Was he dead too?
Before this, Chi Ting had actually never thought about this aspect. After all, he had flesh and blood after coming to this unlimited world. There was really no way for him to have the slightest connection with the word 'death.'
It wasn't until he heard Ji Xingque, a former teammate, ask this that he seriously thought about this possibility.
Chi Ting stopped and looked at Ji Xingque for a long time. The tragic death of his teammate at that time repeatedly appeared in his mind. After thinking about it, he took off the beads on his wrist and handed one over. "Since you are here, I'll give you back your bones?"
Of course, Ji Xingque knew his captain's special supernatural ability. The moment he saw this polished smooth bone bead, his expression of joy at reuniting after a long time was distorted for a moment.
How to say it? The feeling of seeing his own remains well-preserved with his own eyes was really—quite strange.
Sure enough, as long as the body was found, the final destination of their entire team was to become the captain's salvation tool.
Ji Xingque cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice. "No need, Captain. It can just stay with you. In any case…"
He thought about the wording. "Good or bad, it is a keepsake."
"Okay, I'll keep it." Chi Ting saw his old teammate again, and his mood was visibly quite good. In an instant, he suddenly felt that his favorability for this unlimited world had increased a lot. The speed at which he took it back was so swift that it made Ji Xingque doubt that the words about returning the bones were just a show of politeness.
Chi Ting actually had many things to ask Ji Xingque, including how he ended up here, how long he had stayed in this unlimited world, and even what was going on with this world…
But at the same time, it was clear that this wasn't the right time to ask questions.
He thought for a moment and finally decided to make a quick decision. "Let's take the treasure chest first and finish the things at hand. Then we can have a good chat when we go back."
Ji Xingque also knew that many words couldn't be said in a few words. In addition, he always had an instinctive obedience to Chi Ting. His back suddenly straightened. "Okay, Captain!"
The players in the field were currently divided into two groups. One group was the man with the square face who accompanied people to the store to challenge it, only to get frustrated. The other group was Ji Xingque and the three players who came in together.
At this time, they witnessed such a strange and touching' family recognition process', and both parties were a bit stunned.
Zeng Yan and Shan Xu exchanged glances silently. They both saw the complex emotions in each other's eyes.
In this type of instance, where they needed to collectively complete the main mission, internal unity was often particularly important. However, just a few days after this instance was launched, their group of players had a dispute over their attitude toward the slaves. The culprit was this pink-haired Ji Xingque.
At that time, it was the stage where everyone was collectively sprinting to fulfill the collective task. Their leader Huang Xinjue also won the first high-level treasure chest for the player team, and everyone was full of confidence in the next development. However, it was at this time that Ji Xingque appeared as a thorn in their side. After belittling the group combat policy formulated by Huang Xinjue, he made a big fuss and took away a group of people in one fell swoop. As a result, the two sides were still at odds with each other to this day.
But Huang Xinjue was the only one among them who got a high-level treasure chest after all. Like most people, Zeng Yan and Shan Xu chose to stand on his side. Originally, they saw a new player like Chi Ting appear and wanted to bring him to Boss Huang's side. They never expected that he would suddenly act like this.
What was going on now?
Was it fate to meet from a thousand kilometers away or was it a thousand kilometer marriage tied by a red thread of fate?
It seemed that this Chi Ting wasn't only an old acquaintance with the pink-haired man but also had a good relationship!
This situation made the people on Zeng Yan's side very distressed.
In contrast, the three players who came in with Ji Xingque were already overjoyed. "Brother Que, is this your friend?"
Ji Xingque directly hit everyone violently. "What type of friend? This is my boss! Call him Brother Chi!"
None of the three people escaped. They gasped for air and said, "Brother Chi! Hello Brother Chi!"
Chi Ting hadn't expected that Ji Xingque in the team would one day become an older brother. He inexplicably felt that the child at home was promising. He couldn't help glancing at it twice.
It was also at this time that he remembered he seemed to have forgotten something.
Chi Ting looked back and happened to see Yue Ren's non-smiling expression. He belatedly added an introduction, "This is Ji Xingque, my younger brother from the past."
Yue Ren raised an eyebrow and answered very casually, "I can see it."
The tone was particularly understated, but for some reason, Chi Ting always felt there was something strange in his ears when he heard them.
