78: Chapter 78: Punishment Takes Effect and Extreme Cold Warning

[Scarlet Hunt ranking rewards distribution completed.]

[Beginning execution of the minimum point penalty.]

The livestreams of various countries, which were previously full of celebrations, saw their bullet chats freeze for half a second.

[List of Challengers who failed to reach the minimum points announced.]

[Cactus Country Challenger: Marco, Points: 0.]

[India Challenger: Nehru, Points: 6.]

[Thousand Lakes Country Challenger: Van der Meer, Points: 9.]

One unfamiliar name after another scrolled across the light screen.

These were all people who had chosen to bury themselves in a blind spot from the moment the Scarlet Hunt began.

[Mandatory punishment is now in effect.]

[Punishment details: Challengers who failed to reach the minimum points will continuously emit high-intensity provocative beast pheromones.]

[Duration: 48 hours.]

[This pheromone will exert a strong attraction and distance-ignoring attack induction on mutated beasts and Pale Species.]

[Wishing all Challengers continued survival.]

Zhao Mengmeng stared at the light screen and directly blurted out a curse.

"This punishment is basically hanging them from lamp posts."

Lin Ye tested the newly equipped Dark Weaver on his right forearm; the metal mechanism emitted a faint clicking sound.

"It's fair."

"If you hide in a dog hole and don't work, you have to serve as bait for the living."

The system's global broadcast did not stop.

[Important environmental warning.]

[Level 3 Floating Island and above regions are about to enter an Extreme Cold Period.]

[Over the next week, the temperature in the target regions will continuously drop below freezing, accompanied by large-scale, continuous snowfall.]

[All Challengers, please prepare for insulation, food stockpiling, and shelter reinforcement.]

Lin Ye strode to the window.

The distant gray mist was visibly thickening, and the skyline was being pressed very low.

A cold wind poured through the broken window, carrying a damp chill that pierced straight into the bones.

Zhao Mengmeng tightened her thin jacket around herself.

"Below zero? With just this skin of ours, we'll freeze solid by nightfall."

Lin Ye turned around.

"The waterfall cave is sheltered from the wind, but our current wood reserves won't last more than three days."

"Our food stock isn't enough for both of us to survive the cold period. Once it snows, prey will hide to escape the cold, and the risk of going out to hunt will be too great."

"The biggest problem is the water curtain."

"If the extreme cold causes the waterfall to freeze and seal the entrance, the cave will turn into a giant ice coffin."

Zhao Mengmeng rubbed her arms, which were covered in goosebumps.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get back quickly!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the piercing broadcast voice struck again.

[The third round of airdrop deployment is about to begin.]

[In 2 hours, 50 new Challengers will be randomly selected from Blue Star countries and deployed to the Level 1 to Level 2 peripheral islands of the Void Sea.]

The Great Xia Live Stream erupted.

[Damn it! More than half died in the first two rounds, and they're doing it again?]

[Level 1 and 2 Floating Islands are fine; there's no cold period there, so the newcomers won't have to freeze.]

[Please! Pick some people with brains this time! Definitely don't send another liability like Liu Tingting!]

[Newcomers land with nothing; it all depends on luck.]

Zhao Mengmeng looked at Lin Ye.

"Brother Lin, Great Xia is getting newcomers. Are we going to look out for them?"

Lin Ye slung the crossbow over his shoulder.

"We're like clay Buddhas crossing a river—barely able to save ourselves, let alone all living beings."

"They're on the lower-level islands where it won't freeze, and we can't go down there anyway."

"Let's worry about surviving this week first."

Lin Ye unfastened the old Wind-Chasing Claw from his left arm with one hand and tossed it directly over.

Zhao Mengmeng scrambled to catch it, looking at the scratches on the metal surface.

"You're giving me this second-hand thing?"

"If you don't want it, throw it away."

Zhao Mengmeng immediately slipped the metal piece onto her right arm and tightened the straps.

"Throw it away my ass!"

"I finally don't have to rely entirely on you carrying me while you run!"

Lin Ye glanced at her.

"Practice braking first."

"I don't want to be scraping your shredded meat off a wall in two days."

