Princess Piggy shook her head, "After all, you're so pitiful. Here, take it. Every human player who sincerely praises me gets a gift."
Qi Xu understood—now was the time to lay on the compliments.
"You are kind, beautiful, and generous, Princess Piggy. Meeting you is my greatest fortune. I hope you’ll always be happy, living a carefree life surrounded by love and joy!"
Princess Piggy closed her eyes, savoring the words. When she opened them again, her eyes were glistening with tears.
"I’m going to give you one more gift. Aside from Mengmeng, you’re my favorite in this event! Is there anything else you’d like? Nothing too valuable, though, or it’ll exceed my authority."
Qi Xu thought for a moment. A Level 6 vehicle upgrade card was definitely out of the question—otherwise, Princess Piggy would’ve offered it outright.
This wasn’t the time to be greedy. Overreaching could backfire spectacularly.
After a brief hesitation, he spoke up, "At work, I have a little robot companion who’s always been by my side, helping me with all the dirty and exhausting tasks. I couldn’t have gotten through it without them. Now that I’m leaving... I really don’t want to part with them."
Princess Piggy clasped her hands together. "I knew you were a sentimental human! You can take that robot with you! That’s a promise from Princess Piggy!"
Qi Xu then pulled a flower wreath from his backpack—woven from all kinds of blossoms.
Real flowers, yet they would never wilt.
He’d spotted the flowers in the warehouse one night when he couldn’t sleep, so he’d idly woven them into a wreath.
Who knew it’d come in handy now?
"Friends always exchange gifts. Since I’ve received two from you, please accept this one, Princess."
"Wow! So pretty! Am I going to transform from a princess into a flower fairy now?"
"Absolutely. You look even more adorable, Princess."
Qi Xu spoke as if coaxing a child, and Princess Piggy was utterly delighted. The long-awaited favorability notification finally appeared, shooting straight up to 45.
Princess Piggy seemed to have other tasks and soon bid Qi Xu a reluctant farewell.
At the doorway, she ran into a few more players.
Their eyes lit up at the sight of her, and they immediately launched into a torrent of exaggerated praise, their gazes so intense it was as if they wanted to devour her.
Princess Piggy looked momentarily dazed—then burst into tears.
"You... you dare insult me! I’m not some disgusting fat pig!"
As she sobbed, the players’ interface screens erupted with frantic alerts.
Qi Xu couldn’t hear the notifications, but the sheer despair on their faces made it clear—they’d probably lost a ton of resources.
They looked ready to cry themselves.
Qi Xu gathered his things and quickly left the scene.
Tonight was clearly the prime time for players to "accidentally" bump into Princess Piggy. The castle was crawling with them, and no work monsters intervened—meaning the behavior was tacitly allowed.
With his rewards secured, Qi Xu saw no reason to linger. This dungeon run had been incredibly fruitful.
A powerful vehicle and personal strength were the foundation of everything.
Neither could be neglected. His first priority after leaving would be to level up fast. Opportunities like this weren’t exclusive to him—if someone else snatched the title of Server First, he’d have no one to blame but himself.
Unconsciously quickening his pace, Qi Xu searched frantically for Monkey Boss, finally spotting him in the dining hall.
All the work monsters were feasting, packed into the premium dining area and private rooms.
Qi Xu hesitated, unsure whether to intrude.
Luckily, Worker Monkey noticed him and called Monkey Boss out.
"What are you doing here?"
"I still haven’t settled payment for the things I collected these past two days. Will 1 Survival Coin cover it?"
Qi Xu handed over the space stone. Monkey Boss inspected it and grunted, "Fine."
Once the coin changed hands, Monkey Boss waved him off impatiently. "Alright, scram." Without another word, he walked away—cold as ever.
Monkey Boss didn’t want others knowing he was on good terms with a human player. It felt... undignified. Better to keep his distance.
Qi Xu had considered gifting him a bottle of Moutai liquor but now decided against it. Relationships were a two-way street, and he wasn’t about to force affection where it wasn’t reciprocated.
Any bond built on unequal effort was doomed to fail—no point clinging to it.
Worker Monkey, however, scurried over and handed Qi Xu a huge bundle of fruit.
"Figured you’d like these, so I packed extra."
"You’re the best. I’m really going to miss you. Here—Moutai. Since you’re all celebrating, it’s perfect for toasting." Qi Xu offered the farewell gift.
Worker Monkey scratched his head, embarrassed. "I’ll take it, but... I don’t have anything good to give you in return. I’m just a low-level grunt."
Qi Xu shook his head vehemently. "You’ve helped me more than enough. I just want to add you as a friend. I don’t want to lose touch."
If he could connect with Taotao, maybe other work monsters could be added too?
Sure enough, a friend request notification popped up shortly after. Worker Monkey’s favorability was at 55—Qi Xu had been worried it might not be enough.
"From now on, we’re friends!"
Worker Monkey gazed at him earnestly. Qi Xu smiled and nodded firmly. "See you again someday, my friend."
Qi Xu spent the night sorting through his backpack, tallying up the dungeon’s spoils.
Of the junk vehicles and scrap weapons, he kept only the Level 12 laser gun, Level 8 poison gas bomb, and ten Level 6-7 weapons.
The rest were sold off—too low-level to bother repairing.
After five or six hours of work, Qi Xu stared at his Survival Coin balance: 8,866.
Did the entire server’s players combined even have this much? He was rich!
And this didn’t even include the most valuable weapons still unsold or the haul inside the premium space stone. This was beyond profitable.
At exactly 8 a.m., Qi Xu was ejected straight onto his vehicle.
Little Seven let out a joyful "Woof!" and pounced, front paws slamming onto Qi Xu’s shoulders.
Still disoriented from the sudden transition, Qi Xu barely registered the massive dark blur before he was knocked flat.
Little Seven froze. Oh no. Oh no, oh no—he’d messed up.
In the split second before Qi Xu hit the ground, the dog twisted midair, cushioning the fall with his own body.
Qi Xu, terrified of crushing him, rolled forcefully to the side—
Leaving both master and pet sprawled on the ground, staring at each other in bewilderment.
"Little Seven... how did you get so big in just five days?"
..........
