Game: Civilization Paradise

"Go ahead. Explore as you please."

Qian Wei couldn’t care less what Luoxue was doing here. As long as enough of their people showed up, both the Sin Abyss Guild and the Star God Tower would be forced to tread carefully and ultimately abandon their bid for the observatory.

"Okay."

Luoxue nodded slightly.

Just then, Luoxue felt an unfamiliar gaze and turned her head to look in Long Ming’s direction.

When Long Ming’s group saw Luoxue look over, they quickly turned their heads away.

Although the guild hadn’t required them to participate in the group mission and they were on their own time, being seen by Luoxue still made them feel on edge.

"What is it?"

Jing Chuan, who was standing beside Luoxue, asked in confusion.

"It’s nothing,"

Luoxue replied calmly.

At that moment, Xiaoqi snuck a few peeks. Seeing that Luoxue was no longer looking their way, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew... Good thing we weren’t noticed."

"Heh heh."

Long Ming just chuckled and said nothing.

Just then, streaks of white light descended one after another, and a large number of independent players appeared on the teleportation platform.

Long Ming glanced at his wristband. The number of participants had already reached 5,621.

"So many independent players?"

"It doesn’t matter how many there are. Lord Qian Wei brought a massive number of people this time, and other subsidiary guilds have sent people in, too,"

Xiaoqi said with absolute certainty.

"Right. Once we’re in, find a place to hide. I’ll find you as soon as I can!"

Long Ming nodded.

"Okay."

Xiaoqi and the others immediately agreed.

Half an hour passed quickly, and the final number of participants locked in at 6,122.

The next second.

The mechanical obelisk in the center of the platform lit up, its surface patterns glowing with a dazzling light.

Soon, a white light enveloped everyone.

「A few seconds later.」

Long Ming opened his eyes to find himself on the rooftop of a two-story building.

He immediately rushed to the edge of the roof and quickly scanned the surrounding buildings.

Dilapidated, densely packed concrete buildings filled his vision. ’Looks like I landed in a small town.’

THUD THUD~

Just then, a faint noise came from downstairs.

Long Ming glanced down, and without any hesitation, vaulted off the rooftop, entered a bedroom through an open window, and, gripping his Black Shadow automatic rifle, rushed to the door, where he ran right into Cloud Fish.

"Ah!"

Cloud Fish cried out in fright.

"It’s me,"

Long Ming said with a smile.

"You scared me to death."

Cloud Fish let out a long sigh of relief.

"Come on, let’s find the others. They should be nearby."

Long Ming led Cloud Fish out of the building.

Before they got far, he saw Johnny huddled behind a trash can in an alley, repeatedly calling out in a low voice.

"Long Ming, where are you?"

Long Ming couldn’t help but chuckle. He walked up behind Johnny and clapped him on the shoulder!

"Who’s there?!"

Johnny jumped in fright.

"Don’t be nervous. It’s me,"

Long Ming said with a laugh.

"Damn, are you trying to give me a heart attack? You don’t make a sound when you walk."

Johnny grumbled at Long Ming irritably.

"Let’s go. We still need to find Xiaoqi and Tang Yue."

Long Ming led the two of them to search the nearby area.

Meanwhile, Xiaoqi and Tang Yue were together, huddled in a room. Even though the main force entering this time was on their side, there were still plenty of independent players.

’If we run into independent players right at the start, we’re done for!’

"Sister Qi, are you sure it’s okay for us to hide? Will Mr. Long Ming be able to find us?"

Tang Yue asked, a little worried.

"Don’t worry, it’ll be fine."

Xiaoqi had complete faith in Long Ming.

Just then, a faint noise came from outside. Tang Yue immediately spoke, her voice tense.

"Sister Qi, someone’s sneaking in. It sounds like more than one person!"

"Stay hidden and don’t make a sound."

Xiaoqi pulled out an automatic pistol, preparing for the worst.

Normally, the Rat Group didn’t carry weapons. But since this was a private job, Xiaoqi had brought a pistol for self-defense.

"Stop hiding. Come on out."

Just then, a familiar voice came from the doorway.

Xiaoqi and Tang Yue froze for a moment, then joyfully pushed open the cabinet door and shouted.

"Don’t shoot, it’s us!"

"I know."

Long Ming walked in, leading Johnny and the other.

"How did you know?"

Xiaoqi looked at Long Ming curiously.

"We’re a team, and we spawned close together, so we wouldn’t normally be scattered far apart. Second, it’s very dusty here, and you left footprints. Judging by the size, they match both of your shoes."

Long Ming explained succinctly.

"Wow, Mr. Long Ming, you’re amazing!"

Tang Yue gazed at Long Ming with adoration.

"It was nothing,"

Long Ming replied calmly.

BANG BANG~

Just then, the sound of gunfire started to come from outside.

Xiaoqi glanced over her shoulder and said to Long Ming,

"It sounds like the fighting has started outside. What should we do now?"

"We need to find a vehicle to get to the observatory. If we’re late, we won’t make it. By the way, do any of you know how to fix cars?"

Long Ming asked Xiaoqi and the others.

"Is that all? I can do that!"

Johnny said, puffing out his chest.

"That makes things simple. We’ll look for a repair shop nearby. Too many people have been going for the observatory lately, so it’ll probably be hard to find a vehicle in one piece."

Seeing that Johnny knew how to fix cars, Long Ming led them away.

「A moment later.」

Long Ming’s group of five was weaving through the alleys between residential buildings when they ran straight into a male independent player.

When he saw Long Ming’s group of five, he quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"Don’t kill me! I’m just a rat sneaking in to scavenge. If you don’t believe me, you can check my backpack. I’m not carrying any decent weapons."

Xiaoqi and the others all looked to Long Ming.

Long Ming looked him up and down, then raised his hand and waved.

"Go on."

"Thank you."

The independent player quickly turned and ran back the way he came.

Long Ming’s group continued onward. Before long, they emerged from the alley onto a street.

Just then, they saw two independent players burst out of an alley across the street in a panic.

BANG~

A series of gunshots rang out, and the two independent players were killed instantly.

Long Ming raised his automatic rifle, locking his sights on the mouth of the alley.

Just then, five players wearing Moon Wave Guild armbands rushed out from the alley opposite them.

They were also startled to see Long Ming’s group. Just as they were about to raise their guns to attack, their captain quickly shouted to his team.

"They’re from the Star Wish Guild! Don’t shoot!"

Long Ming lowered his own gun as well.

The Moon Wave player then said to Long Ming,

"Hey brother, we’ve cleared this area. No enemies left."

"Got it."

Long Ming nodded in acknowledgment.

"We’re leaving."

The Moon Wave Guild players turned and left.

"Long Ming, don’t tell me we spawned in the same area as the Moon Wave Guild players,"

Xiaoqi asked, a little curious.

"Not sure. Let’s not worry about them for now. They won’t attack us anyway. Let’s go find a car."

Long Ming led them along the street to continue their search.

.....

「Over two hours later.」

Long Ming’s group stood on the street, expressions of helplessness on their faces.

They had been searching for ages and found nothing. Either that, or someone had beaten them to it.