Cheng Shuili glanced at Su Rui, who was still dazed in the driver’s seat, and reminded her: "Watch the road."
Su Rui snapped back to reality with a start and hurriedly responded, scrambling to check the dashboard until the vehicle was running smoothly once again.
Only then did Cheng Shuili unhurriedly open her private chat interface.
As expected, the messages were practically exploding.
The junk information and provocative insults that had flooded in during the server merge test were all blocked by the system as soon as the test ended and the partitions were restored.
Now, the only things left in her list were messages from the players who had died during the siege—essentially their final words.
Most of these last words, however, were nothing more than curses or threats.
Cheng Shuili didn't care in the slightest; she had 001 block them all before continuing to check the other messages.
The most lively, naturally, was the internal group chat for Glory.
Next was the internal group chat for the Dragon Country Frontline Alliance.
Messages in both groups kept jumping, quickly reaching 99+ notifications.
Cheng Shuili clicked on the Glory group chat first, dragging the progress bar to the very top to read from the beginning.
The group had started with confusion over their companions suddenly disappearing, but once they realized everyone had simply "returned to their own homes and found their own families," the members finally relaxed.
A Glory player who had used a rocket launcher started things off: "Did you guys see that? Those grandsons from the West Region turned green the moment they saw the rocket launchers flying over!" and the atmosphere in the group exploded instantly.
"Hahaha, I saw it! I fired a shot, and their vehicle just blossomed into flames! So satisfying!"
"The shield squad members are amazing!! Those big shields stood up like a city wall, and the bullets hitting them were just like scratching an itch!"
"And the crossbows! I didn't even know we had such large-scale cold weapons; it was really one arrow per kid! Glory is truly full of surprises~"
"Did you guys see Boss Crow’s expression at the end? Just standing there without even moving once, it was incredibly cool!"
"Did we hurt the West Region this time? Will they dare to come back in the future?"
"Come back? You're welcome to! Let them taste our power again!"
"Come to think of it, is our firepower a bit excessive? It feels like we were bullying kids..."
"Mostly, it just feels like the opponents were very average. Are these their elites? Honestly, they felt like cannon fodder sent to scout the path."
"It’s also possible they didn't make much preparation at all, or they never expected us to be this fierce."
"Regardless, this first battle was fought beautifully by Glory!"
"Right! Let’s see who dares to mess with us easily in the future!"
Text, voice messages, and images—the discussion in the group was in full swing!
Cheng Shuili glanced over, a slight smile appearing on her face.
Victory should be joyful, after all.
Feeling a bit more settled, she slid her finger and opened the alliance leader group for the Dragon Country Frontline Alliance.
The atmosphere here was far more complex.
Messages were scrolling by rapidly, but there were few happy ones.
Worry, lingering fear, probing... various emotions intertwined, with message after message entangled together.
The entire group chat appeared to be just chatting, but underneath, dark currents were surging.
"Is it over? What’s the situation with Glory? Is the safe zone open?"
"We, Dawn Approaches, and Evil Instant Noodles raided the Gospel Expeditionary Force of the West Region together. Their players weren't in their territory, so we burned, killed, and looted to our heart's content."
"@Angry Crow Takes Flight, where is the boss? What is the situation now? Are the losses severe?"
"I just saw someone on the regional channel saying the West Region was counter-killed? Is it true? Is Glory that fierce?"
"I doubt it. Several major forces in the West Region joined forces. Even though ten minutes is short, if they focused fire... bullets don't joke around with us."
"Boss Crow, say something! It’s killing us with anxiety! What exactly is going on?!"
"Not showing up for so long, could something have actually happened?"
This guess, filled with uncertainty, was like a small stone thrown into a lake that was already far from calm, adding a layer of gloom to the already anxious atmosphere in the group.
But this gloom lasted for only a brief moment.
Drafty suddenly spoke up: "Are none of you looking at the regional channel?"
Amidst the confusion, many immediately switched to check the regional channel.
What was being discussed there was a screenshot from within the Glory group chat, containing only a few sentences:
"You grandsons of the West Region, you still dare to surround our boss?!"
"Truly a bunch of trash, beaten until you were running away in a panic!"
"Glory is awesome! Boss Crow is mighty!"
There were also players who posted blurry pictures of burning vehicle wreckage and corpses scattered all over the road from the final moments of the server merge test. Although they were quickly scrolled past, that shocking sight could deeply impact the heart with just a single glance.
As everyone knew, there was no PS in this ghost of a place!
In other words, this image had to be real.
