The No. 1 Hunfen King in the Entire Server [Interstellar] Chapter 38

Lin Jing had long anticipated this day, so when the short-haired girl made her suggestion earlier, he didn’t even look up. What was meant to come would come—there was no use stopping it.  

 

After putting the photo away in her backpack, the short-haired girl opened the codex, satisfied as she watched the Dunkleosteus icon light up on the Devonian page. With a sigh, she remarked, “A Dunkleosteus like this is probably worth several trilobites, right?”  

 

In Antique Codex, the completion percentage varied for each creature—the more difficult it was to collect, the greater its contribution to overall progress.  

 

Suddenly, Karl’s face changed drastically. He hurriedly pulled out his own codex from his backpack.  

 

Sitting beside him, Ke Lingxuan was surprised. “What’s wrong?”  

 

Karl frantically flipped through the pages, stopping at the Devonian section. He glanced at the photo, then at the codex.  

 

Ke Lingxuan leaned in to look as well—and froze.  

 

The Dunkleosteus in the photograph was slowly fading away, until it finally turned into a black negative. At the same time, the icon that had just lit up on the codex dimmed once again.  

 

A shocking realization began to take root in their minds. The two exchanged stunned glances, silently confirming what they were both thinking.  

 

Karl abruptly stood up, his face dark, and walked over to the short-haired girl.  

 

She was still studying the photo when, suddenly, a hand snatched it away. She glared at Karl and snapped, “What the h*ll are you doing?”  

 

Karl, visibly frustrated, said, “Give it back.”  

 

The short-haired girl got up and tried to grab it back. “Give what back? Are you out of your mind? I took this photo myself—don’t you have your own?”  

 

Karl shoved her hand aside, raised his camera, and swiftly took another shot of the photo.  

 

*Click.*  

 

The flash went off, illuminating the blank, confused faces of the other players in the cave. They watched in bewilderment, unable to understand what was happening.  

 

Karl remained where he was, waiting for the result.  

 

The short-haired girl finally managed to snatch the photo back, cursing, “Are you insane?”  

 

Moss and green ferns covered the cave walls. As the newly taken photo slowly developed, Karl’s face, under the eerie green glow, appeared even paler.  

 

Then came the short-haired girl’s shriek.  

 

A new rule of the game had just surfaced.  

 

“What the—?! Where’s my fish?! My fish is gone?!”  

 

She hadn’t thought much of it at first, but now she was furious. “Karl, what the h*ll are you playing at?”  

 

Karl toyed with his camera and sneered, “What do you think? If you want a photo, go take one yourself.”  

 

The short-haired girl was incredulous. “This is the Carboniferous period! Where the h*ll am I supposed to find another Dunkleosteus?!”  

 

Ke Lingxuan sighed, putting an end to the argument. “Photos cannot be duplicated. The same photo can only light up *one* codex. Do you understand now?”  

 

The short-haired girl’s eyes widened. It took her a moment to fully grasp the meaning. “No duplicates?”  

 

Karl’s expression remained cold. “That’s right. If I give it to you, I lose it.”  

 

The short-haired girl looked conflicted, hesitated, then muttered begrudgingly, “Oh.”  

 

Everyone was stunned for a moment before realization dawned on them. Photos couldn’t be duplicated—only… transferred.  

 

A strange silence filled the cave.  

 

Ke Lingxuan pressed her temples and sighed. “I knew it. The system wouldn’t allow such an exploit.”  

 

Karl looked equally frustrated. “How many hidden rules does this game have? This has to be the last one, right?”  

 

In the corner, the nearsighted boy glanced nervously at Elena before quickly lowering his head.  

 

After resting in the cave for a while, the group pressed on.  

 

This time, they weren’t in the deep sea but in a rainforest. The Carboniferous rainforest was filled with swamps and pools of water, with an oxygen-rich atmosphere that allowed the trees to grow tall enough to block out the sky.  

 

The land ecosystem was far more complex than the ocean, making it harder to locate creatures. However, the group was fortunate—arthropods of this era were unusually large. Aside from the giant dragonfly they encountered at the start, they soon found more arthropods in the forest.  

 

Amphibians were relatively easy to track since their habitats were predictable.  

 

A two-meter-long Ichthyostega surfaced and sank again in the murky water, its grayish-brown, slimy skin glistening.  

