I created a safe zone in the nightmare world.

Chapter 142 The Return of the Battalion Commander (5K)

The first batch of six senior members has been selected!

This result was expected by many, yet somewhat unexpected.

"Chen Baichuan, a member of the Countermeasures Bureau, actually got the last spot?"

"After all, the Countermeasures Bureau has a lot of people; if they really put in the effort, conquering Nightmare difficulty should be quite fast!"

"But who said the Countermeasures Bureau doesn't value its senior members?"

The countermeasures bureau isn't stupid either!

Premium members can team up with nine teammates, giving them an unparalleled advantage whether tackling nightmares, exploring, or embarking on long journeys.

How could they possibly miss out on such an advantage?

The White River Countermeasures Bureau has always been good at cooperating with various forces and has a long-standing practice of sending its own employees and even elites to the Extreme Martial Arts School for further training. For them, competing for a senior member in the safe zone is just basic stuff.

Even though these premium members are more closely tied to the security zone and sometimes have to perform tasks issued by the security zone, it's still only a team of ten people.

Therefore, the Countermeasures Bureau introduced Chen Baichuan, a newly promoted powerhouse who was relatively less busy within the bureau.

Other people in the Countermeasures Bureau who have made high contributions, like Long Niu, have the task of guarding and patrolling the outskirts of Baijiang City. They usually take turns on duty with Hei Hu and a few others.

However, whenever he had time, Longniu would come to the safe zone to study in the training room or the spell library.

Now, he has fused with his third natal curse artifact and is just one step away from breaking through to the third refinement realm.

However, Long Niu mainly focused on cultivation in the safe zone and didn't do many tasks, so his contribution points didn't increase quickly.

Like Fenhuo, he needs to stay at Luyao's camp for a long time, and has even fewer opportunities to come to the safe zone.

Under the watchful eyes of each dreamer, the six who received the premium member badges bound them one by one.

Badges and membership cards are combined.

Or, to put it another way, the membership card is integrated into the badge, and the badge is then integrated into their bodies, transforming into a badge pattern that appears on the back of their hands.

"It seems like it can appear on more than just the back of the hand."

Xi Xue muttered to herself, and then the badge pattern on the back of her hand disappeared, only to reappear on her forehead a moment later.

Mystery decoration +1!

Of course, the pattern can be hidden, and the badge can be removed at any time.

Compared to a membership card, this badge at least doesn't have the risk of accidentally falling off.

Several people were testing the functions of the badges.

They quickly figured it out.

"By taking out the badge and affixing it to another person's membership card, you can send an invitation to enter into a contract."

Xi Xue took the badge out again and gently pressed it onto Taozi's membership card.

Suddenly, a line of text appeared on the front of Peach's membership card.

"Should I form a team contract with VIP member 'Xi Xue'? Yes or no?"

Peach chose yes.

But she scoffed, "I'm not your subordinate! I'm just staying in the team to lend you a hand until I get my premium membership!"

"Okay, okay, I'll appoint you as vice-captain for now, alright?"

There is actually no position of vice captain within the team.

Several senior members quickly discovered that this "team contract" had limitations. The team leader had the authority to unilaterally terminate the contract, but once the team binding was broken, that member's slot would require a one-month cooldown period before an invitation could be sent to other members.

Xuan Jian thought to himself, "That makes sense."

Although some members had been discussing whether they could temporarily recruit a group of team members when needed and then unbind them later, these veteran members already knew that they couldn't be allowed to take advantage of such a loophole.

They never intended to exploit any loopholes.

However, once a member leaves the team, there is a cooling-off period of up to a month before they can invite someone else. This means that...

"We must be extremely careful in selecting the team members!"

How long a month is!

The safe zone hasn't even been open for a month yet.

If they send out invitations casually now, and later find that their ideas don't align and they can't work things out, resulting in some team members leaving, then the maximum number of people in their team will be reduced by several.

Xuanjian is determined to build a top-notch strategy team, and the martial arts school is very supportive of this.

He had to be cautious at this point.

It is necessary to consider the candidate's personality and character, as well as their areas of expertise.

An elite strategy team, in addition to a main force skilled in combat and attack, must also have strong individuals adept at reconnaissance, concealment, recovery, and even logistics.

