakened, glanced at Han Guan Cheng, checked the date—only twenty-five days left until the professional tournament. This would be his first time participating, so he rushed out to buy twenty days’ worth of food.

He then threw himself into reckless solo training. For the next twenty days, aside from occasionally calling family in the evenings, he spent every moment in the game, nowhere to be found by the deputy city lord.

When he hit a bottleneck in personal training, he switched to live combat practice. Since there were only two men in the villa, and he often assisted Brother Wei with information, he took on any requests needing attention.

After familiarizing himself with his skills, Liu Wei’s confidence soared; he challenged the wandering zombies one-on-one. But he didn’t even last a single round before being teleported back to the main city.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Liu Wei claimed he hadn’t performed well. He let the enemy attack first, but after repeated deaths, he had to face a harsh reality.

“I’m done. I’m not invincible.” In that moment, he realized Deputy Captain Tian was truly formidable. Theirs was always a final-round duel, but neither side had ever lost.

Afterward, he tried the deputy captain’s approach and fought solo mode, dying within a day.

Imagine: I quickly found a spot atop a tall building, stood still, surrounded by zombies attacking from all sides. My own last explosive attack destroyed the building beneath me—not killed by zombies, but by my own fall.

Having suffered long-term failure for the first time, he decided to stop imitating the berserker and fighting alone. The deputy captain had high defense, high evasion, terrifying attack, and monstrous regeneration. All I have is attack power… Enough said, I’ll stick to team play!

Han Qian Yun saw Liu Wei slinking back in defeat.
“So, didn’t you say yesterday morning you didn’t need a team? That you could kill solo? Why are you back now?” Han Qian Yun teased, reminding the group of his bold proclamations the day before. All four women laughed, and Liu Wei awkwardly scratched his cheek.

“Alright, we won’t tease you. Here, I’ll send our squad info to the group. See what needs changing in the next twenty-three days! This time, we’ll win first place in the professional tournament with absolute dominance.”

“Okay!” The rest of the players shouted with excitement.

Player Name: Han Qian Yun [Female]
Level: 37 [Intermediate]
Class: Mage
Attributes: Strength 190, Speed 56, Defense 17, HP 263, Attack 123
Skills: Gift [Weapon Skill], Infinite Firepower [Weapon Skill], Fire Maiden [Red Lv5], Serpent Dance [Red Lv5], Berserk [Equipment Skill], Beauty Python Passive [Equipment Skill], Python Alert [Equipment Skill], Void [Equipment Skill]
Techniques: Staff Technique (Universal) [Level 10]
Equipment: Fixed-Point Staff [Purple Weapon], Sand Python Belt [Void Belt], Lord’s Shroud [Orange Clothing], Will Pants [Purple Pants]
Squad: Han Guan Squad [Captain], Han Guan Cheng [City Lord]
Squad Tokens: 1,900,009,999 (1.9 billion)
Gold: 165,730
Bound Pet: Bamboo Sand Snake [Bamboo Yun]

Player Name: Han Qian Yu [Female]
Level: 31 [Intermediate]
Class: Warrior
Attributes: Strength 186, Speed 66, Defense 26, HP 278, Attack 126
Skills: Escape [Red Passive Lv5], Shadow Burst [Red Lv5], Rising Dragon Strike [Red Lv5], Heavy Blow [Weapon Skill], Will [Set Skill]
Techniques: Advanced Stick Technique, Sword Technique (Professional) [Level 10]
Equipment: Will Set [Purple], Will War Sword [Purple Weapon]
Squad: Han Guan Squad [Professional Member], Han Guan Cheng [Deputy City Lord]
Squad Tokens: 160,000
Gold: 1,000
Bound Pet: Green Leaf Sprite [Leaf Jade]

