Level 2 Team

"I just signed up a new team member. I'll go handle his registration," Jason explained what just happened.

"Ah, I see…" Sakura murmured, then fell silent.

Jason, waiting for her to ask more questions, noticed she had stopped talking and raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you curious about who it is?"

Sakura flashed a mischievous smile. "No matter who they are, their heart belongs to you."

"…."

Jason awkwardly chuckled. If he didn't know she was a mercenary killer, he might've actually believed she was flirting.

He even had his doubts—this woman probably smiles while taking lives.

"It's a chubby guy, carrying five suitcases."

Jason didn't play hard to get and just said it outright.

"Five suitcases?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, now showing a bit of interest.

"Yep. Our supplies just got a lot better. By the way, have you seen Big Brother He?"

"Big guy? He's in the training hall, lifting weights. Pretty dedicated."

"Good, we should grab him and go check out the new guy together."

As they made their way to the first floor's office, Jason couldn't help but notice how much attention they were getting. Having a beauty like Sakura by his side made heads turn left and right.

Even when they got to the office, a few overconfident teams tried to approach and poach Sakura. But fortunately, this time, Sakura didn't use him as a shield again. Instead, she ignored them, which, in a way, was even more insulting.

Jason couldn't help but feel relieved. If she kept treating him like a punching bag, he was going to have some serious enemies real quick.

The office wasn't busy, and in no time, they had processed Lee Feihong's registration.

Afterward, they went up to the second floor to find Big Brother He. The three of them returned to their room together.

Ding~ Jason swiped his card and entered the room. To his surprise, Feihong was lounging on the bed, munching snacks and watching a movie on his little screen. He looked ridiculously comfortable.

"Whoa, Feihong, you really know how to live it up, huh?" Jason joked.

Feihong turned around and saw Sakura walking in. Immediately, he did a lazy roll off the bed, grinning ear to ear as he introduced himself, trying to grab her hand.

"Whoa! A beautiful lady! Hey there, I'm Lee Feihong, like the 'Flying Hong' of Huang Feihong! And you are...?"

Before his hand could even get close, Jason blinked, and in a flash, Sakura had flipped Feihong onto the floor. By the time Jason processed it, Feihong was on the ground, his arm in a vice grip and Sakura's foot planted firmly on his back. The guy was writhing in pain, begging for mercy.

"Sakura, he doesn't know any better," Jason quickly interjected, worried her grip might snap the guy's arm in two.

Sakura tossed his arm aside, cool and collected, and calmly returned to her bed.

This was the first time Jason had seen Sakura in action, and it made him realize how much he respected her. Since they first met, he'd always been in awe of her. If he ever stepped out of line, he doubted he'd end up in a better situation than Feihong. After all, she's a killer.

Jason helped Feihong up, and the guy was visibly shaken, his eyes teary—whether from the pain or embarrassment, Jason couldn't tell.

"These are team members. The one who taught you a lesson is Sakura, and the guy over there is Big Brother He." Jason made introductions.

Feihong didn't respond, still stunned. Jason gave him a nudge. "Don't feel too bad. Sakura's just looking out for you. It's better to stay low-key here. No laws to protect you like out there, so go apologize to her."

Feihong hesitated, sniffling for a moment, before he limped toward Sakura.

She was sitting with her legs crossed, casually twirling a knife in her hands, watching him with a smile that didn't seem very reassuring.

"I'm… I'm really sorry, Sakura! I was being rude. Please forgive me," Feihong said, bowing his head.

"Good boy. Go rest over there." Sakura lazily pointed to the bed beside her.

Jason couldn't help but quietly give Feihong a thumbs-up. A real man knows when to back down and when to apologize.

"Thanks for forgiving me, Sakura! Big Brother He, I'm sorry, I was out of line earlier," Feihong said, grinning, offering a handshake.

Big Brother He glanced at Feihong's hand, which was still damp from wiping his nose, before slapping his shoulder twice. "Welcome to the team."

"Feihong, your registration's all set. Here's your magnetic card. Make sure you don't give it to anyone outside the team."

Jason handed Feihong the card and then gave him a quick rundown of the Dawn Tower's rules.

Once that was done, Jason remembered the threatening words the captain of the Crimson Flame team had said earlier, so he had Lingling search for information on the Crimson Flame team.

Crimson Flame Team: Level 2 team, Leader: Zhao Yang, Members: 5.

"Level 2 team? Lingling, what's the promotion criteria for teams?"

Lingling's voice answered, "To promote to Level 2, the team needs to accumulate over 1,000 survival points.

To promote to Level 3, it requires over 10,000 survival points.

To promote to Level 4, the total must exceed 50,000 survival points.

To promote to Level 5, authorization from the Tower Master is required."

After reading the promotion conditions, Jason quickly did some mental calculations. With four people training 16 hours a day, they'd gather 80 survival points a day. If they didn't eat or drink, just focusing on training, they could hit Level 2 in 13 days.

That made him breathe a little easier—it wasn't as far off as he feared.

"What's up with the Crimson Flame team?" Big Brother He asked after seeing Jason's query.

"Ah, don't get me started. Their captain, Zhao Yang, was hitting on Sakura, trying to get her to join their team. When I refused, I guess I pissed them off," Jason shrugged.

Big Brother He turned to look at Sakura, as if he could guess what happened.

"Don't go wandering around alone for a while," he said coolly, then went back to rest.

"I got it," Jason responded, walking over to Feihong's luggage. "Feihong, open your suitcases. Let's see what supplies you brought."

"Sure thing, Captain."

When Feihong opened the suitcase and Jason peered inside, he nearly did a double-take.

Five full suitcases—of food! Instant noodles, crackers, chips, tofu snacks, bread, drinks… and even three packs of smokes.

"Dude, you running a convenience store?" Jason asked, eyebrow raised.

"Nope, I'm a mechanic," Feihong scratched his head, grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah, didn't think so. If you ran a store, you'd be losing money," Jason joked.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not really that big, I just have a healthy appetite. But in an apocalypse, food's the most important thing," Feihong explained.

"True, but not entirely. What if Sakura just takes all your food? How would you deal with that?" Jason said, teasing him.

Feihong froze, his face turning pale. "W-Wait… You guys aren't going to kill me, are you?"

Jason blinked, taken aback. "What are you talking about? We're not like that. Besides, we've got food too." He pointed at the cupboard in the corner.

"Phew, that's a relief." Feihong wiped his forehead, visibly relieved.

"I'm just saying, we wouldn't, but others might. So here's your task: start training every day. We need to get you battle-ready."

"Roger that!" Feihong snapped into a stiff salute, giving Jason an awkward but sincere salute.

Jason couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight. This guy's a bit of a clown, but he's got a good heart.