Chapter 82
This teleportation was very strange. In the past, when Qiao Ning was teleported, everything went black and she couldn't see anything. But this time it was different.
She clearly saw countless faintly glowing passages in the endless dark void, and she herself was in one of them.
The ends of these passages stretch out to who knows where.
The passageway was filled with dazzling, multicolored lights that could make one feel dizzy if looked at for too long.
Perhaps only a few seconds had passed, or perhaps a long time had passed, when Qiao Ning saw a passageway appear before her, resembling a spatial black hole or a spacetime rift from a movie.
Qiao Ning was still hesitating whether to go in when she was sucked into the black hole the next second.
When she reappeared, Qiao Ning was already on a highway made up of garbage.
She wasn't mistaken; the road the car was on was indeed a road made of garbage, and even outside the road wall, there was an endless sea and mountain of garbage.
This is a world filled with all sorts of garbage and pollutants!
Not only that, a world filled with garbage naturally smells terrible. The stench of sourness, the pungent smell of toxic substances, the stench of decay, the fishy odor—a mixture of all sorts of unpleasant smells—is simply indescribable. One whiff and you'll vomit for three days and three nights; the worst part is, it's toxic.
Fortunately, Qiao Ning was teleported out into the car. Upon seeing the world outside the window, she immediately put on a gas mask and used an air-sealing membrane to completely enclose the car.
[Smart Assistant: Master, we have detected that your tires have been contaminated with a Level 1 pollutant. We recommend that you completely destroy and replace the tires.]
Qiao Ning did not hesitate and immediately clicked to change.
After the change was completed, she suddenly realized what had happened.
Huh? The backpack items are usable now? Doesn't that mean the storage items are unlocked?
Qiao Ning quickly checked the storage box, and sure enough, it had been unlocked.
But when she checked her friends list, she found it was still blocked. Everything was grayed out; she couldn't see anything.
However, the chat and trading channels are now open.
Qiao Ning wanted to send a message in the chat channel to quickly contact Pei Jing and the others to see how they were doing. Before she could even type anything, she realized something was wrong with the chat channel—
All players' IDs now have a pollution value number next to them. There are no longer server distinctions, only levels.
From highest to lowest, they were A, B, C, and so on. Qiao Ning saw an F-level, the lowest. The highest level... Qiao Ning only saw herself as an S-level; the highest level everyone else could see was A.
[Welcome, players, to the third trial of the Emperor's Trial, which is also your seventh cycle of natural disasters.] A virtual figure appeared in the sky. The figure had a female appearance, with long, black, wavy hair like seaweed, a red fitted dress, and exquisitely beautiful features, so perfect that there was not a single flaw on her body.
[I am the host of this trial of natural disasters. Next, I will tell you that there is no time limit for this natural disaster cycle, and there is no need to follow the survival rate rules. Players only need to find the "Law Stone" to purify the garbage world to pass this trial.]
It should be noted that there is only one Law Stone.
Only players who successfully complete the game will have the opportunity to leave this large-scale road survival game.
What this means, I think everyone already understands.
[Additionally, all players' performance in this Trial of Calamity will be broadcast live to players who were eliminated in the previous Trial of Calamity due to giving up but did not die.]
Players who perform well may receive popularity points from the audience, which can be exchanged for various items that might just save their lives in a crucial moment.
It's important to remind everyone that the world of trash is full of highly toxic substances, pollution, and monsters corrupted by pollution. Contact with trash can increase your pollution level, which is not a fun thing.
However, if you have a way to clean up some of the trash, you might have some unexpected gains.
Driving diligently on the garbage-strewn highway in search of supplies might yield some helpful items.
Alright, that concludes my tips for today. Have fun playing!
After saying these words, host number 1 disappeared.
Qiao Ning was organizing the information she had just gathered. Some of the host's words were unclear, but they did provide players with a lot of information.
First, there's the Law Stone, a necessary item for clearing the level, and there's only one of each. The chat channel has a whopping 9582 users online.
These people are likely veterans who survived and cleared the previous trial catastrophe. In short, probably none of them are easy to deal with.
Secondly, there are the so-called live stream viewers. Qiao Ning thinks it's highly likely that some players triggered or reached a certain standard during the last natural disaster, allowing the system to let them give up on clearing the level and exit the trial.
Since they're audience members, and there's this "popularity points for items" system, there must be a large number of audience members. Therefore, her friends are very likely still alive!
This was the best news she could have received.
Thirdly, there are pollution values and pollution monsters, as well as two ways to harvest resources: cleaning up trash and driving a car.
Neither of these two methods is easy.
Because trash itself is a pollutant, it can increase the player's pollution level.
Host #1 only said that increased pollution levels are not a good thing, but didn't explain the specific harms involved. Qiao Ning, however, is not optimistic about this.
This game has so many frustrating mechanics. It's been frustrating from the very beginning until now. Qiao Ning estimates that players are almost developing PTSD from all the frustration.
