In a frigid apocalypse, I went on a shopping spree with the reborn.

"Old Wang!"

"Fatty!"

"Wang Defa!"

Jiang Qingyue and the others went from grief to ecstasy, and then to confusion: Where are they?

"Who saw him?" Jiang Qingyue's eyes were almost sore from staring, but she still couldn't find Wang Defa on the stage.

But the voice was definitely Wang Defa's. One person might have misheard, but surely everyone could have misheard, right?

"Old...Old Wang?" Chen Sanyang's wailing stopped abruptly: "Wasn't that Fatty talking just now?"

Liu Yuyao silently rubbed her forehead. Chen Sanyang was clearly a few years younger than her, so why was his reaction getting slower and slower? That shouldn't be the case.

"Hey! Jiang Shen, I'm here!"

Sound is the best way to locate something. Jiang Qingyue and the others followed the sound and looked around... and they were all petrified.

In the first section, the beautiful woman had a pair of pigtails hanging from her hair.

"Xiao Qiang!" Chen Sanyang's mouth was wide open, big enough to fit a duck egg.

Good news, the fat man is not dead.

Bad news: the fat guy has mutated into a different species—he's become a cockroach.

"Wang Defa?" Jiang Qingyue's shout was incredibly complicated.

She both hoped Wang Defa was alive and wished she had misheard, and that he would transform into anything, even a cockroach?

Will it ever change back?

"It's me, Jiang Shen. I told you I wouldn't die, right? I may not be the best at fighting, but my survival skills are top-notch. I'd be second to none, not even Jiang Shen... Holy crap!"

With a scorpion-like flick of her tail, the beautiful woman not only defeated the enemy but also nearly sent Wang Defa flying.

Startled, Jiang Qingyue and the others all shouted, "Hold on tight!"

It's so small, if it gets flung to the ground, it'll get stepped on and stuck to the sole of someone's shoe, impossible to pry off.

"That was close!" Wang Defa said, clutching the golden-haired creature that seemed like a forest to him. "I'm still not used to my body suddenly shrinking. Jiang Shen, aren't you going to congratulate me? I, Fatty, didn't die."

"Congratulations on surviving," Jiang Qingyue said, then quickly asked, remembering something, "Is your space still there?"

"Where did you get space? I don't have any space. My things are stored elsewhere, and it's hard to explain in a few words, but everything you gave me is still here." Wang Defa swung on a swing with his long golden hair.

He can't help at all now; his life or death depends on whether this beautiful woman in the first district will lend a hand.

But he didn't seem to be in a hurry, giving people the feeling that he was okay with dying or living.

Jiang Qingyue didn't press for details. Everyone has their own secrets. Hearing that the item was still there, she quickly said, "Give him a Herbal Doctor Essence."

Who would it be given to? Of course, it would be given to that great beauty in District One.

With Wang Defa gone, the situation for the remaining three became even more difficult.

With three against thirteen, and everyone being roughly equal in strength, there's almost no chance of survival.

Not to mention that the cloud also needs to be guarded against at all times; that kind of eerie blue flame is quite terrifying. Even Wang Defa, who is mainly a defender, couldn't withstand it, let alone the others.

With their minds solely on defense, they were naturally hampered in combat, and in just a short while, the three of them were not far from being killed.

"Just hold on a little longer, you won't die," Wang Defa shouted from the ring.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qingyue and the others realized that Wang Defa still had tricks up his sleeve, which gave them a glimmer of hope. Could they possibly survive this round and leave the arena alive?

With a sigh of relief, Jiang Qingyue finally had the energy to observe her current situation.

The big, fat cloud's personal computer in District 93 was probably stolen by the leader of District 33, without any surprise.

Although she delivered the final blow, she was too far away, and the people in the first district were just as far away.

The leader of District 33's peach branch was quite long, almost like a tentacle. Although he was far away, it was no different from being on the scene. He was the most likely person to use the peach branch to steal the quantum computer in the chaos.

