By two or three in the afternoon, pretty much everyone in Server 88 had heard the news: Er Shen and his friend were randomly handing out rewards to players today.

So, when Dan Xingyu and Qiyu once again descended from the sky on their flying carpet, there were no longer any players scurrying about in panic like scared rabbits.

The more reserved ones would politely greet them.

The lively ones—as soon as they approached, they asked if they could take a photo together, and if they could add each other as friends, that would be even better. Some even asked if they could pay a bit of resources to hire them for a two-hour power-leveling run.

Others were incredibly curious about Qiyu and particularly interested in Star Forest, swarming around him and asking all sorts of questions. Dan Xingyu: “Hey, once people find out who we are, it won’t be as much fun anymore.”

But it was really hard to keep it a secret.

Even with a flying carpet, there are very few players who have the spare time, the strength, and the mood to play like this—top-ranked players, even if they’ve saved up enough rewards, would much rather take a good rest during the remaining two days.

It’s nothing like these two young people, who seem to have boundless energy. Even if others did, it would be hard to find two people willing to join in.

When it came down to it, the two didn’t even bother wearing their hoods anymore—after all, everyone recognized them anyway. After playing all day, Dan Xingyu asked Qiyu, “Was it fun?”

Qiyu nodded. It was fun.

Not all the players they encountered were so enthusiastic it was intimidating. Some looked both relieved and nervous when they saw the pair, stammering as they spoke.

There were also a few who refused to accept charity and insisted on giving them gifts as a thank-you, which scared the two of them so much they jumped onto a flying carpet and ran away. But overall, he received many, many thanks.

The event lasted one full day.

The two of them changed locations and found themselves in the Forest of Stars. For the first time, Dan Xingyu rode a magic sled. The kids were so jealous.

“So cool, so gorgeous, so fast!” Dan Xingyu was green with envy. “Why don’t we have one? Why does the Survival Game limit purchases as soon as you leave?”

Otherwise, he’d definitely move to Region 01 just to farm one for himself.

Qiyu explained that this had significant restrictions; in comparison, the Golden Flying Carpet actually had stronger practical Yang energy.

Dan Xingyu: “I get the logic, but looking cool is a lifelong pursuit.”

Just imagine: you’re about to become a legendary hero descending from the sky. Is it cooler to fly down from a rug? Or does descending from a magnificent chariot have more swag?

Qiyu thought for a moment and said, “Flying down on the Blue Azure Wings yourself is the coolest.”

He generously offered, “If you like it, just come find me whenever you want—I’ll give it to you.”

Dan Xingyu sighed, “I do like it, but let’s just skip the whole ‘give you this’ thing. My Lord, just think about the situation here in the Golden Desert.”

Those three Ice Elemental Sprites would probably melt the moment they were released.

Dealing with ice and snow bosses is way easier than tackling the dungeons in the Golden Desert. When a magic sled picks up speed, it can move so fast that the naked eye can’t even follow its trail.

Fortunately, Qiyu’s mental strength was strong enough that no matter how fast they went, he wouldn’t miss what was happening on the ground.

So most of the time, they didn’t even bother deploying their sleds; Qiyu could take down the ice and snow boss on the ground with a single spell. There’s a wide range in players’ skill levels.

Some casual players didn’t even catch a glimpse of the magic sled; they were just fighting the snowman when, all of a sudden, it felt like an attack had fallen from the sky, and the giant snowman instantly turned into a flash of white light.

However, there were also players with considerable skill who managed to spot the magic sled as it sped past.

The identities of the two were also quickly revealed.

Server 01 Regional Channel:

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: So, the top-tier player and that pretentious player from the neighboring server are teaming up, huh?】

【Be A Good Person: We’re here to survive; the top player is here to play the game.】

【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes: More than the top spot on the leaderboard, I envy the gaming legend for having such a close friend. No matter when, they can rely on each other, and whenever they feel like playing, they can play together.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: And the endless energy of youth.】

“Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens” read this and let out a wry smile—it’s true.

Switching to the magic sled greatly improved the efficiency of hunting down the Ice and Snow Boss. For stronger players, earning all the rewards within the seven-day event period.

Both she and Jiangnan had completed their quests. Today was a day to finally relax.

Whether it was her or Jiangnan, all they wanted to do today was bundle up in something fluffy and lounge around at home all day.

After enduring the cold wind for so many days in a row, she really didn’t want to face it anymore—let alone go out to build a snowman, which she’d almost gotten sick of making. Even though she was still relatively young, she felt physically and mentally exhausted after the event.

Maybe only teenagers really have that kind of boundless energy. 

At 6:00 p.m., the two of them returned to Qiyu’s territory.

They speculated about the upcoming activities.

Dan Xingyu: “Based on last month’s experience, barring any surprises, there’ll be three Safe Days after the Ice and Snow Boss event ends. That’s when the end-of-month settlement begins.”

He sounded a bit excited: “I wonder if there’ll be a new event during this month’s safe days?” Qiyu couldn’t help but add: “And the serendipity event.”

He’d been thinking about the scenes of the Star Forest he’d seen in the serendipity event.

