Chapter 195: Wen Bai and Sun Ci Disappear

Shi Zhile took out two clean pieces of clothing. She covered Luo Chuan’s face with one and handed the other to Jiang Jing, who wrapped Jiang Yu in it.

Jiang Jing laid Jiang Yu flat on the ground, side-by-side with Luo Chuan.

“Shi Zhile, I know you still have lava. Burn… them!”

He spoke the last two words with extreme difficulty, his voice choked with sobs but utterly resolute.

Shi Zhile said, “We can take them out of here, at least back to the base…”

“Burn them now! We can’t be one hundred percent sure we can get them out. If we can’t, they’ll also become… walking corpses…”

“One of them was an outstanding warrior of Huaxia, and the other was my own sister. Whether as Luo Chuan’s leader or Jiang Yu’s older brother, I have the right to make this decision for them.”

“I don’t want them to be used even after death, and they wouldn’t want that either. Burn them! Don’t leave… a single trace behind.”

Shi Zhile took out a pile of dry firewood, arranged it around the two bodies, lit it, and then dripped lava onto it.

A great fire rose, and in a short while, it had swallowed the two bodies in its center.

Half an hour later, the flames died down. When the firewood and bodies had been completely consumed by the fire, only a few specks of lava remained, eating away at the grass.

An absolute silence fell. The sky was black as ink, without a single star in sight.

A gust of wind stirred up a cloud of ash, scattering the few remaining sparks.

…

In the cave, Shi Zhiyi briefly regained consciousness. The dull ache from her wound made her frown, and a wave of nausea washed over her, causing her to vomit all the coconut water she had just drunk.

Wen Bai quickly supported her, letting her lean against him. Once she stopped throwing up, he scooped her up by the waist and moved her to the other side.

“Feeling any better? You can only lie down for now. Tell me if the wound hurts. I made some congee with coconut water. I’ll feed you some once it cools down.”

“Where’s Lele? Isn’t she back yet?”

Wen Bai replied, “Mm, Jiang Jing and Tang Yan went with her. She’ll be fine.”

Shi Zhiyi drifted back into a groggy sleep.

Sun Ci returned from outside, bringing a chill with him. He first warmed himself by the fire before speaking, his voice heavy and his expression grim.

“The temperature outside has dropped. I found tracks of a large animal around the cave, along with a strong smell of blood.”

Wen Bai tucked the blanket more tightly around Shi Zhiyi, then took out a packet of medicine and handed it to Sun Ci. “This is a packet developed by the base. It can mask a person’s scent to avoid being detected by beasts. Keep it with you.”

Sun Ci took it. The next moment, the sound of footsteps reached them.

The two men grabbed their weapons and rose to their feet at the same time.

CLANG! A small dagger struck another.

Immediately after, Jiang Yuxing walked into the cave.

His gaze fell upon Shi Zhiyi, as if sizing something up. Seeing this, Wen Bai moved to block his path.

Jiang Yuxing smiled nonchalantly. “Long time no see!”

Wen Bai watched him warily. “What do you want?”

“What could I possibly want? Can you not act like a mouse seeing a cat every time we meet? Compared to Shi Zhile, you guys are really boring.”

Wen Bai’s eyes went to Jiang Yuxing’s hands. Both were perfectly intact. Forget being burned to ash, there wasn’t even a single burn mark on them.

Noticing Wen Bai’s stare, Jiang Yuxing even kindly held out his hands for a closer look.

“When a little pet misbehaves, you can’t hit it or scold it. You just have to find other ways to deal with it.”

With that, he stopped wasting time and made the first move.

Half an hour later, Wen Bai and Sun Ci lay on the ground, heavily injured.

Jiang Yuxing walked around them and headed toward Shi Zhiyi.

…

[Congratulations to all players for surviving 20 days. The Battle Royale mode will officially end at midnight.]

[Current player count in this region: 185,690. As the player count is below 500,000, the system will initiate a server merge. Type: Terrestrial Merge (All islands in this region will combine to form a single, massive continent. Slaughter and opportunity coexist. Killing a player grants you all of their items and attributes.).]

On the grassland, the three of them sat side-by-side, listening to the system’s broadcast.

Tang Yan let out a sarcastic laugh. “‘Slaughter and opportunity coexist.’ To put it bluntly, they’re raising humans like Gu worms. They’re even giving away attributes. It means whoever kills the most people will gain the most Strength, agility, and Constitution.

“Items are secondary. If you don’t kill, you’ll just be waiting to be killed. In the merged region, there will be no peace to speak of.”

Jiang Jing said, “It’s 10 o’clock. The Battle Royale mode ends in two hours. You two get some rest. I’ll take the first watch.”

Shi Zhile lay on the grass. On the unlit grassland, darkness was everywhere.

“After the merge, a world even crueler than the Battle Royale awaits us. Suddenly, it all feels so pointless.”

The two men looked at Shi Zhile at the same time. She laughed. “Do you think this could all be a dream? That when we wake up, we’ll be back in the real world.”

A look of surprise appeared in Jiang Jing’s eyes. ‘This doesn’t sound like something Shi Zhile would say.’

Tang Yan was about to speak, but he saw Jiang Jing shake his head.

Midnight arrived, and the Battle Royale officially ended.

Moonlight illuminated an ice plain, and a biting cold seeped into their bodies.

Beside Shi Zhile were Jiang Jing and Tang Yan, deep in sleep. Not far away lay the injured and sleeping Shi Zhiyi.

She first checked on Shi Zhiyi’s condition. After confirming she was only unconscious, Shi Zhile moved her into the Planting Space.

Then, she woke up Jiang Jing and Tang Yan.

Jiang Jing’s voice was dry and hoarse. “Is it just the three of us? Where are Wen Bai, Shi Zhiyi, and Sun Ci?”

Shi Zhile replied, “I didn’t see Wen Bai and Sun Ci. My sister isn’t doing well, so I put her in my space.”

Tang Yan surveyed their surroundings, a sense of unease growing in his heart. “This is where we entered the instance from. It doesn’t make sense that we came out but Brother Sun and the others didn’t.”

The image of Jiang Yu falling flashed through Jiang Jing’s mind. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a sharp, cold breath.

“Let’s not panic. We’ll search the area. It’s possible there was a system error that teleported them somewhere else.”

They all knew a player’s avatar turned black upon death, but after witnessing the deaths of Jiang Yu and Luo Chuan, none of them had the courage to check.

After searching the surrounding area in a full circle, the three of them finally gave up as the sun began to rise.

Jiang Jing opened his panel and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“They’re still alive. They might really have been teleported somewhere else.”

Tang Yan immediately started a video call to Sun Ci. After a moment, it went unanswered.

Shi Zhile was silent for a moment. “The system said there would be a server merge. Could they have been sent to a different region?”

It was unlikely, but right now, it was the only hope they could cling to.

Thinking of the players back at the base, Shi Zhile opened the Teleportation Gate and led the other two inside.

The secret base was filled with lush vegetation, and the sounds of various machines echoed ceaselessly. Two large ships were docked at the shore, where players busily transported cargo.

Wen Changming stood by the sea, flanked by the base chief and two seniors. As they looked out at the gradually recovering island, their faces held a mix of joy and sorrow.

“I wonder how Shi Zhile and those kids are doing?”

The words had barely left his lips when a loud shout came from the distance.

“Base Chief, Shi… Shi Zhile and the others are back!”