The West Region Alliance... with a traitor from the East Region mixed in the middle—over a dozen forces joined together to surround and annihilate Glory, only to be easily counter-killed by Glory?
Looking at the situation, the opponents didn't even have the power to fight back?
This news was so shocking that there was a blank space lasting several seconds in the alliance leader group.
Then, the information exploded completely!
"I... I'll be damned! We won?! We actually won?!"
"Ten minutes... counter-killing the siege... this battle record..."
"Where is Boss Crow? @Angry Crow Takes Flight! Boss, you are too amazing! Please accept my knees!"
"I'm convinced, completely convinced! Boss Crow, from now on, our Dawn Approaches will follow your lead!"
"And our Evil Instant Noodles too! From now on, if Boss Crow says east, we will absolutely not go west! Long live the alliance! Long live the East Region!"
Ecstasy, shock, disbelief, and a sense of excitement at finding a powerful reliance surged through the group chat.
Cheng Shuili watched the hundreds of praises and declarations of allegiance scroll by, her face still devoid of ripples.
The praise of these fair-weather friends was useless; she cared more about what these forces had been doing just a moment ago.
According to the original plan, when Glory was being surrounded, other forces within the alliance were supposed to declare war on the forces surrounding Glory and attack directly to disperse the pressure on Glory.
Looking at the performance of these people, it seemed few had actually been obedient.
Facing everyone's congratulations, Cheng Shuili raised her hand and typed a line of text to send out.
【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: We won. A minor victory, not worth mentioning.
Her understated words were like a perfectly timed bucket of cold water, lowering the temperature of the boiling emotions in the group and causing those ecstatic leaders to calm down.
"Boss Crow is too humble!"
"This is of great significance to our East Region!"
"Boss, what should we do next? The West Region definitely won't let this go, right?"
Cheng Shuili didn't speak again.
These things had all been discussed early on; the fact that these people were asking these questions meant they were truly overwhelmed by the joy of victory.
Even though this victory had been won by Glory.
But this question also represented that they were now completely conquered by Glory, or rather, by Crow.
The small schemes of weighing pros and cons from before seemed to have vanished in the face of absolute strength and victory. Now, their heads were empty, and they only wanted to listen to Crow's arrangements.
Cheng Shuili was quite satisfied with this.
It was normal for there to be different thoughts within a team.
But being able to make these thoughts subside temporarily in the face of strength was the best situation at the current stage.
With this, the server merge test was finally over, and the order of the Dragon Country region could be considered basically established.
But it wasn't completely established yet. To set the rules in stone, one last thing remained.
Cheng Shuili’s gaze turned colder. After exchanging a few polite words with the other leaders in the group, she shifted the topic and suddenly brought up the real business.
【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: We won, but the account hasn't been settled yet.
As soon as these eight characters appeared, the alliance leader group, which had still been somewhat noisy, fell silent instantly.
Everyone smelled a hint of blood in these calm words.
Someone was about to have bad luck.
Cheng Shuili didn't sell it short and cut straight to the point.
【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: When Long Live the Traitor withdrew, I already said that the supplies he got from the West Region players would be better used to buy his life. Now, it's time to settle the account properly.
The fact that this matter could be brought up in the group was enough to show Crow's attitude.
White Tiger was undoubtedly the best at reading the room in the group chat.
Now that the big picture was settled and Glory was at the height of its influence, this was the perfect opportunity for him to show his loyalty!
He didn't even speak; he directly opened the faction panel and declared war on the faction of Long Live the Traitor.
After doing all this, he posted the screenshot of the war declaration from the regional channel into the group and said: "This kind of traitor deserves to pay the price!"
White Tiger’s actions flowed like water. Throwing the screenshot into the group, paired with those righteous words, instantly focused everyone's attention.
The group fell silent again.
This speed, this action—this kid was a bit too practiced at this, wasn't he?
Immediately, the leaders who reacted began cursing inwardly: Good for you, White Tiger, you’re even rolling up the red carpet for bootlicking, aren't you?!
But cursing aside, their own actions were not slow at all.
【Faction “Watching the Great Wall” has declared war on faction “Long Live the Traitor”!】
【Faction “Yanhuang” has declared war on faction “Long Live the Traitor”!】
【Faction “Dawn Approaches” has declared war on faction “Long Live the Traitor”!】
【Faction “Evil Instant Noodles” has declared war on faction “Long Live the Traitor”!】
...
