"Crazy! This is absolutely insane!"
"This version update is way too outrageous! It unlocked so many new features at once. Is the game company trying to knock us out with surprises?"
"Weapons! There really are weapons available for exchange!"
After reading the version update in the notification panel, everyone felt utterly dumbfounded.
They had thought that after the game company introduced a new map, there would not be any major moves for quite some time. Who would have thought the surprises would come so quickly?
Not only could they exchange for weapons, but the vehicle rental function had also been unlocked. The new gameplay was not merely a little more varied—it had opened an entirely new era.
"That A5 Composite Longbow costs fifty thousand points?" Fang Zhen looked at the weapon exchange list, and the heat in his heart instantly cooled considerably.
He had long known that the weapons used by NPCs would not be cheap, but he had not expected them to be this expensive.
"Brother Zhen, what about that fifteen-thousand-point compound bow?" Outlander Gunslinger asked excitedly from beside him.
Outlander Gunslinger had no thoughts at all about the A5 Composite Longbow worth fifty thousand points. After all, even if he worked himself to the bone, he could only earn a little over twenty points a day, and the Blood Essence Rice he had planted would not be harvested for another ten days.
Fifty thousand points was something he did not even dare dream about, but fifteen thousand still seemed attainable. At least if he ground hard for a month, he might be able to earn fifteen thousand points.
"That compound bow is decent too." Fang Zhen recalled the arrows fired by those White Feather Gang NPCs.
Its power and range were both fine, but it was a little inferior to the compound longbow that Director Lin Qi had tested. Everything else about it was quite good.
"Sister Wu Shang, should we pool our money to rent that Electric Tricycle?" Twilight of the Gods stared at the Big Three-Wheeler in the exchange list, his eyes shining. "As long as we have that three-wheeler, we can travel to Grizzly Mine anytime to haul ore and timber. We'll definitely earn more than we do digging holes."
"Renting that three-wheeler would indeed be profitable, but you saw the situation in the wilderness." Luo Wu Shang shook her head slightly. "The NPCs made it very clear in the story. It's easy to come under attack out there, and the three-wheeler can be attacked too. If we don't have enough strength, not only will we fail to earn points, we might even lose everything."
"I agree with Wu Shang as well. In the long run, renting a three-wheeler is certainly good, but it depends on our own strength. This should be a trap deliberately set by the game company." After pondering for a moment, Zhang Qingwei said, "If we want to earn a large amount of points, first, we need to accept the main quests issued by the director. Second, we need to raise our own strength as quickly as possible. The simplest way is to exchange for weapons."
"Of course, if we have enough points, we can also exchange for that Smart Watch. With one, everything becomes much more convenient. And if we have two, we can even send someone ahead to scout in the wilderness. We can stay in contact at all times within a kilometer and avoid a lot of trouble."
"So poor." After hearing this, Twilight of the Gods suddenly felt that the two hundred points Lin Qi had rewarded him no longer seemed so appealing.
There were far too many things he wanted right now, yet none of them were something he could obtain by himself in a short period of time.
"Everyone, how about we join forces?" After looking through everything, One Leaf Floating Cloud took the initiative to suggest, "You've all seen the new exchange items. They're all good things, but it's too difficult for us to exchange for them on our own."
"So I propose that we join forces for now and pool all our points to rent a vehicle. Of course, we can't just rent a vehicle. We also need to exchange for at least one or two weapons."
"That way, we'll have both a vehicle and weapons. We can run transport every day, and when the time comes, we'll split the earnings equally."
"I agree to join forces, but not to splitting things equally." Fang Zhen shook his head. "Brother One Leaf, you didn't go into the wilderness this time, so you don't know the strength and methods of those enemies out there. Compared with the points needed to rent a vehicle, strength is actually what matters most."
"Every one of those enemies is at least at the level of a Quasi-Apprentice. Some of the stronger ones have even reached the limit of Quasi-Apprentices. It wouldn't be strange at all if real Apprentices appeared later."
"What does Brother Fang mean?" One Leaf Floating Cloud did not argue, merely asking calmly, "Should we divide things according to individual strength?"
