Armipotent

Gan Shuo checked on his subordinates after wiping out the Thorny Whiskers. He ensured that none of them suffered severe injuries. It was fortunate enough that none of them suffered heavy injuries. Some of them were poisoned, but the poison was easily cured with the low-level antidote given to each Tarrior. The monsters were weak for the Tarrior, who had been fighting high-level zombies.

"If I am not wrong, a notification came in during the fight," Gan Shuo muttered by himself and checked the notification.

He received a notification from the System and was surprised by the content.

[You have received The Quest!]

——————————

[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: —

——————————

Wan Yongzhen, Zhen Yang, and Liao Zhenya came over after ensuring everyone's safety, "Did you receive the quest, Captain?" Zhen Yang asked.

"You guys too?" Gan Shuo guessed everyone who participated in the fight received the quest.

"Yeah. I got the quest during the fight and just checked it now," Zhen Yang responded, while Wan Yongzhen and Liao Zhenya nodded.

"If we all received the quest, that means everyone does get the quest too," Gan Shuo opened the screen once more and looked at the reward, "Then we need to figure out if the reward is collective or individual. If it's a collective reward, I don't think it's worth it for us, but it is valuable for an individual reward."

"What are you guys talking about? Let's celebrate our first victory together!" Chang Jie came with his boisterous voice and swooped Zhen Yang and Wan Yongzhen into his embrace.

Wan Yongzhen pushed the big guy, "Don't touch me. I still don't like you guys," The young man then turned around and left the group, returning to the village.

Zhen Yang smiled bitterly and shook his head, "I am sorry about that. He is still young and holds a petty grudge."

"Nah, you should not apologize, Sir. It's me who should apologize," The cheerful Chang Jie made a downcast expression scratched his hair, "I apologize on behalf of Duan Ya, Sir. She should not have said that, but I understand why she said that. She is just extremely cautious around new people and unknowingly offended you all. I apologize for Duan Ya, and I am also grateful for helping us fight the monsters."

"That's fine, Big Guy," Gan Shuo tapped Chang Jie's back thrice, "You did a good job, and I heard from my subordinates you saved a lot of them. Just give Yongzhen some time, and he will accept you all."

"Yongzhen is an orphan. Before the Tang Empire, Yongzhen always watched his sister starve days as we could never get enough food for our fill. Everything changed when the Tang Empire came and saved us. His sister never gets starved now, she has a friend to play with, and he watches his sister smiling every day, so please understand why he goes hard on you. The Tang Empire means a lot to him and to us too, of course."

Chang Jie nodded and walked together to the village with Gan Shuo and the others. The cheerful Chang Jie returned upon seeing all the villagers survive. The villagers welcomed them with cheer, and Gan Shuo rooted on the spot. Without him realizing it, tears started to fall off.

"Huh, what's wrong? Why are you crying? You should be cheering like them, too," Gan Shuo stayed next to the big guy and noticed that Chang Jie was crying. It caught him off guard.

Chang Jie shook his head and wiped off the tears, "No, I am very happy. This is the first battle where no one from us died. I am happy," even though he said he was happy, the tears could not stop falling from his eyes.

Gan Shuo quickly realized that the big guy must lose someone precious to him during the months of battle against the monster for him to tear up like this. Gan Shuo was 1.7 meters tall, and he tried to hug the big guy, who was over two meters. It looked awkward as he barely reached the guy's back and tapped his back, "I am sorry we just come now."

"Hmmmm," Chang Jie hummed as he shook his head.

*** ***

After the warming goodbye with the big guy, Gan Shuo had to face the mysterious Duan Ya once more. The woman had been staring at him for five minutes, saying nothing, but her glare was uncomfortable for him. It was as if she tried to pry something out of him.

"So…. What do you want to talk about with me, Miss Duan Ya?" Gan Shuo opened the conversation. This was his third attempt to open a conversation, hoping for a response from the mysterious woman.

"What did you do with Chang Jie?" The woman's eyes turned sharp as she responded.

A good start; at least the woman responded to him even though not something he expected. He thought the woman would ask him about the Tang Empire.

"I did nothing to him but just comforted him. It seems he has a lot on his mind, but he always covers it with his smile and silly action, so a little comfort from an old man," Gan Shuo put up a smile.

"I did not ask you about that, but what you did to make him want to join the Tang Empire?" Duan Ya's tone became increasingly cold.

Gan Shuo figured out what the woman was up to, 'She must be thinking that I persuaded him to join. Not wrong, though,'

He shook his head, "You should ask him instead of asking me, Miss. I just tell him what the Tang Empire looks like and how many people live under the Tang Empire's protection. That's it; I didn't coax him with false info. Everything I told him is true."

"But this makes me curious. Why are you trying to control Chang Jie? He may be a little naive, but he is an adult and should make the life decision by himself. I understand your concern, but he will not grow up if you keep him in the safe box. What will happen to him if one day you are not on his side, Miss? You should not control or influence his decision."