Zhao Mengmeng's hand trembled, and she cursed 'idiot' under her breath.

The two quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

Aluminum pots and stainless steel basins scavenged from the ruined warehouse were all stuffed into the large hiking backpack on Zhao Mengmeng's back.

Lin Ye walked ahead carrying the fire axe.

The Eye of Destiny's short-frequency scan was activated.

The dust explosion had cleared the nearby mobs, but in the depths of the ruins, there were still eye-piercing red lights wandering in the shadows.

They had to hurry.

The two descended quickly along the broken stairs.

Standing at the gap on the second floor, Zhao Mengmeng raised her right arm, eager to try it out.

She pulled the trigger.

"Clang!"

The grappling hook shot out through the air, but it veered off the intended direction and bit into a section of rusted fire pipe.

She leaped out.

The pipe took the weight and snapped with a 'crack.'

A sensation of weightlessness hit her.

Zhao Mengmeng let out a long string of Sichuan curses as she fell straight toward the concrete ruins on the first floor.

In mid-air, an extremely fine flash of light, barely visible to the naked eye, flickered past.

A Nano-wire silently wrapped around the tactical belt at her waist.

It tightened suddenly.

Zhao Mengmeng stopped half a meter from the ground, swinging back and forth like a plumb bob.

Above, at the broken window on the third floor, Lin Ye's right hand was slightly raised, the mechanism of the Dark Weaver firmly locking the metal wire.

"I told you to learn how to brake first."

The Great Xia Live Stream went wild instantly.

[Mengmeng got the flying claw and almost sacrificed herself on the maiden flight!]

[Brother Eye's Dark Weaver is too OP, it's a forced rescue on a physical level!]

[Talk about carrying someone—fully automatic fall protection!]

With a flick of his wrist, Lin Ye retracted the Nano-wire.

Zhao Mengmeng's feet hit the ground. She rubbed her lower back where it had been squeezed painfully, not daring to say another word of nonsense.

The two quickly evacuated the ruins and ducked into a crack in the mountain wall.

A draft blew through the narrow rock crevice, and the temperature had dropped another notch compared to the morning.

"It's so damn cold." Zhao Mengmeng exhaled a puff of white mist.

Lin Ye quickened his pace.

"The first thing to do when we get back is start a fire, the second is chop wood, and the third is seal the ventilation blind spots."

"What about the fourth?"

"Hunt and skin."

Lin Ye didn't look back.

"We can eat a few bites less meat, but without animal skins for warmth, we definitely won't survive this."

Zhao Mengmeng immediately pulled out her dagger.

"I'll take care of that job!"

As they passed through the primeval forest, the surroundings were abnormally quiet.

The leaves were being whipped violently by the wind.

Small mutated beasts were migrating in groups toward low-lying, hidden areas, leaving messy fresh hoofprints all over the soft, damp mud.

The mutated beasts' perception of extreme cold far exceeded that of humans; they were all frantically scrambling for the last bits of shelter.

Lin Ye suddenly stopped at the edge of the woods.

Thirty meters ahead, behind a thicket, a Short-horned Deer was bowing its head to graze on roots, completely unaware.

He leveled the crossbow.

"Whoosh!"

The wooden bolt accurately pierced the Short-horned Deer's carotid artery.

Just as the Short-horned Deer twitched and fell, Zhao Mengmeng had already darted out from the side, staying low to the ground.

With a turn of her blade, she quickly bled it out.

The entire sequence of movements was executed without any hesitation.

Lin Ye stepped forward, grabbed the antlers with one hand, and hoisted the prey directly onto his shoulder.

This was a prey with extremely low pollution; the meat was edible, and the fur was intact.

This was their first piece of winter survival material.

The two braved the strong winds to pass through the water curtain and landed back in the cave behind the waterfall.

A faint ember still remained in the fire pit.

The moisture-proof racks, dried meat slabs, and the stone-built defensive line were all intact.

Zhao Mengmeng dropped the heavy hiking bag on the ground and slid down against the rock wall to sit.

"Finally back. My legs are about to break."

Lin Ye tossed the deer carcass onto the ground and looked out of the cave.

"From now on, all our time will be spent preparing for winter."