Chapter 18

At seven o'clock in the morning, the smart home assistant woke her up on time.

The first thing Qiao Ning did after getting up was to check the number of survivors in the entire district: 35,864.

And the numbers are still changing.

At first, she felt upset when she saw a few people log off and die, but now she seems to be able to face the drastically reduced number of survivors as usual.

It wasn't that she had become heartless and indifferent to the deaths of others, but rather that she had become increasingly aware that only by accepting, facing, and constantly strengthening herself, both mentally and physically, could she better survive in this survival game.

Qiao Ning opened the chat channel and learned from other people's words that the sudden monster attack on the car last night only lasted for an hour, after which the monster disappeared.

After the expert named Yuan Heng explained how to deal with the monster attack vehicle, it effectively controlled the continuous drop in the number of online players. He saved many people, and the chat channel has been discussing him and thanking him since last night.

Honestly, after the sudden monster attack on the vehicle, if it weren't for this unexpected event, Qiao Ning would have been prepared for the system to force an early server merge and the next natural disaster to escalate.

With one hour remaining until the end of the natural disaster period, the dryness index reached a staggering 380. Qiao Ning placed ten humidifier balloons in the car, but she could still feel the air inside was very dry, making it difficult to breathe.

She placed five more humidifying water balloons before she could breathe smoothly again.

Breakfast and dinner are always Qiao Ning's two most substantial meals. After all, she has to travel during the day and sometimes doesn't even have time for lunch, or she just eats some bread or compressed biscuits to get by.

On the last day of the natural disaster cycle, and not knowing how the game system would arrange things for everyone after 8 PM, Qiao Ning wasn't in a hurry, so she simply made things a bit more complicated:

She started cooking the congee with preserved egg and lean pork, prepared a cold dish, and made a steamed egg dish. She also took out a steamer of steamed buns with savory beef filling that she had previously steamed and stored in the storage box.

After setting up the small dining table she had purchased, Qiao Ning asked the smart home assistant to take a picture and send it to Li Yangxing.

Sure enough, within seconds, Li Yangxing roared in reply:

【Oh my god, Sister Qiao, your breakfast is so delicious! Do you have any left? I could even just smell it, please… 500 metal ingredients, can I exchange it for the same breakfast? Please, I'm so hungry I'm crying!】

Qiao Ning laughed and said, "With metal materials so expensive now, it's too much of a loss for you to exchange so many materials for a single breakfast."

"I've mailed you breakfast, it's free. Just save me extra materials next time."

【Received! Don't worry, Sister Qiao, I've saved the rest for you, except for the portion I use myself.】

"By the way, Sister Qiao, do you have any blueprints for car upgrade parts? I'm missing a car integration blueprint to upgrade my car. The drop rate for blueprints is too low, and the drop rate for car integration blueprints is even lower. I've been looking for them on the trading market for two or three days, but no one has responded. I haven't found any... sigh..."

If Qiao Ning doesn't get the car upgrade blueprint set from the wish box, she really can't spare one for him.

Before drawing the blueprint set, she only had 1 car integration blueprint, 3 car modification blueprints, and 2 car reinforcement blueprints.

Now that we have an extra one, we can exchange it with Li Yangxing.

As soon as Qiao Ning sent the blueprints, Li Yangxing quickly sent over a batch of materials.

In addition to the currently expensive metal materials, there is also 300 glue.

These items are more than enough to buy a single car assembly blueprint.

In terms of drop rates, car upgrade blueprints are naturally more expensive. However, in terms of market price, only a minority of people upgrade their cars; most people aren't in a hurry and need other resources. Therefore, the three types of car upgrade blueprints don't fetch high prices on the trading market.

Li Yangxing is no ordinary player. Not only is he strong at fighting monsters and has a high drop rate for materials, but he also has a good eye and awareness in the game. Therefore, he doesn't feel that he lost out on this transaction at all. On the contrary, he thinks that he made a huge profit.

After finishing her deal with Li Yangxing, Qiao Ning leaned against the car window, slowly enjoying her breakfast with a mouthful of porridge and a bite of cold dishes.

After finishing the meal, put the leftover food into the storage box, clean the dishes and utensils, and pour the accumulated dirty water and filth into the all-purpose toilet to decompose.

The great thing about this toilet is that it doesn't flush with water; it directly breaks down all waste and sludge. No matter how much you put in, it breaks it down instantly. And it won't clog.

Aside from consuming 0.1 units of electricity for every 1 kilogram of waste decomposed, there are no other problems.

I glanced at the time; it was almost eight o'clock, and the sun was peeking over the horizon.

At exactly 8:00, the game system's gentle female voice sounded on time.

Congratulations to 35,802 players in Zone 1408 for successfully surviving the first natural disaster cycle. From now until 12:00 tonight, during the settlement and maintenance period, surviving players will be teleported to the 1408 safe service zone.

