Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 439 The Child King! (4000 words)
Li Zheng pulled people into the group mainly to share the profits from this dungeon run.

Although it's not much, there is still some. If we don't make things clear, it could cause others to feel resentful, which would be awkward.

“This dungeon is quite special. As you can see from the system’s reward notifications, from start to finish, apart from that pet, there was only one extraordinary-grade Fire-Repelling Pearl.” Li Zheng said in the group chat, “Chaoran and Lu Li know the rules for us to run dungeons together. The person who uses one exploration opportunity to open the door is entitled to choose one item first.”

Wang Chaoran chimed in, "Yes, it's very fair."

"Considering that there is only one item in this instance, it may not be fair to the other three. After all, you also participated. If you don't get the item, it's like you've wasted your time."

"So my suggestion is this: I personally contributed the most to this dungeon, so the pet is mine, and I will not contribute anything else to distribute."

"The Fire-Repelling Pearl belongs to Lu Li, but Lu Li needs to give some diamond-level items to the other three as payment for the three of them to meet the entry requirements for the dungeon. Is that acceptable?"

Li Zheng sent several messages in a row. During this time, the others were very considerate and hardly interrupted, waiting for him to finish expressing his opinions.

At this point, the other four began to express their own thoughts.

First, there's Wang Chaoran, a big fan: "I unconditionally support all of the big boss's suggestions. I'll allocate resources however the big boss says, I'm all for it."

Liu Jin: "I have no objections either. Witnessing that spectacular scene at the end made the trip worthwhile. By the way, you're awesome, boss!!" (loud)

Ye Kai: "I have a slightly different opinion. Since none of us contributed much, we're satisfied with the prizes from the last two draws. Let's just give the Fire-Repelling Pearl to our nephew and not give us anything else to share."

Lu Li: "That won't do. Just like Old Li said, even if the three of you didn't contribute, you at least helped meet the requirements to enter the dungeon, so you still have to pay your share. By the way, when I'm not having an attack, could you please stop calling me 'nephew'?"

Ye Kai: "Okay, nephew."

Those who can associate with Li Zheng generally share similar values. They all believe that fair distribution of dungeon rewards is best, and they frequently express humility and deference.

After all, apart from Li Zheng, the other four really didn't contribute anything this time.

Although that was the result arranged by Li Zheng.

But Old Li was only thinking about their safety, wasn't he?
No one here is unreasonable; they won't nitpick over this detail.

After a not-so-intense discussion, Lu Li accepted the Fire-Repelling Pearl, then took out some diamond-grade items and gave them to the other three as a token of appreciation, thus concluding this dungeon run.

After finishing his business, Ye Kai tagged Li Zheng and asked other questions: "@Li Zheng, Lao Li, what's going on with this instance? Why is it different from the ones we've done before? Why are those abyssal creatures actually willing to communicate with you?"

Lu Li also said, "Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing. The one you were chatting with should be a succubus, right? Why did she give you that little succubus as a pet?"

Lu Li, a person with visual abilities, clearly saw the scene of the Succubus Queen handing Miriel over to Li Zheng. He had wanted to ask about it for a long time, but he had held back until now and finally found an opportunity.

After thinking for a moment, Li Zheng concealed the details about Miriel's identity and told them about the origins of the boxing match and the Abyss Demons.

After Ye Kai and the others read what had happened, they were all filled with sighs.

Ye Kai: "So, the abyssal creatures were once players too, but they missed the opportunity to enter the outer city?"

Lu Li: "I think the key point is something else the Succubus Queen said. Each player's survival time in the matrix is ​​only a maximum of 600 days. Players who haven't entered the outer city for more than 600 days will become like them and become a member of the dungeon?"

Wang Chaoran: "Isn't this very unfair to those players who entered the Matrix later in the same year?"

Liu Jin: "It is indeed unfair, but there is no absolute unfairness in this world. You think that late-game players can't enter the outer city? I'm actually speaking up for us pioneers who entered the matrix. We were the ones who suffered the most casualties, okay?"

New players can join a legion immediately upon entering the matrix and receive protection from veteran players, resulting in a significantly lower casualty rate compared to the first batch of players.

In fact, Li Zheng felt that the Earth players were relatively lucky, at least they did not evolve into the "dark jungle" law, and the overall atmosphere was still more peaceful, friendly and helpful.

