On the milk tea boat, they had prepared a new wheelchair for Bai Yan. Only after sitting in it did he finally let out a sigh of relief. He gave the others an apologetic smile. “Sorry for causing you trouble again.”
“I always feel at ease only when I’m in my own wheelchair. At least now I can move around on my own without needing help from others.”
“Before you start being polite,” Yi Luo chuckled and tossed each of them a towel, “dry yourselves off first, or you’ll catch a cold.”
Master Zhi Yin ruffled his hair and wiped straight from his face up to his scalp, forming a stark contrast with Bai Yan, who calmly and methodically dried his long hair.
He Wuning went straight into the rear cabin of the milk tea boat, pulled the curtain shut, and changed into a clean set of clothes.
Bai Yan looked at Yi Luo, slightly surprised. “What are you guys doing here?”
Yi Luo slid into the driver’s seat and leisurely started the boat. “We both hit max level. Had nothing else to do, so we came to pick you up.”
Master Zhi Yin was more concerned about something else. “We’ve cleared all level 30 dungeons. Did the Voice of the World announce it? Is the progress task completed?”
Yi Luo nodded. “You were probably underwater and couldn’t hear it. We heard it clearly up top, Q.”
Q-chan immediately flew over. “I can repeat the Voice of the World announcement for everyone!”
“Congratulations to Blue Star players for clearing all level 30 dungeons. Collection tasks will soon be unlocked—players may prepare in advance.”
“After completing the collection tasks, a Blue Star–exclusive limited-time event will begin. Version 4.2 will be updated tonight at 20:00 without server downtime. Enjoy the game!”
As Q-chan spoke, it grew more excited. “It’s already version 4.2! Just two more updates and we’ll win!”
“By the way,” He Wuning walked out from behind the curtain, drying his hair as he sat in the passenger seat, “Padra just messaged me. They’ve secretly cleared the level 40 dungeon. Once this event starts, they’ll immediately move on to the next dungeon and try to catch the monsters off guard.”
Yi Luo asked a little sourly, “Since when did you add him as a friend?”
He Wuning glanced at him, and Yi Luo immediately cleared his throat. “Anyway, we’re not planning to hide our strength anymore. Level up as much as possible, and equip as many fragments as we can.”
He smiled and pointed at the milk tea boat. “Don’t you think our milk tea car looks more luxurious now? Notice anything different?”
Lu Bai eagerly examined it from top to bottom like a spot-the-difference game, then clapped his hands. “You installed air conditioning!”
Yi Luo laughed. “Exactly! We’ve got admin privileges now, so I picked up some skills that are kind of wasteful but somewhat useful.”
He turned the boat, and Lu Bai was surprised to see all the floating items on the sea get sucked into the cabin, then reappear in the center of the boat.
Yi Luo said proudly, “Now we don’t even have to get out to pick up items. Way more comfortable…”
He Wuning mercilessly cut in, “Fragments are fragments, but he spent a lot on pretty useless skills.”
Yi Luo choked and could only admit, “Okay, fine. It didn’t boost our combat power much—mostly just comfort.”
He Wuning handed each of them a cup of milk tea. Lu Bai looked curiously at the green drink in his hand. “Is this new?”
Q-chan perked up, about to give a long introduction. “This is our new product! It’s called Genmai Green—”
“Red bean matcha,” He Wuning cut him off. Q-chan wilted and dropped onto his lap. He patted Q-chan’s head and continued, “It can revive you.”
Everyone showed shocked expressions. Master Zhi Yin stared blankly at the milk tea in his hand, his expression loosening. “Does that mean no one will die anymore…?”
“Drink it now. There’s no time limit—it will revive you instantly after death,” He Wuning paused. “But that doesn’t mean you won’t die.”
“Each player can only use one revival milk tea, and your HP after revival will be the same as before death. If you only had 1 HP left…”
Master Zhi Yin immediately calmed down and nodded slightly. “I understand. It’s basically one extra chance, but whether you survive still depends on your own actions.”
“Still, no matter what, this is a good thing.”
He solemnly took the straw, pierced the lid, and drank it all in one go.
Lu Bai, Bai Yan, and the other two combat members also drank theirs. Bai Yan took a small sip first—though the effect would activate instantly, he didn’t dislike the combination of sweet red beans and slightly bitter, fragrant matcha, so he took a few more sips.
When he saw the “Revive” icon appear in his status bar, he relaxed slightly and looked at He Wuning. “So, you’ve already…”
“99% admin privileges. The last 1% can only be obtained by the final winner,” He Wuning leaned back in his seat. “I asked the Voice of the World—if multiple candidates have 99%, whoever lands the final blow on the last boss becomes the true administrator.”
