Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 276: Chapter 266: The Same Mission

The missions at the Mission Center were divided into five levels—one, two, three, four, and five—representing difficulty from highest to lowest.

In her previous life, Tang Mo’s squad had always taken level-four missions, for which the pay wasn’t great.

Tang Mo carefully examined the missions currently posted at the Mission Center before finally choosing one and taking its plaque.

It was a mission to collect metal, posted by a large processing company in S Base.

The Alliance’s development was now relatively well-established. Companies remained semi-private to maintain market vitality and foster a healthy environment for growth.

Companies received support from S Base and, in turn, hired ordinary people with low attribute values who couldn’t hunt mutant beasts. These workers would then turn over half their monthly earnings to the Alliance. This was the system S Base currently used, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

This mission had a difficulty rating of level two because the metal was buried very deep due to shifts in the earth’s crust and landscape.

Even the one who posted the mission could only provide a general location.

The mission location was a vast, barren ruin, once the most prosperous city of the golden age, but now known as the Apocalypse Garbage Dump.

But the ”dump” wasn’t filled with just garbage; it was full of relics left behind by modern civilization.

The last vestiges of the machine age, slowly being reclaimed by sprawling greenery.

The Apocalypse Garbage Dump was home to the lowest dregs of Huaxia’s society. They survived by scavenging, and the dump had become their natural sanctuary.

The mission Tang Mo accepted required gathering ten superpower users to lead an excavation team to collect the metal.

The reward was one Space Treasure per person, convertible to Crystal Coins.

One Space Treasure for each of the ten members—this was an extremely high price.

One could only imagine how important this metal was to the client. The mission’s difficulty would surely be far more complex than simply collecting scrap.

’Even a single Space Ring has to go to auction. Can the client really produce ten Space Treasures?’

A question mark formed in Tang Mo’s mind.

”You’re taking this mission too?”

Wenqing’s heart sank with annoyance when she saw Tang Mo holding the same plaque as her. ’Why can’t I get away from her?’

Seeing the matching-colored plaques in Wenqing and Qin Fen’s hands, Tang Mo couldn’t help but chuckle. ’What an ill-fated connection.’

Wenqing must have been desperate to find a new Space Treasure after losing her own.

’Qin Fen isn’t someone who’s short on Space Treasures. Has Wenqing charmed him so thoroughly that he’s willing to stoop to doing manual labor with her in that dump?’

The environment inside the Apocalypse Garbage Dump was terrible, and it was a den of scum and villainy. Most people wouldn’t even go near the place.

Tang Mo had rarely gone there in her past life, but this time, the dump was her specific destination.

’Rumor has it there’s more than just garbage in there. Plenty of treasure, too.’

The mission briefing was for eight o’clock the next morning. Tang Mo arrived at the designated location right on time, carrying Jingjing in a backpack on her shoulders.

She wasn’t early or late, arriving just in time. A few people were already there.

A man with a dragon tattoo on his arm, who appeared to be the team leader, was talking to the group.

Behind him stood a dozen or so people in matching uniforms; they were clearly the excavation team.

Everyone was traveling light. Aside from a backpack and a weapon, no one was carrying any tools.

’Looks like they have Space Treasures as well. Otherwise, it would be impossible to gather this many people just to dig for metal.’

’However...’

Tang Mo observed the dozen or so people in matching work coveralls. They looked to be in their thirties, and their eyes held a sharp, fierce glint that couldn’t be concealed.

’No matter how she looked at it, they didn’t seem like ordinary laborers with low attribute values, fit only for cheap work.’

Tang Mo watched the team leader. The man’s eyes, sharp as a leopard’s, swept over the recruited members one by one, as if sizing them up. He then nodded in satisfaction.

The man’s gaze didn’t linger on Tang Mo. He clearly didn’t recognize the legendary figure who held the number one spot on the Huaxia rankings.

A short while later, several minutes past the appointed time, an impatient look crossed the team leader’s face. He began to check his ID watch frequently.

Just as he was about to say something, Wenqing arrived, sauntering over while clinging to Qin Fen’s arm. Dressed in shorts and a crop top, she made all the men’s eyes light up.

’You’d think she was walking a red carpet, not heading out on a mission.’

”Brother Qin, what are you doing here?”

The team leader’s brow furrowed when he saw the people he’d been waiting for had finally arrived.

He never imagined that Qin Fen of the Qin Family would actually accept such a dirty, grueling mission.

’With the Qin Family being so large and influential, would they even care about a single Space Treasure?’

”This mission requires spending some time in the Apocalypse Garbage Dump. That place is filthy and stinks. Perhaps you should head back, sir.”

Wary of Qin Fen’s connection to the Qin Family, the team leader spoke politely.

Wenqing gripped Qin Fen’s arm tightly, terrified that he would rescind the opportunity she had worked so hard to secure.

Although she was on good terms with Qin Fen, he wasn’t particularly generous with her. He’d give her food and trinkets, but something like a Space Treasure was out of the question.

After all, Qin Fen held no real power within the Qin Family; everything he had was purely by virtue of his last name.

And the reward for this mission was a Space Ring. Wenqing’s heart was set on it.

She had only asked Qin Fen on a whim, never expecting him to agree so readily.

Wenqing was well aware of her own capabilities. With Qin Fen by her side, she was confident this mission was a sure thing.

”What? Other people can do this mission, but I can’t? Who gave you the nerve to look down on me?”

Qin Fen flared up instantly, glaring fiercely at the team leader.

Normally he wouldn’t have reacted so strongly, but Tang Mo was also standing in the group, arms crossed, looking completely unfazed.

This made the already irritated Qin Fen even more sullen. ’How can *she*, a woman, handle it, while I, a man, am seen as afraid of a little hardship?’

’Do these people just see me as some useless, spoiled rich kid?’

’Actually... they kind of did.’

In the base, Qin Fen usually spent his time either chasing women or throwing his money around at major auction houses, so it was hard for anyone to have a positive impression of him.

Seeing his kindness thrown back in his face in front of everyone, leaving him in an awkward position, the team leader felt both humiliated and furious.

’Biting the hand that feeds you,’ he thought. ’Utterly ungrateful.’

The team leader’s expression shifted, and his heart hardened.

”How could that be? Who would dare look down on you, sir? I was just worried this task was beneath you! With you here, the mission is sure to go smoothly!”