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Qiyu walked up to the demon vine and fed it some magic. “Is it really that hungry?” he muttered under his breath. 

“I’m hungry!”

The entire fence shook violently, as if to physically demonstrate just how “hungry” it really was. 

So far, this little guy must be the liveliest resident in the territory. “I’m done playing. It’s all yours now.” 

Qiyu stepped aside.

He didn’t rest right away; instead, he waited nearby, intending to see with his own eyes how the territory’s current defensive facilities would respond to the flock of swifts.

The screaming lily of the valley was about to cry out.

Qiyu didn’t move, keeping “Whisper of Nature” active to monitor the condition of the plants in the territory.

Most of the plants remained relatively calm; neither the swift attacks nor the “noise” from the screaming lily of the valley seemed to affect them much. The emerald bees had taken refuge in the Red Maple Forest early on.

Apart from the demon vine, the only plant that could barely be described as “emotionally agitated” was a single seven-colored flower.

However, unlike the demon vine, which was purely hungry, the seven-colored flower was purely angry. 

It’s too cold, the rain is too heavy, and the screaming lily of the valley is too loud…

Qiyu silently cast a Blessing Spell on everyone and chose to tune it out. 

Through his mental scan, he detected a large flock of swifts flying toward the territory.

Qiyu resisted the urge to act as the swifts drew closer and closer to the territory, until they touched the fence.

The green vines instantly shed their disguise, and the crimson vines unfurled their leaf-like fangs, eagerly pouncing on the attacking mutant creatures.

Yet it was still not fast enough.

Four dazzling beams of magical light flared up, shielding the entire territory like an impenetrable barrier; in an instant, white light scattered across the ground. 

The energy tower’s attack ended in a single strike, and in the blink of an eye, energy blazed once more, with a magical attack poised to strike.

Qiyu, watching the demon vine, froze in a moment of human-like shock, as the vine swayed helplessly in the pouring rain. 

He actually sensed a feeling of “resentment” emanating from a single vine.

Qiyu：“……”

The child was truly sad.

Clearly, the energy tower was merely an alchemical creation; it was impossible for it to possess such intelligent thoughts as “giving a little leeway to a fellow resident.”

In this regard, the Advanced Magic Energy Tower was clearly far more intelligent: this domain’s most formidable weapon seemed to possess a certain degree of judgment. When ordinary mutant creatures invaded—and the energy tower and alchemy puppets could handle the situation—it would never launch an attack lightly.

That would be far too costly: even though Qiyu is no longer as short on magic crystals as before, consuming 10 Level 2 magic crystals per attack is still a bit too much for him to afford.

Qiyu sensed that the demon vine was feeling a sense of doom, as if the sky were falling, and had already begun to consider the possibility of dismantling one energy tower to leave one specifically vulnerable to the demon vine. 

However, this round, the swifts were far from limited to just the first wave.

Qiyu was still pondering how to ensure the demon vines were well-fed while maintaining the territory’s defenses when he saw the demon vines stir.

Several blood-red vines grew rapidly and stretched out; the moment the swifts approached the territory, they shot out at the speed of light, each one wrapping around a swift. 

Since the energy towers do not attack living beings within the territory, upon detecting an enemy intrusion, the magical attacks fired by all four energy towers completely bypassed these “tentacles” of the demon vine.

Qiyu pulled the swifts back using the blood-red vines and devoured them one by one, leaving behind several clusters of faint white light.

“…Eat.” 

Qiyu:…

So he didn’t need to figure it out himself.

Clearly, a hungry vine would do anything for a bite to eat. 

After observing for a while longer, he confirmed that these mutated swifts had absolutely no chance of breaching the energy tower’s defenses. Moreover, the demon vine was releasing its tentacles faster and faster, managing to snatch a bite each time before the energy tower could even react. 

He relaxed with a hot shower, then returned to my bedroom on the second floor, lay down, and rested.

The quilt crafted with brocade flame feathers felt like a cloud of warm air—soft and cozy. In the cold of the night, it seemed to possess a kind of enchanting magic, drawing one in so deeply that one didn’t want to emerge. 

Sleepiness washed over him almost instantly, and Qiyu quickly drifted off into dreamland.

All night long, the heavy rain never let up, pounding hard against the glass with a steady patter. Every now and then, the sound of the rain was punctuated by an eerie, sinister scream, creating a truly eerie and suspenseful atmosphere. 

But Qiyu remained completely unfazed.

Aside from setting aside a sliver of his mental energy for his routine vigilance, he wasn’t woken up once all night.

The sky gradually lightened from darkness to dawn.

Qiyu buried himself under the covers, feeling, for once, reluctant to get out of bed.

The rain continued to pound heavily against the window.

Hearing this sound, Qiyu wasn’t bothered in the least; on the contrary, he thought: “Wow, it’s really raining hard. The heavier the rain, the more swifts there’ll be.” 

However, a minute later, his strong willpower forced him out of bed. 

He had other plans for the day; now was no time to rest.

After washing up, he glanced out the window as usual—the drifting bottle hadn’t returned yet.

It had been a little longer this time—he wondered where the drifting bottle had drifted off to. 

He put on his cloak and went downstairs.

He selected “Pick Up.”

