Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

Zhang Lan flung Wang Kai's hand away and said with displeasure.

"Rest my foot! It's so cold tonight and we're sleeping in the open. Let's warm up by the fire and have some drinks. Everyone's in such high spirits, why don't you come over and chat and have a drink with us..."

"you're drunk?"

"Drunk my ass!"

Her small mouth opened and closed, exhaling gusts of alcohol. Her face was also flushed. In the past, Wang Kai would never have believed such "drunkard's words," but Zhang Lan's eyes, which reflected a little green light, were filled with unwavering determination.

While he was still in a daze, Zhang Lan had already dragged him to the fire.

The soldier who looked like the captain slowly picked up a wine bag.

"Young man, let me introduce myself first. My name is Duli, I'm 34 years old, and I'm divorced! I'm the captain of the third patrol squad in Merck Town. Since you're Lan's adventurer partner, I'll be your 'guide' today and offer you a proper toast!"

After saying that, the soldier captain named Duli picked up the wine bag and took several big gulps, then handed the wine bag to Wang Kai.

"Huh? What self-introduction? What's with the '34 years old' and 'divorced' part? And calling her 'Sister Lan' so affectionately... For the sake of you 'bodyguards,' let's just let it go. If things get really tense, we can't beat them in a fight anyway, so let's just bear with it."

It wasn't that Du Li's face was a little scary; even in his standard soldier's gear, Wang Kai felt he couldn't act impulsively. Since Zhang Lan hadn't said anything, why create unnecessary trouble?

So he took the wine bag with one hand, and with the other hand covering his still nauseous stomach, he hesitated whether to drink it or not.

Zhang Lan had already figured it out, and whispered.

"The road is full of potholes and dirt, so it's normal to be bumpy. Drinking a little alcohol can relieve motion sickness."

These soldiers are soldiers, after all; frankly, they're government employees here. They shouldn't be capable of drugging or anything like that.

If they truly had ill intentions, Duli and his group would have acted long ago along the way; why wait until now?

Wang Kai hesitated for a moment, then cautiously took a sip. As the liquid went down his throat, his eyes widened...

This stuff... tastes pretty good. It has a light sweetness and the aroma of wheat, with a hint of maltose.

It still has a slight alcoholic taste, but the alcohol content is so low that it can't even compare to beer from the past. It's as refreshing as "sweet rice wine".

After a sip of wine, the dizziness in his brain and the spasms in his stomach subsided somewhat. Coupled with his craving for alcohol, Wang Kai quickly and without hesitation turned the wine bag upside down and gulped it all down…

"Hey, my goodness, leave me a bite..."

Before Zhang Lan could stop him, Wang Kai let out a burp, put down the wine bag in his hand, and the scene fell silent. Apart from the sound of flames licking the wood, there was only the gaze of Duli and a few soldiers staring at the monster...

"Huh! Wasn't punishing myself with three cups enough? It's alright, I only replenished a little water just now, do you have any more?"

As Wang Kai handed the empty wine bag to Du Li, he cautiously asked a question.

Doolittle then realized what was happening, burst into laughter, and the other soldiers cheered and laughed along, some even whistling in amazement...

"Seeing it with my own eyes is truly remarkable. If I hadn't stopped Lan, she could have drunk at least half a bag of wine in one go. And she even said that you can drink better than her. I'm completely convinced now... It really is a case of 'a young hero'!"

"Ah, what are you saying! Ouch..."

Zhang Lan, who had just given Wang Kai a tap on the back of the head, snatched the wine bag, poured it out, and then drank the remaining few drops of liquid. With a reluctant expression, she plopped down on the ground, glared at Wang Kai, snorted, and turned her face away.

Duli waved his hand.

"Well, actually, the rules are that we can't drink alcohol during missions. It's getting a bit cold at night, so we brothers can only secretly bring a few bags of liquor to drink a little to warm ourselves up while on guard duty at night... Anyway, today is the first time I've seen someone who can drink half a bag in one go, and he's a young man about the same age as my daughter. He's a force to be reckoned with."

