Chapter 23 The Struggle
Qin Ziwen stared at the card on the crocodile's carcass.
It was obvious, to be precise, that "Homeland" hadn't intended to hide the card's existence—for example, by concealing it inside the crocodile's belly or placing it beneath the carcass for someone to discover.
Instead, they'd revealed it publicly in front of everyone.
"What...what is this!"
"That card can actually fly! Does using it grant superpowers?"
"I think this thing is definitely not simple."
"Nonsense, even a fool could see that."
"Could this be related to our time travel? Can we use it to return to Earth?"
Just as the crowd was discussing, a figure darted out and jumped down, landing steadily on the rear of the tilted SUV.
Before he could even regain his balance, the SUV swayed slightly, then tilted at an increasingly steep angle.
The man only had time to let out a cry of alarm before his arm gave way, and he fell into the pit with a thud, two spears piercing his chest.
He reluctantly raised his arm, staring at the faintly glowing card a few meters away.
No one was prepared to save him; everyone was focused on the card.
Having learned from past mistakes, the onlookers grew increasingly calm. The pit was riddled with sharp spears; falling in would surely leave one covered in bruises.
Qin Ziwu's eyes gleamed as he stared at the card; it looked incredibly cool.
"Brother, should we go and try to grab it?"
"Just watch your show," Qin Ziwen said, giving his brother a warning look. There
was only one card, but there were over a thousand people in the entire neighborhood.
Before getting the card, they had to compete with over a hundred people on the scene, and even after they got it, over a thousand more people in the neighborhood would be watching them closely.
Being the first to try something new in the open might not end well.
It was just a building card.
He had already acquired three of these, and they felt mediocre, even inferior to resource cards.
The spring at home could reliably provide twenty to thirty liters of drinkable water every day, enough to sustain a dozen or so people's daily drinking needs.
"Hehe, if none of you are taking it, then I'll go," Zou Sheng said, taking off his coat, surveying the area, and leaping onto the hood of the car in the middle.
The onlookers were both angry and anxious. "Be careful! Don't fall!"
"Dude, come back up! It's dangerous down there!"
"Slow down, maybe you should come back!"
They might hunt crocodiles together for a common purpose, but watching someone else get this card was unsettling.
Zou Sheng ignored all the commotion. Regardless of what others said, he was prepared for the consequences of jumping down after seeing the previous example.
He tiptoed carefully, avoiding the spears protruding from the crocodile's back, and grabbed the card.
After being grabbed, the card lost its shimmering light,
turning into an ordinary gray metal card.
Holding the card, Zou Sheng seemed to hear something, his expression blank.
Then, he stared at the card in his hand in disbelief, his expression shifting before finally uttering a single word, "Damn!"
This thing can't be used until it's taken home!
What was the point of all that effort he went down here?
Annoyed, Zou Sheng felt the card in his hand was a hot potato: "This thing..."
Those around the pit breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the card hadn't disappeared, and joked, "Dude, what's this? If you can't use it, give it to us."
"Fine, go ahead and grab it!" Zou Sheng said, then threw the building card out of the pit.
The card arced through the air and landed outside the crowd.
Many people hadn't expected Zou Sheng to actually throw the card, and they swarmed towards it, scrambling and arguing.
Seeing this, Zou Sheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This [Building Card] Level 1 Carpenter's Hut sounded strange, like the houses you build in management games you used to play. The only thing he didn't understand was that it needed to be used at home. Did it mean he had to build another house at home?
Zou Sheng climbed out of the pit. Huang Tao approached, saying with some regret, "Good buddy, how did you lose the card? I saw you went through so much trouble to get it. By the way, what exactly is that card?"
Zou Sheng scoffed inwardly. This Huang guy was really direct, coming over and saying all that just for that last sentence. If I hadn't thrown it away, I probably wouldn't even have had a chance to climb out of that pit.
He immediately patted the dirt off his clothes and said meaningfully, "You'll understand everything once you have it in your hand. You have to take it home to use it. Brother, if you're interested, go get it."
A building card? You have to take it home to use it?
Huang Tao was a little confused, but he still remembered the key sentence: "You'll understand everything once you have it in your hand." He immediately thanked him, "Haha, thanks, buddy!"
After saying that, Huang Tao led a few people and hurriedly rushed towards the crowd fighting for the card.
"Mine!"
"Damn it, let go!"
"Who the hell kicked my ass?"
"Let me see."
The crowd was in complete chaos.
Hair pulling, punching, kicking.
A group of people were frantically fighting for the card.
Without exception, everyone who held the card heard a voice from their home.
Outside the crowd, a man with red marks on his neck and arms, his hair disheveled, slumped to the ground: "I thought this thing would let me go back, but it's just some worthless building card."
Inside the crowd, a man in white grabbed the card and desperately rushed into the residential area, trying to get home to use it.
"Bang!"
An iron rod slammed into his leg.
The man screamed and fell to the ground.
"Bang!!!"
Another rod struck his head.
The man in white shuddered, lying motionless on the ground, his clothes stained with blood.
The hook-nosed man wielding the iron rod pried open his fingers and picked up the card. He
fiercely scanned the crowd, his mouth filled with malice: "Anyone who tries to take it from me, I'll kill them!"
He turned around.
"Bang."
A stone the size of an egg hit the back of his head.
The man's legs buckled, and he almost fell. He glanced behind him, then slumped to the ground uncontrollably.
A bystander delivered a flying kick.
The hook-nosed man was kicked to the ground, his card and iron rod snatched away.
Then a new round of fighting ensued.
Qin Ziwen watched the chaotic melee of over a hundred people, "Such intense fighting."
"They're all crazy, fighting over a card."
Zheng Yuan, who hadn't participated in the fight, came to Qin Ziwen's side, looking at the scene with some regret, "Why bother? I feel like even killing crocodiles wasn't this intense."
Qin Ziwen asked curiously, "Aren't you going?"
In his memory, Zheng Yuan was always that bearded, hot-tempered older brother who dared to argue.
"No, I just heard Zou Sheng say it's some kind of building card. It won't send me back to Earth, so what's the point of fighting
for it? Besides, there are so many people here, even if I get it, I can't hold onto it."
(End of Chapter)