But when he wanted to dig deeper, it seemed there was something he couldn't figure out.
The more Chi Ting looked at Yue Ren, the more he felt that this person had no good intentions. In the end, he added uneasily, "Don't play with him."
"Okay, Master." Yue Ren's mouth slightly curved up in a meaningful arc. He said quietly, "I will try my best."
"..."
Chi Ting thought for a moment before confirming it, "This is your first time meeting, right?"
Yue Ren looked up and glanced over. "I've seen him before."
Chi Ting wondered, "When?"
Yue Ren glanced at the beads around Chi Ting's wrist and said slowly, "The apartment lobby. He was the one you asked to point a gun at me."
Chi Ting was slightly stunned before finally remembering.
In this way, Yue Ren had really seen 'Ji Xingque.'
At that time, in the lobby of the first floor of the Love Apartment, he wanted to avoid accidents caused by excessive favorability so it was this 'Ji Xingque' who watched the man.
However, what he had summoned at that time was just a phantom. It was okay to hold a grudge until now, but it wasn't right to take out the anger on the actual person, right?
Chi Ting gained a new understanding of Yue Ren's stingy personality. "It is my fault that the gun was pointed at you. If you have any dissatisfaction, don't look for others. Just come at me."
Yue Ren said, "Oh, Master is quite protective of him."
Chi Ting vaguely felt that this person's tone became even more sarcastic. "…Yes, he is one of my subordinates."
"Yes, Master is really good to your subordinates."
"..."
Chi Ting paused. Finally, between turning around and persuading this person to be kind, he chose the latter. "If you want to be a qualified human being, you should learn to be broad-minded."
Yue Ren smiled slightly. "Just the fact that a person who has pointed a gun at me has survived for over 20 minutes in front of me is enough to prove that my heart is very broad now."
Chi Ting told him, "Very good. I hope that in the next step, you can work hard to let him live under your nose for 20 years."
Yue Ren slowly raised his eyes and looked at the back of the head with a small ponytail without saying anything.
Ji Xingque was pulling the other three to discuss the next arrangement when he inexplicably felt a chill go down his spine. He couldn't help shivering.
But at this moment, the result happened to be obtained and he brought one of them directly to Chi Ting. "Captain, it's arranged. The two of us here, plus you. The three of us will sign up for that group event."
Ji Xingque noticed that the player beside him was a bit apprehensive and didn't forget to pat his shoulder. 'Don't be nervous. You are mainly used to fill up the numbers. Once inside, just find a place while the captain and I play. Don't worry. The state you enter will be the state you leave in. You won't lose a single hair!"
Chi Ting saw everything, and his expression became more and more gratified.
The child had really grown up in the two months since he left home. He already knew how to take care of people!
However, when the same words fell into other people's ears, they were inevitably filled with a different taste.
Zeng Yan and Shan Xu's group of people watched Chi Ting and the pink-haired man behave like two brothers but couldn't interject.
At this time, they were even more speechless when seeing that these people were really ready to sign up for that group event.
Compared with the people who came later, the players who came first had witnessed the deaths of the two brothers who didn't even have intact bodies. They couldn't bear to think about the degree of bloody cruelty at all.
That was just the first round of the solo challenge.
As for the group challenge, the difficulty would increase by several times.
This made Zeng Yan and the others look at Ji Xingque's expression. For a moment, they didn't know whether to call him stupid or mourn in advance out of sympathy.
At present, the only high-level treasure chest required for the collective main mission was obtained by Huang Xinjue. If they could gain two more at once, it was equivalent to basically solving the problem of the main mission, which was naturally a happy thing for everyone.
However, the murder scene they had just witnessed was indeed too tragic.
It had basically destroyed the morale on the player's side. It was really difficult to see hope.
Shan Xu waved his hand weakly and gave up communicating with the fools. "Go back and wait. These masters have already signed up. We will obediently wait for them to bring back two high-level treasure chests!'
Zeng Yan didn't have time to reach out and stop these people. Once he saw Shan Xu leaving, he hesitated for a moment and couldn't help wanting to persuade Chi Ting more. "Do you really want to go? The guards in this store are all monsters. We have seen it just now. They are too strong. The slaves alone can't win."
Chi Ting told him, "It's okay. Just let us solve it if you can't get it."
Zeng Yan: "?"
