ATFBETIBM Chapter 645

Their hiding spot was fairly secluded, and after the game started, no monsters had invaded yet.

When Bai Lixin received the [Queen Card], a conspicuous golden crown appeared above the azure lion emblem on his head.

He opened the system, and the panel had changed.

The first thing he saw was his [Personal Honor Attributes]:

[Name: Bai Lixin]

[Honor Coins: 50,000 (Not Usable)]

[Attack Power: 10 (Initial)]

[Defense Value: 10 (Initial)]

[Charisma Value: 10 (Initial)]

[Endurance: 10 (Initial)]

[Luck: -1000 (Initial)]

A question mark slowly appeared in Bai Lixin’s mind.

‘-1000? Are you serious?’

Next was an [Honor Mall] column that had not been there before.

Bai Lixin opened the Honor Mall, and saw that many props were available for exchange.

In the bottom right corner of the Honor Mall, there were a few lines of small text.

[Notes:]

[1. During the [Nationwide – Queen’s Defense Battle], players can no longer redeem props from the Points Mall, and can only use honor coins to exchange for honor props. Props redeemed from the Points Mall before the Queen’s Defense Battle can still be used, but their effects will be halved. For example, the [Substitute Doll] from the Points Mall has the ability to [help players resist one fatal injury]. During the Queen’s Defense Battle, the [Substitute Doll] can only help players withstand 50% of the fatal injury. Players must explore the specific weakening effects of other props on their own.]

[2. Props redeemed from the Honor Mall can achieve 100% effectiveness.]

The Honor Mall was divided into four main categories.

Recovery, Enhancement, Tools, and Props.

The Recovery section listed various recovery potions, with the amount of honor coins required depending on their effectiveness.

The cheapest recovery potion healed minor wounds and cost only 1 honor coin.

There were antidotes, limb regrowth agents, and even anesthetics and painkillers.

In the Enhancement section, there were both short-term and permanent enhancements.

Of course, permanent enhancements required many more honor coins.

Short-term vision enhancement cost 5 honor coins, while permanent enhancement cost 1,000 honor coins.

Bai Lixin quickly skimmed through the props and found that the props in the Honor Mall were also available in the Points Mall, just with a different exchange method.

However, due to the appearance of the new [Honor Mall], the [Points Mall] became less appealing.

For example, the Substitute Doll was also available in the Honor Mall for 500 honor coins, but it had been renamed [Substitute Doll – Honor]. Players could use [Substitute Doll – Honor] three times in one round of the game, but could only use the [Substitute Doll] once.

The [Substitute Doll – Honor] could resist one fatal injury, while the [Substitute Doll] could only withstand 50% of the fatal injury.

This 50% was significant. If the damage reached 300% of one’s life capacity, even if 50% was resisted, it would only offset 150%, and the remaining 150% would still be fatal.

His system inventory was also divided into two sections: the left for honor props and the right for regular props.

The regular inventory was filled with various props, while the honor inventory had only one golden high-end card – the [Queen Card].

The Queen Card had a description:

[Queen Card: With this card, you will become the highest existence in your faction – the Queen.]

[The Queen Card cannot be exchanged and is solely owned by the player.]

[The Queen Card contains 50,000 honor coins, which cannot be used by the Queen. When a round of the game ends, the honor coins will be evenly distributed among the surviving players in the faction.]

[The Queen has an active skill: [Oversee the Whole Situation].]

[[Oversee the Whole Situation] Skill Description: The Queen can view the geographical distribution and number of players in her faction. Skill cooldown time is 1 hour.]

[The Queen has a privilege: [Perfect Ending]. All honor coins obtained through kills belong entirely to the Queen.]

Bai Lixin immediately used the [Oversee the Whole Situation] skill.

As soon as the skill was activated, a 3D transparent map of the tower appeared in his mind.

Tiny green dots densely populated the tower, with most people located on the entertainment floors that appeared every 50 floors.

