Chapter 1 Heartbeat

Thump—thump—

Clear, loud heartbeats emanated from the Bread Man's body, sounding like a drum.

Xiao Tan, who was running away with a baguette in hand, turned around when he heard the sound.

Feng Bujue, who was closely following Wang Tanzhi from a spectator's perspective, turned his gaze a second earlier than Xiao Tan.

"Pan..." The Bread Man's voice suddenly became deep and sonorous. It stood up from the ground and looked at Xiao Tan, saying, "Pan!"

"What! Are you saying you're getting serious?" Xiao Tan responded with a solemn expression.

"How did you figure that out!" Feng Bujue was shocked. "From panpanpan?"

"Papapa..." The Bread Man emitted a few short, trembling sounds that resembled a sneer. "Pan~panpan, pan!"

"You...you actually have this ability?" Xiao Tan's expression changed drastically after hearing the Bread Man's words.

"No matter what his ability is, it's nothing compared to your ability to translate Bread-speak!" Feng Bujue couldn't help but retort.

"Pan (ban)...pan (kai)!" In the next second, the Bread Man raised its only remaining left arm and shouted out two syllables that sounded very much like "Bankai."

Moreover...it clearly wasn't just saying it, because at that moment, an astonishing spiritual pressure erupted from its body. Its severed arm was instantly restored by this power. Then, its form began to change, the color of the bread all over its body deepened slightly, and a heat energy radiated from within.

This process lasted for about ten seconds before it ended. After it ended, the Bread Man looked at Xiao Tan and snorted coldly, "Pan...panpan!"

As soon as the words fell, a rich aroma of wheat bran wafted over, containing complex and harmonious scents of honey and milk. Obviously...after being heated at super high speed, the Bread Man...had become more delicious.

"What the heck..." Feng Bujue shouted immediately after watching the transformation, "What's the point of this transformation!"

"I see...because it's become more fluffy, so the volume has increased slightly, and it can also squeeze the hot air inside the body to burn the enemy..." Xiao Tan said with a straight face.

"Burn your ass! It's even easier to cut after heating!" Feng Bujue said dejectedly, "Why are you still bothering with it? Just take the bread and turn in the quest!"

On this point, Xiao Tan's thoughts were consistent with Brother Jue's.

"But...this is still no match for me." Xiao Tan said to the Bread Man again, "I don't want to hurt you anymore, so don't chase after me..." After saying that, he turned around and ran.

"Pan?" The Bread Man was stunned for a moment, and then roared, "Pan! Pan!" While shouting, it strode forward to chase, but its speed really couldn't catch up with Xiao Tan, and it was soon left in the dust.

"Well...although the starting point is different, at least he made the right choice in the end..." Seeing Xiao Tan get rid of the monster, Feng Bujue finally breathed a sigh of relief.

...

On the other hand...

The four members of the Corn Fruit team were really lucky. After driving away a plot NPC, they found another plot-related item in the ruins in less than ten minutes.

"This is..." After looking around, Liu Sanfeng stopped in front of a two-meter-high stone tablet.

The color of this stone was pure white, without any contamination or wear, as if the years could not leave a trace on it.

On one side of the stone tablet, there was a picture: In the middle of the picture, there was an image of a woman wearing a long dress, with her arms crossed, hugging her shoulders, and standing with her head down. Around the woman, there was a circle of sand-like unidentified objects, floating around her like a halo. Outside the circle of sand, there were three eye-like objects, and the pupils of each eye were looking in the opposite direction from the woman.

"Hmm..." Liu Sanfeng looked at the pattern and thought, "Judging from the plot introduction, the woman in the picture is likely the 'Goddess'...and the three eyeballs are 'the Three Eyes in this world'. So...the content of this painting is..." Liu Sanfeng muttered, "The Goddess is urging her own power to control these three eyes to find something?"

After thinking for a while, he shook his head: "Forget it, there's nothing to think about, it's a waste of time."

His approach was not wrong...anyway, they had already offended the plot NPC just now, so they might as well carry out the strategy of "ignoring the plot" to the end.

If you are worried about gains and losses, and you are reluctant to give up, you will eventually suffer.

So, Liu Sanfeng resolutely left the stone tablet and continued his journey to find members of the enemy team...

...

At the same time...

"Hey~ Ruoyu, look what's going on over there?" Hua Jian, who was traveling with Ruoyu, seemed to see something that interested her in the distance. She immediately stopped her teammate and pointed in the distance.

"That is..." Ruoyu looked in the direction Hua Jian pointed, and immediately saw a strange shadow that was different from the other building remains.

She concentrated her gaze and soon saw the clue.

"Well...this statue's remains seem to be a bit strange." Ruoyu muttered.

"Yeah...I also think it's a bit wrong." Hua Jian said, "It shouldn't have become like this, right?"

The strangeness they were talking about referred to the state of the statue...

The carved image was of a valiant man wearing armor and a cloak. Judging from his face, he should be the "King" in the opening CG.

Normally, the remains of such a statue would either be lying horizontally on the ground; or the base would still be standing, but the part above the base would be damaged and incomplete.

