Barbaric Realm, the third day since everyone's transmigration.
Time: 5:55 a.m.
China Second Base, Central Command Building.
Inside the highest-ranking office.
Although the sky outside the window had already begun to pale, the two men in the room had clearly been up all night.
Wan Changzheng sat in the seat of honor, with a bowl of white rice porridge and a plate of pickled vegetables in front of him.
Both men had dark circles under their eyes. They sipped their porridge while staring pensively at the tactical map on the wall.
"Chief, ten minutes left."
Zhao Yan glanced at the time, swallowed his mouthful of porridge, and spoke with a hint of indignation.
"Today's Rankings are about to refresh."
"I wonder if that 'No Need to Say More' can hold on to first place."
As he spoke, Zhao Yan put down his chopsticks with a thump, anger showing on his face.
"That bunch of Think Tank guys does nothing but pour cold water on everything!"
"Did you read the analysis report they sent over just now?"
"They insist that 'No Need to Say More' only got those results because he lucked out!"
"Some even speculate that he stumbled upon two monstrous tribes fighting and picked up the scraps!"
"Listen to that! Is that any way for a human being to talk? Is it so hard to admit that China has produced a genius?"
"Sometimes they make me so mad I want to cut them down with one stroke!"
"Ahem..."
The more Zhao Yan spoke, the more worked up he got. A mouthful of porridge went down the wrong pipe, and he coughed until his face turned red.
Wan Changzheng shook his head helplessly and patted his old partner on the back.
"All right, all right, Old Zhao. Calm down."
"The Think Tank's words may be unpleasant, but they're not entirely without reason."
"Things like this kind of 'Flash in the Pan' have happened before, back when transmigrations were on a smaller scale."
Wan Changzheng picked up a strip of pickled vegetable and recalled the past.
"Remember that batch of transmigrators from five years ago?"
"Eagle Country had a real badass. His score topped ten thousand on the first day, and he stunned the world."
"An investigation later revealed that the guy really was something."
"He was an underground arms dealer, and he got transported along with his own underground explosives workshop."
"But he had bad luck. A Beast Tide hit him as soon as he landed."
"Based on what we found, he must have blown up the entire explosives depot."
Wan Changzheng sighed.
"That explosion killed more than a thousand monsters and pushed his score to Server First."
"But what happened?"
"The next day, his name never lit up again."
"He was gone. That burst of glory was his swan song."
At that, Zhao Yan fell silent.
He nodded, and much of his anger faded.
"You're right, Chief. I got too worked up. I just really want to see China get the better of those foreigners."
"We'll wait and see. Dragon or worm, we'll know at six."
Time ticked by, one second at a time.
The electronic clock on the wall flipped to 6:00.
"Vmmm!"
At that moment, a gigantic screen of light lit up in the sky outside, right on time.
It was accompanied by that grand, mocking voice.
[Hello, newbies! We meet again!]
[Congratulations on making it through your second night in the Barbaric Realm!]
[Quite a few interesting things happened last night. This land is full of surprises, of course...]
[Unfortunately, quite a few brave souls have left us forever, too.]
[Before I announce the Rankings, I have one more important thing to tell you.]
At that, Wan Changzheng and Zhao Yan both sat up straight.
Normally, no new functions opened on the third day, unless...
[You must be struggling with how to distribute supplies among your team, and with a crisis of trust, right?]
[Don't worry! Starting today, the "Shelter System" is officially online!]
[The rules are as follows:]
[1. Anyone who meets the requirements (has a fixed base / enough people) can apply to establish a shelter and build a faction of their own!]
[2. The system will calculate an overall score based on the shelter's level, population, defenses, and special features.]
[3. Scores will be tallied once a month! The higher your score, the more abundant your system supply drops will be! They may even include firearm blueprints!]
[4. Shelters will have a hierarchy: leader, administrator, and member. When a shelter is first established, the leader will be chosen by a vote of all members!]
While the two men were still trying to process the bombshell, the voice from the Sky Curtain suddenly took on a playful tone.
[Of course! There are exceptions to every rule.]
[If you're lucky enough to have a rare "Mobile Shelter," you won't need a vote. You'll automatically become its permanent leader!]
[Even if you're all alone, you're still a king!]
[Yes, you—the one rushing B right now! Slow down your car, or you'll wreck the road!]
The writing on the screen of light slowly faded away.
Inside the office, Wan Changzheng and Zhao Yan stared at each other, their eyes full of shock.
