Chapter 46: The White Flag

"Don't look at me like that! Can't you see I don't even have a weapon?"

Realizing no one believed his claim, Bai Qi grew anxious and quickly explained, "Sure, fists can deal damage, but the values are only half of what you'd get with a weapon. Without one, my skills are basically useless. I deal less than ten points of damage per punch to an ant chieftain, and after killing my way here, I’m truly exhausted. My arms are going to be shot tomorrow, I bet!"

"Then where is your weapon?"

"Don't even get me started. It shattered ages ago. This lousy game doesn't drop weapons no matter how much you grind, so I've been forced to fight barehanded the whole time."

The talkative Bai Qi recounted his story with a hint of sorrow.

As it turned out, during the solo challenge, he had accidentally over-reinforced his armor, raising the strength requirement for his gear to thirteen points! At the time, just like Ember, Bai Qi was level nine and had consumed two evolution serums. With his talent bonuses, he had just enough to hit that thirteen-point threshold. However, this meant his main combat weapon—which required a certain level of agility and perception—was now unusable, and he had to abandon his health-boosting accessories as well.

After much deliberation, he couldn't just dump the armor he’d poured so much effort into, so Bai Qi decided to double down. He embraced the role of an extreme strength-focused character, used his remaining meager credits to buy a generic weapon with decent attack stats, and committed to the path.

But his luck was rotten; the temporary weapon was of such poor quality that it snapped while he was fighting a mantis chieftain. Fortunately, his defense was monstrous, allowing him to barely solo a medium-sized hive. Once he finally scraped together ten points, he set off on his grand exploration, heading straight for the hills at the center of the isolated island.

"There’s a water tower on the hill, surrounded by a shroud of darkness. Unfortunately, my perception isn't high enough to use exploration skills. I wandered around the area for a long time but couldn't find a back door. However, after watching it for so long, I managed to deduce a pattern!"

"Whenever the broadcast about clearing hives goes off, the dark shroud around the water tower weakens slightly! I waited for a very long time, but I was still three large hives short of the assessment goal. Afraid I wouldn't finish the mission, I decided to come down here to clear this large hive and, while I was at it, wait for some fellow travelers."

Bai Qi looked at Ember and the others cheerfully. "It’s great! I finally found you guys. Let's clear this hive together, then head straight to the water tower to investigate. I’m sure once the assessment objectives are met, the shroud will lift! I swear on my intuition as an explorer—there’s an incredible secret hidden there!"

"..."

"Um... shouldn't you be expressing some surprise at this news, or perhaps feeling a surge of high-spirited combat fervor?"

"Fervor aside, I just want to ask: in nearly 120 minutes, that’s all you found?"

"That’s all? Are you saying that’s not enough?"

"How many stages of the main quest have you completed? Have you found any special items? How much do you know about this island and the first settler?"

"..."

"I see."

Sensing the pitying gazes from Ember and his companions, Bai Qi, who was determined to become the game's greatest explorer, had a mental breakdown. He buried his head in his hands and muttered to himself, "Main quest? Special items? Is this island not just an anomaly? And what's this about a first settler? Wasn't the Killing Island just supposed to be about fighting? If I'd known, I wouldn't have bothered wearing that armor!"

"We offer our condolences for your misfortune," Ember said softly. "So, can we now use that 'high-spirited combat fervor' to begin the final raid on this large hive?"

"..."

"Don't lose heart. If we're lucky, this library might reveal secrets even we don't know yet."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're not lying to me?"

"I'm not."

"Let's go!"

Bai Qi’s fighting spirit was instantly reignited, and he marched heroically toward the boss battle. Watching his back, Beijiu Jiannong curled her lip at Ember. "Do I get the feeling you’ve found another tool for your collection? One even better suited for a main tank than you? Are you planning on being a hands-off boss again?"

"Eh... before you mentioned it, I didn't think of it. But now that you put it that way, I find it quite interesting!"

Ember considered her suggestion seriously, only to be met with an eye-roll. Since Bai Qi had single-handedly handled the preliminary work of the hive raid, the group had more time than expected. Even if others failed, they would still be able to destroy a third large hive to meet the assessment requirements.

But the situation wasn't that dire. While many chose to coast, there were still many courageous players willing to take on the challenge. Facing the impending darkness storm, they continued to assault large hives, resulting in two more global broadcasts before Ember's group even reached the Ant Lord.

[Broadcast: Foundation reserve personnel "D038", University reserve cadets "U039", "U058"... have successfully destroyed a large hive!]

[Broadcast: Foundation reserve personnel "D001", "D653", Scavenger reserve member "X049" have successfully destroyed a large hive!]

[Broadcast: All assessment goals met. All new members please proceed to the hill water tower. Once the Guardian Knight is decided, the Daughter of the Sun will descend upon the island to hold the knighting ceremony!]

"038 and 039 are the codes for Sword Immortal and Daoist, and 058 belongs to Old Tree with Withered Vines. Tsk, how did they end up together?"

