Armipotent

"Hah…." Gan Shuo let out a sigh. It was a lie if he was not upset when Duan Ya addressed the Empire as a dubious empire, but he knew it was just a misunderstanding from Duan Ya's side.

"Zhen Yang! Liao Zhenya! Restrain Wan Yongzhen for a moment!"

Zhen Yang and Liao Zhenya nodded and moved to Wan Yongzhen's side, "I know you are upset, and I am also upset, but let Uncle Gan talk first, okay?" Zhen Yang whispered.

Wan Yongzhen stared at Chang Jie's bare top. Clearly, he was trying to look at the woman behind Chang Jie. He gritted his teeth, holding his anger, but he did not move, just as Gan Shuo ordered him to. However, if Gan Shuo signaled to attack, he would be the first one to attack.

"I know you are suspicious of us, Miss Duan Ya, but that does not mean you can disrespect us, let alone the Tang Empire. While you hold no feeling for the empire, the empire means a lot to us. The empire saved us from the zombies, giving us food and a safe place for us and our families to live. We are angry if you disrespect the empire out of nowhere like that."

Gan Shuo kept his composure down and expressed his thoughts.

"If you don't welcome us, then it's fine. We will leave if that's what you want. However, I can tell you that The Tang Empire will return to this island again because this island is in our territory."

"What do you mean by this island is your territory? This is our village!" Chang Jie rebutted when he heard someone claim the island.

"It's not up to you or me to decide whose island this is, but the System. I plan to explain more about how the system works, but we will leave now. We don't want to incite a fight against you and the villagers. That's not our objective, but as you can see, one of my subordinates is extremely upset because you insulted the empire. I don't think this is the right time to talk," Gan Shuo acted carefully around the two people in front of him and the villagers. The reason was simple: the rice field outside the village.

"Wait," Duan Ya called out when Gan Shuo turned around. She pushed Chang Jie to the side and took a step forward, "I apologize for my rudeness and disrespect, Sir Gan Shuo. I have gone too far with my words and offended you and your people."

Gan Shuo stopped his step and turned his head. A visibly frown formed on his forehead as he looked at the veiled woman bowed toward him. He could not tell if the apology was genuine or just to mock them because he could not see Duan Ya's expression. He could only judge that based on her voice, which he determined to be a sincere apology.

'I don't like this. I should have called PM Li Shuang or Miss Cao Jingyi. I can't accompany this girl with her mental game; that's not my expertise,' Gan Shuo was troubled with this. He immediately sent a message to Cao Jingyi, telling them what he encountered, including the giant rice field. Of course, he did not forget to mention the tricky Duan Ya.

The sincere apology put them in an awkward situation, but Gan Shuo played along. He accepted the apology, and Duan Ya led him to one of the houses. She led him to a table and started the conversation, "You said you want to explain to me how the system works. Can we start from that? We only have thirty minutes before the monsters' attack, so we only have twenty minutes for the talk as we still need the ten minutes of preparation for the battle."

Duan Ya spoke as if the awkward thing had never happened. It was as if she never offended him and his subordinates. Gan Shuo felt like the woman was leading the conversation.

"Then I will make it short. I can only explain the things I know about the System, so I will start with the Game we are in…." Gan Shuo started to explain everything about the System and its features. The mini-game, Survival Game, Quests, Territory War Game, Faction, World Congress, Dimensional Tower, and more. Mostly the general knowledge, he excluded the smart base from the woman.

"So, what's the purpose of the game?" Duan Ya asked the core question.

Gan Shuo shrugged, "I don't know. What's the purpose of a game? Entertainment? Maybe we are just entertainment to those godly figures that put us into this absurd Game. In my case, I fight for my and my family's survival. I don't care about the purpose of the game. I will leave that to The Emperor where he wants to bring us."

"You seem to trust this Emperor so much that you are willing to put your life's direction in his hand, Sir Gan Shuo."

"Have you ever played a video game, Miss Duan Ya?"

Duan Ya nodded in response.

"I never played the video game myself, but the youngster told me that there would be a final boss in the game. We have to defeat this extremely strong final boss to finish the game, right?"

