The Three Realms Thief Chapter 27

All the small characters flashed by.

Immediately after.

New prompts quietly appeared:

“Congratulations.”

“Four consecutive bursts triggered hidden options:”

“When you get the fifth burst, your special reward will be upgraded to rare level.”

“Please get another burst!”

“Start!”

Xu Yuan only glanced at it and then looked away, no longer paying attention.

The battle continued.

And this result could only be said to be expected.

Nothing to think about.

Actually—

In many time-limited game competitions, this is an extremely common strategy.

—Players give up killing small monsters along the way and rush at full speed.

Because killing monsters wastes time, energy, and “mana”.

If you want to reach your destination quickly, not killing monsters is the most basic strategy.

Xu Yuan adopted this combat strategy.

And his combat skill was enough to support this tactic!

As a professional player—

No, it should be said, as the king among professional players, champion of multiple esports competitions and most valuable player—

Xu Yuan’s spatial perception and judgment, millisecond-level reactions and hand speed, dynamic tracking accuracy and gun-following speed, etc., were all world-record level.

The battle developing as he intended was just basic operation.

Of course, if a monster above Foundation Establishment appeared, like that Flood Dragon—

Then no one could do anything.

…

Xinzhou District Subway Station.

The moment Xu Yuan saw everyone, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The ground full of earthworms was certainly a headache.

But the woman with seven or eight long black legs never made a move!

He had exerted his peak competitive state, ready to die in battle.

But the opponent didn’t follow up.

—Was she so sure that one move could kill him?

Truly looking down on people.

Then let her look down.

Please, don’t look up to me.

It’s best to treat me as a small fry and let me go.

Please.

“Is there anything going on?” Xu Yuan asked.

“ID tags and weapons and equipment have all arrived.” Yang Xiaobing pointed to the weapon box next to them.

Xu Yuan’s eyes lit up, and he smiled:

“Finally some good news!”

He walked over, first hung the ID tag around his neck, then took out a submachine gun magazine, and then quickly picked up an anti-material sniper rifle and a pump-action shotgun, all strapped to his personal weapon belt.

With firepower resupplied, a seemingly present sense of security arose in Xu Yuan’s heart.

Firearms did not consume spiritual power.

Just pull the trigger, and they could directly harm monsters below the Foundation Establishment realm.

—Foundation Establishment realm monsters appearing in the exam should not directly attack high school students.

Otherwise, what was the point of this exam?

To see who died in the most tragic way?

No way.

“Whose child is this?”

Zhao Afei asked.

The little boy had long since woken up and was staring at Xu Yuan with a strange look.

—He probably hadn’t expected to be rescued while unconscious.

“A lost child—he’s safe, don’t worry about him for now, give me the walkie-talkie.” Xu Yuan said.

Jiang Xueyao handed him the walkie-talkie.

“Officer Liu, Xu Yuan reporting.”

“Special Action Team Five has completed rest and ammunition replenishment, and is on standby.”

“Please instruct, over.”

Xu Yuan spoke in one breath.

—That’s right, finding lost children is indeed something that should be done.

I did it.

But I won’t say.

“Silent dedication” should be a bonus point.

The walkie-talkie soon rang:

“Xu Yuan, calling Xu Yuan.”

It was an unfamiliar voice.

“This is Xu Yuan, speak.” Xu Yuan said.

“There’s a lost child in the subway tunnel, about 1.4 meters tall, long hair, wearing a red coat and white boots, please search.”

“Once the target is found, please take him to Gulou Street Subway Station, his family is waiting for him there.”

“Over.”

Xu Yuan looked down at the child.

1.4 meters, long hair, red coat, white boots.

It was this child.

Should he take him to Gulou Street Subway Station?

It didn’t seem far from here.

Xu Yuan’s face was still facing the child, but his eyes moved slightly, glancing at the dark tunnel with his peripheral vision.

Monsters—

Did not come.

But he could hear thousands upon thousands of crying sounds coming from the depths of the tunnel.

The voices of men, women, old, young, humans and non-humans, whose origins were unknown, erupted together, roaring like a torrent, accumulating into a terrifying howl that was impossible to resist:

“Who will bring salvation—”

“Salvation salvation salvation salvation—”

“Save me—”

The sound grew louder and louder, becoming more and more unbearable.

It was like a slippery, cold snake, approaching one sound after another, wrapping around people, and bursting with endless wails in their ears.

