Chapter 34:

Yesterday, the gray rats caught was sold to Xie Shaoting in exchange for a new batch of supplies.

Lu Ming quickly broke free from his irritable mood, and his condition did not worsen.

After breakfast, the wolfhounds spontaneously went hunting under the leadership of the falcon.

Seeing everything in good order, Yun Shan relaxed and temporarily withdrew from the game.

Since being hit by a car while dining out, Yun Shan has developed a love for online shopping. Whether it’s snacks or grains, she orders everything online and then waits for delivery.

Today, she cooked some noodles and enjoyed them with flavored chicken oil chili sauce, feeling extremely satisfied.

While eating, she opened her communication signal, intending to interact with the crowd to understand participation in activities, but the signal crashed as soon as it was opened.

“Are these people focused on gaming or chatting? Why do they keep bombarding the group at irregular intervals?” Yun Shan wondered.

After a while, the information was finally processed, and the communication signal returned to normal.

Yun Shan glanced and was surprised to find that all the gaming groups in the list had 99+ messages.

Some of them were zombie groups that had been silent for years!

What could be happening?

Curious, she opened the most frequently used pay-to-win game group.

“Ordinary Scholar: Buying points, 1 point = 100 yuan, come quickly if you have them.”

“Ordinary Scholar: Buying healing potions, purchase price = market price * 140%. Can trade for points or cash.”

“Ordinary Scholar: Buying gray rats, one-star, two-star, three-star, all accepted, purchase price = official price * 140%.”

“Ordinary Scholar: Hiring short-term workers during the event, here is the daily wage table.”

Yun Shan recognized “Ordinary Scholar,” the group nickname of the person she traded with, Xie Shaoting.

But…

In this life or the last, Xie Shaoting seemed like an ordinary wealthy person. Why is he now spending so much money on pay-to-win features? What could have triggered this?

The group had many members, including some with lightning-fast responses. Seeing the rewards offered, everyone in the group went crazy.

“OMG: During the 15-day event, the reward for a three-star short-term worker is almost equivalent to a year’s income from regular hard work. Boss, you’re too generous!”

“Cat: He always claimed to be an ordinary pay-to-win player… Liar! Ordinary pay-to-win players don’t have this kind of courage!!”

“Spectator: It’s going to rain, the mother is getting married, and the big shots are spending money, can’t stop it, can’t stop it.”

“Dumbfounded: Is he going to spend 30 million, 300 million to exchange for registration codes?”

“Melon: How many hidden big shots are there in this group? If the gaming company doesn’t hold events, I wouldn’t know you all were so wealthy.”

“Senior newbie: Are there any hidden rich women in the group? Sister, I don’t want to work hard anymore.”

“Money Lover: Nobody stop me!! Today, I must bow down to money!”

“Country Bumpkin: …So the big shots intentionally pretend to be regular wealthy people on ordinary days? City folks sure know how to play, leaving us in awe.jpg.”

“Light: I never imagined that we had such a wealthy gentleman in the group. This is the true power of wealth.”

Someone even casually wrote a paragraph.

“Gaming Company (calculating): It’s time to hold an event.”

“Boss: What? Registration codes? Get out of the way! I’m going big on this!”

“Impoverished Netizen (enlightened): They say the holographic gaming wealth power doesn’t work, it’s all a lie. Clearly, it’s not about insufficient ability, but not spending enough money.”

Yun Shan, “…”

She seemed to understand how Xie Shaoting got his three-star subordinates.

Just flipping through the group messages would make it clear.

Numerous group members expressed their willingness to serve the wealthy boss.

After all, earning a year’s income in half a month only made them say “I want more money.”

Looking at other groups, the reasons for the group chat explosions were similar. It was all about Xie Shaoting spending money and causing a stir.

From this, it’s evident that he takes pay-to-win seriously.

Yun Shan found it quite miraculous.

She hadn’t realized before that Xie Shaoting was a hardcore pay-to-win player. It can only be said that he hid it well in the past.

“By coming out and spending so openly this time, is he trying to exchange for registration codes?” Yun Shan pondered while slurping her noodles. “If he is so eager, could I ask for something else when selling the rats?”

Unconsciously, she fell into contemplation.

***

Because the wolfhounds and the falcon have strong self-management skills and don’t need someone to follow them, Yun Shan rarely had free time.

“Want to go check out the camp?” Lu Ming said. “I want to see how the gray rats hunting event is going.”

“I’ll accompany you,” Yun Shan readily agreed.

The estate was located in a low-end residential area, with surrounding land available for rent or sale. Besides Yun Shan, other players also lived there.

Yun Shan, Lu Ming, You Yi, Lu Liu, Dahei, and Xiao Bai walked together toward the center of the camp.

At the same time, in a bamboo house courtyard somewhere.

A pregnant gray rats lay on the ground, crying out in pain.

Two white-named male players (two-star) watched nervously, occasionally whispering to each other.

“How long is the gestation period for a mother mouse? Is she about to give birth? What should we prepare? Food? Hot water? Towels?”

“It’s my first time assisting a mother rats with childbirth, I have no idea.” The other person appeared quite troubled. “A two-star mother rats should have quite a strong vitality, right? Should we just watch and leave the rest to her?”

The two of them looked at each other, clearly at a loss.

A piercing scream echoed.

Subsequently, one small gray rats after another fell to the ground.

The tall male player rejoiced, “She gave birth! We’re going to be rich!”

While shouting, he praised his own wit.

Yesterday, the team found a two-star mother rat in the wild. When his companions wanted to kill it, he intervened, “The mother rat is heavily pregnant, she might be about to give birth. Let’s raise her. Instead of catching just one two-star gray rat, we might end up with over ten, maybe even twenty two-star ones!”

