If you don't play the dog until the end, how can you win!

"Whoa, hearing the voice right beside him, Fang Ran was startled, then looked toward a clump of grass next to him."

Upon seeing who it was, Fang Ran was instantly amazed!

The guy beside him was far more professional at lying low—a ring of branches tied around his head, a backpack perfectly blending into the grass, and a pair of binoculars vigilantly scanning for any sign of movement. If anyone nearby started fighting, Fang Ran had no doubt this guy would bolt immediately.

And wait, wasn't this guy in the black robe the one sitting across from Fang Ran, the Moke Ancient Monk!?

Hearing the Moke Ancient Monk's words, Fang Ran's eyes lit up!

"From what you're saying, could it be you're also lying low, bro?"

"Of course. If you don't lie low, how do you win?"

The 'Moke Ancient Monk' declared with a righteous expression, as if swearing an oath.

"A kindred spirit!"

Fang Ran sighed emotionally, then quickly joined in, flawlessly crouching in the grass without moving, helping the 'Moke Ancient Monk' keep watch behind them.

The two formed an unspoken alliance.

"Bro, nice hiding skills!"

Seeing Fang Ran's professional cowardly moves, the 'Moke Ancient Monk' praised him.

"Overrated, overrated! I've been lying low for hundreds of rounds myself."

Fang Ran looked smug but pretended to be modest, sharing a sense of regret at not meeting sooner with the 'Moke Ancient Monk,' and then they vigilantly watched their surroundings together in the grass, lying low in perfect sync.

Ling: "..."

There was actually another weirdo like Fang Ran, this cowardly piece of work?

Entering the scenario without thinking about hunting targets to boost strength, instead just finding a patch of grass to lie low in forever, planning to wait until the end of time. This...

Was hopeless, wasn't it?

"Hey, little bro, where you from? How'd you get in?" The 'Moke Ancient Monk' acted all familiar, sweeping his binoculars around while still chatting with Fang Ran.

"I'm from Luocheng, got dragged in somehow. But I'm a peace-loving guy—why would I go around fighting and killing? Safety first!" Fang Ran said matter-of-factly, then, feeling that just lying low wasn't safe enough, he pulled out more branches to cover his head, not caring at all about the green above him.

"Right, I feel the same way. This damn Night Battle is a life-or-death nightmare—constant crises, people flinging arms and legs around fighting heaven and earth. Why don't those hot-blooded Night Battle Participants ever consider us peace lovers?"

The 'Moke Ancient Monk' puffed out his chest, as if questioning the world in pain.

"Exactly, exactly!" Fang Ran nodded like a pecking chick.

Their brainwaves instantly synced on some bizarre topic.

Ling: "..."

"Hey? Old Bro? Why aren't there any monsters outside?" Fang Ran secretly poked a hole and peeked out.

"I'm wondering that too. I heard this scenario has tons of monsters!" The 'Moke Ancient Monk' looked confused.

"This scenario won't deploy targets for the first hour."

Suddenly, a Power Bank floated above them, a loli voice speaking flatly.

The seemingly normal patch of grass went silent for a second.

Then two figures leaped out instantly, pretending nothing had happened, glancing around.

"Ah, really, if they'd shown up, with my strength, I'd totally crush a bunch of them." Old Bro Moke crossed his arms, looking supremely confident—if he'd take the branches off his head, it'd be more convincing.

"Right, I think with my awesome skills, dealing with those so-called E-Rank scrubs would be no problem." Fang Ran awkwardly removed the green mess from his head and puffed out his chest.

Then they exchanged smiles, each feeling the other was a perfect match.

Ling quietly watched these two idiots, both E-Rank nobodies putting on airs.

"Forgot to introduce myself—Meng Lang, don't mind it."

"No worries, Old Bro, what's there to mind about a late intro? I'm Fang Ran." Fang Ran gave a thumbs-up, looking unconcerned.

"Ahem,"

Old Bro Moke looked awkward: "I meant my name is Meng Lang."

