Chapter 137: Assigning Tasks

Mystic-tier blood crystals generally awaken only one bloodline skill. Only those with extraordinary luck encounter the probability of awakening two. Even Yu Lei, who refined a sixth-grade Lightning Roc blood crystal, only managed to awaken an extra passive talent skill thanks to his keen sixth sense.

Do you think you’re God’s own illegitimate daughter? Two bloodline skills, both with explosive attack power—you’re really dreaming!

Yu Yan paused, briefly considering whether to skip breakfast and run away with her daughter. If her mother finished breakfast and discovered that her own awakened skill was not only limited in number but also weaker in attack power than Yu Wan’s, she would likely be chased down and beaten. In the past, it didn’t matter; her mother couldn't outrun her, and it was just a bit embarrassing. But now that she was the de facto leader of Fenghe Village, being chased down like that would make it impossible to lead teams into dungeons in the future.

"Why are you standing there? Come in and help!"
"Everyone just waits to be fed, don't you know how to lend a hand?"

*My brother is sleeping perfectly fine, why don't you call him to help?* Yu Yan instinctively wanted to retort, but immediately realized why bother? It would only make her look childish.

All fingers are not of the same length. If she had to weigh her mother against Duoduo on a scale, she would choose Duoduo over Chen Biqin without hesitation, even though Chen Biqin had carried her for ten months and endured the hardships of raising her. Sometimes, matters of the heart simply defy logic. Besides, her mother was working hard in the kitchen, and she would be eating the meal too. Wasn't it only right to help?

"Coming!"

With her mind settled, Yu Yan helped her mother finish breakfast. She called out for Yun Duo, her younger brother, and her younger sister to wake up. After eating, everyone cleared the table and gathered around it. Yu Yan pulled out a stack of handwritten pages. "These are the rules and reward-punishment systems I’ve written for the hunting squad. Everyone, take a look and see if there’s anything that needs improvement or addition."

The heated discussion lasted until noon. During the process, Yu Wei, Yu Rui, and Yu Wenjing were pulled in to help. They eventually finalized the first version of the thirty-six clauses that hunting squad members must abide by. Most of these were in line with Yu Yan’s original thoughts, but some were added after suggestions from Lou Yuhui and the others—points Yu Yan hadn't considered.

For instance, Yu Yan couldn't be the only one giving without receiving anything in return. Under the rules Yu Yan had initially set, she was essentially being a sucker. She provided monthly benefits to the squad members—benefits that were trivial to her, but considering that squad members could already divide their own spoils from the dungeons based on contribution, Yu Yan was purely doing a "good deed." If this went on for too long, her contributions would be taken for granted. If she didn't want to end up raising a pack of ingrates, this had to be addressed.

The group eventually agreed that every hunting squad entering a dungeon must hand over 70% of their gains as reserve supplies for the village's development. The remaining 30% would be distributed among them based on their labor. This 70% would be kept in Yu Yan's custody. If members of the hunting or special operations squads had needs, they could apply to Yu Yan for a portion of the supplies. However, whether the application was approved and how much was allocated remained entirely at Yu Yan’s discretion.

At first glance, this clause seemed unreasonable. It was almost as if Yu Yan did nothing while the others risked their lives in the dungeons, yet she took the vast majority of the loot. But in reality, it was quite the opposite. Without the large quantities of fifth-grade spirit beast meat Yu Yan provided, it would be a miracle if the nearly one thousand villagers of Fenghe could produce even a dozen super-powered individuals. Now, all three hundred and seventy-six people would likely become super-powered individuals without incident. Moreover, under Yu Yan’s protection, the situation was entirely different. Without her, they would truly be fighting for their lives in the dungeons; it was hard to say how many would return out of ten. If they encountered a powerful pack of spirit beasts, total annihilation could happen in minutes. With Yu Yan, she shared knowledge of the dungeon world and had Lou Yuhui and others ensure their safety. While she couldn't guarantee that no one would die, she could at least keep the mortality rate within an acceptable range.

Was 70% too much to pay for survival? Lou Yuhui didn't think so at all. Yu Wei and the others had preferred a 50% split, but seeing Lou Yuhui’s insistence, they eventually agreed to the plan. The finalized rules were posted on the notice board outside the Fenghe Village ancestral hall, sparking various reactions from the villagers—but that is a story for another time.

With the hunting squad rules settled, the plan was to officially form the squad in the village basketball court in three days and conduct their first practice run in an F-grade dungeon.

Yu Yan didn't want to waste the next two and a half days. Everyone around her—except for her mother's lover, Zhang Zhenye, and her mother, who had just refined a firebird blood crystal—was a second-grade enhancer or higher. The only two second-grade enhancers were the twins, Yu Lei and Yu Wan. One possessed the passive defensive skill "Flash" and powerful electric arc control; the other possessed two explosive attack skills. For an F-grade dungeon where even third-grade monsters appeared in small numbers, they were more than safe.

Yu Wei and the others, including Lou Yuhui who had refined a Gale Leopard blood crystal the night before, were all third-grade enhancers. Although they were all third-grade, Lou Yuhui’s strength was clearly a cut above the rest. For the sake of safety, Yu Yan had the six people aside from Lou Yuhui work in pairs to explore the F-grade dungeons around Fenghe Village. This was in preparation for the hunting squad’s mission in three days. As for Lou Yuhui, he would accompany her and Yun Duo to scout the path in the back mountains.

What path? Naturally, the one the hunting squad would tread in over a month’s time, leading directly to their future base.

"Then what can I do?" Zhang Zhenye asked, seeing that Yu Yan had arranged tasks for everyone. Even Chen Biqin, who was left at home, had a job: sewing the hundreds of spirit beast hides into leather armor. Zhang Zhenye felt awkward, once again feeling like an outsider in the family.

"Uh..." Yu Yan felt a similar awkwardness. Honestly, she wasn't very familiar with her mother's lover. They hadn't met many times before the dungeon world descended. Yesterday, at the hunting squad registration, even her biological father, Yu Yongde, had shown up to mooch off the fifth-grade spirit beast meat. Zhang Zhenye, however, hadn't made a peep; he hadn't asked for anything privately, nor had he gone to sign up for the meat. Yu Yan couldn't read him, and she hadn't decided how to treat him yet.

But since he was looking at her expectantly, she had to give him a task. Yu Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Then you are responsible for posting these notices on the village ancestral hall's bulletin board. Pay attention to the villagers' reactions—who has the most complaints and who is the most supportive. In short, the more detailed the information, the better. Thank you, Uncle Zhang."