Chapter 31 A

In Memory of Yin Feng

Comrade Yin Feng was an ancient dragon, over 1000 years old. Tasked by the Demon Island of Canada, he journeyed tirelessly across the world to aid in the global fight against hegemony.

Yin Feng first took part in the counterattack against the Panglu Empire. As a lone hero, he crushed the empire's invasion plans with his dragon might and personally slew the instigator, Prince Your.

Later, to rescue people from their obsession with wealth, he launched a series of grand money redistribution schemes. Confronting ruthless misers and capitalists who profited from exploiting laborers, Comrade Yin Feng showed no mercy and consistently achieved victory.

The three oppressive entities, seeking to exploit people further and extinguish their hopes, dispatched multiple special forces to attack Comrade Yin Feng. Yet, he dealt them significant blows, establishing an indomitable image akin to Comrade Li Xiangyang.

In his struggle against the representative of the three entities, Dragon God Palot, Comrade Yin Feng demonstrated exceptional bravery and mastered the guerrilla warfare strategy of retreating when the enemy advanced and striking when they retreated.

We should all learn from his selfless spirit. With this mindset, one can become truly beneficial to the people. A person's abilities may vary, but possessing such a spirit makes one noble, pure, moral, free from lowly interests, and beneficial to the people.

— Future generations should consider different perspectives

When all seemed lost, a turn of fate brought clarity.

A green tree appeared ahead, and the perpetual bustle of the Treehouse Tavern could already be heard.

The journey was uneventful. Amy had been persuading Big Green Mountain to try riding Greeny, who was quite eager, but any weight on its back kept it grounded. Thus, Greeny couldn't serve as a mount and instead focused on pushing Yin Feng's massive head forward in the air.

The dragon's head was surprisingly large, especially Yin Feng's, and couldn't fit through the main door. Early in the morning, people gathered around the tavern to see the dragon head being delivered. The sight was even more spectacular with a green dragon hovering above. It was a scene that would be vividly recounted for years.

The commotion outside caught the attention of the three guilds. The nearest, the Mage Guild, dispatched a senior mage in a red robe. Upon seeing the spectacle, he whispered instructions to an elf from the tavern, who promptly left. Moments later, the tavern doors transformed, the tree-bark frames bending and stretching to accommodate the massive head, which was then pushed into the Mercenary Guild as well.

The enormous dragon head, occupying 35% of the room, amazed everyone. Even the tallest berserker wasn't eye-level with it.

Feeling triumphant, Amy slammed the task slip down on the table with a loud thud, as the scene matched his imagination perfectly.

"What task is this?" The young clerk of the Mercenary Guild was momentarily at a loss, unable to recall any recent missions involving dragon slaying.

"A double-SS task!" A roar erupted, both inside and outside the building, aligning perfectly with Amy's expectations as a smile crept onto his face.

"This head has a name you're all familiar with—Yin Feng," Amy declared with satisfaction after everyone had quieted down.

"Yin Feng"

"That Yin Feng?"

"The evil dragon Yin Feng?"

"Is it true?"

"The evil dragon Yin Feng is dead—"

The Treehouse Tavern erupted in chaos.

"Everyone, settle down. Let's complete the task first. If anyone wants to hear the full story later, I'll tell it for 20 gold coins each, limited to 50 people." Amy announced from atop the dragon head. "Don't be stingy, folks. This mission claimed the lives of two A-grade mercenaries and a great elf mage. You can't imagine the brutality. Also, would you like to know why we only brought back one dragon head and where the other went? Get your money ready, slots are limited." Clearly, Amy was keen on maximizing his profits.

"Count me in," a mage from the Mage Guild tossed two purple coins onto the table. "After the story, come see me; I'll reassess your level."

"Great, thanks." Amy picked up the coins and instructed Big Green Mountain, "Clear the area. Green Mountain, collect the money outside—don't miss a single coin. We're capping it at 50 people. You wouldn't want Greeny to starve or resort to robbery, would you?" The last remark dispelled Green Mountain's doubts, once again succumbing to Amy's sweet talk and camaraderie.

Future generations struggled to understand why someone like Big Green Mountain, who stood apart from the corruption, repeatedly aided Amy at critical moments. Only three people and a dragon knew the reason. The dragon wouldn't speak, and the three individuals, tied to the matter in different ways, chose to keep the secret.

"Did you really complete it?" Despite seeing the dragon head, the clerk remained skeptical of his own eyes.