Player Name: Liu Wei
Level: 32 [Intermediate]
Class: Gunner
Attributes: Strength 196, Speed 17, Defense 16, HP 229, Attack 107
Skills: Gatling’s Fury [Orange Passive Lv2], Static Sniper [Orange Passive Lv5], Chain Explosion [Red Lv4], Shark Tooth [Weapon Skill], Will [Set Skill]
Techniques: God-level Gun Technique [Level 10]
Equipment: Giant Shark [Purple Weapon], Will Set [Purple]
Squad: Han Guan Squad [Professional Member]
Squad Tokens: -474,100,995 (minus 470 million)
Gold: 194

Player Name: Liu Xin [Female]
Level: 31 [Intermediate]
Class: Assassin
Attributes: Strength 132, Speed 96, Defense 16, HP 244, Attack 114
Skills: Stealth [Purple Passive Lv2], Assassinate [Orange Lv1], Will [Set Skill], Backstab [Weapon Skill]
Techniques: Master Instant Kill Technique [Level 10]
Equipment: Will Set [Purple], Will Backstab [Purple Weapon]
Squad: Han Guan Squad [Professional Member]
Squad Tokens: 0
Gold: 520

Player Name: Xiao Yu [Female]
Level: 32 [Intermediate]
Class: Paladin
Attributes: Strength 16, Speed 76, Defense 156, HP 248, Attack 46
Skills: Blessing [Purple Lv3], Healing Tree [Orange Lv4], Obedient Shield [Red Lv0], Will [Set Skill], Enhanced Healing [Weapon Skill]
Techniques: Staff Technique (Universal) [Level 10]
Equipment: Will Set [Purple Weapon], Will Shepherd’s Staff [Purple Weapon]
Squad: Han Guan Squad [Professional Member]
Squad Tokens: 0
Gold: 1,314

“Little Yu, can you explain why your Obedient Shield skill still has zero proficiency, hasn’t improved at all? Care to explain?”

“Han, could you please not ask about that!” Xiao Yu immediately dropped to the floor, pleading to the surrounding players about her grievance.

“That probability… From now on, since I can’t find Berserker, everyone else must study technique for at least an hour a day. You two must train your skill proficiency to at least level five before anything else! Hmm? Why did your squad tokens reset again?”

“That’s a coincidence, just a coincidence! Don’t learn from me—that’s the essence of love!” Liu Wei replied, face unflushed, heart unshaken.

“Yesterday you didn’t repay thirty million squad tokens, so you borrowed from your sister and girlfriend, right?” Han Qian Yu remarked coldly.

“By the way, do you know where Hua Tian went?”

“He told me he went to solo mode to kill zombies, grind gear and skills. I haven’t seen him for about two days.” Liu Wei, fully revived, replied from the corner.

“In the game, the highest level is thirty-eight, just one above me. He just leveled up recently. The next two levels, even with a slaughter card, would take twenty days. So level isn’t our top priority now. As soon as you get any skill proficiency to level five, I’ll give you a Starstone to upgrade your skill!”

She handed one to Liu Wei, two to herself, and three to her sister.
“Alright, go get started!”

She shared today’s info with Berserker, and sent multiple invitations before logging out.

…

Reality’s evening arrived quickly. Han Qian Yun, alone, went to Water City University and unexpectedly ran into three people downstairs.

“Well, looks like you’re enjoying yourselves these days!”

“….”

“Compared to Han, we’re hardly doing well, are we?”

“Where’s Hua Tian?”

“I’ll take you to him!”

“Hua, are you sure about this?” All four stared at Hua Tian, who showed no reaction.

407, 408, 409, 410… (The Black Dragon was atop him, unseen by the others.)
“Captain Han, you’re here!” Hua Tian quickly stood up, holding his breath. Truly the strongest campus beauty—this outfit alone would bankrupt me, unless... He silently watched the Black Dragon in the room, rolling its eyes at him.

“I was just doing push-ups, didn’t notice you. Sorry!”

“It’s fine. You all go now! And don’t eavesdrop at the door, understood?”

“Understood! Remember, Master Hua (Lord Tian), good luck!”

