Translator: AnubisTL
Truth be told, Li Hao had always felt that...
Though Scar Dog seemed unreliable, prone to wild ideas, and obsessed with photographing every milestone-worthy moment...
And though he smoked, spat indiscriminately, and cursed like a sailor...
He still exuded a certain authenticity.
Especially in an unfamiliar environment, encountering someone like Scar Dog evoked a sense of familiarity.
To put it simply,
If Scar Dog weren't in the group, and there were two more people with Chen Jiang's personality, the team would undoubtedly feel much colder, lacking that human touch.
In a way, Scar Dog actually served to harmonize the team's atmosphere.
Li Hao had also seen the photos Scar Dog had taken.
More accurately, Scar Dog had proudly shown them off one by one, pointing out each detail with self-satisfaction.
He had to admit, the photos were beautifully composed, and each one told a story.
What Li Hao hadn't realized was that,
After taking several photos with Scar Dog and Chen Jiang, he found himself integrating into the team more smoothly than ever.
A significant turning point had been reached.
Scar Dog no longer pressed his shotgun against Li Hao's forehead while sleeping.
Just then—
BOOM!!!
Several simultaneous explosions, powerful enough to shatter the clouds, erupted behind them.
It was the TNT detonating.
However...
Chen Jiang and the others suddenly felt the ground begin to shake violently, accompanied by a low, rumbling noise from beneath their feet.
A flicker of unease flashed in Scar Dog's eyes. He instinctively turned to look and saw white smoke billowing from the volcano's crater at an accelerating rate, while a pungent, sulfurous odor began to permeate the air.
"..."
Chen Jiang and his companions exchanged glances.
Without hesitation, they stepped through the phantom gate before them.
Moments after they vanished—
BOOM!
A fiery eruption, mingled with volcanic ash, spewed skyward from the crater!
By then, Chen Jiang and his group had already returned to the base of the world tree.
Scar Dog gazed anxiously toward the distant volcano, worried about being caught in the fallout. After all, the two locations were relatively close—only 100,000 meters apart, or 100 kilometers.
At that distance, even a moderately sized volcano could easily blanket their position with ash.
Fortunately, the volcano didn't seem very large, so it likely wouldn't cause significant disruption.
"Phew!"
Scar Dog let out a relieved sigh and plopped down on the ground, collapsing wearily. "Time to rest," he mumbled, half-conscious. "Brother Jiang, how many blood sacrifice points do we have?"
"Around 90,000," Chen Jiang replied casually without turning his head.
The city's population was even smaller than they'd anticipated.
To be honest, a population of just over 90,000 wouldn't even fill a large residential complex on Blue Star.
But they had to stop here for today.
After all, Li Hao's mental power had been completely depleted twice already. He wouldn't recover in less than 24 hours.
Without the ability to map the area, they were stuck here for the day.
Chen Jiang opened the Altar Shop, glanced through it, and bought another 93 step trackers, tossing them to Scar Dog. "Here."
"I marked a bunch of spots on the way to that volcano. Let's rest for a day and go capture some slaves tomorrow."
"Got it."
Chen Jiang nodded slightly before turning to Li Hao. "We have 781 blood sacrifice points left. We don't need them. Tell me if there's anything you want from the shop, and I'll get it for you."
"Better use them up before the event ends and they expire."
"Thanks, Brother Jiang."
Zhao Ritian, standing nearby, cast an envious glance at Li Hao. Earning 781 blood sacrifice points required killing nearly 800 alien race players.
Just giving them away like that?
It was truly enviable.
But his envy didn't last long. He soon turned back to gaze at the colossal tree before them.
There was no denying it—the tree was truly massive.
Nearly 200 meters tall, its crown formed a gigantic, sun-blocking canopy that blotted out the sky.
Yet something about its proportions felt slightly off.
The distance from the tree's core to the opposite end of its crown stretched a full kilometer.
Won't it collapse under its own weight?
After distributing the blood sacrifice points, Chen Jiang turned to the player blood sacrifice points ranking list displayed before him.
[Player Blood Sacrifice Points Ranking]
[Top Ranking: Human Player, Chen Jiang]
[Blood Sacrifice Points: 287,061]
[Second Ranking: Mechanical Race Player, Feng Jiutian]
[Blood Sacrifice Points: 21,272]
[Third Ranking: Mechanical Race Player, Yan Pomen]
[Blood Sacrifice Points: 13,829]
Feng Jiutian's blood sacrifice points had remained virtually unchanged, suggesting a problem. In contrast, Yan Pomen's points were rapidly increasing, propelling him to third place and pushing the elf race's Wang Zi down the rankings.
A quick glance revealed that five of the top ten players on the ranking list were mechanical race players, occupying half of the top ten spots. This showcased the mechanical race's dominance, though the combined blood sacrifice points of these five players didn't even reach half of Chen Jiang's total.
He also scanned the race blood sacrifice points ranking.
To his surprise, the insect race topped the race blood sacrifice points ranking, with the mechanical race in second place.
A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Jiang's eyes.
Scar Dog, having noticed the same anomaly, pondered for a moment before musing, "It makes sense, though. The mechanical race isn't fully mobilized for war; many civilians still maintain essential support services in the cities."
"The insect race, on the other hand, is a nation of warriors."
Chen Jiang nodded, saying nothing more. He had witnessed the sheer overwhelming numbers of insect race players firsthand—a swarm that no one could withstand.
However, the highest-ranked insect race player on the ranking list was Dudu.
Clearly, while insect race players excelled in total kills, their individual combat prowess remained relatively weak.
He glanced at the human race's position on the race blood sacrifice points ranking.
Seventeenth place.
Just behind the fox-eared race, who held sixteenth place.
Not bad.
Considering the human race's current situation, securing seventeenth place was already quite respectable. As long as they avoided last place, they'd be fine. He recalled that the race with the fewest blood sacrifice points at the end of the event would face some kind of penalty.
After settling everything, Chen Jiang pulled a bed from his chest and tossed it beside a tree root. He then spread a mattress over it and lay down.
These items weren't from the living supplies warehouse, which lacked such amenities.
He had casually looted the beds and other furnishings from the bedrooms of the city he'd waited in for Scar Dog, storing them in his space bracelet.
(End of the Chapter)
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