Survival in the apocalypse, teammate Xia Shiyu at the start

The cloaked figure acted as if nothing had happened, most likely a player wearing enhanced armor.

He ordered, “Turn around and remove your cloak and mask.”

The cloaked figure did not comply, and said in a hoarse, low voice, "I meant no harm. I just saw thick smoke rising from here yesterday afternoon, so I came to see what was going on."

Shen Zhao raised an eyebrow.

He had wondered yesterday, when he saw the towering plumes of smoke from the burning corpses, if any players would be attracted to it.

Surprisingly, his prediction came true.

He asked, "Players?"

The cloaked man admitted, "That's right."

He paused, then continued, "I don't want to fight you. Let me leave."

"It seems you're very confident in your abilities," Shen Zhao said calmly. "Coincidentally, so am I."

"In that case, I can only apologize."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the cloaked figure transformed into a blur and rushed out, instantly appearing in front of Shen Zhao.

A slender sword appeared in his hand without his noticing. With a flick of his wrist, the sharp tip of the sword, like a white snake spitting its tongue, pierced straight at the gleaming eyes on the golden mask.

The cloaked man moved with lightning speed, but unfortunately, Shen Zhao was even faster.

hum-

A red ribbon of light danced in the air amidst the buzzing sound.

The cloaked man's rapier silently snapped in two, the broken edge glowing red-hot.

The next moment, a red ribbon brushed past his body, severing the straps of his cloak and mask.

Her long chestnut hair was draped over her shoulders, and her cloak slipped off onto the snow, revealing a curvaceous and alluring body wrapped in a black bodysuit.

"woman?"

Shen Zhao twirled his lightsaber and sized up the spy who had revealed his true form.

This is a stunningly beautiful young woman with snow-white skin and exquisite features, her resolute and unyielding expression exuding a vibrant and heroic spirit.

Most importantly, the girl's appearance seemed vaguely familiar to him.

This means that the other person is very likely also a certain anime goddess.

The chestnut-haired girl looked down at the broken rapier in her hand, then looked up at the red-bladed lightsaber in Shen Zhao's hand.

click!

The golden mask was lifted, revealing Shen Zhao's face.

"I'm sorry I destroyed your weapon. You should have done what I told you sooner."

The chestnut-haired girl did not respond. She threw away the broken sword in her hand, took out a new rapier, and assumed a fighting stance.

Shen Zhao pursed his lips and snapped his fingers with his left hand.

Whoosh!

An adamantium alloy blade shot out and struck the girl's forehead before she could react.

"Can you listen to me now?"

The chestnut-haired girl pursed her small, pink lips and said coldly, "What do you want to say?"

The sound is crisp and pleasant.

"Let's start with introductions," Shen Zhao asked. "I'm Shen Zhao, what's your name?"

The chestnut-haired girl calmly replied, "Asuna."

Shen Zhao suddenly realized.

It turns out to be the famous Benko Na!

Judging from the other person's appearance, they seem to be in the same obsessive and crazy state as when they were first trapped in SAO in the original story, focused solely on conquering the game and not caring about anything else.

After a moment's hesitation, he deactivated his lightsaber, retrieved his flying blade, and then stepped out of his battle suit.

He stepped up to the girl, extended his right hand, and said, "Miss Asuna, I admire your strength. Would you be interested in teaming up with me for side quests in this game?"

Asuna glanced at him with her brown eyes, then lowered her gaze and refused, "I'm not interested."

“That’s a regrettable answer,” Shen Zhao said slowly. “I don’t like to force people to do things against their will, so I won’t force Miss Asuna to team up with me.”

"However, I have another suggestion, Miss Asuna, you might want to consider it."

The chestnut-haired girl watched him quietly, waiting for what would happen next.

Shen Zhao said, "I have a clue about a Skull Beast's lair, and I'm just missing a teammate with enough strength to help me investigate it."

"Miss Asuna, come with me, and that will settle the matter of you spying on my camp earlier. How about it?"

“I’m not spying on your camp,” Asuna emphasized first, then said, “I can assist you this time.”

"very good."

Shen Zhao smiled with satisfaction.

Turning to the direction of the Mark 7 suit, he instructed, "Red Queen, inform Eri and Ran that I'll be back later."

The Red Queen replied, "Yes, Master!"

"Miss Asuna, please come with me."

Shen Zhao did not put his battle armor back on, but walked on foot towards the direction of the monster footprints that had attacked the village.

Asuna glanced at the gold and red armor, then followed the man at a distance, sword in hand.

After walking for a while, Shen Zhao stopped and turned back to the chestnut-haired girl who had also stopped, calling out, "Miss Asuna, come a little closer, let me give you a brief introduction to the situation."

The reason was so plausible that the chestnut-haired girl had no choice but to step forward and walk alongside the man.

Shen Zhao kept his eyes straight ahead and told the girl what he had seen when he entered the village yesterday.

He heard that all the residents of the entire village, including children as young as a few years old, had been slaughtered by the monster.

Asuna's eyes flashed with intense anger as she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly with her right hand.

The two quickly discovered traces left by a large group of monsters; the tree trunks were covered with claw marks.

