Chapter 205

[Ding! Team 7721 has merged into Team 333. Members of both teams can share the rankings in the Train Race!]

Current total team size: 151

Note that scores will only be recorded once more than half of the existing teams have entered the Black Tower.

For example, in a team of 70 people, at least 35 members must cross the finish line, and so on.

Merging teams is actually feasible!

To everyone's surprise, they once again felt the system's intense malice and felt a chill for their subconscious urge to eliminate the other teams.

When Yan Chuyi first proposed this method, both teams of players thought the system would never allow it.

I had considered using tricks and finding loopholes in wording before, but the rules always gave me a stern warning.

Over time, everyone only wanted to follow the rules and was unwilling to take any more risks.

Someone suddenly realized: "I get it! Next time, I'll definitely do what the system forbids! That way—"

“You could just die early,” an A-level player retorted irritably. “S-level and above players can roughly discern the boundaries of the rules’ effectiveness and safely avoid risks. Do you think just anyone can do that?”

The rules are that players fill the cup to the brim, and if a player throws the cup away, they're guaranteed to die.

Players skilled at finding bugs will notice that there is no noun after "full", which will spark their imagination.

However, if you carelessly submit a cup of dirt, it will most likely be considered perfunctory by the rules and slapped against the wall, impossible to tear off.

Players who can sense the rules will clearly understand that the cup cannot contain water; it should contain blood or apple juice, which the BOSS likes.

So the key point isn't about taking shortcuts, but about the person who takes them?

Yan Chuyi remained intently focused on the notification panel, muttering to herself, "The current number of team members... corpses won't do, they must be alive?"

The crowd looked at the young man who was deep in thought, and gradually came to believe this statement.

*

Xie Xubai, in the ink-wash space, suddenly looked up and gazed thoughtfully at the cloaked figure.

Since the split soul "Yan Chuyi" was rescued thanks to the efforts of players, spirits, and other split souls, the cloaked man who liked to provoke him has fallen silent.

As if struck by a severe blow, his fingertips, gripping the black pieces, turned pale from the force, and his demeanor grew increasingly somber as he stared intently at the chessboard.

After a long while, the cloaked figure suddenly let go, trying to make the black piece on the chessboard fall back into the void. He lifted his eyelids, quietly watching Xie Xubai, and then suddenly leaned back against the chair.

"I'm tired, I'll rest for a while," she said.

They're not planning to make a move for the time being.

Xie Xubai kept a close eye on its movements, not believing that the cloaked figure would let it go so easily. Nor did he think that the blow of losing a piece would cripple the treacherous and ruthless villain.

Otherwise, every battle against organized crime throughout human history would be a beautiful fairy tale, instead of one filled with blood and tears.

At the same time, for some reason, the sense of alienation he had once felt from the cloaked man resurfaced in Xie Xubai's mind.

*

As we entered the dense forest, the fog grew thicker and thicker, and it felt as if a putrid, damp air was lingering around our noses. Visibility was less than five meters.

Above was a dark and gloomy sky, with heavy shadows of trees hanging down like silent giants, heavy and oppressive.

The night was silent; apart from the clanging of the train on the tracks, there was no other sound.

But this doesn't put people at ease, as no one knows what might be silently lurking in the fog.

"Does anyone think that the way these trees are growing is unscientific? The temperature is low where I live, and the trees that have grown there are not even a third as tall as these."

All the doors and windows were tightly closed, but a chilly atmosphere lingered in the air.

One player kept rubbing his arm, which was covered in goosebumps, feeling that the temperature here was at least below minus ten degrees Celsius!

Damn, it's freezing!

Yan Chuyi had never been able to improve his physical fitness through exercise. After watching the videos left by his biological parents, he suspected that the system had imposed some kind of restriction on him.

Unable to bear the cold any longer, they've already wrapped themselves in thick blankets along with the elderly and children.

The logistics staff are dedicated to ensuring the physical and mental well-being of all members. Right now, they are cooking ginger soup without a fire and have even taken the time to prepare hot cocoa for the younger children.

Seeing Yan Chuyi reach out his hand, she handed him a cup.

Yan Chuyi, who was originally going to serve ginger soup, looked down at the hot cocoa in her hand: "..."

Most players have enhanced their physical abilities and often encounter extreme weather in dungeons, so they don't feel there's anything wrong with it for the time being: "The real world isn't even weird yet, why are you looking for realism in the game?"

"No, there's definitely a problem!"

A plant enthusiast stared wide-eyed at the car window, as if he had made a discovery, and suddenly exclaimed: "Look at those trees! The trunks are straight and the canopies are lush—they're banyan trees! The tallest ones are Hopea trees, which are generally over 40 meters tall, but can grow up to 80 meters. There are also maidenhair ferns and oil palms nearby, all species that grow in tropical rainforests!"

When the others looked, they realized it was true!

In the darkness and thick fog, if this player hadn't had excellent night vision and keen observation skills, they might not have been able to spot anything amiss.

