Liu Tie: There's no better opportunity than this!

After all, while the Weirds Fan Shang had seen so far hadn't shown much intelligence, they certainly weren't stupid.

Once they got a good enough taste of the rewards on the Provincial Highway-humans-it was almost inevitable that they would focus their attention there.

All they had to do was wait, and someone would deliver themselves straight into their mouths.

No Weird would turn down such a sweet deal.

"Brother Tie, you've lost your mind!"

"Do you know what you're saying?! That's the Provincial Highway! Do you know what we'll run into if we go there?!"

Zhou Ping scratched his head and shouted.

Clearly, Liu Tie's words had gotten him worked up.

But that was only natural. Anyone would freak out upon hearing that their captain wanted to go somewhere as dangerous as the Provincial Highway.

It wasn't just him. Even Lin Xue couldn't help furrowing her delicate brows.

Compared to the two of them, however, Fan Shang looked much calmer.

He could guess some of what Liu Tie was thinking.

But there was no need for Fan Shang to explain. Liu Tie soon gave them his answer.

"I haven't lost my mind. It's just that what we've been through these past two days has made me realize we can't keep going like this.

"Zhou Ping, you must've noticed it too, right? We've run into Weirds several times more often over these past two days than we did before."

"That's not a good sign. It means this world is becoming more dangerous. Besides, going to the Provincial Highway is something I considered a long time ago. The timing just happens to be right to bring it up again."

Liu Tie spoke earnestly.

"Becoming more dangerous? Something you considered before?"

Zhou Ping spoke.

He sounded somewhat incredulous.

"That's right. I actually started thinking about returning to the Provincial Highway a long time ago.

"But we didn't have what it took back then, so I never brought it up."

"Now, though, this is our best chance to go back. Zhou Ping, you should know this, right? The way we were living before was nothing but a slow death."

"As Sequence Transcendents, we can't advance our sequences without Weirds. Whether it's fighting them or using the Yin Objects they drop, those are the best ways to grow stronger.

"But with our convoy the way it was before, I was the strongest one we had. Even encountering a single Level-One Weird was a life-or-death battle. That was why we always avoided the Provincial Highway and wandered along country roads or other highways instead. We were just trying to survive."

As Liu Tie spoke, his expression grew somber.

Then he continued.

"But things are different now. This world is becoming more dangerous, and we can't keep scraping by like before. We have to get stronger as soon as possible. Otherwise, there'll only be one road left for us, and that's... death!"

At those words, Zhou Ping's face abruptly turned pale.

It wasn't that he didn't understand his captain. He simply didn't know what to do.

He had a D-Rank Support Sequence. It wasn't as though he had never fought Weirds since awakening.

But because he could barely hurt them, almost every fight was a life-or-death struggle, and even when he survived, his sequence hardly advanced.

That was why Zhou Ping had abandoned that approach and switched to making porridge with Yin Objects, using his ability to strengthen his sequence.

But Yin Objects were hard to come by. Where would they find enough for him to use?

As a result, his sequence's progress bar had barely moved since his awakening. How could he not panic upon hearing they were going to the Provincial Highway?

Yet Liu Tie's next words eased the tension in Zhou Ping's heart considerably.

"Of course, you might think I've gone crazy and want to rush off to the Provincial Highway to get myself killed. But remember what I said earlier? There's no better opportunity than this."

"Our convoy now has Brother Shang and his House Guard sequence. You've all seen him deal with Weirds. His sequence is definitely B-rank, if not stronger. With him here, our convoy isn't practically helpless against Weirds like it used to be. That makes this the best time to enter the Provincial Highway."

As he spoke, Liu Tie turned his gaze toward Fan Shang.

He hadn't fully made up his mind before. After all, the Hope Convoy had been wiped out by a Weird on the National Highway.

That had left him deeply traumatized by roads like the Provincial Highway.

But Calamity's appearance had changed Liu Tie's mind.

The world was growing more dangerous. In just one short week, another city had been swallowed by the Black Tide and pulled into the Weird World.

Honestly, Liu Tie no longer knew how many people remained in the Real World.

But he could sense that if the Black Tide swallowed the Real World completely, the Weird World would undergo earth-shattering changes.

Whether those changes were good or bad, Liu Tie knew one thing.

Only by possessing great strength would he have any chance of resisting, for better or worse.

At that thought, Liu Tie took a deep breath.

Then he looked at Fan Shang.

"Brother Shang, what about you? What do you think?"

Even Liu Tie himself didn't realize that his voice carried a hint of trembling and nervousness.

That was only natural. No matter what Liu Tie thought, the final decision still rested with Fan Shang.

Strictly speaking, whether any of this could happen depended on what Fan Shang decided.

"Me? Of course I'm in."

Fan Shang chuckled.

After all, going to the Provincial Highway would let him encounter plenty of Weirds, which would be a huge help in growing stronger. He had no reason to refuse.

Even if it was dangerous, that was how Fan Shang's Death-Announcing System obtained more Survival Points. How could he grow stronger without taking risks?

As long as he grew stronger fast enough, those risks wouldn't be risks at all.

Hearing that, Liu Tie immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

What he feared most was Fan Shang refusing. After all, going to the Provincial Highway sounded dangerous from the outset.

Practically any normal person would reject it without hesitation.

But Liu Tie had gambled correctly. He had bet that Fan Shang wasn't the sort of person who would willingly sit around waiting to die.

He had bet that Fan Shang would agree to head to the Provincial Highway with them.

With that thought, Liu Tie turned his gaze to the man beside him.

Zhou Ping's face was still a little pale, courtesy of a certain someone who had suddenly made an unprecedented decision.

Seeing that, Liu Tie couldn't help curling his lips into a grin.

Then he spoke.

"Hey, Zhou Ping, what do you say?"

Liu Tie hooked an arm around Zhou Ping's neck as he asked.

Zhou Ping jerked his shoulder, trying to throw Liu Tie's arm off, but failed. His expression darkened.

Then he spoke as though resigning himself to his fate.

"What do you think, Brother Tie? You've both agreed. Am I supposed to ditch you, split up the supplies with Lin Xue, and leave the convoy?"

Zhou Ping sounded exasperated.

"I only have a D-rank sequence. If I leave today, I'll probably be dead tomorrow."

"Just to be clear, you'd be leaving alone."

Barely had he finished speaking when Lin Xue's slightly cool voice rang out.

Her words weren't particularly pleasant, though.

"I'm planning to go with Fan Shang and Brother Tie, anyway."

Her face remained as cold and expressionless as ever.

But all three of them could hear the seriousness in her voice.

Zhou Ping: "..."