Someone objected, “No one knows exactly how long a mother rat’s pregnancy lasts. What if it takes three months, and she still hasn’t given birth by the end of the event? We’ll miss the whole activity just to take care of her.”

The tall male player responded at the time, “Her belly looks really big, like she’s about to give birth. We’ll give her two days at most, if she doesn’t give birth, we’ll kill her.”

The prospect of a tenfold return made them willing to take the risk.

The teammates felt the deal was worth it and agreed. They even went online at specific times to look after the mother mouse.

In just one day, the mother mouse gave birth.

A quick glance revealed seven two-star and five one-star rats, and the mother mouse was still giving birth!

The tall male player was grinning from ear to ear, thinking how his decisive wit had led to a big profit. Otherwise, how could they have made so much money?

He was feeling pleased when his companion said, “These babies, don’t they look a bit odd? Look, they’re all staring at us…”

In a flash, the tall male player remembered something – after birth, young ones usually need to eat a lot to replenish energy. They were unprepared, and now in the courtyard, there was only… the two players.

The tall male player broke out in a cold sweat.

He hurriedly exclaimed, “The mother has given birth, quickly kill these young ones!”

After all, when exchanged, each one counted the same, regardless of size. Just-born baby rats were still rats and could exchange for an equal amount of contribution.

His companion snapped out of it, frantically drawing their blades and attacking.

But there were too many young rats.

Fifteen or sixteen small fist-sized gray rats fixated on the players, their eyes filled with a bloodthirsty gleam. Eagerly, they rushed out, one after another, pouncing on the players.

“Ah!” The tall male player struck four of the young rats, but in a moment of carelessness, his ankle was bitten.

In agony, he called out to his companion, “Kill them quickly!”

His companion was on the verge of desperation, “There are too many young rats, we can’t handle it.”

What worried them the most was that the mother rats was still giving birth.

It was then that the tall male player realized that even though they were just born, these were still one-star/two-star beasts, and a large number of them would be troublesome.

With a determined heart, he made a decision, “Kill the mother rat first!”

By killing her, at least the opponents wouldn’t increase any further. While taking medicine and clearing, they could eventually eliminate the young rats with a bit of time.

“Kill what?!” his companion exclaimed, “We’re surrounded by the young rats! We can’t get through at all!”

In the blink of an eye, what surrounded them was no longer fifteen or sixteen young rats, but twenty-three or four.

It was a despair-inducing number.

At least his companion felt that he was about to be finished.

Forced into a corner, the tall male player switched tactics. He took a deep breath and shouted, “Is anyone there? There are a lot of two-star young rats here! Come and help us!”

At this critical moment, he didn’t care about contribution points. He just hoped someone would lend a hand and save them.

Yun Shan and her group happened to pass by. Hearing the shouts, they looked over and unintentionally caught sight of a perilous scene – nearly twenty gray ras were crawling all over the players, tearing and biting. Their momentum seemed as if they were about to devour the players.

Lu Ming gently pulled Yun Shan into his arms, turning her away from the scene of carnage.

Lu Liu, You Yi, Dahei, and Xiao Bai all pitched in, quickly killing all the gray rats.

“Thanks, guys,” the tall male player extended a hand, quickly taking medicine to heal.

You Yi looked at the mother rats, feeling conflicted, “You didn’t catch the gray rats just to kill it immediately, but kept it to give birth?”

The tall male player smirked and awkwardly explained, “We wanted to keep a gray rat for experimentation, to further understand the behavior of this creature, but we didn’t expect it to give birth so soon…”

You Yi side-eyed him. Did he really think she would believe such a flimsy excuse?

Yun Shan wasn’t surprised at all.

Only NPCs couldn’t anticipate it – there wasn’t a ridiculous player who wouldn’t try something daring.

Risking their lives just to earn more contribution points, was such behavior normal? (No, it wasn’t)

“Thank you for saving me,” the tall male player carefully chose his words, cautiously speaking, “Technically, whoever killed the gray rat should claim it. However… can we keep the mother rat? This is a team asset, and it wouldn’t look good if it’s lost.”

Lu Ming: “By keeping the gray rat, you’ve violated the Camp Safety Act. All beasts need to be turned in.”

The two male players: ??? What law?

They were bewildered.

You Yi then provided some direct education.

Recently, there has been a serious rodent infestation, and while the camp was holding its autumn hunting event, a new policy was specifically implemented. Residents are required to immediately capture and kill gray rats on sight, preventing them from breeding, and certainly not keeping them as pets at home.

As these two individuals have endangered the camp’s safety, with both witness and physical evidence, they should surrender all the gray rats and pay fines.

“We’ve never heard of such a rule at Red Maple Camp!” the tall male player exclaimed.

At that moment, ten three-star NPC guards rushed over.

Lu Liu discreetly lowered her hand (wearing a black wristband), hiding her proficiency and reputation.

In front of the NPC guards, the two male players dared not deny their actions. They hung their heads, paid the fine obediently, and watched as You Yi strung the young rats together with a grass rope and took them away.

Once the NPCs left, his companion frowned in distress, “The young ones are gone, the mother rat is gone, how do we explain this to the others in the team?”

The tall male player began, “She had thirty offspring in one birth, and the mother rat died in difficult labor.”

His companion, “…”

Thirty offspring in one birth.

Died in difficult labor.

Sometimes he truly wondered, how did his teammates’ minds work? Why were they always filled with such strange thoughts?

“Just kidding,” the tall male player sighed. “It’s fortunate enough that we’ve saved our own lives. As for the specifics, let’s discuss it further.”