Chapter 53-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
Chapter 53
Xu Da grunted twice in response to Qin Zhen, a flash of ruthlessness crossing the depths of her eyes. She made up her mind on the spot — the moment she found the item vault, she would strike first!
Since Qin Zhen had sided with her and enjoyed some benefits from the Xu Family over the past few days, whether Qin Zhen's loyalty was genuine or purely self-serving, it was only natural that she serve Xu Da to the very end.
So Xu Da urged, "Qin Zhen, hurry up and figure out a way to break through the floor! If someone else shows up, we'll be in trouble!"
The Xu Family had recruited quite a few powerful players through the Player Association. Several elders with real authority had deliberately cultivated their own factions. But Xu Da, who held only a title without actual power, had nothing but a handful of fair-weather friends. Right now, the only person she could rely on was Qin Zhen.
"I don't have any abilities or items that can break through a floor."
Qin Zhen replied.
Xu Da didn't have any either. Her wind blades were good for slashing people, but the Xu Family's manor was no shoddy construction — the materials were solid.
Xu Da deflated for a moment, then immediately perked back up. "Let's keep looking. There has to be a way down somewhere."
"Wait, Xu Da."
Qin Zhen had been staring at the floor the whole time. She suddenly reached out and grabbed Xu Da, who was about to turn and leave. Xu Da looked at her quizzically. "Did you find a clue?"
"I've confirmed it. The item vault is right below us."
Xu Da followed the direction Qin Zhen was pointing, but all she could see was an intricately patterned wool carpet spread beneath their feet.
She had walked back and forth across the carpet countless times, but this was the first time she truly looked at its design. It was a classic Persian style — an abundance of fine golden patterns traced over a dark red base, accented with blue and black motifs that created an opulent, floral effect, so lavish it was hard to look away.
Xu Da glanced at it only briefly before averting her gaze. She sensed something was off. She pulled free from Qin Zhen's grip and slowly backed away.
"This carpet is a pure handmade Kashan piece, isn't it? Must be worth over a million."
Qin Zhen crouched down as she spoke, seemingly oblivious to the wary look in Xu Da's eyes. She ran her fingers delicately over the carpet, feeling the texture of the premium silk velvet.
"What a shame. Such an exquisite handcrafted piece — and now it's worthless."
As Qin Zhen sighed, the unease in Xu Da's heart peaked. She spun around and bolted in the opposite direction, her sneakers thudding heavily against the carpet.
The further she ran, the colder her body became. Before she could make it out of the hall, Xu Da's legs suddenly buckled, and she collapsed onto the carpet.
Behind her, Qin Zhen rose to her feet, unhurried.
The well-lit windows let in enough light to trace every contour of her face. Qin Zhen gave off a youthful impression at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the corners of her eyes and the crease between her brows already bore traces of time.
"Honestly, Xu Da, I quite like a straightforward girl like you — every thought written plainly on your face."
"But you see, I've already seen the limit of your value."
Qin Zhen's eyes shimmered with a gray-blue luster.
Having confirmed that Xu Da wasn't lying or throwing up a smokescreen to mislead an outsider like herself — that the item vault was indeed beneath this manor — Qin Zhen only needed that one confirmation. With that settled, Xu Da had outlived her usefulness.
The teenager sprawled on the deep red carpet struggled to roll over. She saw the high ceiling, and then her gaze traveled downward. Her wrist was visibly swollen, the snakebite wound bleeding nonstop, staining the red carpet an even deeper shade.
Beside her wrist lay a broken silver chain. The silver snake head had a ruby embedded in one eye, complementing the deep red carpet perfectly, while the other eye socket was hollow.
...When? When exactly had Qin Zhen planted a venomous snake on her? How had she not noticed at all?
Her weakening heartbeat suddenly surged. Xu Da remembered — it must have been when Qin Zhen pulled her out of the car! Her most vulnerable, most unguarded moment!
Xu Da struggled in bitter fury, rolling over to try to crawl off the carpet. But the violent movement only accelerated the spread of the venom. Her hand had just reached the cold marble floor when her fingers trembled once — and then went still.
[Congratulations, player — you have reached Level 17!]
The castle hall fell silent. Only after the game's announcement chimed did Qin Zhen walk over. Ignoring the broken chain, she crouched beside Xu Da and took hold of her already cold hand.
In the next moment, a flash of white light passed through Qin Zhen's hand, and Xu Da's body vanished.
