Chapter 5: Six Suns (5)
In the livestream, several viewers watched in horror as Jian Yuntai fell from high above, hitting the ground with a thud.
Dust rose, and mud and soil splashed everywhere.
The chat filled with exclamation marks and question marks:
“Damn, even I, a Sinister Monster Type, wouldn’t dare jump straight down!”
“Who was it that said he behaves like a normal person? Does this guy look normal?!”
“Did some background check—Jian Dadan is a lowborn. You know the survival conditions in the lowborn district… cough. No wonder he’s used to risking his life all the time.”
“Suddenly feels a bit sad. With that look, he must have had many people coveting him in the lowborn district. I can’t even imagine how he survived… can’t help but give a like.”
Jian Yuntai gritted his teeth against the pain and got up from the ground.
The airdrop was scattered and spread out; there was only one airdrop crate nearby. If he behaved like Fatty and obediently climbed the stairs to go around behind the building, there wouldn’t even be anything left to eat.
He looked up.
The crate hung halfway in the air, just half a meter from the ground. It had built-in anti-slip chains, the other end hooked onto the external fire escape of the opposite building.
Footsteps rushed past the alley—natives, players, enforcers—anyone could come in at any moment. Jian Yuntai didn’t dare waste a second. He took a few steps forward and grabbed the bottom of the airdrop, trying to pull it down.
But as soon as he put effort into it, the crate slipped from his hands.
He almost saw it float up nearly two meters, out of his reach.
From above came a scornful sneer: “A lowborn, trying to take the whole crate?”
Someone behind him timidly asked, “Brother Jiang, who are you talking to?”
Jiang Liu tugged at the chain, glanced down at Jian Yuntai at the base of the building, and casually said, “No one. Just a new bumpkin at the unit.”
He was about to pull the airdrop up to the third floor in one go when he suddenly felt significant resistance. Jiang Liu frowned and saw Jian Yuntai holding the chain, eyes as cold as ice.
He pulled with all his strength. Jian Yuntai pulled back just as hard.
The crate swayed in midair, the canned biscuits and water inside clanging and rattling.
Jiang Liu sneered, “You dare play tug-of-war with me?”
He sucked in his stomach, tensed, and with both hands yanked sharply. The crate shot upward half a meter. Jian Yuntai was lifted along, his feet leaving the ground and knees smashing into the fire escape.
The sound alone made the audience wince, but Jian Yuntai didn’t even frown. He gritted his teeth, grabbed the fire escape with one hand, and forced the crate to stop.
They were locked in this stalemate for a full five or six minutes. People behind Jiang Liu kept urging him on. In frustration, he shouted, “Let go, or I’ll drag you up with it!”
Jian Yuntai ignored him, eyes locked on the crate.
He could not let go!
It was too late to grab any other airdrop now. If he missed this one, he had no idea when he would get food next. He was starving—he couldn’t wait.
Footsteps rushed from the alley. Fatty, carrying a backpack, arrived belatedly and panicked at the scene:
“Jian Dadan, let go! There’s a Sinister Monster Type above—you’re no match for it!”
Jiang Liu’s mocking voice rang out: “Another lowborn?” Then he shouted, muscles bulging as his sleeves split. His strength multiplied several times as he heaved.
“Hiss—” Jian Yuntai was nearly pulled upward, the chain scraping his palm, instantly drawing blood.
“Oh my god, he’s using his full strength!” Fatty hurried forward, clutching Jian Yuntai’s leg, but was lifted into the air along with him. “Let go! Let go! We don’t need a few biscuits that badly!”
“…”
Jian Yuntai looked up, unwilling to give in. The problem was—he did need it! If he didn’t get something to eat soon, he would lose his mind.
His throat itched. He wanted to bite something.
He wanted to tear the head off the person above, chew the skull, crush the brain!
Raging anger surged in his chest. His rationality was on the verge of collapse. Hunger made his vision darken in waves.
“Lowborn! Damn lowborn!” Jiang Liu cursed relentlessly.
“Fuck, what kind of idiot is up there? I’m starving and you’re eating my rice?” Fatty was fired up, too. He stopped urging release and instead clutched Jian Yuntai’s leg even harder, using all his strength to pull downward.
But it was useless. The two were dragged upward bit by bit. Jinjin meowed from below, biting the chain and spinning anxiously.
Just as they were about to be lifted completely, Fatty braced for a fight. At that moment, the crate suddenly flashed, blinding everyone.
About two seconds later, Jian Yuntai’s hands were empty. He fell with Fatty, landing together.
Jiang Liu experienced the same, falling even harder, taking several people behind him with him.
“Ugh, cough cough!” Fatty staggered to his feet, dazed. “What happened?”
Jian Yuntai’s face was as cold as water. “The airdrop is gone.”
“Ah?” Fatty squinted upward. There was no crate in sight on the fire escape; the chain had vanished.
Looking further ahead, the crate rested peacefully ten meters away. A person crouched atop it, frantically searching through a bag, tugging at their hair, muttering: “No, no, no! Don’t fail me now! Where did I put the little crystals?! Aaahhh…”
“Young Master Xue!” Fatty recognized him, shouting: “You little bastard, this is the second time you’ve stolen my supplies!”
Young Master Xue shivered all over, not daring to raise his head, and hurriedly searched for the little crystals. By the time Jian Yuntai and Fatty reached him, he still hadn’t found them. When he looked up, his expression was extremely awkward.
“Uh… I just took two bottles of water. Is that okay?”
Fatty smiled sarcastically, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “What do you think?”