"Uh," Fang Ran was awkward for a second too, then immediately gave a thumbs-up: "Great name!"

Meng Lang pulled back his hood, revealing a simple T-shirt and pants under the black robe, as casual as Fang Ran, and his T-shirt even had a SpongeBob print on it.

Seriously, are you two grown kids? How old are you wearing clothes like that out!?

Ling stared speechlessly at the two—one in Crayon Shin-chan, one in SpongeBob—standing out bizarrely in the Night Battle's darkness, especially eye-searing.

"Wait, Fang Ran, what's that beside you?" Meng Lang spotted the floating Power Bank and was instantly shocked.

God, had he been gone so long he was out of touch with the times?

Had Xiaomi already developed flying Artificial Intelligence Power Banks?

"Uh, to be honest, this is my Summoned Beast." Fang Ran sighed and said with a straight face.

Slap!

Ling smacked directly onto Fang Ran's face.

"I'm not your Summoned Beast!"

"Pfft—but you clearly said so." Fang Ran said with a pitiful tone, and then...

Smack!

He got hit again.

He shouldn't have brought it up. The moment Fang Ran mentioned it, Ling got annoyed. Thinking back to when she had just entered the Vessel and casually said that to earn his trust, she really regretted it now.

Meng Lang watched the metal Power Bank smack straight into Fang Ran's face and nervously swallowed.

Holy crap, that Power Bank's this fierce, and it calls itself 'Old Lady'?

But hearing that loli voice go all tough is kinda cute too, heheh.

Meng Lang thought lecherously. If Ling ever found out, his nose probably wouldn't survive either.

"If you don't want to experience what it's like to die in this scenario, then get your asses to a good position right now!!"

Ling's roar echoed in Fang Ran and Meng Lang's ears, scaring them both into obediently scurrying toward the city center.

"Hey, little bro, in this kind of Apocalypse Scenario, shouldn't we hit up a police station first and grab a couple of handguns to look tough?" Meng Lang couldn't help asking as he watched Fang Ran confidently leading the way.

"Old Bro, chill. Who are we?" Fang Ran shot back, then raised his voice with confidence: "We're Night Battle Participants! Who needs crappy stuff like handguns?"

"Mm-hmm, little bro, you've got a point." Meng Lang nodded with exaggerated seriousness.

Ling floated at the back, heard Fang Ran's words, snorted inwardly, and nodded slightly. At least you've got some self-awareness.

Then she heard his next sentence.

"The main thing is, there's no one in this city!! No one!! Can you resist the temptation of grabbing whatever you want from a supermarket!?"

"No way!!"

Meng Lang was stunned. Yeah, why didn't I think of that!

Ling felt a tightness in her chest. I really overestimated this guy just now.

"And I'm sure none of the other Night Battle Participants have thought of it." Fang Ran said with absolute confidence, studying the map at the Bus Stop. Shencheng? Then he set his sights straight on the city's largest Department Store!

Yeah, none of the other Night Battle Participants are as broke and pathetic as you.

"No way! Anything that's free like this, you've gotta call me in from now on." Meng Lang's eyes lit up with the same gleam as Fang Ran's.

Sigh, alright, there's another one.

Ten minutes later.

"Damn, Old Bro, this bottle of Telunsu is mine!"

"Screw that! You drank all the ones before, this one should be mine!"

Just inside the supermarket entrance, the broke losers were instantly drawn to the Telunsu they could never afford normally. After trying out that whole washing-your-face-with-milk thing every shut-in had always wanted to do, they started fighting over the last few cartons, human nature's ugliness on full display.

"Sigh, there's more over there." Ling sighed weakly, embarrassed for these two broke losers.

"Old Bro, you're already middle-aged, you should take this bottle of Telunsu to replenish yourself."

"No, no, little bro, you look all scrawny, you should drink it for the calcium. And I'm only 25, still far from middle-aged."

Ling sighed again, suddenly feeling that bringing Fang Ran along had been a terrible decision.