Within the safe zone, all players are free to move around until the next catastrophe cycle arrives.

Friendly reminder: The safe service area is based on the principles of safety, peace, and freedom. Any form of attack or conflict between players is a violation of the service area's safety regulations, which may result in banishment or even expulsion.

Players, please cherish your lives and do not challenge safety regulations.

After a 10-second countdown, all surviving players in area 1408 will be teleported to a safe zone. The process may cause slight discomfort; please be prepared: 10, 9, 8, 7…

As the countdown ended, Qiao Ning, who was sitting in the driver's seat, felt a slight sway, and then everything went black. When her vision returned, she and the car appeared in a huge square.

The surrounding area is filled with countless cars of different colors, sizes, and models.

Most of them were dilapidated, and some were even on the verge of falling apart and becoming unusable.

Qiao Ning's brand-new, gleaming car was truly eye-catching.

Fortunately, she hadn't had time to upgrade her car to level 3 yet, and she wasn't in a hurry to upgrade it now, planning to do so after the next natural disaster cycle.

Through the window, Qiao Ning saw that many players had gotten off the bus one after another. Looking around, some people were chatting and asking questions.

Qiao Ning didn't get out of the car immediately; she was bombarded with messages from Li Yangxing.

[Sister Qiao! You've arrived at the service area too, right? Shall we meet up? Here are my coordinates: 142, 58]

After Qiao Ning opened the app, she discovered that she and Li Yangxing were not far apart; they could get there in just a few minutes by car.

She didn't want to meet her "online friend" at first, but then she thought that this was the only friend she had made in the survival game. To put it bluntly, everyone was living day to day, and this might be the first and last time they met.

Since we've already met, why be sentimental? Meeting is the best way to avoid regrets.

After a moment's thought, Qiao Ning agreed to meet and drove towards Li Yangxing's coordinates.

The service area, capable of accommodating over 30,000 people, is enormous, containing streets, shops, hotels, and more. It's just unclear what currency is used for payment.

The service area was absolutely safe, and Qiao Ning didn't want to attract too much attention, so unlike some players on the road who were wearing all sorts of dazzling equipment, she only wore the ordinary clothes she had obtained in the game.

The only distinguishing feature was the antique black ring on his hand—a piece of equipment: a defensive ring.

Contrary to her expectations, Li Yangxing, though only an 18-year-old boy with a delicate face, appeared to be over 1.9 meters tall, more than half a head taller than her.

Each player's vehicle does not have a license plate number; instead, it is marked with the server number and the player's name, making it easy to identify.

As soon as Qiao Ning got out of the car, she met Li Yangxing's gaze. The latter was stunned for a long time before stammering a greeting to her.

"Sister Qiao, you... are really different from what I imagined," Li Yangxing said with a simple smile.

Before meeting her, he thought Qiao Ning was a gentle, classical, beautiful, and kind fairy. After meeting her, he found that... Qiao Ning was more beautiful than he had imagined, with exquisitely delicate features, but her temperament was definitely not the gentle type.

There's a somewhat cold,颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless, dispirited, or decadent) vibe about them. They don't make eye contact with people much, not out of fear, but rather as if they're too lazy to give others a second glance.

Qiao Ning popped a piece of xylitol gum into her mouth and chewed it slowly: "You and I think differently."

His height and build were really mismatched with his youthful and delicate face.

Li Yangxing tried to start a conversation: "There are a lot of good food and fun things to do at this service area, Sister Qiao, shall we go for a walk together?"

Qiao Ning asked him, "You have money? You need to spend money to have fun here, right?"

"Yes, the currency in the service area is actually our experience points. I have several hundred. I just asked a friend, and he said that eating the most expensive meal here will only give you a maximum of 10 experience points."

"Staying in the most luxurious hotel room for 12 hours only requires 12 experience points."

"Other items are even cheaper, mostly costing only a point or two of experience. Of course, there are also more expensive shops, such as material shops, prop shops, and medicine shops. I don't know the specific prices, but if you're interested, we can go and take a look together."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Ning became quite interested: "Then let's go, you lead the way, let's go take a look."

"Okay, Sister Qiao, wait a moment, let me tell a few friends first."

Li Yangxing strode over to a group of men and women gathered together, gestured and spoke for a while, and then pointed in Qiao Ning's direction.

The group looked at her, and Qiao Ning nodded in acknowledgment.

"Xiao Li, be careful, don't get scammed. I just saw a woman holding a man's arm, asking him to buy things for them at a prop or pharmacy. Some people are just after money. Be more careful and don't trust those who approach you too much. Listen to me."

The speaker was a middle-aged man named Jiang Ming. Li Yangxing had no connection with him, but he was a friend brought by a boy who frequently traded with Li Yangxing.

Before entering the game, Jiang Ming was a manager at a company. He was nearly forty years old, and among a group of young people in their twenties, he always spoke with a lecturing tone, quite like an elder.