He first invited his fifth senior brother, Rakshasa Sword.

Luo Sha Jian nodded, "Of course, your senior brother will help you. The two of us working together will definitely be able to sweep away the nightmare. Oh, right, let's see when we can bring our fourth senior brother over too."

He continued, "Now that we have a team, we can randomly fall into the depths of nightmares and then explore them. Exploring, treasure hunting, cultivating, and getting stronger, it won't be long before the two of us can break through to the second or even third refinement realm. When that happens, we'll definitely give our senior brother and second senior sister a big surprise, hehe."

Xuanjian's team only invited Luoshajian and two master martial arts instructors from the martial arts school.

There are six team members remaining.

Countless members were envious.

Many people gathered around Xuanjian and Xixue, and some well-prepared veteran members even handed over a paper resume.

I'm submitting my resume in a nightmare world!

"Hey boss, take a look at me!"

"Boss, my signature spell is 'Eagle's Gaze,' I'm incredibly good at reconnaissance, pick me, pick me!"

"Boss, I'm here too—"

The team captain needs to be extremely careful when selecting team members.

However, team members need to be even more careful when choosing a team.

After all, team leaders have high authority, and if a member chooses the wrong team, their future situation will become very worrying.

but----

These six individuals are all well-known figures in the safe zone, their character already proven. Most importantly, as the first teams in the safe zone, the potential of these six teams is immeasurable.

Once you enter, you have a great chance to reach the pinnacle of the Dreamer!

Besides Chen Baichuan, the other senior members also did have the idea of ​​recruiting people.

Jiang Peng took the lead in publicly recruiting people.

"My team wasn't initially formed to conquer nightmares, but I will delve deeper into nightmares, explore and learn more about their secrets, and compile and summarize more information!"

Among the senior members, Jiang Peng is the only one who is still active in the shallow layer of nightmares.

he.

He only mastered a handful of spells, and his proficiency was mediocre at best.

Firstly, he wasn't good at this, and secondly, Researcher Jiang hadn't spent much time training him. He either had to investigate and research nightmares or write papers.

Therefore, Jiang Peng limited his level. He knew his own limitations. With his abilities, once he fell into the depths of the nightmare, even if he had a safe zone to his back, he might not survive, let alone conduct any investigation or research.

But that was before. What about now? As long as he can assemble an elite research team, he can overcome even the deepest nightmares!

An elite team needs strong members, and right now there are many strong members in the hall!

The Baijiang Research Institute headquarters has very few strong individuals. Often, when their institute wants to travel to dangerous areas, they need the assistance of the Countermeasures Bureau.

However, seeking assistance from the Countermeasures Bureau is not an option, and Jiang Peng is not the director of the research institute.

It's far better to build our own strength!

Jiang Peng decided that, apart from reserving two spots for colleagues within the hospital responsible for different areas, the rest would be used to recruit guards.

"Thanks to the team-building permissions granted by the store manager, otherwise, how could I have led such a luxurious research team?"

"Choosing to stay in the safe zone was arguably the best decision I ever made in my life."

"It's not just me. The emergence of safe zones has changed many dreamers, allowing many to escape the clutches of nightmares."

Now, the emergence of safe zone teams has directly changed the way people explore and strategize.

To say that we are ushering in a new era would be an exaggeration.

But, without even realizing it, they have already embarked on the path of a new era.

Lao Wang and Li Wei are the two with the least background among the six senior members.

They were truly from humble backgrounds.

But precisely because of this, many strong individuals from humble backgrounds are more willing to join these two teams.

Old Wang and Li Wei weren't certain they would secure the senior membership, but they had already recruited and scouted some strong individuals.

Old Wang approached Cheng Ping and extended an invitation.

Cheng Ping shook his head: "It's not that I'm rejecting you, Lao Wang, but I'm used to working alone. Even if I get the senior member honor someday, I probably won't form a team."

Seeing this, the bearded old man did not insist; he simply sighed.

Cheng Ping preferred to be alone, and he had noticed that.

He turned to invite the other powerful individuals.

Little did he know that Cheng Ping was also secretly relieved. He didn't want to build a team, that was the truth, but he was not without his envy of the VIP members.