【Obtained 1,050 swift meat, 220 Rain Beast Crystals, and 10 Level 2 Beast Crystals.】

That much?

He opened the leaderboard.

First place: “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens,” with 6,000 points. 

Second place: “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens,” with 4,700 points.

Third place: “I Love Survival Game,” with 3,660 points.

……

Qiyu was taken aback. Based on the points, he hadn’t killed a single swiftlet during those eight hours from late last night until dawn. So, just how many had been killed in the previous session?

Besides, he had the energy tower and demon vine as his main forces, plus his mutated plants and alchemy puppets for defense—were other players’ territory defenses really this strong?

Or did they simply never sleep?

Stunned, Qiyu opened the regional chat channel.

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Ah, Screaming Lily of the Valley, how could I possibly live without you?】

【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes: I want to know—how did the top players on the leaderboard rack up those points? Huh? Do you guys never sleep? With that many swifts, you must not be resting at all, right?】

【Liver Emperor: I really didn’t sleep all night, but looking at the leaderboard, the top players are the real Liver Emperors.】

【A Stray By The Road: First and second place are seriously crazy. Did they just keep killing, killing, killing all night long?】

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: It wasn’t as tough as everyone says. Yan Yu and I used location-teleportation scrolls. One of us guarded it during the day and the other at night—we took turns.】 

When the event started, they decided to do it this way. Since Yan Yan’s attacks on the shelter are unpredictable, if one person wants a high score, as the players say, you’d really have to kill, kill, kill nonstop without sleep or rest.

But even if players have enhanced their physical endurance, pulling an all-nighter is one thing—but enduring seven consecutive days like that? No one can say for sure they could handle it.

Instead, they gathered in one spot, used potions and items to attract the mutated creatures, and took turns guarding for half a day each. Of course, there was one condition for us to be able to do this.

The first condition is that they have the right items.

Items that attract mutated creatures ensure that enough swifts are drawn in to earn kill points.

Additionally, they’ve obtained a shelter protection item that, when used, makes the shelter invisible. If it weren’t for this item, the Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan wouldn’t dare to leave his shelter for so long. 

The second condition—and the most crucial one—is trust.

As twins, “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens” and “Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan” have been inseparable since childhood, so one can visit the other’s place freely, and one can reveal their greatest secret to the other without a shred of worry. This is something ordinary players simply cannot achieve.

Sure enough, in the zone chat, after “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens” finished speaking, many players exclaimed, “So that’s how it works!”

Many players have started reaching out to friends they met after joining the survival game, trying to “recreate” this model. While the discussions are heated, in reality, not a single genuine collaboration has taken place.

Aside from the fact that location-specific teleportation scrolls are virtually impossible to obtain, the remaining issue is still the most fundamental one: trust. In the survival game environment, no one dares to risk their own life.

When Qiyu listened to “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens,” he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

Who wouldn’t want someone they could trust with their life at any moment?

But this fleeting envy lasted only a brief moment.

Because Qiyu realized: Although I have no close family, I do have subjects who are absolutely loyal and will never betray me. 

Defending the shelter, slaying monsters—if the Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan can do it, so can I with my energy tower, alchemy puppets, and mutated plants.

They have only one family member, but I have so many subjects.

Hmm, and there will be even more in the future!

01 Survival Squad：

【Civil Engineering Brother: Thanks to the gaming expert. @I Love Survival Game, if it weren’t for your energy tower, I’d have had no choice but to team up with the teacher.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: It’s true—last night I barely managed to get a few hours of sleep, and the energy tower handled all the monster kills on its own. I can’t even imagine what I would have done without the energy tower.】

【I Love Survival Game: You’re welcome—you paid for it.】

The communication orb beeped, accompanied by breakfast—a bowl of seafood congee with a fresh, enticing aroma.

“Good morning. How did you feel last night?”

Qiyu took a blissful sniff of the aroma in the air and replied cheerfully, “Good morning, Dan Xingyu. Not bad. I went to sleep in the early hours of the morning and let the energy tower guard my territory for me.”

Dan Xingyu noticed a habit: every time he spoke, he had to include his full name. 

It felt a bit like he was making a big deal out of it.

It also gave him the feeling that he was being taken seriously. 

He smiled and said, “What a coincidence. Thanks to your energy tower, I got some sleep too.”

He told Qiyu about his plan: “Just waiting for the Earthfire Dragons to invade is too slow. During the day, I plan to go out and explore to find more Earthfire Dragons.” 

Qiyu was instantly pleased: “We really are the most in-sync friends—that’s exactly what I was thinking.” 

He briefly mentioned the status of the regional leaderboard.

He added, “The shelter is already well-protected by the energy towers and demon vines. I want the blueprints for a Level 3 energy tower—just waiting for the swift to raid my shelter alone is not enough.” 

He then asked Dan Xingyu if the energy towers would be enough.

Dan Xingyu: “It’s enough, it’s enough. I had plenty last time, and after all, I’m number one on the 88th server leaderboard—I’m bound to have a few hidden treasures stashed away.” 

She said this on purpose, waiting for Qiyu to ask. 

However, Qiyu only took it as reassurance, so he said contentedly, “Well, that’s settled then. I’m going to grab a bite to eat.”