32: With these, it makes sense!

“An alliance?”

The girl in the tracksuit was full of vigilance towards this guy who suddenly appeared: “The clear-the-dungeon mission requires us to be the sole winner. Sooner or later, we will be at war with each other. Do you think such an ally is trustworthy?”

“An alliance is a means, and the path to that outcome isn’t just ‘trust’.”

The man spread his hands: “There are other paths to choose, for example—interest.”

“You shouldn’t be combat-specialized either, right? And your skill isn’t the type that can enhance NPC combat power.”

He pointed to the furry object in the girl’s hand, whose expression slightly changed, and she instinctively put her hand behind her back.

The girl in the tracksuit was hit where it hurt, but she didn’t want to show weakness easily, so she said: “Then you should be the same.”

“Or rather… anyone who can enter this dungeon shouldn’t possess the ability to affect the balance of combat power.”

The dungeon restrictions were already a huge mess; if someone here had a skill to transform into Ultraman and destroy everything, the girl wouldn’t believe it for a second.

“You’re right.” The man nodded, his expression indifferent: “However, you also said ‘should’.”

“We can’t guarantee that other competitors don’t possess powerful skills, can we?”

“If this game just wants one party to dominate, you can’t do anything about it, can you?”

Hearing this, the girl’s mouth twitched involuntarily. What this person said made so much sense; who knew what this damn game could pull off.

“Not only that, what if someone else is ambushing nearby, waiting for us to fight to the death here before popping out to pick up the spoils… that’s not the outcome I want.”

“So, I propose a ‘temporary alliance’. We both temporarily refrain from attacking each other and share the water source in the Green Oasis.”

“Moreover, if a third party appears nearby, we can unite to deal with the latecomers.”

“Anyway, neither of our skills can boost NPC combat power, so for each other, we’ll always be easier to deal with than other people, right?”

The man’s words sounded reasonable, making the girl waver.

And… she really didn’t have the ability to wipe out everyone in one fell swoop and occupy the Green Oasis.

Thinking this way, an alliance was indeed a good choice.

“Alright, then let’s do as you say.”

The girl in the tracksuit accepted the other party’s proposal and introduced herself: “My name is Jin Yu. My skill is controlling rodent animals, which I can use for reconnaissance and vigilance.”

“Your skill is very suitable for this dungeon. It’s my gain to have you as an ally.”

The man smiled and extended his hand: “My name is Xiao Xi. I hope we cooperate happily!”

While the two Raidersreached an agreement, the other two Green Oases also welcomed other people.

After several hours of arduous trekking, the Giant Camel Tribe also reached its destination.

A lake-sized Green Oasis was enough for a hundred NPC Warriors to replenish their lost water.

Feeling the nourishment of the Water of Life, the middle-aged man, who had been exposed to the sun for half a day, also recovered some of his spirit.

“It seems my luck is quite good; I didn’t run into anyone else.”

Since there were three Green Oases and five participants in the dungeon, there was a high probability of running into others if everyone was heading towards a Green Oasis.

If the dungeon wanted to be balanced, making everyone’s positions and distances similar, then the three Green Oases would likely have a 2-2-1 distribution of people.

Of course, if the damn game wanted to cause trouble, it wasn’t impossible to forcibly change the distances and make the personnel distribution 3-1-1 or 5-0-0.

But he hadn’t encountered any enemies at this point, so it didn’t seem to be the worst-case scenario.

The middle-aged man pondered the current situation while resting.

He hadn’t met anyone else, but the possibility of others colliding was very high.

If they fought first, that would be best. He wouldn’t have to lift a finger and would reduce the number of competitors. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

But if they didn’t fight and joined forces, he, being alone, might be in danger.

Although such a situation was possible, he wasn’t too worried.

After all, the Desert is so vast; it took several hours just to find a Green Oasis. I’m squatting here, and you’re going to cross mountains and valleys to come after me?

Don’t forget that NPCs have status settings. If you walk for several hours, aren’t you thirsty and tired? I don’t believe I, at full strength, can’t beat an opponent whose attributes have been weakened!

