C10 Blood Battle Corner Kui(1)

After driving nearly 50 kilometers, the truck came to a halt on a gentle slope. The man with the scarred face, gasping for breath, clambered down from the driver's seat. He urgently needed to tend to the wound on his thigh. The encroaching dizziness was a clear sign he had lost too much blood. Without stopping the bleeding and getting some nutrition soon, he wouldn't last much longer. As for the soldier, he was written off as dead on the roadside; no one could survive being dragged for nearly a hundred kilometers. The thought alone made the scarred man shudder with fear.

Propped up against the vehicle, he tore at his pants to bandage the wound when, out of nowhere, a hand shot out from under the truck and seized his ankle. Startled, he reached for his pistol, but a sudden force yanked him under the vehicle...

Chen Ye emerged from beneath the truck, panting heavily. His military uniform was in tatters. He tore it off and opened his right palm to reveal a white box, the size of a ping pong ball, glowing with a soft white light. He had found it on the body of the scarred man after killing him and couldn't resist touching it.

White Treasure Chest: 70% chance of white quality items; 20% chance of blue quality items; 1% chance of green quality items; 9% chance of an additional item.

Upon opening the white treasure chest, you receive a Basic Skill Upgrade Potion x1 and a Dog Leg Blade as a bonus.

Chen Ye's eyes sparkled with excitement. He hadn't expected to find supplies this way in such a world. Though they were only white quality items, they were incredibly useful to him at the moment. He immediately consumed the Basic Skill Upgrade Potion, elevating his fully mastered Basic Physique (D) to level C.

Dog Leg Blade: White quality, Nepalese Military Blade, also known as "Big White Dog Leg," ideal for hacking and slashing, with a sharpness value of 15.

[Main Mission Two: Smuggling Gang] (Completed). Secured 3 out of 5 contraband items. Based on their value and your combat performance, you've earned 30 Buddha Points. With four people slaughtered, you've gained 4 kill points. The world's evaluation of you has increased, unlocking the faction exchange. For details, please visit the military supply officer.

[Main Mission Three: Murat's Revenge — You have killed the loved ones of the drug lord Murat, and he is enraged. He has rallied all his armed forces to seek vengeance on your unit. If the inspection station's center is captured, the mission will be deemed a failure, and the world's opinion of you will plummet. Please prepare immediately.]

[Side Mission Four: Red Scorpion — To throw your plans into disarray, Murat has paid a hefty sum to the notorious mercenary group Red Scorpion to assassinate the soldiers at your station. There are 42 soldiers remaining, and they are all targets. A 48-hour countdown has begun. At the end of the countdown, rewards will be given based on the number of survivors. Ensure that at least ten members of your faction, including yourself, survive; failure to do so will result in mission failure.

Chen Ye's brow furrowed as a cascade of prompts appeared. The sense of violence in this world was intensifying. He barely had time to recoil from the stench of bloodshed before realizing his main issue: he wasn't at the inspection station and couldn't influence the mission's outcome.

Chen Ye started rummaging through the truck, looking for anything useful. To his relief, he found a map of Suttrie Mount, bolstering his confidence in navigating his way back.

"It's narcotics, that explains the fierce resistance," Chen Ye discovered as he uncovered a large stash of drugs in the cargo hold. While smuggling cigarettes or wildlife products might result in fines and jail time, drug trafficking was met with execution upon discovery. No wonder the smugglers were so desperate.

Digging deeper into the cargo hold, Chen Ye stumbled upon a securely sealed crate. He pried the lock open with his crowbar, and as he lifted the lid, a collection of antique items came into view. These people were involved in more than just drug smuggling; they were trafficking in cultural relics with profits as staggering as they were illicit.

Chen Ye inspected each relic carefully, his investigative skills making his eyes shine with anticipation.

Gold Buddha: A gold artifact, transportable from this world, valued at 10 creation nuclei.

Jade Bead: A jade artifact, transportable from this world, valued at 10 creation nuclei.

Bronze Artifact: A standard relic, transportable from this world, valued at 20 creation nuclei.

Though Chen Ye had never encountered creation nuclei before, he surmised they were likely an important currency within the Celestial Tome world. He promptly stowed the sellable relics and artifacts into the Celestial Vault, and then, beneath the crate, he discovered an unusual relic.

This was a palm-sized, round red jade vessel resembling a tea coaster, adorned with an unusual avian totem at its center. The reverse side featured a grimacing shamanic face.

Upon discovering the Secret Realm's activation artifact, the "Blood Mage Jade Scepter," one could use it to unlock the "Blood Mage Secret Cave" and subsequently, it would self-destruct upon leaving this world.

Special Note: Venturing into the Secret Realm can significantly boost the world rating and yield substantial rewards. Moreover, the Secret Realm event is unique to each world, with the difficulty set at one level higher than the current, and the side mission cap decreased by one.

Chen Ye clenched his teeth and gingerly stowed the item in his Celestial Vault, wary of inadvertently activating it. At the moment, he was as vulnerable as one could be—without clothing, medicine, or food. If he were to trigger the entrance to the Secret Realm, facing an even higher difficulty level, he doubted he could survive a minute.

"I should've learned the basics of driving from Little Zhuang," Chen Ye muttered in frustration, giving the large truck a resentful kick. After several attempts, the truck had roared to life, only to stall before he could even get it moving. Lacking the relevant skills wasn't the issue; Chen Ye simply had no clue how to operate this particular vehicle. He might have managed with an automatic car, but this was beyond him.

Chen Ye estimated the distance to the border checkpoint to be roughly 80 kilometers. On foot, with ample supplies, he could make it in 20 hours. Now, he was looking at over 30 hours, minimizing rest to the bare essentials. Even if he made it to the checkpoint, he'd be too drained to defend himself should they come under attack.

With no better options, Chen Ye could only hope the personnel losses wouldn't be too severe by the time he arrived at the checkpoint. Donning the clothes of the man with the scarred face, he set out with determined strides in the right direction.

Intent on making a swift return and in dire need of supplies, Chen Ye navigated through the woods, occasionally hacking a path with his dog-leg knife. After three grueling hours, he stumbled upon a few wild fruits, which were the only reason he could keep going. But the rapid depletion of his energy soon forced him to rest. As his stamina plummeted, he reluctantly consumed some of his precious supplies.

Chen Ye glanced at the scant contents of the Celestial Vault: a lone roast chicken leg and some silver ring snake eggs. With a determined bite, he consumed the chicken leg. He refrained from eating the snake eggs, as their description hinted at additional uses beyond mere sustenance. Besides, a paltry 100 points of stamina replenishment hardly met his current needs.