The three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment was empty, with no other furnishings. Shi Jinzhe clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

"They said it was a safe house, but all they gave us was a house."

"Let's browse the rings or the shop." As soon as Shekh entered, he transformed into a snake tail, freeing his legs.

"If you had shown your tail earlier, we might not have been blocked on the road."

“Just inside the car, that request is easy to fulfill.” Shekh walked to the window, but it wouldn’t open. Outside, all was white, nothing at all.

She turned and leaned against the windowsill. "In future dungeons, I can show more of my snake tail; that will be more intimidating."

“Okay.” Shi Jinzhe flipped through the shop, his points dropping rapidly, and replied to Shehe while multitasking: “Appropriate deterrence can be surprisingly effective. In survival games, especially for advanced players, it’s not a good thing to leave others with a friendly impression.”

When people face danger, they will try every means to grasp at the last straw, hoping for a chance to survive. If you act too easy to talk to, you will definitely be entangled.

In a place like this, if you still have the leisure to care about others, then you really have a problem with not having enough mental energy to burn.

Shi Jinzhe added more items to his purchases, and the house gradually filled with furniture. Looking at the points he had spent, he asked Sheh, "No one in the survival game should spend points to buy these things. Ask the system if we can get a discount."

"It says you're not buying, so why isn't anyone buying?"

"I'm not considered a person, so let it be free."

"Wait."

Shech remained silent for a long time, and then Shi Jinzhe watched as the points that had just been deducted were continuously returned.

"You really threatened to give me a free meal?" He just said it casually, but unexpectedly, Sheikh actually did it.

"I asked the system to choose between giving me a free item or telling me why my status changed from an item to a player, and it chose the former."

"...It's good to have something on someone."

"Perhaps it's related to the anomaly Jiang Zi told us about." Shekh understands the system; it doesn't want to stay in the game any longer, so throwing it in early is probably to hide something.

Shi Jinzhe: "After we get out, ask Jiang Yi for details. She must have come into contact with something unusual after we separated to be so sure."

"Hmm." Shekh flicked the tip of his tail from side to side. "Eat something, I'm hungry."

After the meal, Shi Jinzhe, who was staying in the cubicle, sent a message to Jin Teng, reminding him that someone had come over.

Sun Qi and Shang Shan stood at the door and gently knocked three times.

Shi Jinzhe opened the door: "What is it?"

Sun Qi: "I'm here to pass on a message to the driver. He said that if the rain doesn't stop, the car needs to find a place to stop. Rainy nights are especially attractive to radioactive bats. When traveling in the rain, moving cars are easy targets, as those creatures suck blood and it's very dangerous."

"I understand. Please tell him to find a place to rest tonight."

"Definitely, definitely." After saying that, Sun Qi pulled Shang Shan aside, said goodbye, and left through the door.

After walking a few steps away, Shang Shan said softly, "Judging from his attitude towards Xu Ying, I thought he wouldn't pay any attention to us."

"It's just passing on a message, not asking them to do anything, it's not that big of a deal."

Sun Qi said, "They've been in the driver's seat for so long, they must have talked to the driver quite a bit. You see, he trusts the driver to continue managing the car, which means the driver is temporarily trustworthy. And the driver even had to ask someone to relay the reason for parking at night, which means the two sides have reached an agreement. We just need to listen and follow along."

He patted Shang Shan's shoulder with the back of his hand, lowering his voice a bit: "Who would consider that uniformed player a ticking time bomb? Everyone is afraid that he's like A Ji, trying to drag everyone down with him if he can't survive himself. Even the two newbies, Xiao Wang and Xiao Su, know they have to be wary. How can Xu Ying be so sure that others really don't have any backup plans?"

Shang Shan suddenly understood: "You're so clever. What she said misled me, making me think that it would be great if these two big shots could actually make a move."

"It's impossible to agree to that. She'll say she's doing it for everyone's good, get a good reputation, and the danger will be over, but the blame for murder and the consequences will fall on someone else. Only a fool would do something so thankless."

"But if that's the case, there's still something I don't understand. They're all such powerful high-level players. Shouldn't you be able to deal with them without worrying about making enemies or getting revenge?"

Sun Qi looked at him with a "you don't understand" expression: "Suppose a rich man has a million dollars and you ask him to give you a hundred dollars. You think that amount of money is nothing to him. But the premise is that he has no relationship with you and has done you no favors. Why should he give you money for free? You can't think that just because it doesn't affect him, he has to do this for free. In the end, this matter can be summed up in three words."

Sun Qi held up three fingers and said, "On what grounds?"

Shang Shan: "...What you said seems to make some sense."

"Just like us, to be honest, sometimes you really can't think straight, you're so straightforward and reckless, which really annoys me. But you were willing to come back and help me out after you were out of danger, so I'm willing to become your sworn brother and team up with you to clear dungeons."

"...Isn't it because my skills are better than yours?"

"Okay, shut up."

Sun Qi looked disgusted and strode towards the driver's seat.

After informing the driver, he and Shangshan walked back.

Shang Shan covered his mouth, "I was really hungry, but seeing him eat that stuff, I'm starting to get PTSD from eating rice."

"Stop talking..."

"Two seniors?"

Sun Qi exclaimed in surprise, startled by Xiao Wang suddenly opening the door. "What are you doing?"

"I want to ask if you guys can help me out." Little Wang rubbed his hands together, looking a bit sleazy. "Please, it's my first time in the game. Just let me do whatever you want, just protect me when I'm in danger. I can give you money when I get out."

“If you’re not capable, find someone else.” Sun Qi admitted he wasn’t good at leading people and returned to his cubicle with Shangshan.

That evening, as soon as he went out, he saw Xiao Wang guarding the door, clearly clinging to him.

...

Xiao Wang: "Senior, please agree. Of all the people here, I think you're the most reliable. You're not arrogant at all. How about I give you all five million I won?"

Sun Qi took a step back to close the door: "Don't look for me, I'm bad at it."

"You're not bad at all. You have a kind heart, unlike some people who are vicious and cold-blooded."

Xiao Wang was blocking the door, saying all sorts of nice things, and didn't hear the door opening behind him.

"I don't understand anything. You two are the only ones on this bus who are willing to explain the game to me. You're such a kind person, unlike some others who, despite having the ability, know there's danger on this bus but still refuse others' well-intentioned suggestions..."

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Sun Qi suddenly shoved Xiao Wang hard, "If you keep talking nonsense without distinguishing right from wrong, I'll hit you."

"No... why are you still..."

"Return what?"

"Getting angry, huh?" Xiao Wang had barely finished speaking when he realized something was wrong; the voice that had just asked the question sounded like a woman's.

He slowly turned around and saw Sheikh standing behind him.