Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Xu Xin put away the long spear and explained this ability to Ji Chaoyang in detail.

"...It seems that compared to the blue level, the purple level is truly a qualitative leap." Ji Chaoyang pondered for a moment and then asked, "Can I ask, what kind of armor set do you have on? Could it be a purple-level set?"

"This set," Xu Xin glanced at the scale armor on her in the sunlight, which looked rather ordinary, "The origin of this set is complicated, but I can tell you that purple-level sets grant survivors special abilities. This set gives me the ability to move freely underwater."

His scale armor only shows the true appearance of the Lake Giant Python scales when it encounters water. Right now, it looks pretty ordinary.

"...That would mean other purple-level sets also have special abilities." Ji Chaoyang mused, a smile tugging at his lips, "Interesting. Xu Xin, it seems we need to speed up our collection of cores."

"I've always thought so."

The two discussed under the treehouse how to conquer others and collect cores faster. Li Wenxi soon came down, fully armed in a steel armor set, carrying a steel spear and crossbow.

The steel armor set wasn't bulky at all; instead, it projected a valiant image of a female general.

Xu Xin had only seen her twice in videos before, but seeing her now still packed quite a visual punch.

"How about it, pretty impressive, right? Hey!" Li Wenxi lunged and twirled her spear, then struck a pose as she withdrew the spear. The spear tip vibrated with a clang, which truly had an air.

"Impressive, very impressive." Xu Xin clapped and smiled, then said, "Let's get going, north first, to see if the protection zones are connected. Qi Xuefei should be to your north."

"Alright, then I..." Li Wenxi sneakily glanced at Silver King.

She didn't bring Aniu out with her, because speed-wise, Aniu was much slower.

Actually, she mostly wanted to ride Silver King. With its silver-white fur and vivid red blood streaks across its body, it looked just too dazzling!

"Then ride with me on Silver King." Xu Xin noticed her intention and, naturally, had no objection.

"Ow!" Silver King howled once, indicating no problem.

"Yay!" Li Wenxi cheered and jumped onto Silver King's back, rubbing her cheek against its fur, "Hehe, it's just like a big dog! So handsome and cute! I've seen it several times in videos and have always wanted to try it!"

"Ow?" Silver King's eyes were filled with confusion as if asking what 'big dog' meant.

"Let's get going." Ji Chaoyang mounted his horse, "Let's check the north. But from this direction, I can't see any green at all; there might not be a treehouse there, and the survivor north of Li Wenxi might have died early."

Between Li Wenxi and Qi Xuefei's treehouses, there's another survivor in area 187. The location and status of this survivor determine if the path is passable.

"We can only go and have a look first."

"You get on first, I'll hold on from behind." Li Wenxi said to Xu Xin.

Xu Xin mounted the wolf, grinning slightly, "Actually, you can sit in front too, to feel the speed and thrill head-on."

"Huh?" Keke tilted its little head; wasn't the front its spot? Was there no place for it?

Li Wenxi immediately felt tempted for a moment, but soon realized that since they've just met, doing so seemed a bit improper, not very reserved!

"Well... um... maybe not." She refused.

She climbed onto the wolf's back, grabbing hold of Xu Xin's waist.

Initially, when Silver King was first contracted, carrying two people with their not-so-light armor sets would have been tiring. But now, as an intermediate mutated beast, its weight had grown to six or seven hundred kilograms, becoming a genuine giant Wolf King. Carrying two people running posed no problem at all.

"Shall we go now?" Ji Chaoyang asked.

He looked at the two sitting together, suddenly feeling a bit unnecessary, then laughed helplessly.

"Let's go, hold on tight. Silver King, northward!"

"Owooo—" A wolf howl signified Silver King's start.

"Oh oh good... Aah!" Silver King's speed was so fast that Li Wenxi almost got thrown off, prompting her to hug Xu Xin's waist with both hands out of fear.

However, with one wearing the scale armor and the other the steel armor, there wasn't any real contact after all.

"Wow, so fast!" Li Wenxi exclaimed, watching the forest scenery rapidly recede, her face showing excitement, "It's so fast!"

"Your cow can't run this fast?" Xu Xin asked.

"How could it be this fast!" Li Wenxi, fearing she might fall off, clung tightly to Xu Xin's waist, shouting against the wind, "It's so fast I can't sit steady; plus, Aniu isn't as agile as Silver King!"

Indeed, with trees scattered chaotically in the forest, Silver King maneuvered deftly, weaving through the trees while maintaining speed, leaving Ji Chaoyang's Bai Ma behind.

Earlier, at the creek side, there weren't obstacles, and Bai Ma's speed was almost on par with Silver King's. But now, in the forest, it couldn't match the nimble Silver King. Silver King, after all, was previously the Wolf King of a forest wolf pack and long accustomed to moving through the woods.

"You two, be careful! Stop chatting too much and make sure not to step outside the protection zone!" Ji Chaoyang yelled from behind.

"Don't worry, if there's danger, Silver King and Keke will warn us; Silver King will stop on its own!" Xu Xin waved a hand back and turned his head to reply.

"Haha, it's so enjoyable!" Li Wenxi leaned sideways, letting the wind catch her face.

"Don't lean too much, watch out for the trees!" Xu Xin immediately stopped her. Silver King was darting through the tree clusters, and leaning like that could be risky.

