Game: Civilization Paradise

「A little over three hours later.」

Long Ming, Luoxue, and a few others stood waiting in an open area.

VRMM VRMM~

A noisy rumble approached.

Long Ming looked up.

He saw An Qing and the others driving toward them on two snowmobiles.

"President Luoxue, look what we found!"

An Qing said excitedly.

"Good, but two won’t be enough to pull all of us."

Luoxue said, eyeing the two snowmobiles.

"Don’t worry, we have a way."

An Qing replied confidently.

"Alright."

Luoxue didn’t interfere further.

Long Ming watched from the side with great interest. Soon, Tang Yue and the others returned, carrying a long, rectangular steel plate.

An Qing’s group then brought over two iron chains.

They took out portable tools, drilled two holes in the steel plate, and fixed the chains through them to the back of the snowmobiles.

Next, they found some skis and attached them to the front of the steel plate.

"Done!"

An Qing said excitedly.

"Everyone on the plate."

Luoxue waved her hand at Long Ming and the others.

Long Ming and the others immediately climbed onto the steel plate and sat down.

Luoxue glanced over Long Ming and the rest, then gave everyone a serious warning.

"Listen up, everyone. Huddle together as much as possible to avoid hypothermia. Also, keep an eye on each other and don’t let anyone fall asleep. In this weather, if you fall asleep, you won’t wake up."

"Understood!"

An Qing and the others immediately responded.

At that moment, Tang Yue and Cloud Fish, who were sitting next to Long Ming, both started squeezing against him.

Long Ming was speechless.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Luoxue got on a snowmobile with Zhihan.

Jing Chuan also got on a snowmobile, taking another team member with him.

"Let’s move out!"

With Luoxue’s order, she twisted the throttle.

The two snowmobiles roared to life, slowly beginning to tow the steel plate, which gradually picked up speed.

Because they were pulling so many people, Luoxue and her group moved at a slow speed, only about twenty kilometers per hour.

At this rate, it would take nearly four hours to reach their destination.

Soon, they had driven out of the city.

A boundless world of white unfolded before their eyes.

"Whoa!"

Tang Yue and the others gasped in amazement.

Long Ming was also deeply shaken. This was the power of nature. As far as the eye could see, there was only snow. Everything was buried beneath it.

Aside from the howling wind, the entire world was dead silent, showing no signs of life.

Just then, Cloud Fish sidled up to Long Ming and asked in a low voice.

"Long Ming."

"What is it?"

Long Ming snapped out of his daze and looked at Cloud Fish.

Cloud Fish asked curiously in a whisper.

"Do you know President Luoxue?"

"Yeah, we were schoolmates."

Long Ming replied nonchalantly.

"Really? Then if you get a chance in the future, could you help us out? Put in a good word for us with President Luoxue, you know? Even a small pay raise would be great."

Cloud Fish looked at Long Ming, her eyes full of hope.

"Are you sure?"

Long Ming was taken aback for a second, then looked at Cloud Fish with a half-smile.

"Of course I’m sure. Is there a problem?"

Cloud Fish looked back at Long Ming, confused.

"Do you know what my relationship with Luoxue is?"

Long Ming asked with a smile.

Hearing this, Cloud Fish’s eyes lit up, and she replied excitedly.

"You two aren’t... in *that* kind of relationship, are you?"

"Where is your mind going? If you really want to know, we’re probably closer to enemies."

Long Ming confessed with a smile.

"Tch, if you don’t want to help, just say so. You don’t have to lie to me."

Cloud Fish rolled her eyes at Long Ming.

"I’m not lying. That’s just how it is. Luoxue and I were in adjacent classes. She was first in the entire grade, and I was second! We competed every day, constantly fighting tooth and nail. But unfortunately, I was always just a little bit behind. I never once beat her."

Long Ming sighed, his voice tinged with regret.

The truth was, a big reason he always lost to Luoxue was because his own health was too poor.

"Pretend I never said anything. Bye."

After hearing Long Ming’s words, the smile on Cloud Fish’s face froze. She quickly scooted away.

Long Ming just smiled and shook his head, saying nothing.

「...」

「A little over two hours later.」

Jing Chuan was driving his snowmobile straight ahead when he suddenly noticed a small, slight bulge in the snowdrift in front of them.

He didn’t think much of it, but as the snowmobile passed over it, he was met with a snow pit.

The entire snowmobile immediately flipped onto its side.

Seeing this, Luoxue immediately wrenched her snowmobile into a hard left turn, swinging wide to bring the towed steel plate to a halt.

"Ahh~"

In an instant, An Qing and the others were thrown about, tumbling into a heap.

Fortunately, their speed wasn’t very high. Although everyone was a mess, no one was seriously hurt.

Just then, Jing Chuan and his passenger climbed out of the snow, righted the snowmobile, and tried to start it, but got no response.

Seeing the situation, Luoxue jumped off her snowmobile and walked over.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m fine, but the vehicle’s broken. I was careless. I never expected there’d be a small slope leading into a snow pit."

Jing Chuan was clearly annoyed with himself.

Luoxue looked at the damaged snowmobile, then turned to An Qing, who was walking over.

"An Qing, can you fix it?"

An Qing went forward to inspect it and let out a long sigh of relief.

"I can, but it’ll take some time."

Hearing this, Luoxue immediately gave an order to everyone.

"Everyone, rest here and recover your Physical Strength."

"Alright!"

Tang Yue and the others replied happily.

They dug a pit in a snowdrift, put the charcoal they were carrying inside, then poured on some oil and lit it.

Then they set up a pot, preparing to boil some water to drink.

Long Ming glanced around and, seeing he couldn’t be of any real help, looked around for a place to sit, finding a protruding rock.

The sky gradually began to dim.

Long Ming raised his head to the sky.

The sky was utterly clear and filled with twinkling stars, making him feel as if he were floating in the vast cosmos.

For a moment, Long Ming was captivated, his thoughts beginning to drift.

Just then, a figure walked up and stopped beside him, offering a steaming cup of hot water.

"Thanks!"

Long Ming took it subconsciously and took a sip.

Luoxue glanced at Long Ming, then turned to gaze at the distant horizon and spoke nonchalantly.

"I heard about what happened to you. My condolences."

"Thank you."

Long Ming replied after a few seconds of silence.

At this, Luoxue turned to look at Long Ming’s expression, then sighed and said.

"Time doesn’t turn back, and there are no ’what ifs’ in life. The only way to truly live is to embrace the future."

"Sigh, you think I don’t know that? But I’m fated to have no future!"

Long Ming said with some self-deprecation.

"How will you know if you don’t keep going?"

Luoxue replied in a cold voice.

Long Ming was taken aback by her words. He then drained the water in his cup, stood up, dusted off his pants, and turned to walk back toward the main group.

"Forget it. I just want to live freely for a few more days. I don’t want to work so hard."

Watching Long Ming’s retreating back, Luoxue frowned and said in a cold voice.

"If you keep wallowing like this, then no one can save you."