Chapter 171 - 141: The Returned Captain

Chapter 171: Chapter 141: The Returned Captain

After all, a team captain’s authority was high. If a member chose the wrong team, their future prospects would become quite dire.

But...

These six were all famous figures in the Safe Zone, and their integrity was well-established. Most importantly, as the first batch of Safe Zone teams, the potential of these six squads was immeasurable.

As long as one joined any of them, reaching the peak as a Dream Descender was highly possible!

Aside from Chen Baichuan, the other Advanced Members did indeed have plans to recruit.

Jiang Peng was the first to announce his recruitment.

"My team wasn’t originally established to conquer the Nightmare. My goal is to delve deep into the Nightmare to investigate and learn more of its secrets. I will then organize and summarize this information for everyone!"

Among the Advanced Members, Jiang Peng was the only Dream Descender still active in the shallow regions of the Nightmare.

He was weak.

He had only mastered a couple of Curse Arts, and his proficiency with them was mediocre at best.

For one, he wasn’t skilled in this area. For another, Researcher Jiang didn’t spend much time training. He was either entering the Nightmare to conduct research or writing papers.

Therefore, Jiang Peng had intentionally capped his Level. He knew his own limits. With his abilities, if he were to fall Deep in the Nightmare, he might not survive even with the Safe Zone’s backing, let alone conduct any investigations or research.

But that was then. What about now? As long as he could assemble an elite research team, he could venture even into the depths of the Nightmare!

An elite team needed powerful members, and right now, the hall was filled with them!

The Baijiang Research Institute headquarters had very few powerful individuals. Often, when the Research Institute wanted to venture into dangerous territories, they needed to request assistance from the Countermeasures Bureau.

But they couldn’t request assistance from the Countermeasures Bureau too frequently, and he, Jiang Peng, wasn’t the director of the Research Institute.

It was far better to build his own force!

Jiang Peng decided that besides saving two spots for colleagues at the institute who specialized in different fields, he would use the rest to recruit guards.

’It’s all thanks to the Manager for granting team-forming privileges. Otherwise, how could I ever lead such a luxurious research team?’

’Choosing to become a permanent resident of the Safe Zone was probably the best decision of my life.’

’And it’s not just me. The appearance of the Safe Zone has already changed many Dream Descenders, allowing many to escape the Nightmare’s clutches. Now, the emergence of Safe Zone teams is directly changing the way people explore and conquer it.’

It might be an exaggeration to say a new era had arrived.

But, without even realizing it, they were already walking the path of this new era.

...

Among the six Advanced Members, Old Wang and Li Wei had the shallowest foundations.

They truly came from a civilian background.

But for that very reason, many powerful individuals from similar backgrounds were more willing to join their two teams.

Before, Old Wang and Li Wei hadn’t been certain they would secure the Advanced Member honor, but they had already been scouting and winning over some powerful individuals.

Old Wang approached Cheng Ping and extended an invitation.

Cheng Ping shook his head. "It’s not that I’m rejecting you, Old Wang. It’s just that I’m used to acting alone. Even if I were to become an Advanced Member someday, I probably wouldn’t form a team."

Seeing this, Bearded Old Wang didn’t press the issue. He just sighed.

He could tell that Cheng Ping liked to work alone.

He turned to invite other powerful individuals.

Little did Old Wang know, Cheng Ping secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was true that he didn’t want to form a team, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t envious of the Advanced Member status.

’It’s just that if I had been selected as one of the first Advanced Members, it would have been too conspicuous!’

’And if a member of the first batch didn’t form a team, that would attract even more attention.’

However, what no one knew was...

...he, Cheng Ping, had been just shy of making it into the top six.

And that was only because he had restrained himself from conquering any Nightmares for the past three days.

’Since the first batch of Advanced Member badges has been awarded, anyone who earns the honor later won’t be announced so publicly. In that case, I can go back to conquering Nightmares and start selecting my third Lifebound Curse Object.’

he mused to himself.

Within his body, Curse Power flowed.

Two already refined Lifebound Curse Objects floated within him.

People always assumed that among the Elder Level Members, the strongest were Profound Sword, Xi Xue, Chen Baichuan, and Rakshasa Sword. However, while Profound Sword and the others were still stuck at the Peak of the First Refinement Realm, someone had already silently broken through to the Second Refining Realm.

Even Old Wang and Li Wei, who had wanted to invite Cheng Ping to their teams, thought he was merely a powerful expert at the First Refinement Realm.

No one knew the true strength of this "Heaven-Peacing King," Cheng Ping.

...

’Second Refining Realm... Impressive indeed.’

’And he conquered multiple Nightmares single-handedly. He’s quite a talent.’

Shi An murmured.

He, of course, knew Cheng Ping’s true record. He could pull up the records of Nightmare conquests at any time.

It was just that the guy seemed to have a bit of a persecution complex.

Shi An didn’t care how the Safe Zone members chose to act, whether they wanted to be a Lone Wolf, form a team, or even establish a faction.

He just needed to steer the general direction and push forward the matter of conquering the Nightmare.

With teams in place, managing the Safe Zone would actually be easier for him.

The captains would naturally have to manage their own team members.

’In the future, these ten-person squads might even upgrade into teams of dozens or even hundreds.’

’Expedition groups, adventurer guilds, and conquest parties will march toward the depths of the Nightmare. I could even "outsource" tasks like establishing camps and expanding the Safe Zone’s field of vision.’

For example, although Shi An didn’t have a second blueprint for a Lighthouse, he had already accumulated quite a few for Watchtowers.

Providing a blueprint or two to a large team for building an outpost was entirely feasible.

But that was still a ways off.

For now, the Safe Zone’s teams were just getting started.