Chapter 363: Blind Confidence

Xin Xue Chuji: "Lao Da, it's arranged! Anything else to do?"

It's still pretty fast.

Cheng Shuili opened the regional channel and looked at the results.

On the regional channel now, besides discussing how many people Black Feather has killed, they're also discussing when Black Feather will recruit next.

In their eyes, a skinny dead camel is probably bigger than a horse.

And as long as Wu Ya, the core figure, is present, Black Feather may be in decline, but how far can it decline?

Anyway, the notion that "Black Feather is relatively weak now" has been implanted into everyone's mind.

The next step is to wait patiently.

Cheng Shuili stood up, stretched lazily, ready at any moment to receive a new war declaration alert.

They had arranged a celebration banquet for tonight; Qi Wan Yi called several members to hustle in the communal cafeteria. The war declaration was also finished, so Yu Bing led a few people to start paving the way.

Cheng Shuili wandered around the territory, finally stopped in front of an empty hospital warehouse, paused in silence, and teleported back to the vehicle.

She took out a radio battery and installed it into the radio.

Now there are only two batteries left; if the special building they pass isn't Shou Ren Xiao Zhen, they'll have to rely on luck.

Cheng Shuili sighed, checked the trading channel to see if anyone was selling radio batteries or teleportation cards for special buildings.

She searched patiently for a while, but saw no sellers.

This thing also depends on fate; last time that person could produce five at once, but when trying to buy proactively, not a single seller could be found.

Cheng Shuili thought, opened the private chat page to find that seller from last time, intending to calculate that the person still had no batteries, when she saw his avatar had already turned gray.

Cheng Shuili's actions halted; she stared at the chat page for a while, then helplessly sighed.

The radio battery is now installed; just wait patiently.

If it weren't for the rocket launcher...

Thinking of this, Cheng Shuili suddenly frowned, stood up, and knocked on the cockpit door.

Su Rui didn't turn her head, and asked, "Any orders?"

"Stop the vehicle for a moment."

Cheng Shuili's voice came through the closed door; although Su Rui didn't know why to stop, she still stopped.

After the car steadied, Cheng Shuili pushed open the door and stepped out smoothly.

Su Rui followed curiously, saw that person circle their vehicle once, then pull a wolf-tooth necklace from a pocket.

She had seen this before; the pack of wolf-tribe beastmen that dealt with the screaming chickens were summoned by this.

Thinking of that, she turned her head to look.

Not to mention monsters, there's not even a treasure chest; why is Lao Da now calling those subordinates out? To kill time and reminisce?

Reminiscing is too inaccurate; according to Cheng Shuili, it's to offer condolences.

She kept a calm expression, raised her hand and lifted the wolf tooth.

The sharp fang pierced her palm; blood wounded down the wolf tooth's veins, then suddenly burst into a dazzling crimson light.

Centered on Cheng Shuili, a ring of dark red ripples exploded outward.

Awo!

The wolf tribe's entrance remained dashing, yet the lone-eyed Wolf Jiu from last time only showed restrained excitement.

She walked slowly to Cheng Shuili's front, slammed her head onto the ground, and in a steady voice with restrained excitement said, "King!"

Cheng Shuili gave a faint smile, bent down and helped Lang Jiu up, and asked, "How did the matter from last time turn out?"

She really wanted to go see the wolf-tribe beastmen's territory.

It would be great if their territory could be merged directly into our domain.

In that case, whether asking them to help slay monsters or to aid their development, it would be much more convenient.

Cheng Shuili was hopeful, but Lang Jiu suddenly panicked, even kneeling on the ground and banged her head against Cheng Shuili a few times with a clacking sound.

The sound rippled across the quiet road; other wolf-tribe beastmen glanced aside, realized what happened, and immediately knelt down, bowing their heads as if trying to press their bodies to the ground.

Su Rui was about to chat with a wolf-tribe beastman when she suddenly saw the scene, stared at Cheng Shuili in shock, her mind not processing, and instinctively asked, "Should I kneel too?"

Cheng Shuili: "…"

She was indeed a bit silent.

How did we not know this guy had such a comedic talent before?

But now is not the time to focus on her; Cheng Shuili bent down and helped Lang Jiu up from the ground.

Lang Jiu's body trembled a bit, head lowered, not daring to look at her.

The face with only one eye, which was clearly fierce, now seemed somewhat fragile.

Cheng Shuili pulled her up, raised a hand and patted her shoulder, "You couldn't enter the territory, right?"

"Yes, King."