If everyone had Lin Fan's mindset when they first entered the game, perhaps the relationships between humans on Earth now wouldn't be much different from those of the Abyss Demons' generation of players.

The final outcome is self-evident.

If every individual in a population prioritizes selfishness, then that population is not far from extinction.

Fortunately, things are better now. At least players in the Dragon Kingdom have legions like Kunlun and Jiutian that are willing to maintain a certain level of order.

Moreover, Li Zheng is about to head to the outer city, where he might find a way to bring all the players in together, thus avoiding having an extra instance in the matrix.

At this moment, Ye Kai suddenly said, "After learning about the origins of the Abyss Demon Clan, I suddenly solved a question that had been troubling me for many days."

I've always felt that the tech tree in the Matrix is ​​incredibly complex and chaotic, ranging from the most basic cold weapons and basic firearms to more advanced electromagnetic and laser weapons, yet their power varies wildly.

How can a melee weapon be more powerful and of a higher grade than an electromagnetic firearm? That's illogical!

Looking back now, the reason why the blueprints for these props and weapons... oh no, I should say the reason why the power system in the Matrix is ​​so chaotic is probably because there are too many players who have experienced it.

The Abyss Clan we encountered this time clearly didn't follow the path of technological development. Instead, they focused on developing their racial characteristics, evolving something like superpowers or abilities... emmm, magic? These were their methods of attack or defense.

Li Zheng had also found the problem Ye Kai mentioned strange before, but he had never investigated it in depth.

After his analysis, he also found it to be very reasonable.

For example, the players from Earth who are now entering the Matrix were originally a race that focused on technological development, and they did very little research on their own development.

Only special inheritors of family martial arts, such as Zhan Zhouzhou, followed this style. Before entering the Matrix, they were suppressed by the "technology" style to the point of almost being unable to turn the tide.

In order to conform to the general trend, they even went so far as to modify their own martial arts techniques and turn them into a kind of spectator sport in order to barely have some value in this world.

After all, no matter how much you train, the physical limits of human beings are limited. How many martial artists can be killed by a single burst of bullets?
However, among all the previous players who entered the Matrix, there were many races that did not develop technology but focused on developing their own abilities.

The Abyss Demons are one such example.

In addition, Li Zheng also recalled another instance he had entered before. In that mine tunnel, although there were some signs of technology, several boss creatures were actually also on the path of strengthening themselves.

These races have developed their bodies to a certain extent, and some individuals are even immune to damage from most firearms!
Lu Li's thoughts wandered for a moment: "You guys think... those plants we're developing gene abilities for now, could they be the work of some player from a certain era?"

His words startled everyone in the group.

Liu Jin: "Wow! That's very possible! There are so many instances in the Matrix, which means there are many different types of players who have entered before. There might even be a race that specializes in agriculture!"

Wang Chaoran: "To achieve this, it requires more than just agriculture, right? I think it also requires the cooperation of a race that specializes in genetic technology research."

Compared to the two of them, Ye Kai had a broader vision, seemingly with some anticipation: "So, how far has the outer city, which has gathered so many elite figures from various races, developed?"

For a tech-savvy player like Ye Kai, the prospect of a more advanced and complete technological development path in the outer city had already made him eager to explore it. Not only Ye Kai, but also Liu Jin and Wang Chaoran were filled with longing for the outer city at this moment.

As they looked out over the outer city, Lu Li was worried for Li Zheng: "After such a long period of development, how dangerous will the outer city become?"
Don't forget, red names only appear when killing within the same race. Those races in the outer city won't feel any guilt killing us!

boom!
In Li Zheng's view, Lu Li's words were as thunderous as a bolt from the blue.

He finally understood where the slight worry that arose in his heart when he learned of the existence of the outer city from Roemand came from.

If the outer city is not as harmonious as they imagine, will Earth players become like slaves if they enter it?

Li Zheng suddenly thought of the wandering merchant named "Xiao," who attacked the players in the matrix without the slightest hesitation or doubt.

Does this prove that veteran players in the outer city don't actually take the new generation of players seriously?
But one thing Li Zheng was clear about was that no matter what they discussed now, the ultimate destination for Earth players would still be the outer city.

As for the specifics of the outer city's environment, you'll have to go and see for yourself to know.

