The red-haired guy clinging to the hoverboard guy’s left leg in midair lit up with excitement the moment he saw Jiang Qi conjure a yacht out of thin air. “Shit! Spatial ability! Brother Huai! Hurry up and latch onto that thigh!”
At the same time, the green-haired girl hugging the hoverboard guy’s right leg nearly burst into tears of joy. “For fuck’s sake! There’s finally hope of surviving!”
“Tch, can you two have a little dignity?”
That was what the hoverboard guy said, but he still controlled the hoverboard and flew as fast as he could toward Jiang Qi’s yacht.
His light-powered hoverboard could only stay airborne for ten minutes. After that, it was no different from an ordinary hoverboard.
Escaping from the exploded dam with two “useless teammates” in tow had already used up seven minutes. Originally, he had planned to just find a random rooftop to land on, but now that he had found a much better landing spot, why wouldn’t he use it?
Meanwhile, on Jiang Qi’s side, Yan Mei was steering the yacht at full speed through the floodwaters while Duan Xue gripped her seat tightly, vigilantly staring at the surrounding water.
Those white monsters swam through the water at terrifying speed, relentlessly chasing after the yacht. One of them suddenly exerted force from its waist, leaped out of the water, and stretched its arms toward the side of the yacht.
“Sister! Left side!”
Jiang Qi instinctively turned around and fired two shots straight into the monster’s bald, slick forehead.
“Shrieeeek—!”
The monster let out a miserable scream and fell back into the floodwaters.
But from the very beginning of the instance, the outskirts of Yu City had already been the territory of the parasite mother. The number of monsters in the third stage of growth around this area had long since reached an astonishing level.
Previously, the water level had been too low for them to move quickly through the city. At the same time, they had been wary of attracting the attention of capable humans who could threaten them. But now the flood had erupted ahead of schedule. In the water, they were as free as fish, no longer needing to hide themselves.
And so Jiang Qi made a depressing discovery.
More and more monsters were leaping out of the water in attempts to drag down the yacht. No matter how much she fired or how much quicklime powder she threw, it was useless.
Because for every one that died, another would appear. For every group that died, another group would come.
With the massive floodwaters diluting it, the quicklime powder, which had originally been extremely effective against the monsters, was no longer producing such dramatic results.
“Sister, watch out!”
Jiang Qi saw a white monster lunging straight at her and immediately scooped up some quicklime powder to throw at it.
After a piercing shriek, the monster’s body slammed heavily onto the yacht deck.
One. Two. Three. Four…
Too many…
If too many monster corpses piled up on the deck, it would affect the yacht’s speed…
Duan Xue clenched her teeth and glanced back at her grandmother, who was fully focused on steering. The next second, she grabbed one of the yacht’s life preservers, slipped it on, and rushed out of the cabin.
“Grandma! I’m going to help big sister!”
“Ah—”
Yan Mei only managed to catch a glimpse of her granddaughter’s back as she turned around. “Be careful!”
Duan Xue didn’t respond, most likely because she hadn’t heard her.
On the deck, Jiang Qi’s quicklime powder was almost depleted. But these third-stage parasite monsters were different from the second-stage ones.
They weren’t afraid of death!
Should she materialize the photo of the twenty bags of quicklime powder right now?
But each bag weighed over ten pounds. Twenty bags would add up to more than two hundred pounds altogether!
When Jiang Qi had taken the photo earlier, she’d been in too much of a hurry to carefully choose a yacht, so the one they were currently using was only a small yacht. She had no idea what its actual weight capacity was.
More importantly, what if the yacht slowed down and even more monsters caught up to them?
For a moment, Jiang Qi found herself trapped in a dilemma.
And in a place she wasn’t paying attention to, a smaller monster was quietly approaching Duan Xue.
Duan Xue was young and lacked strength. Pushing the monster corpses off the deck and back into the water required all her strength, so she never noticed the monster sneaking closer.
Whoosh—
As the distance closed, the monster finally couldn’t hold back anymore and shot out its long tongue toward Duan Xue.
