Chapter 63

[Qiao Ning: If anyone encounters an attack by a group of wanderers, don't hesitate, don't worry about the resources costing you the teleportation fee, teleport to the correct coordinates immediately. Also, remember to send your original coordinates to the public chat. Players with the strength can form teams to clear them out, based on their individual preferences.]

[Pei Jing: The time has come to test everyone's teamwork. As long as everyone moves together to teleport and clear out the wanderers, our survival rate will definitely stabilize!]

[Liu Heng: I support Miss Qiao's suggestion. We have a greater advantage than the homeless group. As long as we unite and help each other, we will definitely be able to overcome our current difficulties. The homeless have special physical characteristics, with obvious strengths and weaknesses. I have made some tools that can monitor their whereabouts and precisely target their weaknesses. They are already available for purchase, with a limit of one per person. Those who need them can buy them.]

This item is only recommended for players who are not yet strong enough; strong players are not advised to purchase it to avoid wasting the item.

I've already bought the props, just as Professor Liu suggested.

[Hey Joe, I've shared my coordinates with some friends. I wasn't planning on teaming up, but I'm going to take your advice. Listen to advice, and you'll live longer.]

[Holy crap! A bunch of homeless people suddenly appeared here, scared me to death! Luckily I ran fast and teleported directly to my friend's place.]

[It was definitely the right thing to listen to the experts.]

I've been clearing out homeless people on a highway with a few friends. They might not be stronger than us. Although their living conditions are harsh, we're veteran players who have survived several dangerous natural disasters. We each have our own advantages and our own ruthlessness.

Moreover, their weaknesses are obvious, and we have cars and pets to help us. Overall, as long as the number of people isn't too disparate, we have a better chance of winning.

[Coordinates 1356, 8967, the wanderers have been cleared out; the clearer was "Red Beauty".]

【The Red Beauty Squad...that name sounds familiar.】

[Upstairs, Hongyan is a very strong player team in our region. The team is all female players, and it seems they formed during the very first natural disaster. They've survived server consolidation and merges, and are now a top team in server 1408. In my opinion, Hongyan is definitely in the top three of all player teams, no exaggeration.]

[Coordinates xx, Falcon cleared out. For coordinates of any remaining wanderers on the highway, please send me a private message.]

Qiao Ning was also clearing out the homeless at this time.

In this world's wandering community, seven or eight out of ten have eaten people; they have been tormented beyond recognition by the harsh life on the surface. Only a few ancient wanderers still strictly adhere to the bottom line of not eating their own kind. For example, Ying's group never eats people and does not kill easily.

Otherwise, Qiao Ning wouldn't have had a chance to negotiate with them that night.

In just half an hour, Qiao Ning drove Icescale back and forth across different roads, clearing out the homeless people who were attacking players.

If someone dares to attack a player, it's unlikely they're only after the player's supplies; they probably want to capture the player alive and eat them.

Therefore, Qiao Ning advised players not to be soft-hearted when they attacked, because if they showed mercy, they might end up becoming the wanderers' meal.

Even though all the players in the region were united and desperately fighting against the sudden attack by the wanderers, the number of online players continued to drop.

Currently, there are only over 35,000 people online in the entire region.

The natural disaster cycle has one day left. Tomorrow, the severity of the natural disaster will be even higher, and the living environment will be even harsher.

More than 35,000 people—this number is really too dangerous. If we're not careful, it could drop below 20,000.

Qiao Ning instructed the smart assistant to report the number of online players on the system's virtual interface every now and then, as she was now spending all her time clearing out the wanderers attacking the players.

When energy runs out, replenish it with beast cores or energy stones. Continue fighting while replenishing.

Ice Scales went to pursue the fleeing wanderers.

Judging from the number of players disconnecting, it's clear how ruthless these wanderers are, so Qiao Ning has no intention of letting any of them escape. Every wanderer who gets away could create more danger for the other players.

Because she wasn't sure if the game would unknowingly teleport escaping wanderers to other roads.