 

Compared to the ocean, Lin Jing much preferred land. In the sea, there was nowhere to run when chased by marine creatures. On land, however, it was different. Take the Ichthyostega, for example—just climb a tree and wait. The flash would only enrage it for a short time, and once that passed, you could safely descend.  

 

“Hold this for me.”  

 

Xu Wanzhi glanced down at him, then took the codex.  

 

Lin Jing, who had decent stamina, stepped onto a floating log, leaped up, grabbed a tree trunk, and smoothly climbed his way up. He perched himself comfortably on a branch, taking in the lush, prehistoric landscape. The Carboniferous rainforest was truly stunning—towering trees, dense foliage, and an endless sea of green.  

 

The Ichthyostega would crawl out of the swamp to forage at some point, and Lin Jing was waiting for that moment.  

 

He pressed the shutter.  

 

A flash of white light.  

 

The Ichthyostega was startled, spun in circles beneath the tree, then eventually slipped back into the water.  

 

Lin Jing chuckled and jumped down.  

 

“Spiders either live in trees or burrow underground, right?” He used a stick to part the undergrowth ahead—then suddenly froze.  

 

A dense web of fine, white silk glistened before him, cradling a dewdrop on the verge of falling. Lin Jing’s eyes lit up. “Spider silk? Xu Wanzhi, over here!”  

 

Xu Wanzhi had been quietly watching him the entire time. Now, he responded with a simple, “Mm.”  

 

“Hey? What did you guys find?” The short-haired girl was always quick to jump at opportunities. Hearing Lin Jing’s call, she immediately perked up and tried to approach.  

 

But the moment she took a step forward, Xu Wanzhi shot her a cold glance.  

 

Her excited smile froze. She hesitated, suddenly unsure if she should move closer.  

 

Lin Jing, at least, was easygoing. She could complain about him in her head. But Xu Wanzhi? She was genuinely a little afraid of him. Lin Jing had a mild temperament, but Xu Wanzhi was the complete opposite—he looked downright dangerous.  

 

The others simply rolled their eyes. After spending several days together, everyone had a good grasp of each other’s personalities. The best way to deal with someone like the short-haired girl was to ignore her.  

 

Completely absorbed in searching for the spider’s burrow, Lin Jing paid no attention to the tension around him. Soon enough, he found a small hole nestled in the low-lying shrubs, with strands of silk at its entrance. The spider was likely inside.  

 

The hole wasn’t exactly big, but not too small either.  

 

Lin Jing prodded at it with his stick.  

 

“You think I might accidentally stab it to death?”

But he still gave it a try, poking the inside of the cave with a wooden stick. Soon, he felt something soft.

He quickly withdrew his hand, and at the same time, a pair of blood-red eyes lit up in the darkness. A black creature, about the size of a human head, rapidly crawled outward.

Lin Jing reacted swiftly, placing three wooden sticks horizontally across the cave entrance, forming a makeshift barrier.

“This thing seems highly venomous—we can’t let it out.” See? This is why land is so much more convenient. No need to run for your life; there are plenty of ways to deal with them.

Xu Wanzhi, having lost most of his enthusiasm for the game after the submarine incident, simply smiled and watched lazily from the side.

The short-haired girl, unable to resist her curiosity, walked over just as Lin Jing finished taking a picture. Avoiding Xu Wanzhi, she deliberately spoke to Lin Jing instead. “Let me take a shot too?”

Lin Jing had no particular feelings toward her. Retracting his camera, he replied, “Sure, but don’t let it out.”

The short-haired girl was delighted. “Great, great!” She wasn’t the only one trying to take advantage of the moment—after Lin Jing and Xu Wanzhi walked away, two other guys also came over.

The spider was as big as a human head, covered in thick black hairs, and looked absolutely terrifying. Now enraged, it was furiously scraping its many legs against the wooden “barrier.”

After snapping her picture, the short-haired girl left. However, the near-sighted guy stared at the developed photo for a long time.

A quieter male player nearby sighed. “This dungeon is a total scam. Forget earning points—at this rate, I’ll be lucky if I don’t lose any. My average score from my last run was 43, and that difficulty level was a hundred times easier than this. It’s insane.”

The near-sighted guy let out an awkward laugh.

The other guy continued, “I think the only collection data I can see is from the Cambrian period, but it’s only about 75%. What about you?”

The near-sighted guy hesitated before replying uncomfortably, “Same as you.”

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