Chapter 114 Endless Mode 3

Chapter 114: Endless Mode, Part 3

In fact, quite a few players had thought of the strategy of burning trees.

However, after hearing the system’s warning, most abandoned the idea. But there was always a small group of bold individuals who firmly believed that "the greater the risk, the greater the reward."

Chang Qing was one of them.

He reasoned that the system had warned of "serious and unpredictable consequences" for burning trees. Since it was "unpredictable," the outcome could be either good or bad, right? If the chances were even, why not try?

In the previous round, Chang Qing had set a fire and smoothly became one of the survivors who cleared the round. Now, riding high on that success, he became even bolder. He quickly dismissed the system’s warning and boldly lit dry branches and firewood before swiftly retreating to a safe zone.

The fire consumed the trees, spreading rapidly and growing fiercer. At the same time, thick black smoke spread outward.

Chang Qing soaked a cloth in bottled water, covered his nose and mouth, and calmly watched the fire spread.

Just then, he heard the howls of wolves and other scattered, indistinct sounds. It seemed some wolves had accidentally caught fire and were howling in pain. Occasionally, there were sounds of them thrashing on the ground to put out the flames.

Chang Qing grinned smugly. He thought to himself that after the fire, everything would be reduced to ashes. Meanwhile, he could relax with food and drink.

But just as he was indulging in this pleasant fantasy, the wolves’ howls grew closer.

Chang Qing’s expression darkened as it dawned on him belatedly—the safe zone he was in might now be the safest spot in the entire forest. Would the animals come here for shelter?

As if confirming his suspicion, a pack of wolves appeared before him the next moment. Some had patches of singed fur, their wounds emitting a pungent smell of burnt fur.

Upon seeing Chang Qing, the wolves acted as if they had encountered their mortal enemy, lunging at him with vicious intent.

Chang Qing barely dodged. By now, he faintly sensed that things weren’t going as planned, but it was too late to turn back. The fire was too massive—unless a sudden downpour occurred, no one could halt its spread.

He repeatedly reassured himself that this was just the darkness before dawn. If he could endure the beasts’ attacks, better days lay ahead.

With that thought, he pulled out a grenade and a pistol from his Portable Storage and fired back without a second thought.

Most of the wolves were killed or injured, and just as they were nearly wiped out, thundering footsteps came from the distance—clearly, something large was approaching.

Chang Qing’s face turned ashen as he gritted out three words, "A rhino herd!"

Next came swarms of venomous snakes.

Then five black bears…

Chang Qing fought desperately, but his face grew paler, and his Portable Storage’s supplies dwindled rapidly.

Finally, he collapsed weakly to the ground, could only watch as an anaconda slithered toward him. Unable to hold back, he cursed, "F*ck!"

Anacondas—the largest snakes in the world, with the longest reaching six meters! Though the one before him wasn’t at the maximum size, it was still a terrifying four meters long.

Its massive body, weighing over 100 kilograms, only needed to coil around its prey and crush it instantly. At this thought, Chang Qing’s face twisted in horror.

Only then did he finally understand the system’s warning. Burning trees would undoubtedly bring danger. The "unknown" part meant he had no idea which animal would kill him… because the primeval forest was teeming with deadly beasts…

The moment he turned into a beam of white light, Chang Qing was dying to curse.

**

At 9 a.m. the next day, the system’s mechanical voice announced promptly, "Day 2 of the game."

Zhong Rui rubbed his eyes, preparing to get up and start working.

Su Han looked slightly surprised and suddenly said, "I got a rare-quality soap." She opened her right hand, revealing a small soap resting in her palm.

Herbal Soap: Handcrafted soap made from ingredients that serve both medicinal and edible purposes. After use, it provides +20 fullness, +100 cleanliness, and +80 stamina points, while eliminating the "Infection," "Poisoning," "Allergy," and "Diarrhea" status effects.

"I got five of these soaps at once," Su Han added.

"That's good," Zhong Rui said, slightly relieved. The biggest issue right now was the shortage of daily necessities. If his companion had better luck and triggered the effect more often...

Su Han, however, wasn’t carried away by the sudden stroke of fortune. She calmly stated, "I know what you're thinking, but don't get your hopes up. It’s been a long time since I got my second profession, and this is the first time I’ve obtained herbal soap."

"Maybe the past streak of bad luck [referring to Mercury retrograde] was just paving the way for a lucky streak?" Zhong Rui speculated.

Su Han refused to dwell on probability discussions and simply said, "Get up. It’s time to work."

Zhong Rui yawned and forced himself to perk up.

While he was resting, Su Han had already sketched a rough plan on the ground with stones. Now, she explained it, "We’ve already cleared out a living space. I plan to split the trees into thin strips and build a fence to enclose the area."

Zhong Rui pondered for a moment before suddenly smiling. "I think just building a fence isn’t secure enough. How about leaving a large enough open space around the tent as an activity area, then digging a circular moat and stocking it with electric eels?" That way, the predators in the water would become our living security system.

Su Han imagined the finished setup and couldn’t help but feel her pulse race with excitement. But she forced herself to stay calm and pressed further, "How wide should the moat be? A complete circle or a ring with an entrance?"

"A complete circle," Zhong Rui answered without hesitation, clearly having thought it through. "We’ll make a wooden plank as a bridge. To enter or exit, we just need to move the plank and lay it across the banks."

Ancient fortified cities worked the same way. Normally, they were surrounded by moats, with drawbridges as the only way in or out. When not in use, the bridge would be raised, and when residents needed to leave, it would be lowered.

The more Su Han listened, the more appealing the idea became. She calculated, "Catching electric eels isn’t impossible. I’ve read that after successive electric discharges, electric eels need a long rest to recover their full charge capacity. If we herd cattle or horses into the water first to exhaust the eels’ electricity, catching them afterward would be much easier."