Wasn't he trying to persuade this person?
Was it his delusion? Why did he suddenly feel that he was the one being comforted?
Seeing Ji Xingque again, Chi Ting vaguely felt that the familiar sense of mission from the past had returned. He could see that the players in this instance had indeed been tortured a lot. So at this time, his words were full of human care. "In short, don't worry and leave everything to us. Once we get these two high-level treasure chests, we will complete the main mission as soon as possible. Then we can take everyone out together."
Ji Xingque heard the conversation over here and also raised his arm, saying in a moved tone, "It is worthy of you! Sure enough, I can always trust our captain! You are electricity, you are light, you are my only myth, you will always be my last hope!"
"..."
Zeng Yan was completely choked up. "J-Jiayou?"
After this sentence, he turned around with a numb expression and took a step.
Chi Ting looked at Ji Xingque. "Let's go."
Ji Xingque turned around with a sense of mission. The little ponytail behind his head bounced as he ran to the service desk.
Once Zeng Yan left, the surroundings became empty again in the blink of an eye. Once JI Xingque completed the registration, a staff member quickly walked out and took them to the backstage area to make preparations.
The news that someone had launched a group challenge in the arena quickly spread. Many explorer-like customers poured into the store. Some were NPCS, and some were players who had heard the news. Everyone had curious expressions on their faces.
Zeng Yan's mind was still full of Chi Ting's loud promise as he returned to his seat.
It stood to reason that he had just witnessed the deaths of two players. He should know the danger of this store's adventure project. However, the key point was that Chi Ting's performance from beginning to end was too confident!
There was a sense of certainty that Zeng Yan had never seen before. It was so much that he really had a trace of doubt about the difficulty of the group challenge event.
Could it be that he suddenly ran to sign up because he found some clues?
Could it be that the group event of this store was actually the key to clearing the level and was far less difficult than the solo event?
A sudden cheer from the crowd pulled Zeng Yan's attention back. He heard Shan Xu snort coldly next to him and immediately controlled his mind. He looked at the soccer field-sized arena area under the iron net with a glimmer of hope.
With this glance, Zeng Yan happened to see the figures that appeared behind the iron bars on both sides in the midst of everyone's attention.
After seeing the appearance of the three guards clearly, he felt that his vision was dark, and he almost fainted on the spot.
What simple difficulty?
Weren't the guards in the first round the same monsters from the individual challenge before?!
In addition, since it was a group event, the number of such monsters directly increased to three!!!
The moment the challenge team came on stage, the live footage was simultaneously displayed in the live stream room.
As the only audience member in Chi Ting's live stream room, Qiu Ji finally saw the long-awaited combat scene. He instinctively adjusted his sitting posture.
The sky-high viewing fee was enough for him to have viewing rights for all players under normal circumstances. Naturally, he saw the whole process of Chi Ting and Ji Xingque 'recognizing relatives.'
But compared to friendship, personal strength was always the greatest confidence in this unlimited world.
Rather than Chi Ting's relationship with this Ji Xingque, Qiu Ji was more curious about the absolute confidence that the two of them showed throughout the entire process.
After observing for this period of time, Qiu Ji could feel that Chi Ting was definitely not an arrogant person. This type of self-confidence came entirely from a clear understanding of his personality strength. It made Qiu Ji look more and more forward to the next development.
Without being able to use personal skills and items, to what extent could Chi Ting, with the pressure from this limited strength, compete with the monsters in the instance?
Qiu Ji's gaze fell firmly on the figure on the screen.
In the instance, Chi Ting finished giving the final assignment of tasks concisely. "Yue Ren, the one on the left is for you to play with. Little bird, take your slave and take care of the one on the right. I will deal with the one in the middle." (TL: The que of Xingque=sparrow/small bird)
The player brought in to make up the numbers listened to the assignment and said weakly, "In fact, I can also help drag the one in the middle…"
He was so scared that even his voice was shaking. Ji Xingque knew as soon as he heard it that this little brother misunderstood. He patted this person's shoulder in an amused way. "Just stand back and watch the battle. There is no need for you to drag back the middle one. My captain can handle it casually."
Yue Ren raised his eyes and glanced over silently.
The player was stunned when he heard this. "Huh? But that monster looks so fierce. It isn't easy to deal with it when your personal skills are invalid, right? In fact, my slave is okay."