He confidently arranged for vigilance personnel, and then, as the sun gradually set, he shivered.

The Desert nights are very cold.

Because sand has a small specific heat capacity, it basically has no heat retention ability, and heat dissipates quickly after leaving the sun’s furnace.

The skilled NPCs set up animal skin tents, letting the furry warmth bring them a bit of warmth.

Even so, the Raiderswere still depressed by the extreme day-night temperature difference, greatly missing the heating and air conditioning of modern society.

The middle-aged man barely made it through the night in a pile of animal skins, and then, the next morning, he received a barrage of dungeon notifications—

【XX Warrior is in a state of mild hunger. Strength, Defense, and Agility decreased by 10%】

【XX Warrior is in a state of mild hunger. Strength, Defense, and Agility decreased by 10%】

【XX Warrior…】

Grumble…

【You are in a state of mild hunger. Strength, Defense, and Agility decreased by 10%】

The middle-aged man frowned. He didn’t expect that after the item bar was locked, the Raiderswould also have a ‘hunger and thirst’ setting.

He also remembered that yesterday, the NPC assistant said that everyone carried a single serving of drinking water.

But the NPC didn’t say whether they brought dry rations!

Undoubtedly, it was another trick by the damn game, intentionally making people only pay attention to the water source and ignore the food problem.

The middle-aged man quickly called his assistant to inquire about food, receiving a headache-inducing answer:

The dry rations carried by the Warriors were eaten yesterday, and they need to find a way to get food today.

The dungeon did not favor one over the other; every Raidersfaced the food problem.

Although there were plants and fruits in the Green Oasis, in front of hundreds of Warriors, they would be picked clean in just a few meals.

Search for prey nearby? Or are there other ways?

Everyone fell into new troubles.

“Hiss, it seems I’ll have to buy some mental strength potions after I get out.”

Cheng Zhen lifted the animal skin blanket and rubbed his head.

He had used his skill too many times yesterday, consuming too much mental energy, which gave him a headache.

He raised his hand to turn off the gas stove beside him, sweating quite a bit because of the heat.

Yes, that’s right, he got a gas stove from the APP.

Since 【Chinese Food on the Tongue】 was an advertisement for a noodle shop, wasn’t it reasonable to have a kitchen?

Since there was a kitchen, wasn’t it also reasonable to have a gas stove that could light a fire?

Thus, after losing the waiter for a hundred bowls of noodles, the chef also lost his stove.

Now these two were looking at the empty surroundings on the APP’s advertisement page, their faces full of doubt about life.

“Leader!”

A Kun Duo, seeing Cheng Zhen awake, saluted him: “Last night, the Warriors caught two wild camels. How should we deal with them?”

“Camels?” Cheng Zhen’s spirits immediately lifted. He had never ridden a camel before and wondered if he could try riding one for fun.

“Yes, that’s right, but one broke its leg during capture, so maybe…”

“Then slaughter that one and roast it.” Cheng Zhen waved his hand casually. He heard that camel meat tasted good, so he might as well try it.

“Yes, Leader.”

A Kun Duo was a tiny bit downcast, thinking that he wouldn’t get to eat such delicious food as yesterday.

Unexpectedly, when it was time to eat, the same rich aroma as yesterday emerged again, making the Tribe Warriors so happy they almost bubbled.

A Kun Duo slurped his noodles wildly, wondering why the Leader seemed more interested in camel meat? His expression while eating noodles was even a bit… bland?

It must be a delusion, right? How could the Leader not like such delicious food!

In fact—

Cheng Zhen: _(:з」∠)_ How many more meals of noodles do I have to eat? I’m tired of them!

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Raiders1: Climbed sand dunes for hours, exhausted.

Cheng Zhen: Slept comfortably all afternoon.

Raiders2: Shivering from the cold Desert night.

Cheng Zhen: Hiss, this stove made me sweat.

Raiders3: I’m starving myself, how can I feed so many people!

Cheng Zhen: Tired of beef noodles, can something else refresh?