Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 130: Chapter 130: The Secret Buried in the Dungeon

Since Ji Chaoyang asked this, he must be the second person to eliminate the tornado.

The mysterious voice said that Xu Xin was the ”first among this batch of survivors to eliminate the tornado.” When the underground secret was discovered earlier, it also said something similar, ”this batch of survivors.”

Last time, Xu Xin thought it meant ”this batch of survivors in Jungle 188 District,” but based on what the Chang Yin Family told him, he had already encountered five batches of survivors. Every twelve years, a new batch arrives in this world.

So without a doubt, the first this time is not the first in the entire district, but among all survivors this time.

If Ji Chaoyang is the second, then Jungle 188 District is quite impressive, managing to secure first and second place among hundreds of districts. It seems the two of them are prominent figures in any district.

Xu Xin replied, ”It was indeed me. Are you the second?”

Ji Chaoyang: ”That’s right, that voice told me I was the second person in this batch of survivors to eliminate the tornado.”

As expected.

Ji Chaoyang: ”Did you return to the treehouse? Should we exchange information through voice chat?”

Xu Xin: ”Okay.”

When the voice chat connected, Xu Xin could hear Ji Chaoyang’s slightly heavy breathing from the other end.

He was a little puzzled, ”What happened to you?”

Ji Chaoyang smiled wryly, ”It’s nothing serious. On my way back, I found an ornamental fish near the treehouse. It swam exceptionally fast, and I couldn’t catch it. I just returned now.”

Couldn’t catch it? Xu Xin blinked.

The ornamental fish on his side would come to him as soon as they saw him, letting him grab them without resistance. Why did Ji Chaoyang need to struggle to catch them on his side?

Is it really the deterrent effect of his outfit?

That doesn’t seem right. Whether it’s the Colorful Scale Fish or the Taiji Fish, after seeing him, they circle around him and don’t seem frightened by intimidation. Instead, it’s as if they’re being drawn in by something.

He used to think these ornamental fish were easy resources to capture.

”Since you know they’re ornamental fish, you must have caught quite a few, right? Are they that hard to catch? I feel like it’s not that bad on my side,” Xu Xin probed.

”Not a lot. I’ve caught three green-level fish here. They don’t swim fast, and they’re not very alert. Just slowly approach and surprise them. You caught them the same way, right?”

”More or less.”

”So, I suspect the fast-swimming one is a blue-level ornamental fish. New blue-level resources are very precious, which is why I kept chasing it. Unfortunately, despite trying many methods, I couldn’t catch it, and it eventually swam out of the protected area,” Ji Chaoyang said regretfully.

It seems these fish do indeed flee.

When Li Wenxi and the others return, he would ask them. If they encountered the same situation, it would indicate that the fish weren’t special, but he himself was special.

As for how he was special, Xu Xin didn’t know. Maybe it was the Scale Armor suit, or perhaps it was due to his creator privileges.

”A blue-level ornamental fish? That’s indeed a pity,” Xu Xin also felt regret for Ji Chaoyang. He was very curious about the other functions of blue-level ornamental fish.

”Let’s not talk about that anymore.” On the other side of the call came the damp sound of clothes contacting something, suggesting Ji Chaoyang sat down, ”Let’s exchange information, Xu Xin. I’ve seen what you posted in the group, and actually, my experience is quite similar to yours.”

”I’ve said everything in the group, there’s nothing more to add, right?” Xu Xin said, not wanting to reveal his abilities to others just yet, not even understanding the value of the ”Artist” himself.

”No, it’s not about this rainstorm season activity, it’s about the previous dungeon activity,” Ji Chaoyang’s voice turned heavy.

”Dungeon activity?” Xu Xin’s heart sank.

His experiences in the dungeon differed completely from others, which is why he hadn’t participated much in other discussions.

When Ji Chaoyang mentioned the dungeon, Xu Xin suddenly realized that Ji Chaoyang might be similar to him.

Apart from clearing the dungeon in less than an hour at the start and posting a dungeon guide in the district channel, Ji Chaoyang stopped participating in discussions. Until the dungeon event concluded, he hadn’t said a word in ”Explorers.”

Xu Xin separated from the Chang Yin Family just before the activity ended, his focus primarily on them, hence not paying much attention to what the other members of ”Explorers” were doing.

Thinking about it now, perhaps he also encountered something unusual?

”I always thought there would be quite a few people discovering the hidden information within the dungeon, but to my surprise, after coming out, there was no discussion in the district channel.”

”Hidden information within the dungeon?” Xu Xin slightly narrowed his eyes. The information he knew, and the information he had acquired, were they the same?

”I’ve been contemplating whether to tell you about this for the past few days, and it was only because you were the first again this time that I finally made up my mind.”

