38. Picking up people
The person who said they were preparing to attempt a hard landing was none other than "Gardener Old Wang," who had previously posted that he was next to a terrestrial planet.
With less than an hour left before the end of the seven-day newbie protection period, "Gardener Old Wang" realized that he had no chance of collecting the supply cabins needed for the upgrade, so he decided to take a gamble.
Having made up his mind, he didn't hesitate at all. He quickly redeemed a thruster from the game store and charged towards the planet's atmosphere with unstoppable momentum.
Such a scene is rare, and as soon as the news came out, it quickly attracted countless viewers to watch the spectacle in the live broadcast room.
Come on, everyone, come and see the excitement! I love watching PUBG scenes like this!
Although theoretically there are no restrictions during the newbie protection period, there's always a chance of something going wrong.
The streamer had no other choice; since he was going to die anyway, he might as well take a gamble.
...
As his name suggests, "Old Wang the Gardener" was once a gardener in a manor on Earth, and his residence was a small building separate from the main manor building.
From the God's-eye view of the live stream viewers, the small building was quickly captured by the planet's gravity and crashed into the planet's surface like a meteor—a truly exhilarating free fall.
In contrast, the anchor's perspective was much more terrifying. The azure planet in front of him rapidly magnified, initially appearing as a gigantic sphere that inspired awe. Then, it transformed into an endless flat surface. Subsequently, the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas on the surface began to rapidly enlarge, gradually becoming clear enough to distinguish the vegetation on them.
Before the audience could even gasp, the entire building crashed onto the planet's surface with a deafening roar.
From God's perspective, the damage Xiaolou caused to the planet's surface was no different from that caused by a meteorite of equal mass. The impact wave even triggered a deafening explosion, creating a giant crater nearly 100 meters in diameter on the planet's surface. The damage radiated outwards, rapidly destroying everything on the ground, leaving only billowing smoke and scorching heat as far as the eye could see.
As expected of a novice protected from the heat inside a star, even though the landing site was smashed to pieces, the little building that was the instigator remained intact, and even without experiencing any bumps due to the gravity adjustment device.
From the God's-eye view in the live stream, "Gardener Old Wang's" little building stands firmly in the newly created crater, unmoved, surrounded by the endless green forests of the Earth-like planet's surface, giving off a strangely serene and peaceful feeling.
That's it?
The thrill-seeking audience quickly dispersed, and those who had been worried about "Old Wang the Gardener" were relieved. Only Old Wang the Gardener slumped on the floor, his face beaming with the joy of surviving a close call.
After confirming that "Old Wang the Gardener" was alright, Pi Min turned off the live stream and began to look around at the newly upgraded residence in front of her.
From the game system's top-down perspective, the junkyard and sanatorium, which were originally haphazardly stuck together like a child's failed handiwork, have now become an integrated whole, like the body of an insect. The junkyard is the head, the sanatorium is the torso, the food processing plant and the arsenal are the outstretched limbs, and the medical wing is a pair of wings.
The former scrap metal recycling station has been upgraded into a central control room. Not only has a row of control panels been added, but the originally dilapidated interior has also been completely renovated and is full of a futuristic feel. Even the two potted roses that Pimin had casually placed in the room now have their own independent planting pods, making it look much more upscale.
Looking at his dwelling, which had been successfully upgraded into a spaceship, Pimin was eager to try it out and couldn't resist testing all its functions. First, he used the food processing plant to produce a batch of food, then he used the armory to mass-produce a batch of soldiers, and then he activated the Crystal Energy Core to give the faster-than-light engine a small test.
The spaceship's operating system was highly intelligent, and Pi Min was pleasantly surprised to find that even a novice like her could easily control it.
She was excitedly testing the spaceship's new features, but the voice chat was talking about other players' miserable experiences.
The new player protection period is about to end, and things are really chaotic right now.
[I just saw someone was about to commit suicide, should I go check on them?]
Let's go together!
...
The test had just ended, and out of curiosity, she couldn't help but take a look.
The live stream host was a black-faced sheep, dressed exquisitely in a lace dress and a pink bow in her hair. When Pimin opened the live stream, the black-faced sheep was grabbing a rope hanging from the rafters, preparing to hang herself.
The comments section was filled with advice, but unfortunately, the more they tried to persuade them, the worse it got.
[Streamer, you're not completely hopeless yet. You can enter the dungeon.]
"I don't have any dungeon cards."
[Host, don't be impulsive, it's not that bad yet. Look at how many points you have, you can always buy a supply pod.]
"I don't have enough points to buy a single supply pod."
[Host, you're not afraid of death, so why would you be afraid of living? Every second counts!]
"Since I'm going to die anyway, I've decided to choose a more dignified way to die. I've heard that a person will explode if exposed to a vacuum, and I don't want to die such a gruesome death."
After finishing speaking, the black-faced sheep straightened the bow on its head and put the rope around its neck without hesitation.
"Thank you for your concern, goodbye!" she said, kicking over the stool she was standing on.
No! Don't!
[Help! Someone please save her!]
[Ugh... I feel so helpless, like I can't even reach my hand into the screen!]
...
I don't know if it's because the black-faced sheep is just too cute, or because the streamer's voice is a cute little girl's voice, sounding very young. Unlike the group of people in the "Gardener Old Wang" live stream who just wanted to see Old Wang die, most of the viewers in this live stream were full of goodwill towards the streamer. When they saw this scene, there was a chorus of wails.