Jiang Qi turned around, and her pupils shook violently at the sight. “Duan Xue! Dodge!”
Damn it! It’s too late!
Just as Duan Xue shut her eyes in terror, convinced she was about to die—
Swish, swish, swish.
Three crossbow bolts shot out with perfect precision, pinning the monster’s tongue to the yacht deck.
The hoverboard guy, the red-haired guy, and the green-haired girl descended from the sky, the scene somehow giving off a bizarre mix of flashy coolness and comedic absurdity.
“Ha! We’re here to save people!”
The green-haired girl pulled a lighter from her pocket, flicked it on with a snap, then blew forcefully at it. The tiny flame instantly expanded into a massive fireball, engulfing the monster pinned to the deck.
The monster screamed endlessly.
Jiang Qi’s expression changed instantly. “Don’t burn my yacht too!”
“Sorry, sorry!”
The green-haired girl hurriedly kicked the burning monster back into the water and explained in a flustered panic, “Don’t be mad! We don’t mean any harm! We just wanted to hitch a ride. No, I mean hitch a yacht ride!”
Meanwhile, the red-haired guy bent down to help the stunned Duan Xue to her feet and revealed the gentlest smile he could manage.
“Don’t be scared, little friend. Big brother isn’t a bad guy. Hurry back into the cabin. Leave the monsters out here to us adults.”
Duan Xue hesitated. “But…”
“Fuck! Can you idiots look at the situation instead of chatting?! I’m almost out of crossbow bolts already!”
The hoverboard guy, who had been fighting monsters nonstop ever since landing on the deck, cursed irritably.
“Coming! Coming!”
The red-haired guy somehow pulled out a grenade from nowhere. Before tossing it, he even kissed it after pulling the pin. “Only five grenades left. Better cherish every one.”
“Go, my precious baby!”
The grenade exploded with a deafening boom the moment it was thrown.
BOOM! BOOM!—
The shockwave rapidly pushed the yacht away from the area.
The hoverboard guy looked utterly disgusted, like he’d just eaten spoiled barbecue. “So fucking gross. Why the hell am I teamed up with these two lunatics?”
Jiang Qi: “………”
What a group of unique players.
From their outfits to their hairstyles, they were so trendy it practically gave people rheumatism.
The complaint flashed through her mind for only an instant before Jiang Qi quickly tossed those random thoughts aside and focused wholeheartedly on dealing with the endless stream of parasite monsters once again.
Fortunately, with three more players helping, the pressure on her lightened dramatically.
An hour and a half later.
The yacht finally left the area with the densest concentration of parasite monsters and arrived at the highest ground in Yu City’s downtown district.
Yu City Library.
While every other area had already been flooded up to the first through third floors—or even higher—the water level around Yu City Library had somehow only reached ankle height.
However…
By the time Jiang Qi’s five-person group, made up of both adults and a child, arrived at Yu City Library, there were already no fewer than a hundred players gathered inside.
Some sat together in small groups of two or three, some stood in groups of over a dozen, while a few individuals lingered alone in the corners.
Hearing movement outside, quite a few players turned their attention toward them.
Seeing this, the hoverboard guy immediately called out, “Hey, you can’t park your yacht here.”
“It’s fine.”
Jiang Qi replied softly, “I’m not lacking in transportation.”
Not lacking in transportation?
The hoverboard guy lowered his eyes, recalling the scene of her conjuring a yacht out of thin air, and said nothing more.
Meanwhile, the green-haired girl and the red-haired guy looked ridiculously delighted.
“Wow, this is my first time meeting so many players in an instance! Good afternoon, everyone~”
The other players: “……”
When no one responded, the green-haired girl awkwardly scratched her head. “Haha, is everyone this shy around strangers?”
The hoverboard guy couldn’t help rolling his eyes. “Can you two stop acting like idiots?”
The red-haired guy protested, “What do you mean, idiots? We’re being warm and friendly!”
Why do these three still have the energy to bicker? Aren’t they tired?
Jiang Qi couldn’t be bothered with the trendy trio and turned back to ask Yan Mei and Duan Xue, “Do you want to stay here?”