Ji Chaoyang began narrating his encounters within the dungeon.

His dungeon was no different from others’, a long, dark corridor, dozens of dilapidated wooden doors, and the simple choice between mutated beasts, mechanisms, and treasures.

He had actually obtained all the treasures long ago but hadn’t rushed to leave the dungeon.

He carefully checked each room again, and finally, in an ordinary stone chamber, discovered a well-hidden mechanism. After pressing it, a hidden passage appeared.

He followed the passage and eventually reached another stone chamber. Like the outside, the chamber was damp and filled with a musty smell, except its walls were covered with densely engraved text.

”Engraved text?” Xu Xin thought of the engravings on the stone table by the Chang Yin Family, but it shouldn’t be related.

”That’s right,” Ji Chaoyang said.

The words engraved on the wall were from Earth, comprising several languages, including Chinese characters. Although he could only understand the Chinese part, the secrets hidden in these words had already left him deeply shocked.

Ji Chaoyang shared his deductions with Xu Xin.

”You’re saying we’re not just surviving but participating in a brutal selection process?” Xu Xin’s gaze sharpened.

”That’s right, the words engraved on the wall indicate that those who etched these words were the losers of this selection. The dungeon we entered was originally used to detain the losers.”

The information on the wall was fragmented, and Ji Chaoyang summarized all the fragments to arrive at this conclusion.

”Detain the losers? Simply detain?”

”Many people have been sent into that stone chamber and inscribed text there. But it seems these losers didn’t know what they were about to face when sent into that room.”

”Are you... really sure? Is there any mention in those messages about how many people are selected or for what purpose?”

Xu Xin had actually suspected it for a long time.

Since this world’s activities had an elimination mechanism, it was likely a selection of survivors; otherwise, they wouldn’t use the method of elimination at the end to force all survivors to act. After all, some don’t know their own strength until pushed.

But speculation and facts are two different things.

Selection is far more brutal than just a survival game. In survival games, if cooperation is possible, people can stick together and strive to survive.

As long as there’s a good development, aside from not seeing past loved ones, there’s not much difference; at worst, they can build a human civilization in this world.

But if it’s a brutal selection, it’s entirely different.

Because any selection has limited spaces.

If only one survivor is selected from each group...

If that’s the case, then even Ji Chaoyang on the other end of the voice might be an enemy.

”I’m not sure about that. Many survivors who’ve left messages in that room were as clueless as us, with only a few revealing these things. They seemed to have survived in this world for a long time before being eliminated.

Among the wall’s text were phrases like ’I failed; it seems I wasn’t destined to be among the last’ and ’I can’t believe we lost to that group; I’m not reconciled,’ etc.”

Xu Xin’s furrowed brow relaxed: ”Among the last? That group? So, those who make it to the end, it’s a group of people?”

Ji Chaoyang’s voice wasn’t as heavy anymore; he laughed: ”At least it’s not just one person; otherwise, do you think I’d share this information with you? You’ve always been above me, and if there really was only one left in the end, you would be my biggest threat. Not stabbing you in the back would be considered merciful.”

Xu Xin laughed too: ”Do you have to be so sincere?”

Ji Chaoyang’s voice became serious again: ”So, Xu Xin, let’s truly cooperate. According to the information I’ve obtained, in our group, only a small portion will likely make it to the end. You and I are number one and two among everyone. As long as we cooperate, the chances of surviving till the end are very high.”

Xu Xin was naturally willing to cooperate with Ji Chaoyang, jokingly saying: ”It’d be great if we could sign a contract, that way I wouldn’t have to fear you actually stabbing me.”

”Maybe there will be such contracts in the future?” Ji Chaoyang quipped back, and then said seriously, ”This time, I’m talking about cooperation, not just an alliance of interests.”

”I understand what you mean,” Xu Xin said, ”You want us to form a collective force against external threats, right? If this survival game is indeed a selection, then apart from those mutated monsters above and below ground, other survivors also pose a significant threat.”

”Talking to smart people is easy.”

For now, Xu Xin chose to trust Ji Chaoyang, as cooperation with a strong individual was something he urgently needed.

Thus, Xu Xin told Ji Chaoyang about what he knew, including his experiences in the dungeon.

Of course, he concealed the fact that the Chang Yin Family had a good relationship with him and were brought out by him, only telling him that he learned from the statue’s mouth about the original state of this world and informed him that fifty years ago, this world wasn’t much different from theirs. He also found out that they were the fifth group of survivors to arrive here.

After hearing this news, Ji Chaoyang on the other end of the voice contemplated for a long time. Xu Xin didn’t interrupt his thinking, while he himself was also in deep thought.

If the dungeon really was a place to detain losers, then where did these losers come from?