Borg shook his head:
"I'm not sure, but according to conventional thinking, theoretically, a high clearance evaluation... might result in a similar reward?"
Wen Xishu was not certain about this.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered the matter of upgrading the tavern level.
Thirty thousand tavern coins could not enhance the tavern's capabilities, and Wen Xishu had already spent some of it.
The abilities included recruitment chances and a tavern specification option.
Wen Xishu guessed:
"Our rating on the last level was S, which is theoretically already very high, but there could be an even higher possibility."
"After all, once we saw the door, we stopped exploring and headed straight for it."
"This time, perhaps we can explore a bit more after the door appears."
"If the path forward is destined to be abandoned, I'm capable of abandoning it. But at least now, I can't give up on all of you."
"Next, I plan to send all of you to the battlefield."
"And I, myself, will stay behind."
Wen Xishu had already thought of a method; since only four could fight, one had to stay behind.
So he decided to stay behind.
It's not unusual for a commander to stay off the front lines, right?
Colonel Devon was shocked:
"No! Commander, I... my life is not worth comparing to yours."
"I'm not the one in the guide who can lead everyone to leave, you are. I won't regret this inevitable death, it's not due to your command mistake."
The others' expressions, including Borg's, were full of surprise.
Borg's affection level rose directly by 20 points.
The self-sacrificing spirit displayed by Wen Xishu made him feel that this was a commander worth following.
But internally, he also agreed—Devon's life wasn't valuable.
Perhaps Borg was the one who could view everyone with a game mindset like Wen Xishu.
"This is a ruthless apocalypse; human value must be quantified, and those with low numbers should be discarded."
Borg didn't voice this thought.
Wen Xishu said:
"Listen, I'm not here to exchange lives; I have something on me that can overturn the curse's side effects."
"Not offset, but overturn, turning it into a positive effect. Understand?"
"So I'm not here to die; on the contrary, staying here makes me the most valuable. I'm even looking forward to the overturned effect."
"And you four need to cooperate well. Borg is a newcomer but is also an important mainstay in the second level, Mechanical City, which I can't witness firsthand..."
"But you can. Please cooperate carefully and capitalize on your strengths."
Wen Xishu knew that this emotional group needed to be inspired in a certain way.
He walked to Colonel Devon's side:
"Brother Devon, you've led soldiers before, you'll be the team captain."
"The purpose for me staying here is to fight the curse and ensure everyone's survival."
"So... please don't leave anyone behind, bring everyone back for me, understand?"
Colonel Devon was momentarily speechless; after a while, he said:
"Are you... are you really not lying to me? Are you sure you can withstand the curse?"
Wen Xishu said:
"I'm not just any small character that dies halfway; Colonel Devon, you need to respect me!"
Devon immediately stood at attention:
"Then I promise to complete the mission. Rest assured, I'll do my utmost to bring everyone back."
Wen Xishu nodded:
"Good. These are my items, something that can provide you with the correct guidance."
"And these gloves can nullify the opponent's items."
Wen Xishu directly gave out his trump card items.
If I've miscalculated...
Then I'll personally proceed to the second level and retrieve the items.
Based on the intensity of the first level, Wen Xishu didn't believe the next level would immediately surpass his ability.
Without him, he could only hope these items could help Devon and the others succeed in overcoming difficulties.
Devon's affection level for Wen Xishu had reached its maximum.
In Wen Xishu's vision, a message has been unlocked:
Colonel Devon's upgrade evolution condition has been unlocked. Trigger condition unknown.
Upgrade: The card will evolve directly to the highest level it can evolve to.
Wow, has he really been moved?
Wen Xishu does quite like this colonel; despite critiquing Cavendish for being overly emotional, he's that kind of person too.
At the same time, he also noticed...
Evolution can be a normal evolution, similar to Cavendish, advancing from C to B.
There are also cases like Devon's, where C is expected to directly evolve to A?
At this stage, it's still unknown.
But there's no doubt, maxing out the affection level grants the qualification for upgrade evolution.
Wen Xishu's operation just now, no doubt, significantly heightened everyone's affection level.
However, he indeed had no time to use words to conquer each and every, maximizing everyone's affection levels.
But he is looking forward to the fact that when Colonel Devon returns, he may no longer be a C card.
"It's time to set off, everyone, make sure to return safely, I don't want my efforts wasted."
Please don't ruin my perfect ending, Wen Xishu screamed inwardly.
In the team section of his vision, Wen Xishu removed himself; the four-person team became Hacker Borg, Doctor Elsa, Colonel Devon, Sniper Cavendish.
In Wen Xishu's view, this team is quite versatile.
Equipped with his Compass and gloves, he's not too worried.
Although he's no longer in the team, the option to advance to the second level is still initiated by Wen Xishu.
There wasn't much time left on the countdown.
Wen Xishu said:
"Come on, good luck to you all!"
Wen Xishu clicked to start the second level.
The next second, several team members around him disappeared.
Wen Xishu stayed where he was.
The tavern suddenly became quiet.
The bartender is practically a fixed NPC, with only a few lines:
"Want a drink?"
"What can I get you?"
Wen Xishu triggered all the lines by asking several times, and then stopped chatting.
Everything is in the upgrade content; the tavern needs to be upgraded.
Normally speaking, the first level, normal players can hardly avoid this sacrificial situation.
He really couldn't either.
Wen Xishu indeed overlooked that he hadn't explored thoroughly enough in the first level.
But fortunately...
He's hacked, with a margin of error.
"Mad Dice is really a good thing; its rule mechanism coverage is above Obsession World."
Yes, with the options thrown by Mad Dice — three kinds of randomness, Wen Xishu can bear the curse.
Turn the negative effects of the curse into positive ones.
Through cheating, Wen Xishu forcefully reversed a mistake this time.
But that being said... since Mad Dice chose me, how can I be blamed for fully utilizing its potential?
Wen Xishu started waiting quietly.
The one-hour countdown didn't have much left, and in no time, the hour was up.
"Team size exceeded, you will be erased."
The guidance appeared.
Wen Xishu also started getting nervous.
"Brother Tuo, don't let me down."
Not being nervous is a lie, especially since this was a hard confrontation.
A skull-printed hourglass above Wen Xishu's head began to turn.
The next second, Wen Xishu saw a number in his vision change.
The current number of people was 5/4.
In other words, at this stage, the tavern can only have four people in total.
Adding in the newly recruited Borg, there were five in total, thus showing 5/4.
The Wen Xishu staying at the tavern was supposed to die. So it wouldn't be over limit.
But because of the randomness, at this moment, the game values had a bug.
Wen Xishu discovered suddenly—the current number of people became 3/4.
"That's not right, even if I died, it should be 4/4. How did it become 3/4?"
"It jumped from 5/4 to 3/4, two populations less? And I'm still alive..."
"Holy, this is awesome?"
Wen Xishu figured it out, he quickly understood what was going on.
It really overturned.
Mad Dice's randomness turned his population occupation from "1" to "-1".
So at this moment, he acted as a subtractive function regarding population quota.
His team wasn't over the limit; in fact, they could safely recruit another one.
"Damn, it's amazing!"