Qi Xu took a look and saw that the amount was significantly more than originally agreed upon.
There were five plates each of pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli, honey-glazed roast meat, stir-fried potato slices with meat, crispy fried pork belly, crackling pork belly, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, and cherry pork—each plate weighing 500 grams.
There were a full 200 pork and cabbage dumplings!
Qi Xu suspected the Chinese Master Chef’s hands must have cramped from wrapping so many...
Invincible Black Tornado: "Why so much extra? You should keep some for yourself."
Chinese Master Chef: "Don’t worry, how could a chef go hungry? I prepared the dumpling fillings myself and had someone else wrap them. I checked—no issues.
The dumplings are raw, so just boil them when you’re ready to eat. I’ll make a dipping sauce for you tomorrow—I’m missing some ingredients today."
Invincible Black Tornado: "Got it, thanks. Tomorrow, the newbie protection period ends. Be careful when opening crates—at least half will spawn monsters.
If you encounter a traffic light, cross quickly even during the green light. If monsters block your path, don’t get out of the vehicle—just plow through. If you don’t make it across before the green light ends, you’ll be trapped in the middle of the road until the next green light.
Also, stock up on cotton or winter clothes. I got word that temperatures might drop drastically, but I’m not sure if it’s true."
Chinese Master Chef hurriedly replied: "Understood! Thanks, boss!"
Qi Xu calculated the efficiency of the advanced fuel packs—five hours could cover 2,500 kilometers. For first and second-tier vehicles, the fastest speed was probably around 100 or just over 100 km/h, since going any faster would make it impossible to spot crates.
Having just arrived in this survival game, and unaware that the newbie protection period included ranking rewards, Qi Xu guessed most players wouldn’t have pushed themselves as hard as he did.
Moreover, rankings accounted for both resources and accumulated wealth. Even if someone had more supplies than him, Qi Xu was confident his survival coins would put him far ahead.
With advantages in both speed and assets, Qi Xu decided to save the remaining fuel packs for future monthly ranking sprints.
From 4 p.m. onward, all players reported a surge in crate spawns.
Heartbroken 1999: "Even a non-lucky person like me found four crates in an hour—all supplies, no monsters! Wuwu, the underdog finally gets a break!"
Hao: "Hello everyone, can someone tell me where the trading channel is? How do I upload items? I’m older and still can’t figure it out."
Cat in the Box: "The trading channel’s in the bottom right corner. Just take a photo with the light screen to upload. Dude, surviving this long without trading is impressive!"
Heaven and Earth Spirits: "I finally upgraded to a second-tier vehicle! Hahahaha!"
Qi Xu felt immensely relieved he hadn’t used another energy pack. After so many years, his memories of the early days had blurred.
The endless repetition of driving on highways made it hard to recall specific events unless they were particularly memorable.
Right now, the most vivid memory was the sudden temperature drop after the newbie protection period...
But since this was just a game, Qi Xu wasn’t sure if his past experiences still applied.
Just as Qi Xu looked up, he spotted a wooden crate by the roadside.
He grabbed his long blade and jumped off the tricycle. The chainsaw was too heavy and unwieldy for now—he needed more practice. For the time being, the long blade felt more natural.
After prying open the crate, he found only supplies.
"Cloth ×1, duck feathers ×1."
Not bad—exactly what he needed.
For the next stretch, Qi Xu barely had time to accelerate before braking again—crates were everywhere.
He collected nine wooden crates in total!
At 8:59 p.m., Qi Xu even spotted a silver crate—positioned at the very edge of the road, with only a minute left on the clock.
Vehicles had fixed lanes and couldn’t drift too far to the side. Despite this, Qi Xu didn’t hesitate. Gripping his blade, he sprinted toward the silver crate, snatched it up, and bolted back toward the tricycle.
In the final steps, Qi Xu could almost hear the growls of monsters behind him—their shadows stretching across the ground...
Just as he was about to reach the 8-meter safety zone, a sudden sense of danger flared on his right. His breath hitched, and on instinct, he swung the blade backward!
Monster blood splattered across his face.
Without even checking what he’d hit, Qi Xu leaped into the safety zone, landing hard on the ground. Thankfully, the silver crate tumbled in with him.
Gasping for air, Qi Xu lay sprawled on the ground. When he turned his head, he saw a large, black-furred, big-eyed monster pressed against the safety barrier.
It stared at him, howling furiously.
Behind it lay another monster of the same kind, already downed...
Qi Xu silently thanked his luck. If those monsters had gotten hold of him, survival would’ve been nearly impossible.
Their hair was disgusting—endlessly tangling and binding their prey, impossible to hack through.
Qi Xu suddenly sat up and opened the light screen, checking his friends list. There were six names now: Retired Magical Boy, Bubbly Girl Guo Degang, War Wolf 009, Chinese Master Chef, Old White Dragon in the Waves, and Chief Beauty Officer.
All their icons were lit.
Though they hadn’t known each other long or formed deep bonds, Qi Xu genuinely hoped they’d all make it through safely—at the very least, their trades had gone smoothly.
If he ever found a "Group Leader Card," Qi Xu planned to create a small team, building his own faction.
He hadn’t thought through the details yet, but he knew the lone-wolf approach wouldn’t cut it in the late game. Almost all high-reward dungeons were team-based, barring solo players entirely.
Temporary alliances rarely worked in your favor either.
Qi Xu hated bending to others’ whims and couldn’t bring himself to flatter or suck up. The only solution was to carve out his own power.
Meanwhile, the public chat had descended into chaos.
Four-Eyed God of War: "Holy crap!!! What’s going on? Our zone had 9,791 players this afternoon—now it’s down to 8,961! What happened!?"
AAA Putian OEM Factory: "Silver crates, man! Didn’t you see them? With only a minute left, silver crates popped up. I hesitated and missed the window—so glad I chickened out!"
Four-Eyed God of War: "Same. Thank god my eyesight’s bad—I didn’t even spot them."
Player 0128: "Four icons on my friends list went dark. One of them still owes me money!"
Popular Female Streamer: "Anyone have anti-inflammatory meds? A monster clawed me, and my health keeps dropping... Am I gonna die..?"
.........