Asuna immediately sped up and ran quickly along the path the monster had taken.

Shen Zhao followed closely behind.

Following the trail, they raced through the dense forest, and after more than half an hour, they arrived at the edge of a cliff.

Asuna took out her binoculars and observed a snow-capped mountain a few kilometers away for a while, then said, "There's a cave at the foot of that mountain, which is very likely the monster's lair."

Shen Zhao took out the drone: "Let me verify it."

Using laser designators to guide bombing is certainly more convenient.

But if the bomb turns out to be a miss, he suspects that sending a guidance signal with the same indicator next time might not be able to summon bombing support again.

This was his intuition, but it was also quite logical.

Several unmanned reconnaissance aircraft flew towards the snow-capped mountains.

Shen Zhao, holding a tablet computer, said to the chestnut-haired girl standing at a distance beside him, "Come and watch with me, let's see what our enemy looks like."

Asuna hesitated for a moment, then took a step and walked to a spot half a meter behind him.

Shen Zhao didn't say anything more and looked at the footage captured by the drone on the screen.

Several unmanned reconnaissance aircraft flew to the foot of the mountain in a short time.

They first searched around the cave and found that the rocks were also covered with dense claw marks.

“It seems we have indeed found our target,” Shen Zhao said, controlling the drone to fly into the cave. “But let’s double-check.”

The cave was very dark inside, so he switched the drone's camera to infrared thermal imaging mode.

Numerous honeycomb-shaped tunnels densely covered the rock walls inside the cave.

Shen Zhao did not allow the drone to go any further.

Most of the drones were recalled, leaving only one in the cave.

Under Asuna's questioning gaze, he pressed the attack button on the control panel.

A small-caliber gun barrel extended from under the drone and began firing at a random tunnel.

Not long after, a ferocious roar came from deep within the tunnel.

Large swarms of creatures poured out of the various tunnels.

The temperature of their body surface is very close to that of the environment, and the images generated by infrared thermal imaging are blurry and dim, making it difficult to discern the shape of these creatures.

Shen Zhao pressed another button.

Illumination flares were launched from the top of the drone with a series of "bangs," and at the same time, it switched back to optical imaging mode.

Now the two of them could finally see the monster in its entirety.

These monsters had bloated bodies and thin, long limbs, with a layer of grayish-white bony shell covering their backs.

Its lizard-like head, like its body, is covered with a bony shell, as if it were wearing a skull mask.

The limbs have three long, flexible claws at the ends, and the gaping maw is filled with barbed teeth.

Just by looking at its appearance, you can tell that this is the "Skull Beast" mentioned in the side quest!

A large group of skeletal beasts suddenly leaped up, and then the screen went black.

Shen Zhao put down the tablet and took out the laser designator: "Target confirmed, bombing can be called now."

Aim the laser pointer at the cave and press the lock button. The small screen lights up and displays the message "Calling, no response."

He clicked his tongue: "Hopefully we won't have to wait too long."

Asuna remained silent, gripping her rapier tightly and cautiously surveying her surroundings.

As it turns out, the enemy always arrives faster than allies.

Before the laser pointer's call for bombing received a response, a large horde of skeletal beasts poured out of the cave first.

After exiting the cave, they split into more than a dozen small teams and headed in different directions. One of the teams rushed straight towards the cliff where the two were.

Shen Zhao thought for a moment, then turned to the chestnut-haired girl and said, "You stay here and watch the indicator. I'll go test the quality of these monsters."

After saying that, he put on the Mark 7 suit that Red controlled and landed in front of him, and flew towards the attacking Skull Beasts.

Asuna quickly raised her binoculars.

The golden-red figure flew several kilometers in just over ten seconds, then swooped down and landed in front of the group of skeletal beasts.

He raised his left hand and fired a beam of light, blasting away the first skeletal beast that pounced on him.

Then, wielding a blood-red lightsaber in his right hand, he engaged in close combat with the skeletal beast behind him.

Amidst the flashing red light, she couldn't see the opponent's movements at all; she only saw one skeletal beast after another being beheaded.

In less than a minute, all twenty-odd skeletal beasts were killed, leaving headless corpses scattered all over the ground.

The golden-red figure sheathed its lightsaber, and a bright white light shot up from its legs, propelling it into the sky.

It landed next to her a dozen seconds later.

The armor opened, and Shen Zhao stepped out, saying to the chestnut-haired girl, "Those monsters are not easy to deal with."

“Agile, incredibly strong, and extremely defensive.” He glanced at the rapier in the girl’s hand. “Moreover, their bony shells are strong enough to withstand rifle fire; your sword probably won’t be able to break through their defenses.”

Asuna asked seriously, "Do they have any weaknesses?"

“Weaknesses?” Shen Zhao said, “Similar to ordinary animals, its abdominal defense is weak, and it will die instantly if it is fatally attacked in the head.”

"By the way, the Skull Beast doesn't have eyes; it seems to track and locate targets through hearing."

Asuna's expression turned serious after hearing this.

Such a monster was indeed difficult for her to deal with with her rapier.

Chapter 131 Stirring up a hornet's nest: A hardworking girl and a pleasure-seeking man!