Yin Jing just nodded calmly. Her cool, aloof face showed little emotion, but the hint of approval in her eyes made her attitude clear.
Zou Yun’s gaze lingered on the "40 points" allocated to Qin Feng for a full three seconds.
There wasn’t the slightest bit of resentment in his heart. On the contrary, he felt it was only natural—he even felt the system had given him too little.
He knew better than anyone what the outcome of this mission would have been without Qin Feng.
Forget 20 Contribution Points—all four of them would have ended up with negative points and been completely erased from this world.
"I have no objections."
Zou Yun took a deep breath, his tone more sincere than ever. "Captain, you earned it."
Qin Feng gave a slight nod, not bothering with pleasantries.
He had indeed taken on the dual roles of commander and core combatant in the previous battle, so this distribution was within his expectations.
His gaze fell upon the one hundred points of "Fearless Warband Reputation."
Contribution Points were the hard currency of Cannan Star Martial Arts University, exchangeable for anything at the Imperial Trading House.
Warband Reputation, on the other hand, was another form of "currency" used within the Warband. It could be exchanged for superior equipment and rare Cultivation Techniques from the Warband’s private armory, or even personal guidance from high-ranking members.
For a Warband member, reputation was sometimes even more valuable than Contribution Points.
Qin Feng glanced at his Contribution Point balance.
His original 31 points, plus the 40 he just received, brought his total to 71.
"If we had failed this mission..."
Zou Yun’s voice was soft, but laced with gratitude.
"We probably wouldn’t have gotten a second chance."
"Our corpses, along with our power armor, would have been left in that spaceship, silently awaiting an orbital Spiritual Energy strike from the Imperial Court of Justice. We would have been purged along with it, vanishing from this Cosmos without a trace."
This wasn’t a hypothetical; it was the cold, hard ending that had very nearly become their reality.
The air seemed to freeze.
The hearty smile on Zhou Quan’s face vanished, replaced by a grave expression.
He recalled the hundreds of fearless, undead abominations in the hall, the forty-plus elite monsters on his own level, and a chill ran down his spine.
"Yeah..."
he said, his voice deep and a little hoarse. "Damn, just thinking about it still makes my skin crawl. If it weren’t for the captain, with any other commander—hell, even if it was just the four of us—we definitely would’ve been worn down and torn to shreds by that mob of monsters."
Yin Jing also nodded slightly, a rare flicker of emotion in her voice. "My Intelligent Assistant calculated it. Upon entering the main hall, without powerful external intervention and precise command, the probability of my own death within three minutes was 99.8%."
Her analysis, cold and precise, was more persuasive than any emotional appeal.
Zou Yun let out a long breath.
He shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. "If you’d swapped in another member with similar strength to mine, and we’d followed my plan, we’d be nothing but a pile of cold cosmic dust right now."
He looked at Qin Feng, his eyes filled with complete conviction and awe.
"I don’t have your terrifying ability to read the battlefield, Captain. I could never have instantly identified which abomination was about to self-destruct, which one would spit poison, or which one was preparing a fatal sneak attack. My commands would have been nothing but pathetic, useless orders like ’Hold the line!’ or ’Kill them!’ We would have fought as individuals, and we would have been in total chaos."
"Zhou Quan’s stamina would have been drained quickly. Yin Jing’s damage output would have been constantly interrupted by an endless stream of sneak attacks. And I would have been held back by trying to manage the whole situation. The four of us wouldn’t have achieved a ’one plus one is greater than two’ effect; instead, our poor coordination would have made us liabilities to each other."
"But you’re different."
Zou Yun’s eyes were locked on Qin Feng. "Your command brought us all to life. You turned Zhou Quan into the sharpest spear, Yin Jing into the most accurate arrow, and me into the sturdiest shield. You maximized all of our strengths while simultaneously covering all our weaknesses with that miraculous Control Realm marksmanship of yours."
"So, forget 40 Contribution Points. Even if you took all the rewards from this mission for yourself, I would accept it without a single complaint."
Zou Yun spoke these words with the utmost sincerity, from the bottom of his heart.
He had completely shed the sense of superiority he once felt as a senior freshman whose strength had surpassed Qin Feng’s.
In the face of absolute power and even more terrifying strategic talent, his laughable bit of seniority had long since been crushed to dust.
The other two quickly agreed.
This felt even better than being carried by a senior student!
Because when a senior carried them, they were genuinely useless, only able to watch quietly as the senior did all the slaughtering.
But this time, Qin Feng had used his immense strength to control the field, allowing every one of them to perform at 100%, or even 120%, of their full potential!
It was exhilarating!
They felt that their own combat methods had improved.
After listening to everyone, Qin Feng simply nodded calmly.
He knew his own value in that battle.
"Since we’re teammates, let’s drop it."
Qin Feng stood up. "There will be more opportunities to work together in the future."
"Damn right!"
Zhou Quan slapped his thigh and stood up as well, laughing heartily. "Captain, next time something this good comes up, don’t you forget about your brother! Following you means good loot and a hell of a thrill!"
"Count me in."
Yin Jing said, short and to the point.
Zou Yun also rose and extended a hand to Qin Feng. "From now on, just call me Zou Yun. I’m at your disposal anytime."
Qin Feng shook his hand.
"Let’s add each other as Subspace friends."
Qin Feng suggested.
"Alright!"
The four of them quickly added one another on their terminals.
This meant they had transformed from a hastily assembled temporary squad into a true combat unit, one that could reassemble at a moment’s notice.
"I have other business to attend to. I’m leaving."
Yin Jing nodded to the others, then turned and left without any hesitation.
"I need to get back to training, too. This mission showed me a lot of my own shortcomings."
Zhou Quan scratched his bald head and also took his leave.
Soon, only Qin Feng and Zou Yun were left in the lounge area.
"I’m heading out, too."
Zou Yun looked at Qin Feng, his expression complex. "Qin Feng, your growth rate is the most terrifying I’ve ever seen. I hope I won’t be left too far behind by the next time we meet."
With that, he turned and disappeared into the stream of people with brisk strides.
Qin Feng took one last look at the ceaseless flow of people at the Central Transmission Hub, then also turned and headed back toward his dorm.