Since it's a tropical rainforest, how could there be such abnormally low temperatures?

Captain Xu's expression was somewhat grave. He said to Yan Chuyi, "Usually, to create a sense of terror, dungeons are designed with very low temperatures. But we've been in this dense forest for a while now, and we haven't encountered any monsters or designs like ghosts."

Yan Chuyi put down her empty cup, understanding his meaning: "Either there are supernatural monsters waiting for us behind us, or the player's perceived temperature is being lowered to cover something up."

The reason why it is certain that the player's perceived temperature has been lowered, rather than the temperature of the entire level environment, is because the tropical plants are still lush and unaffected.

Captain Xu: "Which scenario do you think it will be?"

Yan Chuyi: "The latter."

Captain Xu readily trusted him and turned to the player who loved botany: "What are the typical characteristics of tropical rainforests?"

The player summarized it simply: "The climate is humid, with thick miasma, frequent rain, tall trees, high temperatures, small temperature differences between day and night, and many highly venomous insects, snakes, pythons, and wild animals. The system design may differ from reality, but it is largely the same."

If there is a lot of miasma, be careful of open flames and explosions that could cause forest fires.

There are antidotes for dealing with highly venomous snakes and insects.

With Yan Chuyi, Brian, and Xu Ji, three S-class beasts, the situation is not a problem.

The logistics staff took out a thermometer, and the reading rose sharply before finally settling in the 25℃~35℃ range.

It's not too outrageous.

A deep sense of unease lingered in everyone's minds, refusing to dissipate.

Where will this trap be?

Another half hour passed, and team number 333 was about to arrive at the first stop.

The lingering chill, like a bone-deep infection, hadn't disappeared, but it wasn't colder than before. Wearing thick clothes was enough to keep you warm, but you could easily forget that it was actually quite hot here.

Squeak—

The train stopped automatically when it arrived at the station, and the wheelsets made a metallic scraping sound as they engaged in the grooves.

A system notification, devoid of any emotional response, followed immediately.

[The train has arrived at the station. All players are free to disembark and move around freely.]

[There are no time restrictions at any of the stops on this journey to the Game Kingdom. To achieve the best possible ranking, please plan your departure time accordingly.]

The white fog dissipated a little, visibility increased sharply, and the field of vision gradually became clear.

Just like the open-air forest platform often seen in movies.

The dim light illuminated a corner where old, cracked, dark tiles were filled with slippery moss, and rusty roadside signs were mostly obscured by vines that had climbed up them.

There were two rows of wooden benches along the roadside, and flattened food wrappers were stuck to the bottom of the trash cans.

It looked deserted and quiet, as if no one had visited for quite some time.

When the train pulled into the station, Captain Xu carefully observed the opposite stop, which was empty and there were no other trains.

Were they the first team to arrive at the station?

Just as they were about to open the car door to find out what was going on, Yan Chuyi's expression suddenly turned cold, and she called out sharply to everyone: "Wait a minute, everyone else stay here. Captain Xu, Brian, the three of us will lead the way."

Others may not be able to see it, but Xie Xubai, who has a "God's-eye view," can "see" it clearly.

Just over a kilometer away in the jungle, wrecked train carriages were piled up like mountains, and blood seeped from the gaps in the crushed and deformed iron sheets, dripping onto the ground.

The train was attacked from the outside, but no trace was left on the tracks and platforms; they had all been carefully disposed of.

Countless human corpses were buried in tin graves, their pupils dilated, their eyes wide open in death.

They dressed differently, had different skin colors, and came from all over the world. They weren't native to the instance; they were players.

Most importantly, after removing their clothes and pants, all their props, weapons, and storage bags were stripped clean.

NPCs and monsters will not intentionally loot valuables, as they will be automatically recycled by the system when the instance ends.

It goes without saying who attacked them.

Although the others couldn't see what Yan Chuyi was seeing, they immediately stepped back upon hearing the other party's cold tone.

A short while later.

The attackers, who were hiding in the shadows, watched as Yan Chuyi and her two companions got out of the car. Feeling something was amiss, they whispered among themselves in the private channel.

"Why are there only three people?"

"Perhaps they felt it was unsafe, so they sent three people down to scout ahead."

Looking at the train's configuration again, it was all basic models, and he was instantly disgusted: "Seriously? They didn't even get a single reinforcement part?"

"These people can't be that weak, can they?"

Only the initial site reveals basic information about other teams, and Yan Chuyi and his team concealed their level aura.

Unable to gauge the strength of the three attackers, the attackers exchanged glances.

"Brothers, what do we do?"

There were only three of them.

"otherwise……"

Upon receiving the signal, the vicious-looking thugs sprang to their feet, but instead of launching an attack, they retreated in perfect unison!

Suddenly, a tall, muscular humanoid shadow loomed overhead. Brian appeared before them, his eyes filled with contempt and disgust, as if looking at something filthy in a sewer: "Trash."

He despised two types of people the most in his life.

First, there are harmful rats.