Since they cannot merge now, there is no need to worry about the leader of District 33 turning against them after merging with the quantum computer and gaining increased power.

However, the inability to integrate also has a drawback: their strength is insufficient.

Now the hundred districts are almost divided into two factions.

One faction was led by the pile of iron lumps in Experiment Zone 5, and a total of ninety-six experimental zones gathered together.

Even though many people had died in the various experimental zones, not many died in Zone 93, where so many people gathered together in a huge mass.

The remaining experimental areas were Zone 1, Zone 8, Zone 33, and Zone 34, where the four experimental areas sat in their original positions.

This situation is very bad.

Jiang Qingyue hadn't forgotten how that big, fat cloud died. If her opponent was stronger than her and could be killed by a sneak attack from the four of them, then she herself might be killed in the same way.

We must join forces.

They and District 1 are too close to District 5. The closer they are, the less time they have to react if they are ambushed.

This place is no longer suitable for me.

She turned her head and saw that the leader of the first district was also looking at her.

Jiang Qingyue pointed in the direction of zones 33 and 34.

The leader of District One hesitated for a moment, nodded, and then led the rest of District One toward her.

As they passed through the fifth experimental zone, the killing intent between the two sides almost materialized.

The leader of District 5 was an enormous lump of iron. It stared at the sword in the hand of the leader of District 1 for a while, then turned its head to look in the direction of District 8.

Jiang Qingyue had already assumed her stance, and an arrow thicker than the one used to kill Da Pangyun had been condensed for some time.

The target wasn't the leader of the Fifth District, but the leader of the Sixth Experimental District behind it.

Meanwhile, the leaders of districts 33 and 34 were also ready for battle.

On the ring, life and death battles rage; off the ring, tensions are high.

Chen Sanyang and the others unconsciously lowered their breathing.

Taking advantage of the fact that the other experimental zones couldn't understand human speech, he asked Liu Yuyao his question: "Boss, Jiang Shen is aiming at the leader of the sixth experimental zone, why? Why doesn't she shoot that big iron lump?"

"Even a fool can see now that the one who can unite so many experimental zones is that group of ironclad men from the Fifth Experimental Zone. Why doesn't Jiang Shen just eliminate that highly influential group and instead target the leader of the Sixth Experimental Zone?"

Liu Yuyao was too lazy to pay him any attention.

Zhang Yuan, standing nearby, kindly explained, "The leader of the First District is very strong. I'm too weak to see how much difference there is between them."

"But the leader of the Fifth Experimental Zone did not make a direct move, which means that the two sides are probably evenly matched. Even if they do fight, the First Zone will not be defeated in the short term."

"But targeting the Sixth Experimental Zone is different. The leader of the Sixth Experimental Zone is a notch weaker than Jiang Shen and the others. He is considered a second-tier strongman and has also defected to the Fifth Experimental Zone."

"If we were to be killed by Jiang Shen with an arrow right after joining them, the prestige of the Fifth Experimental Zone would be greatly diminished."

"After all, if you can't protect your allies, it's hard to inspire confidence in your subordinates. Their newly formed alliance will crumble in an instant."

"After all, no one dares to gamble. The leader of the Sixth District is a powerful figure with a combat strength approaching 600,000. If Jiang Shen can kill him, he can kill the vast majority of people in the alliance. They will panic, and wherever Jiang Shen points his arrow, people will scatter and flee."

"When things get chaotic, people from District One will naturally have a chance to come over."

Chen Sanyang looked at Zhang Yuan, his eyes changing: "There are so many tricks to this?"

"I only realized it myself," Zhang Yuan said modestly. "Jiang Shen is truly amazing; he instantly came up with the most advantageous solution for us."

Chen Sanyang: "With so many leaders around them, if they all attacked together, couldn't they stop Jiang Shen's arrow?"

"If everyone joins forces, we can certainly stop them. But..." Zhang Yuan paused, "As the saying goes, those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. They have many people and great strength, but with more people, their thoughts are also more complicated."

