17: Chapter 17 Old Six Refuses to Allow Any Living Being to Visit

Night had fallen.

Lin Ye was in no hurry to climb the tree.

He pulled out his dagger and walked to another pile of short, thick branches he had collected.

With a flick of his wrist, the blade shaved the surface of the branches, sending wood chips flying.

An hour passed, and one end of dozens of branches had been whittled into sharp spikes.

Lin Ye walked to the base of the giant tree.

Holding a sharpened branch, he inserted it into the soil at a 45-degree angle, pointing outward.

One by one, he created a physical "thorn halo" around the tree roots.

A base wasn't enough.

He pulled over the thorny vine he had brought back during the day.

This thing was covered in hard barbs; a single scratch would leave a bloody wound.

Two or three meters above the ground, he wrapped the thorny vine around the trunk at varying heights to create an "anti-climbing net."

Finally, the old tradition couldn't be forgotten.

He returned to the campfire and skillfully used a branch to rake out the wood ash from the bottom.

He scattered it evenly in a circle around the perimeter of the thorn halo.

After finishing the ground defenses, Lin Ye brushed the ash off his hands.

He grabbed the remaining thorns and hung a pouch of wood ash, wrapped in leaves, around his neck.

Raising his right arm, the Wind-Chasing Claw fired.

"Hummm—"

He returned to his "flat" 20 meters in the air with practiced ease.

Fixing the hook to the main trunk as a safety measure, he straddled a forked branch and slowly felt his way toward the edge of the canopy.

The giant tree's branches and leaves were lush here, and it was inevitable that they would intersect with the branches of neighboring giant trees.

Whenever he found such junctions that could serve as "high-altitude bridges," he wrapped the thorny vines he had brought around them.

Then he opened the leaf pouch and sprinkled a thick layer of wood ash over them.

You have to guard against walking, against geckos, and even more so against high-altitude hurdles.

Having arranged all of this, Lin Ye let out a long breath.

He retreated into the hollow and crawled into his sleeping bag.

Glancing around the pitch-black surroundings, he continued to hold his dagger in a reverse grip against his chest.

"Sleep, time to sleep!"

Listening to the rustling of the wind through the leaves, Lin Ye fell asleep in just a few minutes.

In the Great Xia Live Stream, the night owls staying up late were dumbfounded.

[Damn, this defensive line is insane! Three-dimensional lockdown!]

[Did you see that? This is textbook-level camping!]

[As long as you want to camp, any skill can be a speedrun!]

[Brother Eye's persecution mania is getting more and more serious, but I like it!]

[Learned something new. I'm going to go fence off the greenery downstairs right now to prevent trouble.]

[A true camper never leaves their fate to luck!]

At the commentary desk, Xu Mingyuan nodded repeatedly.

"Lin Ye's caution exceeds my expectations."

"His three-dimensional defense system is a textbook example of risk avoidance."

Night shrouded the Void Sea.

Lin Ye slept soundly.

But for those Challengers who had climbed onto the Level 2 Floating Island today but hadn't found a shelter yet, this night was when the gates of hell had just opened.

Level 1 Floating Islands had scarce resources and few living things; sleeping in the open for a night would at most leave you a bit cold.

But a Level 2 Floating Island was a completely different concept.

As the night grew deeper, those nocturnal creatures began to come out to hunt.

...

India Livestream.

Challenger Ram curled up on a boulder, shivering in his sleeping bag.

In the darkness, an arm-thick centipede crawled up from below.

It stopped beside the sleeping bag, raised its upper body, and opened its mouthparts.

"Hiss—"

A stream of dark green liquid sprayed onto the bottom corner of the sleeping bag.

The fabric was corroded, creating a large hole with wisps of white smoke rising.

The centipede crawled into the hole.

The next second, screams came from inside, and the entire sleeping bag thrashed violently.

It only lasted for a dozen seconds before the livestream screen went black.

The person was gone.

...

South Korea Livestream.

Challenger Park Bu-dong was lucky and found a dry tree hollow before dark.

But he didn't take any defensive measures; he didn't even spread any wood ash.

