Meeting Gift

"My name is Su Rui, ID Su Yuntian. Shall we be friends?" Su Rui slowly lowered her raised hand and extended her right hand toward Cheng Shuili.

This was an attempt at a handshake. Cheng Shuili ignored her words entirely, as well as the hand she had extended.

Snow pellets lashed against her face, and Cheng Shuili squinted, sizing up this uninvited guest.

The collar of the leather jacket Su Rui wore was stained with half-melted snow; it was clear she had been out of her vehicle before meeting Cheng Shuili. Yet, her boots were unusually clean, as if they had just been wiped down.

Cheng Shuili used a scrap of cloth inside her vehicle to wipe her shoes, but that was for the soles. One couldn't have melted snow dripping everywhere, could one?

She was still very particular about hygiene.

Cheng Shuili's baseball bat remained motionless. She tilted her head, offered a smile, and spoke in an unfriendly tone: "Did you really need to stop just because you were passing by?"

Su Rui's smile stiffened for a moment before quickly smoothing out again.

She lowered her hands and casually patted the empty tactical belt at her waist.

"The novice protection period just ended, and I'm looking for a reliable teammate." She pointed at the box of empty bottles behind Cheng Shuili. "It seems your luck isn't very good?"

Cheng Shuili hadn't been listening to what she was saying. The moment the woman patted that tactical belt, Cheng Shuili's eyes had locked onto it.

Now that was a good item.

The dagger that had been digging into her lower back finally had a proper place to go!

She wanted it.

"Yeah, opened up a box of junk."

Cheng Shuili replied with casual indifference and kicked the supply crate over.

"Clatter—"

Empty mineral water bottles tumbled out of the crate, making crisp sounds as they collided on the snowy ground. A few even bounced a couple of times, emitting light "click-clack" sounds.

The expression on Su Rui's face turned stiff. She had been trying to curry favor, hoping to build a rapport.

If the relationship were closer, it would be harder to stay on guard.

That would have given Su Rui an opportunity to make a move.

But even while chatting, this person was utterly impenetrable. After these few sentences, Su Rui hadn't gained a single piece of information.

She had introduced herself upon arrival specifically to fish for this person's ID, but she hadn't expected this person to lack even the most basic social etiquette.

Su Rui grumbled internally, but all intentions of making a move vanished.

This person was likely the former type.

Strong to an absurd degree.

She couldn't afford to provoke her.

Su Rui noticed Cheng Shuili's gaze fixed on her tactical belt. After a moment of thought, she unbuckled it and tossed it to Cheng Shuili.

"A meeting gift." She waved her hand. "Remember, my ID is Su Yuntian. We're in the same sub-region. If you see me asking for help, remember to give me a hand once."

Cheng Shuili watched her return to her off-road vehicle. The engine roared to life, and the entire vehicle sped away in a blur.

Cheng Shuili had sharp eyes and noticed a long, splattered trail of blood behind the off-road vehicle. It was hard to say what kind of blood it was, but Su Rui was definitely no saint.

Cheng Shuili frowned, looking at the tire tracks left by the off-road vehicle, then at the tactical belt in her hand.

What was this?

A tribute?

Well, she had met someone with good sense today.

Cheng Shuili didn't bother with the mineral water bottles anymore; she grabbed the tactical belt and headed back to her shopping cart.

She carefully inspected the item. It was indeed just an ordinary tactical belt, so she fastened it around her waist.

She slotted her steel dagger into it, and it looked quite professional.

Cheng Shuili tested it out; gripping the blade, drawing it, and sheathing it were all significantly more convenient.

This counted as her first harvest of the day.

Humming a little tune, she stepped on the gas and continued forward.

There were many people in the Regional Channel complaining. Today, they had encountered nothing but monsters or junk, and for a while, there was nothing but wailing and grievances.

This made things difficult for those in the Regional Channel seeking help.

【Yuzhao】: Without a heating stove, it's impossible to move in this godforsaken place. Early this morning, all my water froze, and so did my fuel tank. I had clearly added new antifreeze, but the tank still cracked. I traded supplies for a bit of hot water, slowly thawed the gasoline, and fixed the tank before I could drive forward.

【Yuzhao】: Now this vehicle won't start again. I'm only 20 this year, I'm just a sophomore in college. I haven't even graduated yet. I don't want to die. Can anyone save me?

Such a vibrant life; it would be a pity if it were to just fade away like that.

But in this godforsaken place, vibrant lives were everywhere. If he didn't want to die, did that mean everyone else did?

There was only one heating stove. One had to bear the consequences of their own mistakes.

Cheng Shuili didn't have any extra sympathy to spare; she shook her head and closed the Regional Channel.

Snow pellets hit the windshield, making fine, pattering sounds. Cheng Shuili's vision was a bit blurry; this shopping cart had been upgraded twice, but it still hadn't evolved windshield wipers.

Fortunately, her heating stove had a three-meter radius outside the vehicle. The snow pellets melted shortly after landing on the vehicle, so they didn't obstruct her view.

Cheng Shuili yawned and looked ahead in boredom. Upon looking, she saw something—far away on the snowy ground, there was a distinct protrusion.

Great, she had run into another supply crate.

Cheng Shuili sped up to reach it, stopping just before she hit the supply crate.

She pushed open the door and stepped onto the snow, only to realize this wasn't the most common wooden crate. This thing was sturdier, its surface covered in mottled rust with rough metal rivets embedded along the edges.

Not good.

It was a bronze chest.

The wild boar from last time had come from a bronze chest.

Cheng Shuili didn't have a good impression of this tier of supply crate. She tightened her little face, suddenly overcome by a strong premonition that there was definitely a monster inside.

She took two steps back and used her baseball bat to lift the lid, planning to use the vehicle as cover and pull a 'King of Qin circles the pillar' maneuver if anything went wrong!

Cheng Shuili took the opportunity to use the Abyss Ring's "Insight"!

With this silky-smooth combo, even if she couldn't kill the monster, Cheng Shuili believed she could at least save her own skin.

After equipping the title 【Supreme Monarch】, Cheng Shuili's agility had reached 42!

Fully prepared, she naturally unleashed her fastest speed. The moment she pried open the bronze chest with her baseball bat, she flashed to the other side of the vehicle like an arrow released from a bow.

Three seconds. Five seconds. Ten seconds.

Cheng Shuili paused her silent countdown. She suddenly realized something was wrong.

There was no sound in her ears.

No roar of a wild boar, no thunderous crash of a monster breaking out of the chest, only the wailing of the wind and snow sweeping across the highway.

"Empty?" Cheng Shuili frowned, her knuckles turning white from overexertion.

She slowly peeked over. The shadows of the bronze chest were indeed empty.

A thin layer of snow that had accumulated on the lid slid off, and the remaining specks of snow were slowly melting under the influence of the heating stove.

It looked perfectly peaceful.

Had she failed to open it?

Cheng Shuili blinked, feeling skeptical. Based on her experience, the force she had used definitely should have opened it.

Then where was the stuff inside?

As she frowned in thought, Cheng Shuili suddenly felt a chill on the back of her neck. It wasn't the wind or snow, but some kind of viscous, foul-smelling breath.

Cheng Shuili's heart tightened instantly, and her blood seemed to freeze in her veins.