Almost irresistibly—

A palpable fear arose in Xu Yuan’s heart.

This fear was like a whip with a blade, constantly lashing him, making him almost want to flee.

In his previous life.

As a world champion, he had participated in a variety show, and in that abandoned factory, he had personally seen a non-existent being.

Afterward, he stayed in a Taoist temple for a long time before he got over it.

Was there a Taoist temple in this world?

He seemed to have no place to release his emotions or soothe his soul.

Damn it!

No, calm down, calm down, take a deep breath.

Xu Yuan’s gaze swept over everyone in the subway station.

—Except for the little boy, no one heard, and no one looked into the tunnel.

Not one.

At this moment.

Xu Yuan even completely understood the little boy’s feelings.

If he were in his shoes, being coerced into entering the depths of that tunnel again to deal with that monster—

He would resist to the death!

No.

Can’t stay any longer.

Although this was an exam, even an exam could go wrong.

At first, he had indeed thought it was just an ordinary exam.

But that woman appeared again.

She started to act.

The real key was here—

This artifact could not allow cultivators above the Golden Core stage to descend!

If there were no powerful cultivators guarding them, then this exam would not be so safe.

At this moment, the examinees were like child laborers in 19th-century Britain, hired to clean the narrow, winding chimneys.

Extremely dangerous.

—And in fact, they would get no help.

Although—

That terrifying monster hadn’t done anything yet.

But if it did something, it would be too late!

Must escape.

Immediately! Right now!

“Hey, your family—” Xu Yuan said.

The child almost shrieked:

“I don’t want to go back, please!”

A troubled expression appeared on Xu Yuan’s face. He paced back and forth a few times before picking up the walkie-talkie and saying:

“Searching, over.”

He turned off the walkie-talkie.

Xu Yuan found his teammates looking at him.

“What’s going on?” Yang Xiaobing asked curiously.

“This child was abused by his family and doesn’t want to go back,” Xu Yuan said, rubbing his hands.

“Hey, you believe a child’s words? He might be lying.”

Zhao Afei looked the boy up and down.

“An eight-year-old child, who would rather run alone in a dark underground tunnel, begging for help from strangers, than return to his family, I believe he definitely needs help,” Xu Yuan analyzed calmly.

—I have to help him!

I want to escape too!

“That’s true,” Zhao Afei was immediately convinced.

Yang Xiaobing led the boy aside, gently comforting him, then draped a blanket over him and offered him snacks.

Jiang Xueyao thought more deeply.

She said softly:

“The Flood Dragon is gone, if we want to leave the city now, we can drive.”

“That’s an idea, I think—”

Xu Yuan stopped mid-sentence.

Clang!

A resounding crash.

A dazzling golden lamp bead suddenly appeared above his head.

—Someone had gotten a burst!

Tiny characters quickly flashed:

“You have received a burst.”

“Your statement just now won the appreciation of a hidden audience member.”

“Her comment is as follows:”

“Finally, I see someone with normal thinking ability. If only it had been you that year… how wonderful that would have been.”

“You have consecutively received five bursts, elevating the reward to rare grade.”

“Do you want to immediately upgrade your equipment or skills?”

No!

At this moment, all eyes of the audience converged.

A “rare grade” upgrade must be significant, and if it was discovered, problems would definitely arise.

Xu Yuan’s gaze uncontrollably swept towards the empty space beside him.

In the void.

New competition prompts flashed frantically:

“Optional match: The difficulty of ‘Eight School Joint Examination’ has increased.”

“Competition renamed to: ‘National Joint Examination’.”

“Current difficulty: Difficult (floating system).”

“Description: Great danger passed you by, and now you have reached the most crucial moment, and gained an opportunity to create history, influence the present, and shake the future.”

“Requirement: Within half an hour, ensure that the child you rescued is alive.”

“Rewards:”

“1. A blank historical side quest (item type);”

“2. The nightmare-level match ‘Road to Survival and the Resurrection Match that Must Be Played When Stuck by a Sword During Transmigration and Unable to Survive (Second Half)’ will be ‘delayed’ for you.”

“3. Shop驻扎 (random event)”

The difficulty had increased.

From the moment he saw this boy, publicly stated he would save him, and acted on it—

The difficulty of the match increased!

And looking at the match requirements, it no longer asked him to get first place.

This seemed to indicate a relaxation of requirements.

But—

Didn’t this signify that, under the current circumstances, rankings were no longer important?

What was important was to survive!