Su Ye held nothing back. After all, the other man would learn this once his Vehicle reached level ten anyway. Trading the information for three hundred Survival Coins was a good deal.
Meanwhile, Ling Yue's eyes flickered as he read the message. He was not wondering whether Su Ye was telling the truth, but why Su Ye knew this information.
Judging by how many Survival Coins Su Ye needed, his Vehicle probably had not reached level ten either.
Those Survival Coins were meant for when his Vehicle reached level ten. But if that was the case, how had he learned this?
This guy really is something. I'd learn this myself once my Vehicle reached level ten, but at least knowing now will give me a head start.
With that thought, Ling Yue sent Su Ye a message.
"Brother, here are three hundred Survival Coins. But I'd like you to keep this information from everyone else for now."
"Don't worry. You can trust me that much."
After ending the chat, Su Ye looked at the Survival Coins in his Storage Ring. He had received eight hundred from Ling Yue, and with the three he had previously gotten as drops, he now had 803 Survival Coins in total.
These Survival Coins should be more than enough to refresh the Vehicle Building options. Now I just need one more Function Module to upgrade my Vehicle to level ten.
I'm still not sure which Vehicle Building to choose, though. I can tell Great Xia and let their experts decide.
As he thought, Su Ye got into his car and activated its Weather Forecast function.
[Today's Weather Forecast: Clear]
"Looks like we're in for good weather today."
Su Ye smiled, then started the car and drove off, wondering how many groups of his own people he would meet that day.
Half an hour later, Su Ye stopped the car. Four Great Xia Soldiers stood beside the road.
"Hello, Comrade Su Ye. My name is Zhou Ling."
Once both sides had verified their passwords, the leader walked toward Su Ye with a smile.
"Hello, comrades. Sorry for the wait." Su Ye opened the door, stepped forward, and shook hands with each of the four men.
"We haven't been waiting long. Let's not waste any time. The four of us brought four Storage Rings this time."
"Besides us, you'll meet three more groups of our people today. The higher-ups want to know your current situation so they can provide resources accordingly."
Zhou Ling's expression turned serious as he got straight to the point.
Su Ye nodded and began describing his situation.
"First, my attributes. Including equipment, my physique is currently 9.9, and my mental attribute is 11.4. My base physique is 8.4, and my base mental attribute is 9.4. Breaking through to the first tier before the beginner period ends definitely won't be a problem."
"As for my Vehicle, it's already level nine. I have enough of the other materials. All I need is one Function Module to upgrade it to level ten."
"But once it reaches level ten, I'll need to choose a Vehicle Building. I'll need your advice on which one to pick."
A flicker of shock passed through the four men's eyes at Su Ye's words. His Vehicle was no surprise; they had supplied the Function Modules, so they knew its level.
But his attributes had risen a little too quickly. After all, they had never provided him with anything that permanently increased attributes.
"We guessed your Vehicle had reached level nine. The reason none of us brought a Function Module was that we were worried you'd upgrade straight to level ten and hastily choose an unsuitable Vehicle Building. After all, you shouldn't have many Survival Coins yet," Zhou Ling said.
But Su Ye suddenly raised a hand, interrupting him.
"I actually have quite a few Survival Coins now. I made a deal with the Fivefold Race's leader this morning. I currently have 803 Survival Coins," Su Ye said calmly.
The four men froze at that number.
They had never expected Su Ye to amass more than eight hundred Survival Coins so quickly.
"If you have that many Survival Coins, there's nothing to worry about. I'll report this as soon as I get back. Your logistics team will recommend the Vehicle Building best suited to your current situation and with the greatest potential for future development."
Zhou Ling continued seriously, "Vehicles are also divided into tiers. Every ten levels marks a threshold. There aren't any special requirements for upgrading from level nine to level ten, though. Consider it a newcomer benefit."
"But upgrading from level nineteen to level twenty requires you to meet specific conditions, such as obtaining special materials or entering a Vehicle rank-up instance. Those requirements are random."
Su Ye nodded. So Vehicles had rules like that too. Then he asked curiously, "What are the requirements for a player to advance from the first tier to tier two? How high do their attributes need to be? Do they also have to complete a rank-up quest?"
"The first tier and tier two are different."
Zhou Ling explained in detail, "Before you reach the first tier, you haven't awakened your talent yet, so both attributes need to reach ten."
"But after reaching the first tier, you can awaken your talent by taking an Awakening Potion. At that point, there will no longer be a requirement for both attributes."
"Generally, once either attribute reaches one hundred, you can attempt to break through to tier two. It's not that players don't want to raise both attributes to one hundred. Resources are limited, and only a minority of players can manage it."
"And once your attributes meet the requirements, you do indeed have to complete a rank-up quest. Its difficulty is determined by your attributes."
"If both attributes reach one hundred, the quest's difficulty shoots up. That's another reason many players only raise one attribute."
As he spoke, Zhou Ling suddenly smiled.
"Of course, your goal should be to push both attributes to their limits before ranking up. The breakthrough quest will be harder, but the rewards will also be greater. That's the path many powerful players take."
Su Ye nodded in understanding. With all of Great Xia on Blue Star backing him, he naturally had to take the strongest path.
"Oh, and once the seven-day beginner period ends, all of you players will face a purge." Zhou Ling's tone grew solemn, his gaze fixed on Su Ye.
Su Ye frowned and quietly waited for him to continue.
"You should have noticed by now that the gray fog behind you isn't moving very fast. Even if you stayed in one place for several days, it wouldn't catch up. That's a form of protection for players during the beginner period."
"But once those seven days end, the gray fog behind you will suddenly speed up. Players who haven't covered much distance, who stay in one place just scraping by, or whose Vehicles are low-level will all be eliminated in this purge."
"There are still over nine hundred thousand players in your zone. But after this purge, you'll be lucky if seven hundred thousand-or even six hundred thousand-are still alive."
Su Ye was inwardly stunned.
Their zone did indeed still have over nine hundred thousand people. Although players were eliminated every day, the daily number had gradually fallen over the past few days as players grew accustomed to their situation.
Su Ye had begun to think Road Survival was not as dangerous as he had imagined. Now, though, it seemed that was merely an illusion created for all the players.
A frog slowly boiling in warm water.
Anyone who grew complacent and thought they could simply scrape by would face a merciless, deadly purge once the beginner period ended.
Still, this gives me a chance to make a fortune.
The thought crossed Su Ye's mind.
He could take advantage of the panic that would grip all the players then and reap a massive haul.
Plenty of players would be eliminated anyway. Rather than letting the system reclaim their resources, he might as well harvest them in advance and turn them into fuel for his own growth.
Before you continue