Chapter 166: Resentment on Campus
Lin Huai curled her lips into a faint smile and nodded. “Yes, we still need to cooperate with them first.”
“As for breaking off that partnership, I expect that will only happen at the very end. The closer we get to the final stretch of the road, the more vital their information will become. Since both sides are using each other, our goal is naturally to squeeze out the greatest possible benefit.”
At noon the following day, a transit town materialized ahead, and the players merged into its streets.
Although Lin Huai preferred to keep a low profile, her newly upgraded spirit carriage and the intimidating spectacle of four towering ghosts carrying the Star Coffin made that completely impossible.
The moment her vehicle crossed into the settlement, an enormous uproar erupted across the public channels. Survivors stopped addressing her as Boss Bone Ash; instead, they referred to her directly as the Ghost King Herself, or Boss Ghost King.
The district selected for this merger was another minor sub-zone. Surprisingly, the opposing group did not surrender immediately, which delighted Sister Cai to no end.
However, the newcomers merely wanted to test their mettle against the server’s number one territory; they had no desire to throw their lives away. After a brief, disciplined sparring match, the integration proceeded smoothly without unnecessary bloodshed.
This time, Old Hei was not being sabotaged by rival handlers, so he remained in high spirits and quite generous, awarding every merged survivor a Guiyuan Pill as a welcome bonus.
As the undisputed leader, Lin Huai naturally needed to show goodwill toward her new constituents. Having amassed a staggering fortune, she lacked many things, but underworld currency was definitely not one of them.
She dropped a massive red envelope of underworld coins into the main lobby to welcome the newcomers.
The players from the absorbed sector were moved almost to tears. They had never encountered such a generous system handler, nor had they ever dreamed of having such an open-handed district leader.
Even their former rank-one powerhouse grew excited, happily accepting an invitation to join the Elite Guild.
Back on the highway, a suffocating wall of white fog continued to drape over the asphalt, and the treacherous terrain showed no signs of easing. Even with Lin Huai distributing specialized supplies and route warnings, players in the general pool still died at a frightening pace.
The fog itself was manageable with the proper lights, but the near-zero visibility caused disoriented drivers to veer off the shoulders and plunge straight into the river, resulting in heavy casualties day after day.
Just as Lin Huai had predicted, their sector was forced through two full mergers before the month reached its conclusion.
After the second consolidation settled, the month drew to a close, signaling the arrival of the scheduled ten-zone joint instance.
Perhaps because the survival game had officially entered its mid-stage, or perhaps because Old Hei had already shown his hand and stopped bothering with secrecy, the handler began sharing tactical intelligence with Lin Huai with complete candor. She no longer had to offer crystal bribes; he simply handed her the details outright.
“The trial opens at two in the morning. Don’t go to sleep.”
“The ten districts drawn for this bracket are all minor secondary zones. The selection was screened against the higher-tier brackets, meaning you won’t bump into any of the top fifty districts on the global server. Just go in and fight with confidence.”
Once Old Hei finished briefing her on everything his clearance allowed, Lin Huai immediately relayed the notes to the Elite Squad.
However, starting from this particular trial, her personal foresight began to run dry.
In her past life, it was during this exact month—just hours before the ten-district joint instance opened—that Chen Feng and Su Wan had stolen her coffin. Stripped of her primary vehicle and core equipment, she had been forced to enter the trial alongside a ragtag team of strangers.
She had plunged into the trial hoping to track down the thieves and reclaim her vehicle, but she was nearly butchered inside, barely escaping with her life by triggering an emergency forced logout.
After fleeing the instance, she had immediately used a transfer pass to flee Sector 888, changing districts entirely.
Consequently, she had barely explored this particular instance and remembered virtually nothing about its layouts or mechanics.
She had avoided signing up for any of the higher-tier trials that followed…
Looking back on those bitter days, Lin Huai felt only a quiet trace of melancholy. The hatred and resentment that once consumed her heart had burned away the day Chen Feng died. Her only real regret was that she hadn’t participated in more high-level instances back then; now, her advantage of future knowledge was nearly exhausted.
