Death Train: SSS-level talent right from the start!

Qin Zhaoyang's fingers trembled as he took the book with both hands.

The book cover is dark red, with a silver bow and arrow pattern engraved on it.

He opened the cover.

A blue light screen popped up in front of Qin Zhaoyang, the words on it so clear they seemed etched there. His gaze lingered on the word "study" for about half a second, then he extended his index finger and tapped it.

The skill book transformed into countless tiny specks of light that scattered outwards.

Qin Zhaoyang closed his eyes, and after about two seconds, he opened them and looked at Chen Ye and Zhao Hai: "Brother Ye and Brother Hai, thanks. I'll pay you back when I earn more points."

Chen Ye waved his hand: "We'll talk about the medicine later."

Zhao Hai didn't say anything. He exchanged for a total of 1000 points worth of potions, which meant he had given away half of them.

Qin Zhaoyang nodded and said nothing more.

Once the transaction was over and the highly sought-after skill book had found a new owner, the people around stopped lingering.

Some people turned and left, some walked to the stalls next to them, and some squatted down to look through the remaining odds and ends on the buzz-cut man's waterproof tarpaulin.

The crowd dispersed like the receding tide.

The noise of the trading area filled the space again, with haggling continuing and hawking continuing.

Chen Ye stood in the center of the crowd, looking in the direction where Tang Jingxin had disappeared. He remained silent for a few seconds before looking away.

"Brother Hai, did you guys find anything?"

"Wang Shuo spent 100 points to buy a white-quality weapon, but I won't use it. White equipment offers limited improvement, and green equipment is too low in cost-effectiveness. I still prefer to use my fists."

"That's true. Let's go back to the hotel."

He turned and walked out of the trading area.

Zhao Hai walked alongside him in front, with Wang Shuo, Li Zheng, Zhou Yating, and Li Zhaoyang following behind.

The group of six walked through the crowd in the trading area toward the hotel.

The surrounding noise gradually faded away, and the onlookers all dispersed.

Not far from the stall where the man with the buzz cut had just been, Li Jiahao, Ma Wenbo, and Sun Kai stood there, having just watched the entire competition between Chen Ye and Tang Jingxin.

Sun Kai clicked his tongue in amazement: "Wow, they spent 2000 points for Qin Zhaoyang. They really have a lot of points."

Neither Ma Wenbo nor Li Jiahao said anything.

Li Jiahao is in a very bad mood. The points he got from Jiang Ning using the bronze treasure chest are simply not enough to buy skill books here.

Aside from watching Jiang Ning trick people in Corpse City, the three of them spent the rest of their time hiding. Then, in Ghost City, they entered the question-and-answer room early.

Inside, Li Jiahao earned 100 points and a bronze treasure chest by answering questions, while Ma Wenbo and Sun Kai got nothing.

The three of them reached level three entirely through the experience gained from the basic survival points reward; they had neither equipment nor skills.

Li Jiahao's talent, like Qin Zhaoyang's, is the kind that doesn't have any attribute bonuses; only skills can compensate for it.

Of course, Li Jiahao's [Shadow of Illusion] is also unparalleled in its ability to save lives as an A-level talent.

As long as he has enough potions, he is basically invincible. Of course, it is also difficult for him to kill monsters. Being intangible is equivalent to being invincible, but he must solidify into a physical form to kill monsters. His attacks are also ineffective in the intangible state.

He can only attack by switching between illusion and reality, but his damage is low, he has no skills, and he is not durable. He will die if he makes a mistake.

This talent requires extremely precise control, which is why he plays it safe. However, if he prioritizes survival over attacking, even an SSS-level talent wouldn't be able to kill him easily.

Li Jiahao glanced at his two underlings, who were now a burden to him.

What he didn't know was that Ma Wenbo and Sun Kai had changed their opinion of him as their leader. Now they felt that following Li Jiahao, this opportunistic player, was not a promising future.

If only they had followed Zhao Hai and Chen Ye from the beginning, they wouldn't have bothered with Zhao Hai now, even if they tried to curry favor with him.

"Let's go back."

After saying this, Li Jiahao walked out of the trading area.

Ma Wenbo and Sun Kai exchanged a glance and then followed.

……

Chen Ye and his group walked along the main road, the glass curtain walls of the tall buildings on both sides reflecting the gray-white light of the sky.

Occasionally, passersby walk by on the street, some fast and some slow, some alone, some in groups of three or five.

Qin Zhaoyang walked in the middle of the group, glancing down at his skill bar every now and then. He couldn't suppress the smile on his face, like a child who had found a treasure. Every now and then, he would call up the system panel to check and confirm that the skill was still there.

"Alright, stop looking. Do you think your skills can just disappear?"

Wang Shuo reached out from behind and patted him on the back of the head.

Qin Zhaoyang rubbed the back of his head and chuckled twice: "I'm just excited, isn't I? Double the power damage, now I can finally deal damage!"

"Let's go that way."

Chen Ye led the way and turned into a side road.

The further you walk in, the narrower the path becomes. The buildings on both sides change from high-rises to four- or five-story brick-and-mortar structures with off-white paint on the exterior walls. In some places, the paint has peeled off, revealing the gray-black cement underneath.

This is a road we didn't take on the way here.

Chen Ye slowed his pace, from walking to pacing.

Zhao Hai noticed his change and slowed down as well. He turned his head to look at him but didn't say anything.

Wang Shuo and Li Zheng exchanged a glance and also slowed their pace.

Qin Zhaoyang was still looking down at his skill bar and didn't notice the change in the team's speed. He almost bumped into Li Zheng, who had suddenly slowed down in front of him, but Li Zheng grabbed him.

"Watch where you're going."

"oh oh."

Qin Zhaoyang turned off the panel, looked up, and found that Chen Ye had fallen to the back of the line, walking as slowly as if he were taking a stroll.

"Hey bro, hurry up, let's find a place to get a good meal."

Chen Ye didn't respond, or even look at him, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Zhao Hai turned around, and Wang Shuo and Li Zheng also turned around. Qin Zhaoyang looked around blankly.

Chen Ye looked at the corner of a house: "After following me for so long, come out and say what you have to say."

Qin Zhaoyang was stunned for a moment, his neck stiffened for a second, and his gaze shifted from Chen Ye to the corner.

Zhao Hai and the others were also completely confused, not knowing who Chen Ye was talking to.

There was silence for about three or four seconds.

Then, a figure emerged from the shadows in the corner, walking at a moderate pace, and stopped about two meters away from the group.

When Zhao Hai saw the person who had arrived, a hint of surprise flashed across his face, but it was quickly replaced by wariness.

He glanced at Chen Ye, but Chen Ye's expression remained unchanged.

"Jian Lan? Why are you following us?"

Zhao Hai's tone was unfriendly.

Jian Lan didn't look at Zhao Hai. Her gaze fell on Chen Ye: "Brother Ning sent me to find you."