Chapter 48
"How did you end up here?" Qiao Ning didn't ask why it had turned into a giant wolf. Ice Scale always changed its disguise frequently, and she was used to it.
She was just curious: weren't ice scales only active at night? Why did they seem to be adapted to daytime now?
Binglin was unable to speak and didn't know how to explain to Qiao Ning, so he could only try his best to make her understand through his actions.
It first ran towards the road, then pretended to bump into something and fell to the ground. It raised its paw to the sky, then lay listlessly on the ground for a moment.
Then it ran wild and frolicked across the ice field.
He gestured and performed for a while, which amused Qiao Ning.
Since meeting this strange fellow, Qiao Ning smiled much more often. Even the usual dejected and gloomy aura she carried had faded considerably.
Qiao Ning could roughly understand its meaning.
Ice Scales should be able to move freely on roads at night, but during the day, if they are on roads, their strength will be greatly reduced, and they may even be in danger of dying.
During the day, it usually lives on the ice sheet, living as neighbors with these ice sheet beasts.
No wonder I encountered Icescale last night; it was injured and had probably fought with some kind of ferocious beast from the ice plains.
Ice Scale is powerful, but this icy plain is full of hidden talents, and many big guys make Qiao Ning tremble with fear. It's not surprising that there are beings who can fight Ice Scale head-on.
Everything else is easy to explain, but Qiao Ning only has one question in her mind right now.
Why do you pretend not to recognize me every time you change your appearance?
Binglin looked up at the sky, then looked down at the ice field ants, looking left and right, but just wouldn't look at Qiao Ning.
Qiao Ning gave a fake laugh: "Pretending not to understand me again?"
Whether it was the heat or something else, Binglin, a majestic and imposing giant wolf, stuck out its tongue and moved closer to Qiao Ning, its large, watery, icy blue eyes gazing at her.
The giant wolf had thick, stiff fur, but the soft fur on its belly was warm, instantly dispelling the surrounding cold for Qiao Ning and even blocking out the wind and snow.
It has to be said that in this kind of weather, having a furry animal around is better than any warm clothing.
Qiao Ning didn't ask the previous question again, taking it as Bing Lin being mischievous. This guy looked big and intelligent, but his way of thinking was more like a child's. He was playful, loved to eat, and was lively and mischievous. He often deliberately did little things to attract Qiao Ning's attention, wanting her to play with him.
Qiao Ning's main purpose in entering the ice field this time was to hunt down the ferocious beasts of the ice field and take back a few beast cores to study. She did not expect to encounter ice scales.
Unfortunately, the oxygen is thin and the temperature is too low here, so she can't stay here indefinitely.
Binglin wanted to help her hunt a few wild beasts, but Qiao Ning chased it away to play by itself—its aura was too strong and would scare away any wild beasts Qiao Ning could handle.
The remaining ones that didn't run away were either exceptionally large or extremely ferocious and difficult to deal with.
"You're a wolf now, don't you hide your scent when you hunt?" She thought wild animals would conceal their scent and tracks to make hunting and escaping easier.
Binglin rolled around in the snow, getting covered in snow, and then deliberately rubbed against Qiao Ning.
Sometimes it would approach silently from behind, pounce suddenly, knock her down, and make her fall face down into the thick snow.
Qiao Ning was furious and was about to hit the dog, but Bing Lin ran away quickly, turning back and howling twice as if urging her to chase after it.
Qiao Ning strongly suspects that Bing Lin is treating her like a toy.
After observing for a while, she discovered that Icescale never concealed its aura or claw marks, swaggering around wherever it went. Moreover, the lower the temperature, the more active and excited it became, like an Alaskan Malamute unleashing its natural instincts. Qiao Ning even wanted to harness it to a sled and pull it around to burn off some energy.
After being deliberately interfered with by Binglin for the nth time, Qiao Ning finally couldn't help but hit the dog. After disciplining it, she chased it even further away and forbade it from returning until the appointed time.
Without the interference of the ice scales, Qiao Ning quickly hunted down a fanged rabbit.
This is also an expert runner and jumper, and it's carnivorous. When it sees her, its eyes turn blood red, and it pounces on her with its three-lobed mouth wide open. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a mutated zombie rabbit from the zombie world.