Chen Sanyang scratched his head and leaned closer to Zhang Yuan: "Tell me in detail."

"Brother Chen, think about it. On the stage, Brother Wang and his team are fighting thirteen against four, while off the stage, we're facing ninety-six against four. Do you think we have any hope of winning?"

"No." Chen Sanyang shook his head without hesitation or exaggeration; he had even thought about what he would say when he died.

It has to be a heroic sacrifice, so as not to embarrass the boss, and I also have to curse Wang Dawei a few times to vent my anger.

"That settles it then?" Zhang Yuan said. "The fate of our four experimental zones is almost certainly sealed."

"But the arena battle won't end with the deaths of the four of us from the experimental zones."

"If we die, their alliance of ninety-six experimental zones will fall apart, and they will become enemies with each other, especially in the second round."

"They are both allies and enemies. Given that they are absolutely certain of victory, they would be more than happy to see a few more strong individuals die."

"Once the leader of the Sixth Experimental Zone dies, the Sixth Experimental Zone will become like the 40th and 41st Experimental Zones, at the bottom, and its resources will be harvested by everyone else."

"So they may appear to be allied, but in reality, it's difficult for them to be truly united. They can only achieve complete unity when the strength of both sides is equal."

"Otherwise, once they gain the upper hand, they will be thinking about the second round and would be happy if a few strong players in the league died."

"Holy crap!" Chen Sanyang suddenly realized, "You mean they can block Jiang Shen's arrows together, but they'll just go through the motions and pretend to fight, they won't actually try to block them."

"They even wish Jiang Shen could take down several of them with one arrow, so they could quickly dismantle the other side's quantum computer."

Zhang Yuan nodded: "That's exactly what I mean. Jiang Shen must have seen this out as well, which is why he chose someone who was strong but not top-tier, someone he was sure he could kill."

Jiang Qingyue had a cold and aloof expression, and the arrogance in her eyes bluntly told her opponent: I am strong, I can kill you.

In my mind, I've cursed every national treasure I can think of regarding tricycles. Damn it, am I going to hit them or not? My hands are getting sore.

Do you really think drawing a bow doesn't require strength?

The leader of the Fifth Experimental Zone hesitated for a long time before finally raising his hand politely and gesturing for them to proceed.

The leader of the first district didn't move. With a single glance, his subordinates passed by in an orderly fashion and arrived at the eighth district to meet up with Jiang Qingyue and the others.

He himself has always been facing the Fifth District head-on.

Only after ensuring his men had arrived safely did he turn around. The leader of the Fifth District attempted a sneak attack, but discovered that Jiang Qingyue had changed his aim from the leader of the Sixth District to it.

It was a clear message to them: no chance of a sneak attack.

Even after the two experimental zones merged, the competition on the stage was not over yet.

Wang Defa fed the beauty in District 1, the peach in Districts 33 and 34, and the robot a Plant Doctor essence.

The three of them were back to full health, but unfortunately there were too many opponents, so they could only passively defend.

Jiang Qingyue withdrew her gaze, nodded to the leader of the First District as a greeting, and then tacitly covered the rear.

After passing through one empty area after another, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at areas 33 and 34.

They may be few in number, but they are of high quality. Four leaders with a combat power of over 600,000 gathered together, far apart, will not be easy for the enemy to launch a sneak attack.

Jiang Qingyue looked at the number of people gathered together; there were actually quite a few.

Apart from the fact that only twenty-four of them were left, there were more than ninety people left in the first district, more than eighty in the 33rd district, and more than eighty in the 34th district, totaling nearly three hundred people.

Although the opposing side has gathered the remaining ninety-six experimental zones, most of them are weak. For example, the giant crab in Zone 40 has lost not only its leader but also two of the top ten that haven't even appeared yet. All in all, there are only a dozen or so left.

In some of the smaller experimental areas, the remaining population mostly remained in the range of twenty or thirty.

