Miasma Swamp! Testing Jiang Yi?

“Alright.” Jiang Yi answered curtly. He flipped his palm and pressed a “coin” against Liao Yuanfeng’s “phone.” In fact, players more familiar with the apocalypse game could add friends simply by physical contact. However, at this stage, most players still preferred to complete this action by colliding their exclusive destiny plates—a very ordinary friend-adding operation.

The unofficial players nearby watched with envy. Only now did they clearly realize—Jiang Yi had completely become someone they needed to look up to!

Afterwards, Liao Yuanfeng continued leading the team in search of Zhou Yiming while also contacting friends to gather funds. After about another ten minutes, their group encountered another team near a towering ancient tree in the forest.

“Captain Guan?” Liao Yuanfeng was surprised to see Guan Ling. “Weren’t you supposed to guard outside Qin Lake? How did you enter this ferocious beast world?”

Guan Ling maintained her usual cold and proud demeanor, sweeping her gaze over Liao Yuanfeng’s team. When her eyes landed briefly on Jiang Yi, they hesitated slightly. Yet on the surface, she responded to Liao Yuanfeng without emotion: “I received messages from several members of the Blood Swallow Club—this Qin Lake ferocious beast world is somewhat special.”

“Special? How so?” Liao Yuanfeng thought this ferocious beast world seemed less dangerous than any he had explored before. As long as they overcame the polar night environment, it was practically safe.

Guan Ling said, “The exploration difficulty here is ridiculously low, but getting back might be quite difficult.”

“Hm?” Liao Yuanfeng, with some experience, quickly realized, “Is there a powerful beast clan guarding the passage back to our world?”

Guan Ling shook her head slightly. “It’s unclear if there’s a powerful beast clan guarding it. According to scouts from the Blood Swallow Club, the passage seems to lie deep within a miasma swamp.”

“Miasma swamp!” At the mention of this term, Liao Yuanfeng’s expression darkened immediately.

It wasn’t over. Guan Ling added, “The miasma is highly poisonous, and the swamp seems to harbor numerous lurking ferocious beasts.”

Liao Yuanfeng’s face grew even darker, and his gaze toward Guan Ling became strange: “You knew about the miasma swamp but still dared to enter this ferocious beast world?!”

Poisonous miasma and unknown lurking beasts meant the return journey would be greatly complicated. Previously, the club had learned that some ferocious beast worlds had caused entire death squads to be wiped out—not necessarily because of the ferocious beasts scattered across the world, but because the return passage was in an extremely harsh environment or guarded by powerful beasts.

Those death squads were not necessarily dead but trapped inside, unable to return. In such cases, the club might not send support or rescue teams, effectively leaving them to perish on their own.

Their current situation was quite unfavorable. While being trapped here might not pose an immediate threat to life, the polar night environment was unsuitable for long-term human survival and would limit their growth.

Liao Yuanfeng never expected Guan Ling to dare to enter after knowing all this.

Guan Ling shrugged casually, unconcerned, even smiling slightly. “You might be underestimating how much Wang Xueyan cares about Zhou Yiming. If we were simply trapped here, the club might abandon us. But don’t forget, news of Zhou Yiming is here too. If I casually send Wang Xueyan a message saying I found Zhou Yiming alive, she’ll definitely try everything to conquer this ferocious beast world!”

Liao Yuanfeng’s mouth twitched slightly. He thought this woman’s audacity was absurdly bold.

Guan Ling laughed again, “Besides, I’ve heard that near passages guarded by powerful beasts, there’s a high chance of treasures existing.”

Liao Yuanfeng was speechless. This woman’s ambition and boldness were truly on par with Jiang Yi.

Thinking this, he pretended to receive a message but secretly sent one to Guan Ling: [Can you still use your skill to see Jiang Yi’s data panel?]

Guan Ling responded calmly: [No.]

Two words, but the implications were profound. Either Jiang Yi possessed some anti-detection tool or skill, or his level was even higher than Guan Ling’s.

Liao Yuanfeng was only a formal member of the Joyful Club, while Guan Ling was a core member of the Blood Swallow Club, with a level of 8. Jiang Yi was just a “life tumor worm” yesterday—how could he be higher level than Guan Ling today? Ridiculous!

Before Liao Yuanfeng could send another message, Guan Ling sent one: [Could he be Jiang Yi, the one who parachuted in as number one on the level leaderboard?]

After some thought, Liao Yuanfeng replied twice: [I suspected and asked him; he said no.] [Thinking carefully, probably not. Being number one on the level leaderboard by parachuting in can only be done by players from other regions.]

Guan Ling pondered but didn’t reply further.

While they exchanged private messages, a sudden scream erupted from Liao Yuanfeng’s team, startling nearby birds and beasts into flight.

Frowning deeply, Liao Yuanfeng glared and snapped, “What are you freaking out for?”

Zhang Peng, trembling, pointed at the ground near the towering tree, “I just realized that puddle—it looks like…”

Before he could finish, Guan Ling interrupted coldly, “It’s a pile of human bones, picked clean by beasts and birds.”

Her words silenced everyone for a moment.

Guan Ling remained indifferent. “Aside from the polar night, this ferocious beast world isn’t very dangerous. But once a terrifying beast pack descends, it’s like a locust plague. Even I cannot withstand that.”

“Locust plague…” The simple phrase sent chills down everyone’s spine. Just imagining the scene made their scalps tingle.

Jiang Yi had witnessed this firsthand. When he left the center of the bird flock, a massive black bird horde almost instantly devoured Wu Xu’s team entirely.

The scene was chilling.

But Jiang Yi thought: he could now dual-class, and one of his classes might develop toward the “locust plague” direction—ideally becoming an entire army of one.

He recalled a powerful figure in his past life who controlled insect swarms, though the side effects were severe—the figure was skeletal, weakened, and wrapped in black robes, never revealing his true form.

Just then, after some discussion, Guan Ling and Liao Yuanfeng decided to head toward the miasma swamp to scout.

Their expanded team moved forward again.

During this time, Liao Yuanfeng gathered enough money to buy the longevity pills and completed the transaction with Jiang Yi. Guan Ling also took the chance to add Jiang Yi as a friend and jokingly probed his level.

Jiang Yi didn’t reply, maintaining an inscrutable attitude.

This only made Guan Ling more puzzled—was he genuinely strong or just bluffing?

Some people pretended to be powerful to intimidate others, relying on caution and fear. Guan Ling was cautious and wouldn’t take the risk. If Jiang Yi was truly strong, she would suffer losses.

So before understanding the situation, she stayed friendly but inwardly wondered whether to test him.

After nearly twenty minutes northward, they finally found the miasma swamp.

Under the polar night, the swamp shrouded in poisonous mist looked even more dark and eerie.

Occasionally, faint gurgling sounds echoed from the swamp—clearly indicating ferocious beasts dwelling within.

Liao Yuanfeng witnessed the swamp firsthand and his expression darkened. “Such an extreme environment…”

He took a deep breath and looked at Guan Ling. “What do you think?”

Guan Ling glanced at Jiang Yi, contemplating a chance to probe him, but suddenly heard movement from the trees outside the swamp.

She sharply turned and shouted, “Who’s there?!”

The response was a tumor-like missile flying straight into the swamp with a “plop.”

The gurgling within the swamp suddenly intensified.

Guan Ling’s face changed dramatically, and she gasped, “Not good!”

Liao Yuanfeng also realized the danger, his face shocked as he cursed fiercely.