Three or four hours passed, and Qiao Ning traveled 132 highways, killing thousands of homeless people.

During this period, the number of online players remained stable with minimal drops. Occasional disconnections were due to players dying in combat with wanderers.

All day long, the players were outwitting and battling the Wanderers. It wasn't until the afternoon that the Wanderers' attacks became less frequent, as they seemed to have been killed too many times and were starting to back down.

The night disappeared, and even though it was evening, the sky did not darken at all.

Six suns blazed in the sky, scorching the earth.

In addition to dealing with the occasional swarms of wanderers, players also have to be careful to avoid high temperatures and radiation. Even eating, sleeping, and using the toilet are done in shifts by the team.

At this point, it's very difficult for a player to survive alone.

Unless you're like Qiao Ning, with hidden cards and strength, you're not afraid of a surprise attack from the wanderers at all.

Fighting in high temperatures is a terrible thing. Qiao Ning applied a thick layer of sun herbal liquid to her body, but she was still forced to rest every half hour to drink water and eat to replenish her strength.

Energy can be quickly replenished with beast cores and energy stones, but physical strength can only be restored by eating.

In addition, excretion and sleep are also essential physiological needs.

Fortunately, Qiao Ning had Ice Scales. When she rested, Ice Scales would guard the car as a protector, preventing any living creature from getting close.

At 8 PM, the system notified that the homeless had stopped appearing. After clearing out the last group of homeless people, Qiao Ning decisively returned to her car to shower and go to sleep. She didn't even want to eat; all she wanted to do was sleep.

Qiao Ning slept until noon the next day, when she woke up to the soft moans of Bing Lin.

She got up and looked out the window, and wow, there were nine suns shining brightly in the sky.

She hadn't eaten dinner last night, and now she was starving. After washing up, she took out a lot of food from her storage box and ate with Binglin.

Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste), twice-cooked pork rice, shredded pork with garlic sauce rice, and hot and sour tripe soup—this is Qiao Ning's meal list.

Butter rice, mapo tofu, bamboo shoots with cured pork, braised pork, sweet and sour pork, and spicy bullfrog—this is Binglin's diet.

For her, the drinks that go well with meals and quench her thirst are orange juice, Sprite, and Coke. Binglin especially likes tea, and she likes all kinds of tea, including green tea, black tea, and fruit tea.

A man and his dog were eating while watching a chat channel.

Qiao Ning was looking at the message when she noticed that Bing Lin outside the car was also staring intently at the virtual panel.

Outsiders cannot see Qiao Ning's profile, but Binglin, being her pet, can.

"Can you read the words on it?" Qiao Ning suddenly asked. Before, when Binglin watched TV and chat channels with it, she thought her dog was just curious and never thought about whether it could understand them.

Ice Scale is very intelligent. After forming a contract with Qiao Ning, the two can communicate almost without any obstacles. But does that mean it can read human text without any obstacles? Qiao Ning wondered uncertainly.

The large dog with its golden and red scales hesitated for a moment, then, remembering its promise to its owner that it could not hide anything from her, it finally nodded.

Having been with its owner for so long, being able to understand her writing is already a basic skill.

Qiao Ning received an affirmative answer and remained silent for a long time. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing. There's a saying: "It's not that we're afraid of smart dogs, it's that we're afraid of cultured dogs."

I need to set up some censored words and block unhealthy messages to prevent my dog ​​from being influenced by bad things; it's still a puppy.

“I feel like you can do every human skill except for speaking.”

Seeing that she had finished reading a page of information in the chat channel but was too lazy to turn the page, Binglin stretched out the tip of its tail to help her turn the page.

"Baby, you're so amazing, I'll become more and more dependent on you." With such a wonderful dog, she has no other desires for the rest of her life.

Qiao Ning couldn't help but scratch the big dog's chin a few times. Bing Lin squinted comfortably, his round beast eyes narrowing into crescent shapes.

It is still in its juvenile stage, but has unlocked a new ability: size transformation. Not only can it control its body size, but it can also switch from a scaled beast to a furry beast.

