Qi Xu swiftly opened the notification and instantly clicked the agree button!
Invincible Black Whirlwind: “Why are you awake so early?”
Watch Me Cut You Down: “It’s not early, it’s 5 AM. I’m getting ready to head out and warm up by fighting some monsters. This month’s calamity is the Hundred Ghosts Pandemonium. Finally, we’ve hit my favorite calamity.”
Qi Xu grinned. Hundred Ghosts Pandemonium was great—the most popular calamity type in District 88. You could train boldly, and if danger arose, you could place an order with Lai Cai! The rescue team under Invincible Black Whirlwind was always on standby!
“You go ahead. If I have time, I’ll come find you later.”
“No rush. Take a few more days to rest. I was thinking of going for the number one spot myself. Plus... these monsters aren’t enough for me alone. You should go find Master Chef.”
Dongfang Yuan spoke plainly, and Qi Xu perked up immediately.
They had a good relationship, sure, but the top spot was still up for grabs! The very thought of it was exciting, especially when another join guild notification suddenly popped up.
[Guild Notification: Player [Song Peifeng] has submitted a join request for the guild [Severance Path]. This player is a Level 7 vehicle. Request message: “Morning, Boss!”]
No need to guess—Comrade Song had probably woken up early specifically to hunt monsters, too.
Qi Xu quickly clicked “Agree” while speeding up her own actions. She directly opened the dazzling panel and claimed two Black Obsidian Supply Chests. Without even bothering to check for Bian’s little hand, she decisively opened them first—otherwise, it would always weigh on her mind.
One of the Black Obsidian Supply Chests had a simple, straightforward loot: 8,888 Energy Stones... Qi Xu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
After all, Energy Stones were essential, and having such a large amount was truly rare. But! This was a Black Obsidian Supply Chest—the kind that could grant permanent skills like Marksmanship Mastery or Swimming Mastery!
Qi Xu glanced at herself in the mirror. Her reflection smiled awkwardly. She was probably taking a loss.
The core of a gambler’s mindset was the desperate urge to trade another fleeting success for instant inner peace. So, gritting her teeth, Qi Xu reached out and opened the second Black Obsidian Supply Chest.
Inside was nothing but a thin little card. Qi Xu’s heart skipped a beat. What card could still make her excited now? She probably struck out again.
But when she read the notification, Qi Xu stood up! Her luck was no worse than Bian’s!
[Congratulations! You’ve obtained Upgrade Universal Supply Card x1! This card can replace any one type of supply—note: one type, not one piece.]
Qi Xu immediately pulled an identical card from the last slot of her backpack!
She had gotten that card at the very start of this round from a Gold Supply Chest. Logically, it should have been used long ago.
But Qi Xu had held onto it until now, and then she just happened to run into its twin sister!
Back then, that card might have been worth only a few hundred Survival Coins, but now, its value rivaled a 5,000-point Scepter of Poseidon. She could also keep it and use it when upgrading to Level 9 or even Level 10.
Now that the top spot on the global server was getting harder and harder to claim, if she felt even a hint of danger—like losing the global announcement or the top spot—this was her ace in the hole.
Qi Xu immediately checked the upgrade cards needed for a Level 9 Vehicle: 500,000 cards...
It was absolutely a number no single player could ever collect on their own. Just as she had guessed before, in this game, solo players had no hope of advancing further.
But now was not the time to panic. Everyone was in a rush to upgrade to Level 8, and the team was desperately short on upgrade cards.
Qi Xu was already licking her lips, thinking: why not use one of the Upgrade Universal Supply Cards? But it felt like a waste. Not many advanced players had reached Level 8 yet, and there was still a buffer period.
Maybe during the International Server Treasure Map Secret Realm, she could ask Menmen to swap ticket money for upgrade cards...
No, that would be too obvious. Her teammates this time weren’t like little Xie, whose brain was as smooth as a wrinkle-free ball. Instead, there was Wang Buyu, who could read minds; Endless Longevity, who had more schemes than a sieve; Shadowkill, who was hypocritical, cold, and hard to like; and that selfish, blatantly fair-weather Instant Noodle Hair Flower Fairy...
She had to gather five players who had consistently ranked first on every monthly leaderboard since the game started—no easy feat.
After all, the Treasure Map opened this month. If she didn’t make any new connections in the next few days, these would be the teammates she had to head out with.
She had originally pinned her hopes on Wolf Warrior 005, but she said missing the top spot during the seven-day beginner protection period was a pity—just one time short.
Then there was War Wolf 002. According to Dandan Seven, she was a truly gentle big sister, easygoing and warm, making her a genuine source of comfort for the entire Wolf Warrior team.
But Qi Xu had asked some Monster Traders to investigate, and they couldn’t even find which district she was in. With the Wolf Warriors’ strength, she shouldn’t have been unheard of, yet that was exactly the case.
Qi Xu let out a heavy sigh. Aside from Wang Buyu and Endless Longevity, she wasn’t satisfied with the other two. Still, she understood that as time went on, she would have less and less room to act purely on impulse.
The only comfort was... this gathering of top players would let her get thoroughly familiar with them, gaining a deep understanding of their personalities and temperaments. By the time she entered the Treasure Map Secret Realm, she could accurately gauge how to cooperate and handle things.
Qi Xu idly scrolled through her contact list and suddenly spotted a message from an old friend she hadn’t contacted in a while.
Threeking: “The domestic server’s top player does have quite the presence! Hello, Whirlwind Boss. May I know if I can purchase a core material needed for upgrading to Level 8 Vehicle from you at a high price?”
Right, there was also The Third. From start to finish, he had been number one, too.
Qi Xu was inclined to replace Instant Noodle Hair Flower Fairy with him. Compared to the hypocritical Shadowkill, The Third had no moral bottom line—casually throwing teammates under the bus—which pushed Qi Xu even closer to her limit.
But the problem was what to do about Badball. This Treasure Map wasn’t competitive but purely cooperative. If they went together, Badball was bound to slip up.
After thinking it over seriously for a long time, the corners of Qi Xu’s mouth suddenly curled up. It seemed she had come up with a good idea.
So she immediately replied to The Third, “What’s that supposed to be? Do you even deserve it?”
Threeking felt a pang in his chest. Just thinking about how Boss, his fourth brother, fifth brother, sixth brother, seventh brother, eighth brother, and ninth brother were all eating and drinking well with Invincible Black Whirlwind, while he alone was enduring in the enemy camp, made him desperate to rebel.
But... it was just a thought. For a brighter future, for the faith, everything was worth it. And there was Second Sister—her situation was a thousand times harder than his.
...........