In the middle of the night, dense swarms of insects crawled out from the soil outside the tree hollow.

They crawled up Park Bu-dong's pant legs.

"Ah—!"

Screams echoed through the jungle.

He frantically slapped his entire body and rushed out of the tree hollow to roll on the ground.

In the end, he saved his life.

But his whole body was bitten until it was a bloody mess.

That tech-enhanced face, more delicate than a woman's, was bitten full of pits and craters.

The South Korea Livestream was filled with wailing.

...

Kangaroo Country Livestream.

Challenger Williams also chose to spend the night in a tree.

He had spread wood ash and set up a few simple traps.

Then he climbed onto a branch a dozen meters high and fell asleep, thinking this wave was absolutely safe.

However, in the middle of the night, a dozen pairs of ghostly green eyes suddenly lit up on the surrounding adjacent tree crowns.

Those creatures stepped on the connected branches and quietly surrounded him.

...

And on Lin Ye's side, uninvited guests had also arrived.

Below the giant tree, a creature resembling a leopard walked out of the bushes.

Its limbs were thick, and its size was a circle larger than a calf.

It raised its head and sniffed the human scent above.

It stopped outside the wood ash line, sniffed, and let out a disdainful snort.

It stepped directly over the ash line and headed straight for the tree roots.

Just as it prepared to jump, its front limbs lifted...

"Pfft!"

The sharp branch inserted obliquely into the soil directly cut its front limb flesh.

"Woo—"

It let out a low growl in pain and quickly retreated two steps.

The leopard-like creature paced anxiously under the tree for half a circle.

It lowered its body, its hind limb muscles tensed.

"Whoosh!"

It leaped up, jumped over the thorn halo at the bottom, and pounced directly toward the tree trunk.

Its front claws popped out, ready to latch onto the tree bark.

"Rip!"

The spikes on the "anti-climbing net" stabbed into its paw pads.

"Woo—"

Under the intense pain, the leopard-like creature couldn't find leverage and fell from mid-air on the spot.

It landed on the sharpened branches below, and its waist was cut with two more bloody wounds.

It rolled away in a sorry state and cast an angry glance at this thorny strange tree.

It was intimidated.

Limping, it turned and walked into the darkness, disappearing.

In the Great Xia Live Stream, those night owls with red eyes were all excited.

[Damn! Defense broken! That guy's defense was broken!]

[Hahahaha! Laughing my ass off! King of jumping, bronze at landing!]

[Leopard: I have never suffered such grievances in my life! Is it wrong to have a late-night snack?]

[The defensive tower got the first kill! Brother Eye is farming wild monsters without taking damage!]

[Demolishing the house downstairs while snoring upstairs, I really admire Brother Eye's sleep quality.]

[Goodnight Brother Eye, goodnight Makka Pakka, see you tomorrow brothers!]

The audience vented their relief after the tension in the bullet comments.

But in the Great Xia Disaster Prevention Administration command center, the atmosphere was completely the opposite.

The hall was brightly lit, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

On the giant screen, the livestreams of the remaining twenty-something Challengers of Great Xia were displayed in real-time.

Among them, seven screens were enlarged separately and pinned by the staff.

These seven people had not found a safe stronghold to spend the night before dark fell.

On the screens:

Someone was curled up in a crack in the rock wall at the edge of the Floating Island, arms crossed, lips purple from cold, shivering uncontrollably.

Someone was holding a torch, waving it in the jungle, hoping to use it to drive away the dangers of the night.

Others were clutching daggers, backs against large trees, nervously observing the surroundings, their tightened nerves on the verge of breaking at any moment.

Every person's face was filled with fear and despair.

Director Wei Tiejun stood in front of the command console.

His gaze swept back and forth between those seven screens, his face livid.

"These guys..."

Wei Tiejun gritted his teeth, his voice filled with anger at their failure to meet expectations, yet mixed with painful helplessness.

"Even if they just dug a hole and buried themselves halfway, it would be better!"

The head of the intelligence team, Zhou Jianping, who was standing to the side, sighed.

"After tonight..."

"Great Xia, how many of these can still survive?"