On their floor, there were about 60 green dots.

Meanwhile, the number of players in the Azure Lion faction appeared in the top right corner: 2,845 people.

With 2,845 people splitting 50,000 honor coins, each person would get 17 honor coins.

“Brother, there’s a crown above your head. Are you the Queen of your faction?” Xia Chi pointed to the crown above Bai Lixin’s head, “That’s expected and within reason.”

The others also nodded in agreement without hesitation.

Everyone was used to this, let alone Bai Lixin himself.

He shrugged helplessly and said calmly, “So, do you guys want to hear information about the Queen identity?”

The others responded in unison, “Yes, of course!”

Bai Lixin shared the details of the Queen Card and Queen skills with the other nine players. “What about the soldiers? Any information?”

Xia Chi: “My emblem is from the Sunlight faction. I have a Soldier Card, which includes 5 usable honor coins. Soldiers can earn honor coins by killing, but they can only obtain 80% of the defeated’s honor coins. Soldiers are loyal to the Queen and can sense the Queen’s position. Soldiers can check the Queen’s location every hour.”

A player with a white moon emblem on his head added, “All soldiers start with 5 honor coins, but the Queen has none. I wonder if the Queen is a monarch or a prisoner.”

Another player with a leaf emblem immediately retorted, “But the Queen has bonuses when killing other players. If a bloodthirsty person gets the Queen Card, they’ll only accumulate more honor coins through killing.”

Xia Chi: “Since we’re on this topic, what are your starting attribute values? All of mine are 10 points. How about you guys?”

The others responded one after another, “Mine are 10 as well.”

“Same here.”

“Same.”

Finally, only Bai Lixin remained silent.

Under the gaze of nine pairs of eyes, Bai Lixin said two words, “The same.”

Xia Chi concluded, “It seems like everyone’s attributes in the Queen’s Defense Battle have become the same. Have our previous abilities been separated? What’s our actual combat power now? Should we test it out?”

White Moon: “I’ll test it with you, but how should we do it?”

Xia Chi: “Arm wrestling?”

White Moon: “…”

Bai Lixin: “You two are both soldiers. According to the rules, soldiers can’t kill soldiers. Try attacking each other with weapons and see what happens.”

Everyone felt that this made sense. Xia Chi took out his usual handgun from his backpack, while White Moon retrieved a short knife.

Just as Xia Chi aimed his gun at White Moon and was about to pull the trigger, a large red prohibition sign immediately covered the system panel, and the system’s warning sound rang out.

[Warning: Soldiers cannot attack soldiers.]

Across from Xia Chi, White Moon’s brows furrowed as he stared at his own hand. His wrist trembled, but he couldn’t move an inch. It was clear that he, too, had received a warning from the system.

The inability for soldiers to attack one another effectively prevented chaos from breaking out.

From this perspective, if a fight were to occur between players, it would definitely involve a [Queen].

Either the soldiers would be attacking the Queen, or the Queen would be attacking the soldiers or another Queen.

It seemed that the [Queen] was at the center of the conflict.

As they continued studying the system, the door of the bar suddenly creaked open.

All the players immediately fell silent, cautiously looking through the gap towards the bar entrance.

The first thing they saw was a distorted shadow. The long, vague figure was cast on the wall, and the slender shadow was covered with countless sharp spikes, making it look nothing like a human.

The shadow on the wall swayed and the sound of something grinding against the door echoed through the bar.

It seemed that some enormous creature was stuck outside, trying to squeeze its way in.

The ten of them were hiding in different booths, each relatively close to the others.

From his vantage point, Xia Chi could see the door through a small gap. His curiosity got the better of him, and when he saw what was trying to push its way in, he felt his heart leap into his throat.

“It’s the Red Spider.”

Xia Chi whispered, his voice low as he informed Bai Lixin and the others.