When Qiao Ning felt hot, it would change into its cool, scaly armor to cool her down. When she felt itchy and wanted to pet its fur, it would change into its fluffy coat and let her rub it to her heart's content.

With a dog like this, what more could a man ask for?

After a short meal, Qiao Ning drove off, while Bing Lin continued to sunbathe on the car roof.

On the seventh day of the natural disaster, the sun shone brightly, with temperatures reaching 75 degrees Celsius and radiation levels at 497. Without drastic cooling and radiation-reducing equipment, humans could not survive.

Whenever the nine suns in the sky move into a straight line, it will inevitably trigger the "Heavenly Fire Descends".

The Heavenly Fire event lasts for one hour. During this time, the chance of supply boxes appearing doubles, and a large number of rare treasure chests will randomly appear.

Players should collect as many supply crates as possible to obtain vehicle repair cards and fire shields, which can effectively protect against natural disasters.

Qiao Ning read through the information about the natural disaster released by the system word by word. While she was still wondering what "heavenly fire descending" meant, she suddenly felt the temperature around her rise by at least ten or twenty degrees.

She covered the car body with medicine, turned the air conditioning to the highest setting, and placed more than a dozen cooling water balloons inside. Even so, she could still feel the sudden surge of heat.

The number of online players dropped by nearly a hundred in an instant.

[Numerous supply crates have appeared ahead; you must stop to collect them. Activate the robotic gripper?]

Most of the time, Qiao Ning defaults to using the mechanical claw to pick up items, but recently, due to the high radiation levels, Ice Scale has been helping her pick them up more often.

Now Qiao Ning has no choice but to use the mechanical claw, because there are at least dozens of supply boxes that have appeared in front of her.

The treasure-guarding monsters have gathered in large numbers.

Qiao Ning and Bing Lin dealt with the treasure-guarding monster, and the mechanical claw picked up the supply boxes. They had only collected a few when suddenly, a large fireball fell from the sky and smashed to the ground.

The fireball struck not far from the car, instantly scorching a large hole in the road.

The sun was high in the sky, incredibly bright, and Qiao Ning couldn't even open her eyes to see what was happening. She had her smart assistant take pictures and videos and send them to her system interface.

[Oh my god, is this the end of the world? Or has the world been hit by a planet?]

[So many huge fireballs are falling from the sky! My car is only level 3; it can't even withstand one hit. If I hadn't been lucky enough to dodge the body and only get hit by the rear, I'd probably be dead by now. Vehicle repair cards can't save players who get instantly killed.]

[Qiao Ning: The fireball density isn't high right now, so everyone stay calm and focus on dodging. The denser the treasure chests are, the higher the chance of fireballs landing. Don't be too greedy for treasure chests; survival is the priority.]

Qiao Ning instructed the smart assistant to drive the car precisely to avoid the fireballs, while she seized the opportunity to pick up the supply boxes.

After picking up a few, she suddenly realized that the ice scales that had been following the car were gone.

Qiao Ning searched around, and finally looked up at the sky. There she saw a giant beast covered in fiery red scales, with red feathered wings several feet long on its back, and golden-red flames all around it. It raised its head and opened its huge mouth to swallow...

Did it swallow a fireball that fell from the sky?

The giant beast ate one fireball after another, dissipating the fiery clouds in the sky. Seeing that the fire clouds had stopped dropping fireballs, it licked its lips, shrunk to the size of an ordinary dog, and ran down from the sky, stepping on flames.

When it came back, it deliberately took a detour and brought back some supply boxes to cover up its act of secretly going out for extra food.

Little did they know that their master had seen all of this.

Just as Binglin thought Qiao Ning hadn't noticed it and was about to sneak back into the car, Qiao Ning's long legs suddenly appeared in its line of sight.

Ice Scale's raised claws froze instantly.

It looked up along those legs and met Qiao Ning's slightly smiling face. It subconsciously changed its scales into red fur and then obediently squatted down.

The fluffy ears on its head were also pressed back, flattening into airplane ears.