Chapter 32#
Zhao Xing took a deep breath, trying to advise him earnestly. “Little friend L, you need to control your spending. I don’t need you to go broke or even take out a high-interest loan just to tip me. Your parents work hard to make money too.”
[L: I don’t have parents.]
Zhao Xing paused. “Then where do you get all that money?”
L took a while before replying.
[L: I earned it all with my own abilities.]
Zhao Xing finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
It seemed this person, though young, had at least started working.
Zhao Xing: “And your personal loans…”
[L: Not a big problem. I have everything under control.]
Zhao Xing gradually relaxed.
Since this person, just coming of age, could earn hundreds of thousands through their own ability, there was probably no need for Zhao Xing to worry about their personal finances.
But just to be safe, Zhao Xing added, “No more tipping me with loans.”
[L: Got it, big brother.]
Since L had gone this far, Zhao Xing couldn’t bring himself to refuse his kindness. Gritting his teeth, he bought a one-time room card for a single room.
After buying the room card, he had 42.33 points left.
Zhao Xing continued walking east.
But this time, he walked while observing his surroundings, searching for task cards.
On this island, even eating and sleeping required points, and Zhao Xing couldn’t rely entirely on L’s tips.
Half an hour later, Zhao Xing completely gave up on the idea of earning points through trivial tasks.
It wasn’t that Zhao Xing was blind and couldn’t find task cards.
Nor was he being picky, looking down on one or two points.
The main issue was that the task cards he found were like these—
[Please find two flawless flowers and use them to poison a root-destroying worm.]
[There’s a yellowcrest bird mother nearby who can’t find her chicks. Please help her.]
[Please taste a poisonous fruit.]
[Please swim naked for five minutes and interact with the audience in the livestream.]
…
What were flawless flowers? What were root-destroying worms? And what in the world were yellowcrest birds?!
Come on!
Was the producer of this show completely ignoring the plight of the EF Group underground humans?!
And what was that about tasting a poisonous fruit? Was that a task any mentally sound human would accept?!
Lastly! Who was the little genius who came up with the naked swimming for five minutes task? And interacting with the audience—was this really not crossing the line into something inappropriate?!
He had seriously overestimated the lower limit of F101. Turns out this stupid show wasn’t just about blood and violence—it was blatantly dabbling in pornography too, huh?!
Let whoever wanted to do these brain-dead tasks do them.
Zhao Xing crumpled the task card in his hand and threw it to the ground.
It was noon, and the sun overhead blazed like a fireball, radiating a heat Zhao Xing had never experienced before.
The advanced protective suit L had given him was breathable, but D014’s coat and mask were not.
Sweat trickled down his forehead, and his vision swam.
Having grown up in an underground city without ever seeing sunlight, Zhao Xing couldn’t handle this kind of ordeal. Before long, he was so hot he couldn’t take it anymore. He stripped off his coat and mask, stopped moving, and sat down directly under a big tree to cool off.
Nearby, there happened to be an electronic board, with comments scrolling rapidly.
“Aaaaaah how did D014 become F101? What did I miss?”
“We’re all friends here, don’t go spreading things in other channels~”
“How is F101 this handsome? That face is incredible.”
“What a shame. Why didn’t F101 take that naked swimming task? That card was worth 3 points!”
Then came a color VIP comment.
[If handsome F101 is willing to take that naked swimming task, this young lady will tip 50,000.]
“Aaaaah! 3 points plus 50,000 is 8 points! F101, go pick up that task card quickly!”
[I can add another 20,000!]
“10 points! 10 points! F101, hurry up!”
“Hahahahahaha, is there any kind-hearted guy or girl willing to add more bounty so we can feast our eyes?”
[L: No.]
[L: Wait a moment, big brother.]
Zhao Xing was originally fanning himself with a leaf, glancing at the comments from time to time, treating them as entertainment without any intention to interact. But when he saw L’s comment, he immediately sat up straight.
“L, you’re not thinking of tipping me with another loan, are you? Don’t you dare.”
After about a minute, L slowly posted another comment.
[L: Got it.]
[L: But you can’t swim naked.]
Zhao Xing let out a disdainful scoff and tossed away the leaf fan. “Who the hell wants to swim naked? I’m not selling my body.”
The comments got excited again, with a bunch of people shouting about shipping something, though he had no idea what they were shipping.
