Synopsis: The game "Insect Swarm Online" descends upon the world, encompassing [Apocalyptic Disaster] + [Hoarding Survival] + [Base Building and Farming] + [Superpower Hegemony]. At the sam...
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Gao Shuai ran as fast as he could, squeezing into the crowded street.
He bumped into things in the crowd, causing passers-by to curse him.
He didn't care, striding forward at full speed with his long legs. He didn't know how far he had run, but finally, too tired to run anymore, he collapsed in a secluded alley, breathing heavily, his heart pounding.
His mind went blank, his vision was covered by white light, and Gao Shuai felt as if he was short of oxygen.
As he continued to breathe in and out, the oxygen his body lacked was replenished, and his consciousness slowly recovered.
Then, frame after frame, the scenes of the fight with the girl kept replaying. He shot her in the back of the head with a gun over and over again, and then she stabbed herself in the back of the neck with a gun over and over again...
Even now that he has confirmed that he is out of danger, Gao Shuai is still feeling scared.
He possesses the A-level skill [Illusionary World]. After using this skill, he can forcibly trap the target in the illusion he has created.
And in his own fantasy world, he is invincible.
Not only does he possess a god's-eye view, his body is stronger and his movements more agile, but most importantly, he can use skills at will. Even if he doesn't possess a skill, as long as he's seen or heard of it, he can imagine and use it, unconstrained by physical strength and energy, and can use it at will.
Of course, the skill [Illusion] is not as powerful as it seems. The illusion is just an illusion.
If he kills the target in the illusion, the target will not suffer any physical or mental damage after the illusion is broken.
Gao Shuai had always thought that this was a useless skill, just something that allowed him to fantasize about transforming into an invincible warrior in a fantasy world and slaughtering those who were stronger than him, just for fun.
After all, once the illusion is broken, nothing happens.
A-level skills, what the hell is that?
However, she actually killed her invincible self in the illusion she created?!
Oh my god, what kind of monster is this? It’s ridiculously powerful, right?
Gao Shuai realized later that he had been too careless and might have offended someone he shouldn't have.
At that time, he happened to meet the player at the scrap yard. He hid in the shadow of the warehouse and activated the skill [Illusion] in a possessed manner.
He just wanted to test their strength and reality. He actually had no ill intentions. Even if he killed people in the illusion, it would not cause any harm to the other party.
After all, it's not easy to meet someone like me, so most of the time it's just a joke.
Who knew that the girl would rush towards him at the speed of light? If he hadn't reacted in time, he would have been hit in the face.
The fabricated illusion is rooted in reality and looks no different from the real scene. Ordinary people are completely unaware of whether they have been pulled into the illusion.
All the perceptions in the illusion, including the pain, are extremely real.
He could still recall the feeling he had in the illusion at that time, the pleasant sensation of the girl's punch on his face, and the strange feeling of the spring knife being completely sunken into his neck. The sharp blade felt cold as it cut into his flesh and bones.
Fortunately, it was just an illusion. If he had suffered such a heavy blow in reality, his body would have been cold.
After a few minutes, Gao Shuai's breathing rhythm gradually slowed down.
He sat up with his hands and calmed down.
He raised his head slightly and looked at the sky outside the alley. After the fear, a glimmer of excitement flashed in his eyes.
"Interesting..." Gao Shuai murmured.
After a desperate fight, Tao Sai thought he had killed his opponent, but it turned out to be just a false illusion. He used fraudulent means to escape from his hands for the second time.
Tao Sai narrowed his eyes slightly, clenched his fists and unclenched them silently, and walked out of the scrap yard.
At that time, she left behind a clone before rushing into the cardboard in the warehouse, deliberately exposing a flaw, and then switched her consciousness back to the clone after being shot.
But when did the illusion begin?
Tao Sai walked to the door and reached out to touch the iron door. The red painted iron was intact, without any holes caused by her fist. That must have been when she kicked him away before, the illusion was triggered, and the subsequent situation was basically detached from reality.
In the illusion, Tao Sai fought relentlessly, nearly exposing his own trump card. Exposing his trump card to a player who would actively attack them was undoubtedly extremely dangerous.
Having lost their target, the offense and defense changed, and now he was in the dark and Tao Sai was in the light.
She really doesn't like this kind of situation, she doesn't like being passive, she wants to be a hunter, a hunter who takes the initiative.
Gather supplies as quickly as possible and bring them back to the shelter ship before hunting down your target.
Tao Sai was secretly calculating in his heart.
The wormhole opened to the coordinate point accurately reported by He Zhaonian, and Tao Sai rushed to meet him.
He Zhaonian found another scrap yard and only paid two boxes of braised beef noodles in exchange for a sufficient amount of various scraps. Now he has scanned all the materials needed for the upgrade.
The two most important plans they had for coming to the city were accomplished perfectly, and He Zhaonian's warehouse had used up less than one-third of the food, which was enough to show the current value of food.
As for the remaining two-thirds, He Zhaonian had no intention of keeping them and would of course continue to use them to trade for supplies.
Tao Sai took out the memo on her phone. She had written a list of supplies in advance in case she missed anything.