Li Zheng said in the group: "The requirements for entering the outer city are still more inclined towards orderly players. The environment may be much better than we imagined."

Ye Kai: "Anyway, I'm currently holding a relatively optimistic view of the outer city, but there are definitely dangers. Given the nature of the matrix terminal, we can't even imagine the dangers that players in the outer city will face."

In fact, as the game has progressed to this point, some of the most developed players have come into contact with certain special merchants. Judging from their attitudes toward the current players in the Matrix, they may not have any ill intentions toward the new players, but they also don't take them too seriously.

This is understandable, since the two sides are not of the same race, and the players of different races they have encountered may be more numerous than Li Zheng and his group have encountered so far.

Who would care too much about a race whose final fate is uncertain?
"Let's take it one step at a time. The future is always uncertain. We can't just give up on this path because there are potential dangers in the outer city, can we?"

Li Zheng chatted with Ye Kai and the others about other things in the group, exchanged some information, and finally, after Lu Li sent Ye Kai and the others some diamond-level materials or props, Li Zheng disbanded the group chat.

One person's plan is short, three people's plan is long.

During this impromptu group chat, Lu Li and the others helped Li Zheng figure out many things.

These things are actually not difficult. With the amount of information Li Zheng has now, he can easily deduce them if he calms down and thinks about them.

However, Old Li prefers using his hands to using his brain, and even though his mental strength has improved significantly, he is not very enthusiastic about thinking.

"Hmm... when we go to the outer city later, maybe I can bring someone with a better mind along?" This thought suddenly popped into Li Zheng's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

He doesn't even know where his strength will be in the outer city. If there is danger, he may not even be able to protect himself, let alone others.
Don't let the players you bring over get hurt.

"By the way, where's that little succubus?" Only then did Li Zheng have time to pay attention to Miriel.

Turning around, I saw the little guy following behind the ugly farmer, watching him work with curiosity. His big eyes were bright and sparkling, and he was very cute.

The Abyss Demons are more focused on developing their own abilities, so there are very few demons who specialize in planting, or rather, the demons who do planting tasks are too low-level for Miriel to come into contact with normally. At this moment, she is filled with curiosity about the ugly farmer's work and watches and learns at the same time.

Sometimes, when the Ugly Farmer finds a plant lacking water and is about to send the Housekeeping Machine to fetch some, Miriel is already waiting nearby with a water bottle.

The little guy has an amazing learning ability. After just following along for a while, he figured out a lot of planting tips.

"This little thing is quite interesting."

Li Zheng opened the pet panel to view Mirail's attribute information.

Pet: Miriel

Race: succubus

Status: Growth stage

Grade: Platinum

Rank: King

Gender: ♀
Personality: Inquisitive (Pets with this personality are curious about everything new and have an extremely strong learning ability.)
Talent: Innate allure

Succubi are naturally superior, possessing stunning beauty that makes them incredibly attractive to males of all races.

Bringing her along increases the chance of taming neutral male creatures by 20%.
房中秘术
Succubi possess an extremely high sensitivity to certain aspects, and their skills are self-taught.

With her by your side, you will experience what it means for "the emperor to neglect his morning court duties".

Intimidation by appearance
Succubi are naturally beautiful, surpassing all others in beauty, and possess an intimidating presence in the eyes of females of all races.

With her by your side, the probability of taming a neutral female creature increases by 10%, but there is a 30% chance of triggering hatred and incurring hostility from neutral female creatures.

Ability: Beyond Reach (Diamond Level Max)

Binding (Platinum Level Max)

Whipping (Platinum Level Max)

Whip Master

Mental strength: Unquantifiable
Genetic Force: None
Old Pu: You think she's a succubus princess?
Actually, she's the young king of the succubus race!

I love raising lolis!

Platinum-level champion!!

Li Zheng stared at Miriel's rank bar, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

I never expected there would be a "King" level above the "Leader" level!
This time I really found a treasure!

This kind of pet must be carefully raised; you absolutely cannot let it become disabled, otherwise it will be a huge loss!
"Wait... what the hell are these abilities?" Li Zheng looked down and noticed the ability section, and was immediately dumbfounded.

Master of whip techniques?
Are this "whip" and this "way" legitimate?

I'm having writer's block today. I'll post this now and then continue writing. I'll write as much as I can before midnight and post it after midnight.

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(End of this chapter)