The No. 1 Hunfen King in the Entire Server [Interstellar] Chapter 37

Unlike Lin Jing and Xu Wanzhi’s relatively smooth landing, the others had descended in a cacophony of screams—plunging into water, getting caught in trees, vomiting from the shock.

The commotion startled the rainforest, causing several broken branches to rain down. One nearly hit Lin Jing’s head. He raised the codex to shield himself, took a long stride, and jumped off the rock.

Karl clung to a tree, his stomach churning as he weakly asked, “We’re on the ground now. What do we do next?”

Ke Lingxuan wiped her arm across her eyes, her voice heavy with exhaustion. “Find a place to rest first.”

They had gone a full day and night without sleep, their nerves stretched taut without a moment’s reprieve. Now, they were completely drained, unwilling to speak another word.

Even the short-haired girl, who usually swore at everything, was too tired to complain, merely pounding her numb legs.

The man in the black jacket sniffled and locked onto Lin Jing with sharp precision. His eyes lit up, and like a fanboy, he quickly followed. “Lin Jing, where are you going?”

Lin Jing was focused on analyzing the codex and was momentarily surprised to hear his name. He looked at the man strangely. “Do you need something?”

Black Jacket hesitated awkwardly. “Not really… I just… I’ll follow you.”

Lin Jing: “Oh.”

He didn’t mind. He just wanted to get through this round as quickly as possible.

Black Jacket was thrilled and immediately asked, “Watching you play, I get the feeling you’re from the mecha division too.”

Lin Jing glanced up at the sky and lazily replied, “More or less.” He was a top student in the mecha division—at least, in the future.

Black Jacket’s eyes gleamed. “Which school?”

Lin Jing: “…”

As someone forced to drop out and stay at home, this was practically rubbing salt in his wounds.

Black Jacket, still oblivious, proudly announced, “I’m from the Second Military Academy on the main star. What about you?”

When he mentioned his school’s name, he couldn’t hide the pride in his voice. Who would’ve thought that beneath Black Jacket’s rebellious exterior, he was actually a top student?

Lin Jing’s tone, however, was indescribably low, mumbling, “Imperial University.”

Black Jacket didn’t catch it at first. Then, after a brief pause, he finally processed the words: “Oh, oh! Imperial University? Impe—” He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, his voice shooting up in disbelief, eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. “Imperial University?!”

Lin Jing, in a sullen mood, nodded perfunctorily. “Mm.”

Black Jacket was completely dumbfounded. He stared blankly for a moment before stammering, “The… the one on the main star?”

Are you done yet?

Lin Jing didn’t want to deal with him anymore and walked ahead.

“Holy sh*t!” Black Jacket couldn’t help but curse. But then, something didn’t add up. His expression turned serious as he shouted from behind, “Wait a minute! The Mecha Department at Imperial University is famously strict—the minimum mental strength requirement is S-rank. There’s no way you wouldn’t have been able to activate the submarine’s highest driving mode just now. Explain yourself!”

Lin Jing gripped his pen and nearly tore the page of his sketchbook.

Shut up already! Do you have to bring that up?!

A fallen tree blocked the path ahead. Lin Jing looked up and saw that Xu Wanzhi had already stopped, waiting for him. The rainforest was a deep, muted green, and Xu Wanzhi’s gaze carried a cool, misty quality. He spoke softly, as if in thought, “Imperial University?”

Black Jacket, unwilling to let it go, was still loudly pressing for answers: “Yeah, Lin Jing! Lin bro! Jing bro! What the h*ll is going on?”

Lin Jing forced a smile, eager to end this topic. “No, I was lying to him.”

Xu Wanzhi chuckled lightly. “Oh.”

Whether he believed it or not was anyone’s guess.

Black Jacket’s loud voice had already drawn everyone’s attention. The short-haired girl had heard their conversation clearly. The corners of her lips twitched in a familiar, mocking expression.

But since Lin Jing had saved her earlier, she decided to be merciful and hold back her sarcasm. This game had really put together an interesting team—one claimed to know Lilith, another claimed to be from Imperial University. They were really talking big without a script.

Black Jacket caught up. “Lying to me?”

He looked even more confused. Being the straightforward type, it had never crossed his mind that Lin Jing might be bluffing. He had genuinely believed that the highest clearance level must have even stricter requirements. Now, he was scratching his head, desperate to figure it out.

Lin Jing stepped over the fallen tree and pointed ahead with his pen. “There’s a cave up ahead. Let’s use it as our temporary base.”

Ke Lingxuan fanned herself with her hand, panting. “Fine, fine.” She was exhausted—her brain just wanted to rest. She couldn’t understand how these people had the energy to keep running around.

This rainforest was primarily composed of ancient plants, including Lepidodendron and Sigillaria, towering and dense, blocking out the sky. The cave lay at the base of a small slope, which was covered in low-growing ferns with tiny, feather-like leaves clustered together in thick abundance. A few stones jutted out of the water at the cave’s entrance, where a few centimeters of green moss stretched inward.

The wristband’s lighting function came in handy once again.

Lin Jing held the codex as he walked at the front, slightly concerned that this cave might be home to some amphibians. Fortunately, their luck hadn’t run out yet—it was an empty cave, and the ground was clean. As soon as they found a place to rest, everyone collapsed unceremoniously.

Lin Jing still had some stamina left. Leaning against the stone wall, he began categorizing the Carboniferous creatures in the book.