The few powerful experimental zones have a lot of people left, but the total number of people in the ninety-six zones combined is probably only around three thousand, which is about one to ten.

"That's still too much."

Jiang Qingyue pondered how to reduce the number of opponents outside the arena.

As for the arena, she dared not even think about it. Now the opposing camps are very clear, and once she stepped onto the arena, it would be four against ninety-six.

Even if you eat the essence of the plant doctor as food, you still won't be able to save your life.

So they still have to kill people offstage, especially those who are about to go on stage. If they take one down, they'll have one less opponent to face when they go on stage.

Does anyone know which members of the opposing team haven't played yet?

"You want to kill him early to reduce the pressure on the arena." Nangong Zhao guessed Jiang Qingyue's plan in an instant.

The problem is that these aliens all look almost identical to them, and they can only roughly distinguish them by their size, some being larger and some smaller.

But physical differences only exist when there's a significant gap in skill. When the skill gap isn't large, everyone looks like a copy-paste; who can remember which ones haven't been on the field yet?

"I can try to distinguish it from the energy," Zhao Mingyue said.

"Yeah, right." Jiang Qingyue slapped her forehead. "I almost forgot about you."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingyue's eyes darkened slightly.

Long Jiuxing wanted to be serious, but the corners of his mouth just wouldn't cooperate and kept turning up.

Jiang Qingyue didn't notice the slightly awkward atmosphere. Her mind was racing: "You can accurately sense energy. The top ten are definitely stronger than those below them. You can roughly distinguish which ones are the top ten based on the strength of their energy."

"Anyway, we don't need specific rankings, we just need to know which ones haven't played yet."

"I'll give it a try." Zhao Mingyue composed herself.

It's okay to forget her once; she believes that when A-Yue only has her by his side, he will never forget her again.

The priority now is to survive. Even if everyone else dies, we must ensure that A-Yue survives.

At this moment, the leaders of Districts 33 and 34 walked over.

The leader of District 34 took out an extremely complex compass, about the size of a palm, with all sorts of intricate markings on it.

In comparison, Jiang Qingyue's alarm looked like a poorly made, counterfeit product.

"What is this?"

While Jiang Qingyue and the others were still wondering, the leader of District 34 fiddled with the compass for a while and then spoke to it.

"This is a translator."

The clear and articulate Chinese reached Jiang Qingyue and the others' ears.

"There's such a good thing?"

District 34 Chief: "The equipment is so-so, but it comes in handy right now. The voice will be translated into the languages ​​of different races after passing through this translator."

"Never mind this little gadget, let's talk about how to save our lives first."

After saying that, the leader of District 34 looked at Jiang Qingyue with resentment.

If this guy hadn't kidnapped her treasure, forcing them to choose sides early on, they might have ended up joining the Fifth District anyway, given the current situation.

Unfortunately, we've already made our stance clear, and even if we back out now, people won't believe us.

We have no choice but to follow this guy down this path to the bitter end.

Jiang Qingyue glanced at the arena. Wang Defa and his team had been defending the whole time, so they weren't expending much energy, but they just couldn't kill their opponents, and their injuries were piling up.

When they were about to collapse, Wang Defa fed each of them a Plant Doctor Essence, and the three of them were fully revived and continued to fight back.

The opposing thirteen players were incredibly frustrated. They were just one step away from defeating their opponents, only to have them resurrected with full health.

They couldn't kill him, but they were unwilling to give up, so the two sides just kept at odds.

It looks like this is definitely going to be a long battle.

If Wang Defa's Plant Doctor essence runs out first, then the four of them will die.

If the opponent runs out of strength first, then Wang Defa and his team will win.

But even if they win this match, there's no hope for the next one. Jiang Qingyue's Plant Doctor essence is being used up too much; she can't keep using it like candy forever.

But the opponent has ninety-six in every game.

Jiang Qingyue said into the compass translator, "We still need to kill. Find all those who are about to go on stage and eliminate them to reduce the number of people on the stage in the next match. My people are already looking for them. Give her some more time."