Chapter 26: What the Hell Kind of Special Plot Is This?

At the Grizzly Mine, the sun was beginning to set.

In front of the mine entrance, the cargo bed of the electric tricycle was piled high with ores of all sizes, along with eight logs as thick as a man’s embrace, leaving the small truck-sized vehicle packed to the brim.

"No wonder these tricycles are so expensive; there’s certainly a reason for the high price." Lin Qi looked at the haul, sighing as he wondered when he might be able to afford one himself.

The ore on the tricycle weighed roughly two tons—worth 600 bits per load. Combined with the eight logs, it would take an ordinary person in this high-martial world countless trips to transport, yet now it only required one electric tricycle. Four round trips would not only cover the monthly rental cost of the vehicle but also yield thirty-two extra logs, which would be more than enough to repair the training room in his martial arts hall.

The training room was a large, independent structure covering nearly two hundred square meters, which currently served as the living and sleeping quarters for the players. With the player count now at ten, the floor had become riddled with holes and unusable in many sections, leaving enough space for only nine people to sleep. The tenth person had to settle for a small corner in the main hall. Repairing the floor would not only accommodate more players but also allow him to charge higher accommodation fees—a classic win-win situation.

"Alright, let's go." Lin Qi sat on the tricycle and beckoned to Luo Wushang and the other three, signaling them to sit on the logs.

"Ah, we’re leaving already?" Twilight of the Gods looked troubled. Nearby, Fang Zhen kept glancing back at the forest, clearly reluctant to depart.

"What? Do the two of you want to sleep here?" Luo Wushang asked, finding their behavior strange. "Have you two developed an emotional attachment to chopping down trees?"

"Of course not, we just think the scenery here is beautiful," Twilight of the Gods quickly explained.

"Exactly. We usually stay underground, hidden from the light of day. Being able to see the sky and these green trees really lifts our spirits," Fang Zhen nodded in honest agreement.

"Fine, next time we come, I’ll let you handle the tree-chopping," Zhang Qingwei said with a laugh, amused by their unexpected addiction to manual labor. The ore transport task was an incredibly easy way to earn points; she and Wushang had earned 60 points in one go. If the tricycle weren't already full, they could have easily earned two hundred.

"Deal! Next time we come, the chopping is on us."

"Coming out to enjoy the view every now and then is great. Even if the pay is a bit lower, staying in a good mood is what matters most."

Fang Zhen and Twilight of the Gods lit up, their excitement evident as they climbed into the back of the tricycle.

*What is going on with them?* Lin Qi wondered. Chopping wood was grueling work; he had even considered increasing the rewards next time to ensure someone would do it. That they seemed to enjoy it was baffling. He pulled up their data panels.

"Damn!" Lin Qi nearly gasped.

Fang Zhen: Gravel Fist, 1st Stage: Piercing Pillar Realm (54% proficiency).
Twilight of the Gods: Gravel Fist, 1st Stage: Piercing Pillar Realm (33% proficiency).

In just half a day, their proficiency had jumped by over 15%—it was like they were using a cheat code. Proficiency became harder to gain the higher one went, and Fang Zhen’s progress had already surpassed his own.

"Master, when can we come back here?" Fang Zhen asked expectantly. In just half a day at Grizzly Mine, his proficiency had reached 54%. If he could come every day, it wouldn't even take a week to break through the entry-level barrier and unleash the full power of the first stage of the Gravel Fist.

"We’ll come every day from now on," Lin Qi said, glancing at Fang Zhen in the rearview mirror, his heart racing with joy. The harvest from the Grizzly Mine was massive—money, materials for repairs, and a training ground for martial arts. It would be a crime not to come daily.

"They're acting so weird. Are they hiding some kind of secret?" Luo Wushang whispered, sensing something fishy.

"Whatever, as long as we're making good money," Zhang Qingwei replied, checking her own status panel:
Strength: 97.8 kg (Provisional Apprentice: 100 kg)
Speed: 10.1 m/s (Provisional Apprentice: 10 m/s)
Martial Skill: Leopard Shadow Step, 1st Stage: Wind Chasing Realm (43%)

She didn't know why, but using the Leopard Shadow Step in the mine yielded significant results. If others were willing to leave that opportunity to her, she was more than happy to take it.

***

The sky was gray as night descended. Lin Qi drove the tricycle carefully through the dilapidated ruins, his attention fixed on his surroundings. The wilderness of Light-Chasing City was extremely dangerous, even close to the city limits. One didn't just encounter monsters and radiation; there were also countless outlaws and drifters. Within the city, people followed some semblance of rules, but in the wild, strength was the only law. This was why Lin Qi rarely ventured out; if he hadn't gained some level of self-defense capability, he wouldn't be caught dead out here.

"Master, there’s something in the ruins over there," Fang Zhen suddenly pointed to a small, broken house, his voice urgent.

"Something?" Lin Qi squinted into the darkness. There was indeed something lying by the house, barely visible as a faint silhouette. He would have missed it entirely if not for Fang Zhen.

"Yes, there’s definitely something there. I can smell a faint scent of blood," Luo Wushang added.

"Is this a special quest?" Twilight of the Gods mused.

Lin Qi rolled his eyes. *A special quest?* This was a problem—a big one. In a desolate place like this, a mysterious figure was already suspicious, but a scent of blood meant serious trouble. Thankfully, thanks to Fang Zhen’s sharp eyes and Luo Wushang’s sensitive nose, they had spotted it in time.

"Fang Zhen, can you tell what that figure is?" Lin Qi stopped the vehicle, keeping a distance of thirty meters.

"It... it seems to be a monster," Fang Zhen confirmed after a closer look. "It looks like a rhinoceros, but with multiple horns all over its body. It must be over three meters long, but... it looks strange."

*A Rhino? Multiple horns?* Lin Qi’s heart sank. A Crocodile-Tooth Rhino was a common, powerful monster in the wild. Even a novice martial artist would flee from one; only a true martial artist could kill it. "What’s strange about it?"

"That rhino," Fang Zhen rubbed his eyes, sounding puzzled, "it only has half a body left."

"Half a body?" Lin Qi froze. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Good! Very good!" Lin Qi laughed. A Crocodile-Tooth Rhino corpse was a treasure. If only half remained, it meant another monster had killed it and eaten its fill before moving on. If a martial artist had killed it, there would be nothing left—the meat alone was worth 600 bits per kilogram. Even half a carcass was worth hundreds of thousands of bits. It was a windfall!

"Quick! Get that rhino onto the truck! Throw the logs away if you have to!" Lin Qi ordered.

The five of them worked for ten minutes, barely managing to heave the massive, partial carcass onto the back of the tricycle.

"Everyone, get on!" Lin Qi urged.

Just as the four of them scrambled aboard, a whistling sound cut through the air. An arrow shot out of the darkness, grazing Twilight of the Gods' ear before piercing deep into the iron plating of the tricycle.

Twilight of the Gods touched his cheek, seeing the arrow embedded in the metal, and flew into a rage.

"Damn it! Who shot that?"