Military Merit

The saucer-shaped E9-class spaceship flew cautiously at sub-light speed through the void, avoiding one seemingly dangerous area after another.Inside the spaceship's lounge cabin. “Everyone, have a seat,” Taiwo said with a smile, settling onto the sofa. His Immortal power controlled the wine bottle and glasses, pouring ten cups of delicious fruit wine, which then floated before the ten individuals.Taiwo raised his glass. “Let’s raise a toast,” Taiwo said. “Haha…”The nine team members laughed heartily, raising their glasses in unison. “To the fortune of this battle, and to our two excellent new recruits in this battle, cheers!” Taiwo announced loudly. “Cheers!” “Cheers!”The group of Sector Lords laughed heartily. Each of them, if placed in any star domain, would be a dominant figure, yet they chose to come to the ‘Outer Territory Battlefield’... because they still possessed a burning heart full of desire, longing to become stronger and to battle more powerful experts! “Old rules, let’s first reflect on the battle we just had.” Taiwo put down his glass. “That previous battle... everything was under the control of that Machine Race enemy. Whether it was the layout of the Lightning Prison, the encirclement by the nine great Lightning Machine Puppet Legions, the 3,000 F-grade machine puppets trapping me, or their concentrated effort to kill you all—everything was part of his plan.”The nine team members listened attentively. “The other veterans did very well, each staying close to me and Poison. When danger struck... Poison could also fight hard to save you all.” Taiwo smiled. “The two new recruits also performed admirably. I’m particularly pleased with Rock; he’s no worse than the veterans. I believe with some more tempering, he’ll become even stronger.” “Of course! What made everyone happiest in this battle was... we gained a powerful new team member—Madman!” Taiwo looked at Luo Feng. “Madman.” “Madman.”The group looked at Luo Feng, cheering with smiles. In a place like the Outer Territory Battlefield, where dangers lurk, having a powerful teammate was a truly fortunate thing. “Because of Madman’s appearance, Poison didn’t need to exert himself, and we saved a precious potion.” Taiwo looked at Poison, who was squatting on the sofa like a child. “Poison, you’ll have it easier from now on.” “Hehe,” Poison grinned at Luo Feng.Luo Feng looked at Poison in surprise.This potion master is very strong? “Madman,” the Enchantress’s voice was so alluring it made one’s body tingle. “Poison is our team’s second strongest, you know. He once directly defeated an Immortal God.” “Defeated an Immortal God?” Luo Feng looked at Poison in shock. “What?!” Rock exclaimed, even more astonished.Even with the ninth stage of the Yan Shen Blade, ‘Even Immortals Can Be Fought,’ it usually only meant one could contend with them and preserve their life, not ‘defeat’ them. Of course, this move was used on the 13th, 14th, and 15th levels of the Sky-Reaching Bridge, and the opponent on the 15th level, wielding ‘Even Immortals Can Be Fought,’ already possessed the ability to defeat or even kill an ordinary Immortal God.But that was the 15th level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge!The threshold for a Marquis-level Immortal God! Such peerless geniuses could become core Sector Lord members of the Virtual Universe Company. “It’s mainly thanks to a combination of my innate abilities, potions, and the plant life I cultivate,” Poison chuckled. “One potion can cost nearly 80 Chaos Units to successfully create. Hehe, Madman, you saved me 80 Chaos Units. Come, let’s toast.”Luo Feng raised his glass, a hint of admiration in his heart.Potion masters could create special potions, and even cultivate unique plant life according to their own needs. “To achieve this level, he’s truly formidable,” Luo Feng mused. “Besides the captain and Poison, Madman, you’re now ranked as the third strongest in the team,” Wild Dance said with a slight smile. “Indeed, the third strongest.” “And unlike Poison, he doesn’t need to rely on potions.”The others also chimed in with smiles.…In this battle, the Sector Lord team truly recognized the abilities of the two new recruits, accepting them wholeheartedly. The new recruit ‘Madman,’ in particular, was acknowledged as the third strongest in the team.Luo Feng, however, remained quite calm.He didn’t care much for these rankings, even though his Earthling true body possessed the ability to kill an ordinary Immortal God.…The spaceship continued its journey, and two months passed in a flash. Although they encountered two sneak attacks during this trip, they were easily resolved. After all, an elite Sector Lord team like ‘one Immortal God leading nine Sector Lord Generals’... was not something just any opponent could provoke.This was also why they were heading to a specific destination; in other places, opponents were too weak, and accumulating military merit was too slow.… “The opponents we encountered in the two previous sneak attacks were truly weak. The moment they saw we had an Immortal God, they were scared off and fled without a fight.” “Yeah, it’s really boring.” “Accumulating military merit this way is too slow.”Inside the lounge cabin, the team members chatted idly. “In two more days, we’ll reach our destination, starry combat zone 001289038484—the ‘Shattered Star Belt’,” Taiwo said. “The Shattered Star Belt is a famous battleground for experts, with many alien powerhouses lurking there. It’ll be exciting for everyone. There, you won’t have to worry about not having a place to accumulate military merit, only about not having the ability to earn it.” “Madman.”A deep, heavy voice sounded. ‘Hammer,’ the most burly and tall member of the team, looked at Luo Feng. “What’s your military merit quota?” “My military merit quota?” Luo Feng raised an eyebrow.Every soldier entering the Outer Territory Battlefield had a military merit quota requirement. They had to accumulate enough military merit to gain ‘freedom.’ For example, a new recruit’s military merit quota might be 1 million. When a new recruit first arrived, they had no military merit, but it would accumulate through battles on the battlefield.Once they reached 1 million, a soldier could choose to ‘retire,’ ‘exchange for treasures,’ ‘continue fighting,’ or even fight independently, and so on...They would have the right to choose freely.However, before completing their military merit quota, they had to strictly obey military orders. “Yes, what’s yours?” “Madman’s military merit quota is probably quite high.”The group of Sector Lords on the sofa all looked over. “Mine...” Luo Feng said casually, “It’s alright, my military merit quota is 1 billion.” “1 billion?”‘God,’ clad in white combat armor, widened his eyes. “Did I hear that right?”Luo Feng, still slightly puzzled, nodded. “Yes, 1 billion.” Was the number he reported really that high? He thought it should be within the normal range. “Damn, 1 billion?” “My heavens!” “It’s 1 billion.”Even the usually composed Immortal God Taiwo stood up. The group of veterans stared at Luo Feng in astonishment. ‘Wei,’ the Illusionist, who was stroking a purple-eyed cat he held, suddenly turned to Rock: “Rock, what’s your military merit quota?” “Mine is 200 million,” Rock replied. “That’s pretty good.” “That’s quite impressive.” “But Madman is even more monstrous, 1 billion?!”The old team members discussed amongst themselves.Both new recruits, Luo Feng and Rock, were puzzled. What exactly did this military merit quota data signify? Although Luo Feng had high status and authority, he had only looked up questions he specifically wanted answers to, and hadn’t checked the meaning behind each value of the military merit authority. “If you interact more with other Sector Lords, you’ll understand,” Taiwo sighed. “As the saying goes, ‘to each according to his ability.’ The stronger one is, the higher their military merit quota will be. When a new recruit joins the Outer Territory Battlefield... the military merit quota assigned to them actually accurately reflects their strength.” “And the so-called authority granted is merely the crudest assessment of strength, simply divided into ‘ordinary Sector Lord,’ ‘elite Sector Lord,’ and ‘Sector Lord General.’ This is a very vague classification.” “For all Sector Lord warriors, the minimum military merit quota is 1 million, and the maximum is 1 billion.” “Among them, ordinary Sector Lord warriors generally have quotas ranging from 1 million to 10 million.” “Elite Sector Lord warriors have quotas between 10 million and 100 million.” “Sector Lord Generals have quotas from 100 million to 1 billion.”Taiwo explained, “Anyone with a military merit quota between 100 million and 1 billion is a ‘Sector Lord General.’ And even among Sector Lord Generals, there are still varying levels of strength. Clearly... Rock, he’s actually very outstanding, especially as a new recruit. To be this strong without having gone through countless life-and-death trials on the Outer Territory Battlefield is remarkable. But Madman... you, you are truly...”Luo Feng was slightly taken aback. “1 billion is the upper limit for a Sector Lord General. Anyone assigned such a high military merit quota... it signifies one thing: you possess strength not inferior to an ordinary Immortal God,” Taiwo stated solemnly. “Hmm.” “The Virtual Universe System’s judgment won’t be wrong; you possess the combat power to directly contend with an ordinary Immortal God.”The team members were all inwardly shocked, looking at Luo Feng.But they didn’t know...A Sector Lord capable of contending with an ordinary Immortal God indeed had a ‘1 billion military merit quota.’ However, a ‘Sector Lord’ capable of killing an ordinary Immortal God, or even contending with and killing a Marquis-level Immortal God, also had a 1 billion military merit quota. This was because 1 billion military merit was the upper limit for a Sector Lord warrior.How could they know how terrifying Luo Feng’s current strength truly was? In their minds, being able to directly contend with an ordinary Immortal God was already heaven-defying enough! “So that’s how it is,” Luo Feng said, shaking his head with a smile. “Many become Sector Lord Generals after countless life-and-death trials on the Outer Territory Battlefield. But those who can directly contend with an ordinary Immortal God are extremely rare. In our entire Barracks Base No. 026, there are probably only two or three such Sector Lords,” Taiwo lamented. “In contrast, many of our allies, and our enemies like the Bug Race’s Sector Lord Queen Mothers and the Machine Race’s Sector Lords, can contend with Immortal Gods. The innate talents of some alien powerhouses are indeed too heaven-defying, making Sector Lords among humanity who can contend with ordinary Immortal Gods exceedingly rare.” “However, we now have one within our Sector Lord team,” Taiwo said, smiling at Luo Feng.Poison also looked at Luo Feng.There was a hint of expectation in their eyes. Now, the team essentially had three ‘Immortal God’ level combatants. Unlike Poison, who needed to expend potions, Luo Feng possessed genuine ‘Immortal God level combat power.’ Thus, upon reaching the ‘Shattered Star Belt,’ the team’s survival chances would naturally increase significantly. “Ugh.”Luo Feng could only grimace.A 1 billion military merit quota?He truly didn’t think it was that much. This 1 billion military merit quota was one assigned by the military through the Virtual Universe System. It was already ‘formulaic’; every Sector Lord had a quota between 1 million and 1 billion, and Luo Feng, being strong enough, was directly assigned the 1 billion quota.However, the Virtual Universe Company’s life-and-death trial for Sector Lords also had requirements for Luo Feng.The requirement was—a 10 trillion military merit quota!Only by completing 10 trillion military merit could he leave the Outer Territory Battlefield. This was Luo Feng’s ‘life-and-death trial’!One was the military’s requirement, and the other was the Virtual Universe Company’s requirement for a Sector Lord’s life-and-death trial.One was 1 billion, the other was 10 trillion!Therefore...Luo Feng truly didn’t think 1 billion was much at all.