However, the giant humanoid statue in front of Ruoyu and Hua Jian was very strangely tilted...

The left leg below the thigh and the right leg below the knee of the statue were buried in the soil, and the part of it exposed above the soil formed an angle of nearly forty-five degrees with the ground. The whole statue was leaning in the soil like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or it could be said...like a toy soldier stuck in the sand by a child.

"Perhaps it was caused by the sudden collapse and solidification of the ground below..." Ruoyu made a seemingly reliable guess after looking at it for a few seconds.

"Could it be that it was held by some creature and forcibly inserted into the soil?" Hua Jian asked.

"The statue itself is as big as a giant, so what could hold it and insert it into the soil..." Ruoyu continued, "Perhaps only the god of this world."

"It's true when you think about it like that." Hua Jian said.

"Well...that's true." Ruoyu said thoughtfully, "Otherwise...shall we go take a look? Maybe we can trigger some kind of plot near the statue."

"Okay." Hua Jian immediately responded.

The four members of Hell's Frontline obviously hadn't completely ignored the plot development, so the two of them quickly made a decision and walked towards the statue.

...

On the other hand, let's look at Xiao Ling...

So far, Xiao Ling's search range has exceeded the total of all other players.

Her efficiency is undoubtedly extremely high. When it comes to reconnaissance ability, even Feng Bujue has to be left several streets behind.

Speaking of which...her data has never been listed in the previous text (because she was killed by Brother Jue at the beginning of the Super Dimensional Melee script), so here's a detailed introduction:

Bei Ling Xiao Gu: Lv46

Title: [Human Weapon], Title Ability: [Rampaging Fortress]

Experience Value: 4378310046000000, Skill Value: 7187, Game Coins: 8082000.

Specialties: General A, Machinery C, Reconnaissance A, Fighting C, Shooting S, Medical E, Spiritual Arts C, Summoning F.

Backpack (1830): Red Wine*3, Spirit Vision Signal Flare*5, Survival Value Supplement (Large)*5, Survival Value Supplement (Medium)*5, Hemostatic Bandage*5, Antidote Mixture*5, Antifreeze*5, Burn Medicine*5, Perpetual Flashlight, FN57, MP5, Kriss_Super_V, Ultimax100, Incineration Propulsion Cannon, Dog Leash, Yao Tao Ban Tu Chuan Fang Xun, Vanguard Shield, Blood Corpse God's Magatama.

Equipment: Moon Slayer Meteor (Spiritual Energy Weapon), Fisher's Eye, Invisible Feet, Demonic Armor Martial Wings, Barder's Holy Armor.

Storage Room (215): Double Experience Card (24 Hours)*30, Double Game Coin Card (24 Hours)*30.

Skill Bar (1012): [San Hua Ju Ding Divine Art] [Shadow Illusion Seven Zhang] [Holy Arbitration] [Gun Fighting Five Styles - Weapon Seizure] [Gun Fighting Fourteen Styles - Kick] [Gun Fighting Hundred Seven Styles - Guidance] [Assembly Magic] [Ammunition Proliferation] [Even If You're About To Die, You Still Have The Strength To Go To The Cafeteria] [Summoning - Vampire Bat].

The detailed effects of all the new items or skills above will be written out one by one in this chapter, so there is no need to list the item descriptions here. However, two items need to be mentioned in particular, one of which is the [Vanguard Shield].

This item was obtained by Xiao Tan through rock-paper-scissors in the *Horror Nursery Rhymes* script. It is a perfect-grade defensive item that is "bound after equipping". Since Xiao Tan already has the [Titanium Alloy Jinhua Ham], and the effects of the two defensive items overlap somewhat, he later gave it to Xiao Ling.

The second is...

[Name: Spirit Vision Signal Flare*5]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Function: Creates a spiritual light explosion.]

[Remarks: After the Spirit Vision Signal Flare is released, it will detonate precisely at a distance of two hundred meters from the release point, and trigger a spiritual particle light gathering reaction that lasts for about ten seconds. Only those with a spiritual art proficiency of D or above can see this reaction.]

This Spirit Vision Signal Flare is very small, shaped like a shotgun shell; and it can be launched without a firearm, making it a very convenient item.

Looking at the attributes, you can tell...this thing is definitely not a store item.

In fact...it was "invented" and "made" by a player. And that player is the machinery specialization master [Mo Cha Su], who appeared in the Peak Hegemony S1.

Now she is doing very well in the game, and has become the mainstay of the Shanhe Studio (the studio where Qiu Feng Se is located). More than half of the studio's income comes from Mo Cha Su and her several assistants. And the specific method is... "collecting materials, making items, and pricing for sale."

The machinery specialization, which has always been regarded as unpopular, ushered in a spring after a difficult period of improvement in the later stage. Because after this specialization is practiced to S level, you can make all kinds of things inside and outside the script... In addition, with the existence of "free exploration mode" now, this kind of thing is even more convenient to operate.

In *Thriller Paradise*, "in-script communication props" have always been a very, very rare item. Although some scripts come with walkie-talkies, telephones, and communicators, similar items... either cannot be brought out of the script, or become invalid scrap iron after being brought out of the script. Obviously, the official is intentionally restricting players' communication behavior in the script.

