Xu An, upon seeing this message, suddenly became interested. She mumbled, "Expeditionary Army?"
The moment this thought surfaced in her mind, the interface before her eyes abruptly changed. Subsequently, the official announcement of the Expeditionary Army appeared before Xu An.
After carefully reading the rules, Xu An understood that not just anyone could participate in the Expeditionary Army; participation required selection.
Only those who distinguished themselves in the selection competition could join the Expeditionary Army and undertake missions together.
"This is quite interesting."
As Xu An spoke, she operated her intelligent device and clicked on the registration notice.
[Announcement: Participants must be Lighthouse residents aged 18 or above; gender is not restricted, and basic combat skills are required. The selection competition will be divided into three stages: upper, middle, and lower. Those who pass the lower stage selection will participate in the middle stage, and winners of the middle stage will proceed to the upper stage selection. Ultimately, ten winners will be chosen to join the Expeditionary Army as non-regular personnel and will participate in a secret operation after the next Lighthouse descent.]
Xu An meticulously read through the competition rules. While they didn't specify the exact nature of the activities, given the scale of this competition, it was unlikely to be a simple resource-gathering mission.
She looked at the last rule, where a line of text in red was appended.
[This mission carries the risk of death. Please be prepared...]
Below this line of text, an attached table was provided.
It detailed the compensation to be received by family members or the individual in case of injury or death during the mission.
Xu An roughly calculated that if someone managed to secure a top ten spot and joined the Expeditionary Army, and unfortunately passed away, the compensation would be enough to ensure their surviving family lived comfortably in the Lighthouse for the rest of their lives.
"The Lighthouse does a good job with its provisions in this regard," Xu An mused internally. "Not so great for the living, but quite generous towards the deceased."
After reading, Xu An's interest waned. She was about to exit and check for any new information.
Unexpectedly, Gou Dan, who had been crouching obediently beside her, suddenly lunged at her. Xu An didn't know what she touched, but the system automatically registered her for the competition.
By the time Xu An reacted, her personal information had already been uploaded.
Moreover, the competition required a security deposit to prevent malicious registrations.
Considering the venue and certain welfare aspects for participants, the authorities had specifically set some stringent conditions; for instance, upon registration, the registration fee would be automatically deducted from the resident's ID card.
It was a small amount, just 20 trading coins.
As Xu An pushed Gou Dan's large frame away from her, a message appeared before her eyes.
"What is this?" she asked, baffled, and clicked on the message.
[Congratulations on successfully registering for the Expeditionary Army selection competition. Your number plate is 1298701. The competition will be held on the 10th of next month. Please be present on time.]
Xu An: "???"
"What is this thing?" She operated her intelligent device and spent half the time studying it before discovering that this infernal system had automatically registered her.
"Can't this be refunded?"
"What can't be refunded?"
Hearing her mother's voice, Xu An took down the intelligent device. "You're back."
"It was quite busy today, received a few banquet invitations. What were you saying about not being able to refund something?"
"I just saw an announcement on the Lighthouse, and Gou Dan was bothering me nearby, so I accidentally clicked on the registration. This competition requires a fee, 10 trading coins. I was seeing if it could be refunded."
Xu Yan became interested. "What competition? The Lighthouse is holding a competition?"
"It seems to be something called the Expeditionary Army, and there's some kind of competition. Only ten people will be selected in the end. They say they'll be carrying out a mission together during the next descent."
"Making such a big fuss?"
Xu An nodded. "The Lighthouse even specifically marked that there's a risk of death, advising everyone to choose carefully. However, the compensation is quite high."
She pursed her lips and continued, "I see quite a few people have registered. They're probably all going for the compensation. Even without the compensation, I heard that every winning contestant receives material rewards."
"That makes sense. Now, the industries on the Lighthouse clearly have an oversupply, and many people are struggling to get by. Coming here, if they get lucky, they might even secure a meal." Xu Yan chimed in.
"Speaking of which, I just remembered. I met He Ci in the park earlier. He said their lab has researched a new crop and they're recruiting people. He asked if we wanted to go."
Xu Yan didn't answer directly but first asked her daughter's opinion: "What are your thoughts?"
"I don't really want to go. We have enough trading coins for now, and we can already grow things in our space. We don't have to worry about food and drink."
Xu Yan nodded. She actually thought the same.
Indeed, the biggest expenses for her and her daughter were only rent and transportation fees; everything else was largely self-sufficient.
Xu An had previously worried about heating during the winter, especially with the coming three-year period of extreme cold.
However, the Lighthouse seemed to have anticipated this issue, as the temperature inside the Lighthouse was kept at a constant, comfortable level.
There was no need to worry about temperature problems throughout the year.
"I think the same. After all, I can also earn some now, and my income is quite good. We don't have many places to spend money usually, so let's forget about it."
"I feel like the Lighthouse has sufficient food reserves. What new variety are He Ci and his team researching?" Xu Yan asked curiously.
"He Ci didn't say. He only mentioned the experimental field. He really didn't specify what kind of crop it was," Xu An replied, recalling He Ci's words.
Neither of them paid further attention to this matter after making their decision.
However, regarding Xu An's registration for the Expeditionary Army, Xu Yan pondered for a moment and then said, "Why don't you try that Expeditionary Army thing?"
"Let me think about it."
"You don't necessarily have to win. The Lighthouse is ascending tomorrow, and you have nothing to do at home. Why not go join the fun?"
Before, when she didn't have a job, she could stay home and keep Xu An company. Now, she frequently took on banquet invitations and cooked for others in their homes, keeping her busy and out of the house all day.
Fearing that Xu An would be bored staying home alone, she offered this suggestion.
"Actually, now that I think about it, I quite want to go. If I can really participate in that Expeditionary Army, I plan to join them for the next descent."
"Do you suspect this Expeditionary Army?" Xu Yan asked.
Xu An nodded. "The military is placing such importance on this. I don't think the mission they'll be carrying out will be a simple one. I want to see what it is."
Xu Yan's immediate instinct was to stop her. Upon hearing Xu An mention the military's dangerous mission earlier, she didn't want Xu An to take such a risk.