After resting enough, Zhao Xing put his coat and mask back on and said lazily, “Alright, I’m heading out. Where the hell is the charging station to the east? I’ve been walking so long and still haven’t gotten there?”
The comments suddenly started flooding with question marks.
“???”
“???”
“Huh, east? Haven’t you been walking west this whole time??”
Zhao Xing: “???”
“The direction the sun rises is east. How did F101 manage to get lost while looking at the sun?”
Zhao Xing: “……”
Zhao Xing looked at the sun, then at the screen full of question marks, and finally had to admit he’d been going the wrong way.
Helplessly, he lowered his head and smiled. “Sorry, I’ve never seen the sun before.”
The comments fell silent for a moment.
Then a few tips popped up.
[Viewer “30841695” tipped F101 500 yuan, automatically converted to 0.05 points.]
[Viewer “Little Magic Fish” tipped F101 200 yuan, automatically converted to 0.02 points.]
[Viewer “I’m Just Rich” tipped F101 10,000 yuan, automatically converted to 1 point.]
Zhao Xing raised an eyebrow in surprise, said thanks, put his mask back on, turned around, and walked in the correct direction—east.
Because he had been going the wrong way, it wasn’t until 4 PM that Zhao Xing finally reached his destination.
Pushing aside the leafy branches blocking his view, Zhao Xing indeed saw the charging station on the white sandy beach at the easternmost tip of the island.
But that white sandy beach wasn’t just occupied by a charging station.
There were also over twenty people.
Among them, Zhao Xing spotted two familiar faces.
C005—Su Ye.
And F078—the same Su family enforcer from K13 District who had once fought Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing didn’t know his name, only that his surname was Su and he was skilled in combat.
But now, this tall, sturdy enforcer was tied to a wooden frame.
Under the transparent mask, his eyes stared blankly at the sky. The once fierce look in his eyes had dimmed, as if he wouldn’t care if he died the next second.
In front of him stood a Blue Star person holding a dagger.
That Blue Star person’s number was B077. He was only 20 cm tall, but his wings were huge, spanning half a meter when fully spread.
He looked about to cry. “I, I don’t want to stab him!”
Su Ye sneered. “What are you hesitating for? Or are you saying you’re a bionic robot disguised among us?”
Through the whispers of the other twenty or so people, Zhao Xing quickly understood the situation.
It turned out that after half a day of troubleshooting , they had basically confirmed that the high-level bionic robot wasn’t in Group EF.
But cutting off the fingers of Group ABCD members wasn’t so easy, so they came up with another method—
Bionic robots on the surface had an iron rule they must follow: they could never harm humans or Blue Star people.
So they decided to use members of Group EF as test subjects.
Only those who had personally harmed someone could be ruled out as bionic robot suspects.
B077 was still hesitating, but others were getting impatient.
“B077, what are you waiting for? You’re the only one left!”
“Even though bionic robots are more likely to be disguised as Group CD members, you’re looking pretty suspicious right now.”
“Exactly. It’s just one cut, not murder. Why are you so slow?”
…
“Hurry up! The sun’s about to set! White Tower is far from here!”
B077 gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and tremblingly used the dagger to cut F078’s arm.
F078 let out an exhausted moan.
“I smell someone else’s scent!” a Blue Star person suddenly shouted, turning to look in Zhao Xing’s direction.
Zhao Xing’s heart jolted, and he immediately stepped back.
The next second, a laser beam shot out. The thick tree trunk blocking Zhao Xing was cleanly cut in half, crashing to the ground with a thud.
Zhao Xing was completely exposed.
His expression remained fairly calm, but cold sweat had already soaked his back.
—That laser beam had been less than 10 cm from him.
He had still underestimated these surface humans’ weapons.
Su Ye retracted her laser gun, her gaze sweeping over Zhao Xing’s number. “D014, come out.”
Zhao Xing quickly assessed the combat power of the twenty-plus Group ABCD members on the opposite side. Realizing he really couldn’t fight them or escape, he silently lowered his head and walked out.
Of course, before coming out, he discreetly discarded D004’s weapon.
After all, D004 was an accomplice of Su Ye, and it wouldn’t be good if he was recognized.
But he couldn’t remove D004’s belt. Fortunately, it was pure black and not a particularly unique style—two D Group players ahead were wearing similar ones.
