Chapter 63: Two-Island Teleportation Gate

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Two-Island Teleportation Gate

[Teleportation Gate: A gate that connects two islands. It can only be bound to two islands at a time and cannot be unbound. Players from the two islands can freely travel between them at any time.

(No matter how far, no matter where, I am the witness to you overcoming distance. I can take you across mountains and seas, to the ends of the earth, but I cannot help you cross the barrier of race.)]

Shi Zhile took a screenshot and sent it. "Jiang Yuxing, is your system panel’s description this sassy too?"

Jiang Yuxing pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh out loud.

’When I chose her system, I was going for the ’lively’ type, but this isn’t just lively. This thing’s a total weirdo!’

"Something like that. Where do you plan to use the Teleportation Gate?"

Shi Zhile hadn’t decided.

So far, she had five options.

First, Jiang Yuxing. He had an iron mine, which would make it easy to go steal some raw iron.

Second, Jiang Jing. Choosing him would make it convenient to learn archery.

Third, Wang Peng. He had magma, and he was a sharp, hard worker who could help with farming.

Fourth was Jiang Yu. She was the only other woman among them, and it would be more convenient to have her do certain things.

Fifth, not using the Teleportation Gate at all.

Jiang Yuxing could tell what Shi Zhile was thinking at a glance. He sent over some reheated lobster meat drenched in sauce.

[Player Jiang Yuxing has sent you supplies. Receive?]

Shi Zhile accepted it immediately. In an instant, the fragrance filled the room.

Shi Zhile picked up a piece and ate it. Her eyes lit up after just one bite.

’This is delicious! Unlike the tough, gamey meat she cooked, this bowl of lobster was perfect in color, aroma, and taste. The tail meat was firm yet tender, with a delightful springy texture, which meant he must have deveined it after it was cooked.’

"I can cook, and I’m pretty good at it. Whether it’s noodle dishes or meat, I can handle them. Jiang Yu mentioned you want to learn archery from Jiang Jing?

Jiang Jing is very busy, so he’ll have little time to teach you. I’m different. I have plenty of free time. And I know a little of everything he does... and even a little of what he doesn’t.

So, I think it would be most appropriate to use the Teleportation Gate between our two islands. What do you think?"

He took off his down jacket, slowly rolled up his sleeves, and even undid the top button of his collar.

Shi Zhile was speechless.

"I don’t think it’s appropriate. You’re acting like a male siren, just short of writing ’come and get me’ on your forehead. Offering favors for no reason means you’re up to no good. Not unless you tell me your secret."

Jiang Yuxing lowered his gaze, his cheeks visibly flushing. He forced a calm expression and suddenly chuckled. "Don’t you already know my secret? From the instance... Use the Teleportation Gate on our islands, and I can tell you a very important piece of information."

Shi Zhile said, "I’m not sure if your information is worth me using the Teleportation Gate. So, you tell me first."

Jiang Yuxing said, "Everyone from Earth is inside this game. Each server starts with 150,000 people. When a server’s population drops below 100,000, it will undergo a forced merge with two adjacent servers.

If the population of the new, combined region is below 150,000, two such regions will then be merged. And so on."

He hadn’t just given her one piece of news, but a whole string of it.

Shi Zhile’s head was reeling from the shocking revelations.

’All of humanity from Earth is in this game? The game will continuously merge servers and regions? Following that logic, will everything eventually merge into a single region?’

’To reduce the number of players, the game won’t just rely on us killing each other. There must be bigger and more frequent natural disasters waiting for us.’

’If the population decreases too slowly, the difficulty of the instances will surely increase dramatically. When that happens, the chances of survival based on supplies alone will be minuscule.’

’I need to get stronger—much, much stronger. That’s the only way to ensure I survive through round after round of culling.’

’If all of humanity has entered this game, then what we’re experiencing can’t possibly be just a game.’ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

’This is a culling, a selection process to pick out the most wicked, the most ruthless, the most heartless, and the most exceptional humans. Maybe it’s a selection for the ’seeds’ of a new humanity, or maybe a genetic trial.’

’But no matter which it is, it all points to one thing: humanity has reached the end of its road.’

’Those who survive will be the new humanity, destined to create a new world.’

’I have a lot of supplies, but I don’t see myself as a savior. All I’ve ever wanted is to stay alive.’

Jiang Yuxing gave her time to process everything. He had expected Shi Zhile to hesitate for a long time, but instead, she used the Teleportation Gate right away.

[Teleportation Gate has been used. From any location on your island, open your panel, find the Teleportation Gate, and step through it to teleport to the other player’s side.]

"Jiang Yuxing, I’ll trust you. As Rank Two, you have plenty of supplies. But if you have your eyes on my supplies, I won’t hesitate to make a move on you too."

Jiang Yuxing smiled and nodded. "Alright. To put you at ease, I won’t enter your shelter until you can fully trust me.

But you’re welcome to come over. Are you busy this afternoon? If not, come over and I’ll teach you archery."

Shi Zhile thought for a moment. "Nothing for now. I’ll head over in a bit."

After ending the video call, Shi Zhile changed into a set of camouflage fatigues that were easy to move in, tied her hair into a high ponytail, and then ate her fill by wrapping the rest of the lobster tails in an egg pancake.

She still had ten unopened treasure chests from her trade with Wang Dacheng. Aside from the three that were frozen, she opened the remaining seven.

With no luck buff, the seven chests yielded: bowls and chopsticks x2, a cotton quilt x1, tracksuits x2, a strawberry x1, and potatoes x10.

After sorting and storing all the supplies, Shi Zhile picked up her bow and arrows and opened her panel.

At the very top of the panel was the Teleportation Gate button. She tapped it, and a circular portal materialized in front of her.

Looking through it from the outside, she could only see a swirl of multicolored light. She tentatively reached out and touched it; the surface was cool, like some kind of advanced technology.

The moment she stepped into the portal, the scene before her instantly changed.

The stone walls were gone, replaced by massive trees whose canopies blotted out the sky.

She turned slightly and saw Jiang Yuxing standing beside her.

He was holding a black bow, his focus fixed on a distant target. The instant she looked at him, he released the arrow with his right hand.

The silver-white arrowhead shot forward, its WHOOSH slicing through the silence. A second later, the arrow was firmly embedded in the red bullseye a hundred meters away, its fletching still trembling slightly.

He slowly turned his head to meet her stunned and astonished gaze, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"So? I’m qualified enough to be your teacher, wouldn’t you say?"

Shi Zhile snapped back to reality. Thinking of her own skill—hitting maybe one shot in ten—her eyes filled with admiration. She gave him a thumbs-up.

"That’s amazing! Were you holding back last time that other player landed on your island?"

Jiang Yuxing smiled and shook his head. "I wasn’t holding back. That guy’s archery was decent, about on par with the accuracy of your axe throws. I was hoping for a clash of titans, a chance for you two to test each other’s skills. I just didn’t expect him to be so pathetic that you’d kill him in one go."

"I’m not that amazing."

Shi Zhile walked over and pulled the arrow out. Then, she tried to imitate his posture, nocked an arrow, and shot. Unsurprisingly, the arrow veered off course mid-flight.

She spread her hands. "See? The ’titan’ you were talking about can’t even hit the target."