"That’s correct," Zhong Rui nodded slightly—he had learned the same fact.

"The initial phase will be tough. Not only do we have to dig the moat and catch electric eels, but we’ll also have to constantly ward off wild animal attacks, consuming significant resources," Su Han continued analyzing.

"There are only two workers. Just the two of us would probably need several days' work to complete this. If we deliberately widen the moat during construction, it’ll take even longer."

"Fortunately, we don’t lack food or water, so we won’t waste time searching for them. We can focus all our energy on digging the moat."

"Once the moat is built and stocked with electric eels and other predators, the central area will be secure. After that, how long we survive will depend on the race between replenishment and depletion rates of our Innate Abilities."

Zhong Rui chuckled and added, "Three top-tier Innate Abilities sustaining two players, with full stat recovery upon leveling up—it’s worth a try."

After some consideration, Su Han decisively made her choice. "Alright, let’s discuss the size of the activity area and the moat, then start digging."

However, they disagreed on the dimensions of the activity area and the moat.

Su Han believed that to avoid complications dragging on, they should finish the moat as quickly as possible, even if it meant compromising on living space and making the moat narrower.

Zhong Rui, on the other hand, argued that since they weren’t short on food or water, there was no need to rush. As long as they finished before depleting most of their supplies, the outcome would be the same—if their Innate Ability replenishment outpaced consumption, they could survive indefinitely; if not, they’d perish sooner or later.

The discussion reached an impasse.

Su Han thought for a moment and changed her approach. "According to your plan, how many days will it take to complete?"

"Initial calculations suggest one day to chop trees and remove stumps, followed by six days to dig the moat—seven days in total," Zhong Rui answered after careful consideration.

Su Han negotiated, "How about this: we must finish digging the moat within seven days. If there’s extra time, we’ll widen it. If time runs short, we’ll just complete it as is."

"Agreed," Zhong Rui nodded.

At last, they reached a consensus.

After wolfing down breakfast, Zhong Rui continued chopping trees. Su Han wanted to start digging the moat, but the space hadn’t been fully cleared yet. She considered removing tree stumps, but the trees hadn’t all been felled. In the end, she simply helped with the tree-cutting to improve efficiency.

Zhong Rui wanted to say something, but Su Han spoke first, "Time is limited. Two people working together will be faster. Chop chop."

Hearing this, Zhong Rui said nothing more.

Trees fell one after another, clearing a large open space. Estimating that the area was now sufficient, Zhong Rui picked up a wooden shovel and began digging into the soil.

Su Han removed the tree stumps one by one, then started making soup.

Beside her lay a king cobra, over two meters long—looked incredibly tasty. It lay stone dead on the ground.

The unlucky thing had terrible timing, targeting Zhong Rui in the vast forest and attempting a sneak attack while he was chopping wood. It ended up becoming dinner instead of catching one.

Su Han skinned the snake, gutted it, and chopped it into small pieces, adding ginger slices to simmer.

As time passed, a mouthwatering smell started wafting through camp.

Su Han checked the heat, then added a pinch of salt and rice wine. After stirring and tasting, she gave an approving nod.

She turned and called out, "It's ready. Come eat."

Zhong Rui was filthy from head to toe, looking grimy. Glancing at his stats, he noticed his cleanliness and satiety levels were tanking faster than ever—about four to five times faster than in previous instances. He couldn’t help but mutter sincerely, "The programmer who designed this final showdown is a complete psycho."

"Because this round is meant to determine the winner," Su Han replied indifferently. "The challenge isn't the issue as long as all players face the same conditions."

As she spoke, she ladled a bowl of snake soup and handed it to him.

Zhong Rui took it, then glanced at what was left and frowned. "Why is there so much left?"

"It’s two to three meters long! We'll never get through all this." The thought of wasting the meat made Su Han’s heart ache.

"Hard to say," Zhong Rui mused. "Given how fast satiety is dropping now, we might actually polish off the whole snake."

In the game, players couldn’t overeat—they could consume as much as they wanted without consequence. When they said they couldn’t finish the food, it meant their satiety had maxed out, making further eating unnecessary. But now, with satiety plummeting, the demand for food had drastically increased.

Instead of feeling pleased at the prospect, Su Han’s first reaction was a chill down her spine—the way they were burning through supplies was scary.

For four straight days, the two stayed in the camp, just kept digging the moat.

Not long after starting, Zhong Rui realized his initial estimate had been overly optimistic. Even with two laborers, having a girl do heavy labor wasn't... ideal, even if that girl was Su Han.

So he quietly changed the plan.

Apart from sleeping and eating, the two worked day and night. By the evening of the fifth day in-game, they finally completed the moat and crafted a thick, solid board.

With all tasks finished, Su Han muttered under her breath, "That actually went better than I thought." She had assumed they’d inevitably fall behind schedule.

Zhong Rui replied calmly, "That’s because the original plan was for a 1-meter-deep, 4-meter-wide moat, but I sneakily changed it to 0.8 meters deep and 3 meters wide. That’s why the workload decreased."

Su Han acted like she'd never spoken and turned away to focus on roasting venison.

The king cobra meat they had caught earlier had long been discarded. On one hand, it spoiled faster than expected; on the other, new animals kept showing up, becoming new food sources. So throwing away rotten food didn't sting as much as she’d imagined.

But…

Su Han frowned and muttered, "Is it just me, or are more and more animals showing up lately, and of more types?"

Zhong Rui’s eyes flickered as he murmured, "Trouble's brewing."

Author’s Note: Wild snake meat contains parasites. Eating it isn’t 100% safe—they've just gotten lucky with the RNG so far.

**

Programmer (eye twitching): Other players are running for their lives, while these two are fortifying like they're moving in permanently?!