The Right Choice

That night, Cheng Shuili heated a prepared meal.

Not going to lie, it tasted pretty good—exactly like the takeout she used to order in her past life.

Cheng Shuili even specifically scooped some out for 【Liang Shanbo vs. Pig】. Unaware it was a prepared meal, he thought Cheng Shuili had cooked it herself.

He ate it with tears in his eyes and sent her two bottles of mineral water in return.

Back and forth, the two added each other as friends.

Long-term partners +1.

The past two days had been smooth. Cheng Shuili hadn't encountered any violent incidents and had opened several crates, restocking her food, water, and supplies. She even found the toilet paper she’d been longing for.

Day four. The system's distance requirement today was 80 kilometers.

Cheng Shuili twisted the handle of the shopping cart and moved forward. She had completely grown accustomed to the "50% off everything" noise, even shouting along with it when she was bored.

At least it was a sound.

Yesterday, someone in the regional channel had begged for a chat, saying that waking up every day just to travel was driving them crazy.

Cheng Shuili was fine. In her past life, she had aspired to be a shut-in, but unfortunately, she had accidentally become the backbone of her company and couldn't stay home even if she wanted to.

Now, she wished for as much peace and quiet as possible.

Before long, Cheng Shuili spotted a crate by the side of the road.

Looks like today is her lucky day, she thought. She gripped her baseball bat and walked over. Although she hadn't encountered any monsters in the last two days, she hadn't let her guard down.

Sometimes, when reflecting on herself late at night, Cheng Shuili was practically captivated by her own brilliance!

She had secured three server-wide announcements at the start, was observant and level-headed, never let her guard down, and ran when she couldn't win... cough, she was getting sidetracked.

In short, she really was a charming young girl!

Cheng Shuili raised her right hand, gripping the baseball bat tightly, while using her left hand to tentatively open the supply crate. If anything went wrong, this baseball bat—as thick as an adult's arm—would come crashing down instantly!

Lady Luck smiled upon her once again. Inside lay a vehicle upgrade material shard.

After her last upgrade, the number of shards required for the next level had become 25.

Excellent.

It had increased by 2.5 times. She silently grumbled—why not just make it 250 times and let everyone know the system was a total idiot?

Cheng Shuili took the item out of the crate, and the empty box immediately turned transparent before vanishing.

This was only the third shard Cheng Shuili had found since the server opened. These things didn't seem to like her very much; instead, they seemed to have a particular fondness for 【Strawberry Hard Candy】.

She had accumulated a total of six shards over the last two days—two she found herself, and the other four were traded from 【Strawberry Hard Candy】.

When trading with him, Cheng Shuili always used gasoline. This long-term partner was very stable and completely dependent on gasoline.

At this rate, he might eventually be bankrupted by gas prices.

However, Cheng Shuili didn't worry about his problems; at most, she would feel it was a pity to lose such a stable source.

While Cheng Shuili was reflecting, she suddenly heard the roar of an engine behind her.

Peace had only lasted for two days.

Another Highway Merge?

Cheng Shuili twitched the corner of her mouth. This wasn't right. Wasn't this supposed to be a low-probability event? This was practically a high-probability event at this point!

The newcomer was driving a pickup truck; this time, even if Cheng Shuili wanted to run, she couldn't outpace them.

She fell silent for a moment, then calmly accepted the potential danger. After all, she was someone who had returned from the dead; compared to that, everything else seemed trivial.

The vehicle drew closer, and the pickup truck eventually stopped beside Cheng Shuili's shopping cart. A tall, thin man jumped down. He looked honest and simple, with a slight flush on his cheeks as if he were embarrassed, but he took the initiative to greet her when he saw her.

"H... Hello. This is the first time I've met a living person."

He stuttered through his first sentence, appearing shy.

Cheng Shuili nodded and said with a smile, "It's my first time too."

The tall, thin man scratched the back of his head, looked away, and asked with a smile, "Do you want to trade? I have quite a few good things. Tell me what you need, and we can exchange what we have."

Something was wrong.

A truly bashful person wouldn't be able to speak so fluently.

Cheng Shuili was on high alert. The dagger tucked into her lower back had already been warmed by her body. Using the baseball bat as a decoy to launch a sneak attack with the dagger was the basic combat strategy she had formulated.

Cheng Shuili's expression remained unchanged, as if she hadn't noticed anything wrong. She honestly told the tall, thin man what she needed. "I'm still missing a few shards for my vehicle upgrade. Do you have any?"

"Yes, yes, of course I do."

The tall, thin man responded several times in quick succession. He smiled and rummaged through the bed of the pickup truck, pulling out three shards. He showed them to Cheng Shuili and put on a warm, friendly smile. "I have three in total. Can I see what you have? I'll pick something to trade with you."

Cheng Shuili nodded, her hand behind her back already gripping the baseball bat. This guy wanted her to go get her things—was he planning to strike her from behind?

Instead of turning around to test him, it was better to strike directly now!

Cheng Shuili was unwilling to take even the slightest risk!

With her fingers tightly gripping the handle of the baseball bat and a harmless smile on her face, she asked with feigned curiosity, "I have quite a lot of things. What exactly are you looking for?"

The tall, thin man's body tensed for a split second before quickly relaxing. He thought the little girl had noticed something, but now it seemed...

He smiled contemptuously in his heart. So easy to fool.

"Anything is fine. Food or—"

The man's eyes instantly widened as a baseball bat suddenly appeared in his field of vision. It moved so fast that it carried the sound of whistling wind. He didn't have time to react at all before a sharp pain shot through his temple, and he collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud.

Cheng Shuili's mouth curved into a crescent smile.

The first to strike gains the upper hand; the last to strike meets disaster.

Cheng Shuili used the baseball bat to push aside the man's jacket. On the white undershirt revealed beneath, there was a spray-like bloodstain.

Splattered across the clean white fabric, the spots were unmistakable. Cheng Shuili reached out and lightly tapped a darker patch with her finger.

It was still wet.

No need to look further. Cheng Shuili narrowed her eyes. He had already killed someone.

Worried that he wasn't completely unconscious, Cheng Shuili gave his temple another blow with the bat.

Only then did she feel safe enough to turn around, walk to the pickup truck, and touch the supplies.

【Ding! These supplies belong to player Li Erqiang. You currently do not have access permissions. Friendly tip: After killing a player, you will randomly obtain 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of their supplies.】

Five random tiers for obtaining loot?

There was even a 0%. This meant that risking one's life to kill a survivor might result in getting nothing at all.

Perhaps this was the system's way of limiting players from killing each other.

【Dear survivor, please make the right choice.】

"The right choice?" Cheng Shuili muttered to herself, looking down at the unconscious man on the ground.

She had never approved of meeting violence with violence, but she did believe in a life for a life.

In that case...