“Save your cheers, get out!” Han Qian Yun said, giving a sharp whack to the head.

Liu Wei, hit in the head, didn’t mind at all, skipping out like a child.

“Hua Tian, anything you need, just say it. I’ll buy whatever you want!”

“No, it’s not what you think!”

Han Qian Yun didn’t accept this, believing he’d changed, and tried to counsel him against paranoia and delusions.

“He’s not paranoid all the time!”

Upon hearing this, she felt she’d heard it somewhere before. She looked up.

“Ah! Don’t come any closer!” Her high-pitched scream echoed through the villa. Fortunately, the soundproofing was good—otherwise the bodyguards outside would have heard…

Of course, the scream was loud enough for the three downstairs on the sofa to hear. Liu Wei exclaimed, “Our Captain Han, could she really be getting overwhelmed by Lord Hua this quickly? That’s so fast!”

“That’s a scream—a terrified one! If it were real, she’d definitely call for help!”

“Even if she did, we’d pretend not to hear. The soundproofing here is excellent—we’ll just say we didn’t hear anything.”

“It’s quiet now. Could Lord Hua really have started? Truly worthy!” The three exchanged smiles.

Seeing Han Qian Yun scream, Hua Tian rushed to her, rough-handedly covering her mouth, afraid she’d mention the Black Dragon.

Han Qian Yun, mouth covered, stared wide-eyed in disbelief at Hua Tian approaching her. Fear, distrust—was he threatened, or bribed to kidnap her? Or… She shivered at the thought.

While her mind raced, Hua Tian whispered by her ear,
“Captain Han, your voice is too loud. Keep it down!” He released her, then furtively opened the door a crack, checking for anyone.

Freed, Han Qian Yun stared in confusion—not kidnapped? She looked up at the Black Dragon glaring at her.
“Is this your dragon? When did you start keeping dragons?”

Hua Tian replied,
“Captain Han, don’t you recognize this dragon?”

She studied its features closely.
“It’s your Venom Dragon?”

The Black Dragon interjected,
“Your reaction is so dramatic! When Master Hua first met me, he nearly fell, but he never screamed like this…”

Before it could finish, Hua Tian swatted its head.

“The first meeting—so how long have you known each other in the real world?”

“Moving day—after your car dropped me off, I finished moving the first load, went downstairs to leave, and it was waiting at my door, watching from the stairwell.”

“After the move, those questions you asked me that morning—what did you really mean?”

“They suspect that Wealth Group is running experiments in the real world. When I told you, just take it as me feverish, paranoid. Now do you believe me?”

…

“So you’re saying, there are creatures from the game world that could become a future disaster, and the Black Dragon’s companion claims the game is training us in advance. No wonder the game can’t be controlled… Alright, I understand. I’ll tell the others.”

“Captain Han, you’d best keep it secret. Let the Black Dragon approach people—it knows you won’t blab, since you’re always with it in game. Just warn others to watch Wealth Group’s actions, since you’ve already shown interest before. As the tournament nears, Wealth Group won’t pay special attention to you. Only the two of us can see the dragon—rest assured!”

“No one at all? Not even my trusted sister?”

“She can’t. Your sister’s never met me in reality. Telling her is like telling the world. Curious girls talk. Like, ‘Why can’t my pretty Green Leaf Sprite fly me around the world…’” The Black Dragon said hurriedly.

“She might be like that… Fine, I’ll tell no one. I swear!”

Han Qian Yun left immediately. She was frustrated—she had come to counsel Hua Tian, but now she herself had become one of the “paranoid” he spoke of, a mere worker.

Downstairs, she looked up at the trio. They saw her, clothes immaculate, but still silent and downcast, no sign of dominance. What was going on?

They suddenly wondered, could it be that Han’s first taste of forbidden fruit left her saddened but not resentful toward Hua Tian? Before coming downstairs, she had dressed fully, glared at him in disappointment, and quietly accepted it all.