Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Special Mission
"Mr. Hu!"
Fang Yu spoke up in the noisy office, immediately causing the already overwhelmed Wang Xiaohu to stop his work and look at Fang Yu with some surprise: "You’re back?"
"Yes!" Fang Yu chuckled and said, "Just got back."
He then pointed at the task scrolling on the screen above and asked, "Do I have enough points to take this F-level assignment?"
"You do! As long as it’s over 10 points, you can take it, but I have another task for you, come with me!"
Wang Xiaohu squeezed past, making way for Fang Yu to follow. He then led Fang Yu into a room that looked like an archive, behind the office.
"Phew..."
Arriving in the spacious archive, Wang Xiaohu sighed in relief, his face full of fatigue and reluctance towards work.
Fortunately, Fang Yu’s arrival gave him a slight breather.
"Mr. Hu, what’s the task?"
Fang Yu asked excitedly with a smile.
Just earlier, Fang Yu glanced at the forum rules on the Ocean Court’s power ranking system.
0–10 points is not yet considered an entry-level rank.
10–100 points is F-level, also known as a reservist, qualifying to take F-level tasks.
100–500 points is E-level, which makes you a formal member with privileges to access internal Ocean Court purchase channels, gaining access to many high-quality items exclusive to the Ocean Court.
Higher levels have not yet been disclosed.
Currently, Fang Yu’s Ocean Court points are at 28, making him a member of the Ocean Court’s reservist, akin to an intern.
In ranking, he’s naturally one level higher than those Blue Star Captains still competing for zero-requirement tasks, but the title of a reservist also made Fang Yu feel somewhat insecure.
Reaching 100 points to become an E-level official member would be more secure.
With that in mind, Fang Yu compared the difficulty of leveling up in the Ocean Court with the Ji Clan Trading Association...
As expected, more powerful factions have higher upgrade difficulties and thresholds.
In contrast, the Ji Clan Trading Association only requires 10 points for Fang Yu to rise to a D-level faction rank.
Listening to Fang Yu’s question, Wang Xiaohu fanned himself with his hand, as if catching his breath.
After a moment, he laughed and spoke to Fang Yu: "You don’t need to bother with those scrolling tasks in the hall. Those tasks are to filter out ordinary captains, not cost-effective. You performed excellently in the prior Hunter tasks, and I’ve already reported your information. They are very interested in you."
"So, naturally, the tasks assigned to you are different."
"If you’re willing, could you go to an island by the Cyan Tree Strait and help kill a Transcendent creature?"
"Hmm?"
Fang Yu was taken aback and asked, "Why specifically go there to kill a Transcendent creature?"
"Ahem..." Wang Xiaohu cleared his throat and then said softly, "The Cyan Tree Strait is a necessary passage for those from the West Qinghai Sea Region wanting to come to Qiyun Port. If a Transcendent creature appears, it poses a considerable threat to passing merchant ships, so it’s best to eliminate it."
"Of course, there’s also a secondary reason..."
"One of our Ocean Court sponsors was attacked by a Transcendent creature when passing through Cyan Tree Strait and is stranded on a nearby island. Fortunately, there’s enough food for a week. Could you, after killing the Transcendent creature, bring them back?"
Wang Xiaohu cleared his throat.
"A sponsor?"
Fang Yu glanced sideways at Wang Xiaohu: "That’s the main reason, isn’t it?"
"Just say if you’ll take it or not?" Wang Xiaohu’s face turned red with embarrassment and anger.
"No, we’re not doing these things to please backers."
Fang Yu shook his head and stated without hesitation.
He’s been short on money recently, waiting for a profitable ocean mining deal. You want me to go far away to kill a Transcendent creature just to save someone? No time for that.
At that moment, Wang Xiaohu’s faint voice came from the side:
"The reward for this task is 10 points... Additionally, there’s a separate 2 million Copper Coin reward from the sponsor for the rescuer."
Fang Yu: ...
"Well, Mr. Hu, you know, I’m not really interested in money. I mostly want to save lives, and I can’t stand seeing such a generous boss trapped on an island for long."
"I’ll take this task!"
Fang Yu beamed.
Wang Xiaohu cast a disdainful glance at Fang Yu.
...
After leaving Wang Xiaohu, Fang Yu wasn’t in a hurry to go to sea immediately.
The crew needed a day to prepare supplies and clean the sea vessel.
During this day, Fang Yu quickly sought out a firearms instructor to train his shooting skills.
After the assassination event through the Lighthouse Association, Fang Yu realized this instructor truly knew a thing or two.
Despite the brief docking time, Fang Yu decisively spent ten thousand to hire a coach for a day’s training.
Practice when you can; you can’t be sloppy with this. It’s all accumulated through sweat, and each improvement slightly increases the chance of survival in sudden incidents.
...
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
In the blink of an eye, 5 hours passed, and dusk gradually set in. Fang Yu raised his head to glance at the sky outside and then said with a smile, "Mr. Chang, let’s call it a day. I should get back to the sea vessel."
"Sure!"
Fang Yu’s instructor, Chang Yunyi, is an E-level member of the Ocean Court. He mainly teaches firearms training to regular members and has over ten years of teaching experience.
He is quite burly but doesn’t have a hint of oppressiveness, instead giving a sense of no presence.
At first, Fang Yu didn’t understand, but now he vaguely feels this might be Mr. Chang’s impressive concealment ability. If he hides, perhaps no low-level Transcendent could find him.
At this moment, seeing Fang Yu packing up to leave, Chang Yunyi hurriedly stopped him, smiling as he said, "You’ve pretty much learned the breathing method. Next, consider a speed-type Extraordinary Ability or a teleporter-type."
"In marksmanship, the primary focus is, of course, proficiency. Once you get the feel, you can easily kill fast-moving enemies by instinct."
"The second focus is handling breathing and energy. True masters can sense your intentions, so to lock onto a master, you must learn to hide your intentions."
"The third focus is displacement."
"Displacement?"
Fang Yu muttered.
"Exactly!"
Chang Yunyi’s eyes flashed with a complicated look, and he spoke softly, "I once saw a top-notch marksman master. By relying on his displacement and positioning, he maintained a distance that was comfortable for him but very uncomfortable for his opponent."
"Top masters can control and grasp this distance, using the positional changes to consistently suppress the opponent. Even just the pressure they exude can immobilize the opponent, leaving them standing there like your target."
Chang Yunyi sighed, "These are skills I don’t know. But I’ve faced such people before. At that moment, I just felt that any movement would get me shot, leaving me frozen, not daring to move an inch..."
"The upper limit of marksmanship lies in mastering distance and breath!"