Secondly, bedbugs that back down in the face of battle.

Before the others could react, Brian's arm blurred in mid-air, and his fist struck flesh with a loud cracking sound as bones shattered.

Their leader was launched into the air, and then Brian, who had also rushed up, delivered a whip kick that sent him crashing to the ground!

The impact created a huge dent in the tile.

The leader of the attackers screamed twice, barely alive, and struggled to get up and run away.

But then he saw a young man looking down at him expressionlessly, stepping on his chest with one foot, and then suddenly and deftly pushing him back down.

"ah!"

“You harbored murderous intentions towards us, you were fully armed, and until just now you were still thinking about killing people and stealing their goods.” Yan Chuyi lowered her eyelashes calmly. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

"What happened?"

The attacker's head was throbbing with pain. He grabbed Yan Chuyi's leg and glared at her resentfully.

"Or have they already learned their lesson from someone?"

The attackers' leader's anger suddenly froze, and his pupils trembled uncontrollably.

It was as if fear had been etched into their very bones.

Yan Chuyi frowned slightly. The attacker's level was close to A+, and he could even fight against an S-level opponent.

If he's this scared, there might be some pretty tricky guys at the next stop.

"Tell me in detail." Yan Chuyi curled her lips, her tone calm, her gaze sweeping down into the dim light of the platform like a snare to the soul. "I don't like to fight, but that big guy who beat you up earlier was holding back a lot of anger."

In response to his words, a series of painful punches and kicks came from behind the platform, accompanied by screams of agony.

Captain Xu was advising, "Brian! Brian! Be careful with your shots. We still have things to interrogate them about. Don't kill them."

Hearing his subordinates plead for mercy, the leader of the attackers smiled bitterly, realizing that the situation was hopeless and that they had once again messed with the wrong people.

He opened his mouth, as if recalling a terrifying experience, his voice trembling slightly: "I don't know who they are. There was a very beautiful foreigner among them, who was inseparable from a child. His ability was vines, and he was very... scary."

But after they defeated us, they didn't kill us; instead, they gave us a lot of reinforcement parts.

"But our train was badly damaged and needed a lot of repairs, so we didn't dare chase after them for fear of running into them again. We decided to stay and loot some of the other teams' supplies, and then... Boss! We were wrong! We were really wrong, please forgive us!"

Yan Chuyi continued, "What do the others call their captain?"

Although the group was mostly made up of foreigners, there were also people from Middle-earth mixed in.

The leader of the attackers instinctively said, "It sounded like he was being called, the Apostle..."

The man's words came to an abrupt halt.

He suddenly covered his mouth, his eyes widened in horror, his body arched like a boiled shrimp, and he let out a painful scream of "Ah, ah—".

As if triggering a chain reaction, the man's skin trembled incessantly, bulging outwards in large patches, almost stretched to the point of being transparent. Several faint green lights could be seen flashing by, growing denser and denser with each wisp.

not good!

Yan Chuyi quickly got up and retreated, simultaneously deploying a mental barrier.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of soft, continuous popping sounds rang out.

Like fireworks exploding in an instant, dense, slender vines, stained with blood and flesh, surged out of the man's body in a frenzy. A living person was transformed into a lush cluster of blood-red plants in the blink of an eye!

The man seemed to still be conscious, his bloodshot eyes welling with tears of despair. He reached out from the vines, his hand trembling as he stretched towards Yan Chuyi.

Suddenly, several vines, like snakes, emerged from his wrist, tenderly piercing his fingers and sucking them vigorously.

In the blink of an eye, the flesh and blood shriveled up, even the bones were chewed up, leaving only a layer of soft skin.

The vines, nourished by the moisture, lazily stretched out their branches, reflecting a beautiful hue in the dim light.

Seeing this horrific scene, Yan Chu's heart skipped a beat, and she furrowed her brows tightly.

Suddenly, a tremendous force came from behind him, throwing him more than twenty meters away.

It's Brian.

The arrogant mercenary had never shown such a terrifying, panicked expression before. He shouted almost hoarsely at the players who were about to get off the vehicle in the distance, "Go back! Don't come any closer!!"

He quickly rolled up Yan Chuyi's sleeve: "Even a god-level player might not be able to detect being hit by the Blasphemous Vines of the God of Wine. Where have you come into contact with those vines? Tell me! Find them quickly!"

Just as Yan Chuyi was about to speak, her eyes suddenly narrowed, golden light enveloped her palm, and she forcefully pushed the big guy away.

Brian was instantly pushed several meters away and fell to the ground. He didn't even have time to stand up. He scrambled back on his hands and feet and suddenly stopped about a meter away from the young man.

In an instant, his eyes widened in shock and rage as he stared intently at a section of green vine winding upwards in mid-air, bursting out a furious curse: "Shit!"

Yan Chuyi's gaze also lingered on that lush green vine.

After a long pause, he took a deep breath, followed the vines downwards, and lifted his trouser leg. At his ankle, he saw roots as thin as hair, firmly embedded in his flesh.