She unclenched her hand. Her palm was empty.
Yet Qin Zhen smiled. She clenched her fist again, fingers rubbing together as though holding something invisible.
An invisible wind blade rested in her hand.
Its power was yet to be determined, but Xu Da had been Level 13 with an A-tier Talent. Qin Zhen had seen her use the ability — its power should be quite effective against flesh and blood.
The higher the value of the destroyed target, the stronger the weapon conjured. Each weapon could only be used five times. This was [Priceless True Love]'s Skill 1 — [True Martial].
"Sorry. This is simply how I survive."
With that, the wind blade vanished from her palm, awaiting Qin Zhen's next summoning.
Before the game's descent, Qin Zhen had been a buyer for a trendy fashion brand, spending every day evaluating the value and potential of things or people, then negotiating with the relevant parties to offer terms that best matched their worth.
She had long since honed a keen eye. Anything could be disassembled in her mind into the most advantageous strategy.
Apart from Qin Zhen, not another soul could be seen in the hall. Only a small dark stain on the expensive carpet bore witness that another person had once existed there.
Qin Zhen stepped back a few paces. A wrecking ball weighing over a thousand pounds suddenly appeared above the hall. It came crashing down with tremendous force, and the expensive carpet caved inward along with the shattered floor, revealing a gaping hole. The impact knocked candelabras off the walls.
Footsteps were approaching from the distance. Qin Zhen immediately jumped into the hole and descended to the castle's underground level.
*
"This is the place."
Halfway up the mountain, the castle doors stood open. Two people walked in side by side. Cheng Yue spoke with certainty, "This is where Xu Hao lived. Given his personality, he would definitely keep his most precious things close at hand."
"His item vault should be somewhere inside this castle."
Bai Shan surveyed the opulent foyer. The castle had at least five floors and covered a massive area — so large it resembled a labyrinth. Bai Shan felt that living in a place like this served no practical purpose beyond flaunting one's status.
She had originally wanted to regroup with Lin Huijun, but couldn't find her. Everyone nearby had scattered too — not a single person left to ask.
However, Lin Huijun had driven the car away — if she still had the luxury of driving, that meant she was probably fine.
According to Cheng Yue, she had even killed Xu Hao. The remaining Xu Family members were surely too busy hiding and protecting themselves to bother with an insignificant outsider. Bai Shan agreed — Cheng Yue had devastated the Xu Family. The Xu members were scrambling to save their own skins, and as for the high-level players they had recruited, naturally they scattered like monkeys when the tree fell.
In all of Nanzhou City, what could possibly threaten Lin Huijun?
She relaxed for a moment, then immediately realized a very serious problem — Cheng Yue had killed Xu Hao.
The Talent that could replicate items was gone!
Whether it was at that exact moment or not, Bai Shan released a palpable wave of killing intent. Cheng Yue immediately told her that although Xu Hao was dead, he had left behind a large number of items.
Bai Shan already had plenty of powerful items. What she valued was the item-replicating Talent itself, not whatever Xu Hao had left behind. Even if he could dominate a region, his items couldn't possibly surpass the Tyrant's.
Still, Bai Shan wanted to take a look at those replicas. After all, the ability was too extraordinary.
"I don't know exactly where they are either." Cheng Yue walked ahead, scanning the surroundings. "Replicated items aren't true game items — they can't be stored in game space. So Xu Hao must have stashed them somewhere physical."
"Can't be stored in game space... that's why they can be freely traded, isn't it?"
Bai Shan mused.
The game's rules clearly favored the strong. It would never let the weak easily obtain powerful items. You had to give something to get something.
Replicas were like ordinary objects imbued with special abilities — they could pass through anyone's hands freely. But the inability to store them in game space was inconvenient. The item-replication Talent actually benefited others more. For anyone with ambitions of building their own faction, it was the most powerful recruitment tool of this era.
Bai Shan estimated that Xu Hao's production capacity was still low, and he feared for his life, which was why he had never publicized the ability. But the local government of Nanzhou City surely knew about it — otherwise they wouldn't have tacitly allowed the Xu Family to grow and expand.
If this Talent could be developed to its full potential, it might become a human item factory — an arms factory — capable of boosting the combat power of an entire city or even a nation.
Its importance far exceeded that of any single top-100 ranked player.
This was the ability that had allowed the Xu Family to take root.
