Chapter 3060: Trash Awaiting Cleanup
"Challenge successful. Player Xu Zhi has earned 75 challenge points." The point notification sounded, declaring the end of the challenge, and the arena barrier disappeared shortly after. The points above Xu Zhi's head changed to 765.
"In a challenge match, the losing player's personal points are halved by Challenge Island," said a nearby player who had been watching. "You only get half."
Xu Zhi said nothing, instead looking at the other arenas nearby.
Zhang Mi had been killed half a minute ago. Mag and Ding Xiang were still in the midst of a bitter struggle. However, keeping his word, Xu Zhi immediately challenged "Won't Eat Breakfast Tomorrow."
That man had fresh wounds on him. He hadn't expected Xu Zhi to come challenge him without a moment's rest, and couldn't help but smile. "Using poison can indeed catch someone off guard, but now you've lost that advantage."
"Don't worry about that before you die," Xu Zhi said flatly.
This player was indeed much more cautious than Gray. Probably afraid of being poisoned, he kept a certain distance from Xu Zhi throughout the entire fight.
Xu Zhi traded blows with him evenly. Just as it seemed the fight would stalemate, Yilan walked up to the barrier.
The man, who had been completely focused on the battle, inexplicably shifted his attention for a split second. That momentary distraction was all Xu Zhi needed—he seized the opportunity and cut off one of the man's arms!
From then on, the battle had no suspense. Even if both sides were evenly matched, over time, the severely injured party would inevitably fall into a disadvantage.
The cold gleam of the long blade flashed across the arena once more. "Won't Eat Breakfast Tomorrow" lost his head.
Xu Zhi's points exceeded one thousand.
At the same time, Ding Xiang and Mag's battles also ended. Ding Xiang barely won, while Mag died. However, the player who had challenged Mag immediately fled far from the city gate the moment the arena was unsealed. The challenge map only displayed players within a certain range, so by the time Xu Zhi finished, that player had already run out of sight.
But with these two battles, no other players continued to challenge them. It seemed this crisis had passed safely.
They had just taken the instruments from Zhang Mi and the other person and were planning to load the bodies to take them out of the city for burial when, unexpectedly, a barrier suddenly sealed them off. The next second, white light descended from the sky, and their bodies—like the player who had hit the cross-zone barrier—turned into a pile of bloody flesh.
"Buzz, buzz." Several cleaning robots drove over from not far away, cleaning the ground spotlessly within minutes, leaving not even a trace of blood.
Though this was a scene they had witnessed many times, it felt different now. It was as if the players on Challenge Island were nothing more than trash waiting to be cleaned up.
Everyone was silent for a moment before Old Duan spoke. "Your points are over a thousand. Are you okay?"
"No notification on my personal panel," Xu Zhi said.
"Then it might be related to time," Yilan mused. "Maybe Bear Hug Zone has a time limit."
"We'll ask around later," Old Duan added.
The layout of Little Bear City was similar to an ordinary city. The only difference was that all the shops here were unmanned. Any item could only be exchanged with points, including food and drinking water.
"There's also a map of the Wasteland Zone." Old Duan scrolled through the item catalog and found the map at the very end. "Fifteen hundred points. Who could possibly exchange for that?"
For an average player, saving up a thousand points in Little Bear City was already impressive, let alone having enough left over for necessities like potions.
"Has it been sold?" Yilan asked.
"Two copies have actually been sold," Old Duan said. "Just don't know if they were sold a long time ago or recently. Haven't heard any other players mention the map."
"I have a bad feeling," Ding Xiang said at that moment. "Neither the Snake Fang Zone nor the Bear Hug Zone had maps, but the Wasteland Zone is selling maps in advance. Could it be that we'll need the map to find the next area?"
The Wasteland Zone—just from the name, it was clear it wouldn't have abundant water and food like the previous two zones. If it turned out to be something like a desert or Gobi, then accurate directional judgment would indeed be necessary, since the cost of circling back would be almost doubled.
"Saving up points to exchange for the map is a bit difficult." Yilan pointed to an instrument in the catalog. "Better to exchange for a detection instrument."
"Even instruments exchanged with points can't be counted as valid items. They can only be used after entering the next zone," Ding Xiang said. "What if it doesn't work well?"
Many shops in Little Bear City allowed exchanges for instruments, but they were mostly detection or jamming devices. Instruments actually used for combat were rare. As for the various strange instruments Xu Zhi and the others had seen before, most were brought by the players themselves, so their quality varied.
In the Snake Fang Zone, each player had only one valid item. Entering the Bear Hug Zone added one more. Once chosen, regardless of whether it was damaged or not, that was the only one they had, and no replacements were allowed. Entering the Wasteland Zone would unlock one more item, but still only one.
Instruments could be taken from other players, but few players on the island brought detection or jamming devices. First, these instruments were of limited use. Second, if a player was strapped for resources, instruments that couldn't play a major role might be the first to be sold.
"I don't think Challenge Island is kind enough to conveniently give us an instrument that can detect cross-zone barriers," Ding Xiang added. "Better to exchange for something practical—medicine, food. If possible, we can also buy a first-aid kit."
A thousand points looked like a lot, but after buying some potions and two first-aid kits, the number above Xu Zhi's head quickly dropped to 506.
Old Duan and Yilan's points were only enough for a few potions each. Ding Xiang bought some long-lasting dry rations and nutrient supplements.
"In a desperate situation, nutrient supplements can save lives too," she said.
Unfortunately, there were no special containers among the items, so whatever drinking water they bought was all they had.
Though it was still early, afraid of unexpected changes, they each bought a few bottles of water to stock up.
Little Bear City did not allow players to fight each other privately. Even carrying a fair amount of supplies, they were relatively safe. Staying at a hotel cost points, so Xu Zhi and the others chose to do what most players did—find an empty spot and rest.
After entering Little Bear City, except for challenge matches, the points above most players' heads barely changed. It was as if the off-field audience had entered an intermission.
"Challenges are the easiest way to increase points," Yilan said. She thought they could repeat their previous pattern and challenge players who had just entered the city.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Old Duan shook his head. "We can't find out the conditions for crossing zones right now. But if we could keep cycling like this to earn points and exchange for supplies, the players in the city would have gone crazy by now. I suspect there might be a limit on the number of times or a time restriction. Otherwise, there should be many high-point players here."
Everyone was cautiously probing the rules.