In the hazy tea mist, everything felt unreal.
Jiang Li looked at the rough self she had carried across two lifetimes and sighed. A thought flashed through her mind, and she grew even more curious about the truth behind the game.
“If you think it’s too quiet here, you can also move over to the window.”
Little Qing turned sideways and pointed at the carved window lattice. “From here, you can take in the full beauty of the lotus pond in the back courtyard. If you’re lucky, you might even get to see koi fish playing.”
As she spoke, she brought over another plate of hibiscus cakes. The pastries were a delicate pink and smelled wonderfully fragrant.
“These hibiscus cakes were made by hand by Chef Piggy at the relay station. They melt in your mouth. Please try one.”
Jiang Li looked at the three small pieces of hibiscus cake on the plate, picked one up, and took a gentle bite.
『Hibiscus cake made by hand by the Piggy monster chef at the Forgotten Relay Station: Constitution +1 on first consumption.』
Jiang Li looked at Little Qing in delighted surprise. “Miss Little Qing, does Chef Piggy have any other dishes?”
“There are also lotus-root osmanthus cakes and pine-nut crisp rolls.”
“Pack one portion for me. It’s really too delicious.”
“No problem, guest. These are our specialties here. Please take a look and see if you need anything else.”
Little Qing picked up another menu and handed it to Jiang Li.
Today’s Signature Dishes:
Main Dishes:
1. Road Fried Rice 50,000,000
2. Seafood Mixed Noodles 80,000
3. Sandstorm Sushi 50,000
4. Bullet Stuffed Pancake 50,000
5. Cherry Crab-Shell Cake 50,000
Soups:
Fruit and Flower Thick Soup 30,000
Desserts:
Mousse Balls 20,000
Jiang Li widened her eyes and silently counted the zeros behind the number. Those prices were outrageous.
Back then, a player in the chat channel had shown off asphalt fried rice and radiation coffee, gaining a heat-resistant constitution and, with some luck, forming a Radiation Domain.
During the Novice Protection Period, there were plenty of people who had good opportunities, and opportunities always favored those who were prepared.
“I’ll take one of everything.” Jiang Li took a deep breath, lit up her screen, scanned the code, and paid 50,280,000 gold coins.
“Your first payment exceeds 10 million. Honored guest, this is your Supreme VIP Card. From now on, any station will waive your entrance fee and give you a 10% discount on purchases.”
Fifty million just to get free entry to all stations?
Jiang Li drew in a sharp breath. If it weren’t for the gold coins she had won earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to afford any of this even if she sold herself.
“Since you are a Supreme VIP, this station is giving you two Aftereffect Removal Pills for free.” Little Qing handed over two small white porcelain bottles.
“Didn’t you say there were no aftereffects?”
“Eating a small amount of two dishes has no aftereffects. Each dish carries a life within it. Overindulgence may cause ‘memory overload’ and make you lose yourself. Of course, this varies from person to person.”
“You are our Supreme VIP. If you experience memory overload during the meal, we also have medical services here. Each session is only 20,000 gold coins.”
“All right, then bring out the dishes.”
Little Qing smiled with complete sincerity, clapped her hands, and the waiters filed in carrying plate after plate of exquisite dishes.
Jiang Li looked at the fragrant food in front of her. Good heavens, each portion was only one tiny bite.
She had seen dark deals before, but never one this dark. At the very least, they should let people eat until they were full.
She silently equipped the God of Gamblers title, used her see-through ability, and looked at the most expensive Road Fried Rice.
Gradually, a line of explanation appeared.
“Road Fried Rice:
Memory ingredient: the last supper of the first-generation leaderboard champion, God Jin
Effects:
– 80% chance to obtain 『All Attributes +60%』 (an absurdly powerful effect)
– 50% chance to obtain the temporary permission 『Death Replay (can view any player’s final moments)』 (once per month)
– 20% chance to trigger Pressure Domain 『causes players whose vehicle level is lower than yours to enter a stiffened state, lasting 30 seconds』
– 10% chance to trigger the martial skill 『Light Slash, data shows this is the martial skill that all monsters fear the most, without exception』
– 1% chance to trigger 『Conversation with God Jin』 (can be ignored directly; the system will not allow this to happen)
Useless easter egg: randomly summons any one item from a dead player
Side effects: none (it has never been sold, so there is no experimental data yet)”
After reading the description, Jiang Li’s hair stood on end. Even the leaderboard champion had been taken out?
Jiang Li shivered in fear. Had the dead players become raw materials for the game’s operation? And just how long had this game existed?
If she wanted to survive here, weakness was useless.
When Jiang Li swallowed the last grain of golden rice, the entire Highway Survival system suddenly stuttered.
A faint figure of a cold, refined man slowly appeared on her back, as if the two were twins sharing one body, only to vanish the very next second.
The system’s voice arrived as promised.
『Sky-priced Road Fried Rice: consumption data is loaded. Random easter egg is distributed. Please click the panel to view.』
Jiang Li immediately felt clear-headed and sharp. The soft, limp feeling throughout her body disappeared, and her arms and legs were filled with a solid sense of strength.
Little Qing’s delighted voice came over. “Congratulations, guest. You have obtained supreme strength.”
Jiang Li stared blankly at her slender fingers. So this was the effect brought by a fragment of the leaderboard champion?
A brand-new personal attributes panel appeared.
『Player: Jiang Li, 26 years old (Title 666, God of Gamblers (equipped))
ID: 4443246444
Nickname: Li Taibai
Vehicle: enhanced three-wheeled electric motorcycle (upgrade materials: Level 3 vehicle upgrade card ×1, glass ×200, Iron ×100, Plastic ×200, rubber ×100, Battery ×10, engine ×1)
Gold coins: 63,720,000 (As expected of the woman who obtained the God of Gamblers title.)
Constitution: 64.6 (Perfectly normal.)
Intelligence: 80.6 (Not bad at all.)
Strength: 52.8 (Truly the weakest woman.)
Agility: 25.6 (I didn’t expect anyone to be this clumsy. Whoever has you as a teammate is doomed.)
Luck: 6 (666, wishing you smooth sailing all the way!)
Skills: Pressure Domain (pressure from a Level 2 vehicle), Death Replay (can view any player’s final moments, once per month), Conversation with God Jin (can converse on an auspicious day; as for when an auspicious day is, no comment.)
Monster favorability: Black Fox -30
Supplies: padded coat ×1, sweater ×3, cotton pants ×2, sanitary pads ×3, instant noodles (5-pack) ×2, opened salt ×1, soy sauce ×1, small cooking pot ×1, spatula ×1, 250 g dried noodles ×1, dish basin ×1, plates ×2, small bowls ×2, spoons ×2, chopsticks ×4, stinky dishwater ×3, Battery ×7, Iron ×2, crossbow ×1, awning blueprint ×1, antidote pill ×1, Luck Fragment ×6, fuel pack ×2, Water Purifier Blueprint ×1, mineral water 3L ×2, baguette ×1, Special Station Direct Pass Card ×1, traffic ticket void card ×2, rice 50 jin ×5, rice 45 jin ×1, mineral water 500ml/bottle ×143, soap ×6, dishwashing liquid ×1, KFC family bucket ×1, Arrow Blueprint ×1, Raincoat Blueprint ×1, Wheel Anti-Skid Chains ×1, Black Card ×1, Wood ×56, Plastic ×35, pillow ×1, towel ×1, women’s long-sleeved pajama set ×1, refined iron ×12, small bread ×3, glass ×4, red date seeds ×1, flower pot ×1, freshly baked bread ×3, usable top-grade crafting table ×1.』