Chapter 8: A Fat Sheep Delivered to the Door

To show her sincerity, the young lady in black stockings even proactively shared her coordinates with Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran replied with a simple “OK,” then said in surprise, “I’m almost two hundred kilometers away from you! Are players usually this far apart? No wonder I haven’t seen a single living soul for so long.”

The young lady in black stockings responded, “Is it convenient for you to come over? Or should I come find you? I have a car anyway.”

Jiang Ran declined politely: “No, it’s fine, just over a hundred kilometers. I’ll head over now. There are a lot of mountain roads, so it might be a bit slow. I’ll let you know when I’m close.”

Long Ge smirked and quickly replied, “No rush, take your time driving, I’ll wait for you~”

He didn’t actually have a car; his offer to come find her was just a bluff to fool this “strong brick thrower.”

Now things were better—once she arrived, he’d have his own off-road vehicle. He was born to be a tyrant!

Long Ge proudly shook his head, took a sip of his cold beer, arranged his men, and waited for the fat sheep to deliver itself to him.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ran opened the coordinates shared by the young lady, realizing she was only about thirty kilometers away. If she handled things quickly before nightfall, she could return to rest.

Both sides were quite satisfied with this mutual “coordination.”

The game interface had a map, but only explored areas were visible; the rest was obscured by fog.

Jiang Ran packed away her safe house, marked it on the map to find it easily later, and after thorough preparation, crawled out of the cave, heading toward the young lady’s coordinates.

She was genuinely curious about this black-stockinged young lady’s true nature.

The worst-case scenario was that this person was just an over-the-top, late-stage chuunibyou, going crazy merely to “unite the beta testers.” In that case, Jiang Ran would make her understand just how treacherous human nature could be.

But if things were as she had suspected before... then this person deserved to die without regret.

It wasn’t that Jiang Ran fancied herself as some righteous enforcer of justice; rather, after experiencing multiple betrayals by companions and dying once, she had finally learned her lesson.

To survive longer and better, she had to abandon some of her moral scruples and unrealistic expectations of others.

In her previous life, Jiang Ran had sensed that the game’s extreme environments were more like a form of selection.

Though she didn’t know exactly what the game aimed to filter out, if only one player was destined to reach the train’s end, Jiang Ran would not hesitate to eliminate anyone who stood in her way.

***

Jiang Ran set off at 13:40, approaching the hottest time of day. The game displayed an air temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, with the ground temperature even more brutal.

The shimmering heatwaves distorted the distant scenery. As she emerged from the mountain wall, she immediately pulled out an off-road vehicle and climbed inside.

She cranked the air conditioning to maximum and wrapped herself tightly, because even the sunlight filtering through the glass felt like it could burn off a layer of skin.

Despite having chosen the most heat-resistant tires, she could still smell the faint scent of rubber scorching while driving.

In such extreme heat, people felt weak and short of breath, utterly unwilling to move.

It was, naturally, the perfect time for a surprise attack.

Even if the young lady was on guard, she probably wouldn’t expect Jiang Ran to brave the scorching heat and arrive so quickly.

Still, Jiang Ran didn’t dare relax. The young lady’s brazen sharing of her coordinates suggested she was overly confident. Jiang Ran had to be wary of possible accomplices or more powerful equipment.

The good news was that the black-stockinged young lady’s coordinates were also inside the mountain, making a silent approach easier.

After all, the car was quite conspicuous.

She deliberately parked the vehicle on a nearby mountainside, found a suitable direction, and pulled out a pickaxe, starting to dig a tunnel.

Yes, she planned to tunnel straight through the mountain to reach the target.

The mountain already had twisting paths, so Jiang Ran dug and walked, continuing until she reached the cave above the coordinates. Along the way, she even unearthed several wooden crates.

When she was just a wall away from the coordinates, she stopped cautiously, spinning the pickaxe tip lightly on the mountain wall.

Peering through the small hole she had dug, Jiang Ran glimpsed the fierce-looking man who might be the “young lady in black stockings” below, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless.

The “young lady” was shirtless, wearing loose shorts, reclining leisurely on a vine chair, sipping beer, and occasionally shaking his two very hairy, muscular legs.

...A figure that looked perfectly vulnerable to a sneak attack.

***

Long Ge truly didn’t expect the seemingly innocent “strong brick thrower” to deceive him.

After all, after exchanging those words in the chat hall, only Jiang Ran had added him as a friend, and genuinely intended to come over to join him—Lin Yang had set a precedent, giving Long Ge the impression that all beta testers were fools.

Furthermore, when his men arrived from all directions, none except the farthest short guy had encountered any other players, so he didn’t doubt Jiang Ran’s claim that she was two hundred kilometers away.

In his mind, it would take Jiang Ran at least two or three hours to arrive.

He had stationed brothers to guard all three entrances to the cave, so once she entered, there would be no escape.

If she looked good, well... he had other plans.

Long Ge sipped his beer, smugly thinking: “To come up with such a perfect plan, I am truly a genius!”

The genius Long Ge had no idea that if it weren’t for Jiang Ran wanting something on him, he’d probably already be flat on his back.

***

Jiang Ran did not rush to strike. She first circled around and stepped out of the cave.

Then, using the three branching paths outside, she swiftly and cleanly dealt with the few sentries before returning to the cave and observing through the small hole.

After a while, three men entered.

The man squeezed in the middle had a face and exposed skin covered in scars, and his expression was full of fear and submission toward the big man.

The short man produced a golden treasure chest and placed it on the ground. “Long Ge, look! Lin Yang’s got some luck. We’ve been digging all morning and only found a silver chest, but he got a golden chest in less than an hour!”

The bald man glanced subtly at the short man but said nothing.

At that moment, an unexpected scene unfolded.

Lin Yang suddenly lunged at Long Ge, shouting, “Long Ge! Don’t be fooled by him! Actually, I found two golden chests, one even has a weapon! This guy wants to kill you and take over as boss!”

Before Long Ge could respond, the short man was already sweating nervously.

He kicked Lin Yang away, furious and shocked: “What the hell are you saying! Long Ge, don’t believe him! We’ve been brothers for so many years. You know me—I’d sell myself but never betray you!”

Then he viciously pointed at Lin Yang: “He’s just trying to get revenge because I tricked him into coming here!”