The more Bai Shan thought about it, the more frustrated she became. But what was lost was lost — she couldn't exactly pick up the innocent-looking Cheng Yue beside her and beat her up again.
The smell of blood permeated the air. Without question, at least two groups had already been here and engaged in a fierce struggle.
A red dot appeared in Bai Shan's eyes. She swept her gaze around the area, using heat imaging to search, but found no living creatures.
Suddenly, Bai Shan lowered her head and stared at the ground, lost in thought.
[Talent: "Eagle Eye, Wolf Instinct" (C)]
[Skill 1: One minute of X-ray vision per day.]
"There's something below."
Bai Shan spoke. A sledgehammer instantly materialized in Cheng Yue's hand. She raised it high and brought it crashing down!
Dust billowed up. A hole was smashed through the floor. Bai Shan jumped down first, Cheng Yue right behind her.
The light dimmed immediately. Hidden beneath the castle was an underground space resembling an air-raid shelter — vast and expansive, stocked with piles upon piles of rice, cooking oil, and salt, as well as winter clothing, medical supplies, and firearms.
Bai Shan casually slipped a few things into her [Personal Domain].
Moving forward, Bai Shan momentarily thought she had entered an underground parking garage. Cars of every color, size, and brand were crammed into the space.
"Does Xu Hao have a car-hoarding obsession?"
Bai Shan walked past the jumbled vehicles — a BYD parked right next to a Porsche. She spotted several out-of-province license plates.
These weren't Xu Hao's personal cars.
She suddenly recalled that when they first arrived in Nanzhou City, Huang Yuci had demanded they get out of their vehicle. In Nanzhou City, only a select few were permitted to drive.
Later, she had provoked a confrontation, and no one dared confiscate her RV.
Bai Shan had assumed the absurd regulation was meant to flaunt the Organization's authority and control ordinary players. Now, looking at this, it was probably far more complicated than that.
"Cheng Yue, what's the deal with these cars?"
Cheng Yue, radiating a bloody, fearsome aura, surveyed the area with sharp eyes, then said with some embarrassment, "I'm sorry, I don't know."
"I was only responsible for following orders and fighting. I wasn't involved in anything else."
Her daily tasks had been exactly two: kill the target, and help others level up.
Bai Shan felt Cheng Yue could compete for the title of "most miserable top-100 player." Aside from Harper at rank 20, who was in a special situation, the other 98 players surely couldn't be that badly off...
Then she suddenly thought of the mysterious Camila, and Fatima, who had only made it onto the leaderboard because of her. Even possessing strength ranked in humanity's top 100 didn't necessarily mean easy mode in this era.
The two rounded the chaotic parking area and spotted the far end of the underground space, where a warehouse door stood wide open. Bai Shan's sharp eyes caught what appeared to be a person inside.
As they drew closer, Bai Shan got a clear view of the area around the warehouse. In the corner by the door, several mangled corpses were piled up. The only one whose face wasn't severely damaged was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, dead with eyes still open.
The warehouse was large and open — its interior visible at a glance.
In the center of the spacious room, a figure was fiddling with a waist-high iron furnace.
The furnace was plain in design — a half-height cylinder with a square opening in the middle, like a gaping mouth ready to swallow or spit something out.
Qin Zhen turned around. Seeing the two of them, she broke into a smile and remarked with a sigh.
"What a coincidence — you two are here as well."
Bai Shan wasn't the least bit surprised to see Qin Zhen here. If anything, she felt a sudden sense of grounding — opportunists always had a knack for finding chances amid chaos.
Cheng Yue, on the other hand, looked guarded. She had a vague impression of this person — someone who shouldn't be here.
Bai Shan's gaze shifted to Qin Zhen's hands. She noticed Qin Zhen was holding two identical white spheres, one in each hand.
"Don't look at me like that, darling. We even took a photo together at a brand launch event, remember?"
Qin Zhen tossed the quip at Cheng Yue — impossible to tell if she was serious — then dropped the smile from her eyes, turning serious as she fixed her gaze on Bai Shan.
"Bai Shan, come take a look. This is quite the treasure."
Listening to Qin Zhen, Bai Shan continued staring at Qin Zhen's hands. She blinked, and the white sphere in Qin Zhen's left hand had vanished. The one in her right hand remained.
Bai Shan raised her eyes, as if only just hearing Qin Zhen's words, and walked in with Cheng Yue.
*
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