However... the wolf monsters had also been thoroughly depressed by Qi Xu.
They no longer howled, showed no excitement, and even when they saw Qi Xu emerge with an 8-meter protective barrier, they dawdled and couldn’t be bothered to run over.
What was the point? Coming over just meant crashing into a wall or being used as training dummies—utterly useless.
Only after confirming the wolf monsters wouldn’t cooperate anymore did Qi Xu finally have time to check the loot from the 21 supply crates.
"16 Vehicle Upgrade Cards, 3 Weapon Enhancement Cards, 34 Iron Blocks, 14 Steel Bars, 7 Aluminum, 6 Milling Cutters, 6 Donkey-Hide Gelatin Cakes, 1 Air Fryer, Underwear-Specific Laundry Soap, 8 Lemon Chicken Feet, 12 Spicy Seaweed Strips..."
Qi Xu first noticed that these were full Vehicle Upgrade Cards, not fragments.
Further upgrades would now require complete cards.
The exchange rate for fragments to full cards had also been confirmed: 10 fragments could be exchanged for one full Vehicle Upgrade Card.
Qi Xu took out a fragment and checked—upgrading to a Level 7 vehicle required 10,000 Vehicle Upgrade Cards...
In other words... 100,000 Vehicle Upgrade Card fragments!
This was a quantity Qi Xu hadn’t managed to accumulate in four years. In the last game cycle, which had been terminated early, he’d only reached Level 6.
After a brief moment of reflection, Qi Xu carefully scanned the three-page-long supply list and suddenly seemed to guess the next type of disaster.
Almost everything in the crates on the final day... was food. All kinds of food.
Qi Xu opened the chat lobby and saw that other players were in similar situations—some had already figured it out too.
"The next disaster must be ‘Famine,’ right? All my crates today had nothing but food. When am I ever gonna get upgrades?"
"Honestly, ‘Famine’ is fine by me. I’ve got food, but I desperately need vehicle upgrades. At least this’ll filter out the crate types—finally a chance to catch my breath."
"I’m screwed! I barely got anything today—how is this supposed to last 10 days? All my saved supplies got confiscated by the dungeon! I’ve been barely hanging on till now!"
"Same! No stockpiles, and the daily crates only give enough to survive. Damn dungeon—should’ve never joined! The next 10-day disaster’s gonna be hell."
"We were all fooled by that ‘This dungeon’s monsters won’t kill players’ line. Liars, every last one of them! Never trusting that again."
"Quit whining and go grab food from the trading market before everyone else realizes—you’ll be left with nothing, idiots..."
Instantly, the complaints died down.
Seeing this, Qi Xu immediately listed 100 bundles of food in the trading hall—all subpar leftovers from the dungeon, with five items per bundle.
Each bundle cost one Energy Stone. The price was slightly steep, but the taste was genuinely good.
"1 Asymmetrical Roast Chicken: Masterfully made, incredibly flavorful. The only flaw is its uneven shape—not a perfect masterpiece."
"1 Green Tea Cream Cake (3g Extra Cream): Not the ideal texture ratio, what a shame! But still a gourmet treat for the less fortunate."
"1 Cantonese Sausage: Premium ingredients, but the chef’s skills fell just short of perfection."
"5 Packaged Biscuits: Opened over two days ago, texture degraded, but still filling."
"3 Bissell A Lollipops: The body needs sugar—a little sweetness makes life better."
Aside from the lollipops (previously obtained in a crate of 1,000), everything else came from the banquet, with quantities in the thousands.
A rare "Famine" event was the perfect chance to offload some of this surplus. There was just too much—how many years would it take for Qi Xu, Little Seven Sweet Girl, and Master Chef to eat it all?
One Energy Stone for five food items, including a proper dish like roast chicken? Many couldn’t help salivating the moment they saw it.
Most found it worth the price, so the 100 bundles sold out instantly.
Some quick-eyed players, realizing they’d missed out, immediately tagged Invincible Black Whirlwind in the chat, hoping the big shot would list more.
Only after sending the message did they remember—the last time someone tagged him, he got mad. Embarrassed, they apologized with a flood of kneeling and kowtowing emojis, burying the tag.
Invincible Black Whirlwind: "Was the chicken good? These are from the ‘Princess’s Banquet’ dungeon a few days ago. Imperfect presentation, but the taste is identical—all made by master chefs. If you’re interested, I’ll list 500 more."
The players were stunned.
The Princess’s Banquet...
Just thinking about that dungeon made their hearts race. Being whipped into nonstop labor was bad enough, but losing all their hard-earned supplies?
They’d assumed everyone suffered the same—until now. Clearly, Invincible wasn’t just surviving; he was thriving and stocking up.
But they quickly snapped out of it, flooding the chat with: "More! More!"
Even those who’d hesitated earlier regretted it—they had to taste what the Princess’s Banquet served. After all, they’d probably contributed to it!
They’d scrubbed those floors spotless—maybe they’d even carried that very dish to the table...
Without delay, Qi Xu listed another 500 bundles, which vanished even faster than before.
He was pleased too—trading junk for nearly 600 Survival Coins? Trash recycling was easily the most profitable job in this game.
Chinese Master Chef tried to grab some but failed, so he privately asked Qi Xu for a share.
Qi Xu teased, "I thought you didn’t eat others’ cooking?"
Chinese Master Chef: "That roast chicken guy competed with me for head chef. First round, he won. Pissed me off—gotta see what the hype’s about."
Qi Xu chuckled. So he’d met his match.
Everyone quietly waited for midnight.
Only when the temperature actually began cooling did they finally celebrate in the group chat, relieved it wasn’t a repeat of the false hope from ten days ago.
The next day, the sun shone bright, the autumn air crisp—even the Survival Highway seemed prettier.
After being cooped up in their vehicles for days, breathing nothing but AC, players spilled out, sprinting freely under the sunlight. Pure bliss.
..........
