The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

"The Oath of the Peach Garden is missing one person," Chen Qi thought to add.

"Although I'm a girl, I think I'm very strong. I can take on ten people with one punch. How about it? Interested in learning more?"

As she spoke, she went up and slapped Wang Qing and Li Can twice, giving each of them a punch.

Wang Qing was already very weak, and when she lost her balance, she fell to the ground, causing Wu Xiuyuan to roll twice on the weedy ground as well.

Li Can almost suffered internal injuries from her attack. He felt that the flesh on his chest would turn red, then blue, and then purple in no time.

He had seen her fight before, but this was the first time he had actually taken a punch and felt its power.

At that moment, Li Can's mind was filled with envy.

If only he could have this kind of superpower to improve his health...

These puppets, no matter how powerful they are now, are still controlled externally. If something were to attack him personally, the puppets wouldn't have time to defend against their own bodies.

Li Can felt a little melancholy. When would she be able to collect a single superpower gacha coin?

He now knows how to upgrade puppets and create resource gacha coins.

But heavens, this cheat code hasn't told him how to acquire new puppets yet!

With his current number of puppets, there's no way he can increase the number of gacha coins; he can only continue to improve their quality... Sigh...

"How about it? If you two become sworn brothers, take me with you. Everyone in the martial arts world knows that loyalty is my defining characteristic."

"What? What do you mean by those looks? You can go out and ask around at the First Base. Everyone knows my Iron Fist Ah Qi."

While rubbing the painful area in his chest, Li Can looked her up and down again.

Long, straight black hair, rounded bangs, slender limbs, thin but not skinny, baby face, almond eyes, cherry lips... Hmm... Judging by appearance alone, she should be a cute girl.

But in fact, these are all external, misleading options.

One act of underestimating your opponent can lead to their utter defeat in no time.

Wang Qing was also tired, so she quickly dragged Wu Xiuyuan up from the ground and leaned him against a big tree by the roadside. While carefully wiping the dirt off his face with her sleeve, she turned to look at Chen Qi.

Bathed in the torchlight, the girl emphasized earnestly, "You guys really haven't heard of Iron Fist Seven, have you? That can't be right..."

Where could Li Can have heard of this? He's no longer in the old timeline.

Moreover, verifying the authenticity of the title "Iron Fist Ah Qi" is actually not important to him.

It's uncertain whether we'll ever see a living human again.

Will he live to see the day when he completely saves Earth? No, he definitely will. How can he do it if he doesn't even believe in himself?

Li Can didn't want to think about the worst-case scenario.

From a young age, he was taught that human will can overcome nature, that anything is possible with human effort, and that only by taking action can things turn around.

"Holy crap, you're Iron Fist Ah Qi? The captain of the Blue Sky Ability User Team at the First Base?" Wang Qing was stunned for a moment before suddenly realizing what was happening, and his shock was off the charts.

"Big brother, second sister, I am your third brother."

"Second sister, your strength is really something. Even if you're not Iron Fist Ah Qi, I saw you fighting monsters in the open area before. You were incredibly fierce, I was almost scared to tears."

"Big Brother is even more terrifying. Damn, I thought it was really over, but when your puppets came out, I knew the game was in the bag!"

"Great! They're like Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, and we're like Li Yu, Chen Shuai, and Wang Lijun."

Wang Qing scratched the back of his head and looked around. "If we're going to have a sworn brotherhood ceremony, we don't have any wine. It just feels like something's missing."

Chen Qi thought it didn't matter much, "Special cases require special treatment, it's okay. After we go out, Second Sister will find some wine to bring you to worship again."

Li Can was speechless. He was already so old; he was no longer the naive boy he used to be.

He would never play house with these players, whom he might never see again, in a life-or-death situation in a dungeon.

Why bother with the Oath of the Peach Garden, or the likes of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Li Yu, Chen Shuai, and Wang Lijun? They sound catchy, but it's just ridiculous and childish.

The most crucial and urgent thing right now is to complete the mission. How long is he going to keep fooling around with this group of people here?

The countdown to the destruction of Earth keeps ticking away; he is the one who is going to save the world, carrying a heavy mission on his shoulders.

"Yes, I have some alcohol here that can replace baijiu. One capful each, drink a little less so you don't get drunk. We still need to go into the hospital to look for clues later."

As Li Can spoke, he took out supplies from his spatial storage and distributed them among the three of them.

"Big brother, you're awesome! I knew you were the best!" Wang Qing exclaimed.

"Brother, that's too kind of you. Let's drink to that." Chen Qi thought to himself.

Li Can looked up at the moon in the night sky above the dungeon.

"I don't know if you read the original text of the Oath of the Peach Garden in Romance of the Three Kingdoms when you were in school. Actually, I really admired it back then."

"Unfortunately, I don't remember what those words were said."

It seems like dawn never breaks here. All around is quiet, with only the breathing of a few people and the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Seeing the expressions on the three people's faces, Xiaoyu and Xiaomo suddenly became serious as well.

"Brothers and sisters, we've memorized the original text," Xiao Mo said timidly, stepping forward.

Eh?

Li Can was being a bit sentimental one second, but then her composure crumbled a bit the next.

What kind of family upbringing produced a child who could memorize such a text?

He was just saying it casually, but he didn't expect anyone to actually respond.

How can one describe the level of shock? Li Can felt it was no less than kindergarten children learning advanced math—no, these kids are kindergarten children after all…

"Little Fish and Little Mo are so great! Can you recite it for your older sisters and brothers?" Chen Qi leaned down and patted the two little ones' heads.

The little fish nodded, then raised one arm, its five fingers together, just like when answering a question in class.

"Excuse me, should we replace the names inside with those of my older brother and sister?"

Li Can felt a warm feeling in her heart, and her curiosity was piqued. "Let's try something else."

"I agree," Wang Qing also raised his hand.

"Agreed," Chen Qi nodded.

Xiao Mo gave a serious order: "Then later, older brothers and sisters, grab your bottle caps and stand under the tree, facing each other. When my brother and I recite the last line, you can have a drink, okay?"

Li Can's lips twitched; he was starting to regret it... Did he really have to put on such an awkward show? Could he fast-forward through this part? Could he suddenly change his mind?

...Never mind...he was still somewhat looking forward to it...

And so, in that dark and stormy night at the Turtle Soup Hospital instance.

Three furtive teenagers stood facing each other in a peach orchard overgrown with weeds, each holding a bottle cap containing alcohol.

Surrounding them were seven or eight zombie puppets, each holding a torch and surging with energy, while vultures circled overhead.

Two twins, around six or seven years old, recited in unison in their childish voices:

"Thinking of Li Can, Chen Qixiang, and Wang Qing, although they are not of the same surname, they have become sworn brothers and are of one mind and work together to help those in distress and danger; to serve the country above and to bring peace to the people below."

"I do not wish to be born on the same day, month, and year, but only to die on the same day, month, and year."

"Heaven and Earth bear witness to this heart; betraying righteousness and forgetting kindness, may Heaven and Earth punish them both!"