The other soldiers nodded in agreement, admitting they were completely outmatched in terms of "drinking capacity".

Wang Kai wasn't particularly happy. He quickly guessed that the brewing technology in this world was probably still quite primitive, and that fractionation technology couldn't extract high-concentration alcoholic beverages.

So the rice wine produced through fermentation is only about half a bottle of beer to me...

However, drinking a little alcohol on an empty stomach still made me slightly tipsy, and Duli and the other soldiers didn't seem to have any bad intentions. Anyway, "if you can't beat them, join them." Even Zhang Lan didn't seem to react much after being "taken advantage of."

Never mind, Wang Kai sat down beside him, warming himself by the fire while occasionally joining in the conversation.

Zhang Lan was initially a little annoyed because he hadn't had enough of his "alcohol craving," but since he also had some ulterior motives, he had to give up. Seeing that the time was right, he rolled his eyes a few times and asked Du Li.

"Uncle Doolittle, what are your thoughts on the 'Four Heroes' who defeated the Demon King more than ten years ago?"

Mentioning the "Four Great Heroes" is like flipping a switch that excites these soldiers. These warriors, who judge strength by brute force, have an instinctive awe for overwhelming power...

Over the next half hour, Duli and the others took turns recounting the glorious history of the "Four Heroes," along with folk tales and even anecdotes...

Regardless, their faces were filled with admiration and gratitude.

During this time, Wang Kai and Zhang Lan exchanged glances a few times, but they couldn't get a word in edgewise or discuss things quietly with each other.

Upon closer examination, however, this information is almost entirely "positive propaganda," making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Writing it down seems rather pointless...

So Wang Kai couldn't hold back any longer and asked a question that everyone knew about but couldn't explain clearly.

"Everyone, I'd like to ask, just how strong are these heroes? Is there anyone left who can rival them?"

After hearing this, everyone fell silent for about ten seconds, and then began to discuss it animatedly...

"I've heard that the hero was summoned by the gods and inherited their power; those demon armies are no match for them..."

"This is nothing compared to what I've heard before. I once heard that when four heroes joined forces to attack a demon king's castle, the demon king's army was almost wiped out in less than the time it takes to eat a meal. The rest could only flee in panic. But you should know that the monsters in that demon king's castle were at least level 80 or higher... Any one of those monsters could easily take on an A-rank adventure team of four."

"Yes, if we're talking about levels, to achieve a 'one-hit kill' state, you generally need to be at least ten levels higher, or your main attributes need to be a hundred points higher than your opponent's!"

"According to some rumors circulating in the capital, the four heroes have already reached the level cap of 99, and their main attributes are all at least 1000... Look at yourselves, you're only level 30-something, and your main attributes are less than 150. Just in this respect, the heroes' power is nearly ten times that of you!"

"No, no, you can't compare them like that. Heroes also have elemental magic power bonuses. I heard that the Four Great Heroes are completely immune to magic attacks of their main attribute, and their resistance to secondary elemental power is over 9%. If they also have a full set of divine equipment with resistance to the 'third element'... it's almost impossible to defeat a hero in a one-on-one fight."

"But a 'gang fight' won't work either. The four heroes are now each ruling a region of the empire. Not only do they have their own autonomous regions, but they also have private castles that are even more magnificent than the imperial palace. Rumors also say that they all have their own private armies."

"Yes, yes, in this peaceful era, apart from those who worship strength, who dares to even think about 'defeating the hero'? If you can make the hero use half of his strength to fight you, you can immediately apply to the Imperial Royal Army and easily become a captain, or even a general!"

……

In parties or meetings, you can hear more information than you would in a normal conversation simply by changing the topic of discussion.

People are more interested in a celebrity's scandals and romantic escapades than their glorious achievements...

As the discussion raged on, Wang Kai grew increasingly excited, but also more and more confused, even doubting how far the previously established "game questline" would progress.