Ji Xingque laughed. "Okay, I understand your kindness. You will know later. Does the captain still need personal skills to deal with this type of thing? It will be a complete instant kill!"
Chi Ting heard this and knew that Ji Xingque's stinky habit of blindly bragging was about to start again. He saw that the countdown was over and gave a reminder. "Don't be poor. It is time to start."
He casually wrapped the beads on his wrist a bit tighter and looked at the guarding team on the opposite side.
On the way backstage just now, he heard the introduction from the staff members. The guards here were also descendants of the demons who had remained in the city.
It was just that unlike the slaves who were 'sold' to explorers, the appearance of these demons was more devoid of human form, and the longing for killing was completely revealed in their empty expressions. The collars fixed around their necks were almost embedded in their flesh because they were so old. Every time their bones must, a rusty friction sound could be heard. This made every movement look stiff and weird.
They moved stiffly like dead things, but their speed was surprisingly fast.
"Be careful—!" Zeng Yan in the upper viewing area couldn't help shouting. The excessively loud voice pierced through the boiling crowd and fell into the live stream room with the same clarity.
Qiu Ji's attention was always on Chi Ting's body.
In the blink of an eye, it could be seen that the defender on the opposite side had rushed to Chi Ting.
This angle was obviously already unavoidable.
Qiu Ji frowned slightly.
Too late to react? It shouldn't be.
Seeing his fingertips that were like dead wood were about to penetrate Chi Ting's chest, he suddenly raised his leg and hit the defender in the abdomen.
At this moment, the faint sound of something breaking entered their ears.
Under the huge force, the entire thin figure swept straight out in the opposite direction.
Before the defender's kicked figure could land, Chi Ting had already turned around and pressed on him.
The moment the hand stretched out, the beads wrapped around his wrist shook slightly with the movement.
In such a dynamic picture, the slender fingers in the close-up looked even more delicate and beautiful. Then in the next second, a clean hand not stained with anything had already grasped the throat of the defender.
Snap.
A very clear and neat sound briefly echoed in the live stream room.
In an instant, the scene was filled with cries that completely boiled over.
In the picture, the neck of the defender showed an extremely strange arc, along with the sound of the breaking of bones. The link between flesh and skin prevented it from completely falling to the ground.
The change was instantaneous.
There was a rare flash of surprise in Qiu Ji's eyes.
If his estimate was correct, the defender in the instance should be a monster with at least a strength of A-grade or above. Yet it was solved neatly by this person.
Moreover, this was without the use of personal skills at all?!
Unlike the other summoning type skills, the companion-exclusive, group summoning type personal skills had a fragile body that could be easily seen as flawed.
No, this physical strength wasn't weak. It was strong enough to rival many fighting masters on the rankings!
He was afraid that he needed to reassess this Chi Ting's ability.
This thought flashed through Qiu Ji's mind. After realizing it, he was slightly stunned. Then he smiled a bit bitterly and helplessly.
He originally thought he had found a good seedling in the new district that was worth wooing. He didn't expect… If Chi Ting's strength was really as he thought, forget being recruited to their Seven Seas team. By the time Chi Ting arrived at the Sanctuary, he was afraid other top teams would already be eyeing him.
As long as the strength was enough, some people might not even look at ready-made teams.
The ups and downs in his mood made Qiu Ji feel very complicated. He looked up, and his gaze paused when he discovered that the number of viewers in the live stream room, which had been stuck at '1' for a long time, had increased in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, there was the long-lost barrage.
[Hey hey hey, is there anyone? I think I see someone else online?]
[I jumped from the live stream room next door. I was scared to death. 5,000 points per minute:? I only have enough money for a few minutes!]
[Well, me too… I just want to see what is going on. Urgent, wait online!]
[Yes, what's going on? Is that defender so weak? If I don't know the truth, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep today!]
[As expected, there is no one paying this charging fee.]
[I just came in. Ahhh, is there no one who can tell me what happened just now?]
Since there were too few barrages, each one stayed in the center of the live stream room's screen for a long time before it scrolled past.
Qiu Ji looked at the barrage content that came out one by one. His hope of attracting this person had faded, but he suddenly felt that his mood wasn't so depressed.
Finally, he wasn't the only one being taken advantage of in this live stream room.
In some ways, it was comforting.