"The Shelter System... opened ahead of schedule?"
Wan Changzheng set down his bowl of porridge, his expression turning gravely solemn.
"Even this has been moved up... It looks like the number of people who died last night was no ordinary figure."
"Yeah."
Zhao Yan took a deep breath, his voice heavy.
"Based on our understanding of the Barbaric Realm's rules over the years, the Shelter System opens once a certain threshold is reached."
"It's determined entirely by the death rate."
"Only when the death rate among the latest arrivals reaches the 30% red line..."
"Will the Sky Curtain activate the shelter function by the following day at the latest, to protect the survivors from being wiped out and encourage them to band together."
"In previous years, it didn't open until the seventh or tenth day. But this time..."
Zhao Yan glanced at the calendar. "It's only the third day."
"The number of dead must be..."
Zhao Yan didn't dare say the figure aloud.
Billions had arrived, and the death rate was 30%...
That meant that overnight, ten billion people or more had become monster droppings.
"Ah, nothing in this world stays the same."
Wan Changzheng let out a long sigh, stood, and walked to the window. He looked at the densely packed Refugee Camp outside the base.
"We can only do our best."
"Yesterday, the base forcibly took in more than a thousand of our people who had arrived nearby. Our supplies are already stretched thin."
"Hopefully fewer people show up today... It's not that we don't want to save them. We really can't afford to."
It wasn't that he was heartless.
As the man in charge of the base, Wan Changzheng ate the same breakfast as Zhao Yan: white rice porridge and pickled vegetables.
It was exactly the same as what the people in the Refugee Camp outside were eating.
"In the Barbaric Realm, only your own strength is real strength."
Wan Changzheng looked at the Sky Curtain. "The country can provide a safe haven as best it can, but it can't protect everyone for the rest of their lives."
"Right."
Zhao Yan nodded. Then he recalled the last line of the announcement and rubbed his chin, puzzled.
"Chief, what did that last line from the Sky Curtain mean?"
"Rush B? That sounds like a tactical term from a game. Does it mean... charge?"
"Could someone be carrying out some kind of special operation?"
Wan Changzheng furrowed his brows.
"Maybe."
"After all, special forces from all over the world were transported here. Some of their elite operators really can do what ordinary people can't."
"My guess... is that it was probably something the group on Weird Island did."
Mention of "Weird Island" and a "special operation" seemed to spark a thought in Wan Changzheng. His voice suddenly darkened.
"Speaking of that, Old Zhao, the Central Base sent over an encrypted message yesterday."
"Our Ace Agent, 'Falcon,' sent back a top-secret piece of intelligence before he died."
"What intelligence?" Zhao Yan asked.
"Why Eagle Country and Cherry Blossom Country have been dominating the top twenty."
Wan Changzheng clenched his fist and slammed it against the windowsill.
"Last month, during the expedition to the Polar Icefield, they got incredibly lucky."
"Near the Dragon Seed Lair, they picked up an 'S-class One-time Descent Scroll.'"
"The scroll's function is..."
"It lets a specified number of newcomers bring a full set of modern firearms and choose their own landing site!"
"What?!"
Zhao Yan shot to his feet, his face full of disbelief.
"They got that kind of bullshit luck?!"
"Th-this is fucking cheating!"
He knew all too well what it meant.
While everyone else was fighting monsters with sticks and stones during the early days of survival,
the elite squads from Eagle Country and Cherry Blossom Country had Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and even Rocket Launchers!
And they had landed on the Weird Island, the richest in resources, but also the most dangerous!
It was practically a max-level player slaughtering noobs in the starting village!
"And that's not all."
Wan Changzheng gritted his teeth.
"Even if they were unlucky and didn't awaken a Supernatural Ability,"
"starting with firearms would still let them grind scores, earn rewards, and establish shelters..."
"The Barbaric Realm is a world where a Snowball keeps getting bigger."
"When you're ahead, you can play in comfort and rake in resources!"
"But when you're behind... fall one step behind, and you'll fall behind at every step, until you end up as monster food."
"If they manage to gain a foothold on Weird Island and establish the first S-class Shelter..."
Wan Changzheng trailed off.
But Zhao Yan understood what he meant.
It would be a strategic disaster.
"Even though the higher-ups are already planning a team to go to Weird Island, I still hope..."
Wan Changzheng lifted his head, his eyes fixed on the Sky Curtain, where the Rankings were about to refresh—and on No Need to Say More, still in first place.
"I hope... he can give us another miracle."
Before you continue