Li Yangxing frowned slightly, then relaxed his brow and said in a normal tone, "Brother Jiang, you're overthinking it. Sister Qiao isn't that kind of person. She's a very good and kind person. She's saved me many times. Without her, I wouldn't be alive today."

Jiang Ming wanted to say something more, but a boy next to him pulled him back to stop. Then the boy changed the subject, thus changing the subject.

After saying goodbye to his friends, Li Yangxing and Qiao Ning walked towards the area with more service area buildings.

Their vehicles are tied to the people in them; no one else can drive them away or damage them, so there's no need to worry.

Qiao Ning wanted to go to the prop shop first, but halfway there she found a group of people gathering in a certain direction.

"What's that up ahead? What happened?" Li Yangxing grabbed a passing player and asked.

The man had a good temper and wasn't annoyed at being caught suddenly. "Didn't you guys check the system information? There's a virtual screen in the center of Service Area 1408 that displays various rankings. There are experience rankings, equipment rankings, car rankings, overall strength rankings, quality of life rankings, and so on. Although the names are hidden by default or anonymous code names, that doesn't stop you from being curious and going over to join the fun."

"To be honest, I also want to see the gap between myself and the big shots."

After saying that, the man jogged away.

Li Yangxing's eyes brightened as he turned to look at Qiao Ning. "Sister Qiao, shall we go over and take a look together?"

Qiao Ning was naturally curious as well, so she nodded and said, "Okay, let's go take a look."

This settlement and maintenance will take 12 hours. They can rest for half a day at the service area, so it won't make a difference if they take a little longer.

The pale green virtual screen was a full ten meters tall, displaying seven lists in rows. In addition to the five lists the person had mentioned earlier, there were two more:

Resource Ranking, Kill Ranking.

The resource ranking shows the stockpile value, which is a comprehensive evaluation based on factors such as the quality and quantity of resources possessed by the player.

The kill leaderboard displays kill points, which are calculated based on the number of monsters guarding treasures, wild beasts, enemies, etc. that players kill. Points less than 0.5 are rounded up to 0.

The kill leaderboard now only includes kill points earned from killing the treasure-guarding monster.

The names on the list are almost all hidden by default, only showing a row of asterisks like ***.

A small number of players have set their own anonymous usernames.

There were also a few carefree individuals who, for reasons unknown, didn't even use code names and brazenly displayed their names to everyone.

The names of the rankings, such as the Comprehensive Strength Ranking and the Kill Ranking, are understandable. They serve as a deterrent to those with malicious intentions, making them think twice before harboring any ill intentions.

As for the rest, like the resource ranking list, those who dare to openly display their names after being on the list are truly fearless.

Although entering the road trip world is currently a solo travel mode, who knows if it will develop into a multiplayer mode in the future?

To be on the safe side, Qiao Ning didn't even use code names, hiding them all as asterisks.

Only she can see her own name; everyone else sees a string of asterisks.

Her current rankings on various lists are as follows:

Ranked first in experience, third in equipment, first in cars, first in quality of life, first in resources, last in kills, and tenth in overall strength.

This overall strength ranking is related to the previous six rankings. If Qiao Ning hadn't been ranked last on the kill list, affecting the data, her ranking on this overall strength ranking should have been higher.

There was nothing she could do; she just couldn't encounter any treasure-guarding monsters. On the day when the probability of encountering treasure-guarding monsters was highest, she encountered a few of the lowest-level ones, and then she never encountered one again.

If you can't kill the treasure-guarding monster, you won't get any kill points, so you'll naturally be last on the kill leaderboard.

The first thing Li Yangxing looked at was the kill ranking. He wasn't a flamboyant person, but after seeing his ranking, he couldn't help but lean close to Qiao Ning and say in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Sister Qiao, I'm fifth on the kill ranking! Aren't I amazing?"

Qiao Ning guessed that he had killed a lot of monsters, but she didn't expect that a child like him could climb to fifth place.

She offered a few words of support, then heard Li Yangxing say with a puzzled look, "Sister Qiao, this person is so strange..."

"Um?"

"This person who's at the bottom of the kill leaderboard has a kill score of 0!"

"That's outrageous. How did she manage to only pick up the supply crates without killing the treasure-guarding monsters? It's not like the treasure-guarding monsters never attacked her, or that she never encountered any treasure-guarding monsters at all, right?"

"This 0 points is so strange, I really can't figure it out..."

Qiao Ning: "..."

She coughed lightly and pretended to speculate, "Maybe I was just lucky. I didn't encounter many treasure-guarding monsters, and they weren't very strong, so I could pick up the treasure chest without having to kill them."

Thinking of the hardships and tears he had endured while fighting monsters, Li Yangxing said quietly, "Perhaps. We have to admit that there are always lucky people in this world."

"Just like the top players on the experience and resource rankings."

Qiao Ning: "..." Actually, there is no "them".