Although the animal effects meant that only a black-faced sheep was hanging from the rafters, Pi Min still felt her hands and feet go cold when she saw the scene in person.
After a moment of stunned silence, she suddenly realized what was happening.
Each live stream room has a designated streamer; she has a teleportation device, and perhaps she can save her!
"Egg, quick! We need to save them!"
If it weren't for the fusion sanatorium, she would never have meddled. She was also afraid of letting a wolf into her home.
But now she has a sanatorium, and only she can open the door leading to it, which means that she can make the sanatorium an independent space if she wants.
With an independent space to house refugees, where they don't have to worry about their own safety and have plenty of food and water, she can naturally go out and rescue people without worry.
When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when prosperous, one should benefit all under heaven. Having just received a wave of god-level rewards, possessing ample food and water, and even commanding a robot army, she would despise herself if she lacked the courage to save lives.
People can unleash boundless potential when they are in a desperate situation. Pi Min quickly adjusted the destination of the warp drive to Black Sheep's location, and the time jump, docking, and kicking down the door were all executed with fluid movements.
Only two minutes had passed by the time Dandan untied the person from the rope.
Some people can hold their breath for two minutes, and Pi Min breathed a sigh of relief.
"Cough cough cough—" Sure enough, without even needing their first aid, the black-faced sheep had recovered on its own. Apart from its face being red and a red mark around its neck, it was otherwise unharmed.
The black-faced sheep's true form was a girl who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, with chubby cheeks and a baby face. Upon recognizing her savior, her eyes widened in disbelief: "You, you're the number one 'Happy to Be Mischievous'?"
"Yes, it's me."
How did you get here?
“I saw your live stream, and since I happened to have a warp drive on hand, I gave it a try.”
The little girl stared at her intently, her face full of admiration.
Just as Pi Min was feeling a little embarrassed by her gaze, the little girl suddenly rushed over and hugged her leg: "Big boss, please take me with you! Save me to the end, big boss! I'm very useful, I can work, and I can say nice things. It's worth it to save me, really!"
Player "Pink Pig Girl" gifted all her assets to player "Happy to Be Mischievous".
As the system notification sounded in his ear, Pi Min couldn't help but sigh, "What a sensible girl!"
She came here to save lives, and since the other party had gone to such lengths, she readily agreed: "You can choose a room in my sanatorium."
"Yay!" the little girl cheered and excitedly danced around the room, showing no sign that she had just escaped death.
Seeing her exaggerated reaction, Pi Min suddenly realized that the black-faced sheep was also black and white, and black and white animals are somewhat eccentric.
Infected by her joy, the previously gloomy and depressing live broadcast room was instantly filled with a happy atmosphere.
After settling "Peppa Pig" into the sanatorium, Pi Min officially posted an announcement on the forum.
"If you are certain that you cannot complete the housing upgrade, please do not do anything foolish. You can try sending me your coordinates first, and I will do my best to save you."
Before the players could even react to the news, the high-dimensional viewers who had been waiting in her live stream to see what would happen were already excited.
[Come quick, everyone! That idiot is saving people again!]
Pi Min: ...
Are you polite?
This must be the most saintly player in the history of the Space Drift game.
[Other people's number one on the leaderboard, kill, kill, kill; this person's number one on the leaderboard, save, save, save!]
I've been waiting for her to be ruined by her own kindness, but she seems to be thriving instead.
Is this the correct way to play this game?
[Impossible. She can't stay lucky forever. I bet she'll crash and burn this time.]
...
Although the audience was not optimistic about him, Pi Min still bowed solemnly to the camera.
"Thank you all for your concern. I will do my best to continue saving lives."
The upgraded spaceship was indeed incredibly powerful. Pi Min had been worried that he wouldn't be able to quickly identify those who truly needed help. But before he could even voice his concerns, the spaceship's mainframe automatically prioritized all those in need of assistance based on their urgency.
All she had to do was pick the person up step by step.
[Attention all players, the seven-day new player protection period is about to end. Please pay attention to the time and complete the game tasks on time.]
Presumably to prevent any careless players from forgetting the time, the game system thoughtfully displayed a bright red 30-minute countdown in front of all players.
Of the billions of people in the world, at least hundreds of millions are unable to complete the upgrade. Pi Min cannot save everyone, but she can do her best to save as many people as possible.
Unfortunately, an individual's strength is ultimately limited. Even though she pressed the warp drive until it was smoking, without saying a word, and picked up people and left, she still only managed to save less than a hundred people.
As the countdown was about to reach zero, Pi Min, who was exhausted from running around, experienced an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.
Knowing how brutal the game was, she expected hundreds of millions of people to die; however, reality was far more brutal than she imagined.
When the 30-minute countdown reached zero, the number of online players on the forum instantly halved.
Everyone was mourning the lives lost when the mainframe screen, which had gone dark, suddenly lit up.
Pi Min's eyes lit up, thinking it was a miracle. But when he opened it, he discovered that the distress signal was coming from "Old Wang the Gardener," who had already landed on an Earth-like planet.
"Boss, help!"
Having lost the protection of the novice period, the small building, which remained as stable as Mount Tai even when it collided with the planet's surface, is now shaking ominously, as if it is being attacked by some unknown creature.
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