A series of system prompt simulated texts scrolled by rapidly. In just a few seconds, every force in the Dragon Country Alliance, except for Glory itself, had declared war on the faction of Long Live the Traitor!
The regional channel boiled over again because of this series of war declaration messages:
"What’s the situation? What is happening?"
"Holy crap! What did Long Live the Traitor do? These forces declaring war are all the top-ranked forces in our region!"
"Compared to that, don't you guys think it's more magical that these forces could join together? Aren't they supposed to not obey anyone?"
"I know, I know! Long Live the Traitor jumped ship during the server merge test and hooked up with the West Region! Isn't it only right that he's being hunted down now?"
"He deserves it! This kind of two-faced snake deserves this end! He wanted to eat from both sides as a fence-sitter; he should have looked at his own weight!"
"Tsk tsk, looking at this list of war declarations, except for Glory itself, almost all the major forces of the Dragon Country Alliance are on it. This is to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys and completely establish their authority!"
"Long Live the Traitor is finished... He was already severely wounded, and now being besieged by so many forces, his territory probably won't even last five minutes."
"Crow is truly awesome! Just finished winning an external war, and immediately cleaned up the internal traitor, using the traitor’s head to completely solidify their absolute authority within the alliance. This method, this courage... Boss Crow, give me an autograph (voice crack)!!!"
"Honestly, the last time I saw this kind of excitement was before the server merge, when several forces joined together to surround Glory."
"Surround Glory??? Upstairs, tell me more!!!"
...
The remaining things didn't need Cheng Shuili’s involvement at all; the various forces within the alliance would divide up the final value of the traitor Long Live the Traitor at the fastest speed.
Cheng Shuili relaxed her body, leaning her spine against the sofa, and took out a small bowl of fruit that had been cleaned long ago from the Abyss Ring.
She raised her hand to pick up a piece and put it in her mouth. With a light chew, the juice and sweetness of the fruit spread out in her mouth.
Cheng Shuili followed this by squinting her eyes in satisfaction.
After a major event ended, leaning on the sofa to eat such a piece of fruit was truly blissful.
But blissful moments are always destined to be interrupted. The vehicle shook violently, followed immediately by an emergency brake!
Cheng Shuili reacted almost immediately to what had happened. When she pushed open the door to the driver's cab, the figure of the White Ghost... or rather, the Resentment Puppet, had not yet completely dissipated.
The Soul-Dispersing Bell immediately appeared in Cheng Shuili’s hand. She stared tightly at the position of the White Ghost, and the bell in her hand swayed gently under the influence of her thoughts, a ripple immediately spreading out with the bronze bell as the center.
The bell ripple moved rapidly toward the White Ghost!
Seeming to have noticed the anomaly here, the dissipating form of the White Ghost paused abruptly and let out a sharp shriek.
Su Rui was so frightened that her whole body trembled, her scalp tingling.
She widened her eyes, staring fixedly at the White Ghost in front of the vehicle.
After the shriek, it disintegrated and dissipated at an even faster speed, like a sand pile swept by a gale, completely merging into the air without a trace.
Everything happened extremely quickly; from the emergency brake to the dissipation of the White Ghost, it was no more than two or three seconds.
Silence returned to the highway, with only the low operating sound of the vehicle's engine and the sobbing of the wind passing through the wilderness.
Su Rui was still in a daze when she felt someone gently pat her shoulder.
It was Cheng Shuili.
She had already put away that bronze bell. Although she had seen it with her own eyes, Su Rui couldn't help but ask: "Is it dead?"
Cheng Shuili nodded, "This kind of thing won't appear again in the future."
It took Su Rui a long while to come back to her senses. She glanced at Cheng Shuili, seeming to have relaxed a lot, and finally revealed a smile: "That's good. If this continues, I’m going to get a heart attack from fright."
Seeing that she was still in the mood to joke, Cheng Shuili felt much more at ease.
She chatted with Su Rui for a few sentences until the other person’s breathing and heartbeat had completely stabilized before signaling that they could continue forward.
The vehicle restarted and moved steadily forward on the highway.
The silence inside the car was no longer tense, but instead had a sense of relaxation after the dust had settled.
Cheng Shuili leaned back against the seat again, her gaze falling on the desolate scenery passing rapidly outside the window, but her thoughts did not stop.
Now... everything was over, and she should properly think about how to repay this great gift from the Rat King.
But before that, she had to handle the matter of the bear-race.
Cheng Shuili rubbed her brow, changed her posture to lounge on the sofa for a while longer, and then returned to the territory.
Rate on N.U.
