Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1292 - 46 Task 3 (1st Update)

Chapter 1292: Chapter 46 Task 3 (1st Update)

Brilliant starry sky, refreshing night wind, brushing against the skin as if touched by a lover’s gentle hands—it was a perfect night for stargazing with a beloved.

Tang Zheng felt not a shred of happiness. Song Xin’s corpse lay among the rotting fallen leaves, smeared with soil, pale from the loss of blood. A large hole gaped in her chest, the skin and flesh peeled back, her heart gouged out.

Tang Zheng stopped walking, averted his gaze, unable to bear the sight, as memories from middle school involuntarily flashed through his mind.

Song Xin, cheeks slightly flushed, shyly asking him to hand in his homework—Tang Zheng thought she was just too shy. He didn’t realize those were the moments she most looked forward to, the happiest times of her day.

Tang Zheng was Song Xin’s first love; there was no sweetness, only a girl’s anxious sorrow and bitterness. He was always engulfed in his own world, unaware that a girl was dreaming of him at midnight, unable to stop herself.

"Let’s not go there, let him be alone!" Lin Weiguo stopped Teng Yuangxiang and Pang Meiqin with a sigh.

"He’s not going to resurrect her, right? Healing abilities are useful but her strength is too weak, she might just die in the next round again." Teng Yuangxiang was heavily burdened, feeling a tinge of jealousy toward Song Xin—she felt Tang Zheng wouldn’t show such an expression if she died.

"Tang Zheng belongs to me!" clutched a tree trunk, Pang Meiqin forcefully ripped off a chunk, her lips whitening; she despised those lingering women.

Qin Yan, expressionless—as a clone, she did not share the original body’s affection for Tang Zheng; she felt nothing for him, her only thought was to gain freedom quickly.

"Jing Lan, Dong Tao, come and take one last look at Song Xin!" Tang Zheng exhaled deeply as if drawing in all the world’s sorrow, his brow furrowed with dense, unrelenting melancholy.

"Don’t dwell on it too much, life and death are predestined. Song Xin also confided in me privately, she was psychologically prepared, just sad not to have been able to help you!" Jing Lan, with tears streaming, tried to console Tang Zheng.

Facing this death game, Jing Lan was also scared but always tried to appear composed because Tang Zheng treated them as friends; they didn’t want to burden him further.

"Are you going to resurrect Song Xin?" Zhao Dongtao, troubled and frustrated, asked—for he was quite familiar with these basic rules.

"Dong Tao, what are you talking about? Ten thousand points are hard for Tang Zheng to acquire!" Jing Lan thought of her own pitiful score, feeling helpless.

Tang Zheng fell silent, unsure how to reply. Upon hearing of Song Xin’s death, his first thought was to resurrect her. If he survived this round, he would have amassed ten thousand points, but was it the right thing to do? Given Song Xin’s nature, she wasn’t cut out for this cruel game and would likely soon face death again.

"If I die, never resurrect me, or I’ll break your nose!" Zhao Dongtao punched Tang Zheng in the chest, pushing him next to Song Xin, "I don’t want to die twice; this game is too hard for us!"

"You shouldn’t lose heart!" Tang Zheng tried to speak further but was interrupted by Zhao Dongtao.

"Enough, tidy up her remains, do it yourself!" Zhao Dongtao took out an engineer shovel and started digging a hole in the tree forest.

Seeing Tang Zheng’s profile, Tao Ran felt heartbroken, wanting to offer some words of comfort but unsure of his standpoint.

"Let’s dig a grave too, and bury our alumni!" Sun Jingshan suggested, but he was met with silence; no one responded, everyone was too exhausted, unwilling to expend energy on classmates they barely spoke to.

Sun Jingshan didn’t insist. He asked Lin Weiguo for an iron shovel and began to dig on his own.

"Don’t waste your effort; you should conserve your energy. If your classmates were alive, they wouldn’t want you wasting energy on this." Zhao Yunwu was tactful, his words comforting like a spring breeze, winning the favor of his classmates.

Sun Jingshan’s actions were too conspicuous, as if condemning their apathy, so even though he was brave, it didn’t shield him from the resentment and hostility of his peers—this was the consequence of not fitting in.

Sun Jingshan wasn’t a stubborn man and realized something was amiss, but people like him are hard to change; a beating might work better.

"Group Leader, about earlier..." Sun Jingshan decided to report about the female streamer running toward the newbies, attracting the boss’s attack, which could have potentially spared some of their classmates.

"Are you hungry?" Zhao Yunwu covered Sun Jingshan’s mouth and started dragging him to the side.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Sun Jingshan struggled, glaring discontentedly at Zhao Yunwu.

The Conquerors’ gazes swept over, particularly Ruan Feifei, who looked almost murderous, her face ice-cold.

"Sorry, we’ll keep it down!" Zhao Yunwu said with a smile, then he lifted his knee and hit Sun Jingshan in the lower back, leaning into his ear, "Do you want to die? Don’t drag us down, okay?"

"Bullshit, I don’t want to die. I just want the group leader to restrain that female anchor; otherwise, we’ll eventually get killed!" Sun Jingshan was indignant and tried to find Tang Zheng but got caught and thrown to the ground by an infuriated Zhao Yunwu.

