"Over here! Over here over here!" Li Wenxi stood on tiptoe and waved to them.
She wasnât wearing the steel armor but instead wore leather armor that displayed her tall and slender figure perfectly. Her hair was neatly arranged, with simple tied-back black hair showing an extraordinary vitality.
The two quickly arrived under the tree house.
"Wow, your mounts are both so cool!" Li Wenxi looked at Silver King and Bai Ma, showing a look of envy.
"Donât you have one too?" Xu Xin dismounted together with Ji Chaoyang.
"Mine, Aniu, is clumsy, not cool at all." As she said this, she straightened her expression and extended her right hand to Xu Xin, who had just dismounted from the wolfâs back, "Nice to meet you, please take care of me."
She laughed at her own words.
"Feels like we just met last night." Xu Xin shook Li Wenxiâs hand, teasingly.
"I finally got to touch the real you! It feels so unreal!"
Li Wenxi gently squeezed Xu Xinâs hand. She wanted to squeeze his arm and face too, but felt it wasnât polite, so she restrained herself, yet couldnât stop looking at Xu Xinâs face: "Did you shave today? This is the first time Iâve seen you without stubble."
"Do you prefer with or without a beard?" Xu Xin asked with a smile.
Though he often saw her in videos and mostly close-ups of her face, reality and video were somehow different.
Looking at her face so closely, Xu Xin could see her thick eyelashes quivering slightly, and the delicacy of her skin that the video couldnât capture, making him want to gently pinch it to see if he could squeeze water out.
This little beauty, mining every day, yet her skin is still so good?
"I like both! No, I mean, both look good, hehe!" Li Wenxi laughed happily, her almond-shaped eyes curving into crescents, holding his hand and not letting go.
Hmm, it seems tidying up before coming here was effective after all.
Xu Xin felt confident about his appearance; a bit of tidying made his image appear very good.
Ji Chaoyang, standing behind Xu Xin, crossed his hands and leaned against his Bai Ma with a helpless look: "Did you two forget about me? Iâm still here."
"Oops..." Li Wenxi quickly, somewhat embarrassed, let go of his hand and waved to Ji Chaoyang, "Hello, Brother Chaoyang, hehe." Her face still carried a joyful smile.
"Your preferential treatment is too obvious." Ji Chaoyang shook his head helplessly, "No need to call me âBrother Chaoyangâ, just call me by my name."
"Everyone calls you that, so Iâll call you that too. Besides, youâre probably older than me, right?" Li Wenxi was somewhat curious about Ji Chaoyangâs age, as his appearance betrayed nothing.
Actually, Xu Xin was also curious about his age. Last time when everyone discussed ages, it was when Ji Chaoyang was missing, and he still doesnât know how old this guy is.
Just from the look of him, you wouldnât be able to tell, this guy looks really young, he felt that, if the guy wore a blue and white school uniform, heâd blend right into high school, though naturally, in their survivor age range, there onât be any high school students.
"Iâm older than you guys, Iâm already 27."
"Huh?" Li Wenxiâs eyes widened.
"I..." Xu Xin almost uttered an expletive but held back, since Li Wenxi was standing right there, it wouldnât be appropriate, "I thought you were at most around my age..."
This guyâs appearance completely contradicts his age!
"Haha, looking young isnât always a good thing; when buying alcohol or cigarettes, the store owner has to ask for ages half the time."
"You smoke?" Xu Xin could hardly imagine his meticulous image with a cigarette.
"I donât smoke, you guys havenât started working yet, right? Cigarettes, even if you donât smoke, you always have to have a couple of packs in the car. But now, itâs no longer needed." Ji Chaoyang shared his workplace experience with a face like a high-school student.
"Wow, with that face, I canât imagine you being an old hand at work..." Li Wenxi sighed.
"Not really, just a newbie in the workplace, I only graduated at 25 and after working for two years, ended up in this bizarre place." Ji Chaoyang sighed as well.
"Graduated at 25, must be a masterâs..." Xu Xin felt that the educational level among this group was really high. In a while, heâll be meeting Qi Xuefei, who is even a medical doctor.
He is considered well-educated, having passed the graduate entrance exam, though not yet enrolled, while Li Wenxi, due to her age, could only be an undergrad.
Could these special abilities be awarded based on educational level, in these days even surviving counts educational attainment!
"Yip!" Keke also called out from the wolfâs back.
"Ah, itâs Keke, hello! Finally meeting you! And you too, Silver King!" Li Wenxi walked forward in surprise and picked up Keke from Silver Kingâs back.
Keke had seen Li Wenxi in videos many times and knew of her good relationship with Xu Xin, so didnât resist, letting Li Wenxi hold it.
"Wow, itâs so cute, I can almost always see it in the videos, Iâve long wanted to give it a rub." Li Wenxi gently brushed Keke, touched its little ears, and pinched its big tail.
"Yip~" Probably because Li Wenxiâs techniques were better than Xu Xinâs, Keke immediately called out comfortably.
Xu Xin looked at the little guy as it squinted in pleasure from being stroked, feeling somewhat amused: "This little one... youâre the first person besides me to touch it, it hasnât let anyone else touch it before."
