All the players suspected there was a bug in the game's mechanics, but only Ye Shu understood—Zone D’s players were being targeted.

From the very start, the black hole in Zone D had existed in isolation, unlike any of the others.

“Yezi-jie, are we really leaving now?” Fu Shiyi looked to Ye Shu, on the verge of tears.

“Just what kind of malfunction is this game suffering? Forcing players straight into the fire—aren’t they just sending us to die for nothing?”

“Enough. We’re leaving at once. No more wasting time here.”

There was still plenty left to do—like finding a safe zone on land already ravaged by the black holes.

Since the game forbade players from leaving, she’d have to find her own way out.

The ground was far too dangerous, the roaming pattern of the black holes still a mystery. If they couldn’t board the rescue ships to leave the planet, then a fallback plan was needed—one that just might work.

Fu Shiyi let out a small eep and hurried after Ye Shu. The two of them fled amidst panic.

———

On the twenty-seventh day of the game, Black Hole-18 expanded with terrifying speed, growing so large it was almost unbearable to even look at. Its diameter was close to a hundred kilometers. It took mere seconds to wipe an entire city off the face of the planet.

Most communications equipment had failed across distances of over a thousand li, but thankfully, old-fashioned airplanes could still take off without issue.

Just now, she’d located the nearest airport.

Lucky for her, she still had her stockpile of rationed fuel. Unluckily, someone else had taken control of the airport.

Right now, the black hole was barely a thousand li away; it could arrive at any moment. Every second counted. To make matters worse, their car was trapped in traffic on the road.

The airport was ringed in barbed wire—wired with electricity. The only way in was to play by their rules.

“Entry requires a payment of 20 liters of fuel and 10 jin of food.”

The lead soldier stood at the electric fence, a loudspeaker in hand, announcing this line on repeat.

Before getting out, Ye Shu tucked the car away in her storage space where no one could see.

She and Fu Shiyi queued quietly near the center of the long line. Now was no time to stir up trouble—not when a bit of supplies was all it took to get in. For Ye Shu, it was barely worth worrying about.

The crowd was massive, the queue seemingly endless.

But few people could actually pay twenty liters of fuel.

Very soon, it was almost Ye Shu’s turn.

“If you want in, each person needs to pay twenty liters of gasoline minimum, and no more than one jin of luggage per person.”

“We don’t have fuel! We’ll trade something else. My family’s wealthy—just name your price, I can give you anything… ten million, a hundred million, even more!”

“I’m Jiang Yuan, from the Jiang family. You should know—we’re powerful. Let me in, and after the black hole passes…”

A snicker slipped through the crowd.

Jiang Yuan’s face went red, his voice turning dry as he repeated himself.

Damn it, damn it, damn it—he was the youngest son of the Jiang family, the wealthiest in the land. Before the black hole, everyone had desperately tried to curry favor with him. But now, these ignorant commoners dared to laugh at him… If only he had his bodyguards—he’d have slaughtered every last one of them by now.

“Jiang family? Never heard of them.”

Had all this time still not taught these locals any sense?

No wonder they were just NPCs in a game—trying to pull rank, acting like they mattered.

The man in camouflage snorted coldly, eyeing Jiang Yuan with open contempt—a look that pierced Jiang Yuan’s pride like a knife.

“You…”

Jiang Yuan stammered, at a loss for words.

A few more derisive laughs rippled through the crowd, cutting deeper into Jiang Yuan’s humiliation.

Had he not left his family on a whim, how could he be denied even the smallest airplane?

He wasn’t ready to give up. But when he met the soldier’s dark, bottomless gaze, a chill ran through him. Forcing himself to sound braver than he felt, he snapped, “What if I insist on going in? What will you do to me? I told you already—I’m Jiang Yuan. A few measly liters of fuel—I’ll pay it back in days. The black hole caught us by surprise—shouldn’t you prioritize saving people? Who here can actually pay twenty liters of fuel?”

A chorus from the crowd rose to his defense: “He’s right! This place doesn’t belong to you alone—we have a right to get on those planes. Just twenty liters of fuel! Anyone can afford that.”

“Lives are more important than supplies! Let us in and sort out the rest later.”

“Young Master Jiang is right—let’s just go in first, what can they do to us?”

Jiang Yuan glanced around, stirring the crowd to charge the electric fence.

“No,” came the curt reply. “Let me be perfectly clear.”

“Only fuel for tickets—gasoline is acceptable. No gold, silver, or jewels.”

The man facing Jiang Yuan showed no anger—just a frown as he mechanically repeated himself.

While Fu Shiyi was engrossed in the spectacle, Ye Shu suddenly yanked her two meters back.

“Jie—what are you doing? I was enjoying the show!” Fu Shiyi protested, but quickly hid behind Ye Shu, all the same.

“If I hear another word of this nonsense, it won’t be this simple next time.”

Without hesitation, the man inside the fence raised his gun and fired at Jiang Yuan.

BANG—

The shot echoed like judgment through the hearts of everyone present.

Ye Shu didn’t even flinch.

While Jiang Yuan blustered, the guard’s patience had already worn paper-thin.

Inside the game instance, players could die at any moment. Zone D had been labeled a high-risk zone by the system; under pressure like that, even the steadiest player’s nerves began to fray. Ye Shu herself was no exception.

Who would have guessed that, before entering this game, Ye Shu had just been a teary corporate nobody?

“Drag him out. Don’t hold up the line.”

Two camouflaged figures emerged, swiftly lugging Jiang Yuan’s body dozens of meters away.

No one had expected the cold, businesslike man to resort to violence outright—and even after, act as if it were nothing at all, sending the corpse to be cleared away.

Jiang Yuan never imagined that simply riling up the crowd would cost him his life—a shot straight through the head. If he had another chance, he wouldn’t even step foot at this airport.

That single gunshot silenced everyone—except Ye Shu.

When the bloody aftermath was finally wiped away, she approached as if nothing had happened. “Excuse me, if we pay the fuel and food, can we board right away?”

“Of course,” Wen Qi replied.

“Great. We’re going in—here’s the fuel and rations.”

Ye Shu had no hesitation as she drew out a 40-liter canister of fuel, five jin of compressed biscuits, and a couple bags of instant noodles from her space, just enough to meet the ten-jin requirement.

“Am I seeing things? Did she just conjure supplies out of thin air?”

“Wait, is that a spatial ability?”

“No way—that kind of thing only happens in novels or movies, right?”

“…”

“You’re very welcome to join us!”

“My name’s Wen Qi.”

“Ye Xiaoshu.”

“Hello, Miss Ye.”

Seeing as the pair were players—and rare ability-users at that—Wen Qi's tone softened considerably.

Spatial ability-users were virtually unheard of throughout the whole of Azure Planet. And he’d just seen Ye Xiaoshu stow a car away; surely, she was at least a level-two ability-user—a valuable asset wherever she went.

Just the other day, Wen Qi had happened to rescue a wood-type ability-user. The girl wasn’t strong, but she was sensible. Her name, as he recalled, was Ye Wan.

If Ye Shu would join them… it would make resource gathering so much easier in the days to come.

The ground trembled violently for several seconds.

Everyone’s faces went pale. After surviving under the shadow of a black hole for nearly a month, they needed no reminder where that tremor came from.

It had to be… Black Hole-18 was close!

“Now—can we go in?” Ye Shu cast her supplies at their feet and grabbed Fu Shiyi, pushing through the fence.