Qiao Ning regularly trains to improve her basic attributes; otherwise, she might not have been able to kill it.
The rabbit is an extra-large XXXXL, with a single tusk that is half a meter long. Qiao Ning doesn't have scales or thick fur; she relies entirely on the defensive capabilities of the equipment she wears.
The temperature was too low, and the tusked rabbit's blood congealed shortly after it flowed out. After Qiao Ning finished dissecting it, she discovered that the tusked rabbit did not have a beast core inside its body.
In the end, all they got was a damaged rabbit skin.
Qiao Ning killed several more wild animals, from rabbits to pheasants, all of them plus-sized.
Of the seven beasts, Qiao Ning obtained five beast cores, which resembled marbles she played with in her childhood. They were ice blue, translucent and crystal clear, and the same size as the originals, as if they had been copied and pasted together.
Qiao Ning had spent too much time and energy here, but thinking that she wouldn't be able to see Ice Scales again after returning to the highway, she played with it for a while longer.
Ice Scale was particularly clever. Seeing her examining the beast cores over and over again, it actually went and hunted a few back as well.
Admiringly, it had Qiao Ning tie the beast core to the long fur on its chest. The silver-frost wolf fur was braided into several strands, and paired with translucent blue beads, it actually looked quite pretty.
"I should go." Qiao Ning stood up from the snow and brushed the snow off her body.
Ice Scale watched her quietly for a while, then squatted down and, following the actions Qiao Ning had taught it, raised its front paws and placed its large, fluffy paws on her hand to say goodbye.
In the icy snow, the giant wolf sat there quietly and alone, watching Qiao Ning's departing figure.
Even when she was out of sight, it kept watching, as if waiting for her to suddenly appear and surprise it, to tell it that she wasn't leaving and would continue to play with it.
Qiao Ning suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.
She slung her backpack over her shoulder and kept walking forward until she reached the road without daring to look back, for fear that she would be reluctant to leave.
Back in the warm car, Qiao Ning's body quickly warmed up.
She took out the five beast cores and examined them closely.
Similar items frequently appear in regular online games. Some can be used to socket equipment, some are used to upgrade equipment, and others are used to feed or upgrade pets...
Qiao Ning tried them one by one, initially dismissed by the system's simple "cannot be used," but later receiving more detailed instructions such as "This item is a special item; please explore the correct way to use it."
This proves that beast cores can indeed be used by players, but the method is incorrect.
Qiao Ning stared at the crystal core in her hand, which glowed with a pale blue light, for a moment. Since all other methods had been tried and failed, there was only one use left.
In games, there are often some items that cannot be used on external objects, but can directly affect the player.
They are often used to significantly improve player attributes, unlock certain skills, or break through realms, etc. It depends on the game's background.
This beast core cannot be used for external objects. Could it be that the player used it directly?
However, clicking on the image of the beast core in the backpack only displays words such as "destroy" and "abandon," without the option to "use."
A somewhat crazy idea suddenly popped into Qiao Ning's mind.
She picked up a beast core, hesitated for a few seconds, and then put it in her mouth.
The moment the beast core entered her mouth, it transformed into a cool energy that rushed into her body and circulated throughout her entire being. Immediately afterward, Qiao Ning lost consciousness.
When she woke up again, it was already dark, and the outside temperature was as low as minus thirty-five degrees Celsius. The smart assistant had been monitoring the temperature inside the car, as well as Qiao Ning's various physical data, and automatically increased the number of warming water balloons placed when she felt cold.
Otherwise, Qiao Ning might freeze to death in her sleep, or at least fall into a coma or get sick from the cold.
Qiao Ning sat up and suddenly felt that the car was too warm, so hot that she was sweating. So she asked the smart butler to remove a few of the heating water balloons.
Even when the temperature was lowered to a few degrees above zero, she didn't feel cold at all.
Qiao Ning opened the car window, held her breath, and a sharp ice arrow suddenly condensed in her palm. With a slight thought, the ice arrow was launched and pierced the thick and hard ice on the highway in the blink of an eye!
