All players: I can choose my own dungeon rewards.

While Wang Zhifan had already started his personal plan in the wealthy area underground in Bamo City, most other players were still staying in the city ruins on the surface.

At this point, the players had basically completed their respective team formations, forming an overall structure of six or seven player teams and a few lone wolf players.

Since the current dungeon start time has not yet passed two hours, the various player groups did not choose to conflict, and they quickly dispersed to prepare for the subsequent battles.

All these people entered the second stage, which was to start collecting intelligence and strategy copies.

Some of the player teams went together towards the outside of the city, trying to find the researcher who delivered the messenger core and obtain the required information from the researcher.

The other part, like Wang Zhifan had done not long ago, explored towards the city center where gunshots and monster roars were heard.

Before we knew it, the two-hour initial safety period of the dungeon ended and entered a hostile combat phase with player teams as units.

At this time, a team of four players was walking carefully in the garbage-strewn city ruins. One of them was the player from the Han Country who had once recruited Wang Zhifan.

"Have those lone wolves discovered the location?"

At this time, the Han player with small eyes asked a short man next to him, with a hint of coldness in his eyes.

"Not yet. Those guys are very careful. It will take some time for my babies to find their traces. But I found a very strange NPC."

The short man showed him something like a tablet in his hand. On the large screen, a figure wearing full body silver-gray mechanical armor and holding a cool samurai sword was displayed, moving swiftly between high-rise buildings.

"Interesting. This guy doesn't look like an ordinary NPC... How far away is he from us now?"

The Han player with small eyes stared at the image on the screen for a few seconds, with an interested expression on his face.

"About three thousand meters, but he's moving very fast, and the distance between us is shrinking."

The short man replied immediately.

"It looks like a good opportunity to gather intelligence... maybe there will be some unexpected gains... you guys support me from behind, and I will go to contact him personally!"

After the leader of the Han players finished speaking, he asked the short man to show him the best route and started planning to meet the first special NPC.

On the other side, in the central area of ​​the city ruins, a team of American players arrived near the underground entrance.

Their figures walked out from the huge garbage dump that was as big as a hill. Behind them, several NPCs who looked like local gang members died tragically on the ground. Another NPC was trembling all over, and was surrounded by players in the center.

"Boy! Don't be nervous! We are actually good people. Your companions were just unlucky and were hit by our guns accidentally going off! Don't worry! As long as you cooperate as we say, I guarantee you will have a good life in the future, with endless beautiful women and money to enjoy..."

In this team, the strong black man following the trembling NPC was dancing and chattering non-stop, as if he wanted to use his sweet words to make the NPC forget what had just happened, forget how they cruelly interrogated their companions, and then killed them all after draining them of information, leaving only him.

Of course, this NPC also knew the reason why his companions were killed. If they had not wanted to rob and kill this group of foreign weirdos first, these weirdos might really be able to get along with them in a friendly manner.

"The entrance to the underground city is in front of us. I think it's not safe for everyone to go in together. We must leave some people outside to look after it."

A white player in the team suddenly stopped and spoke to his companion.

"It's better for us not to separate. Only when we unite together can we have enough strength. Let my Jack stay outside. He is powerful enough to destroy the guards in front and the behemoths beside them."

A tall white woman said as she bent down and released a small green infantry toy to the ground.

The toy was simple in shape and quite small, one of the more common plastic toys for children. It looked nothing special when placed on the ground, but the other members of the team were surprised when they saw it.

"You even released Jack. You are really willing to do that, Boss. You are not afraid that Jack will be snatched away by another team."

A black girl immediately joked.

"Haha, if those people really come to snatch my Jack, we will save a lot of trouble. When the messenger arrives, no one will bother us anymore."

The tall white woman responded with a smile.

The group of people chatted while holding the NPC who had tried to rob and kill them as they walked towards the underground entrance. They decided to explore the underground of Bamo City and obtain the necessary information.

At the same time, on the outskirts of Bamo City, an ordinary-looking, ragged beggar slowly walked out of the city and headed northeast.

Suddenly, this inconspicuous beggar raised his palm, and a tiny human face appeared in the center of his palm, and the human face spoke to him:
"Master, someone is targeting you and is following you quietly."

“Is it a lone wolf or a gang?”

The beggar-like man then asked towards his palm.

"It's Lone Wolf, the one you met not long ago."

"Then don't worry about him. I know his strength. I can't do anything to him, and he can't do anything to me. He must be following me to get information, so let him have the chance."

After the beggar-like man finished speaking, his appearance suddenly changed into that of a researcher in a white coat. He raised his hand and took out a motorcycle out of thin air, jumped on it and drove at high speed towards the northeast.

Behind him, an inconspicuous fly flew out from the ruins of the city and followed him steadily, not too far away.

In this way, all players are collecting information in their own way, except Wang Zhifan.

He had already completed the initial stage of intelligence gathering and was taking a bath in the bathroom of an apartment, sipping local red wine.

"Xiaohong, what was the president's reaction?"

While lying in the bathtub drinking red wine, Wang Zhifan asked the smart watch placed beside the bathtub.

An image was immediately projected onto the watch. It showed a middle-aged man in full mechanical armor hitting a balloon. Every time he punched the balloon, the balloon did not change at all, but the metal plate behind the balloon showed a one-foot-deep dent.

"Master, as you guessed, after I publicized the upcoming challenge match through the local network, the president of the fighting association agreed to compete with you. He is currently undergoing pre-match training."

Xiaohong's voice followed from the smartwatch. "Hehe... I knew he would agree. Even if he knew that my challenge right was obtained through illegal modification, he would have to agree."

Responding calmly, Wang Zhifan shifted his gaze away from the training video of the Fighting Club's president, shook the red wine in the glass goblet twice, and took a sip.

