Special Treatment

These words carried a sharp sting, directly puncturing the petty schemes Ba Tie Lu Fei had been harboring.

On the other end, Ba Tie Lu Fei stared at the text, his face cycling between shades of pale and green. He slammed his fist against the table, yet he had no choice but to keep typing.

After all, he had already come to concede; having chosen this path, giving up halfway would mean ending up with nothing.

Ba Tie Lu Fei gritted his teeth, cursing under his breath while he typed.

【Ba Tie Lu Fei】: Oh, my big boss! Please, you must not misunderstand! I was just putting on a show for the brothers, just empty talk! It wasn't meant to be taken seriously! I have the utmost respect for you! With your massive territory and strength, we at Dark Star truly admire you! My subordinates were being ignorant and spouting nonsense, and I have already scolded them!

His words were half-truth and half-lie; the concession was real, but how much genuine admiration he felt was another matter entirely.

Cheng Shuili scoffed, not bothering to keep up the charade with him.

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: Fine, keep your people in check. If anyone else comes jumping around in front of me again, I won't be so polite. I'll be waiting to see your "performance."

This mention of a "performance" once again hit Ba Tie Lu Fei exactly where it hurt, leaving him gasping for air.

But he had no choice but to endure it.

【Ba Tie Lu Fei】: Yes, yes! Absolutely! I will make sure it won't happen again! Thank you for your magnanimity, Boss! Then... as for those one hundred sets of leather armor, I will certainly have them rushed for you as soon as possible, ensuring both quality and quantity!

Cheng Shuili didn't reply, simply closing the private chat window.

She knew that Ba Tie Lu Fei was likely seething with hatred at this moment, yet he was forced to bow to reality.

With the strength of Black Feather and her own power standing as they were, a direct confrontation at this stage would bring no benefit to Dark Star.

He had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill himself.

It was just barking; annoying to hear, but a good beating would make them obedient.

For now, it was peaceful.

...

Peaceful, however, was impossible.

When the system is quiet, it must be up to something sinister.

"There haven't been any supply crates on the highway since this afternoon."

When Su Rui emerged from the driver's cab with a heavy expression, Cheng Shuili initially thought something major had happened.

She hadn't expected it to be a situation that had already occurred before.

If nothing went wrong, it had to be the reward highway, right?

If they picked up the pace and kept moving forward, the reward highway would appear by the time the day was nearing its end.

The group leader card she used to create the small group had originally been opened from a reward highway.

She spoke up to reassure Su Rui, explaining the concept of the reward highway.

The other woman's brows, however, only furrowed tighter.

"Of course I know about the reward highway."

Su Rui's gaze held a trace of helplessness; the reward highway had appeared quite early on, and as a player herself, she was naturally aware of it. "It's just that last time, the system stopped spawning supply crates from the very morning, and there was a whole day of pent-up tension. It's only been half a day now—is it really the reward highway?"

Su Rui's concern wasn't without merit, but Cheng Shuili had always believed in meeting challenges head-on as they came.

In such unknown circumstances, they could only do their absolute best to fulfill their own responsibilities.

Su Rui returned to the driver's cab to continue driving, while Cheng Shuili opened the regional channel to take a look.

The earlier bustle had vanished; by comparison, the regional channel was refreshing incredibly slowly.

And...

Cheng Shuili paused. She suddenly realized that aside from Su Rui saying she hadn't seen any supply crates, no one else seemed to be having this trouble?

If this were happening to everyone, it would just be some system mechanic.

But if she were the only one experiencing this, then it would be a blatant act of targeting!

Cheng Shuili frowned, and just as she intended to ask in the faction channel, the fifty-thousand-point outstanding debt popped up again.

Popping up at a time like this...

Cheng Shuili found it difficult not to link the two events.

She carefully examined the debt page, confirming that no new deadlines or terms had appeared, before setting her mind at ease.

The system shouldn't just start punishing her without saying a word.

That would be far too sinister!

Cheng Shuili decided to check on the normal situation first.

There wasn't a single mention of highway supply crates in the regional channel, but the faction channel had completely exploded.

"Friends, did you see any highway supply crates this afternoon? How come I haven't spotted a single one?"

"+1! I've been keeping an eye out since one o'clock, and there's not a hair to be seen!"

"I thought it was just my own bad luck... so it's the same for everyone?"

"Is it the reward highway? Is it?"

"Come on, officer, what time is it? Doesn't the reward highway usually start from the morning? What does it mean that it's only starting in the afternoon?"

"This isn't right! It's suspicious, highly suspicious!"

"What are you panicking about? Maybe it's just a late reward highway? Isn't it a good thing to wait to get rich?"

"Get rich? Bro, when things are abnormal, there must be a demon! When has the system ever been this kind? I just feel a chill in my heart..."

"+1, it feels like the calm before the storm."

Looking at it this way...

Cheng Shuili paused. So everyone in their faction was encountering this?

Cheng Shuili had initially thought something was targeting their faction, but upon second thought, some members said they hadn't seen supply crates since one o'clock in the afternoon, and these people had only joined the faction after two o'clock.

Who could join Black Feather was not something that could be predicted in advance.

Then...

Why was it specifically them?

Why were all these members of Black Feather affected?

Cheng Shuili's beautiful eyes flashed as she realized a key point.

Black Feather's members were all elites who had participated in the elite-level dungeon. In other words, this abnormal system operation was very likely targeting elite players only!

This was just a guess; whether it was true remained to be seen.

Faction channel:

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: Everyone, report the approximate time you last saw a highway supply crate.

With the boss speaking up personally, the channel fell silent for a moment, followed by a uniform stream of reports.

As message after message scrolled by, the answers were shockingly consistent: all members last saw a supply crate during the morning! Since the afternoon, no one had seen a single one!

This confirmed it.

This was a specific event targeting elite players!

The members in the faction channel quickly realized this as well. The atmosphere that had been boiling with excitement over the new title instantly cooled, replaced by a sense of solemnity and lingering unease.

"Targeting only us? What does the system mean by this?"

"It should be targeting elite players, right? Supply crates stopped appearing even before I joined Black Feather, so it definitely has nothing to do with the faction."

"I knew nothing good would come of this! Is this some kind of special treatment?"

"What is this? A punishment mechanism?"

"Could it be... an enhanced version of the reward highway? The trigger conditions just changed?"

"Forget it! Does this look like it's handing out rewards? To me, it looks like it's about to make trouble!"