Chapter 25: Night Exploration of the Small Town, Everyone is a Player

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Night Exploration of the Small Town, Everyone is a Player

Shi Zhile chose the sunken ship ruins without hesitation.

Jiang Yuxing continued, "One portion of golden sore medicine, serum, and Diving Equipment for each person. One Rare Blueprint for each person as well. You three will each get two portions of Snake Poison. Shi Zhile and I will get three portions each.

As for the remaining five portions of serum, I’ll take two, and Shi Zhile will take three.

If anyone has any objections, speak now."

Shi Zhile received the most loot. Since Jiang Yuxing was clearly favoring her, she had no objections.

The other three had received an unexpected windfall, so they all shook their heads in unison.

Jiang Yu said, a little embarrassed, "I didn’t really help with much. You don’t have to give me so much."

Wang Peng scratched his head. "I helped even less. With a share this big, it makes you two look like total suckers."

Jiang Yuxing then looked to Chuyi, who cleared his throat. "We may have injured the giant python, but we didn’t kill it. The credit is mostly yours."

The corner of Jiang Yuxing’s mouth twitched into a small smile. "In that case, the Python Meat, Python Scales, and Snake Gallbladder will go to me and Zhile."

Chuyi’s lips twitched.

’As expected!’

’That bastard’s generosity earlier was just to make us feel too embarrassed to ask for more. His real goal was to keep the Python Scales for himself and Zhile.’

’Scales impervious to blades... if crafted well, they’d make for unparalleled armor or weapons.’

Jiang Yuxing looked at Shi Zhile. "Do you have enough space in your backpack? If you do, hold on to my share for now. You can give it to me after we’re out of the instance."

Shi Zhile held out her hand.

Jiang Yuxing slapped her hand. "After we’re out of the instance, I’ll give you two fresh fish every day."

"And lobster."

"Deal!"

She tested retrieving the supplies from the model sailboat. Seeing that it worked freely, she also placed their shared portion of the loot inside.

Shi Zhile yawned and slowly trudged back to the second floor to sleep.

As she approached the stairs, she suddenly remembered XiaoQing. "Oh, right, my XiaoQing is missing. If you see a Cuiqing Snake that looks kind of dazed, please don’t kill it by mistake.

Without XiaoQing around, other snakes might get in. We should barricade the doors and windows on the first floor from the inside, and everyone should rest on the second floor."

Wang Peng agreed. "Alright, you go ahead and sleep. I’ll take the night watch."

Shi Zhile left, locked her bedroom door and windows, and flopped onto the wooden bed she had placed there earlier, falling fast asleep.

The sun was high in the sky, its bright rays streaming through the window and waking Shi Zhile.

She had slept deeply and felt well-rested, and other than a dull ache in her chest, she had been undisturbed.

She opened her panel. It was already nine o’clock. She quickly rinsed her mouth and headed out.

In the second-floor hall, everyone except Wang Peng was standing by the window and looking out.

To the south lay the ocean, and to the north, a deep forest.

The three of them were staring at the ocean with grave expressions, as if they were grappling with an unsolvable puzzle.

"What’s wrong?"

Jiang Yu handed her a pair of binoculars. "A player went out to sea this morning and was swallowed whole by something from the deep."

Shi Zhile looked at the ocean through the binoculars. The surface was calm, and all she could see was a tiny raft spinning in place.

She opened the chat window. It was unusually quiet.

She scrolled up and saw a message in the world announcement at the very top.

[World Announcement: Congratulations to player Foam for being the first to complete the "Top 10 Kills" quest. Reward: Snake Venom Antiserum ×1, Crafting Bench ×1, Infinite Backpack ×1.]

[Newbie Period Notice: Players who complete the quest will have their locations permanently revealed. If killed by another player within the instance, you will suffer permanent death, and all of your supplies will go to your killer.

Special Note: Players who complete the quest may leave the instance early.]

