Light filled the world—at the very least, it should have been a Tier 3 vehicle by now...
Qi Xu was endlessly curious.
"Black Tornado of Doom" replied, "Yeah."
After answering, they immediately initiated a trade, exchanging electronic components for 800 grams of yak meat.
Then, without hesitation, Qi Xu asked directly, "Were you previously in a Tier 1 vehicle? Mind sharing how you took down Light Fills the World?"
"Watch Me Cut You Down" instantly closed the chat window. Who the hell do you think you are? Just because you ask, I have to answer?
But soon, "Black Tornado of Doom" sent over an orange and a tomato...
"Payment for the intel."
"Watch Me Cut You Down" brightened up and immediately reopened the private chat, laying out every detail without omission. Payment for services rendered—nothing unusual here. After nearly a month without fruits or vegetables, mouth ulcers had been popping up one after another...
It had caused that so-called "health value" to plummet at an alarming rate, leaving them constantly worried about kicking the bucket any second.
So, with an unusually polite tone, they answered, "I shot out his rear tire, then got out of the car and used cover to force him to stop. The moment he jumped down, I headshot him.
He seemed to have some kind of item—even the headshot didn’t finish him off. So I rushed in and stabbed him a few more times before tossing his body into the black mist."
Qi Xu now understood. Light Fills the World had unlocked a completely different death mechanic from the last round of the game—and it sounded even more brutal.
"Got it. Thanks for the explanation."
"Watch Me Cut You Down" asked, "Any other questions? These tomatoes and oranges taste pretty good."
Qi Xu found this person rather odd. With combat stats that high, they shouldn’t be afraid to open supply crates. So why do they seem so desperate for food?
But that wasn’t any of Qi Xu’s business. The curiosity was there, but not enough to pry further.
Instead, they posed another question—one that was far more sensitive.
Since it was a touchy subject, Qi Xu sent over the payment first:
10 packs of assorted compressed biscuits, 2 oranges, 2 tomatoes, 2 pizzas, and 2 cartons of Tetesu milk.
"Black Tornado of Doom" asked, "Mind posting your three core stats and overall combat power? No ulterior motive—just want to compare them to my own."
The other party didn’t hesitate. They accepted the goods and immediately shared their stats:
[Username: Watch Me Cut You Down
Strength: 88 (You hit harder than a bull calf!)
Stamina: 91 (Long-distance marches are your comfort zone.)
Agility: 89 (Swift as a leopard.)
Resilience: 90 (If an attacker’s strength is lower than your resilience, their punches might as well be kitten swats.)
Overall Combat Power: 92 (With a gun in hand, your power breaks 100!)]
Qi Xu was floored. These stats are insane—even more impressive than War Wolf 009’s! And most crucially... this person is a gun specialist. Their combat power breaks 100 with a firearm!
A plan began forming in Qi Xu’s mind. If I can recruit Watch Me Cut You Down into my team, our overall strength would skyrocket.
But Qi Xu had a sharp intuition—this person didn’t seem particularly fond of them. So they held back, waiting for the right opportunity.
[Warning: A silver supply crate is located 100 meters ahead on the right side of the road. Does the player wish to approach and stop?]
"Approach and stop."
[Understood.]
Ever since installing this auto-announcement chip, Qi Xu had fully embraced a hands-off approach. Before, even with the autopilot system, they had to stay in the driver’s seat to scan the roadsides for supply crates.
But now, the announcements did all the work.
Gotta hand it to high-tech—this thing is even more reliable than my own eyes.
Still, Qi Xu wasn’t one to sit idle. Compared to when they first entered the survival game, they’d improved drastically—now able to knock out 50 standard push-ups in one go!
The vehicle pulled over, and Qi Xu stepped out to load the silver supply crate into the truck bed.
As expected, by that afternoon, crates had started appearing everywhere.
The chat lobby was buzzing with excitement, everyone praying for this miserable weather to end soon.
Qi Xu chuckled wryly. The cold is brutal, sure—but at least it’s not dangerous.
If they encountered disasters like "Wandering Specters," "Swarm of Vermin," or "Descent of Darkness"... the death toll would multiply by who-knows-how-much. Players would be dying every minute. Without a stockpile of antidote pills and high-tier weapons, surviving even 10 days would be impossible.
Normally, players carefully weighed whether to enter dungeons. But during those two types of disasters... everyone rushed into dungeons just to hide.
This served as a timely reminder. Qi Xu swapped out all the medicine in the Drug Synthesis Vat for antidote pills. I’ve got plenty of everything else. Better mass-produce the most useful item first.
By 9 PM, Qi Xu had collected a total of 8 supply crates that day:
3 wooden crates, 2 bronze crates, 2 silver crates, and 1 gold crate.
After parking the vehicle, Qi Xu unloaded all the crates, ready to open them one by one.
They equipped the Pink Chainsaw, gripped a gun in their right hand, extended the chainsaw’s reach, and stood at a distance, using the blade to pry open each crate from afar.
Seven crates in a row yielded no monsters—which only heightened Qi Xu’s vigilance.
Sure enough, the eighth crate, the gold one, was trouble.
Another Blackthread Snake!
Last time, they’d had to waste a paralysis item to take it down. This time, Qi Xu wasn’t about to squander another defensive tool.
They immediately switched to the Pink Chainsaw as their primary weapon, swinging it wildly in front of them at blinding speed. Might look ridiculous, but it works.
The rapid slashes formed an almost impenetrable barrier around them.
The Blackthread Snake was sliced into multiple segments—yet even in pieces, its writhing body kept inching forward.
Qi Xu kept sawing until every last shred dissolved into black ooze. No half-measures. Caution above all.
Only then did they turn their attention to the loot. Today’s haul wasn’t just plentiful—it was high-quality.
Total gains:
6 iron ingots, 8 glass sheets, 5 batteries, a raincoat blueprint, 6 packs of 500g crushed hawthorn, 6 cans of 198g stewed silver ear soup, 7 cans of yellow peach preserves, 15 tea eggs, 6 sticks of white kidney bean black coffee solid drink, 6 packs of 200-count baby wipes, 30 rolls of toilet paper, 6 packs of crab roe rice crackers, 30 vehicle upgrade fragments, and 2 weapon enhancement cards.
The gold crate contained only vehicle upgrade fragments and weapon enhancement cards—few in variety, but top-tier in quality.
Now, with the new additions, Qi Xu had 3 weapon enhancement cards in total. Time to upgrade the pistol!
The upgrade process took even longer than the Pink Chainsaw’s—a full 4 hours...
Qi Xu clicked "Upgrade" without hesitation.
Then, they headed to the main group chat.
"Black Tornado of Doom" posted: "Anyone need a crafting table?"
"A-Swim & Fitness Coach Chen" replied: "HOLY—!!! You got the blueprint?! I need it! What’s your price?"
.........