Once Zhao Xing came out, Su Ye directly tossed him a dagger. “Since you’ve been eavesdropping for so long, you should know what you need to do now, right?”
Zhao Xing caught the dagger midair but said nothing.
F078 glanced at him, still expressionless and unmoved.
Zhao Xing looked up at the sky, feeling helpless.
Although he didn’t like this Su family enforcer, that didn’t mean he wanted to be forced by everyone to stab him.
But Zhao Xing couldn’t think of any other way out.
The sharp dagger spun once around Zhao Xing’s fingertip before he gripped it firmly.
Zhao Xing stood in front of F078.
F078’s dull eyes moved slightly, finally fixing on Zhao Xing’s hand.
He suddenly let out a hoarse, raspy laugh.
Then his lips moved, forming the shape: Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing’s heart tightened. He gripped the dagger tighter, his gaze becoming wary.
He really hadn’t expected that, wrapped up so tightly, this F078 who had only fought him once could recognize him.
F078’s lips moved again.
Zhao Xing stared at him intently.
What would he say?
Would he shout? Would he tell everyone he was F101—the one blessed by the Blue Holy Light? Would he draw everyone’s attention to escape the pain and harm that was coming?
For a moment, Zhao Xing realized how despicable he was.
He actually hoped F078 would expose him, so he could go ahead and stab him, ending this rotten situation.
But no.
F078’s lips shaped the words: Please, kill me.
Zhao Xing closed his eyes and sighed.
He was wrong. He shouldn’t have thrown away D014’s weapon earlier.
Zhao Xing turned around to face the crowd, spreading his hands helplessly. “Sorry, I’m human, not an animal. I can’t do something like that.”
The nearest person, B033, shoved Zhao Xing roughly, his voice gruff. “Who are you calling an animal?”
This was, coincidentally, the Blue Star person with the sharp sense of smell who had exposed Zhao Xing’s location.
Zhao Xing blinked, his tone innocent. “Huh? Did I call anyone an animal? I just said I’m not an animal. No one would take that as a personal attack, right?”
“Damn it!” B033 swung his fist at Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing dodged nimbly and, at the same time, raised the dagger.
Blood gushed down B033’s wrist.
B033 immediately flew into a rage, his eyes bulging with fury. But just as he was about to strike, a cold gun was pressed against his forehead.
Zhao Xing held a gun against B033’s head with one hand while playing with the bloodstained dagger in the other.
He looked at Su Ye, his tone polite and gentlemanly. “Miss Su, does this count as proving I’m not a bionic robot in another way?”
Su Ye narrowed her phoenix eyes. “You’d rather offend this Blue Star person than simply cut that slave? ”
Zhao Xing: “Sorry, I’m not interested in bullying the weak. I prefer doing things with style.”
With that, he gave B033 a light shove, pushing him away, but kept his gun raised.
B033 clutched his wrist wound, glaring at Zhao Xing with venomous, snake-like coldness.
Despite his overwhelming hatred, wary of Zhao Xing’s weapon, B033 backed away step by step.
He retreated to his female slave and slapped her hard, cursing roughly, “Disgusting Earthling!”
Several Group CD members present looked at him with unfriendly eyes.
B033 ignored them, continuing to punch and kick the woman to vent his anger.
Zhao Xing lowered his gaze, his voice calm. “May I leave now?”
Su Ye nodded. “You may.”
Zhao Xing turned to walk back, but he had only taken two steps when someone suddenly collided into his chest, clinging tightly to his arm.
Zhao Xing looked down—it was B033’s female slave.
Her two icy hands slid down Zhao Xing’s arm and tremblingly wrapped around the gun in his hand.
At the same time, a whistling sound came from behind. B033 attacked from the back, jumping onto Zhao Xing’s back, his steel-strong hands gripping Zhao Xing’s neck.
A suffocating pressure clamped down on Zhao Xing’s throat. He could even feel B033’s sharp nails digging into his flesh.
Zhao Xing staggered, his vision blurring from lack of oxygen.
No… Not like this!
Zhao Xing pushed the woman away, then swung his bloodstained dagger backward, plunging it deep into B033’s back.
B033 rolled off Zhao Xing’s back, but his claws clung desperately to Zhao Xing’s coat.
“Rip——”
The already tattered coat was torn completely off, along with his mask—
“F101!”
