Chapter 82: White Seems Safe, Let the Game Begin

Lin Mu had no intention of going to bed early. Last night, turning in too soon had cost him five lives and directly lost him ten sets of supplies.

He opened the convoy rankings.

[Handsome Convoy (10/30)] First place—Score: 224,019.

[Red Star Convoy (10/30)] Second place—Score: 9,621.

[Invincible Convoy (6/30)] Third place—Score: 6,112.

[...]

Not only had they lost vehicles, but their points had also dropped significantly.

Back to square one in the blink of an eye.

Tsk, what a miserable sight.

For other convoys, the bulk of the supplies likely went to the leader, with the rest divided among the team. When they lost their core members, their scores plummeted.

Lin Mu, on the other hand, was unaffected. The vehicles under him barely held any supplies at all.

Globally, convoy rankings showed a similar trend—everyone had lost points, the only difference being the extent of their losses.

Time ticked by, and the surrounding vehicles would flash intermittently, the glow of their protective shields lighting up the darkness.

Lin Mu drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for midnight.

Yet when the clock struck twelve, not only did the little dwarf from the previous night fail to appear, even the early warning devices remained silent.

"Could it be... only a one-time occurrence?"

Puzzled, Lin Mu opened the regional channel, where blood-red messages flooded the screen once again.

The killers were still the little dwarves.

Lin Mu rubbed his chin, unable to make sense of the situation. With this frequency, there should be more creatures appearing.

After five minutes, the barrage of frantic messages slowed, replaced by more coherent conversation.

“Damn, two of those green-poison dwarves showed up out of nowhere—scared me half to death. Luckily, my car was fast enough or I'd be done for.”

“I was a bit slower, almost totaled my vehicle.”

“That’s odd, our convoy didn’t encounter anything. Which convoy are you with?”

“I’m not in a convoy.”

“...”

So, tonight’s attacks had targeted solo players.

What about tomorrow night? Would it be a break, or would the convoys be targeted next?

Looks like many people wouldn’t be sleeping soundly tomorrow.

“Did none of you kill those dwarves? I took one out and it dropped a level-three vehicle core—just a bit light on supplies inside.”

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. So these dwarves carried vehicle cores and supplies?

Then why hadn’t the ones he killed dropped anything?

Perhaps tonight’s batch were the same group that had attacked the convoys the night before? Not impossible.

Lin Mu stretched, deciding to leave it for tomorrow—he’d find out soon enough.

...

The third day in the Poison Mist Maze.

Lin Mu drove off the main road, heading for the location of the first treasure chest.

“Warning, Master: dangerous road ahead. Please cease stealth mode.”

Screech!

Lin Mu hit the brakes and stopped.

He gazed out at the perfectly normal looking grassland, unable to discern any danger.

“The area ahead is high marshland. Vehicles are at risk of being swallowed.”

A marsh?

No big deal.

Lin Mu switched the tires for tracks, then floored the accelerator and drove in.

Through the window, the grass beneath seemed no different from usual, but on closer inspection, water glistened under the blades and the vehicle swayed slightly.

“Tsk, anyone wandering in by accident would be in serious trouble.”

But, he reasoned, few would venture this far—two kilometers from the main road—just for a resource chest. Not many vehicles would come this way.

Every few hundred meters, he encountered another patch of marsh. The areas varied in size, from a few dozen to several hundred square meters.

As long as luck held, there was little to fear.

Half an hour later.

Lin Mu reached the last chest.

Thud!

A cloud of greenish smoke erupted.

Here we go.

From this week onward, even the dangers associated with chest openings had changed—no more beasts, but something new.

The smoke was a deeper green than the surrounding mist; no doubt it was poisonous.

When the green haze dispersed, Lin Mu caught sight of three objects and twitched his lips—so, it really was true.

[Green Zombie]

[Danger Level: S]

[Recommendation: Shoot it.]

A sound suggestion.

This time, he skipped the heavy machine gun and used his talisman launcher instead.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Silent streaks of yellow light shot out, striking the three green zombies. Explosions echoed in rapid succession.

[Congratulations on slaying S-rank danger: Green Zombie. Obtained: Corpse Venom (S) x3, Corpse Skin (S) x3]

No need to guess—these were clearly alchemical ingredients.

Back on the main road, Lin Mu led his team onward.

Meanwhile, in front of another convoy, three portals of light had appeared.

“Boss, what on earth did you open?”

A bald man stared in confusion at the trio of glowing doors from inside his vehicle.

All they’d done was find a wishing bottle—since when did making a wish produce three portals?

And there was no way to opt out.

The lead vehicle’s driver swallowed hard. “I have no idea. I just wished for endless supplies, and these three doors appeared. So, what do we do now?”

They’d already tried to escape, but the surroundings were like invisible walls—no way out.

The white portal read “Basic Supplies,” the blue read “Food,” and the last, blood-red gate was marked “Blueprints.”

“Maybe we should pick the white one. Looks the safest. That red door looks dangerous—better not risk it.”

Though blueprints were far more valuable than basic supplies, you had to survive to enjoy them.

“What do the rest of you think?”

“Whatever the boss says.”

“Boss leads, we follow.”

For them, it made no difference where they went—survival was all that mattered.

“Alright, we’ll choose the white one.”

As the convoy drove through the white portal, a new game commenced.

[Congratulations, players, you have triggered the Resource Defense Battle. Duration: 24 hours. During this period, all abilities are permitted. Players are advised to proceed with caution. Note: Individual and convoy players will face different challenges. You have five minutes to make your choice. Remember: death here is real.]

A prompt appeared before everyone.

Solo players received the option to join a convoy, while convoy members were given the choice to forcibly withdraw.

Some within the convoy brightened at the opportunity.

Leaving a convoy was not an easy process. If you’d only joined in the last two days, you could quit immediately. But after a month, quitting required clicking the quit button, waiting forty-eight hours, and then clicking again to be teleported out.

During those forty-eight hours, there were plenty of ways for someone to kill you.

So even those dissatisfied with convoy life had no choice but to endure.

But now, an opportunity was before them.

One click—and they could escape their misery.

How could they not be excited?