The Feathered Dragon-Serpent Technique

Unlike the newbie mission, Shen Yi didn't directly return to the city this time but found himself in a void space first.

Images of his performances in battle flashed before his eyes. These ranged from motivating everyone on the plane to follow him northward, to using the rocket launcher against tanks and planes, employing healing arts to save adventurers and soldiers, organizing defensive lines, and finally destroying the artillery position, persuading the German army to cease their attack, and killing the German major general. Starting from the Arnhem Bridge scene, a small green number appeared in the lower right corner of the images, fluctuating irregularly.

Shen Yi keenly noticed that for every German soldier he killed, the number increased by 1; destroying a tank added 50 points, saving a soldier added 5 points, and downing a plane added 200 points. When he destroyed dozens of German artillery, the green number surged by over two thousand points, settling at 8850 points after he killed the German major general. The number then automatically increased by over three thousand points, likely due to the contribution of the 2nd Airborne Battalion, ending at 12492 points.

The Bloody Emblem beeped: "You have earned 12492 contribution points, accounting for 47.52% of the total contribution, the highest in this mission. 8 adventurers survived, the remaining 7 have an average contribution of 7.49%."

"Colonel Frost and Major Ralph of the 2nd Airborne Battalion survived. 156 soldiers survived, awarding 4012 Bloody Points. You have been allocated 1906 Bloody Points."

"Your contribution exceeds other adventurers by 40%, and you will receive a double C-grade special reward."

Shen Yi was momentarily stunned.

Although he knew his contribution was high, he hadn't expected a double C-grade reward. In the Bloody City, newbie tasks usually offer ungraded item rewards, with only a 100% difficulty giving a chance for a D-grade reward. There are five difficulty zones corresponding to D, B, C, A, S grades.

Double C-grade rewards are typically only for advanced adventurers in the ordinary zone, and special rewards mean they are unobtainable even with money.

This was a major stroke of luck for Shen Yi. His decision to save Fatty proved to be a key factor in exceeding the 40% contribution margin. If Fatty had died, the average contribution of the adventurers would have been around 9%, making Shen Yi eligible for only a C-grade reward.

His attention to detail led to a significant gain in his first official mission. "Do you confirm to receive the highest reward now?"

"Confirmed."

"Please select the type of reward you wish to receive: Equipment, Skill, Item, Special Ability, Technique, Bloodline."

Shen Yi hesitated, considering the many enhancement options in Bloody City. He decided against weapons since his Spirit Fire Gun and Vampire's Touch were sufficient for level one scenes. Bloodlines and Special Abilities, once acquired, are hard to change, so it might be premature to opt for them. He already possessed special items, so that wasn't a priority. What he lacked was close combat ability, as evident in his struggles against mini-bosses in both the newbie and official tasks. His strength lay in sustained combat but not in single combat.

Uncertain of what the next mission world would entail, Shen Yi decided to enhance his individual combat capability.

The choice was between a skill or a technique. According to Hong Lang, techniques require practice to master, unlike bloodlines, which typically lack compatibility. Adventurers can usually only have one bloodline but can learn multiple techniques if they don't conflict. Therefore, acquiring a technique early is beneficial. As for skills, his Bloody Points from this mission should be enough to purchase another one.

After deliberating, Shen Yi chose:

"Technique."

"You have chosen a Technique reward, and you receive a random double C-grade special reward: the secret manual of the Feathered Dragon-Serpent Technique. 18000 Bloody Points are required to learn it."

Shen Yi was astonished.

He had expected the technique reward to grant him a technique directly, not just a manual that required additional payment to learn.

With only 10106 Bloody Points in hand, far short of the 18000 needed, Shen Yi realized the high value placed on techniques and bloodlines in Bloody City. The city's special reward, being unobtainable in the shop or mission world, thus significantly increased its estimated value, substituting a whole double C-grade special reward with just a manual.

Despite the potential strength of the Feathered Dragon-Serpent Technique, possibly surpassing regular double C-grade and even B-grade techniques, Shen Yi now faced the challenge of not having enough funds to learn it.

After considering his needs for living in Bloody City, strengthening attributes, and reserving Bloody Points for the next mission, Shen Yi concluded that learning the Feathered Dragon

-Serpent Technique was currently impossible.

Sighing, Shen Yi could only shake his head in resignation.

The feeling was akin to playing a game where, after risking everything to obtain a Dragon Pattern Sword, he couldn't use it due to insufficient level, leading to excitement mixed with immense frustration.

The biggest issue with Bloody City was that many things were not explicitly told; adventurers had to face, research, analyze, and discover them on their own. In this process, setbacks were inevitable. Some rules could be exploited, like using Fatty to lower the average contribution, while others could deceive you, like seemingly advantageous rewards that end up being unattainable.

For adventurers, quickly converting every gain into combat strength was crucial for survival in such a world. Merely chasing potential could mean failing to overcome immediate challenges.

Therefore, a technique like the Feathered Dragon-Serpent, which couldn't be immediately utilized, was something everyone would welcome but not actively pursue.

Accepting the situation, Shen Yi moved on as the Bloody Emblem beeped.

"You have completed all the tasks in the Bloody Garden Campaign. Completion rate: 80%. Evaluation: Perfect."

"You have been promoted in military rank. Current rank: Private First Class, storage space upgraded to ten cubic meters."

"Due to your excellent performance in the official task, you qualify to select this world as your home world."

"The home world only becomes available to adventurers who achieve a perfect evaluation in an official task. Once selected, you have the freedom to enter and exit at will. Staying in the home world for ten days is equivalent to one day in Bloody City. The progress in the home world remains as you experienced it. Relationships established there, including allies and enemies, will persist. You will be notified when other adventurers enter your home world, and you can attack them with your powers without any penalty. Everything obtained in the home world, unless gained through a task, cannot be taken out. However, knowledge and strength gained there are not subject to this restriction."

"If you are defeated by another adventurer, you will lose your home world, and the victor can handle it as they wish."

"An adventurer can only have one home world at a time and cannot abandon it unless killed by an invading adventurer."

Shen Yi didn't expect such an option. Having a home world meant owning a personal domain to develop freely, even dominate, but only within that world.

After pondering, Shen Yi decided to decline. Choosing a home world was like choosing a spouse – once selected, it stayed for life unless taken away. It was better to choose a world that was both attractive and beneficial. The World War II setting, aside from being chaotic, offered little future prospects.

Having learned from the choice of reward, Shen Yi didn't want to make another mistake with the home world and promptly declined.

The scene in the space faded and disappeared.

Back in the light, the healing priest appeared before Shen Yi, but he quickly declared he could heal himself, keen on saving every Bloody Point.

"Shen Yi!" a voice called from afar.

Looking up, he saw Hong Lang, Wen Rou, Jin Gang, and other adventurers waiting for him.

"You guys came out before me," Shen Yi chuckled.

"We were wondering why you took so long. We thought you might have died in there if not for knowing eight survived," Wen Rou said, staring at him.

Shen Yi shared a brief account of what happened in the space.

"I guessed as much," Hong Lang muttered and inquired about Shen Yi's highest reward, but Shen Yi chose not to disclose.

In Bloody City, today's friends could be tomorrow's enemies, and such matters were often left unspoken.

Wen Rou handed Shen Yi 310 Bloody Points, his share of Fatty's contribution.

Realizing Fatty had left due to being upset about giving up his points, Shen Yi was not surprised by his absence.

Jin Gang patted Shen Yi's shoulder, "Since you're back, let's go have a drink together."

The group then headed off, navigating the complex world of Bloody City, where alliances were fleeting and every decision could have profound consequences.