He was so sure that his plan would succeed because he understood that the fighting competition in the city of Bamo was very special, that is, the fighters there could not avoid challenges, otherwise they would be ruined and unable to survive.

Therefore, after asking Xiaohong to modify her status to have the right to challenge, he also asked her to publicize this matter on the local network, so that the fighting club could not refuse. Otherwise, no matter what the reason, the president would be given the impression of avoiding challenges.

"Master Captain, since you are going to participate in the competition, do you need me to make some corresponding arrangements?"

Xiaohong then asked Wang Zhifan that she felt she should prepare something in advance to ensure a foolproof match and allow someone to successfully obtain the position of president of the fighting club. This was also the purpose of Wang Zhifan doing these things.

"No, you just need to make sure the competition goes on smoothly... By the way, I won't be there in person, I will only send a clone to participate in the competition. Maybe you need to find a way to cooperate so that the clone's identity will not be exposed."

Wang Zhifan thought about it and replied, saying that he had no intention of participating in the battle himself and would only let his clone do it for him.

This is partly because he has no interest in playing competitions, and participating in competitions is just a means to an end.

On the other hand, it was because the president of the fighting club was not qualified enough for him to take action personally. According to the information Xiaohong had found, the gap in strength between the two sides was extremely huge.

"Okay, I will monitor all the electronic instruments present, and no equipment will detect any abnormality at that time."

Xiaohong immediately gave a guarantee.

"Hmm... I almost forgot. Don't you have the video footage of the messenger I asked you to find? This is the highest priority."

Wang Zhifan in the bathtub continued to ask questions, focusing on the most core information of this copy.

"No relevant video material has been found, Master. Based on the existing information, it is speculated that the messenger may not be able to be filmed, or may have some related restricted abilities."

Xiaohong's answer made Wang Zhifan frown.

"Can't take photos? What does that mean? Even if we can't take photos, we can't draw a sketch or describe it in words? What's wrong with this messenger? He's clearly the number one threat, but he didn't leave any detailed information?"

It has to be said that this is the most confusing thing for Wang Zhifan at the moment.

Originally, he thought that he had the assistance of advanced AI from the urban planet, and that he would be able to get a clear understanding of the information about this dungeon and be far ahead of other players.

As a result, we only know that most of the messengers are huge in size, have mysterious origins and unknown purposes, and appear in a certain pattern, and then there is no more information. It's just like a joke.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Captain, I have reviewed all the information on the local network of Bamo City and have indeed found no more relevant information.

I'm trying to break into the database of researchers near Bamo City to find more information about the messengers.

But their database defense array is very special and it will take some time to break through. The current success rate is 1.77%..."

Xiaohong's answer once again puzzled Wang Zhifan, and he immediately responded:
"Xiao Hong, I remember that you easily broke into the networks of the local academy of sciences and large companies. How come you ran into a wall at a research institute with only a hundred people? Is this research institute with a hundred people special?

That's right... This copy requires you to hand over the Emissary Core to them. Maybe they have mastered the Emissary-related power... Can you seize the monitoring system over there now? Let me see what's going on?"

"Okay, Mr. Captain, I have already conquered their monitoring system. The difficulty lies in the database. I will broadcast the real-time video for you..."

After saying that, the smart watch Xiaohong was on projected a three-dimensional picture.

The picture is quite dark, and seems to show an underground passage. Then the passage extends forward, passing through a thick iron door and thick concrete walls, and comes to a bright laboratory.

There are currently only two people in this laboratory, a bald middle-aged man with glasses, and a young tall and thin young man. Both of them are wearing white coats and researcher uniforms, and they are obviously staff members inside.

"We failed again... We must emphasize to our superiors at the next meeting that we need more materials related to the messenger! Preferably the core parts!"

The middle-aged bald man with glasses said this in an unhappy tone, took a look at the test tube in his hand, and threw it into the recycling bin next to him without any reluctance.

"Boss, these materials are already very rare. The core materials for the messengers are impossible to obtain. Even these materials were picked up by the soldiers at great risk. After all, no one can get close to those guys. They are too incomprehensible and too powerful..."

"No, it's our lack of knowledge that causes this! Once we unlock their secrets, they will be as easy as baking a potato!"

……

The argument between the two continued. Wang Zhifan, who was soaking in the bathtub, watched for a while and felt that there was a lack of useful information, so he asked Xiaohong to switch the focus of the real-time video and look at other places in the institute.

As a result, in other places, either someone was doing experiments that outsiders could not understand, or the staff were typing on the keyboard and writing something, and they could not provide any useful information. Wang Zhifan had to give up watching.

"This research institute is not simple. According to what they said, they are studying the materials on the messenger. So they must have a deep understanding of the messenger. I just don't know if they are like the people here, who are unwilling to say more even if they are beaten to death."

The reason why Wang Zhifan turned his attention to the research institute was because he encountered an information bottleneck in Bamo City.

In addition to asking Xiaohong to search all the information on the Internet, he also personally questioned some NPCs of different statuses, but the results were not as good as those on the Internet.

The NPCs either didn't answer him or said they had never seen the messenger and knew nothing, even if he pressed them in a tough manner.

"How about I go to the research institute and take a look myself? I believe the people there must know something."

The stranger things got, the stronger Wang Zhifan's desire to explore became, and he planned to go to the underground research institute outside the city to take a look.

As for the matters in the underground of Bamo City, he temporarily handed them over to Xiaohong and his clone, as a form of personal leisure.

This is indeed the case. He sought the position of the Fighting Club's president mainly to kill time, to prevent others from giving orders to him through his copy identity, and to make his living conditions as good as possible.

Clearing the dungeon was his most important task, so he paid special attention to the information related to the messenger. (End of this chapter)