The moment Qi Xu finished speaking, Emberkiss Starmoon immediately responded, "I choose option two."
Since the profit priority selection right wouldn't fall to her anyway, choosing option two meant the ticket fee of over 30,000 would drop to 25,000—clearly a bargain.
Cheesy Foam with 80% Sugar hesitated before speaking, "But... wouldn’t Brother Ning be at a disadvantage?"
"I’m spending 10,000 survival coins for a priority selection right, and I still feel like I’m the one losing out. Agree to it as is, or I’ll back out, and you can find another partner."
Qi Xu stood up impatiently, clearly unwilling to waste any more time. Even though Xie Shaoning knew she was deliberately playing hard to get, he had no choice.
After all, where could they find another district leader willing to contribute so many survival coins—one who had topped the rankings four times—in just seven days? If they failed to gather the full ticket fee, this treasure map would become void.
"Fine, I agree. But we have to sign the agreement right now."
Xie Shaoning had Qiuqiu draft a contract based on their discussion using AI.
"No problem!"
"I agree! This is great—we can go treasure hunting together! Woohoo~ There’s always someone in the world busily searching for treasure~" Cheesy Foam with 80% Sugar was so excited she started singing, signing her nickname first.
Emberkiss Starmoon and Xie Shaoning followed suit. Qi Xu scrutinized the agreement carefully, even pulling out 10 survival coins to have her own Qiuqiu verify it before signing with her grand alias: "Invincible Black Whirlwind."
With the discussion concluded, all that remained was to meet again in seven days to hunt for the treasure. Everyone’s expressions were tense—after all, they still had to come up with so many survival coins.
But an opportunity like this was rare, and given the nature of the Survival Highway game, this treasure map was bound to be extraordinary.
Qi Xu wasn’t in a hurry to leave. She sipped her tea leisurely—it was even more fragrant than the pot Bian had brewed last time. But judging by the fact that the other three hadn’t even finished their cups, Qi Xu understood.
This was a special privilege from Amei the Spider.
After finishing her cup, Qi Xu was surprised to find... her psychic energy had increased by three points.
"So, how was it? Delicious?"
Amei the Spider only returned to chat with Qi Xu after seeing the other three off.
"Absolutely delicious. And it even boosts psychic energy."
"Of course! That’s 200 survival coins per cup."
Qi Xu had expected as much but still asked, "What about the tea in their cups?"
"Dishwater. Those three showed up at 7 a.m., didn’t order anything, and even whispered about me being scary. If I weren’t afraid of getting reported—just started this job, after all—I would’ve thrown them out."
It was clear Amei was furious, but she couldn’t help her "bad habit" of leaking information.
Qi Xu sighed. "Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing."
Only then did Amei happily shut up, guiltily patting her legs—still intact? Hehehe!
Qi Xu pondered further. How interesting—those three had arranged to meet at 7 a.m., but told her 8 a.m.
"Hey, sweetie, it must be boring running this teahouse alone. Let’s exchange contacts—I’ll add you to my group chat. It’s full of adorable monsters, and we chat all the time!"
"Sure thing! I love typing—most monsters can’t match my speed."
"Well, most monsters don’t have eight legs either..."
Since their affinity was high and Amei had witnessed the zoo dungeon incident, Qi Xu spoke casually, without trying to cater to her preferences or artificially boost favorability.
Unexpectedly, this approach made Amei’s affection skyrocket. By the time Qi Xu left the teahouse, Amei’s favorability had reached 90.
Reluctantly seeing her off at the door, Amei chatted for a long while before Qi Xu finally left, leaving behind 50 survival coins as a tip—after all, Amei was new to the job.
With her temper, she might get fined, but at least she wouldn’t be unable to pay the penalty.
Before even boarding her vehicle, Qi Xu faintly heard movement, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Little Seven! Sweet Girl!"
She’d been thinking about their return this morning—and here they were.
Qi Xu spread her arms as she boarded the vehicle, instantly feeling the joy of the two little ones pouncing into her embrace.
Though... Little Seven’s impact was overwhelming. Not only had the dog grown significantly larger, but he also hit like a mini bomb. Sweet Girl, on the other hand, hadn’t grown—if anything, she looked even slimmer.
But... both were injured. Little Seven had deep gashes on his limbs, the wounds nearly reaching bone, while Sweet Girl... seemed utterly exhausted, unable to even wiggle, her favorite pastime.
Qi Xu hurriedly checked their pet stats.
[Combat Hound Little Seven – Tier 1 Mutant Pet]
HP: 7,398
Status: Weakened
Attack: 753
Defense: 728
Psychic Energy: 126
Special Traits: Enhanced Absorption, Iron Stomach, Steel Teeth
Skill 1: [Thunderous Bite – Triggers chain lightning when biting, dealing thunder damage to a single target and inflicting ‘Paralysis’ (reduces movement speed by 20% for 5 seconds)]
[Combat Snake Sweet Girl – Tier 1 Mutant Pet]
HP: 4,398
Status: Weakened
Attack: 1,673
Defense: 228
Psychic Energy: 926
Special Traits: Camouflage, Lethal Venom
Skill 1: [Shadow Sneak – Scales mimic environmental light, entering a semi-transparent stealth state with silent movement and up to 5x speed boost.]
Skill 2: [Bone-Corroding Mist – Releases a fan-shaped toxic mist, reducing enemy defense by 30% and obscuring vision for 10 seconds (cooldown: 200s).]
Their month of training hadn’t been wasted—both had evolved from ordinary pets to Tier 1 mutants, unlocking new skills. Little Seven was a well-rounded frontline fighter, while Sweet Girl was the ace assassin, perfect for ambushes.
"You’ve worked hard. Must be exhausted?" Qi Xu pulled out a pile of energy stones. Little Seven didn’t answer—he just devoured 12 stones in one go, his sunken belly finally filling out as he seemed to come back to life.
"Not tired! Just not enough food!" Little Seven had taken 500 energy stones but finished them all—still not enough. If not for Sweet Girl sharing some, he’d have starved long ago.
"My bad. Next time, I’ll pack more."
After a brief burst of excitement, the two little ones retreated to their medical pods to rest and heal.
They’d only mustered enough energy to chat briefly—otherwise, they’d have dozed off immediately.
Qi Xu glanced at her energy stone reserves, feeling the pressure. Everything required energy stones now, while survival coins were no longer an issue.
...........