“It’s F101! The underground human blessed by the Blue Holy Light!”
“50 points! A 50-point entertainment mission!”
Just as Zhao Xing was relaxing and rubbing his neck, catching his breath, his heart tightened.
He looked up and saw the twenty-plus players rushing toward him with gleaming eyes.
Like a pack of starving wolves.
After all, the 100-point bionic robot was nowhere to be found, but the 50-point F101 was right in front of them.
Zhao Xing silently cursed in his mind. While running forward, he pulled a smoke bomb from his belt and tossed it into the crowd, then fired three shots from his pistol into the group.
The smoke obscured vision. Zhao Xing was in bad shape and inexperienced, so his aim was poor. Only one person’s arm was injured by the three shots.
But that was fine. His goal wasn’t to kill, just to create chaos and escape.
He briefly succeeded.
The group panicked, startled by the smoke and gunshots, stopping their pursuit to raise their weapons defensively.
But this tactic only bought him three minutes.
Three minutes later, when Zhao Xing had run out of the wide beach and into the woods, a dart whistled past his ear.
Zhao Xing sidestepped to dodge, but the dart seemed to have eyes. It turned midair and flew straight toward his eye!
Without time to think, Zhao Xing raised his gun and fired at the dart.
Bang!
The bullet collided with the dart, sparking, and a piece of scrap metal fell to the ground.
But Zhao Xing’s heart tightened even more as he noticed countless vines slithering like snakes, creeping up and wrapping around his ankles—
Zhao Xing pulled out a flamethrower from his belt.
Scorching blue flames bit into the vines, making them curl up and shriek.
Zhao Xing kept running.
Boom!
A deafening sound. Two tall trees were simultaneously sliced by laser beams, crashing down to block Zhao Xing’s path.
Zhao Xing stopped in place, his heart sinking.
Both hands gripping his two guns tightly, he turned around.
“F101, I saw it.” Su Ye’s languid voice carried a hint of laughter and mockery. “When you let F078 go, you gave him an iron spike knife, didn’t you? What a good person.”
She walked toward him step by step, her beautiful red dress untouched by dust, swaying gracefully.
“You let our test subject escape. Have you already prepared to take his place?” Su Ye’s tone shifted. “But if you’re willing to tell me obediently how you obtained the Blue Holy Light’s blessing, maybe we’ll let you off the hook.”
Zhao Xing: “…I don’t know how I got the Blue Holy Light’s blessing.”
“Is that so? I see you have a bad memory. But don’t worry—once you’re tied to that frame and your skin is sliced off piece by piece, you’ll probably remember what you need to.” Su Ye said softly. “Or you could try running again.”
Zhao Xing didn’t reply.
He looked up at Su Ye.
At the twenty-three people behind her.
Among them were men, women, Blue Star people, and Earthlings.
Almost every Earthling held a unique weapon.
Almost every Blue Star person carried some unheard-of ability.
One had a cannon on his shoulder, its black muzzle aimed at Zhao Xing’s head.
Another extended an iron chain from a mechanical arm, a silver hook suspended in the air, pointing at Zhao Xing’s eyes.
A Blue Star person began humming an unknown song, manipulating the dead vines on the ground to continue growing, slowly coiling around Zhao Xing’s arms, taking away his two guns.
But Zhao Xing couldn’t move at all.
Because the red-dressed Su Ye stood at the front.
Her fair arm held a laser gun.
The blue dot was pressed against Zhao Xing’s forehead.
Scorching hot.
Bang!
A gunshot.
Crimson blood flowed from the forehead, staining Su Ye’s face.
Zhao Xing froze.
Everyone else froze too.
Until Su Ye fell to the ground with her eyes open, without warning. Only then did the others snap out of it, panicking as they looked up, trying to find the killer.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three more consecutive gunshots.
Three people fell one after another.
They were—
D068, whose cannon was aimed at Zhao Xing.
D034, whose silver hook was suspended before Zhao Xing’s eyes.
A012, who sang to manipulate the vines and took Zhao Xing’s flamethrower.
An indescribable terror rose in everyone’s hearts. Someone screamed, threw down a smoke bomb, and fled in panic.
White mist filled the air.
In the chaos, a cold hand, wearing a metal-textured glove, quietly pressed against Zhao Xing’s palm.
The person whispered:
“Don’t be afraid.”