Everyone had returned some small items—daily necessities unrelated to power upgrades or vehicle enhancements. These gifts struck the perfect balance, neither too distant nor overly familiar, helping to bridge the gap between them.
For instance, Lala gifted a small aromatherapy burner to aid sleep, Guagua Doesn’t Eat Melons offered a set of elegant tableware, Wintergreen Tree contributed a box of face masks, and Firefighter Baby presented a potted ornamental plant...
It had to be said, these gifts were exceptionally well-chosen, and without Warwolf 007’s guidance, it wouldn’t have been possible.
Qi Xu found it awkward to refuse, yet outright ignoring or accepting them without hesitation didn’t feel appropriate either. After a back-and-forth exchange of pleasantries...
Finally, Qi Xu wiped sweat from their brow, sighing at how exhausting social niceties could be.
Qi Xu understood that Warwolf 007 was deliberately extending goodwill—smart, articulate, capable, and adept at reading the room, all while maintaining a measured approach. Combined with their own formidable skills, they were a well-rounded talent. In the future, they could be entrusted with handling the faction’s diplomacy, given their blend of strength and emotional intelligence.
After wrapping up the rounds, Qi Xu finally had time to check out the rewards. Without hesitation, they consumed the two three-dimensional attribute boosts immediately.
Next, they opened two "Luck of the Draw" basic material packs.
The haul: 39 Plastic, 73 Wood, 22 Glass, 2 Steel Bars, 69 Rubber, and 12 Stone.
And that was it... Well, it truly lived up to its name—pure luck. Qi Xu glanced at their hands, feeling like they’d gotten noticeably unluckier.
But then they checked the group chat.
Watch Me Cut You Down: "My ‘Luck of the Draw’ pack gave me one plastic and two glass. Is this normal?"
Instantly, Qi Xu didn’t feel so bad anymore.
As for the remaining rewards: the amulet was a protective item that automatically activated when the wearer sustained severe damage. The supply packs were plentiful, so Qi Xu simply stashed the newly acquired ones in their backpack.
What piqued Qi Xu’s interest were the Luck Card and the Universal Item Upgrade Card.
They’d gotten a Luck Card once before—it was useful for loot boxes and dungeons, so they decided to save it for an unfamiliar dungeon they might encounter later.
The Universal Item Upgrade Card, however, was a game-changer.
Qi Xu immediately used both cards on the Universal Copy-Paste Box!
This prized possession had become somewhat underwhelming lately, with its long cooldown. Might as well gamble on an upgrade!
The upgrade would take 10 hours.
That night, Qi Xu dreamed of nothing else. The next morning, before dawn, they were already up, crouched beside it, waiting for the timer to hit zero.
[Endless Treasure Box:
1. With sufficient Energy Stones, it can replicate any item or tool. Cooldown: one month (already refreshed).
2. Feed it any Energy Stone, and it will randomly produce an item of equivalent value. Cooldown: one month.]
Qi Xu’s expression froze. That’s it?
Still pretty underwhelming. Sure, it had a new function, but Energy Stones were hard to come by—they were needed for pets, vehicle movement and upgrades, and even vehicle weaponry.
Who had spare Energy Stones to feed a treasure box? If it spat out something useless, it’d be a total waste.
The only silver lining was that the replication function’s cooldown had reset.
No point hesitating—just use it.
Qi Xu stuffed in a Weapon Enhancement Card. The cost displayed was 888 Energy Stones, slightly less than the previous 999.
At least that was some consolation.
Right now, Weapon Enhancement Cards were the most sought-after commodity. Even if they weren’t immediately useful, trading them for Energy Stones or Vehicle Upgrade Cards was a guaranteed profit!
Over the next few days, Qi Xu took the initiative, aggressively trading resources for Vehicle Upgrade Cards.
Soon, the entire server knew one thing: if you were willing to part with Vehicle Upgrade Cards, you could get any resource you needed from Whirlwind Boss. Her inventory was insane—more comprehensive than even the Monster Merchants or Monster Stores.
After five days, Qi Xu had amassed an additional 109 Vehicle Upgrade Cards—19 from loot boxes, the rest from player trades.
Most players only had Vehicle Card fragments, which had to be fused after acquisition.
This round of calamity, though still harsh for some, felt like the most enjoyable 10 days since entering the survival game for the majority.
No dungeon pressure, no additional harsh weather. Even if resources had been drained in the last dungeon, as long as you had Vehicle Upgrade Card fragments, you could trade with Whirlwind Boss!
Whirlwind Boss had even dedicated an entire menu page to Upgrade Card exchanges.
Every kind of delicacy was listed. Even a single fragment could get you a starch sausage and a compressed biscuit.
During this calamity, while resource boxes were scarcer, they no longer contained food, so the drop rate for Upgrade Card fragments had increased.
As long as you stayed active, starvation wasn’t a concern!
But some players started overthinking things, convincing themselves that this lifestyle wasn’t so bad—driving around, eating, drinking, and having fun. Their sense of urgency dwindled.
Some even began fantasizing that Whirlwind Boss was so OP, she’d surely sell whatever resources were needed, no matter what type of calamity struck next...
They couldn’t resist trading Upgrade Cards for tasty treats to satisfy cravings.
As a result, their own vehicle upgrades slowed to a crawl, all while justifying it with a flawless excuse: "There’ll definitely be a resource surge on the last day. I’ll focus on upgrading then!"
Some people, it seemed, were just born without a functioning brain, no matter the era.
On the evening of the ninth day, the chat lobby was still buzzing with excitement. But that night...
The dark monsters made their first landing.
These creatures seemed almost sentient. They barely paid attention to Level 5 or 6 vehicles, sniffing around briefly before retreating into the black mist.
Little Seven’s nose was sharp. Sound asleep, they caught the scent of something unfamiliar and dangerous, immediately springing up and barking viciously at the car window.
Qi Xu, jolted awake by Little Seven’s unusually aggressive growls, snapped to alertness.
Rushing to the window, they caught a glimpse of a fluorescent tail disappearing into the black mist by the roadside.
"Monsters have come ashore?"
Little Seven yapped, "Just now—nine monsters near the car!"
Qi Xu frowned. Tomorrow night was the monthly leaderboard reset. If the monsters were making their move tonight, their goal was clear: to thin the player count.
Sure enough, when Qi Xu checked the chat lobby’s user list, several more avatars had turned gray.
All shared one trait: they were Level 2 vehicle owners.
.........
