The King of Black Fog

After drinking water, everyone sat in the shade to rest, maintaining vigilance at all times, carefully observing their surroundings.

Li Changzhou recalled the events of their journey and reflected on his words and actions.

One thing that particularly concerned him was that the first time Zheng Qing lunged at him, Yang Qinglan used "Attract And Repel" to pull him away, and when Zheng Qing pressed towards him a second time, Yang Qinglan again used "Attract And Repel."

There was not even a second's gap between the two instances.

The same was true when they fought against the 'Invincible Wind Fire Wheel' and the strange snake.

However, on the sea island, when Yang Qinglan took the "Identity Card" from the camouflage uniform, there were thirty seconds between each action.

Was she guarding against them or some nonexistent enemy at the time?

As he pressed the yellow bullets into the magazine, he looked over at Yang Qinglan, who was drawing on the ground with a dagger.

Her long black hair was loosely tied atop her head, the strands near her temples damp with sweat and sticking to her delicate profile like a fine brush painting.

"You two, come over and have a look," her gaze still on her drawing, as if reviewing a completed exam paper, "See if there's anything that needs to be added."

Li Qianxia was right beside her, peering over and said, "There's nothing."

Li Changzhou, holding a bullet, got up and walked over to see Yang Qinglan had drawn a map from the platform all the way to the canyon.

She had also marked an "x" at the site of the attack.

He scrutinized it for a while and used the bullet to supplement a few insignificant sand dunes on it.

"To win this game, we not only have to be among the last 15 survivors, but we also need enough physical strength to walk back to the station."

Yang Qinglan glanced at Zheng Qing, who was checking her leg wound, and continued:

"If one of us is seriously injured, it's very possible to win the game but die in the desert."

Li Qianxia suggested, "How about we stay here? There's water, we don't have to endure the sun, and we can wait for our prey like chameleons."

"Staying here is fine, but we need to take turns climbing up to the canyon to keep watch and prevent other contestants from approaching. People in the canyon too must be cautious, the chameleon might come back."

Yang Qinglan finished speaking and turned her gaze to Li Changzhou: "What do you think?"

"Blindly advancing in the desert without a target is akin to suicide... I'll go with your plan."

"Yo, yo, yo, I'll go with your plan," teased Li Qianxia.

Li Changzhou ignored him, remembering something and then said with a shrug, "Oh right, this is what I found on Invincible Wind Fire Wheel."

"What is it?" asked Li Qianxia.

"Crossbow bolts, powerful but slow to load, and we've run out of bolts, we need to purchase more."

After five heartbeats, a 'Honeybee Sting Crossbow' appeared in his hand.

It was compact and could be attached to the forearm.

The three deliberated for a while and decided to wait until the game was over to see if there were better equipment to purchase, and if not, they would allocate it then.

"Officer Zheng, how's your leg?" Li Changzhou asked Zheng Qing.

"Your treatment has been effective. If the recovery keeps up at this rate, I should heal in about a week." Still, Zheng Qing seemed anxious.

"Shooting you was a regrettable mistake," said Li Qianxia with a hint of remorse in his voice, "But at that time, it wasn't my brother's fault either."

Zheng Qing, puzzled, then realization dawned, and she replied with a wry smile, "You're really sensitive. Don't worry, I'm not bothered by my own wound, but I'm concerned about my separated teammates."

After sighing, she added:

"Perhaps it's for the best that my leg is injured; otherwise, I'd go looking for them alone. But as your brother said, wandering into the desert without any sense of direction is just suicide."

"I anticipated this, that's why I shot your leg to protect you," stated Li Changzhou flatly.

Li Qianxia was dismissive of him: "Stop embarrassing me; you just wanted to incapacitate Officer Zheng's 'Jumping' skill, didn't you?"

"Embarrass you? Who's older, you or me? I'm embarrassing you?" Li Changzhou didn't deny her latter statement.

"Heh!" Li Qianxia scoffed, "If it wasn't for the fact that I let you be the younger one because I took pity on you, would you have been born before me?"

