Baby Milk didn’t wait for anyone to ask before confessing everything outright, terrified that someone might pounce on her for another kiss—these days, younger sisters’ thoughts were just too unpredictable!
"This guy isn’t even from Zone 666 or 444! Remember when Qiuqiu formed that elite group a while back? The one for the cross-zone challenge tournament? He was in that group. This guy’s got real skills—both ability and luck on his side.
How should I describe him? A mix of good and bad, I guess. He’s done plenty of shady stuff, but also plenty of decent things. Before joining the survival game, he was a ridiculously famous athlete. His real name is Xie Shaoning."
Qi Xu froze. He hadn’t expected it to be this guy. Qi Xu knew of him, but they’d never ended up in the same zone in the previous round of the game.
However, whenever Warwolf 009’s team faced off against Happyending, they lost...
As a result, Zone 666 lost quite a few top players. If memory served, even Old White Dragon got poached back then. But at that time, Qi Xu was still struggling just to survive and didn’t pay much attention to these things.
Xie Shaoning—Qi Xu had seen him before joining the game too, though only in news clips and short videos. He was the swimmer who achieved a Grand Slam the fastest, and with his youthful, sunny looks and handsome face, he had a fanbase as massive as any A-list celebrity.
According to media reports, he came from a poor background, climbing step by step from a small town to the highest stage of competitive sports. The kind of guy who endured hardship, had clear goals, and backed it up with skill—exactly the kind of role model that drew fans.
Sure enough, even in the survival game, he was still dominating—just on a different battlefield.
But if you dare lay a finger on Chinese Master Chef, you’re done for!
Qi Xu mentally prepared himself to face more formidable opponents in the future. The competition wouldn’t stay this weak forever. To go far, he had to grow stronger nonstop.
Nearly 37 hours had passed since the dungeon began. The chat lobby was now flooded with cries of despair, and the total player count had dropped to just over 4,000.
Qiuqiu’s back-to-back "Hundred Ghosts Rampage" events and one lethal dungeon had forced another server merge...
The current best record belonged to Warwolf 009’s team, who reached the sixth stage. Next were Warwolf 007 and "Ex-Girlfriend’s Future Dad," both making it to the fifth stage. As for the other teams? Out of ten players, surviving with three or four was already considered lucky.
Even these three relatively strong teams had their weaknesses—some lacked strategic minds, others were short on items. By the time they faced the Itching Ants, they were barely holding it together.
A few with exceptional strength or special opportunities managed to escape using dungeon death-protection cards or forced exit cards.
But even Warwolf 007 and 009’s teams had nearly exhausted their supplies. The only thing left was to wait for Invincible Black Tornado’s team to emerge and finalize the rankings before knowing the dungeon rewards.
Song Peifeng: "Tornado’s team is definitely taking first."
Cursed by Misfortune: "Agreed. Tornado and Watch Me Cut You Down are the muscle, Blessed by Luck handles the RNG, and A-Flat can even play chess. They’re way too well-rounded."
Chinese Master Chef: "But why aren’t they out yet? It’s been so long. I should’ve packed them more food—there’s no way they have enough. Ugh."
Warwolf 009: "Don’t worry. Tornado’s team is the most reliable. They’ll make it out fine after clearing the fifth stage. My guess? Their competitive spirit kicked in, and they’re pushing for a full clear."
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "That’s what I’m thinking too. These guys are insane!"
Warwolf Egg-Seven: "Yeah, wouldn’t be surprised if they break another server record."
[Congratulations to players Invincible Black Tornado, Watch Me Cut You Down, Fortune God’s Only Daughter, Ballpoint Pen, Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly, Spicy Beauty, Retired Magical Boy, Muzi Li, and Blessed by Luck for becoming the first in the server to clear the dungeon "Mountains and Rivers Fade Before True Friendship"! Everyone, rise! Applause! Cheers!]
Warwolf Egg-Seven: "See? Told you! Ugh, I wanna ride their coattails so bad!"
The dungeon "Mountains and Rivers Fade Before True Friendship" had now become an exclusive secret realm, meaning it wouldn’t forcibly eject the ten players who cleared it.
That’s why they could stay inside, though entry was now limited to once per week. Plus, the rules of the Highway superseded the secret realm’s rules.
Meaning, if you hadn’t completed your daily mileage and tried hiding in the secret realm, you’d still get eliminated.
Here, the world was nothing but blue skies, white clouds, and endless green fields—soothing to the point where the horizon seemed to stretch forever.
But right now, everyone was dead tired. After the initial excitement, they collapsed onto the grass, chatting idly until fully recovered, then reluctantly returned to their vehicles.
The moment Qi Xu plopped back onto the sofa, Little Seven and Sweet Girl rushed over from either side...
Out of habit, he pulled some snacks from his backpack for the two little ones. Watching them munch away, Qi Xu felt the pain and exhaustion from earlier fade by half.
"Any trouble while I was gone?"
Little Seven nodded vigorously. "Monster came! Then ran!"
"That’s ‘cause they were scared of you two. With you here, I can hunt in peace."
Qi Xu’s praise made the two puff out their chests like they were flexing imaginary muscles...
Leaning back, he pulled out some snacks and a milkshake, mindlessly munching while decompressing and replaying the dungeon in his head.
Two things stuck out to Qi Xu, things he couldn’t make sense of.
First... Fortune God’s Only Daughter’s reset timeline couldn’t possibly align with his own rebirth. Baby Milk had reset so many times—but what about those who hadn’t died? How did they return?
Could the Highway Survival Game have parallel timelines? Was the real Qi Xu already dead? What was he now? A string of data? Or was Fortune God’s Only Daughter the data?
Second, at the tenth stage, in that ruined city, Qi Xu vaguely remembered punching an advanced stitched monster into pieces. Was that just exhaustion-induced delirium? Or something else... The survival game felt increasingly convoluted, nothing like what he’d imagined.
Blessing might’ve reset multiple times, but in truth, she was just a girl who’d suffered too much. Too sentimental, her memories were almost entirely tied to her teammates—their stories, their fates.
Her focus had always been on mending team relationships, leaving her far from uncovering the secrets of the survival game itself.
.........