Because of this, she felt even more strongly that establishing a tactical truce with Master Yun Ya and his faction was an absolute necessity.
Her memories of the future were fading, but Master Yun Ya, having held the number one rank in her previous timeline, unquestionably possessed far more comprehensive knowledge about the late-game trials than she did.
After Lin Huai finished briefing her squadmates, all twelve members signed the registration sheet.
This trial was structured as an open team instance, permitting squads ranging from a minimum of two to a maximum of thirty players.
The Elite Squad, fielding exactly twelve members, registered together as a unified party. When the teleportation array flared with blinding light and faded away, the crisp voice of the trial’s assigned system handler resonated through the air.
It was a deep, formal male voice, carrying a stern, mechanical stiffness in every syllable:
“Welcome, survivors, to the storyline trial: Resentful Campus. I am Desolate, the dedicated system handler assigned to oversee this instance.”
“The trial clearance conditions are as follows: player squads must advance beyond the main school gate and resolve the tasks assigned by the faculty and staff. The first party to complete three assignments and secure formal commendation from the school principal will be awarded the highest point multiplier.”
“Final team rankings will be determined strictly by cumulative points.”
“Regarding all unspecified parameters, survivors are expected to investigate independently. All final rights of interpretation remain with the survival game system.”
“Following three chimes of the school bell, the front gates will open, and the instance will officially begin!”
Desolate’s broadcast clicked off, yet Lin Huai stood completely frozen.
It was only when the Young Miss tugged gently on her sleeve that Lin Huai snapped out of her daze.
The Young Miss tilted her head, looking at her with concern. “Boss, what’s wrong? The gates just opened. I called your name twice, but you didn’t answer.”
Lin Huai murmured under her breath, “Desolate… Desolate is the exclusive system handler for Sector 888 in District 88…”
The moment those words left her mouth, every member of the Elite Squad froze in their tracks.
Old Wang’s brow furrowed tightly. “From Sector 888? Then we’re in serious trouble. Our Zone 444 and Sector 888 are mortal enemies! This Desolate handler isn’t going to rig the trial to wipe out every Zone 444 player inside, is he?”
Sister Cai slammed a clenched fist into her open palm, her teeth gritted. “Those scoundrels were shameless enough to ambush our boss in the arena! None of the managers from that sector are good people. It’s entirely possible he wants to sabotage us.”
Fastest Hand at SF Express shifted nervously on his feet. “Should we just trigger a forced logout and forfeit the trial before things get ugly?”
Lin Huai shook her head, her expression deadly serious. “From what I know of him, Desolate is an extremely principled handler. He executes every task by the book. While he provides legitimate structural support to his assigned rank-one contender, he has never been the type to discard his baseline morals.”
“Desolate won’t stoop to the petty, vengeful retaliation that the Sphinx handler pulled on us back then. However, he is exceptionally strict and follows protocol to the letter. He issues formal warnings for the slightest infraction, so we must be extremely cautious not to break a single campus rule.”
“If we rack up too many formal strikes, he will penalize us without mercy.”
Hungry Spirit Blue Knight nodded in understanding. “So this handler is the exact polar opposite of our Old Hei.”
Cute and Sparkling chuckled, nodding in agreement. “We’ve grown so used to being wild and unruly under Old Hei’s watch. Suddenly being forced to walk a straight line and play strictly by the rules is going to feel so unnatural…”
Flash Delivery Yellow Knight gave a dry laugh. “Tell me about it. With Old Hei managing things, our whole strategy has always been about finding creative loopholes, taking wild shortcuts, and fishing for hidden mechanics.”
“Forcing us to follow the syllabus step-by-step sounds terribly dull. How are we supposed to hunt for secret rewards like that?”
Dragon Emerging from the Sea possessed the strongest discipline in the group. Hearing the warnings, he simply adjusted his combat rig, turned around, and took long, confident strides toward the wrought-iron school gates.
“Let’s move. We head inside first,” he called out steadily. “It’s just following the rules, isn’t it? That shouldn’t be difficult for a squad like ours.”
“Missing out on hidden bonuses doesn’t matter, as long as we don’t give this Sector 888 handler a single excuse to paint a target on our backs.”