Yan Mei didn’t answer directly. Instead, she said, “We’ll follow your lead.”
In Yan Mei’s eyes, Jiang Qi was the captain of their three-person team, while she and her granddaughter, Duan Xue, were simply teammates. Their role was to follow the captain’s decisions.
Seeing this, Jiang Qi analyzed the situation calmly.
“I don’t think this place is suitable.”
“Having more players means greater strength, but it also means more trouble.”
“I don’t like the idea of having to deal with other players while trying to clear an instance.”
“Mm… so let’s just go back to the hotel.”
Yan Mei nodded. “Alright.”
Since Grandma agreed, Duan Xue naturally had no objections either.
After discussing it, Jiang Qi prepared to leave the library. Before leaving, she hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to ask, “We’re planning to leave and find another place to rest. What about you guys?”
The green-haired girl answered without hesitation, “I’m following the boss!”
The red-haired guy immediately chimed in, “It’s nice to sit under a big tree for shade! I’m following the boss too!”
Jiang Qi was speechless. “I’m not a boss.”
“You are!”
The green-haired girl and the red-haired guy said in perfect unison.
Were these two comedians in real life or something?
Still, considering they were fairly capable, she could tolerate them.
“Well then—”
The hoverboard guy said coolly, “I have social anxiety.”
Sorry, but I really can’t tell at all that you have social anxiety.
Jiang Qi pressed a hand to her forehead. “Fine. Then all of you come with me. We’ll find another place to rest.”
But just as the five of them were about to head back to the yacht, a player suddenly spoke up.
“Sorry, people can leave, but the yacht has to stay.”
The one who said this was the leader of the largest group in the library.
A burly middle-aged man wearing a leather jacket.
When Jiang Qi turned to look at him, she quietly sized him up as well.
Buzz cut, leather jacket, a fierce-looking face, muscles all over his body—but he didn’t look like just some fitness enthusiast who liked working out. He looked more like someone professionally trained in fighting…
Anyway, the yacht wasn’t important to her. If she wanted one, she could get an even better one anytime. She might as well do this suspected “big boss” figure a favor.
“This player, there’s no need to fight over the yacht. I can give it to you.”
Jiang Qi said with a smile.
“Give it to me?”
The leather-jacketed man frowned. “Why?”
“Let’s treat it as making friends. If we run into each other again in another instance, I hope Big Brother can show mercy, alright?”
Jiang Qi’s attitude was extremely friendly, and there wasn’t the slightest hint of displeasure on her face. The leather-jacketed man seemed somewhat surprised. After looking her up and down, he said, “Alright.”
“Thanks.”
Jiang Qi decisively gave up the yacht and left with her team.
As for her actions, the green-haired girl, the red-haired guy, the hoverboard guy, and Yan Mei had no objections. Only young Duan Xue didn’t quite understand.
“Sister, why did you give the yacht to those people?”
“How should I put it…”
Jiang Qi thought for a moment before explaining, “Because a yacht isn’t worth getting into conflict with them .”
“And even if we successfully killed them, so what? Dying in an instance isn’t real death anyway. It’s just a failed instance clear. But from then on, we’d gain over a dozen potentially strong enemies.”
“That’s way too bad a trade.”
Besides, the yacht wasn’t important. Giving it away was no big deal. Having one more friend was always better than having one more enemy.
When there wasn’t an actual conflict of interest, deliberately appearing weak often brought greater benefits instead.
“Oh…”
Duan Xue only half understood.
***
Meanwhile, one of the leather-jacketed man’s subordinates was also asking, “Boss, shouldn’t we have kept them here?”
The subordinate felt that group definitely had valuable items on them.
“And how exactly were we supposed to keep them? You going to do it?”
The leather-jacketed man shot him a cold glance. “Our abilities are already limited enough as it is. Instead of thinking about dealing with monsters, you want to waste them fighting players? I think the floodwater soaked your brain!”
The subordinate laughed awkwardly.
He was only thinking of the boss’s best interests…