Chapter 26: Fierce Competition, the Gap Narrows

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【Attention: Monsters in higher-level areas will become significantly more powerful. Survivors are advised to exercise caution when exploring.】

"Higher-level areas?"

Han Xing looked around and noticed that there were indeed many more clouds of varying sizes in the distant sky, far more numerous than those in his current region.

"So, I have been staying in the beginner zone all this time. Only after defeating the most powerful monster in this area can I move on to the advanced maps."

Han Xing seemed to grasp the operating mechanics of this game. He shook his head and muttered, "Forget it. That area is still far from here. At my current speed, it would take at least four or five hours. I'll deal with it tomorrow."

With that, Han Xing decided to process his loot. He walked over to the carcass of the Gray Rock Giant Wolf and initiated the decomposition process.

【Successfully decomposed the Gray Rock Giant Wolf carcass. Recovered Iron Arrows *13, obtained 1-star High-Quality Animal Hide *1, obtained Thick Wolf Meat 104kg, obtained Beast Heart *1, obtained Might Blood *5...】

"High-quality animal hide?" Han Xing looked at the thick, sturdy pelt on the ground. "I recall this can be used to craft blue-tier leather armor. Nice!"

As for the beast heart and the might blood, he wasn't sure of their uses yet, so he tucked them away for the time being.

There wasn't much of value in the Giant Wolf's territory, but after Han Xing merged the sky island, he discovered an unexpected bonus. Under the moonlight, at the edge of the wolf's territory, several rocky patches were shimmering with a silvery glow.

"Treasure!" Han Xing's eyes lit up. He walked over and crouched down to examine them.

"This looks like some kind of ore," Han Xing mused, though he wasn't entirely certain. "Should I try mining it?"

He pulled a pickaxe from his backpack and began to hammer away diligently.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal striking stone echoed repeatedly. As Han Xing chipped away the outer layer, the silver-flecked ore was finally revealed, and the system prompt appeared.

【Mithril Ore: Requires smelting to extract the Mithril within.】

"Smelting?" Han Xing frowned. "I don't have the equipment. Do I need to build a smelter?"

While Mithril was a valuable material used for crafting other blue-tier gear, it seemed that survivors at the current stage could not yet refine such metals—unless a future version update introduced territory construction features. Once that happened, survivors would be able to build various facilities on their islands, such as smelters, weapon research labs, fortifications, and even taverns.

Currently, Mithril could only be obtained with a low probability from treasure chests. The fact that Han Xing had previously managed to acquire over 20 Mithril ingots was thanks to the efforts of the "lucky ones" among the players, though the odds were extremely slim.

Since he couldn't refine the Mithril for now, Han Xing shoved the pile of ore into his storage box. He then checked the leaderboard.

Rank 1: Xinghe, Territory Points 184.

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Rank 2: Whisperer, Territory Points 162.
Rank 3: Black Eagle, Territory Points 123.
Rank 4: Papaya Star Spirit, Territory Points 115.
Rank 5...

"Huh? The Whisperer is catching up? And Black Eagle has overtaken Papaya Star Spirit to take third place?"

Han Xing was surprised. The gap between him and the Whisperer was narrowing; the other player was pushing hard. It made sense, though. While he had nearly a full set of green gear, the actual stat gap between him and other top survivors wasn't insurmountable. As survivors explored further, they would find various gear and skill books in other territories. Even if they couldn't use them, they could trade them.

The strength of the survivors was steadily increasing, especially among the top tier. However, this came at a cost. Han Xing noticed that the 10,000 survivors in District 107 had dropped to 9,632. This meant that in just three days, over three hundred people had lost their lives in their district alone. At this rate, the total death toll among humanity was likely reaching a terrifying figure. Although most were dying from accidents, as survival difficulty increased and monsters became stronger, this number would only skyrocket.

In the discussion group, Cheng Jieyong chimed in: "Brother Xing, that Whisperer is something else! He's almost caught up to you!"

Ever since he learned that Han Xing was Xinghe, Cheng Jieyong had been glued to the leaderboard.

Han Xing replied: "Yeah, he's strong. If I'm not mistaken, he's likely a Mage."

"A Mage?"

"Yes," Han Xing confirmed. "Of the first five skills a Mage gets, four are offensive. As a team leader, the Whisperer has likely gathered all of them with his teammates' help. Combined with gear bonuses, a Mage's exploration speed is indeed much faster than other classes."

"I see," Cheng Jieyong realized. Then he asked, "Brother Xing, how do you know all this?"

"Read the game introduction more often, and you'll know too." Han Xing paused and added, "By the way, what are your rankings now?"

"Huh?" Cheng Jieyong seemed puzzled. "Brother Xing, haven't you checked the leaderboard? Both Brother Yun and I are on it!"

"You guys never told me your virtual names. How would I know?"

"You never asked."

Han Xing: "..."

"Quit joking. Tell me what they are."

Cheng Jieyong laughed, "Alright, I'm 'Lone Brave,' and Brother Yun is 'Yun Tianming.'"

"..."

Han Xing: "What a chuunibyou name..."

"Right? I also think 'Yun Tianming' is super chuunibyou."

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"I was talking about yours."

Cheng Jieyong: "???"

Shen Yun was still grinding for territory points late into the night and hadn't seen their conversation; otherwise, he would have argued with Cheng Jieyong for half an hour.

Han Xing opened the leaderboard and saw that 'Lone Brave' was ranked 65th with 33 points. Meanwhile, 'Yun Tianming'—Shen Yun—had surged into the top 40, taking 37th place with 57 points.

Han Xing was surprised, but it was within his expectations. After all, he had provided them with nearly full sets of high-quality green gear, numerous skill books, and plenty of Spirit Spring Water, allowing them to explore boldly without reservation. It was only natural they would climb the ranks this quickly.

After closing the chat, Han Xing continued toward other clouds. After leveling up to 3, his sky island's speed became 8 meters per second—equivalent to 28.8 km/h—which was quite fast.

As the island moved, Han Xing took a moment to scan the chat channel. After a full day of fighting and exploring, survivors were sharing their experiences.

"Damn, my luck was terrible today. I ran into an elite-level Jungle Tiger while exploring. Almost got bitten to death. If it weren't for my ancestral 'sliding tackle' skill, I would've been done for."

"That's nothing! I ran into a giant bear today. It broke over a dozen of my ribs with one swipe. Luckily, I'm a track star; I carried it for ten kilometers until the bear was too exhausted to keep going, and only then did it let me go."

"You guys are insane. Compared to you, getting bitten by a five-step snake doesn't seem like much."

"Bro, you can still talk after being bitten by a five-step snake?"

"Oh, I pulled its fangs out. It's fine to get bitten now, feels kind of nice. I'm thinking of keeping it as a pet."

"..."

"..."

"Dude, you're a freak..."

The chat channel was flooded with speechless emojis.

Suddenly, someone said: "Stop joking around, look! Big Boss Papaya Star Spirit just posted a new guide."

"The boss posted another guide? I followed his last post and managed to avoid several clouds hiding monsters."

"Me too! Thanks to Papaya Star Spirit's guide, I easily opened a bronze chest."

"Let's see what this one is about!"

Everyone clicked on the post, which had already gained hundreds of replies in a short time. But the title was different this time, carrying a serious tone:

《WARNING! Dark Elf Squads!》

...

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