She had initially thought the air membrane was a life-saving tool from the previous natural disaster, but now it seems that the real use of the air membrane was in the third level.
Luckily, she didn't waste it, otherwise she would have been ruined by the game.
With the air membrane providing protection, Qiao Ning doesn't need to worry about her car being polluted and corroded by garbage for the time being.
However, the air membrane has a limited lifespan. Given the current level of pollution, an air membrane can last for about 24 hours.
However, if the level of environmental pollution worsens, it may not necessarily be 24 hours.
The product description states that the air membrane can last for at least 4 hours.
She only has 10 air membranes.
Qiao Ning felt an unprecedented sense of urgency, realizing she needed to find supplies as quickly as possible.
It might be because the people in the chat channel are no longer players who need to unite, but rather competitors for survival.
She didn't want others to die, but she didn't want to die at someone else's hands either. She had lived through so many worlds plagued by natural disasters, not to fatten herself up and then be slaughtered.
While the smart assistant was driving, Qiao Ning started drawing blind box coins.
Although the third trial is unlikely to be that simple, allowing her to directly draw the air membrane, but... what if? She should at least give it a try.
She believes in the power of the golden talent of being a wish box collector, but the key is the word "wishes".
Even if we can't extract the air membrane, it would be good if we could extract other useful things.
She did a single draw first and got materials.
The materials are good, and they can upgrade the car.
Next comes a ten-pull.
Most of it consisted of materials, along with some blueprints and props that she already owned.
Qiao Ning continued drawing, and after nearly a thousand draws, she finally drew a blueprint for a pollution purifier.
Meanwhile, today's lucky star passively triggered.
Qiao Ning stopped drawing her weapon.
She clicked on the description of the pollution purifier blueprint. It was an instrument created by the gods, capable of purifying all pollutants. Materials required for its manufacture: Dark Stone Fragments, Diamond Ore, Mixed Metals, Titanium Alloy, S-Class Pollutants, and S-Class Pollution Monsters.
Qiao Ning immediately closed the introduction, giving up for the time being.
The smart home system has driven hundreds of kilometers, consuming a lot of gasoline and other energy, but we haven't seen a single supply box.
In the chat channel, people would occasionally send messages asking to buy various items, but Qiao Ning would just glance at them. She didn't send any requests; she figured who would be willing to provide supplies to their survival competitors, who were all potential threats to her life.
Some people were even wailing in the chat channel, describing their plight as utterly miserable. To Qiao Ning's shock, some people actually believed them and traded supplies with them. However, a short while later, the person who had kindly initiated the trade was disconnected and eliminated.
It's not about being eliminated while alive, but about being disconnected due to death.
Qiao Ning didn't even know how that person died.
Having experienced numerous natural disasters, she had seen countless SOS messages. Initially, these messages put immense pressure on her, causing her to feel intense guilt. However, she rarely showed these feelings and never spoke of them to anyone.
But after seeing more of this, Qiao Ning gradually managed to alleviate the pressure of this psychological guilt. As the game progressed and players formed their own teams and factions, they rarely asked for help in the chat channel; they mostly sought help from people they knew.
After all, this is a brutal survival game. If your friends won't help you, how can you expect complete strangers to help you?
Nine out of ten of the requests for help in the later chat channels were malicious, with only a very small number genuinely needing assistance.
When browsing chat channels, Qiao Ning tries her best to verify the authenticity of information and selectively helps some people. As for others, she simply cannot help everyone.
In this world ravaged by natural disaster, there are no allies, only enemies. Qiao Ning knew of some people who were not only powerful but also kind and principled by nature, but she never expected the saying "good people don't live long" to come true so quickly.
Qiao Ning observed the chat channel silently for a long time and came to a conclusion: Don't believe a single punctuation mark in any of the information above.
Especially when recruiting teammates for cooperation.
That's all bullshit.
Qiao Ning watched for a long time, realizing it was a complete waste of time watching a bunch of actors perform an undercover game. These powerful figures who had survived so many natural disasters should have had some degree of trust between them, because the first five disaster worlds all required high survival rates and the unity of players from different servers to get through them.
However, at this stage, a single Law Stone instantly shattered everyone's fragile trust.
Qiao Ning had already scanned the player list. She was relieved that none of her friends were in this level; they were probably all in the audience. That was fine too. Maybe they could even cheer her on if they saw her livestream.
Just as Qiao Ning was about to close the chat channel, she suddenly saw a message from a player:
[Level B Lin Yufeng (25 Contamination Value)]: Be careful of Huang Longsheng, everyone! He's a killer with A-level strength! He's already killed several people. If he appears near you, there will be a red marker on the map. Everyone must run immediately and not let him catch you. One of my friends has already been killed and dismembered by him. He's a monster!
Qiao Ning finished reading the message in a second and glanced at the system map.
What a coincidence.
She saw red markers, and more than one.
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