As a result, items like "signal flares" naturally have a good sales channel. Even if they can't be used in every script, it's always good to have a few on hand. What's more, the "team competition" is about to start recently, and similar commodities will definitely be popular, and the price increase is probably not far away...

...

Okay, let's get back to the story...

Almost forty minutes into the script, Xiao Ling successfully found traces left by the enemy team by relying on her excellent reconnaissance ability.

Although it was mentioned earlier... it is extremely difficult to find a certain person or team in such a large area as White Country. But "difficult" does not mean impossible...

Speaking of which...this was also the mistake of the Corn Fruit team. If they had not had a conflict with the black-robed old man who asked for corn, their whereabouts would not have been exposed.

Unfortunately...they ended up taking action.

Once a battle has occurred, even if it's only for a very short time, or just a single move, some traces will be left.

Although Liu Sanfeng's [Sea King Spear Strike] was dissolved by the black-robed old man without a trace, when he made his move, the demonic energy stirred, causing his feet to leave deep footprints in the soil. In addition... his teammates also unconsciously stepped out some footprints after entering the battle state, especially Brother Wei Wu... the traces left by that fierce rush were particularly obvious...

And the members of the Corn Fruit team did not think about cleaning up these traces... because their footsteps were lighter in the non-combat state, and they would not leave footprints on soil of this hardness. Therefore, they had not considered this issue along the way.

Who would have thought that these seven or eight scattered traces would actually奏响 (zou xiang - to sound the prelude to) the prelude to their团灭 (tuan mie - team wipe)...

"Heh...they really are new..." After walking closer and observing the footprints, a smile appeared on Xiao Ling's face, "One, two, three...all four are here, and..." She walked lightly in this area, her mind racing, "...a battle has taken place here."

Xiao Ling's goggles - [Fisher's Eye] - are equipped with thermal detection and night vision functions, so she can see the residual heat here. With her experience... it's not difficult to deduce that a battle has taken place here.

"Well...there are so few footprints, which means the battle was short. Either the winner was quickly decided, or one side ran away as soon as the fight started..." Xiao Ling then muttered.

"Most likely one side ran away..." At this time, "Back Spirit" Feng Bujue had switched his perspective to Xiao Ling's side (switching perspectives is very convenient, and there is no interval time limit, so Feng Bujue often switches to the rear of each teammate in seconds, watching the situation in several places at the same time), muttering with confidence, "If it was 'the winner was decided', then the loser would be either dead or injured, and there would be some blood stains on the ground... the opposing guys would not be able to clean up the blood stains, because people who can think of cleaning up the blood stains can definitely think of cleaning up the footprints. Of course... there is also a possibility... the monster they fought had no blood, such as a Bread Man or something... Thinking about it this way, it makes sense. After they instantly killed the monster, they ate it, and then left such a scene..."

Xiao Ling couldn't hear Brother Jue's deduction mixed with吐槽 (tu cao - a roast), but she quickly came to the same conclusion: "Hmm...one side must have run away..." She didn't linger on this question for too long. Rather than "what they fought with before", Xiao Ling was more interested in the question of... "where they are now".

"Should I release the signal flare... or..." After thinking for a few more seconds, Xiao Ling decided not to release it for the time being.

In the next five minutes, she quickly surveyed the surrounding area again, and then returned to the area with footprints, carefully analyzed the direction and position of these footprints... then, she chased in one direction...

...

On the other hand...

"Uncle, I've brought you the bread." Xiao Tan returned to the black-robed old man with the French baguette he had cut from the Bread Man, and handed the bread to the other party without hesitation.

"This kid really has a spirit of contract..." Feng Bujue couldn't help but say, "From beginning to end, it was just a pure verbal agreement. Not even a quest was triggered, and no system prompt sounded... What if this old man runs away with the bread? What if he quickly swallows the bread and immediately denies the debt? What if he hits himself on the head with the bread, and then lies down on the ground and extorts game coins from you?"

"Well... young man." The black-robed old man took the bread, his expression changed slightly. After pausing for two seconds, he looked at Xiao Tan and asked, "What are your views on things that have passed away?"

"If you're referring to his childhood, then it shouldn't have passed away yet." Feng Bujue said while watching and插科打挥 (cha ke da hui - cracking jokes).

"Uh... can you be more specific?" Xiao Tan felt that the other party's question was too broad and difficult to answer, so he asked again.

"For example... this country..." the black-robed old man continued.

Xiao Tan heard this, thought for a moment, and replied: "I don't know much about this country, but from what I know... I think the king destroyed himself, and the people were implicated by him."

"Hmm?" The black-robed old man asked doubtfully, "Aren't you from this country?"

At the moment he asked this question, Feng Bujue seemed to understand something...

"No." The unsuspecting Xiao Tan replied immediately.

"Hehe... I see, that's great." The black-robed old man smiled, put the bread in his arms, suddenly stretched out a hand and grabbed Xiao Tan, "Come with me..."

Before the words fell, he had turned into a black light, carrying Xiao Tan and flying into the sky.