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

In the jungles of Southeast Asia, a woman with a high ponytail squatted by a stream, whittling a branch with a straight knife. Messages on the public channel kept updating; she glanced at them a few times, then shook the sawdust off the tip of her knife.

"Japan, the United States, and South Korea—hundreds of thousands of people surrounding one person." Her tone was calm, as if she were recounting a script she had read countless times. "I've seen this kind of situation before. In our country, there was a time when someone was surrounded and killed by three major forces. In the end, that person didn't die, but he didn't win either; he escaped."

"What about Su Mu?" the barefoot boy asked.

"I don't know," she said. "It depends on his choice. If he wants to fight it out, then he's stupid. If he can use the terrain of the ancient city of Loulan to hold off the three factions until he gets the unsealing stone, then he still has a chance. But if the three factions are really determined to kill him and pile people up at all the exits, then unless he can fly, he won't be able to get out."

"Can he fly?"

The woman smiled and said, "I don't know. But since he managed to reach level 13, there must be something extraordinary about him. In this world, no one has truly survived to this point solely through luck."

On the Gobi Desert in West Asia, a man dressed in desert camouflage leaned against a dead tree, twirling a crystal he had just dug up. He scrolled through the messages on the public channel one by one, and finally put the crystal into his pocket.

"Tens of thousands of ninjas are targeting us." He muttered to himself, "This is more terrifying than any monster I've ever seen before."

A teammate leaned in from behind him: "Captain, do you think Su Mu will die?"

"Whether he'll live or die is hard to say," the man said. "But if I were him, I wouldn't confront him head-on. The ancient city of Loulan must have complex terrain, mazes, traps, and unknown things. If he can use those to disperse the people on the three fronts and defeat them one by one, then there's still a chance. If he just stands in open ground and fights against hundreds of thousands of people, then he'll be the next one to die."

Do you think he's that smart?

"You think someone who can reach level 13 at this stage is stupid?" the man retorted. "A stupid person wouldn't have survived this long."

On the US cable channel, Harris, Kenneth, and Anderson had already received news of South Korea's challenge. The three exchanged glances, their faces expressionless, but there was an unspoken understanding in their silence.

"It's starting," Harris said.

"Su Mu should have received the announcement by now," Kenneth said.

"What he chooses is unimportant. Our plan remains unchanged," Anderson said. "South Korea is just the first step. Once the ancient city of Loulan opens, we'll move in from three directions simultaneously, first clearing out the 886 people, then concentrating our forces to surround Su Mu. No matter how strong he is, can he be stronger than a hundred thousand people?"

Back in Japan, Sanada looked at the announcement, then at the list of personnel gathering. He silently calculated the troop deployment of the three lines of the Japanese army (Sakura, Miyu, and the Japanese army) within the ancient city of Loulan.

With over a hundred thousand people across the three lines, even if not all of them could enter simultaneously, tens of thousands could still get involved immediately. Tens of thousands surrounding one person—it's practically impossible to lose.

"Su Mu," he murmured the name, "you are strong. But you are too strong, so strong that everyone is afraid of you. Those who are afraid of you will join forces. That is your greatest weakness."

......

At this moment, Su Mu and Lin Yuwei had arrived at the location marked by Zhou Zhenguo.

Looking out, one sees the ruins of an ancient city half-buried in yellow sand.

Broken stone pillars jut out diagonally from beneath the sand, their surfaces eroded by the wind into fine honeycomb patterns; collapsed walls are reduced to foundations and a few low mounds, resembling rows of toppled dominoes; occasionally, one can see the outlines of archways resembling ancient architecture, but most have been buried by sand dunes, leaving only a pointed top.

The wind whistled through the ruins, making a low, mournful sound, as if the ancient city, which had been sleeping for a thousand years, was breathing.

Su Mu frowned.

It's so quiet here.

According to the message Zhou Zhenguo sent earlier, many of their people should have already gathered in this area.

But after walking for nearly ten minutes, he and Lin Yuwei didn't see a single person in their field of vision.

The area between those wrecks was empty, with only wind and sand moving through the cracks in the rocks.

"Where are Zhou Zhenguo and his men?" Su Mu asked in a low voice.

Lin Yuwei stood beside him, looking through her communicator.

She looked around, then her brow relaxed slightly as if she had received some information: "They just sent a message saying that this seems to be a teleportation point. Most of them aren't at this entrance, but were somehow teleported deeper inside."

"Teleportation?" Su Mu glanced at her.

"Yes. They said that if we go a little further ahead from here, there will be a naturally formed spatial rift. After passing through the rift, we will reach the real interior of the ancient city of Loulan." Lin Yuwei handed him the communicator and showed it to him. "Zhou Zhenguo told us to follow the main road between the ruins, and we will see it at the end."

Su Mu nodded, asked no further questions, and continued walking forward.

The sand beneath my feet grew harder and harder, transforming from soft, shifting sand into a compacted layer of gravel that crunched underfoot.

The ruins on both sides gradually became denser, turning from sparse stone pillars into rows of wall foundations, and the direction of the street could be vaguely seen.

Just then, the communicator vibrated.