The Red Spider was a monster from Bai Lixin and Xia Chi’s first copy.

It was spider-like in shape, its body a vivid red, with eight eyes capable of seeing in all directions. An adult Red Spider could grow up to three meters long, and judging by this one’s size, it was obviously fully grown.

For Xia Chi, the Red Spider was his first psychological trauma in the horror game. It wasn’t that the Red Spider’s combat ability was particularly strong, but rather its appearance was simply too much to handle.

When something that should be tiny in your mind is suddenly magnified a hundred times, all of its originally insignificant details become overwhelmingly oppressive and horrifying.

That’s exactly how Xia Chi felt right now.

Looking at the thick fur covering the spider’s hard body, Xia Chi felt his own hair stand on end.

He subconsciously cast a pleading glance at Bai Lixin.

But Bai Lixin only shook his head and pointed to the crown on his head.

Xia Chi: “…”

‘Oh, right.

The [Queen] was powerless against NPCs.’

The sturdy door frame of the bar held fast. After several minutes of trying to squeeze its bloated body through, the Red Spider finally gave up and left, its massive form slowly lumbering away.

Watching the spider’s retreating figure, Xia Chi quietly let out a sigh of relief. When he raised his head again, he saw that Bai Lixin had already laid out several props cards in front of him.

While he was still feeling confused, he saw Bai Lixin pick up an invisibility card.

When Bai Lixin activated it, his figure gradually became transparent in Xia Chi’s eyes.

Bai Lixin: “How is it? Can you still see me?”

Xia Chi: “…Yes. I can still see you quite clearly. You’re like a translucent ghost.”

Bai Lixin thoughtfully put down the invisibility card. “The invisibility effect is halved, and the duration is also reduced by half.”

If the invisibility card couldn’t make one fully invisible, it was essentially useless.

To achieve true invisibility, it seemed he would need to purchase a new honor- invisibility card.

He tried a few other cards as well, all of which had their effects and durations halved.

If that applied to item props, what about weapons?

Bai Lixin took out a white scythe from his backpack.

The white glow around the scythe had dimmed considerably. What used to be a light and nimble weapon now felt heavy and cumbersome in his hands. He couldn’t tell if it was because of his lowered attribute values or if the scythe itself had become heavier—or perhaps both.

He then attempted to pull out a shield to test, but the system immediately issued a warning.

[Due to player attribute restrictions, only one weapon can be used at a time. To increase the number of weapons you can use simultaneously, please improve your attack power.]

Bai Lixin put the scythe back into his backpack and switched to the shield.

The shield was unbearably heavy in his hands, and it hit the ground heavily with a loud “clang”.

Lifting this shield was already a struggle, let alone defending against enemy attacks. The shield was practically useless.

Bai Lixin proceeded to test out several other weapons. The one he was most comfortable with remained the white scythe. Though it was now twice as heavy as before, he could manage it.

After about ten minutes of testing, Bai Lixin had a good grasp of the current state of his props.

His only goal now was simple—survive.

Just as he had this thought, a sudden scream pierced the air beside him.

Bai Lixin turned toward the sound and saw that the player with a rainbow emblem above his head was suddenly contorted in agony. His body began to harden and crack, and then, with a loud bang, he shattered into dust.

The other players were stunned.

“The Queen of his faction was killed?” The player with the leaf emblem couldn’t believe his eyes, shock and sorrow filling his expression. “How is that possible? It’s only been half an hour!”

White Moon emblem: “We can’t stay here any longer. We need to find our own Queens. Surviving on our own is pointless. If our Queen is killed, we’ll die too. I’m leaving first.”

Xia Chi: “What could’ve killed them? Was it a monster or a player?”

“Brother,” Xia Chi suddenly looked up, “Could it be the Little Overlord…”

Bai Lixin: “Without seeing it for ourselves, we can’t be sure.”

Leaf Emblem: “I’m leaving too. God Xin, Xia Chi, if fate allows, let’s meet again. I hope we all make it out alive.”

