The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

The messages in the channel were scrolling by very quickly.

Someone posted a screenshot from a public channel in Japan. The news exploded. Some were questioning why the Chinese won, some were cursing Ishikawa Yu for being useless, and some were looking up screenshots of the world announcements, trying to prove they cheated.

"They're still arguing." Han Lei's message carried a lazy, weary tone, as if he could finally relax. "Let them argue."

Zhou Zhenguo didn't reply. He leaned against the wall, rummaged through his backpack, pulled out the last half-bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and took two gulps. The water was lukewarm and had a plastic taste, but at that moment, it tasted better than anything else.

He opened the panel and glanced at his level. He was just over level nine. After the challenge rewards were tallied, he jumped another level, directly reaching just over ten.

Han Lei's message came again: "I've reached level nine."

"Me too," Zhao Hongyuan said.

"I almost did," Li Zheng said.

"That's enough," Zhou Zhenguo said. "This was worth it."

He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

The dark gray outlines of that rocky beach were still imprinted in his mind, as if branded onto him. He thought he would die there.

Nineteen men, out of ammunition and supplies, were surrounded by thousands of demon soldiers on a rocky beach. At that moment, no tactic or courage could change the outcome. It was only a matter of time.

Then the announcement came.

Zhou Zhenguo opened his eyes, opened the chat window with Su Mu, and typed: "I'm back. Thanks."

Less than a few seconds after Zhou Zhenguo sent the message, Su Mu's communicator began to vibrate continuously.

Han Lei: "Brother Su, you gave me my life today. If you ever need anything, just say the word."

Zhao Hongyuan: "I owe you a life. I'll remember that."

Li Zheng: "Thanks. No need for further thanks, just let me know if you ever need my help."

Chen Shan: "You're back alive. Su Mu, I'll remember this kindness."

The four messages came from four different guild leaders.

Su Mu stared blankly at the few lines of text.

He replied to Zhou Zhenguo, "What do you mean by this?"

The other side was silent for a few seconds, then sent a long message.

"You don't know? There were over thirty of us in the dense forest near the Sakura Country cable line, surrounded by ghosts. Thousands of level six or seven Dark Scale Ghost Soldiers plus level eight Corrupted Armor Ghost Soldiers pressed in from all sides. We were out of ammunition and supplies, and almost all of us were wiped out. Then the challenge announcement popped up... Cable 886 won. Immediately after that, there was a teleportation notification."

He added, "This must be a hidden rule. During the challenge, if your own cable wins when surrounded in the enemy's cable area, an emergency teleportation will be triggered. This is a hidden rule and isn't mentioned in the panel description. If you hadn't leveled up to 13 beforehand and ended the challenge, all nineteen of us would have died on that rocky beach."

Su Mu read the line of text twice.

"So there's such a mechanism," he replied.

"Yes. You essentially pulled us back from the brink of death without our knowledge."

Su Mu thought for a moment and then read through the description of the challenge order again.

When he chose the second option, the system only said "prioritize gaining total experience before the opponent wins" without mentioning anything about "teleporting to enemy cable areas during the challenge".

This is most likely a hidden entry in the Challenge Token usage rules, and it won't be displayed until the trigger condition is met.

"I've got it." He replied to Zhou Zhenguo, "I can use this rule when I take the initiative to challenge in the future. Send someone to cross the line to farm resources first, while the main force upgrades in the rear. When the other side thinks they have it in the bag, just end the challenge and bring back the person who crossed the line."

"Yes. That trick works." Zhou Zhenguo replied with a thumbs-up emoji, "but I don't want to try it a second time anytime soon."

"You should rest first."

"Um."

After closing the chat window with Zhou Zhenguo, Su Mu casually noted down the rule in his memo. The hidden mechanism of the challenge order could be used for more purposes later if needed.

Just as he was about to put down the communicator, another message popped up.

As he was thinking, the communicator vibrated again.

This time it's a familiar profile picture.

He clicked on it and saw it was Zhang Yu.

It was the one we used in Oasis Village before, to help John Keder

The person who leads you to the position of the Awakened.

Zhang Yu had previously said he wanted to break away from the 7586 cable network and bring a group of people to join his guild, but at the time he said he would talk about it after finding a way.

Su Mu thought that there had been progress on that matter.

However, the content of the message was completely unexpected.

"Su Mu, we killed a monster in the desert today and it dropped something. I think I should show it to you."

A screenshot is attached below.

The screenshot shows a palm-sized iron plate with an irregular shape and obvious cracks on the edges, as if it had been forcibly broken off from something.

The metal plate was covered with a thin layer of rust, but beneath it, several lines of engravings could be faintly seen. The engravings were in some kind of script he didn't recognize, but the system automatically translated it below the screenshot:

"A mirage appears after the rain, ancient walls are buried deep in the sand. The moon casts three shadows, the wind rises and Loulan returns."

Su Mu stared at the four lines of text for a few seconds.

Loulan. A mirage after the rain. The wind rises.

He looked at the screenshot again. The cracks on the edge of the iron plate looked like fragments pried off from a larger iron wall.

The lettering on the engravings is neat and orderly, not like random graffiti, but more like part of a map or road sign.

Zhang Yu's next message followed immediately: "That monster was a Lv11 Sand Beast, not a high-ranking one. After killing it, besides the chest, its corpse also dropped this iron plaque when it dissipated. We studied it for a long time and think it might be related to the ancient city of Loulan."

"Why do you think that?" Su Mu asked.

"Because of the phrase 'mirage after the rain'."

Since it's rare for rain to occur in the desert, the conditions for the appearance of a "mirage after rain" are very special.

Moreover, phrases like "deep sand buries ancient walls" and "the moon casts triple shadows" sound like they describe scenes that can only be seen at a specific time and place. Add to that the final line, "the wind rises, Loulan returns," and it's practically explicit.

After sending this message, Zhang Yu added, "The iron plate has been transferred to you. Please check it."

Su Mu opened the trading interface. The iron token lay quietly in the trading window, and Zhang Yu's asking price was empty. He clicked confirm.

The metal plaque appeared in his hand. He picked it up and examined it; a message automatically popped up on the system panel:

[Broken Loulan Iron Plaque (Special Clue Item): A fragment of a broken iron plaque with clues engraved on its surface pointing to the ancient city of Loulan. The complete plaque may contain more complete location information. The current fragment provides one clue: a mirage after the rain.]

"Thanks," Su Mu replied.

Zhang Yu's message quickly popped up: "You're welcome."