"However, if I were selected for the first batch of premium members, it would still be too obvious!"

"If the first batch of high-level conference members don't form teams yet, it will attract even more attention."

However, what no one knew was—

Cheng Ping almost made it into the top six.

This is only because he has restrained himself for the past three days and has not tried to conquer the nightmare.

"Now that the first batch of senior member badges have been awarded, those who receive the senior member honor later will no longer announce it publicly. So, I can go and tackle the nightmare now, and start choosing my third natal cursed item."

he thought to himself.

Within his body, the power of the incantation flowed.

The two refined natal spell items floated within his body.

People generally believed that among the veteran members, Xuan Jian, Xi Xue, Chen Baichuan, and Luo Sha Jian were the strongest. However, while Xuan Jian and his group were still stuck at the peak of the First Refinement Realm, some had already quietly entered the Second Refinement Realm.

Even Lao Wang and Li Wei, who wanted to invite Cheng Ping to join their team, thought that Cheng Ping was only a powerful First Refinement Realm cultivator.

No one knows the true strength of this "Cheng Pingping Heavenly King".

"Second-stage Refinement Realm, that's truly impressive."

"And he single-handedly conquered multiple nightmares; he's a real talent."

Shi An murmured.

He was certainly aware of Cheng Ping's true battle record. He could always open and check Cheng Ping's battle logs.

This person seems to have a bit of paranoia.

Shi An didn't care what the members of the safe zone chose—whether they wanted to be lone wolves, form teams, or even build a faction.

.

All he needs to do is grasp the general direction and push forward with the Nightmare Strategy.

With a team, managing the safe zone became even easier for him.

Each team leader naturally has to manage their own team members.

"In the future, these ten-person teams may even be upgraded to teams of dozens or hundreds of people."

"Exploration teams, adventure teams, and strategy teams will head deeper into the nightmare. Even tasks like establishing camps and expanding the safe zone's visibility can be outsourced."

Just like now, although Shi An doesn't have a second lighthouse blueprint, he has accumulated quite a few lookout tower blueprints.

Providing one or two blueprints to a large team to build a base is certainly a viable option.

However, it's quite far.

The teams in the safe zone are just getting started.

"Although a team with all members at the Refinement stage is already catching up to the various combat teams of the Countermeasures Bureau, each team in the Countermeasures Bureau only has about ten people at the Refinement stage, and some may even have fewer than ten?"

After a quick calculation, Shi An discovered that the number of Refinement Stage experts in his own safe zone might be catching up with or even surpassing that of the Countermeasures Bureau.

That's pretty exaggerated.

However, he and the Countermeasures Bureau are not competitors.

What he created was a platform that encompasses everything.

In terms of the number of strong individuals, the Safe Zone is still far inferior to the Countermeasures Bureau.

Shi An pondered.

"The Countermeasures Bureau already has five Transcendent Realm experts, the top three of the Wizarding Family are all Transcendent, and the Ultimate Martial Arts Academy seems to have two or three Transcendent experts as well. The total number of Transcendent Realm experts in Baijiang City can be estimated to be more than 15."

Quite a lot!

But are there many?

Not at all!

"If the nightmares were to invade Baijiang City, the invading monsters wouldn't be very strong. But if they were monsters affected by the gray fog tide and then flooding into Baijiang City, then they would not only be numerous but also incredibly powerful."

In a previous encounter with a super-small gray fog tide, Shi An encountered several strange beings and one elite-level strange being.

He had heard that if a large-scale gray fog tide were to erupt, hundreds of strange beings would surge in like a tide, and there might be more than one extraordinary strange being among them.

This level of gray fog tide has occurred more than once since the fall of Baijiang City.

Now, thanks to the continuous efforts of the strong in the safe zone, the occasional nightmare invasions in Baijiang City have become increasingly rare.

Every now and then, one or two nightmares still invade, and this cannot be completely stopped, after all, Baijiang City is located in a sea of ​​nightmares.

But the situation is no longer so critical.

Unfortunately, this "not that critical" only applies to nightmare invasion incidents.