Lang Jiu's voice was low; she felt truly guilty.

It wasn't her fault that the King couldn't enter the territory, but delaying so long to inform the King made it entirely her responsibility.

This was the King's first mission for her, and she handled it so poorly.

Lang Jiu thought, the heavy guilt in her heart almost crushed her.

Cheng Shuili gently patted her shoulder again, "Alright, don't be sad; I guessed it long ago."

Cheng Shuili's voice was calm, showing no hint of disappointment.

Lang Jiu jerked her head up; the only eye left was filled with astonishment and confusion.

"King... you already knew?"

"Just a guess," Cheng Shuili withdrew her hand, her gaze sweeping over the other wolf-tribe beastmen still kneeling, "Everyone, get up."

The wolf‑tribe beastmen heard the order, immediately rose from the ground, but still kept their heads down, showing respect to Cheng Shuili.

Su Rui watched beside them, clicking her tongue in amazement, leaned toward Cheng Shuili and whispered, "Lao Da, you play the king quite grandly."

Cheng Shuili ignored her, and continued speaking to Lang Jiu, "You haven't reported for so long; it's not that you don't want to, but that you can't, right?"

She lifted her palm, and in the palm lay the wolf fang, resting silently.

Such a tiny trinket turned out to be the sole token linking her with the wolf tribe.

Cheng Shuili thought, then suddenly clenched her hand.

That matter can be considered settled.

Cheng Shuili comforted Lang Jiu with a couple of words, then steered the conversation toward the purpose of summoning them this time.

She pointed at a werewolf carrying a rocket launcher and asked, "How many of these do we have in our tribe?"

Lang Jiu followed Cheng Shuili's pointing direction, and immediately replied, "Reporting to the king, there are currently ten of these weapons within the tribe, allocated uniformly by the Rat King when the clans were founded. However, the remaining ammunition is scarce…"

She lowered her eyes and complained softly, "The Rat King's shells are far too expensive—one costs ten thousand Game Coin. He controls all Jiao Yi Zhan of both the black and white paths, and, relying on his monopoly, he greedily hoards wealth. Though everyone respectfully calls him 'His Majesty,' everyone knows he's a vile, crime‑loving stinking rat!"

After Lang Jiu finished speaking, she realized who she was talking to, froze, her expression suddenly panicked, about to kneel and pound a few reverent knocks, when Cheng Shuili grabbed her and said, "Don't kneel."

She looked at Lang Jiu and asked, "You just said the Rat King charges you ten thousand Game Coin per shell?"

Lang Jiu nodded, "Yes, ten thousand Game Coin per shell. It's been many years, always this price. The tribe was poor before, and the surrounding monsters were few and weak, so we didn't need that many shells. Now the tribe is a bit richer, monsters have increased, so we have to spend money on shells. The Rat King certainly foresaw this from the start; all Game Coin can only flow to him!"

Cheng Shuili Qing Qing furrowed her brow.

The Rat King's shells sold to her were not at that price; they could even be said to be given free of charge.

But in dealing with these beastmen, he monopolizes weapons, sells ammunition at high prices, and uses this method to control the development of each tribe, ensuring he always remains at the top of the food chain.

Truly a clever tactic.

"I understand," she said, looking at Lang Jiu. "Next time I see you, I'll procure a batch of shells for the tribe; until then, you may continue doing whatever you need to do."

A glimmer of hope flashed in Lang Jiu's single eye, and he nodded vigorously, "Yes, king!"

Cheng Shuili again discussed the wolf tribe's situation with Lang Jiu, confirming that the tribe currently had no major issues and that they all revered her as queen; Cheng Shuili began to feel a bit embarrassed.

She waved her hand, intending to tell them to leave first, when another vehicle suddenly materialized out of nowhere on the road.

There was no sound at all; if Cheng Shuili hadn't noticed the reflection on the vehicle's metal hull, she wouldn't have realized the road had merged.

Her gaze hardened, and an alarm rang in her mind!

The road merging now was indeed too coincidental.

Cheng Shuili had considered this possibility, but never expected the big fish she was trying to lure to directly challenge her courage!

In the blink of an eye, Cheng Shuili had already donned the cloak.

The wolf‑tribe beastmen reacted naturally faster than humans; when Su Rui noticed the anomaly, those beastmen had already shouldered the rocket launcher.

But before the queen could speak, they would not launch an unprompted attack.

And Cheng Shuili almost instinctively shifted her body to find cover, she didn't even forget to pull Su Rui along.