Young Master Xue’s face fell. He looked to Jian Yuntai. “Older Brother, we’ve at least shared hardships. Please, just two bottles of water—I’m dying of thirst…”
Before he could finish, Jiang Liu reacted: “Everyone, go grab it! Don’t let them take the airdrop!”
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say he had an army.
The fire escape was packed with people, natives’ eyes bloodshot, each poking their heads out from the stairwell. They ran fast, but Jiang Liu could barely move, holding the staircase for support, struggling to lift his elephantine legs.
“So many people?” Jian Yuntai was shocked.
Young Master Xue spoke rapidly, “That’s Jiang Liu. He’s always recruiting natives as soon as an instance starts.”
Fatty was puzzled. “You know him?”
“A bit of bad history. He’s also in the livestream group. In a previous instance, he tried to buy my head.” Young Master Xue didn’t elaborate, staying focused on finding the little crystals.
By now, the natives had surrounded them, blocking both the way forward and the retreat.
Being stared at like a pack of wolves, Fatty trembled as he hugged Jinjin, pressing against Jian Yuntai. He nudged Jian Yuntai with his arm. “Dadan’er, if you have any skills, don’t hold back—use them now.”
If Jian Yuntai could use them, he would have already.
The Red-Green Blindness effect had indeed expired, but in this situation, it wouldn’t help at all. As for that lotus pond… Jian Yuntai didn’t even know what it was for.
He weighed his options and said, “Open the crate, grab the food, and run. The natives won’t be able to stop us.”
“All right,” Fatty said without questioning.
The two of them pried open the crate from left and right. Young Master Xue sat atop it, looking utterly defeated. “Where did I put the little crystal?! Damn it, am I an idiot?”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Jiang Liu walked down the stairs, each step punching a hole in the stairwell. Soon the whole staircase wobbled dangerously. Once he reached the ground, the tremors intensified, and Young Master Xue bounced on the crate like he was on a trampoline.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Jiang Liu drew closer.
Young Master Xue slumped on the crate, still desperate, digging through his pockets and pulling open his collar to look inside. Fatty cursed, “Get down! How can we open the crate if you’re sitting on it?”
“Uh—oh.” Young Master Xue tumbled off the crate in a roll. He landed firmly, but Jiang Liu’s next step slammed him down again. Seeing Jiang Liu closing in, Young Master Xue broke out in a cold sweat.
Jian Yuntai opened the crate with one hand. Luckily, Fatty remembered to bring a backpack from the clothing store.
The backpack was a mountaineering style, with plenty of space. Jian Yuntai stuffed in the compressed biscuits like crazy, while Fatty jammed in water bottles, muttering, “These big bottles don’t look like water… is this soda?”
“It’s gasoline,” Jian Yuntai said, tossing a bottle of gasoline into the bag, filling it completely.
Fatty: “Gasoline? What are you doing with that?”
Jian Yuntai spoke quickly, “If the airdrop included gasoline, it must be useful. Keep it ready just in case.”
“Older Brothers, stop chatting,” Young Master Xue shouted excitedly, as if absolved of a great burden. “I found the little crystal!”
He finally retrieved it from his boot. When he first made the little crystals, he had deliberately left a slot in his shoe for emergencies. In the earlier panic, he had completely forgotten, but thankfully, he remembered in time.
Jiang Liu was now less than two meters away, bending to pick up the chain. With Jian Yuntai’s sharp eyes, he could even see the veins on Jiang Liu’s forehead and the saliva flying from his mouth as he roared.
“You’ll all die today, lowborn! A bunch of lowborns, daring to steal from me!”
Jiang Liu stomped the ground. Another tremor shook the area. The natives circled around the retreat, glaring.
Running now would be extremely difficult.
Fatty immediately said, “Surnamed Xue, take us with you. We’ll share some of the food with you later.”
Young Master Xue hesitated. “Really?”
“So many viewers in the livestream are watching; if I were lying, I’d be a dog.” Fatty cursed. “Quit stalling, hurry up!”
Young Master Xue didn’t argue further. He grabbed Fatty with one hand and Jian Yuntai with the other. Just as he was about to crush the little crystal, Jian Yuntai suddenly said, “Wait.”
“Ah?” Young Master Xue panicked, feeling like his heart would stop. “What now?”
Jian Yuntai didn’t answer. With a cold expression, he reached toward Fatty “Give me the matches.”
“How did you know I had matches?” Fatty fished them out of his pocket, confused. Jiang Liu stepped closer.
“When you lit the candle, I saw them in your pocket,” Jian Yuntai said.
He took the matches without another word and twisted open a few gasoline bottles from the airdrop, pouring them all out. The scent of gasoline spread instantly. Jiang Liu realized what he was about to do. He froze for a moment before exploding in fury. “You dare!”
Fsssh—
Jian Yuntai struck the match.
Jiang Liu, an elephantine Sinister Monster Type, had never run this fast in his life. He practically propelled himself off the ground with reactive force, anger almost becoming tangible.
The instant he lunged, Jian Yuntai threw the match into the crate. It touched the gasoline and ignited instantly. The flames roared, engulfing all the food in the crate. Even the water bottles cracked from the heat.
The entire crate was destroyed.
“What are you standing there for? Go!” Fatty shoved the dazed Young Master Xue, who had been scared stiff by Jian Yuntai.
Snapping back to reality, Young Master Xue quickly crushed the little crystal.
“!!!” Jiang Liu roared, anger boiling over until his head and chest ached. Through the roaring flames, he saw Jian Yuntai smile faintly at him, lips barely parting:
“I dared.”
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