The veiled woman nodded.

"If this final boss really exists, then our only hope is The Emperor. He is absurdly and illogically strong, and if there is a final boss, then only The Emperor can defeat that final boss. At least, that's my opinion after seeing him in the battle against those giant zombies and horde zombies."

"It's about time for us to prepare for the battle against the monsters, but I have one last question. Is this the quest you often see?" Duan Ya then showed a quest screen to Gan Shuo.

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[System Quest]

Defend Shiye Island from the Yangtze King!

Accomplish Condition: Kill the Yangtze King

Failure Condition: All players on the island die

Reward: 3 Grade 9 Treasure Chests and 1 Grade 5 Treasure Chest

Time: —

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Gan Shuo read the quest and looked at Duan Ya, "It's about the same, but we rarely encountered a quest. More often, we encountered the mini-game and Survival Games to fully capture a territory. Also, the faction quest. When we capture territory, the system will give us a quest to defend the territory from the zombie horde. This is the first time I have seen a quest like yours. Are you the only one with the quest? Or everyone on the island gets the quest?"

"We all have the same quest," Duan Ya replied, "What about you, Sir? Don't you get the quest the moment you step onto the island?"

Gan Shuo shook his head, "I don't get any notification about the quest, but level 5 Treasure Chest as a reward, huh? This quest must be difficult to reward you with a Grade 5 Treasure Chest."

"The reward keeps changing. It started with 1 grade 9 Treasure Chest and 1 Grade 8 Treasure Chest. It was three months ago, but it has changed to this one now. You are right about the difficulty. It's not just who gets stronger, but the monsters come back stronger each day too," Duan Ya explained.

"It's almost time," Duan Ya stood up and bowed toward Gan Shuo, "I apologize for my disrespect earlier, and thank you for helping us fight the monsters, Sir Gan Shuo."

"Don't thank me. I am just doing my job as part of the Expansion Team of the Tang Empire. Rescuing the survivors is one of them," Gan Shuo waved his hand as if it was nothing.

Duan Ya spoke no more and got out of the house, and Gan Shuo followed her, "Can you gather the villagers, Miss Duan Ya? I want to know how many villagers will fight the monsters. We will distribute the armor and weapons to fight the monsters. Just a reminder, we are not giving the equipment to you but lending it to you all."

"Thank you for your assistance, Sir Gan Shuo," Duan Ya thanked him once more before telling Chang Jie to gather the villagers.

At the same time, Gan Shuo called his people and told them to lend the reserve equipment to the villagers. A hundred and fifty-seven villagers would participate in the battle against the monsters, half the number of the Tarriors, so they had enough equipment to lend.

"If you are uncomfortable with the armor, and it restrains your movement, I advise you all only to wear the chest plate," Gan Shuo reminded the villagers. He remembered the first time he wore those full plate armor. It was so uncomfortable and became a hindrance to his movement. The armor that was supposed to protect them from the fatal injury might cause his death, so he told the villagers not to wear the complete set if that was the case.

The villagers listened to the advice. They only wore the chest plate, with some of them wearing the steel helmet, but most of them threw the helmet. The helmet could become a nuisance if they were not used to it. The helmet might limit their vision if they were not used to it.

After giving his instruction to the villagers, Gan Shuo returned to Duan Ya's side for the final inquiry, "Can you tell me the details of the monsters? What kind of monster is it? Is there any weakness we have to know?"

"Ah, I am sorry. I almost forgot to tell you about the monsters," For the first time, Duan Ya sounded surprised while speaking to Gan Shuo, but she was fast to retain her composure, "The monster called Whiskerhead. They have thorn-like whiskers around their heads, and we must be careful of that. They can shoot those whiskers, and it's deadly and poisonous. We lost a lot of people because of those poisonous whiskers. To describe their characteristics, they are the walking catfish."

"Walking catfish?" Gan Shuo imagined a catfish with feet walking on the land.

"They're here," Duan Ya reminded Gan Shuo as the ground started to shake. The sound of steps approached the village.