Following the offline map, they first headed to a nearby shopping mall, but without exception, all the large supermarkets were closed. After the food crisis, it was inevitable that the food items in the supermarkets would be immediately swept away by the refugees, but other goods, such as clothing, would undoubtedly remain untouched. Even so, they couldn't just break in and take the items directly, because both "Insect Tide" and "Insect Tide Online" had a very annoying rule: players could only obtain supplies through trading or picking up unowned items; they couldn't steal or rob. Anything that didn't belong to them would automatically disappear and return to its original location even if they took it.
This should be the case for all supermarkets and shops, but they unexpectedly discovered that a centralized trading market had emerged in a nearby square.
It would be great to have such a trading point, so that they don’t have to run around and waste time.
This trading market was quite large, occupying most of the open space in the square, with an area estimated to be over ten thousand square meters. From a distance, it seemed that all kinds of stalls were selling everything.
The market was crowded and noisy. The military and police, armed with live ammunition, were struggling to maintain order outside the market to prevent chaos.
Tao Sai and the other two squeezed into the crowd, passing by one stall after another.
Not only the original merchants were selling goods, but also the citizens in the city and the villagers in the villages took out supplies from their homes to try to exchange for food.
The goods for sale are varied, both new and old, in small quantities and in bulk. The more food-related the items are, the higher the price. Things like fishing rods, fishing nets, and crop seeds are even priced "sky-high".
Most of the products that are not related to food are almost ignored.
Tao Sai first went to the area where these goods were sold. It was not crowded here, and the stall owners could not attract customers even if they shouted at the top of their lungs.
Tao Sai calmly made his purchases according to the list on the memo.
The first thing she saw was a stall selling quilts and duvets. Boxes of goods were piled high, but almost no one noticed this place.
The boss's face was filled with worry, and his loudspeaker was blaring at full volume: "Come and take a look! We have high-quality cotton and down quilts at reasonable prices, even in the coldest weather!"
But now the sun is scorching and the hungry refugees are not buying it, because they know clearly that living in the present is the most important thing. Without food, it will be a big problem whether they can survive until winter.
So Tao Sai bought over 170 sets of quilts and duvets with just a few boxes of biscuits, a few boxes of bread, and a few bags of sticky rice. The boss wasn't in a hurry, but instead expressed her gratitude with tears streaming down her face: "Girl, you're a good person! May good people live a peaceful life!"
Tao Sai directly cleared out his inventory. Considering that so many quilts were too large and would easily arouse suspicion, Tao Sai asked her boss to help her use his small truck to transport the goods to a remote alley nearby. She would then put them in the warehouse when no one was around.
Tao Sai first gave a bag of glutinous rice flour as a deposit and would pay the balance later.
The stall owner was very happy and quickly took his son to move the goods.
Tao Sai then went to another stall and bought two hundred sets of out-of-season down jackets, winter coats, and windbreakers at a very cheap price. They came in various styles and sizes. He would stock them up so that he could use them later.
She followed the same method and asked the boss to help her transport the goods, paid a deposit first, and then went to visit other stalls.
Of course, there were also stalls selling seasonal clothes. Tao Sai was lavishly collecting clothes from the stalls. There were so many people on her boat that no matter what size, there would always be someone who could wear them.
She also picked out a few sets of clothes that fit Cheng Cong, and also some slightly larger sizes, because he was at the age of growing up and would grow taller as time went by.
Tao Sai collected sneakers, hiking boots, socks, and out-of-season scarves and gloves.
He Zhaonian was inspired a lot by following Tao Sai. There were many things he had not thought of. Tao Sai stockpiled hers, so he followed suit and stockpiled them on his own ship.
The food supplies in his [warehouse] were constantly decreasing, but it didn't matter. He could exchange them all for useful supplies at extremely low prices, and he could get the food back through planting. In short, this was a sure-win deal.
The supplies on this side were almost purchased, and Tao Sai squeezed into the crowded area again.
At the edge of the market, Tao Sai noticed a stall with only a folding stool. A white-haired old man in his sixties or seventies sat on it, a bulging waist bag wrapped around his waist. He didn't have anything on display, but a piece of cardboard in front of him clearly stated that he was selling chicken and duck eggs.
Because the price is too high, many people are discouraged.
"Uncle, I want to exchange potatoes for eggs with you, would you like to do so?" At this time, a young couple stopped in front of the stall. The young man took out a potato the size of a fist from the basket and asked.
"No, no, no." The old man waved his hand bluntly.
"Two potatoes for an egg, how about that?" the girl asked.
The old man still waved his hand and refused, "I only exchange my eggs for rice, nothing else."
Hearing this, the young couple could only leave in disappointment.
Tao Sai then walked up to the stall and asked, "Uncle, how much are your chickens?"
"Five kilograms of rice for an egg, no bargaining. These eggs are all freshly laid by hens. If you don't believe me, just take a look." As he said this, the old man carefully took out an egg from his waist bag. There were still some "impurities" that had not dried up on the eggshell.
But Tao Sai showed no interest in looking closely and said, "Uncle, you misheard me. I was asking how much your chickens cost."