Volume One, Chapter 26: The Giant Clan’s Marching Tent: Azure

Just as Li Chuan was about to reach the key, the archer fully drew his bow, aiming directly at him.

At this distance—less than fifteen meters—it was a shot the archer felt certain of hitting. Li Chuan could not guarantee he would be able to dodge it. Even if he were certain the archer would miss, he feared that the act of dodging would throw off his rhythm and direction. Left with no choice, he halted his hopping.

"Come on, isn't this a bit shameless? I found it first, I reached it first, and now that you latecomers can't get it, you want to kill me?" Li Chuan shouted. "President Gao, the behavior of your subordinate doesn't seem to match the persona you've built in the channel."

Gao Han's expression darkened at these words. By her own standards, this behavior was indeed unethical and beneath them. However, if they failed to secure these two keys, their group's morale would suffer a crushing blow, potentially ruining their chances of acquiring any more keys later. Gritting her teeth, she said coldly, "You are a murderer; you deserve to be punished for your past crimes!"

Encouraged by his idolized president, the archer was overjoyed. He kept his bow raised and began hopping toward the key.

*A murderer? So I deserve to be robbed, then?* Li Chuan thought, glaring at them with disdain. *Damn annoying woman, always taking the moral high ground.*

"Since that's how you want to play it, I won't move," Li Chuan said, standing his ground. "But don't say I didn't warn you—this key is a hell of a lot harder to get than you think."

Hearing this, Gao Han felt a sudden, ominous foreboding. "Dongfeng! Be careful!"

The archer, *Dongfeng Bu Yu Zhou Lang*, turned his head with a grin. "Don't worry, President. I'll be fine."

*Thump, thump, thump.*

As he hopped forward, he encountered a rock—not large, but quite tall. Dongfeng shifted his body slightly, hopping to the side to bypass the obstacle.

*Swish!*

In an instant, countless withered vines seemed to come alive, wrapping around the archer's entire body.

"Ah! Help—!"

The scream was cut short. The archer was instantly crushed into a mangled mess of flesh and bone. The vines slid away, and the area returned to a deathly silence.

"Well, I remember warning you twice," Li Chuan shrugged, leisurely resuming his hopping toward the statue.

The freckled girl was so terrified by the archer's gruesome death that she retreated two steps. "How... how is this possible? Dongfeng didn't even take a step!"

Li Chuan curled his lip. The taboo of the hopping statues wasn't just about walking—it was about the act of *moving forward*. The archer had chosen to bypass the rock, which meant he had turned, thereby triggering the taboo. That was exactly why Li Chuan had been so careful about his trajectory from the start.

Gao Han’s pale brow furrowed, her confusion absolute. "How could this happen? Why?"

Some of her followers were losing their nerve. "President, this place is too bizarre. Let's... let's try a different direction."

"Yes, President. We've already lost two people here. We can't keep sacrificing lives."

Gao Han clenched her fists, then released them. After casting a deep, lingering look at Li Chuan, she said, "Fine. We’ll change direction."

The white-clad figure led her group away, eventually disappearing into the forest of withered trees. A scorching wind swept through the woods, but it brought no relief to Li Chuan.

Once the "saint" and her group were completely gone, Li Chuan drew his longsword and began hacking away at the kangaroo statue. He had no intention of sharing the secret that the statues themselves were the source of the taboo. It wasn't that he couldn't; it was just that a group of selfish, idiotic fools didn't deserve his help.

[Ding! Killed Lv. 20 Hopping Statue (Commander) x1. Experience +100.]

The experience from the cyan-grade monster was decent. *Did it drop gear?* Li Chuan was pleasantly surprised. Aside from the cyan-grade Polluted Energy Core, there was a large parcel-like item on the ground. He had killed three statues now, and this was the first time he’d seen one drop gear; he had assumed they were hard-coded not to. Perhaps the higher the grade of the monster, the better the loot?

[Giant Clan Marching Tent: Cyan]
[Armor Value: 3000]
[Insulates against cold and shields from heat. Unfold it to gain a comfortable dwelling with adjustable size. (Note: The maximum dimensions are ten meters in height and ten meters in diameter.)]
[Evaluation: On windy days, you'd best not set it up too high.]

This was a godsend! Li Chuan immediately stowed the large parcel into his backpack, collected the food and gear dropped by the two ill-fated victims, and quickly returned to where he had left Little Green. With the keys now in his possession, he could sell the extras at a high price, retrieve Little Green, and finally leave this cursed, forbidden land.

...

At the entrance of the Forbidden Land, in the gathering area of the Illuminati, Liu Haizhu gripped his long blade, his knuckles white from the pressure.

"You bastards! Our president kindly gave you food and water! And yet you want to destroy our Spirit Plant?"

Behind Liu stood several furious players—seven men and four women, some of whom were already wounded. Confronting them were over forty "stragglers" with strange growths on their shoulders. The leader of the stragglers was a tall man wielding a spear.

"We aren't trying to destroy your Spirit Plant! Your president promised us a share of food today. It's already afternoon—why haven't you given it to us?"

"Yeah! Why not?"

"You promised!"

"Did you hoard it for yourselves?"

The stragglers grew agitated, their numbers swelling. Liu Haizhu felt like his teeth were about to shatter. "You ungrateful wolves! You’re not even human! The Illuminati has so many people, and we’ve lost several brothers completing daily missions. The food they traded their lives for isn't even enough for us to eat, let alone share with you!"

The players behind him were flushed with rage. "That's right! You beggars are too damn entitled. Do you want us to starve just to feed you?"

"What are you trying to do, loot us? Why don't you go loot that cold-blooded guy instead? Why not go after other players who finished their daily missions?"

The stragglers hadn't survived this long by being kind; they were all hoping to profit from chaos.

"Bottom line, you promised us food, and you can't go back on your word!"

"That's right! Give us the food!"

"We want food!"

...

At this moment, all other surviving players watched from the sidelines. No one stepped in to help the Illuminati, and many were whispering that they had it coming.

Forbidden Land Area Chat:
Current surviving players: 184/1000

Willow Waist: "The 'living saints' are having their temple torn down by the beggars. 'Illuminati,' my foot—they deserve it. I said yesterday we shouldn't have shared the food."

Golden Boy: "Exactly. They called me heartless, but now what? Can humanity fill your stomach? They don't have enough food for themselves, and now they can barely keep their own lives."

President Liu of Shenneng: "If you ask me..."

...

Just when everyone thought a major battle was inevitable, the leader of the Three Heroes Guild, Yi Zhao Feng Yun Qi, arrived with a dozen players and used force to disperse the gathered stragglers.

...

Inside a large gray tent on the edge of the withered forest, Li Chuan lay staring up at the ceiling in frustration.

"Dammit all! I have the keys, and I have the Photosynthetic Cabin! Why can't I leave this place right now? Why!"