’So that’s why it’s so quiet,’ Shi Zhile realized. ’They’re all waiting for their prey to take the bait. They’re busy hunting down the top ten players.’

She opened the leaderboards. The player who was originally in tenth place, "Eggplant Sauce," had been replaced by "Foam."

"Looks like I’m not the only one who’s just a pile of loot to other players. Everyone here is. If they kill us, not only do they get all our supplies, but they also get a bonus reward."

Her gaze swept over Jiang Yuxing and Chuyi, then to Wang Peng and Jiang Yu.

"If I killed Brother Peng first, then you and Chuyi, and finally Jiang Yu, would I be ranked first or ninth?"

The four of them were speechless. "..."

Chuyi smiled charmingly. "My wife would rank eighth."

Shi Zhile was speechless. "..."

Jiang Yuxing rubbed his forehead. "Where to next?"

Jiang Yu: "To the sea!"

Chuyi: "The town!"

Shi Zhile: "The ruins!"

Jiang Yuxing: "?"

The three of them scratched their heads in unison. Shi Zhile opened her map.

"We’re on the mountainside. It’ll take about two hours to get to the coast, and we might run into other players on the way."

Jiang Yuxing pointed to the town’s location. "It’s over an hour to the town. We definitely need to go, but I’d rather go at night.

The ruins are the closest, but those little snakes can burrow into you.

So none of the places you guys suggested will work."

Wang Peng came out of another bedroom, yawning. "If we’re going out at night anyway, why not just stay here and rest? We could search the shipping containers again. What if the loot respawns on a timer?

I can’t take it anymore. I’m going back to sleep for a bit."

And with that, he went back to bed.

His yawn was contagious, and Shi Zhile let one out as well. "I’m going to take a walk nearby. I’ll see if I can spot any other players."

’I’m short on food. I’m going to go robbing.’

’Since people have already started killing each other, robbing someone should count as self-defense, right?’

Her mind made up, she ate a sandwich and set off alone.

She didn’t go far. First, she collected a few intact shipping containers, then started down the path leading down the mountain.

There were no players in sight, so she wasn’t in a rush. She took out her axe and started chopping at some nearby trees.

CRASH! Another tree fell, and a bowl-shaped nest of dry grass landed right on Shi Zhile’s head.

She reached up and took it off. It was a bird’s nest, complete with a few tufts of feathers.

’If there’s a nest, there are probably eggs.’

’The undergrowth here is thick. If any eggs fell, they probably wouldn’t have broken.’

She gently parted the grass with her axe, keeping a constant watch for any small snakes that might dart out. Her efforts paid off. An oval, speckled egg came into view.

Just as she reached out to grab it, a green snake shot out and swallowed the egg in one gulp.

"XiaoQing?"

"HISSS~"

’It really is you.’

Without any prompting from her, it slithered up her leg to her wrist and obediently coiled itself into a circle.

She searched the area again and found three more eggs near the tree.

[Bird Egg ×3]

After checking a few more trees and finding neither nests nor players, she packed up and returned to the ocean-view house.

At nine o’clock that night, the five of them were geared up and ready to go. Even with XiaoQing around, they sprinkled some realgar powder on themselves just to be safe.

After walking for what felt like an eternity, the five of them finally reached the town.

Just as it had been in the dead of night, the town was plunged into darkness. The red brick walls looked especially sinister under the moonlight.

Jiang Yuxing, holding a torch, was the first to open the door to a room. It was empty, just as it had been before.

"Did we guess wrong?"

Shi Zhile checked her panel. "It’s not eleven yet. Let’s wait a little longer."

The five of them split into two groups. Shi Zhile and Jiang Yuxing stayed out in the open, while Wang Peng, Chuyi, and Jiang Yu hid in the shadows.

They took up positions in separate rooms, waiting.

At the stroke of midnight, in the blink of an eye, the world before them burst into light.

Even Shi Zhile, who had been bracing herself, jumped in surprise.