After having dinner with Dan Xingyu, Qiyu opened the “01 Survival Squad” group chat, where members were sharing their event progress.

【Civil Engineering Brother: It took me an hour at most, but I finally collected them all.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: I’ve collected them all, too.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: I’m almost there—I still need the avatar, the accessory, and I haven’t swapped out that 50-gem outfit yet.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: That knight set is so cool, and it even comes with a “Resistance to Extreme Cold” stat—how could you possibly give it up!】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: I’m almost there too—I absolutely refuse to give up any gear.】

He wasn’t exactly short on high-quality gear. But he simply couldn’t turn down any of the other rewards marked with the “limited-use” symbol. Basically, everyone successfully redeemed the event-specific armor.

On another note, everyone also brought up the Safe Day event.

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: I wonder if this month’s pattern will be the same as last month’s.】 It’s much the same in the regional chat channel; the last Speed Carnival event left a deep impression on everyone. At the same time, the rewards earned by the top player in this region have made many people incredibly envious.

A cross-region friend, plus a cross-region teleportation array. I wonder what new surprises this time will bring? 

Before he knew it, it was almost midnight.

While Qiyu was waiting for the survival game announcement, he suddenly remembered something. He clicked on “01 Survival Squad.”

【I Love Survival Game:.】

【I Love Survival Game: I have a question I’d like to ask you all.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: What’s up?】

【Civil Engineering Bro: Curious.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Curious +1】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Curious +1】

【I Love Survival Game: I told a good friend of mine, “I really like you,” and his reaction was really weird.】

Everyone: ???!!!

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Oh, wait? This, this, this…】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Are you saying that “good friend” is “God Has No Form”?】

【I Love Survival Game: Yeah.】

No one was surprised by the identity of the “Good Friend.”

After all, this big shot’s social media feed in their group was pitifully empty—aside from a few people in the group, the only other person he was friends with was probably “God Has No Form” from Server 88.

Everyone felt a mix of emotions.

【Civil Engineering Brother: Gaming pro, when it comes to matters of the heart, I don’t think a bunch of us grown men are really in a position to give advice.】 Doesn’t this kid treat everyone like family?

He just blurted it out so casually?

【I Love Survival Game: Alright.】

【I Love Survival Game: I’ll think it over some more on my own.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Hmm, you young folks need to watch your boundaries.】

His first reaction when he saw Qiyu’s opening line was, “Has this kid been tricked?” It took him a moment to realize who it might be.

Come to think of it, that number-one player on the leaderboard seemed to be a year younger than his own son. Well, then it’s fine.

Qiyu was still pondering what boundaries he needed to watch out for. It was kind of weird.

But it seems they don’t get it either.

So he’d just have to figure it out on his own.

It was soon 12 o’clock.

The survival game popped up an announcement right on time:

【The limited-time “Ice and Snow Boss” event has ended.】

【Congratulations to players on successfully surviving the second 30-day period in the survival game. From now until the end of the month, the next three days will be Safe Days.】 

【A brand-new holiday event is about to begin, with registration open for a limited time of eight hours. This is a non-mandatory event—everyone is welcome to participate.】 Just like last month.

No, there’s one difference.

Last time, the event “Speed Racing Frenzy” was displayed right away. This time, the system merely mentioned that an event was coming without specifying its name. However, given the experience from the last Speed Racing Frenzy, the number of players signing up this time is clearly much higher than before.

Just as players thought today’s updates were over and were settling in to rest, a new server-wide announcement popped up:

【Special Announcement: Player counts in certain regions have been detected approaching the 50,000 warning threshold. Please take note, please take note. When the total number of surviving players across a region falls below 50,000, the survival game will trigger a mandatory region merge. Players from that region will be randomly reassigned to other regions.】

Server merges!

The unexpected news perked up quite a few players. Some players surviving in relatively harsh environments even began to secretly hope they would be merged into another zone.

However, the next announcement shattered many of their hopes:

【Used for forced server merges; players can only bring items from their inventory; territories and shelters cannot be transferred.】

What does this mean?

01 Survival Squad:

【Civil Engineering Bro: If I’m not mistaken, this server merge means only players and their backpacks can be transferred—anything in the territory that doesn’t fit in the backpack will be lost?】

【I Love Survival Game: It’s like being dropped alone in a new place and having to start from scratch.】

If Server 01 is merged, his territory, his Spirit Tree House, several resource points, the garden… and all those other things—none of them would be taken with him.

As for the plants, he was not sure if they could be dug up and put in the backpack.

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Holy crap, that’d be a massive loss. I worked so hard to save up resources just to upgrade my shelter. If the servers get merged, wouldn’t I have to start all over again from the wooden cabin?】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Come to think of it, it actually makes sense. In a survival game like this, “server merges” are clearly a “punishment” for regions that don’t meet the player population threshold.】

“If the punishment is simply allowing players to move painlessly to a better-developed region, wouldn’t that actually turn it into a reward?”】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Moreover, once this server merger announcement is released, players’ lives become even more precious. Never mind that they can’t kill each other—even the top-ranked players would now be doing everything they can to protect the lives of ordinary players in their region. That actually fits quite well with the typical style of the survival game.】