The players cheered and immediately began stripping the most valuable parts off the tree ghosts.

Zheng Kai lingered at the finish line, held himself for a moment, then couldn’t resist and joined the scavenging queue.

Money, money, money—everything was money!

“I’m going to keep moving forward. If anyone wants to leave, you can go now,” Xu Lang said after a few minutes.

“My value’s already doubled. I want to leave!”

“I want to stick with Lang Ge and go eat something nice!”

The team split into two camps, and in the end four people formed a group and left.

Xu Lang’s squad fought all the way through;the tree ghosts hadn’t recovered their vigor yet, so this was the best time to withdraw.

The life cores were what made the tree ghosts most valuable—easy to carry and worth a lot. The players who withdrew took life cores and second-tier items and returned laden with loot.

Then Xu Lang’s squad pushed on another fifty meters.

“Holy crap, my value tripled. I really have to go!”

“Same here. My three tactical backpacks are full of life cores—enough to trade for a decent door!”

“Let’s bounce, see you, Lang Dad!”

“Brothers, leave together. Don’t get ambushed on the way!”

Only six people remained in the team.

They were Xu Lang, Cao Yaxuan, Wang Yazhi, Tong Qi, Zheng Kai, and a pretty girl named Jiang Xiaowen.

“Aren’t you leaving?” Zheng Kai looked at Jiang Xiaowen.

Jiang Xiaowen acted strangely. Her large pack only had a few life cores at the bottom, and she didn’t look very eager.

“No.” Jiang Xiaowen licked her lips, but her gaze fixed on Xu Lang. “My dorm’s level and equipment are too low. Even with these supplies, I’m not confident I’d survive the next round.”

If she really were some wealthy lady, she wouldn’t have chosen the Pet Dorm just because of Xu Lang’s bounty.

In peaceful times there was a widely circulated motto:

—Children without umbrellas must run.

This applied especially to bottom-tier players.

Without capital, they had to fight harder.

“Haha, don’t worry, this time I’ll make sure you’re fed.” Tong Qi smiled at Jiang Xiaowen. “Stick close to me.”

“Okay, thank you, Sister Tong!” Jiang Xiaowen smiled.

Zheng Kai saw this, gritted his teeth, and started unloading items.

If even an ordinary player dared to go all out, he couldn’t be weak!

Pioneering teams often saw this phenomenon.

They would gather a huge haul, then be chased by monsters and have to discard their loot.

Lightening your load, tossing out some junk, didn’t hurt anyone.

After a brief rest, they set off again.

They pushed forward and eventually reached a terrifying area filled with poisonous miasma.

“We’re already five hundred meters in!” Zheng Kai swallowed and felt his heart race.

He had actually run this far?!

No exaggeration, he felt like he was cheating!

Even when NPCs used him to grind maps before, it never felt this intense!

On the way they’d met higher-level tree ghosts and other monsters;the haul was so big it made him uneasy.

Yes—uneasy!

If I take this many resources, won’t I be punished by heaven?

Would the Dorm Survival Game really let me off that easily?!

“Thrilling, thrilling!” Zheng Kai stared at the poisonous haze, adrenaline surging, and then grit his teeth and put his pack on the ground:

“Damn! What’s the point of this junk? Isn’t it just a few million Copper Coins?”

“Lang Ge, I’ve decided!”

“I’ll leave this pack here. No one’s going to grab it!”

“I’ll travel light and go all the way with you. If you don’t retreat, I won’t retreat!”

At that moment, he felt incredibly brave.

“I think not.” Xu Lang looked at Zheng Kai calmly and said, “Anyway, I’m not going any further.”

Zheng Kai: “???”

For goodness’ sake, I’ve already taken my pants off.

“We’ve been here too long, and our main objective hasn’t been completed.” Xu Lang explained.

Main objective? What’s that?

Pushing to the end and withdrawing full—wasn’t that the main objective?!

Zheng Kai froze, then remembered.

—Xu Lang came here to catch the Ginkgo Wolf!

“Let’s go.” Cao Yaxuan chuckled.

The front looked dangerous and information was completely unknown. How could Xu Lang possibly risk going alone?

If he could risk going alone, why would he make you come?

Seeing Xu Lang and his group turn to leave, Zheng Kai hurriedly slung on his large pack and followed.

Without Xu Lang and the others, he had no confidence about getting back.

Wang Yazhi glanced back at the poisonous haze and tightened her grip on her long sword.

She’d had a blast fighting today, but she also realized how much she lagged behind Xu Lang.

“After we get back, I have to train even harder!”

Then her clear, beautiful eyes looked at Xu Lang.

Xu Lang’s expression was as calm as a deep well—she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

At this moment, Xu Lang’s idea was simple.

Catch the Ginkgo Wolf quickly, then take the job as Animal Tamer.

As for sweeping through the ginkgo forest and finding a stronghold—he’d thought about that at first, but the moment he saw the poisonous miasma that idea vanished.

I stacked attributes in the newbie village for three thousand years and left the gate as the strongest killing god!

Only the poor need to risk their lives.

And I’m the Mad King Building’s number one tycoon!

What a payoff? Is it worth risking my life? Better go back and sleep!

On the way back, more blood-mist monsters appeared intermittently.

Their pace slowed;Cao Yaxuan and the others needed to collect supplies, and they also wanted to search for the Ginkgo Wolf.

Fortune favored the persistent. At about one hundred meters away, Xu Lang found the Ginkgo Wolf.

The instant their gazes met, the Ginkgo Wolf’s mind collapsed—its facial features bled, and even healed it would drool.

“The spirit attribute wasn’t wasted.” Xu Lang lifted the Ginkgo Wolf with satisfaction.

“It turns out we rushed too hard before, that’s why we didn’t see the Ginkgo Wolf,” Cao Yaxuan said with a smile.

They chatted and laughed while following Ginkgo Avenue, leaving the Blood Mist World.

Outside.

The moon hung at its zenith.

The stronghold was brightly lit and many players had pitched tents there.

Someone saw Xu Lang and the others emerge and immediately reported to Zhen Lu and the rest.

“Xu Lang, you’re out!”

A familiar figure rushed over, and for a moment Xu Lang thought it was the Tyrant.

But when he focused, he saw it was a beaming Wu Huihui, and he felt something was odd.

The first person to greet him after coming out of the Blood Mist World wasn’t Zhen Lu and her group, but Wu Huihui.

This…

“Huihui, what are you doing here?” Xu Lang asked.

“Waiting for you. I heard you went into the Blood Mist World, I was worried.” Wu Huihui answered honestly. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

In truth, she’d gone in to look for Xu Lang several times but found nothing each time, which made her more anxious.

“Then thank you. I have life cores here—do you want some?” Xu Lang asked.

Wu Huihui shook her head, about to say something when Zhen Lu and the others arrived.

Seeing the other girls approach, Wu Huihui quietly stepped aside.

“I told you you were worrying for nothing, Huihui.” Nie Xiaozhu patted Wu Huihui’s arm.

Wu Huihui sighed, “As long as you’re all right. If it weren’t for Lang Ge, I really don’t know how Mad King Building’s game would be won!”