Chapter 22: Alarm

It was a new friend request from a user with the ID "Magical Girl."

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow and accepted the request.

She held no ill will toward Magical Girl. In fact, she had a vague feeling that this person was a woman. It wasn't just because in her previous life, this person had proactively shared information about fire ants, allowing Jiang Ran to escape their jaws; it was also because she was one of the few who maintained a shred of kindness even in the post-apocalyptic world where order had collapsed.

The previous reminder about the need for electrolytes after dehydration had also come from her.

In her previous life, Magical Girl had shared the same scientific insights and was, predictably, attacked by those with flexible moral standards, yet that hadn't stopped her from continuing to share information about the fire ants afterward. Of course, such a good person hadn't survived the first instance either.

Back then, although Jiang Ran was struggling to survive herself, she had felt a sense of concern for the girl because of the methods she shared for dealing with lone fire ants. Unfortunately, when Jiang Ran later returned to the train and tried to add her as a friend, she found the profile picture had already gone dark—perhaps due to a lack of supplies.

Jiang Ran wouldn't go out of her way to seek out such people, but if they came to her, she didn't mind sharing a bit of her limited kindness.

As soon as the request was accepted, a message arrived from Magical Girl.

Magical Girl: "Miss, thank you for the information about the fire ants earlier. I wanted to ask if you have any extra food? I can trade weapons for it."

Because digging for crates had become increasingly unpredictable, players who were short on supplies held a special respect for the handle "Miss Black Silk." After all, she was the only player left who was still willing to sell supplies. Jiang Ran often saw comments from others begging to be her "dog," which she found quite speechless.

She replied in a flat tone: "A simple transaction. What weapons do you have?"

Magical Girl immediately sent a trade request.

Inside the glowing circle were a shotgun, a building blueprint, and some miscellaneous materials like iron blocks. The blueprint was for a simple bungalow, but among the materials, there was an object whose shape and color were very familiar.

Magical Girl: "I want to trade for some water and food; the higher the calories, the better. I know you're a closed-beta player, so do you have any fruit? If you have fruit, I have other items I can trade."

Jiang Ran stared at the [Magical Ore] and updated her assessment of Magical Girl's capability. To be able to endure the scorching heat to fish crates out of a lava pool, and to be sharp enough to discover how to deal with fire ants—with these weapons and items, even if she hadn't come to her, she wouldn't have been left without food.

Yet, a person like this hadn't even cleared the first instance?

Miss Black Silk: "I do have apples, but what can you offer in exchange?"

Magical Girl: "I have 10 crafting table fragments. I was saving them to trade for a crafting table, but if you need them, I can give them all to you. But could you give me two apples?"

Jiang Ran hadn't expected Magical Girl to have 10 crafting table fragments. With these, she would have nearly a third of a crafting table in her hands. She thought for a moment, then placed three apples, ten bottles of water, ten sandwiches, ten sausages, five chocolate bars, ten bottles of yogurt, and a large bag of granola into the trade circle.

The richness of the supplies clearly exceeded Magical Girl's expectations. She was so shocked that she didn't confirm the trade immediately, instead sending several large exclamation points to Jiang Ran.

Magical Girl: "Thank you so much! I thought... I know how valuable this food is now. Don't worry, if I manage to clear this instance, I'll find a way to repay you! Anyway, Miss, you're a good person!"

Jiang Ran stared at that last sentence and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

A good person?

Good people didn't last long on this train.

The trade concluded, and Jiang Ran closed the game panel. However, after eating a few spoonfuls of porridge, she put the bowl down, feeling restless. She sighed and resignedly opened the chat box with Magical Girl.

Miss Black Silk: "Are you hiding alone? Or is there someone else around you?"

Magical Girl replied quickly: "I'm with my boyfriend, why do you ask, Miss?"

Jiang Ran pursed her lips, hesitated, and then typed out in a fit of self-abandonment: "You know how precious supplies are now. Even with those closest to you... it's best to keep your guard up."

It took two minutes for Magical Girl to reply: "Okay, thanks for the reminder."

Jiang Ran looked at the reply and pulled at her hair in frustration. Magical Girl probably thought she was crazy for such an inexplicable warning.

Forget it. Respect the fate of others. To Magical Girl, she was just a stranger. Why would someone trust a "Miss Black Silk" with a dubious reputation over their own boyfriend?

Hadn't she decided long ago to look out only for herself? Why was she meddling in other people's business?

Jiang Ran closed the chat box in a huff, finished her breakfast quickly, and headed to the training room. She didn't intend to go out digging for crates anymore. For one, the risk-to-reward ratio wasn't worth it; for another, her gains in this instance had already far exceeded her expectations.

She would use the remaining time to strengthen herself.

By the end of the morning, Jiang Ran was finally able to dodge all the balls under the "encirclement" of four high-speed ball launchers. She caught her breath, feeling the soreness in her body, and felt much better.

The food she had eaten in the morning had long since been digested during such intense exercise. Just as she was sprawling on the sofa, picking out her lunch, she suddenly heard a warning from the surveillance system.

For safety reasons, Jiang Ran’s safe house had no windows; the entire structure was a fortress made of ultra-thick explosion-proof steel plates, specialized anti-drill alloy, stainless steel, and fireproof synthetic materials. Therefore, as long as she didn't open the door, even if someone used blasting tools outside, she could hold out for at least four hours.

But strangely, when she checked the 360-degree surveillance, she didn't see any human figures.

What was the alarm warning about?

Jiang Ran frowned and scanned the footage inch by inch. Suddenly, her eyes locked onto something. She zoomed in on the surveillance screen tenfold, staring in disbelief at the tiny ant in the frame.

It was only as long as a small finger segment, its pale golden body slender, with a pair of transparent, narrow wings on its back—it looked quite delicate.

But what surprised Jiang Ran wasn't the ant's appearance, but the fact that—it was actually gnawing away at her safe house!

Because she only had one bottle of insect repellent, the very last corner hadn't been successfully coated, and that was exactly where the ant was gnawing.

The sight of it chewing on her safe house gave Jiang Ran goosebumps all over!