"Oh, oh, okay." Li Wenxi pulled back her head, somewhat regretting not sitting in the front. However, the scenery speeding by on both sides was still thrilling, making her smile again.

"The Silver King is really strong! Actually, my Aniu can also charge, its speed isn't slow either, but it can't turn when charging. If it dares to charge in the jungle, its head would get smashed!"

Indeed, back then Xu Xin didn't choose a bull as her mount. Firstly because bulls are too heavy, they'd have to sign only a calf, and secondly because bulls are too bulky, they can't turn while running fast.

A matador can play with a bull using just a piece of red cloth, so although bulls are strong, their combat power and speed aren't impressive. Of course, for someone like Li Wenxi, who is a wealthy woman with family mines, using a bull as a mount is most suitable because of its high load capacity, perfect for transportation.

The Silver King swiftly shuttled through the jungle, with Bai Ma closely following. The three quickly reached the edge of the protection zone north of Li Wenxi's treehouse.

All the way here, they hadn't seen a hint of green nearby; instead, far off, nearly twenty kilometers away, there was a splash of green.

"Whimper! Whimper whimper!" Keke suddenly cried out urgently, pressing her little paws against Xu Xin.

Before Xu Xin could react, the Silver King also made a side stop, baring its fangs at the front, growling lowly from its throat.

...Looks like we can't go ahead.

"Don't go, the way ahead is a danger zone." Xu Xin told Ji Chaoyang, who had just caught up.

Ji Chaoyang reined in his horse, stopping beside him, and remarked: "Your ability is really convenient. If it were me, I'd have to test around to find out."

"Keke can really issue a warning!" Li Wenxi reached out to scoop Keke from Xu Xin's front, pinching Keke's little cheeks.

"Whimper! Whimper, whimper whimper!" Keke yelped under the pinching, but just as when Xu Xin pinched it, it didn't struggle fiercely, only protested, not outright resisting Li Wenxi's mischievous hands.

Xu Xin pointed to the distant patch of green up ahead: "Over there, it should be Qi Xuefei's treehouse, right?"

"If your location is correct, then that should be it, it's indeed a three-story treehouse." Ji Chaoyang squinted to observe for a bit, "There's no other green visible closer. The northern treehouse must have died long ago."

A dead treehouse only has a three-kilometer deterrent protection zone.

Li Wenxi's protection zone range is also different from theirs.

He and Ji Chaoyang had expanded by three kilometers in prior activities, so their current protection zone spans nine kilometers. Even if surrounding treehouses each have a three-kilometer zone, their larger protection zone can connect.

But Li Wenxi's protection zone is only six kilometers. If the other side is three kilometers, then the distance between the two treehouses must be within nine kilometers for their protection zones to barely connect.

Clearly, the northern dead treehouse is already more than nine kilometers from her treehouse, their protection zones haven't connected, so they can no longer go forward.

Keke and the Silver King's attitude also showed that the ground ahead is likely swarming with mutant creatures.

"What to do? If the road is blocked, it's a bit troublesome." Xu Xin rubbed his forehead, pondering a solution.

If the north is impassable, then the distance between here and Qi Xuefei's treehouse isn't as near as it seems.

They need to detour, trying all directions around Qi Xuefei's treehouse, to see which direction's protection zone connects, allowing access.

The worst case scenario is that all connections around her are cut off, preventing them from entering.

"Honestly, the possibility isn't small." Ji Chaoyang had thought of this earlier, speaking gravely, "In Area 187, nine thousand out of ten thousand people died. These deceased individuals' protection zones were only three kilometers. Their massive death toll likely led to segmentation."

"...No, don't forget our region's uniqueness." Xu Xin dismounted from the Wolf King, walking towards the protection zone edge, "Our region, after all, is filled with experts."

"Indeed, there's still hope."

"Hey, isn't it dangerous over there? What are you going over there for!" Li Wenxi saw him heading towards the protection zone boundary, quickly dismounted from the Wolf King's back, and ran toward Xu Xin.

"...Are you trying to draw out the mutant creatures?" Ji Chaoyang didn't stop him but asked instead.

"Yes, I want to see if these underground mutant creatures have undergone any changes in phase two. Don't come near; it might be dangerous."

Xu Xin signaled with gestures for Li Wenxi to stay back, then took out a halberd from his backpack.

The Silver King's behavior felt peculiar to him.

It wasn't his first time bringing the Silver King to the protection zone boundary. Last time when the Hilly Resource Zone was shrouded in Red Mist, the Silver King had effortlessly crossed it, stepping into the danger zone.

At that time, neither the Silver King nor Keke had reacted as intensely to the danger zone as they did now.

Then, even the Silver King, which hadn't upgraded to mid-level mutant creatures, hadn't bared its teeth in that way at normal ground with mutant creatures yet to emerge. Now it's stronger, but in contrast, more vigilant.

The underground mutant creatures potentially have changed.

Xu Xin stepped one foot out of the safety zone.

A sense of crisis emerged in his mind, and he immediately drew back his leg, leaping backward.

The instant he withdrew, the ground suddenly cracked open, and a thick spiked blood vine burst forth directly from the soil, shooting towards the sky!

"Hiss——"

The emerging vine made all three present suck in a sharp breath.

"Why is this vine so thick?!"