"That's right. My proposal is that a preparatory Quasi-Apprentice counts as one share, a Quasi-Apprentice counts as two shares, and a real Apprentice counts as three shares. That isn't excessive, is it?" Fang Zhen proposed.
"I agree." Luo Wu Shang nodded. "Strength comes first in the wilderness. The greater your ability, the more points you take. That way, nobody loses out."
"Fine, we agree too." One Leaf Floating Cloud sighed helplessly but still accepted.
Their current strength was already inferior to the others'. If they did not keep up with the main group, they would only be left farther and farther behind.
Transporting goods in the wilderness now was like a new dungeon-running mode. Every trip was highly profitable, but when it came to dividing boss loot, a pick-up group naturally calculated things according to contribution.
For a time, the original three squads became a single team.
"Still, earning the points for these two weapons won't be easy. Even if we join forces, it will probably take nearly half a month to earn enough, not to mention the twenty-thousand-point rental fee." One Leaf Floating Cloud looked at the prices on the exchange list and said with a headache, "Do you have any good ideas?"
"As for weapons, we only need to exchange for one compound bow. I can exchange for Steel Arrows as weapons." Luo Wu Shang said.
"I only need to exchange for a Steel Arrow as my weapon too." Zhang Qingwei said with a smile. "That gives us three weapons. Next, we need to quickly solve the vehicle rental problem."
"Um... I have a way to quickly earn a large amount of points in a short time." Twilight of the Gods raised his hand. "But let me make this clear first: this method carries great risk, and I want twenty percent of the points we earn."
"Twenty percent is no problem." Fang Zhen looked curiously at Twilight of the Gods, feeling that this little brother was rather underhanded. He had kindly brought him along to practice Crushing Stone Fist, after all. "Risk? What risk?"
"As long as we can get enough points to rent the vehicle in a short time, I have no problem with twenty percent." Luo Wu Shang did not particularly care about that. Getting the vehicle first was the kingly path.
"I have no problem either." One Leaf Floating Cloud looked directly at Twilight of the Gods, wondering what method he could possibly have.
Seeing everyone agree, Twilight of the Gods no longer hid it. "When I was digging before, I found a Great Rift more than forty meters underground. Sister Wu Shang knows about it too. There are treasure chests in that Great Rift, and each one is worth five hundred points. There are dozens of them there."
"One treasure chest is worth five hundred points?" Even Luo Wu Shang was startled upon hearing that.
If there were dozens of treasure chests, that would mean around twenty thousand points—just enough to rent the vehicle, without having to farm for more than twenty days.
"Yeah, the profits are huge, but the director also said there's a monster there called a Unicorn Gold-Eating Rat. It's very strong and intelligent, and it likes metal." Twilight of the Gods smiled bitterly. "If we steal the treasure chests and lead those Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats back to the martial arts hall, the director will directly expel us."
"That really is quite risky." Fang Zhen could not help shrinking his neck.
For players like them, what they feared most was authority-abusing admins. Being directly expelled from the game would mean missing out on the future.
"Then we just don't lead those monsters here, right?" Zhang Qingwei shot Twilight of the Gods a look. "We've all played games for so many years. How can you not even know the basics of pulling mobs?"
"Dying doesn't matter to us anyway. We just need one person to lure the monsters elsewhere while the others take the treasure chests during that time. Then we destroy the evidence and completely seal the rift. Wouldn't that solve it?"
The moment Twilight of the Gods heard that, he felt as though someone had seized the high ground of his intelligence.
That Great Rift was, damn it, the most basic dungeon gameplay in any game.
Just as everyone was discussing matters in the training ground, a sudden commotion rose from the street outside the martial arts hall. Many drifters rushed out of the buildings, discussing things with one another in the street. The noise even woke Lin Qi, who had been sleeping.
"Brother Qin Mu, did something happen in our abandoned district again?"
"Did some other drifters invade us again?"
Lin Qi looked at Heavy Spear Qin Mu, who had also walked out onto the street, then hurried over to ask.
"Not this time." Qin Mu shook his head and explained warmly, "Something major happened in the wilderness yesterday. I heard that the deputy leader of the White Feather Gang had two sons die. Now that deputy leader has sent people here to issue a bounty. Anyone who can find the murderer will be rewarded three hundred thousand bits!"
Before you continue