"The safe zone's strategy against Nightmare won't affect the surging tide of the Gray Fog. Besides, there are also the False Ones lurking around!"

The countermeasures bureau has made some progress these days.

They uncovered clues and traces of some imposters.

However, the more they investigated, the more difficult the situation became.

The pseudo-humans and the real humans are truly locked in a life-or-death struggle.

"Because humanity is the breeding ground for hypocrites! Hypocrites must be born from among humanity!"

"And the Countermeasures Bureau has discovered through research that there are definitely a considerable number of bizarre individuals among this strange group of 'False Humans'!"

"Ordinary pseudo-humans can advance to the extraordinary realm through cultivation, or they can be directly transformed into extraordinary pseudo-humans by eroding human extraordinary beings!"

Now, he has a beacon that can see through the disguise of false people.

The countermeasures bureau is also researching lighthouses, hoping to develop similar gadgets.

Even so, setting aside the disguise, the fake man's strength is still something to be wary of and even fear!

"This is the terrifying power of the intelligent and bizarre race! The strength of the intelligent and bizarre races increases rapidly. After all, even the most ordinary bizarre races are comparable to experts in the Refinement stage."

"However, the vast majority of my safe zone members are also capable of fighting ordinary monsters, and their skills are improving rapidly."

Shi An currently has no direct solution for dealing with fake people.

Let's upgrade first.

If there are dozens of extraordinary beings under his command, and if there are dozens or hundreds of elite squads in his safe zone, what is there to fear from mere pseudo-humans?

"Pseudo-humans? They are indeed a very terrifying and bizarre race!"

"Thinking back, I encountered a similar bizarre display of intelligence earlier this year. Only then, that 'imposter's' disguise wasn't nearly as convincing. This shows that imposters are improving, and improving very quickly!"

Deep within the nightmare, in a place quite far from Baijiang City.

A travel-worn young man was browsing through a secret message sent from the bureau through special means.

The secret message mainly reminded him: Beware of imposters! Beware of imposters! Beware of imposters!

Without precautions, even a transcendent powerhouse like Long Xingzhou could be killed by an ordinary pseudo-human, but with precautions—

A cold light gleamed in Long Xingzhou's eyes.

"Currently, there's no direct way to spot a fake person's disguise, but you can verify whether they're a fake through blood tests and common-sense inquiries!"

"After these pseudo-humans infiltrate and replace humans, they can acquire human memories and even behavioral habits, but there are some details they won't notice or care about! They are ultimately not human!"

Soon, Long Xingzhou ordered his men to set up camp and rest, and through various means, he confirmed that there were no imposters in his team.

This result was to be expected, but he also breathed a sigh of relief.

Only after the blood collection and verification were completed without fail did the team members voice their questions.

They didn't understand why their captain was doing this.

"He's a fake."

Long Xingzhou said.

The first detachment of Baijiang City's countermeasures bureau, consisting of a dozen or twenty elite soldiers, has traveled all over the country and has gained considerable experience.

They have seen and even killed many intelligent and bizarre beings!

However, this was the first time they had ever heard of such a terrifying and bizarre creature as a fake human.

Long Xingzhou said, "Not only that, the traitors have already set their sights on Baijiang City. The bureau's urgent recall of us is also to completely eliminate the traitors' threat!"

"Fortunately, this time—"

Long Xingzhou looked at the other people in the team.

The other party consisted of six people, a merchant team from Tiannan City!

Tiannan City is quite far from Baijiang.

The two cities near Baijiang are Lindong City and Chongshan City.

Long Xingzhou had previously gone to Lindong City on business and happened to encounter the Tiannan City team, who were also going to Lindong City for a transaction.

They immediately agreed and went to Baijiang together.

And this time—

Chen Moxuan, the captain of the Tiannan Squad and a Transcendent Realm expert, spoke up: "We cannot stay in Baijiang City for long, but we can lend you all a hand. Our interests are aligned, and such hypocrites must not be allowed to live!"

Chen Moxuan was also worried that these fake people would spread to their Tiannan City. Since he was going to Baijiang City, he had to investigate the characteristics of the fake people.

"Let's go, Dragon Team."

"Since the situation in Baijiang City is not optimistic, we should get there as soon as possible."

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