One by one, their companions left, until only Xia Chi remained.

Bai Lixin: “You should leave too.”

Xia Chi shook his head. “Brother, I’m not leaving. You don’t have any soldiers around you. If you run into an NPC, what will you do? I’ll stay by your side until your soldiers arrive, then I’ll leave.”

As they were talking, the bar door suddenly made a noise.

Xia Chi looked warily and saw three players with azure lion emblems on their heads enter.

The moment they saw Bai Lixin, their eyes lit up, and they rushed to him, panting, “Queen, we’ve finally found you!”

Bai Lixin looked them over; their clothes were damaged to varying degrees, and they had small wounds, indicating they encountered many obstacles on the way to find him.

Just as they finished speaking, the bar door made another noise.

Everyone subconsciously looked toward the entrance.

When they saw who it was, their expressions differed greatly.

The three newly arrived azure lion members were surprised, Bai Lixin frowned, and Xia Chi was shocked.

The newcomer had fiery red hair standing up like flames, his cold and arrogant eyes gleaming red. A trace of blood marked his handsome face.

He held a small meteor hammer, swaggering as he walked into the bar.

On top of his red hair, the conspicuous lion emblem stood out clearly.

The Azure Lion. It turned out that the Little Overlord was also part of the Azure Lion faction.

Blood stained the meteor hammer, though it was unclear whether it belonged to a monster or a player.

The three Azure Lion members were thrilled to see that the newcomer was none other than the top-ranked Little Overlord, Xuan Chishui!

“Great, we’ve got this in the bag now!”

“I can’t believe my luck. Hahaha.”

The Little Overlord approached slowly.

Xia Chi felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy and subconsciously pulled out his gun.

But the Little Overlord ignored Xia Chi completely, heading straight for Bai Lixin. “Heh, I was wondering who my queen was, it turns out to be you, Bai Lixin?”

Seeing this, Xia Chi quickly said, “Stop! Don’t come any closer.”

Only then did the Little Overlord stop, his gaze shifting to Xia Chi, as if noticing him for the first time.

His eyes scanned Xia Chi slowly, finally stopping on the yellow sun emblem above his head, and his eyes immediately became interested.

That look sent a chill down Xia Chi’s spine.

He suddenly recalled a time back in elementary school. During a social practice event, he saw a cold-blooded black snake covered in scales swallow an egg several times its size. The feeling he had then was exactly how he felt now.

“Xia Chi, you can go.” Bai Lixin’s shove pulled Xia Chi out of his distant memories and back to reality. “Go find your queen.”

Xia Chi glanced at Bai Lixin with a complicated expression, then at the Little Overlord. Finally, he gritted his teeth, nodded heavily at Bai Lixin, and rushed out of the bar.

Once Xia Chi was gone, the Little Overlord chuckled. “I remember the emblem on his head. I wonder if I’ll be able to find his queen.”

Bai Lixin: “I don’t know if you’ll find his queen, but you’ve already found yours.”

He pulled a scythe from his backpack. “Before you touch his queen, I can kill you first.”

The other three players turned pale.

“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? We’re all on the same team, let’s talk this out, there’s no need to fight.”

“Exactly, there must be some misunderstanding. Let’s sort this out after the Queen’s Battle is over.”

“Please, don’t mess this up, we’re counting on you.”

They kept pleading, but a meteor hammer suddenly smashed down in front of them.

With a deafening crash, it left a half-meter deep crater in the floor.

“Shut up, you’re annoying,” the Little Overlord said coldly.

The three immediately fell silent.

The Little Overlord raised an eyebrow at Bai Lixin and said, “Do you really think you can kill me like this?”

“I don’t think so either,” Bai Lixin replied, then turned his scythe and brought it to his own neck. “But you can try. Let’s see if your hammer reaches Xia Chi’s queen before my scythe cuts my own throat.”