"Huh?" Li Wenxi, while rubbing Kekeâs belly, looked curiously at Xu Xin, "Youâve met other people before?"
"Ah... Right, I should have mentioned the survivor to the north of my tree house in the group, right? In district 187."
"Oh, itâs him!" Li Wenxi realized.
"Yeah, back then he wanted to touch Keke, but this little guy was very resistant. I didnât expect you to be able to do it directly."
Even Lou FeiâEr hasnât touched Keke. Although the Silver King let her touch it, that was due to both being mutated creatures under contracts. The Silver King sensed she was a companion, so it naturally felt amiable.
But Keke isnât like that. Keke still doesnât appear on the map, so strictly speaking, itâs still a neutral creature.
No mutation, no contract. Keke simply likes following Xu Xin, and it has nothing to do with Lou FeiâEr, so naturally, it wonât let Lou FeiâEr touch it.
"Hehe, it must be because Iâm often video calling you. Kekeâs familiar with me and likes me, right, little guy?" Li Wenxi rubbed Kekeâs little cheeks.
"Eep~" Keke responded with a sound. It was very comfortable being touched, its big tail wagging back and forth.
Ji Chaoyang stood aside speechlessly. "Are you two starting again? Are we going to stand here forever?"
"Ah!" Li Wenxi finally reacted, holding Keke and said, "Then, shall we go up and sit for a bit?"
"Not now." Xu Xin said, "Letâs solve the surrounding problems first, then we have to meet Qi Xuefei."
"Oh, okay! Wait for me a moment, Iâll go up and change into that steel armor set you gave me!" Li Wenxi handed Keke to Xu Xin and maneuvered the roots down.
"Why donât you just wear the steel armor set? Itâs much better than the leather armor set, right?" Xu Xin wondered.
"...I just like wearing the leather armor set!" Li Wenxi glared at him as she was pulled into the treehouse by the roots.
Xu Xin was confused, turning to ask Ji Chaoyang, "So, why do you guys all like wearing the leather armor set?"
Ji Chaoyang glanced at him. "I wear the leather armor set because I prefer stealth assaults. Sheâs probably different; for her, the leather armor set likely feels more casual and looks better."
The leather armor set fits closer, showing off oneâs figure, unlike the bulkiness of the iron armor set.
"Hmm...? Is that really the reason?" Xu Xin blinked. "She looks good in the steel armor set too."
The steel armor set, compared to the iron armor set, is much lighter and even looks more comfortable.
"...Why donât you tell her that instead of me?" Ji Chaoyang said, speechless, then he asked seriously, "By the way, the steel armor set she mentioned, is it made by you using steel blocks? Whatâs the effect? Is there a capability for mass production?"
Whenever Ji Chaoyang talked about serious matters, his voice became more somber.
"For mass production, I have no issues with materials on my end. It mainly depends on her. If she has abundant iron ore resources, we can make a set for everyone." Xu Xin pointed to Li Wenxiâs treehouse, "You guys havenât mined any iron ore, have you?"
"Yeah, most of my iron blocks were sourced from the trading platform."
"The iron ore you purchased, most of it is likely sold by her." Xu Xin took out a steel block from his backpack, handed it to Ji Chaoyang, "Hereâs the steel block, I happen to have one on me, itâs yours. You can unlock the blueprint first."
Ji Chaoyang accepted the steel block, examining it.
"Being blue level, the steel armor set increases power twice as much as the iron armor set, and moving around is silent, with higher defense. Additionally, the blue-level steel block equates to materials from medium-grade mutated beasts weâve encountered, creating weapons of the highest grade within the same level. Purple level follows the same logic."
Saying this, Xu Xin took out his long halberd.
"This is, a purple-level steel weapon?" Ji Chaoyangâs eyes trembled, finding the three-meter-long sharp halberd intimidating.
"Thatâs right, the strongest weapon among purple level." Xu Xin walked to a tree, swung the long halberd.
"Crack!"
With his extremely strong strength today, the tree was easily cut down with just a single stroke.
Simultaneously, Xu Xin felt a very weak warm flow through the handle of the halberd into his body.
Hmm? Chopping trees with this halberd can absorb the treeâs life force?
"This weapon is really powerful." Ji Chaoyang looked at the weapon in Xu Xinâs hand, eyes showing astonishment.
"It only requires two sets of purple-level materials to make, you should be able to, have you used your core?"
"Not yet. Compared to blue level, what special characteristics do purple-level weapons have?"
"Of course, they do."
Xu Xin squatted down, reaching out to touch the felled tree trunk.
Although the tree appeared barren, it was living well, just entering the phase before winter.
After being chopped by Xu Xin with the halberd, the tree immediately withered, turning dry and fragile. Xu Xin easily broke off a large piece with his hand, without any material acquisition prompt.
Though the halberd could cut down trees, the life force absorbed tree becomes waste, unable to provide wood material anymore.
"...This tree withered?" Ji Chaoyang said in surprise.
Facing Xu Xin, whoâs been ahead of him on the leaderboard, Ji Chaoyang felt astonished multiple times today.
"Thatâs this purple-level weaponâs ability."