But it was already too late.

A slit opened in the vehicle's window, and a pitch‑black barrel protruded from within.

"Bang!"

A wisp of blue smoke puffed from the barrel.

Time seemed stretched infinitely; the bullet's aimed direction was clearly not at Cheng Shuili's position, yet it eerily looped in the air and sped toward her!

There was no way to evade, but the cloak's first‑time rebound probability was one hundred percent, so Cheng Shuili remained unflustered.

The bullet tore through the air, accompanied by a sharp, tearing scream.

Cheng Shuili stood in place, even able to see the faint airflow generated as the projectile spun.

She trusted the rebound effect of this special cloak on her body!

The first time was a one‑hundred‑percent probability, also the confidence that let her face danger head‑on.

However, the next second.

"Pfft."

A muffled thud.

It wasn't the expected metallic rebound, but the sound of a projectile piercing cloth and tearing flesh.

Cheng Shuili felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder; the force knocked her a step backward, and warm liquid instantly soaked her robe.

She looked down in disbelief, seeing a tear in her garment; the bullet had lodged in her chest, leaving a gruesome blood wound.

One‑hundred‑percent rebound… failed?

No, it didn't fail; it simply never activated!

At the instant the bullet neared her body, a peripheral glance caught that the projectile's surface seemed coated with an extremely thin, almost imperceptible gray halo.

Was this not a bullet, but some kind of special artifact?

It could track a target and ignore the cloak?

Though untimely, Cheng Shuili suddenly heard the cloak's description ring out, "When the wearer suffers physical attacks such as bullets, swords, or fists..."

Has this item already exceeded the realm of physical attacks?

Anyway, this is a bit too overpowered.

This place never lacks people with good luck.

There's always Liang Shanbo of the Euro Emperor, Ge Wudi who opened the manor, and the person who obtained this artifact…

Having something like this, it's no wonder they set their sights on her.

This was Cheng Shuili's final thought.

Her body weak, she fell onto the road; the bright blue sky dimmed, and in her hazy consciousness she seemed to hear several heart‑wrenching cries.

Then came the sound of something exploding, followed by a quiet shattering of an artifact, and the wound on Cheng Shuili's body began to heal at a visibly rapid pace.

Her body remained weak, Cheng Shuili closed her eyes, counting seconds in her mind.

One, two, three…

Upon reaching five, the pain in her body vanished completely; she opened her eyes and sat up.

The Undying Totem takes five seconds to take effect; there are still two uses left.

The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder, the vehicle had disappeared, the angry wolf-tribe orcs blasted the road black with rocket launchers, and Su Rui's body trembled uncontrollably; upon meeting Cheng Shuili's gaze, her eyes suddenly welled up, and she cried out with a choked voice: "Lao Da."

Cheng Shuili lifted her hand to touch her chest; tears and bloodstains still clung to her clothing, but her skin was smooth as before, as if the piercing pain just moments ago had been an illusion.

She looked at Su Rui, forcing a reassuring smile: "It's fine, I have a life-saving item."

She stood up, her gaze sweeping over the scorched road and the still-wary wolf-tribe orcs, finally settling on Lang Jiu.

Lang Jiu's single eye was filled with lingering fear and undispelled killing intent; seeing Cheng Shuili unharmed, she only then slightly relaxed her breath, but the hand gripping the rocket launcher still had veins bulging.

"King, I am incapable…"

Lang Jiu's voice was hoarse.

"It's none of your business."

Cheng Shuili interrupted her, her gaze cold as she looked at the spot where the vehicle had been: "The enemy's methods are too strange."

That kind of strange bullet, unheard of.

Su Rui stepped forward, looked Cheng Shuili up and down, confirmed she was truly unharmed, then relaxed.

"Don't worry about me." Cheng Shuili paused, then asked: "Did you see who was in the vehicle just now?"

Su Rui shook her head: "That person fired the shot and then canceled the road merge. It seems they didn't care about the outcome, or perhaps they believed that single bullet would definitely kill you, Lao Da, and vanished too quickly for anyone to get a clear look."

Hearing this, Cheng Shuili tugged at the corner of her mouth and smiled: "That person… definitely isn't among the top few on the ranking list."

Items like the Undying Totem, which substitute for death, are hardly a secret among those high on the ranking list; she has one, and Tie Luofei has one as well.

Only those ranked lower are unaware of such things, allowing them to be blindly confident.

As for whether it was the person who provoked Ling Yun and the others to declare war…

We still need to check if there are any other clues.