The King of Black Fog

Indeed, a person alone doesn't suffice, even the seemingly powerful Li Changzhou has to rely on a group of women, right? Bi felt that this was her biggest gain in this game.

It was just a thought, but Bi felt as if a mysterious power truly infused her body, endowing her with an instinct.

The future would change because of this, not necessarily for the better, but it wouldn't be worse than the present.

The explosion had ceased, the shockwave dissipating without force, and the zoo returned to calmness.

"Abi... Abi... save me..." The squirrel cried and cried in the snowy owl's claws, continuously wiping its tears, making Li Qianxia feel a tad embarrassed, as if she was bullying a child.

"Brother, it keeps crying, so—shall we," she hesitated, unsure whether to continue, "just kill it?"

Upon this, the squirrel struggled frantically, flailing its limbs, twisting its elongated body.

And all the while shouting: "Don't kill me! I can find other players for you! Really!"

Li Changzhou glanced at it, intrigued.

"Hand over your Identity Card, and if you can find 10 players for me, I'll let you go," he said.

"Sure, sure, no problem!" The squirrel didn't care whether the words were true or false, nor about being at someone's mercy; it immediately handed over its Identity Card.

It was a Black Card, Li Changzhou glanced at it, skills that were practical but lacked combat strength, only 10 points.

The snowy owl lifted its claws, throwing the squirrel aside.

Relying on agile instincts and a flexible body, the squirrel landed safely, then proactively lied down in a 'big' shape, panting heavily, alleviating the psychological stress of its narrow escape from death.

Li Changzhou and the others' gaze fell upon the uneven ice house in front of them.

"Come out, your ice can block bullets, but it can't block my sword," Li Changzhou said.

A hole opened on the side of the ice block facing them, and the polar bear woman was squatting inside, the half-cut palm of her hand stopped bleeding by the ice.

She was shivering all over, lips turning purple as if she felt very cold.

Did she lose her resistance to low temperatures when she transformed into a human?

Or was it a side effect of using the ice blocks?

As Li Changzhou guessed, he spoke: "Hand over the Identity Card, and you can return to your cage to stay. Before the event ends, I'll return your Identity Card to you."

Confronted with a life-and-death situation, the polar bear woman's expression remained indolently lax; it seemed it wasn't her character but just how her expression really was.

"Why should I trust you?" she asked.

"I can kill you at any time, so why would I lie to you?" Li Changzhou rejoined.

The polar bear woman fell silent for a long while, then took out an Identity Card, a white one.

Li Changzhou lightly tapped on Bi's calf, wrapped around his waist; Bi beckoned with a finger, and the white card broke free from the polar bear woman's fingertips, flying into Li Changzhou's hand.

[Nickname: Arctic] (10)

[Name: Polar Bear]

[Value: 2 (3/200)]

[Instinct: Arctic World]

[Skill: "Bear Style Pounce" (E-Rank), "Bear Roar" (E-Rank), "Cold Resistance" (D-Rank), "Transformation" (C-Rank), "Unlearned", "Unlearned"]

[Strength: 8] (Seeing the Limits)

[Agility: 5] (Normal Human)

[Intelligence: 4] (Slightly Below Par)

[Constitution: 9] (On the Last Step)

[Perception: 4] (Vigilant)

[Charm: 6] (Photogenic)

[Equipment: None]

[Inventory Slots: 'Empty', 'Empty']

[Money: 26 Coins]

Li Changzhou took a closer look at "Arctic World," listed as an instinct.

The introduction read: As a resident of the Arctic, as long as your body can withstand it, you can utilize the entire Arctic's power of ice at will.

"You're not weak, so why stay in the zoo all the time?" Yang Qinglan spoke up, giving Li Changzhou time to think.

The entire Arctic's power of ice...

Despite the side effects, what after upgrading? Or after learning skills to control body temperature and increase cold resistance with a Black Card?

This was a skill with great potential; with Li Changzhou's current resistance to the cold, the effects he could unleash were no less than those of the polar bear woman.

With his wisdom added to the mix, "Arctic World" could truly shine, spawning many more applications.

The shadow behind Li Changzhou reached out towards "Arctic World."

"I just want to return alive, and my child is waiting for me," the polar bear woman said.

Li Changzhou raised his eyes.

The polar bear woman crouched down there, her expression lazy and sprawled, but a glimmer of nostalgia and sorrow flashed through her eyes.