"Of course," Amy replied. "The mission involved five mercenary teams: the Silver Snow Wolf Mercenaries' Wolf Spirit Squad, the Hami Iron Wolf Mercenaries, the Berserker Mercenaries, the Purple Heart Sword Mercenaries, and our small mercenary team. Hami Iron Wolf and Berserker teams were wiped out. Only one member survived from Purple Heart: White-clad Afeng, and only one from Silver Snow Wolf: Dwarf Old Locke. Our team remained unscathed."

"White-clad Afeng? Old Locke? All wiped out?" The clerk muttered familiar names. "You two G-grade mercenaries couldn't have survived just by being reserves?"

"What!" Amy slammed his palm on the table, affronted by the suggestion. "We were the main force. We killed the dragon while Afeng and Old Locke were knocked out. Look—" Amy rolled up his sleeve. "These scars are from the dark dragon Landa. And look at this—this is Afeng and Old Locke's confirmation of mission completion, ha! It's all clearly written. Can you read?"

Seeing the special stamp of completion from Afeng and Old Locke, which held absolute authority in the mercenary world, no one could doubt that these two G-grade mercenaries had indeed defeated and killed the two-headed evil dragon Yin Feng.

"Alright, as per the rules, you get half of the reward, with the rest split among the other mercenary teams. The wiped-out teams aren't counted. Please provide the list of fallen mercenaries, and we'll send compensation to their families. Here's a payment slip for 6,500 gold coins. You can redeem it at any bank, backed by the Northern Hami Kingdom's contract with the Ice Elves. You can claim, transfer, or sell it at any time." Once the truth was confirmed, the clerk efficiently handled the proceedings.

"Thanks," Amy said, grabbing the items from the table and preparing to move the dragon head out for a show.

"Wait." The clerk called Amy back.

"We need to reevaluate your and your team's levels."

"Completing one SS-level task equals completing 20 S-level tasks, one S-level task equals 15 A-level tasks, and one A-level task equals 10 B-level tasks, and so forth," the clerk explained.

"Why bother with all these calculations?" Amy interrupted the clerk's numerical game.

"Do you think I want to? No G-grade mercenary has ever completed an SS task, so I have to calculate from G onwards to determine your new level. For someone like Afeng, it's straightforward; two steps and it's done." The clerk resumed calculating on paper. "We'll start again."

"Completing one C-level task equals seven D-level tasks, one D-level task equals six E-level tasks, one E-level task equals five F-level tasks, and one F-level task equals three G-level tasks."

1 SS x 20 S x 15 A x 10 B = 200,000 G-level tasks.

10 G-level tasks upgrade to F, ignored.

1 SS x 20 S x C x 7 D x 6 E x 5 F = 504,000 G-level tasks.

20 F-level tasks upgrade to E, ignored.

1 SS x 20 S x 15 A x 000 E-level tasks.

40 E-level tasks upgrade to D, ignored.

"Congratulations, you're now mid-level mercenaries and a mid-level mercenary team." The clerk habitually shook Amy's hand.

1 SS x 20 S x 000 D-level tasks.

80 D-level tasks upgrade to C, ignored.

1 SS x 20 S x C = 24,000 C-level tasks.

160 C-level tasks upgrade to B, ignored again.

"Congratulations, you're now high-level mercenaries and a high-level mercenary team." The clerk extended his hand in disbelief, and Amy, engulfed in the complex calculations, couldn't grasp the clerk's intent. Yet, being congratulated repeatedly couldn't be a bad thing.

1 SS x 20 S x 15 A x 10 B = 3,000 B-level tasks.

400 B-level tasks upgrade to A-level.

"Congratulations, you're now an elite mercenary and mercenary team." The clerk's voice trembled. There were only four A-grade mercenary teams worldwide, one on the entire continent. Was he about to record this historic event?

1 SS x 20 S x 15 A = 300 A-level tasks.

800 A-level tasks upgrade to S-level.

Note: Since the SS task was successfully completed, all other tasks are considered 100% successful.

With a loud bang, Amy inside and Big Green Mountain outside both saw their mercenary journals burst into flames, transforming the EG symbol into an AA symbol.

When Big Green Mountain pulled out the now-purple mercenary journal, all eyes were on the AA symbol, marking the birth of a new record, a new A-level mercenary team, a new—

"Aah—" A beastly roar echoed from inside: "This symbol means we can charge more now, ha—ha—ha—ha—"