Qin Siyang carried his bag and walked toward the safe zone together with Li Tianming.
Gradually, they encountered other god-hunting teams.
Most of these teams looked dejected.
"Our harvest today wasn't great. We only got seven points. Split among five of us, that's barely over one point per person."
"Yeah, recently, there's been a rumor that a large swarm of Sandworm Servants appeared near our safe zone's exit. A lot of people rushed over, hoping to get in on the action. But in the end, not even a shadow of a Sandworm Servant was found, and hunting gods turned out to be even less rewarding than before."
"Who the hell spread that fake news? They're screwing people over. At this rate, when the hell am I supposed to earn enough to pay off my mortgage?"
"Don't worry. The opportunists who came for easy points will leave once they realize there's nothing here. Things will go back to normal soon enough."
Hearing the dejected chatter from the surrounding god-hunting teams, Qin Siyang had to force his lips down to keep himself from smiling.
He already felt that this god hunt was exhilarating.
Now, hearing about others' misfortune made him even happier.
People don't share the same joys and sorrows.
Sometimes, happiness is built on others' suffering.
Li Tianming, seeing that Qin Siyang was about to burst into laughter, spoke in his capacity as a mentor, "Qin, it's not good to gloat over others' misfortunes."
"Not good?"
"If you keep this up, you might stray from the right path."
"Stray from the right path?", Qin Siyang raised an eyebrow, "Principal Li, are you saying I still have a chance to be a good person?"
Li Tianming glanced at him but didn't respond.
Right. Does Qin Siyang even have a chance to be a good person?
Good people don't last long in the safe zone.
Li Tianming set aside his urge to lecture and fell silent.
Qin Siyang, on the other hand, grinned from ear to ear.
———
"I don't know who said there were a ton of Sandworm Servants here! I came all this way, and I didn't see a single one!"
"It's not just us. The other teams that came with us didn't find any either."
"Maybe they already moved to another area. Tomorrow, let's check out Exit 54320 of the safe zone. We might get lucky."
"Fine. If we don't find any Sandworm Servants in five or six days, we'll just head back."
The god-hunting teams passing by all sighed, none of them seeming to have had a fruitful hunt.
Qin Siyang, head held high, strutted back into the fortified iron gates of the safe zone with Li Tianming.
At the exit, a long line had formed—sequence ability users were waiting for their spoils to be assessed.
The two of them remained silent.
Li Tianming seemed deep in thought.
Qin Siyang, meanwhile, used his sharp senses to eavesdrop on the conversations around him.
"Captain John, we bagged another ten Hunting Points today—not bad."
"Yeah. I thought it wasn't a great run, but looking at the other teams' earnings, most of them didn't even get half of what we did."
"Captain, with these ten points, your total should be at two hundred now, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Someone nearby suddenly chimed in, "Two hundred points? Doesn't that put you in the top five for Exit 38324?"
The man called John glanced arrogantly at the envious faces around him and said indifferently, "Should be just about fifth place."
"I heard the top five in safe zone exit rankings get special privileges. Is that true?"
"No comment."
"Oh, my bad…"
The man awkwardly smiled but quickly asked again,
"You're amazing! Two hundred points should put you in the top million of the safe zone rankings, right? What's your ranking?"
"Around 950,000th."
"Wow, 950,000? I'm still outside the top million, I don't even have a ranking yet."
"Keep at it. You'll get there eventually."
Qin Siyang watched as John said those words, his chin lifting slightly. Though it sounded like encouragement, there was an undercurrent of contempt—like there was an unbridgeable gap between him and the guy he was talking to.
And the others around them looked at John with admiration.
John removed his safety helmet and adjusted his collar with an air of superiority, like some aristocratic noble.
At that moment, someone laughed and said, "Little John, puffing your chest out like that—you look like a red-crested rooster that just laid an egg. What's got you so smug?"
John's expression immediately darkened as he turned toward the speaker with a cold snort.
"Hmph, Sun Juhong, I knew it'd be you, you shit-mouthed bastard."
The scarred man grinned, his facial scars wriggling like worms, "Oh? But if I'm shit, and you're even worse than shit, what does that make you? A giant turd?"
"You're only ahead of me by forty-something points. Big deal!"
"Forty points is still ahead. At Exit 38324, I'm ranked fourth, you're fifth—that's a fact."
John's golden eyes flickered with irritation, "Give me a year, and I'll surpass you."
"Hah! What a joke. Do you think you're the only one whose points will increase? You think I'll just stand still?"
Sun Juhong turned his head to his team and smirked, "Little John is like a kid telling his dad, 'In seventy years, I'll be as old as you!'"
"Hahaha! The captain's right. That's hilarious. Hey, Little John, is your dad dead? If not, you'll never catch up to his age."
"You—", John's face turned livid. He clenched his jaw and turned away in silence.
Qin Siyang, watching the argument among the sequence ability users, asked, "Principal, why are they fighting over Hunting Points?"
"Hunting Points represent a sequence ability user's individual strength. The higher your points, the more respect you earn."
"So, it's like school exams. The smarter students get more respect."
"Exactly. Except an exam score only represents a single stage of your life, while Hunting Points follow you forever."
"The United Government tracks and ranks Hunting Points to encourage sequence ability users to hunt more gods."
"The higher your Hunting Points, the more privileges you get."
"If you and another ability user both want the same house, and your points are higher, the house must be sold to you first."
"If you and another ability user fall sick at the same time, and the sequence hospital only has one bed left, it goes to the one with the higher points."
"If you and another ability user both have your eyes on the same nightclub girl—cough, cough. Anyway, you get the idea."
"Principal, don't cough. Tell me more about the nightclub girl in detail."
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