"Then why do I only get two cups of instant noodles and two moldy bread loaves? I was just worrying about where to use my Plunder Card, so I might as well go for it. Are they seriously looking down on me like this? What, am I weak? Unlucky?"
Langli Laobailong: "Huh? The Plunder Card is with you?"
Qi Xu also got excited. In the entire 666 subzone, the strongest fighters were probably Wolf Warrior and Dongfang Yuan.
For the survival game to hand the Plunder Card directly to Dongfang Yuan—tsk tsk, their intentions were crystal clear.
Invincible Black Whirlwind: "Go get 'em, Sis Shredder! Got a Location Card?"
Shredder Queen: "Yep! Go to sleep, don’t stay up late."
Qi Xu checked the time—it really was late—so he lay down to rest.
The top 10 rewards were all practical, exactly what everyone desperately needed at this stage.
Qi Xu collected 10 Weapon Enhancement Cards and prioritized upgrading his Pink Chainsaw, which would take four hours.
Perfect timing—it’d be ready by the time he set out tomorrow.
That night, the chat lobby was buzzing. After a month of three different types of disasters, plus the final dungeon and the first-tier vehicle liquidation, the population of Subzone 666 in District 88 had dropped from 10,000 to just over 6,000.
At 2 a.m., some players still awake noticed something strange—the number suddenly jumped back to 9,999+!
What the—? Had subzones merged?!
But the subzone display at the top still read "District 88, Subzone 666," unchanged.
Those still online immediately got hyped.
Blessed by Luck: "Hey, new friends! How many people were in your subzone before? Why’d we merge so suddenly?"
Not a single reply came from the newcomers—dead silence.
After a long pause, a player called God of Light finally responded: "Stop asking so many questions. Who’s the monthly rank #1 in your subzone? Damn impressive—first to get a Tier 5 vehicle too? Show yourself, let me take a look."
Blessed by Luck wasn’t one to back down.
He shot back: "Stop asking so many questions. Your name’s awful, by the way. Anything with ‘Light’ in it is kinda cursed, honestly."
God of Light: "Tell me—do you wanna die, or do you not wanna live?"
Blessed by Luck: "You think I’m scared of you?"
God of Light: "Bold. I’ll make an example out of you. 10 a.m. sharp tomorrow, Parallel Highway. Be there."
Cursed by Misfortune: "Who talks like that? So full of yourself."
God of Light: "Another one with a death wish?"
Blessed by Luck checked the player list again and realized something was off—many usernames now had "Light" prefixed to them.
That God of Light guy even had a title next to his name, something ridiculously domineering: 〖Bandit King〗.
So… yeah. He’d definitely messed up.
Panicking, he scrambled through his inventory for anything useful and went to beg the big shots for help.
He’d considered reaching out to Whirlwind, but Whirlwind seemed more like the absurdly lucky, kind-hearted type—combat ability unknown. Players like Wolf Warrior 009 and Shredder Queen were definitely the real powerhouses.
Blessed by Luck hadn’t wasted the past month—he’d done his homework on who to cling to.
While hesitating over who to ask, he noticed Shredder Queen speaking up in the chat.
Shredder Queen: "Oh, we got a tough guy here? Why ask about our #1? Want to kneel and kowtow to your new ancestor?"
God of Light: "I see now—your subzone really doesn’t fear death. I’ve got plenty of Location Cards. You all should use up your supplies today, eat your fill—won’t get the chance tomorrow."
Shredder Queen: "Ohhh, this feels good. Been a while since someone volunteered to get roasted! Little bastard, come find me first tomorrow. I’ll teach you some manners."
God of Light: "Sure. Go die."
Blessed by Luck privately messaged Shredder Queen.
"Queen, that God of Light guy seems legit. Their whole subzone has ‘Light’ in their names. He’s probably got skills."
Shredder Queen: "Just shred him."
Blessed by Luck hesitated, then sent over a Weapon Enhancement Card.
"Since I started this… here, take this as backup!"
Dongfang Yuan instantly hit "Return."
"Don’t need it."
Blessed by Luck: (ꐦÒ‸Ó)
Damn, Queen, you’re too much!
He didn’t push it but immediately gave Whirlwind a full rundown of the situation.
When Qi Xu woke up the next morning, he learned about the merge. After reading Blessed by Luck’s message, he skimmed the chat logs…
The moment he saw the name "God of Light," his eyes narrowed. He hadn’t expected to run into him this early in the game.
This "God of Light"—Qi Xu had crossed paths with him in his past life.
But not during the first merge. Back then, it’d taken five or six merges before they met.
By that point, faction gameplay had already emerged. Qi Xu had always gone solo, never joining any group.
God of Light sent lackeys to recruit Qi Xu into the Church of Light. Qi Xu refused—repeatedly.
The Church immediately declared war, hunting him down. That was why, despite consistently ranking in the top 100 in dungeons, Qi Xu stayed dirt-poor.
If not for a lucky break—unlocking a machine gun—he doubted he’d have survived to Year 4 of the survival game.
Eventually, after another merge, the arrogant God of Light was taken down by a powerhouse from a new subzone, and the Church disbanded.
But by then, Qi Xu had burned through almost all his resources trading for survival gear and weapons. His vehicle lagged far behind others’, and his supplies were critically low.
From then on, ranking well in dungeons or monthly leaderboards became nearly impossible.
Qi Xu reread Blessed by Luck’s message and realized his current reputation was unclear. Lucky? Strength unknown? A big shot’s image shouldn’t be this vague.
Blessed by Luck: "Whirlwind, stay sharp these next couple days. That ‘God of Light’ is digging for info on you! Last night, I pissed him off, and Queen said she’d deal with him!"
Qi Xu realized—people acknowledged his luck, but not his strength.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t talk like this. Unacceptable. He needed to make a grand display, prove his power. Otherwise, when would the right moment to flaunt his loot crates come?
Luck alone wasn’t convincing. So, this "God of Light" would be his stepping stone.
Calmly, Qi Xu cooked a pot of dumplings, ate them with whole wheat bread, then warmed up with his usual exercises.
He pondered how to maximize gains. Even if God of Light wasn’t at his peak yet, he probably had plenty of good loot.
At exactly 6 a.m., just as Qi Xu was about to head out, a message arrived.
From a username he’d never seen before.
.........