Qiao Ning stared blankly at her palm for a long time before she came back to her senses.
Has she... become a superhero?
No, that's not right. To be precise, it should be that after consuming the beast core, he awakened and unlocked some kind of skill. But this skill isn't displayed in the system attribute panel...
Taking a single beast core caused her to fall into a coma for over ten hours, so Qiao Ning dared not take any more.
Thankfully, no monsters attacked the car or she encountered any other dangers while she was unconscious, otherwise she wouldn't even know how she died.
Next time she takes the beast core, try to do it in a service area. There are safety regulations there, so as long as she doesn't cause trouble, she's absolutely safe. Just find a hotel to stay in; she can remain unconscious for a day or two without any problem.
For the rest of the time, Qiao Ning had the smart assistant drive while she sat on the roof, constantly practicing new skills.
From the initial single ice arrow, to several, dozens, or even hundreds. Not only did the number of arrows increase, but their attack power also grew stronger.
She later developed other forms of attack or defense: ice blades, ice seals, ice walls...
Qiao Ning became more and more engrossed in her studies, and before she knew it, dawn had broken.
On the fifth day of the natural disaster, there was heavy snow, a level 4 cold wind, and a 1% chance of an ice and snow tornado.
The system's weather forecast became increasingly detailed. Seeing the ice and snow tornadoes in the background, Qiao Ning instantly recalled the volcanic eruption disaster she had witnessed in the chess and card room of the Cloud Island Garden Restaurant.
Such a natural disaster is beyond human resistance. If it were to occur, the player would undoubtedly perish. All means would be futile in the face of the absolute power of nature, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The game system initially claimed that this natural disaster wouldn't escalate, which is complete nonsense; it's clearly much worse than the previous two.
Qiao Ning took a shower and ate something while opening the chat channel.
The number of online players dropped to 80,000 at some point, and the sharp drop in temperature eliminated many players who were not well prepared beforehand.
She took out the cold-dispelling soup she had prepared in advance and stored in her storage box, and put it in the trading area. A bowl of cold-dispelling soup could be exchanged for a few basic ingredients, so even the poorest people could afford it.
In addition, some medicines and warm clothing supplies were put on the shelves. The things that I asked Sister Wang to make were also finished. There was still one-third of the leather left, and the rest had been made into various leather coats, leather gloves, leather boots, etc.
After paying the final payment to Sister Wang with the heated water balloon, Qiao Ning put the newly acquired leather goods on the market. The items she exchanged included materials, healing potions, rare blueprints, talent experience books, skill books, rare skill cards, equipment, as well as special items such as gems and dark stone fragments.
Items like gasoline, drinking water, ordinary cotton clothing for warmth, and medicine are essential for survival. Qiao Ning sells them at low prices to give players a better chance of survival and increase their survival rate.
Leather goods are considered somewhat luxurious items. Qiao Ning herself spent a lot of leather and materials, and paid a large sum of money for a heated water balloon to obtain them, so of course she couldn't sell them cheaply.
While Qiao Ning was counting the acquired supplies, a system announcement suddenly appeared:
[Attention players! Gold and Diamond Chests spawn in different areas. Click on this message to view the coordinates and teleport there. There will also be special icons for each type of chest on the system map.]
[These two rare treasure chests contain a large amount of top-tier resources. The final winners will be rewarded with two limited-time titles: "Golden Treasure Chest Hunter" and "Diamond Treasure Chest Hunter." These titles will significantly increase a player's treasure chest cap, drop rate, and quality for seven days. (Title effects and time limits are not stackable.)]
[During the treasure chest's appearance, the road barriers will disappear, and supply crates will no longer spawn on the road. Killing players will increase your kill score, but it won't make you a red-named player. To become stronger, players should try their best to obtain treasure chests!]
Upon hearing the last message, Qiao Ning paused slightly. Before she could react, she heard a familiar whimpering sound from a great distance.
Unlike the threatening low growl used when facing the enemy, the growl at this moment was full of joy.
Qiao Ning opened the car door and got out. Unsurprisingly, she saw a giant, silver-white wolf in the distance, its claws outstretched, rushing towards her through the snowstorm.
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