Ember hadn't expected his two teammates to vanish until the end, let alone join forces with Old Tree with Withered Vines. The other team to break through a large hive was Fish-Scale Arm's squad, though the broadcast revealed that of their original eight, only three remained—a testament to the brutality of the fight. It was also this broadcast that confirmed for Ember that Blood Feather’s code was 049. He found this silent player quite intriguing; he had a feeling the man's combat prowess was not to be underestimated.

Not long after, the group found the Ant Lord in the library's basement. Much like the Spider Lord, this boss had awakened its intelligence and no longer acted on mere instinct. However, its method of self-preservation wasn't setting traps, but rather enhancing its ability to cultivate minions. As they approached the basement, they discovered two ant queens under the Ant Lord's protection, successfully catalyzing the first batch of common and elite ants, which surged toward the five players with hostile intent.

"Bai Qi, you and I take the left and right sides of the entrance! Gaoshou-xiong, you handle the clean-up. Beijiu Jiannong and Lu Renjia, go all out on damage. Let’s clear this wave first!"

"Got it!"

"No problem."

"Leave it to me!"

The library basement was built of steel. Though the door stood wide open, the frame remained intact. Ember and Bai Qi stood side-by-side, perfectly blocking the entrance and holding back the swarm of shadow-eating ants.

All five players had the ability to one-shot common mobs, and even elite ants were no match for them individually. Once their formation was set, they became a meat grinder, killing anything that dared to approach. The battle was so effortless that Bai Qi even had the energy to chat with Ember.

"Wow! That weapon of yours is cool! As expected of the number one on the sub-leaderboard; it really is special compared to everyone else's!"

"Thanks, I think so too!"

Finally, someone with an eye for quality! Ember was pleased and began trading banter with Bai Qi. "I read your post in the discussion group. It was impressive. Since there was a hint that the match was crucial, I held off on using my first one until the very end. To think you dared to use it directly on the witch and successfully triggered a special event—the strength of your resolve is admirable!"

"Haha! You flatter me! Actually, my scouting skill is a bit unique, so I just happened to discover the witch’s secret." Bai Qi laughed, his eyes flashing with envy as he looked at the Sun Emblem on Ember’s chest. "But then again, you’re the better one. We at most got a smooth start, but the results weren't exactly satisfying. Still, at least finishing the witch's special event rewarded me with an additional character tag, so I got something out of it!"

At this, Bai Qi asked curiously, "Hey, did you encounter any special events in your game? I remember the Six-Eyed Preacher is also a special target who can be awakened with a match. His role is similar to the witch's; logically, he should have come with a special event."

"Um..." Ember hesitated for a moment before giving a positive reply.

"What?"

Beijiu Jiannong spoke up suddenly; she truly hadn't known that the Six-Eyed Preacher could also trigger a special event.

"Cough, I did indeed receive the special event for the Six-Eyed Preacher, but the situation at the time was quite complex, so... so I failed. I didn't get the character tag! Yep, just didn't get it."

Ember covered the truth without a flicker of emotion. He decided to keep the "Repeated Apostasy" character tag hidden for as long as possible, lest the high-and-mighty image he’d worked so hard to build come crashing down.

Beijiu Jiannong eyed him suspiciously, feeling he was hiding something, but the conversation ended as the first wave of the swarm was wiped out. Taking the opportunity, they stormed the library to engage the Ant Lord head-on.

...

Name: [Reinforced Juvenile Shadow-Eating Ant] (Lord)
Health: 680/680
Attack Rating: Strong (32)
Defense Rating: Strong (32)
Attack Speed: Normal
Detection Range: Normal
Skills: Reinforced Charge, Reinforced Gnawing, Tribal Leader (Accelerated Hatching)
Introduction: During its growth, this ant-shaped reinforced juvenile shadow-eating ant learned how to strengthen its tribe rapidly. Its existence allows the ant queens to hatch eggs incessantly, replenishing the tribe's numbers in a short time.

[Hint: The shell of the ant-shaped reinforced juvenile shadow-eating ant has been specially reinforced; certain areas will only take 50% damage.]
[Hint: The "Spider Fang" dropped by the spider-shaped juvenile shadow-eating ant can have a special effect on it.]

...

"Thirty-two points of defense? I only deal two points of damage per punch... and it has to be on a weak spot! If I were really left to do this alone, who knows how many years it would take."

"Do you think you can handle it the same way you handled the ant chieftain?"

"Not sure, let's try!"

Rumble!

Seeing the uninvited guests storm its nest, the Ant Lord, which was the size of an elephant, charged headlong. Every step shook the ground; fortunately, it lacked a stomp skill, or they wouldn't have been able to stand. At that moment, Bai Qi—who called himself an "explorer unskilled in combat"—showed his ferocious side. He threw himself straight at the Ant Lord, using his two slender arms to forcefully withstand the crushing power of its charge.

"Ha! Fourteen points of strength are still useful after all!"

Bai Qi yelled excitedly without looking back, "Come on, comrades! I can't wait to explore the hive!"