Monster Challenge

It couldn't be... that this person was holding a grudge because of that grand, righteous talk he had casually given during their first interaction?

That truly was moral kidnapping.

Zhao Hong suddenly lost his temper, yet he still gritted his teeth as he sent a new message to Crow.

【Glory Shines on Blue Star】: Consider this payment for a lesson. I look forward to our next transaction.

The 45 shards were stacked neatly in Cheng Shuili's hand. She narrowed her eyes and laughed without restraint.

Without Strawberry Hard Candy as a stable provider, Cheng Shuili's speed in collecting shards had been cut in half.

She now had a total of 54 shards in her possession, but the 125 shards needed for the next upgrade still felt like a distant dream.

Cheng Shuili closed her eyes for a moment, then stopped the car to prepare for lunch.

On the other side, Zhao Hong reported every single detail without missing a word.

There was no such thing as a group chat yet. The highest-ranking leader on their end disliked the slow speed of people passing messages along and was even more concerned that information might get distorted.

He spoke directly to Zhao Hong in a private chat to hear his report. While Zhao Hong was reporting, he also had to synchronize the information with several other leaders.

Upon hearing the final sentence, before the highest leader could even speak, someone else couldn't sit still.

"This Crow is a total scammer! Seventy shards! That's enough to upgrade seven vehicles to Level 2!"

"And you're still thinking about continuing to trade with her? Someone like this should be blacklisted as soon as possible. Once we've developed further, we shouldn't let her have a single scrap of profit!"

Zhao Hong ignored the man's bad mood. He was still very busy, and the people who actually had a say weren't this guy anyway. Talking to him was a waste of breath!

【Glory Shines on Blue Star】: That's everything.

The person on the other side didn't reply. After a while, someone else notified him that he could get back to work.

Zhao Hong nodded silently. If anyone asked for his opinion, he would certainly support continuing to trade with Crow.

Setting aside what might happen after the organization grew, they were currently still relying on Crow's information. Moreover, their ability to suppress the US sub-region was also thanks to her.

And yet these people were already calculating how to kick her to the curb later...

Zhao Hong sighed.

At twelve o'clock noon, the system issued another announcement.

【Attention all players! Today is the final day of the novice protection period.】

【Once today ends, the seven-day cycle of random disasters will begin! Some lucky sub-regions already know the specific disaster for tomorrow.】

【However, as you have surely discovered, simply knowing the disaster is useless if you don't have the corresponding supplies in hand. Instead, it only brings a sense of despair as you wait for death.】

【Rest assured, players. This system is exceptionally gentle and considerate. I will now give all survivors a chance to live!】

【You humans have an old saying: 'It is a virtue to know oneself.' The players who have survived until now are either lucky individuals or truly capable and brave souls!】

【At six o'clock tonight, vehicles will stop running ahead of schedule. Each person can independently choose a monster to challenge. The challenges are divided into five tiers: Casual, Normal, Elite, Epic, and Hell! The higher the difficulty of a successful challenge, the greater the rewards!】

【Friendly reminder: The rewards are the supplies you will urgently need for the next seven days.】

Cheng Shuili keenly noticed that the system's originally emotionless voice suddenly carried a hint of a smile as it continued its cold and ruthless announcement.

【However, if the challenge fails, the price you pay will be your life!】

【From now until six o'clock tonight, you have six hours to make your choice. Consider carefully, survivors!】

As soon as the voice faded, a selection panel popped up in front of every player.

Each level was illustrated with a hideous-looking monster.

The Casual level was the grease-covered humanoid monster Cheng Shuili had seen before. It had blood-red eyes, and in the system's illustration, it looked almost docile.

The Regional Channel began to discuss the matter.

【Xiang Tai】: The Hell-tier monster is way too ugly.

【CPDD】: Is the Epic-tier one supposed to look good?

【Lots of Cash】: Wait, are the monsters we're choosing from the same?

As soon as this question was asked, Cheng Shuili stared intently at the Regional Channel. Several people described the monsters at each of their levels, and they were all identical.

In other words, the difficulty was the same for everyone.

Cheng Shuili was silent for a moment, but then she felt a surge of wild joy.

Because on her selection panel, from Casual all the way to Hell, the illustrations were all of the Casual-tier monster they had described!

Another bug!

A good thing. This was a very good thing.

Cheng Shuili steeled her resolve and directly chose the Hell tier. She was terrified that another bug would appear and make this one disappear too.

The system selection panel closed automatically. Just as Cheng Shuili was about to step on the gas, she heard the system's voice ring out again.

【Advance Preview! At eight o'clock tonight, the top one hundred players with the most mileage covered during the novice protection period will be announced. These lucky players will receive mysterious rewards!】

Cheng Shuili paused, then broke into a wide grin. To her, this sentence was a reassurance that her hard work over the past seven days hadn't been in vain. But to those unprepared players...

The system announcing this now was a direct attempt to disturb morale! Originally, everyone's attention had been focused on the monster challenge.

Now that news of the leaderboard had broken, coupled with a mysterious reward for the top hundred, that reward was like cheese set on a mousetrap.

Everyone knew they shouldn't be focusing on this right now, but everyone had greed.

Being in one-hundredth place was fine, but what if you were in one-hundred-and-first?

If they drove a little further now, the probability of obtaining a reward would be a little higher!

Who could withstand such blatant temptation?

Cheng Shuili had guessed correctly. Many people who had stopped to eat were already stuffing compressed biscuits into their mouths and starting their vehicles to continue forward.

Cheng Shuili, however, was in no rush. She was brimming with confidence. She opened the Regional Channel again and, as expected, everyone was discussing the leaderboard.

【Sunny Mom】: Why didn't this dog system say so earlier? If I had known, I would have run more every day. I've been stopping as soon as I finished my daily mileage!

【Blooming Flower】: It wouldn't have mattered if it told us earlier. If it had, it would just be a contest of who has more fuel. That's clearly unfair to gas-powered cars.

【Crabby】: You gas cars run fast and have huge space. What do you have to be dissatisfied about?

【Si Yue】: Are you going to provide the gas for me, person above?

【Direction】: What the hell are you all arguing for? Every single day I open the Regional Channel and see you guys fighting. I came here to see if any big shots are sharing info!

【Fu Su】: Exactly.

【Serenity】: What exactly is the disaster tomorrow?

Everyone tacitly ignored that message.

【Alumina】: @Angry Crow Takes Flight @Glory Shines on Blue Star @Eternal, do you three big shots have any leads? Come out and talk about the monster challenge! I'm sincerely asking! I'll trade supplies for intel!

【Xu Lingqi】: Who is Eternal?

【777】: Person above, did you not look at the rankings yesterday? Our sub-region has two people in the global top ten. One is the big shot Crow, and the other is the ninth-ranked big shot, Eternal.