After vertebrates moved onto land, terrestrial ecosystems underwent a drastic transformation. Although arthropods still dominated the forests, the four-legged creatures that evolved from fish had begun to develop, with embolomeres and anthracosaurs spreading across the land. For now, there were no large terrestrial predators, with the biggest ones measuring around two meters. Compared to the dangers of the Devonian oceans, this was relatively mild.

Among all the creatures in the codex, the only one that seemed truly troublesome was the Arthropleura.

For one reason only—it looked terrifying.

The guy in the black jacket still hadn’t given up his curiosity and specifically sat next to Lin Jing, hesitating to speak.

Lin Jing was getting a headache from his staring and said seriously, “Turn your head.”

Black Jacket: “Huh?”

Lin Jing pointed at Xu Wanzhi. “There’s someone over there who can activate the highest permissions. Go bother him.”

Black Jacket: “…”

Of course, I know that! I just don’t dare approach him!

Hearing this, Black Jacket realized he was being annoying, so he quietly shifted away, feeling dejected.

At that moment, Ke Lingxuan glanced at the numbers on her wristband and suddenly spoke up: “Time is running out. Let’s just rest a little—don’t fall asleep. What’s everyone’s number now? I’m at 96.”

The numbers on the wristband decreased over time but also dropped when players were attacked by prehistoric creatures.

Yesterday, everyone had been in the submarine, so the decline had been steady. But after falling from the sky, the giant dragonflies had caused varying degrees of damage to them.

Ke Lingxuan had lost relatively little. The worst off was the short-haired girl, who stared blankly at her wristband. “93?! How did I drop to 93?”

Lin Jing glanced down at his own number. Oh, still 100.

Ke Lingxuan paused in confusion and asked, “Now that we don’t have the submarine, what happens if our stamina reaches zero while we’re still outside?”

Only Xu Wanzhi and Lin Jing could probably answer that, since they had spent a night outside.

As soon as she asked, she turned her gaze to Lin Jing, clearly waiting for his response.

Lin Jing: “…” How would he know? On the first night, he had been tricked by Xu Wanzhi into going deep underwater and spent the night watching the aurora from a cave.

The short-haired girl murmured, “Now that the submarine is gone, what do we do at night?”

Unable to bear the stares, Lin Jing poked Xu Wanzhi with his pen.

Xu Wanzhi was fiddling with his camera when he was poked. He lifted his gaze indifferently, first casting a cold look at the group before turning his head. “Hmm?”

Lin Jing asked the question: “What happens if our stamina reaches zero while we’re still outside?”

Xu Wanzhi said calmly, “You’ll be much easier to kill.”

Lin Jing: “Huh? Be more specific.”

Xu Wanzhi chuckled and whispered, “You really treat me like a boyfriend you can boss around?”

Lin Jing: “…” Yeah, that was his bad. He should’ve been more polite when asking.

After a brief pause, Lin Jing seriously corrected himself, “May I politely request a more detailed explanation?”

Xu Wanzhi laughed a few times before finally answering, ignoring the group’s already numb expressions. “The wristband has a function that conceals your presence, preventing creatures from actively attacking you. Once it reaches zero, that function is gone. Find a hidden place and stay put.”

Lin Jing sighed. “…Then let’s stay here.”

This place seemed safe enough.

With Xu Wanzhi’s explanation, everyone finally felt slightly more at ease—but at the same time, a deep sense of despair set in.

This Antique Codex had way too many hidden rules! Even KK, who was supposed to represent the officials, wasn’t reliable. Stamina depletion didn’t force them out of the game, the wristbands had stealth functions, eating was just symbolic, and even flash photography could provoke prehistoric creatures. None of this had been disclosed!

The short-haired girl, feeling rested, stretched her arms and casually said, “Whatever, we’ll just take it one step at a time. Karl, let me borrow your photo of the Dunkleosteus.”

Only Karl had managed to take a picture of the Dunkleosteus.

In the past, people might have hesitated to ask for something like that. After all, they weren’t close, and it felt like cheating—mooching off someone else’s effort. No one wanted to be the sucker who shared.

But after going through life-or-death situations together, those concerns faded.

Now, they recognized that they were teammates. In this perilous prehistoric world, they had to survive together.

Karl scowled, clearly still not fond of her, but given the situation, he reluctantly took the photo out of his backpack.

The short-haired girl was delighted. She placed the photo on her lap and said, “Since we’re all in this mess together, we might as well be family. No need to be stingy—let’s pool our photos. You take a shot of what you don’t have, I’ll take a shot of what I don’t have. That way, we have a better chance.”

Ke Lingxuan sighed, rubbing her forehead, unwilling to comment. It was like a failing student suggesting they all cheat on an exam. But at this point, arguing about ethics was pointless.

Karl sneered. “What could you possibly have that I don’t?”

But he didn’t outright reject the idea.

The short-haired girl grinned. “Who knows?”

She lifted her camera, took a picture of the Dunkleosteus photo, and watched as the developed image slowly emerged from the camera. The fish in the picture looked fierce and violent, its body covered in thick armor, its teeth razor-sharp.

As she handed the photo back, she muttered, “This d*mn thing almost got us killed.”

Karl smirked. “Did you think Dunkleosteus was a vegetarian?”

But his smug expression froze the moment he saw the returned photo. His face turned ghostly pale in an instant.