“At this stage, candidates in other regions are probably also at 99%.”
Bai Yan frowned slightly. “Then they’ll probably know this too. We might run into some obstacles.”
“Mm.” He Wuning responded, not too concerned.
Yi Luo glanced at Bai Yan through the rearview mirror. “My dad asked me to casually ask you—he plans to give you 70% of the admin fragments. Would 80% be enough to unlock your revival skill?”
Bai Yan paused, then nodded. “Yes. At 80%, I can unlock a single-target revival skill, but I must be within 10 meters and act within 10 seconds after the player’s death.”
He glanced at his legs and gave a wry smile. “In group battles, distance might be my limitation.”
“It’s fine. We’ve got revival milk tea as backup anyway—your skill just gives us another chance,” Yi Luo said casually. The milk tea boat approached the shore. The airbags beneath it deflated rapidly, replaced by wheels. The boat sank slightly as the wheels touched ground—they had left the ocean zone and entered the level 20 rainforest zone.
There were no dungeons here anymore, so Yi Luo drove freely.
A dark shadow flashed over the top of the vehicle. Yi Luo couldn’t have missed it—he jerked the wheel, narrowly avoiding a collision.
It was a hunting spider-woman.
Yi Luo raised an eyebrow. This wandering field boss had once caused them plenty of trouble, but now it was no longer their match. Blocking their path so recklessly seemed like a death wish.
He glanced at He Wuning, who signaled him to stay calm, then opened the passenger door and stepped out.
As expected, the spider-woman didn’t attack immediately. She looked at him with a complicated expression. “Human, you are quite bold.”
She clearly possessed high intelligence, and likely carried many admin fragments. He Wuning looked at her. “What is it?”
She nodded slightly. “The final battle is near. I come on behalf of our king to offer greetings to our enemies.”
He Wuning laughed. “You weren’t this polite before.”
“Only those worthy of being opponents deserve our respect,” she said calmly. “Before that, we merely saw you as food.”
“Since learning the game’s mechanics, we have achieved 15 victories. Our king once asked the Voice of the World how we rank among civilizations that have played this game.”
He Wuning showed mild interest. “Did it praise you?”
“It told us that among the ten games created and sent into the universe, two have yet to be activated, one has been permanently shut down, and among the remaining seven, our civilization ranks 268th overall—and 11th within this specific game.”
She stared at him, as if expecting fear—but he remained unmoved.
“I see,” he said indifferently.
“Top few hundred in the universe—that’s something to be proud of.”
“No—we feel fear,” she said coldly. “Whether you admit it or not, humans, we have caused you great trouble. You paid a heavy price just to gain a slim chance of victory.”
“And yet, even we are not the strongest. Even if you win, you’ll only be prolonging your struggle. In this terrifying universe, you will eventually become prey.”
Yi Luo stuck his head out the window. “So you’re here to scare us?”
"Are you telling us to be careful, or we'll die very quickly?"
“Just a reminder,” she said steadily. “Our king acknowledges your potential to win, so we recognize you as opponents.”
“Tricks and schemes are no longer useful. Humans, I’ll be direct—the final battle is coming.”
“Tonight, version 3.3 will update, and we—”
“Wait.” He Wuning looked puzzled. “Version 3.3?”
“Oh.” She seemed to recall something. “I nearly forgot—you’ve also completed your progress tasks. So it should be version 4.3 tonight.”
“You may not have experienced simultaneous updates, but it’s nothing special. At 8:00 tomorrow morning, both sides’ events will begin.”
She seemed to smile. “Of course, you could try to avoid it—but judging by your progress, you probably won’t make it in time.”
He Wuning glanced at the pre-release collection progress bar. Players were always enthusiastic about such tasks—there was no stopping them now.
The monsters knowing their progress so well… there must be informants.
He looked up. “Your progress task is opening new occupied zones, right? So far, I haven’t heard—”
“It’s already happened,” she said elegantly. “Check the forum.”
He Wuning immediately opened it—ten zones were displayed. E and F were under attack, and newly added areas had simultaneously become full zones—something nearly impossible.
She smiled, satisfied at his shock. “It seems you’ve seen our work.”
Yi Luo got out and pressed a hand on He Wuning’s shoulder. “You keep saying ‘final battle.’ Do monsters win if they control ten zones?”
“Of course not. We aim to occupy all of Blue Star,” she said. “But in this battle, everything will be decided.”
“Either we succeed in full occupation during the event—or you stop us. In either case… it all ends here.”
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