"What are you? Do you think Tang Zheng would offend his confidants for you? Even if he warns verbally, it’s meaningless. Instead, it will make the Conquerors hold a grudge. If they play tricks later, we’re definitely dead." Zhao Yunwu, frustrated at Sun’s naivety, lectured his teammate.

Zhao Yunwu said this mainly to curry favor—those newbies who had survived this long must have decent luck and strength, and might be useful someday. Better safe than sorry. Of course, he was also looking out for Sun Jingshan, but this guy was too naive, probably having read too many stories about Lei Feng and Superman as a kid, messing up his brain into thinking he was some kind of justice warrior, not considering the actual situation?

But, aptly utilized, such a person could be a perfect meat shield. Zhao Yunwu, with his arm around Sun Jingshan’s shoulders, lamented their struggle while inwardly scheming on how to maximize the use of Sun’s remaining value.

Bai Guo was too foolish, and Xu Biyun nonchalant, thus they couldn’t see through it, but for Dantai and Teng Yuanxiang, they pinpointed Zhao Yunwu’s intentions immediately but chose not to help. Such a person was too unreliable—they’d rather choose Sun Jingshan.

"What do we do next?" Tang Zheng dug a pit, the group could only stand around with him, Teng Yuanxiang sneered, "Game over?"

"Delusional, Little Red Riding Hood isn’t final boss material." Pang Meiqin glared at her, took out a sleeping bag, and quickly lied down for a nap.

"We should distribute the spoils of war!" Mu Nianqi treated Ge Cang’s wounds, "Then find a nearby campsite to sleep."

Tang Zheng shared the attributes of the three pieces of equipment to everyone’s wristwatches, immediately arousing the clones’ envy. Their equipments were exact replicas of the originals; thus, they would never have extra pieces, particularly for unique items such as the Bug Heart or the limited edition Hellfire, which the clone Tang Zheng lacked.

"Give the Shadow Cloak to Tang Zheng. He’s the strongest, and even against an agile boss, he can keep up," Teng Yuanxiang requested equipment for Tang Zheng, though she had her own calculations—others wouldn’t help her in moments of crisis.

No one objected, with Tang Zheng’s contribution, he deserved even the White Ivory and Ebony Incense, but with the Devil Flame Pistol, he didn’t need them.

"Give those shoes to Lu Fan." Ruan Feifei suggested, finally putting away her arrogance, trying to start with Little Lolita and earn some friendship.

"Thank you!" Lu Fan sweetly dimpled, without refusing.

Everyone knew of Tang Zheng’s favoritism towards Lu Fan. Besides, the shoes were too small for anyone but her, so naturally, no one would object.

As for the Dual Guns, no one spoke up. The clones wanted to fight for their companion but didn’t want to arouse Tang Zheng’s suspicion. Pang Meiqin and Lin Weiguo harbored doubts about the team but weren’t sure and dared not rashly speak out, fearing they might inadvertently aid the enemy.

Ruan Feifei’s lips moved slightly; she really wanted them but couldn’t bring herself to ask. As for Jing Xiang and Teng Yuanxiang, these peripheral figures, they simply weren’t qualified to share.

"Give them to Fanfan. Qin Yan, Brother Lin, and Ai Yixin are all meat shields and close-combat fighters, they should get SS level or higher cold weapons. Lu Fan, Xin Lan, Ruan Feifei are long-range support, even with a handgun, it won’t hinder their attack..." Gu Xueqi didn’t want to passively wait, so she initiated the conversation, detailing everyone’s role while sneakily watching her teammates’ expressions.

"That makes sense. Besides, Fanfan also got the shoes. With the Dual Guns, she can be as sharp as Little Red Riding Hood." Dantai, logically also a long-range fighter, got excluded from the discussion by Pang Meiqin, arguing that even if Little Lolita was fake, the threat was minimal. But swapping for Dantai would be too dangerous, naturally, restricting their equipment as much as possible.

All eyes turned to Tang Zheng, waiting for his decision.

"Give them!" Tang Zheng tossed the Dual Guns to Lu Fan, who giggled like a fox that had succeeded in stealing cream and, with a leap, clung to him like a koala.

"I knew uncle likes me the best!" Lu Fan planted a kiss on Tang Zheng’s lips.

Tang Zheng patted Little Lolita’s hair, though his eyebrows twitched imperceptibly. After a moment of sentimentality, he finally began to confront the team’s crisis.

"Stage three mission begins. Please, survivors, enter the Teleportation Gate and proceed to Cinderella’s home. Try your best to fulfill her every request and let her marry the Prince. If you fail, the entire team will face execution as punishment."

As the Trojan announced, a three-meter-tall castle gate appeared. With the clanking sounds of iron chains, the drawbridge lowered, and the massive gate rose.

"True to a grand cleansing scene, they really aren’t leaving us any way out," Xu Biyun deflated like a frostbitten eggplant.

"Don’t just stand there, let’s go!" Teng Yuanxiang knew her role—to do some of the dirty work Tang Zheng couldn’t handle, and thus she actively herded the newbies to scout ahead.

The newbies naturally hesitated, but one unfortunate student close to Teng Little Three got slapped harshly twice. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote and leave a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)