However...he had once been Su Bai’s teammate, and also his mortal enemy. It was he who suggested using Su Bai as a living blood bank. If Su Bai was ignorant of that, it would be another matter. But if he knew...and with this woman guarding her own like a lioness, he’d end up dead for sure.

There was every chance Su Bai would use this as an opportunity for revenge... No, he needed to find a way out, and soon.

Last night, he'd been nearby, watching that crazy woman massacre a swarm of mutant ants. But what chilled him was not her combat prowess, but how she smiled serenely as she killed. The sight sent shivers down his spine.

The black sandstorm would soon sweep across where they stood. They had to leave immediately—or they’d die in the sand and fail the game all the same. For now, he’d just have to get these two out of the heart of the desert...

Ye Shu's gaze scrutinized the middle-aged man before her. If memory served, he was the one who had wanted to slaughter Su Bai in cold blood. And now, utterly shameless, he was here seeking reconciliation. One look at his face, and it was clear—this was no decent man.

Once they reached their destination, she’d leave Su Bai to settle things on his own. She wouldn’t get involved.

Both parties harbored their own schemes, their calculations clattering like abacuses in their minds.

Su Bai, true to form as Ye Shu’s teammate, caught her intention with a single look.

She seemed to have cast off the unpleasantness of yesterday. Arms crossed, expression calm, she watched Li Lao Jiu without the faintest ripple in her gaze.

“Head north, along the dunes,” Li Lao Jiu said, flipping open a map to find the quickest route. If not for these directions, he’d have been lost in the desert—dead by now, let alone here speaking.

“A tribe?” Su Bai echoed, surprised.

This wasn’t the center of the desert, and yet—a tribe, here? Wasn’t Planet R supposed to be a wasteland? She’d assumed there wasn’t a single native on this world.

“Let’s move.”

Ye Shu hefted her modest pack and started heading north. It wasn’t so much that she trusted Li Lao Jiu; she’d already planned to go this way herself.

“Miss Hero... wait...”

“What?” Ye Shu snapped. Patience was something she seldom granted others, and the desert only made her more irritable.

“Miss Hero, could you spare some water? I really can’t go any further...” Li Lao Jiu tried to play the weakling card. Back when they’d been a team, even the big shots deferred to him a little thanks to his unique powers. Food—anything but the best—had always come to him first.

“Change your form of address. I don’t like being called that,” Ye Shu said, accustomed to Pang Pangzi’s boisterous way of speaking; Li Lao Jiu’s shifty looks made the same words sound distasteful.

“Auntie... could you just—” Li Lao Jiu’s gaze flickered repeatedly over Ye Shu. He knew all too well this wild fighter was a spatial esper. Where else had Su Bai gotten purified water except from her?

“No!” Ye Shu cut him off coldly. “Su Bai, take care of him.”

Her patience long worn away, Ye Shu’s voice was sharp. The old bastard had snuck around last night—she hadn’t missed it. Besides, the man was a cannibal... Such a creature couldn’t be allowed to live.

“What do you mean? Burning bridges now? Without my powers, none of you would make it out of this desert! I see so much more than—”

Su Bai’s face was a mask of frost as she drew an exquisitely crafted dagger—the very one Ye Shu had given her for protection.

“Su Bai, I never should’ve let you join the team... ungrateful wolf, I regret it so much!” Li Lao Jiu roared when he saw the blade, his eyes wide and burning with disbelief. These two madwomen were burning the bridge before they’d even finished crossing.

“Enough talking!” Ye Shu spat. Not only had he stolen her supplies, now he dared try moral blackmail? Shame meant nothing to this man.

Li Lao Jiu slit his own throat and went straight to hell, eyes wide open even in death, refusing to rest.

The two women continued northward. The sandstorm grew fiercer as they pressed on, the wind and grit stinging their eyes and slowing their progress.

“Ssszzzt—” Su Bai’s boots sizzled on the sand, as though she were grilling meat on an iron plate. Ye Shu fared no better, bearing the relentless sun, drenched in sweat even clutching an ice chunk. How could the other players cope, if they themselves were at their limits?

In just five days, over half the players had died or gone missing—most had perished of thirst or hunger in the desert. A handful survived by killing others, sustaining themselves on human blood.

[Desert Lone Wolf: I really have become a lone wolf! All my teammates are dead. I thought this game would be all action—never expected to go out like this, dying of thirst! What torture...]

[Desert Eagle: I found a whole grove of cacti! If the trading interface was open, I could transmit some supplies up. What a pity...]

He posted a photo of cactus fruit. Players could almost taste and smell the food on the projected screen. The fruit had a distinctive, sweet-and-sour fragrance. For the players, already parched, it made their throats feel even drier.

[Xiaomi A-Yang: Are you showing off? You know we can’t trade, but upload a pic? This jerk... If we ever meet, it’s a beating, every time.]

[On-the-Clock Defecator: Take your cactus and buzz off. I don’t even care to look.]

[Overtime for Life: Cactus fruit? Nothing special. I’m at the biggest oasis city on Planet R—fresh water, fruit, and right now I’m eating roasted lamb. Jealous, aren’t you all?]

He posted a photo of roasted lamb ribs and Hami melon. [Wealth and Me: I’m so envious! Boss, can you reveal the location of the oasis? I’m lost in the desert... walked all day, and everywhere just gets more and more barren. My supplies are almost gone.]

[Don’t Bully Poor Middle-Aged: The address is at %&...￥, it won’t post! It’s being filtered by the game. How does one even play like this—no sharing locations, the game just wants us gone.]

Ye Shu didn’t bother reading further. It was naked showing-off; her stomach growled with envy. Why hadn’t she been transported to an oasis? Sure, cactus could fill you up, but it was full of tough fiber, not like real fruit—and she was craving meat. She hadn’t seen a single normal animal in the desert—just mutant monsters. Fist-sized black-armored ant swarms, poison-laden death worms, person-snaring sand frogs...

By the afternoon, the sand underfoot had grown visibly firmer, changing from loose yellow dust to the hard ground of the Gobi, dotted here and there with the ruins of old earthen buildings. After a day’s march, Ye Shu decided they’d spend the night here. Luckily, she managed to capture some prey—a gecko lizard, though it hardly promised a decent meal. The Gobi wasn’t only good for ruins. They also found plenty of leftover dry wood—enough that, with Su Bai’s abilities, they’d avoid freezing tonight.

The Gobi was eerily silent, with not a single monster about, leaving Ye Shu oddly uneasy.

Inside the system’s space—

[Ding! Your permissions have been locked!]

[Your rights have been revoked. Temporary shutdown...]

With a bitter surge of anger, the system was forcibly shut down. Darkness filled the space—a deathly, unnatural silence.