Spark Operation!

"Good. It seems none of you have any objections."

Chu Ge straightened up and delivered his final decision.

"Then I hereby declare this operation officially underway, under the codename Spark!"

"A single spark can set an entire prairie ablaze. Su Ye will be our spark."

"I will also adjust the members of Humanity previously assigned at random to Highway A145 in Su Ye's C13 Zone, replacing them all with our Great Xia soldiers to carry out this operation."

"Everyone, let us watch this spark set the prairie ablaze!"

At around six the next morning, the sky was beginning to brighten.

Su Ye slowly opened his eyes.

He had slept soundly last night without being attacked by any monsters, making it safely through a night on this perilous highway.

Su Ye opened the car door, stepped out, and looked at the road beneath his feet.

To his surprise, the rough, uneven highway littered with concrete barriers and sinkholes last night had vanished.

In its place was a broad, smooth asphalt highway stretching to the limits of his vision.

The highway starts deteriorating at eight in the evening, then returns to normal at six in the morning.

Understanding dawned on Su Ye. He surveyed his surroundings, and after confirming there was no danger, took out a bucket of water.

He quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth. The icy water instantly perked him up.

Then he took out a piece of Mutant Wild Boar meat and began eating.

"The Storage Ring really is a great thing. Time stands still inside it, so the beef comes out exactly as it was when I put it in last night. It's even still steaming."

Su Ye took big bites of the boar meat, feeling it turn into searing energy that surged through every part of his body.

At the same time, his physique increased by another 0.5, reaching 1.9.

"One more piece of Mutant Wild Boar meat, and my physique will catch up to my Mental Attribute."

Su Ye clenched his fists, feeling the power coursing through his body, and a satisfied expression crossed his face.

He was still somewhat behind the Fivefold Race, but at least he was getting stronger.

After finishing the boar meat, Su Ye took out a bottle of BC calcium milk, inserted a straw, and opened the chat channel as he drank.

Perhaps because it was early in the morning, not many people were chatting.

But as Su Ye scrolled up through the chat history, his eyebrows rose.

Many people had encountered varying degrees of danger while driving last night.

Some had fallen into sinkholes, their bodies and cars crushed into pulp. Others had been flattened by boulders that appeared out of nowhere.

Some unlucky players had also been attacked by monsters while parked for a rest, becoming monster chow.

Su Ye glanced at the survivor count in the upper-right corner.

Of the one million people in their C13 Zone, 923,421 remained.

More than seventy thousand players had died on the very first day.

And that was just their zone. Across the entire server, assuming a similar proportion, well over a billion players would have died in total.

Su Ye sucked in a sharp breath.

"It's only the second day."

The brutality of this Survival Game far exceeded anything he had imagined.

"Forget it. The ones dying are Fivefold Race players anyway. It has nothing to do with me."

Su Ye shook his head and closed the chat channel.

As long as he stayed alive, that was enough. He couldn't be bothered with whether others lived or died, nor did he have the ability to help.

After eating and drinking his fill, Su Ye returned to the car and looked at the finished crossbow bolts waiting to be collected from the workbench. There were a hundred thousand in total.

Su Ye then contacted Ling Yue and the others, quickly selling all one hundred thousand crossbow bolts and receiving another batch of resources.

Looking at the new batch of resources awaiting withdrawal in the trading panel, Su Ye sighed. He could only leave them there for now and figure something out later.

Then he started the car and sped down the road, the engine's roar echoing across the empty highway.

After driving for about fifteen minutes, Su Ye suddenly paused, then began slowing down.

He had spotted three figures on the highway ahead. They stood on either side of the road, watching him quietly.

"People!"

Su Ye's eyes lit up, but he quickly calmed down, and the Desert Eagle appeared in his hand.

He still had no idea what their intentions were. If they were here to kill him, he needed to be prepared.

As he approached, all three figures snapped their legs together, stood at attention, and gave him impeccably executed military salutes.

Seeing this, Su Ye immediately smiled. How could he not realize that his own people had come to help him?

Su Ye promptly drove up to the three of them. After stopping, however, he did not rush to get out, keeping the Desert Eagle in his hand.

Although the three looked like Great Xia soldiers and even wore Great Xia camouflage uniforms bearing the national flag, Su Ye remained on his guard.

"Comrade Su Ye."

The burly soldier in the middle approached the car window and saluted Su Ye again, his voice ringing out like a bell.

"I'm Wang Rui, captain of the Great Xia Third War Zone's special operations brigade."

"I've been ordered to participate in Spark Operation and provide you with supplies."

At that moment, Wang Rui and his two companions were studying Su Ye through the car window. Despite their calm expressions, their hearts were already churning with shock.

Last night, they had received orders from the highest level to participate in an operation codenamed Spark.

The operation briefing told them that a member of Humanity from Great Xia named Su Ye was participating in this Survival Game.

At first, they had hardly dared believe it. After all, the civilization participating in this Survival Game was the Fivefold Race civilization. How had Humanity managed to get in?

Filled with questions, they had come to wait beside this highway. Only now, upon seeing that Su Ye really was a member of Humanity—and from Great Xia at that—did they truly believe it.

Su Ye fell silent for three seconds. Now he was sure they really were his own people.

He immediately opened the door and got out, returning the salute. "Hello, comrade. My name is Su Ye. Thank you all for your efforts."

Wang Rui lowered his arm, a smile appearing on his face.

"It's no hardship. Seeing that the spark of our Humanity is still burning would make even another hundred years in this gray fog worthwhile for us."

"Comrade Su Ye, let me explain Spark Operation first."

"The highest-level orders have confirmed that we are to support you with everything we have. The operation's codename is Spark, and you are that spark. For now, the challenge and response will be 'Spark' and 'Prairie fire.'"

"All members of Humanity on this highway have been replaced by our Great Xia soldiers. However, monsters from other civilizations and Primitive Monsters are still present. We can't change that, so you must still keep yourself safe."

"The higher-ups have also set your first mission objective: take first place in the novice period mileage rankings. We will provide enough assistance to help you build an overwhelming advantage."

"Since we're classified as Civilization Monsters, we can only drop one item at most when we die. So we need to know what you need in order to arrange the upcoming personnel transfers along the highway."

"Unfortunately, we're still in the Beginner Period, and dungeons haven't officially opened yet. Otherwise, we could find a way to get you a dungeon belonging to our Humanity. Everyone inside would be human, and you could have anything you wanted."

Wang Rui continued, "But don't worry. Once the Beginner Period ends, the game will unlock dungeon mode. Then we can let you obtain an item that opens a dungeon as a drop."

Su Ye's eyes lit up. If he really obtained a dungeon admission ticket, with thousands upon thousands of people inside, wouldn't his progress soar?

Although dungeons weren't open yet, he certainly wouldn't lack resources of any kind in the future.

Then Su Ye asked curiously, "Can you decide for yourselves what items you drop?"