The Little Overlord’s expression tightened. “You’re going to commit suicide? For a second-rate player like him? I don’t believe you.”

Bai Lixin: “I’m serious. If you don’t believe me, you can try.”

The Little Overlord’s furrowed brow soon relaxed, and he smiled. “Fine, I won’t kill him. For your sake, I’ll let him go this time. You’re quite promiscuous. Your old lover is still lying in a coffin for you, his fate uncertain, and now you’re willing to risk your life for another man.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

The Little Overlord stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from the corner of his lips, “But your taste has really gone downhill. You’re into someone like that now? He’s nothing compared to the guy on the 999th floor. You must be desperate. How about you try me instead?”

Bai Lixin glanced at him. “I’m not interested in virgins.”

The Little Overlord’s face turned red with rage. “You’re looking for death.”

Suddenly, a loud crash came from the doorframe. Bai Lixin looked over and saw that the red spider from before had returned, bringing several others with it.

It hadn’t left; it had gone to find reinforcements.

The spiders bared their fangs, gnawing at the bar’s door frame, their sharp teeth crunching through wood and plaster and sending debris falling to the floor.

The other three players panicked, quickly drawing their weapons and surrounding Bai Lixin.

A meteor hammer was suddenly thrown out. The small hammer head seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, smashing into one spider’s head, causing its brain to burst and its body to collapse.

The Little Overlord swung his weapon casually, and the meteor hammer, as if alive, flew from one spider’s skull to another.

These terrifying monsters were like paper dolls in the Little Overlord’s hands, falling one by one in an instant.

But the Little Tyrant wasn’t satisfied. He continued to pound the spiders’ bodies with his hammer until their blood and limbs splattered everywhere.

Only after reducing the spiders to a pulp did the Little Overlord finally stop and retrieve his meteor hammer.

One of the players glanced at the meteor hammer in his hand and noticed that the sharp spikes still had chunks of red flesh.

He quickly looked away, not daring to look any longer.

Inwardly, he couldn’t help but feel relieved that the Little Overlord was in the same faction as him. If they were in different factions, their lives…

The thought made him shiver uncontrollably.

Bai Lixin: “Your attributes seem pretty high.”

Killing red spiders as if they were tofu—it was impossible if the initial attributes were only 10.

The Little Overlord’s face was streaked with blood, and when he smiled, it was eerie, sending chills down the spine.

He took a deep breath and, with his index and middle fingers, produced a card that Bai Lixin recognized. “I was lucky and ran into a lone queen on the way.”

The three players didn’t even dare to breathe.

Bai Lixin: “What was that queen’s emblem?”

The Little Overlord thought seriously for a moment. “I don’t remember. Who cares, as long as it’s not my emblem.”

Bai Lixin: “You’re so casual about killing, aren’t you afraid of accidentally killing someone from your own guild?”

The Little Overlord sneered, “Those guys? Why should I care about them?”

Bai Lixin: “Aren’t they your companions?”

The Little Overlord replied, “Companions? I, the Little Overlord, don’t need companions. They would only hold me back.”

Bai Lixin: “If they only hold you back, why join the Shentian Guild? You could easily not join any guild.”

The Little Overlord laughed loudly, “Because it’s fun. You have no idea how amusing it was when Nian Suihan knelt in front of me and begged for my help.”

Bai Lixin: “Why did Nian Suihan beg you for help?”

The Little Overlord swung his meteor hammer, flinging off the debris and bloodstains. “Why else? Because he was afraid of dying. Humans are so easy to manipulate—they have limited ability but boundless desires.”

“But you seem different,” the Little Overlord tilted his head, scrutinizing the young man in front of him. “You’re very strong and cunning, yet you don’t seem to have any desires. Bai Lixin, tell me what you want, and I can give it to you.”

Bai Lixin: “I want you to die.”

The Little Overlord’s smile froze.