Chapter 37: NPC Mercenaries

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the apocalypse world game, two types of NPCs could be recruited.

One was the basic NPC survivors that could be recruited through the survival radio station.

They were unable to participate in battle and could barely use their weapons to kill zombies. There was a high chance that they would be killed by the zombies.

The other type had the skill of gun mastery and could use all kinds of basic firearms. The attributes of their characters were also higher than those of ordinary survivors.

Players usually call them “mercenaries”.

However, recruiting mercenaries were not free.

Fang Heng needed to spend some survival points for this.

Riding the mountain bike, Fang Heng arrived at the apocalypse camp.

“Hahahaha! Fang Heng! You’re here! I was just talking to my friends about you. I heard that you’ve completed the shelter?”

“You’re really well-informed.”

“Hahaha!”

Vettel looked very happy. He laughed loudly.

“Of course. In our line of work, first-hand information usually means wealth!”

“Oh right, do you need help? I have a lot of people whom I can recommend to you, but you know…”

Fang Heng blinked at Vettel.

“I understand. I need to spend survival points to recruit, right?”

“Don’t worry, I will give you the lowest price. However, there is one thing. If they die in battle, you will have to pay an additional amount of survival points as a pension.”

“I understand.”

Fang Heng shrugged.

In major forums of the game, players had been criticizing the pension.

It was too expensive!

Players aside, even if it was a large guild, if a few mercenaries under them were to suddenly die in the early stages, it would be extremely “painful” to them.

For ordinary players, they would not even consider recruiting mercenaries.

The risk was too great. If one mercenary died, what they had accumulated in half a year would be lost.

At the moment, Fang Heng believed that the prison’s defensive ability could easily defend against zombies.

But what about players?

In the zombie apocalypse game, the biggest threat was still the human survivors.

Fang Heng needed to recruit mercenaries to improve the prison’s defensive ability.

This was something that the zombie clones couldn’t do at the moment.

Fang Heng wasn’t willing to deal with players.

It was too risky.

He was more willing to trust NPC mercenaries who wouldn’t betray him.

“Vettel, is there anyone here willing to come to my camp? I’ll pay them.”

“Of course.”

Vettel waved his hand and a floating recruitment list appeared in front of Fang Heng.

There were about 50 survivor mercenaries, all of them were Level 1 to 5.

Fang Heng skimmed through it.

Among them, the three highest level mercenaries were at Level 5 and they also had Level 5 gun mastery.

Fang Heng remembered seeing a post in an official player forum that said that Level 5 was the highest level for the mercenaries.

He could not skimp on safety! If he wanted to buy, he had to buy the strongest!

Fang Heng selected three mercenaries.

“Are you sure you want to recruit them? Recruiting a survivor requires 6,000 survival points.”

“If he unfortunately dies in battle, you will need to spend an additional 30,000 survival points as compensation.”

“I am sure.”

[Hint: You have spent 1,800,000 survival points to recruit three survivors. They will report outside your shelter in three hours.]

Alright.

After purchasing three mercenaries, Fang Heng’s savings that he had accumulated during this period was completely used up.

He now had less than 500 survival points left.

“Very good, I will immediately tell them. They will report to your shelter in three hours.”

“Thank you.”

Fang Heng waved his hand, but in his heart, he was thinking how expensive it was!

There was a limit to the number of mercenaries that could be recruited from the apocalypse camp. It was on a “first come, first served” basis.

Currently, he was the only one in the game who had established a shelter, so there were no competitors to compete with him for mercenaries.

Once the players had developed, high-level mercenaries would become a resource that would be taken over by large player guilds or gaming companies.

Fang Heng casually said, “Vettel, if you encounter stronger survivors, remember to introduce them to me at any time.”

“Okay, looks like you’re short of people there?”

Huh?

Fang Heng was about to leave when he heard that and raised his eyebrows.

This question made him smell the scent of a mission.

“I’m quite short of people. Vettel, we’re good friends. Do you have any suggestions for me?”

“Hahaha! Of course. You’re one of my best friends. After all, you’ve always helped in my business.”

Vetter laughed loudly.

He leaned over and whispered in Fang Heng’s ear.

“Did you forget about the Dark Knights that I mentioned to you before?”

Fang Heng immediately recalled.

Yes! Dark Knights!

Hidden mission.

“I had to go all the way to the city hospital to look for the T-virus antidote, right!” he recalled.

“I’ll tell you in secret. After you join the Dark Knights, you can recruit people from the Dark Knights.”

Vettel secretly revealed the information to Fang Heng.

“Believe me, the Dark Knights are all first-class players with top-notch strength. Recruiting them is an advantage.”

Fang Heng narrowed his eyes.

There was actually such a saying?

There was a mercenary whose level was even higher than Level 5?

He did not know anything about this in the past!

As expected, even the so-called official game forum could not be trusted.

It even said that a Level 5 mercenary represented the strongest combat strength!

The real secrets were all in the hands of the big guilds.

Fang Heng cursed in his heart and quickly lowered his head to think.

It was not a good idea to keep the Dark Knight mission on hold.

Now that he had time, it was time to make a trip to the city.

The sooner the better, while the other players had yet to establish a shelter, to seize the opportunity.

It was best to recruit all the powerful mercenaries!

One step ahead, one step ahead!

Fang Heng’s heart was once again burning with passion.

He had to go to the city this time!

However, it was still very dangerous to enter the city at the current stage. Before that, he still needed to make some preparations.

Fang Heng raised his head.

“Vettel, show me your sales list again…”

“Of course.”

Fang Heng opened the list and carefully observed it.

There was a very high probability of encountering mutated zombies in the city. He desperately needed the ability to protect himself.

Shotgun. It was capable of inflicting great damage at close range.

The disadvantage was that he needed 6.5 strength points to use it. He needed 8 strength points to control it perfectly and 10 strength points to completely negate the recoil effect.

Fang Heng looked at his own attributes.

Player: Fang Heng

Level: 9

HP: 118/118

Vitality: 100/100

Spirit: 100/100

Energy: 83/100

Strength: 6.8

Agility: 6.8

Physique: 6.8

Will: 5

Perception: 15

Intelligence: 5

“That’s enough, I’ll just use it.”

“I’ll take it.” he thought.

A small explosive pack.

Whether it was used to attack zombies or to destroy buildings, it was an extremely effective tool.

He also wanted them!

First aid spray.

He also needed to prepare a life-saving item…

Fang Heng roughly estimated that he needed at least 40,000 survival points to buy these items.

He had to think of a way to earn points first.