A white Skeleton rose from behind Thin Dog, scarlet flames burning in its eyes.
Clang!
The Skeleton's Bone Sword blocked the Wolf Tooth Club with a crisp ring.
Then, the nimble Skeleton attacked even faster, its Bone Blade whistling through the air.
It drove the burly Raider back again and again, carving several deep bloody gashes into his body.
The sudden development startled Thin Dog, who had been preparing to log off.
"Huh? Friendly forces? Then I'm not logging off."
He stepped aside and watched the Skeleton fight the Raider.
Though this Skeleton that had appeared out of nowhere was agile and faster than the Raider, its bones did not look particularly sturdy.
Its joints creaked as it walked.
"Its strength is weaker than the Raider's, but it's fast, and the Bone Blade's attack power is pretty good too. If this keeps up, the Skeleton will definitely win. This Skeleton is great. It'd be nice if I could catch it and use it as a pet."
The battle was decided very quickly.
Relying on its speed advantage, the Skeleton relentlessly attacked the Raider, slashing wound after wound across him.
In Thin Dog's view, the Health Bar above the Raider's head was steadily dropping.
It was about to bottom out!
"Roar!!!"
Before dying, the Raider's eyes turned blood-red, and even his green skin twisted as he threw the Wolf Tooth Club with all his strength.
Bang!
It struck the Skeleton.
Crash!
A massive damage number popped up above the Skeleton's head: 300.
It was killed instantly, turning into a pile of shattered bone fragments.
Squelch!
Seizing the opportunity, Thin Dog used all his strength to drive the Pointed Wooden Stick into the Raider's blood-soaked skull, delivering the final blow.
The Raider stared with unwilling eyes before his head drooped to one side.
A faint warm current flowed from the wooden stick into Thin Dog's body.
A notification appeared on his watch:
Killed Raider, EXP +12
"Oh, so this is what it feels like when experience enters your body? Warm and tingly... feels nice~"
His experience bar also appeared on his watch.
Level-up EXP: 12/500
Thin Dog had no time to study the experience issue. He glanced at his health, which had only one-third remaining, while the radiation status continued draining it.
"Save the NPC first!"
"Hey! Who's the Tutorial Guide!?"
"Over here!"
When Cheng Shaofeng heard the familiar Chinese outside, tears nearly welled up in his eyes.
The basic language of this world differed from Earth's. If he had not inherited the original owner's memories, he really would not have known how to speak the local language.
Cheng Shaofeng slapped the chains on the Dungeon door.
Outside, Thin Dog picked up the Wolf Tooth Club and smashed them apart with several heavy blows.
Cheng Shaofeng had finally escaped the Dungeon!
Seeing the expectant look in African Thin Dog's eyes, he calmly straightened his clothes, put on an approving expression, and recited the lines he had prepared earlier.
"Very good! Soldiers from the Calamity Base, you have performed excellently and passed this test. As the Lord of the base, I am very satisfied with your caliber. Once we return to the base, you will be awarded the merits you deserve. Now, let us leave this filthy Dungeon!"
Thin Dog's heart shook at his words.
"Rewards! The closed beta rewards must be rare. This kind of test event should be a one-time quest, a limited quest. I've hit the jackpot!"
Though he did not know what merits were for, they sounded extremely impressive!
Cheng Shaofeng said, "Oh, right. That old man in the back is rather frail. Go help him out."
"Yes, Lord!"
He immediately accepted his identity and happily entered the Dungeon. After looking around once, he came back out.
"Lord, do you mean the Dungeon you were in? I didn't find anyone else."
"How could that be! We were just talking about whether you could defeat the Raiders. He insisted you couldn't, but now it's time to clear the name of our Calamity Base's soldiers! Let him... Hm? Where is he?"
Cheng Shaofeng walked inside and froze as he stared at the empty Dungeon.
On the ground... there were only several heavily decomposed corpses, dead beyond any doubt.
A chill ran down Cheng Shaofeng's back.
Who had he been talking to just now?
Looking at the familiar scene before him, he suddenly remembered!
This was exactly how it had looked when he had been captured and thrown into the Dungeon.
That Bloodstained Cloth Old Man had appeared out of thin air!
As Thin Dog looked at the scene, he had already begun analyzing it.
NPCs in games generally don't speak nonsense, especially not during the first tutorial storyline. The developers must have used this NPC to convey meaningful information. There may be more story later.
Thin Dog truly lived up to his name.
He silently remembered the NPC's strange behavior.