"Heh, it seems you've forgotten what happened in the amniotic fluid. If I hadn't untangled the umbilical cord for you, you'd have been strangled to death."

"That's clearly me who untangled your umbilical cord. Such poor memory at a young age, you should really cut back on indulgences," Li Qianxia retorted.

"I..."

"You've indulged too much!" Li Qianxia raised her voice, cutting him off.

"..." Li Changzhou slid the magazine into the AK and pulled back the bolt.

Li Qianxia tossed her ponytail triumphantly.

The argument was over, and Zheng Qing was still somewhat in shock. With a mixture of laughter and tears, she said:

"Being with you guys, the mood really can't get heavy. But it's better to be cautious sometimes; being too lighthearted isn't always good."

Miss Yang had a resonance of 98%, Li sibling's reflectiveness 0%.

Taking advantage of the remaining rest time, Li Changzhou asked Zheng Qing for advice on how to fight people.

"First is eyesight," said Zheng Qing, "to see how much you can discern about your opponent."

"I don't quite understand." Li Changzhou never pretended to understand when he didn't.

"Let's say I have a handgun tucked in my waistband. Would you dare to mess with me casually? You wouldn't. But if the gun is hidden under my clothes and you can't see it, would you feel confident then?

"Eyesight is about whether you can detect if there's a 'gun' or not, where the gun is, and what type of gun it is specifically.

"The more you know about your opponent, the less likely you are to make mistakes in combat."

Li Changzhou fell into deep thought.

"What about gun skills?" Li Qianxia asked curiously.

"I'm not very knowledgeable about guns, but all weapons have a common rule—first, strike first; second, fight with the mentality of defeating your enemy; third, run fast when it's time to escape."

"Hmm—" Li Qianxia also lapsed into thought.

Zheng Qing looked at them and, seizing the moment, said, "I have an unkind request."

"Ask her." Li Changzhou pointed at Yang Qinglan.

Yang Qinglan gave him a sidelong glance before turning her attention back to Zheng Qing: "Let's hear what it is first."

Zheng Qing propped herself up from the ground to sit up a bit: "I want to buy equipment from you, daggers, hand crossbows, and especially guns."

"What do you guys think?" Yang Qinglan asked the two siblings.

"My gun's not for sale," Li Qianxia said without thinking. "It's my first love."

Li Changzhou considered carefully: "We could sell her the sniper rifle and wait until the game is over to talk about the rest."

The recoil from a sniper rifle is heavy, and the two girls certainly couldn't handle it, whereas Li Changzhou only mastered 'Rifle Mastery'—he could make do with it but wouldn't be able to maximize its potential.

Until he could confirm whether skills could be swapped, he didn't want to learn other gun skills.

What's more important, their inventory space was limited. It was better to sell the sniper rifle than to let it take up space and buy something more useful.

"Really?!" Hearing she could buy a sniper rifle, Zheng Qing was very excited, sitting up even straighter.

In the early stages of the game, a warrior with a sniper rifle held a significant advantage.

"I have one condition," said Yang Qinglan.

"Please tell me!" Zheng Qing's eyes widened.

"The sniper rifle is for sale, but it must be used personally by Officer Zheng." Yang Qinglan did not want to arm the enemy.

A Chameleon could basically ignore a sniper rifle, but if the three of them encountered one, their fate wouldn't be any different from that cartoon character's demise.

"No problem! I can guarantee that to you!"

Next was the matter of price.

The three only wanted in-game money—actually, Li Changzhou kind of wanted Daxia Currency, but it felt undignified, so he didn't dare mention it.

Zheng Qing's 'Identity Card' had no money, but as a member and elite of the state, the country would surely sponsor the purchase of a tailor-made weapon like a sniper rifle for her.

After the rest period ended, Li Qianxia was the first to climb up the cliff. Finding a foothold, she peeked out only her eyes and started to keep watch.

Everything else would have to wait until after the game was over.