He released Yang Qinglan, and slowly drew the Emerald Bee Sword across his own arm, fresh blood forming into blood pearls.

"Take it," he handed her the black card that took away points and the blood pearl together, "hurry and press your palm against the wound, it should be able to reattach. Also, don't stay in the zoo or places with surveillance, Wang Donghua won't let you off."

The scene became somewhat quiet for a moment.

The squirrel covered its mouth, its eyes like black grapes bulging as if they were about to burst open;

Bi and Yafeiluna looked at Li Changzhou with puzzled eyes;

Li Qianxia and Yang Qinglan first glanced at the wound on Li Changzhou's arm and then sized up his expression.

Li Changzhou had no particular expression.

"Why?" The polar bear woman's face was blank and lazy.

"I know the pain of children without parents, so I hope that all children under the sky have parents, good parents," Li Changzhou put down the identity card and the blood pearl.

He then said to the squirrel, "With your skills, you should be able to find me at any time, notify me immediately if you have any news of players."

"Yes, yes!"

Leaving the polar bear woman and the squirrel behind, Li Changzhou and the others left the zoo.

"Your parents..." Bi hesitated to speak.

"Do you really think I'm that kind?" Li Changzhou laughed, "Once the surviving number of players falls below 500, the event will end. I must control the casualties before obtaining first place."

Only the first place with the most points has the priority to buy, and they might have the chance to purchase "Honey Pot World."

"So that's it," Bi nodded repeatedly, "You're not bad at acting, I was almost deceived by you."

"You were already deceived," Li Qianxia said pensively.

"Huh?! That doesn't count, okay, that was because I was greedy, not because I was deceived!"

Listening to the two argue, Li Changzhou ate the blood pearl that flowed from his wound, his wound healed quickly, but the lost blood was ultimately gone forever, and what returned was not the same as before.

They drove the Skoda away from the zoo and found a relatively open coffee shop to rest temporarily.

Yafeiluna directed the grey mist to keep watch around them, rings of fog that looked very much like the Soul-Sucking Monsters surrounding Hogwarts, fortunately, the citizens of Prague were either escaping or had already fled (death also counts as a form of fleeing).

Inside the restaurant.

Yang Qinglan sat at a table covered with a white tablecloth, studying the map of Prague;

Li Qianxia and Bi wore aprons, attempting to make desserts, horsing around with each other;

Li Changzhou lay on the couch, his head propped up by his hands, eyes closed reminiscing about the morning's battle, reflecting on his every word and action, and simulating how he would battle Wang Donghua next time.

At a certain moment, he opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked at the beautiful profile of Yang Qinglan, her hair bundled smoothly and lustrously behind her head.

"Did you not expect that someone with 7 points of intelligence like me would do such a thing?" he said with a smile.

"I didn't expect it," Yang Qinglan paused her gaze that was scanning the map.

"What are your thoughts?"

She had a lot on her mind regarding the polar bear woman's matter but didn't know where to start.

Finally, she said, "You are a person of light."

"Light? Do you mean a good person?" Li Changzhou asked.

"Not exactly. A person of light lives a life of sorrow and heaviness, yet they can wish for the happiness and joy of those who are well-off, hoping that their tomorrow remains full of happiness and joy."

"That's still a good person, but yes, there's a difference. 'Light' is more appropriate. Which philosopher said that?"

Yang Qinglan lifted her head and turned her face with a gentle and lovely smile: "I said it."

Li Changzhou smiled as well.

He withdrew his gaze and his smile, gazing blankly at the ceiling of the coffee shop.

"This time it was my own stubborn decision," he said, "next time I do anything, if you think it's not good, feel free to stop me."

"If you show mercy to someone in the instance, I'll stop you; if you kill someone indiscriminately in the real world, I'll stop you. But why would I stop you if you have good reasons to give a mother a chance for life in the event?"

On the other side, Li Qianxia and Bi were making a ruckus over something, Bi hopping and skipping excitedly, and Li Qianxia laughing heartily as well.

As Yang Qinglan flipped through the map in her hands, she said, "I will consider everything you do."

"Don't get me wrong," she turned her head over, speaking leisurely with a smile, "we are a team."

"I've said it, I like the word 'family' more," Li Changzhou responded with a hint of complaint, but similarly with a smile.

The orange light from the "Invisibility Lantern" on the table softly bathed them in its glow.