At that moment, a message flashed before Cheng Shaofeng's eyes.
Player 'Lin Tang' has died
"Let's go! We need to leave this place quickly."
The people outside were dead. If they did not leave now, they would not be able to leave at all. The old man's matter could wait.
Zero: Reminder, Master. The Raider corpse on the ground can be placed into the Loot Generator for recycling. Carrying it is recommended.
"Soldier, carry the Raider's corpse. It will be of great use to our base."
"Got it, boss!"
Thin Dog carried the Raider's corpse on his back and held the Wolf Tooth Club as the two hurried out of the Cellar.
Just as they stepped outside, Thin Dog suddenly said, "Lord, wait for me! I forgot to grab something!"
After saying that, he tossed the Raider's corpse to the ground and hurried back down.
Cheng Shaofeng: "?"
Damn it! Big Bro Thin Dog, what are you trying to do? You can fool around in games, but I really got transported here! If I get caught again, I'm dead for sure!
He dragged the corpse out of the Raider Camp himself first, then found a place to hide.
Less than a minute later, African Thin Dog jogged out.
He held a black object about the size of a vibrating egg's packaging box.
Thin Dog looked delighted.
"Lord, I found something good."
"We'll talk about it after we get back. The other soldiers are all killed. Let's retreat first!"
Following his memories, Cheng Shaofeng led African Thin Dog toward the shelter he had once used in the wilderness—the Cave on the Mountain Top.
It was a small hill on high ground, with a broad view and cover.
Only after arriving did Cheng Shaofeng finally let out a breath.
They were safe for the moment.
"What is that thing in your hand?"
"I don't know either, but I thought we cleared the Dungeon monsters without looting any treasure, so I went back to look. Sure enough, I found this in their Cellar. I'll open it and take a look."
The black object in African Thin Dog's hand was actually a small box. When he opened it, green light flashed.
Player 'African Thin Dog' has died
Zero's voice sounded in Cheng Shaofeng's mind.
Zero: Intense nuclear radiation detected. Nano Barrier automatically activated. Power continuously draining.
Warning: Low power! Low power! Please replenish the base's energy as soon as possible!
A faint silver nano-layer appeared over Cheng Shaofeng's body, blocking the green glow outside it.
The little box contained a radiation source!
"Fuck! Thin Dog, you brought me a miniature nuclear bomb!"
Thin Dog had already collapsed. With his level-one, low-health body, the radiation pierced directly into him at such close range and killed him.
Cheng Shaofeng hurriedly snapped the Small Black Box shut.
The green glow disappeared. Several seconds later, the Nano Barrier on Cheng Shaofeng's body slowly faded away, returning to his original skin.
He checked the base's power.
Only 0.05% remained.
Even the most basic Nano Engineer could not be used, making it impossible to construct the base's basic facilities.
The only function he could use now was Quantum Surfing.
Squatting on the hill and smelling the faint scent of sulfur at the tip of his nose, Cheng Shaofeng narrowed his eyes and recalled what had happened earlier.
The Raider killed in the passage had come to feed him Radiated Material.
The old man's timing had been quite accurate, but... after that Raider entered the Dungeon, the small piece of Radiated Meat in his right hand had accidentally fallen to the ground. He bent over, picked up a lump of dirt, forced it down Cheng Shaofeng's throat, and left.
At that moment... Cheng Shaofeng somewhat understood his ex-girlfriend.
It really did not feel good.
Though the dirt was gritty, it was still better than having a piece of Radiated Meat in his stomach.
He had inexplicably escaped disaster.
"I thought the Raider was just stupid and careless, but now it seems the old man was the one who saved me."
The old man's appearance and disappearance were both strange, but... he did not seem to mean Cheng Shaofeng any harm.
"This world... is far more dangerous than my predecessor understood."
After finishing his recollection, Cheng Shaofeng briefly sorted through his current situation.
"I have a temporary residence. It's relatively safe here, and there's a freshwater river nearby that can be drunk directly, but I'm already getting hungry;"
"All three players I summoned have died. I need to create new Clones to help the players revive;"
"The Nano Base's power is critically low. Construction work can no longer be carried out, and power needs to be replenished urgently;"
"The resources I currently have are: inexhaustible freshwater, one irradiated Clone corpse, one strong Raider corpse, one extremely dangerous Radiated Material, and one Wolf Tooth Club that's gone."
Cheng Shaofeng nodded, feeling that he had summarized everything pretty well.
"Zero, how do I revive the players?"
Before you continue