"My chat dialog box is completely monitored by a player. No matter who I message or what trades I make, everything is being watched. I couldn’t even reach out to you—thankfully, I drew a Challenge Card today. I had no choice but to meet you this way. I swear everything I’m saying is true. Believe me—if I’m lying, may I die a horrible death and never get another job again! I was even worried you’d try to contact me and tip them off, so right after this mess started, I blocked every player connected to you!"
Song Peifeng’s face flushed red as he spoke, feeling like he’d never strung together so many words in his life. Explaining himself and proving his innocence was exhausting—his throat tightened, making him look almost guilty...
Qi Xu naturally believed him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have invited him into the Gold Group Chat earlier.
"Don’t panic. Of course I believe you."
Still, after all these years in the survival game, Qi Xu had never heard of any item, profession, or title that granted a player such privileges.
Take Luo Xinpan’s title, for example—it only let her see the three players someone interacted with most. But being able to monitor chat contents and trade details? That was absurdly overpowered.
"What exactly happened? Start from the beginning."
Who said the Challenge Arena couldn’t be used for chatting? Song Peifeng’s idea wasn’t bad—face-to-face communication was much easier.
Qi Xu even pulled out two sofas and a coffee table, pouring them each a glass of juice...
Song Peifeng blinked, momentarily forgetting what he was about to say. After a pause, he hurriedly continued:
"A couple days ago, I posted in the group about the Dark Gold Gambling Supply Box. A lot of people asked, but no one actually wanted to buy. I’m not great at selling stuff, so I just told them to make offers.
"Most either lowballed or ignored me—except one guy. He was serious, offering 3,000 Vehicle Upgrade Card Fragments."
"And then?" Qi Xu already had a rough idea where this was going.
So he’d actually hooked a big fish. He’d suspected that if Heroic True Colors was connected to the Gambling Supply Box, he was just a frontman or middleman. What a waste of a Plunder Card.
Besides, someone as weak as Heroic True Colors acting so bold made no sense. No one that stupid would’ve survived this long.
Truthfully, Qi Xu didn’t care much about whose "opportunity" this was. But manipulating Heroic True Colors to provoke him, using the "Invincible Black Whirlwind" title to gain attention? That was sneaky.
After the [Choice of Humanity] instance ended, Qi Xu saw it clearly—Heroic True Colors had tried to use his top spot on the leaderboard to imply he’d killed too many players, stirring up conflict.
At the time, Qi Xu found it baffling. Was he really that dumb? Openly challenging him like he wouldn’t just track and kill him? After so long in the survival game, idiots like that shouldn’t still be alive. It felt like a villain deliberately written to be stupid.
Too bad the whole thing got derailed when the 444 Zone players started mocking him as the "God of Wealth’s Only Daughter."
The goal here was obvious—no need to guess.
If someone wanted to rise to the top in 88th Zone’s 666th District, taking down Invincible Black Whirlwind was the best move. And having a disposable pawn to do it? Win-win.
Qi Xu was the type to overthink and prepare for the worst, which was why he’d sent Song Peifeng out as "bait."
Song Peifeng was also frustrated. He’d dug up a lot, but none of it was useful.
"The worst part is, I don’t even know who he is. His nickname doesn’t show up. I asked why I couldn’t see his info, and he just told me to stop asking questions and sell him the supply box.
"I hate being threatened, but I couldn’t even kill him—Tracking Cards don’t work on him. It’s insane. He monitors every trade and message.
"He spammed me with hundreds of messages a day. I couldn’t fight back, and I didn’t dare ask you for help. If I hadn’t drawn this card today, I’d have lost my mind. Boss, what do we do?"
Qi Xu had only met Song Peifeng once—during the arena matches—and back then, the guy hadn’t said a word all day.
Now? He’d blurted out an entire speech, face burning red. Clearly, the kid was both furious and humiliated.
But thinking about it, Qi Xu could see why. Being unable to retaliate against an invisible enemy was infuriating.
He took a deep breath. "Calm down. Don’t get worked up."
Song Peifeng nodded.
Qi Xu considered the situation. They couldn’t afford to drag this out. Even though players kept warning others about the dangers of Gambling Supply Boxes, people still recklessly opened them every day...
With the end-of-month rankings still a ways off, Qi Xu worried that if they waited too long, whoever was behind this would grow even stronger.
They had to act fast—force him to show his hand. There were three Plunder Cards this month: one in Qi Xu’s hands, one with Heroic True Colors, and the last one was probably with this guy...
Maybe they could set a trap...
"Hang in there for now. I’ll figure out how to lure him out."
"Got it. What do you need me to do?" Song Peifeng relaxed. Fighting was one thing, but scheming wasn’t his strength.
Qi Xu replied, "Once I’m sure, I’ll have Blessed by Luck message you. Check if I say ‘good morning’ in the main chat at 6 AM tomorrow. If I do, trade the Gambling Supply Box to Blessed by Luck.
"If I don’t, then at noon, use a Gym Location Card—I’ll arrange for Blessed by Luck to give you an Any Instance Location Card, and we’ll regroup."
Song Peifeng agreed immediately. "Deal!"
Once they’d settled the plan, Song Peifeng surrendered without hesitation—he’d decided this earlier, and it was the right call. He was just relieved Invincible Black Whirlwind trusted him.
Qi Xu asked, "Do you trust me?"
"Absolutely!"
"Good. Then send me all your items—except the Gambling Supply Box. After this, back me up with a few lines in chat."
Those were the rules of the 1v1 Challenge Arena: lose your life or lose your items.
The winner decided the penalty, and the outcome was publicly announced in the main chat.
Song Peifeng’s sudden challenge would look suspicious if he didn’t lose everything. If the mastermind was this cautious, they’d overanalyze—one misstep could ruin the plan.
Without a second thought, Song Peifeng sent every single item in his backpack to Invincible Black Whirlwind—keeping only the Dark Gold Gambling Supply Box. Not even a scrap of food or water remained.
.........
