The Great Thief

Lu Li and his team encountered two consecutive, seemingly-stealthy ambushes not long after. If it weren’t for his expert driving skills and ability to find the safest route to the safe zone, their team would have been wiped. However, they still suffered heavy losses in terms of resources – half of their medication was gone, and so was Lu Li’s level three helmet and vest.

“Something’s not right. Did one of you forget to turn off your live streams?” Lu Li asked. He couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched and decided that they had to change locations as soon as possible.

“I’ll double-check mine.”

Unforgettable Maple was in a good enough mood that he didn’t mind doing extra work for once.

“Don’t get found out.”

The whole situation was too strange.

Not long after, Maple returned hastily and snarked, “That bastard Elevenless; he’s been feeding our enemies our locations. That’s why we got caught up with two ambushes.”

“This is where we made our last kill and this is where the safe zone is. We’ll ditch the car, and detour around the hills. We’ve got to lay low if we’re going to win this thing. Don’t open fire as soon as you see the enemy,” Lu Li decided.

“Gunshots straight ahead,” Innocent Child’s ears said as his ears perked up. “It’s an M24.”

With that, he holstered both of his guns to his back and ran at full speed towards the direction of the gunshots.

“Don’t open fire unless you have a silencer,” Lu Li sighed. He didn’t get defensive when Innocent disobeyed his command since he agreed that stealth-ing the whole round would make the game lose its charm. Silencers could prevent the enemies from figuring out the shooter’s location, which made it hard for them to avoid the attacks. When Lu Li and his team arrived at the location of where the gunshots were heard, the place was already dead silent. The only thing that could be seen was the four players who were nonchalantly looting the defeated players.

“Should we still wait?” Innocent Child asked.

“To hell with that.”

Lu Li didn’t even bother sniping, but rather, took out his assault rifle and sprayed the place. This sort of situation was very common in this game – you had just concluded a hard-fought battle with the enemy team, and just as you thought you could receive your rewards, the menacing bullets of a newly-arrived team would make an unwelcome entrance. The team that Lu Li and the others gunned down were made of four individual Survival and Escape streamers who were highly reputable. Eight consecutive chicken dinners were of no difficulty, and ten consecutive wins were on the table. Not even professional players had the winning rate that they had.

Survival and Escape was not a game that had beginner rooms or training rooms, but rather, players of similar rankings and combat abilities were grouped into the same game. As a player’s winning rate increases, so did the skill of the players they were matched with. It also differed from Dawn in regards to the number of accounts one player could create. In Dawn, accounts were limited to one per player, while in Survival and Escape, as long as you were willing to spend some cash, you could have as many accounts as you want. Some live streamers tended to play with accounts that had a low ranking so that they would be matched with newbies. It was favourable to the streamer, since taking down people meant compliments in the chat and gifts from the fans. However, that also meant that they would develop the unfortunate habit of letting their guard down when looting after a battle. With that, the four streamers were down on the ground in no time.

“Speed is key. Loot whatever you can; we’ve got to leave this place in thirty seconds,” Lu Li reminded as he ran to collect his loot. He was lacking in both a helmet and vest, as well as ammunition. The following battles would only grow more rigorous, and they had to be well stocked-up and prepared for them. If they were to shoot the enemies, what a horrifying situation that would be.

Lu Li found a level three helmet and a level two vest on his target, which he made sure he didn’t damage when gunning him down. He even found an M249 – the gun with the largest capacity magazine. There were one hundred bullets per magazine. Though this gun had its flaws, it remained unrivalled in its usefulness during the final battles. This gun also meant that this team had gone for at least two air drops. Was this what they called ‘fortune favours fools’? After all, they were dumb enough to have all four members looting with no one on lookout. Lu Li wondered what would happen if both Hachi Chan and Remnant Dream joined the game. One had no sense of direction, while the other always had her head up in the clouds.

Four separate cars arrived at the scene shortly after Lu Li and his team left. Each car had at least two players. It was impossible that they were all of the same team since the game set a limit of four players per team. Even if teaming up was a rule violation in the game that could lead to your account being banned, a little bit of cash was all it took to make another one. Seeing nothing but loot boxes at the scene, the four cars drove off to separate directions without hesitation.

A moment later, when the safe zone was visibly getting nearer, four figures who were lying prone in the grasses stood up. They were Lu Li and his team.

“They’re dogs, all of them. How petty do they have to be teaming up like that?” Lu Li muttered, realising that victory was much further from his grasp than he anticipated. If he were playing the round alone, he would have quit the game immediately, leaving his enemies’ searches futile. After all, what would hurt them the most was not to take them down, but for them to work their asses off over nothing at all. Unfortunately, Lu Li had his team with him, and he would not allow himself such juvenile behaviour.

“I just realised something,” Unforgettable Maple chuckled, “Only three cars arrived first, right? But the last car that came by did something very strange,”

“The car in front honked once, and the cars behind it fired three shots. It was an AK, but it didn’t hit any of the cars. Now, why didn’t a battle escalate if they were to open fire?” Lu Li questioned, reaching an epiphany immediately.

“It’s a code,” Water Fairy answered.

“Why don’t we follow suit? Let’s go catch up to those guys,” Innocent Child suggested, his voice shaking from excitement.

“Oh man, imagine taking down all four cars – that would be awesome. In the past we would’ve been fighting one team at a time. Two would be unfavourable since we could easily be sandwiched. But now, we can go undercover as one of them, and when the time is right? Bang!”

Unforgettable Maple no longer intended to lay low; his intentions were equally vile.

“You’re right, let’s do it,” Lu Li decided. There were plenty of cars around, so finding a four-seater was not a problem. They decided on a greying sports car that was in a better condition and drove at full speed towards their enemies.

“I’ll open fire since I have an AKM. Just let me take off the silencer so they can actually recognise the sound.”

Unforgettable Maple was as observant as he was mischievous. In front of them were a sports car, a jeep, and a trike motorcycle, meaning that they couldn’t go fast even if they wanted to. Lu Li caught up with them way before they even reached the safe zone. The cars ahead had not determined whether the team behind them were friends or enemies. Thankfully, they had a code. The enemies slowed down their vehicle in case a battle escalated and honked once to see if it invoked a response. Upon hearing the honk, Unforgettable Maple smiled devilishly and fired her AKM three times.

With that, the cars ahead continued to drive on, and Lu Li’s team successfully blended into their enemies’ formation. There were four cars, and there were four of them. Since it was easy to shoot a car to explosion when firing at close range, they could each take down one car. The only problem they had to consider was whether more cars would be joining them. If there were seven or eight cars around them, Lu Li would have to abandon their ambush and leave. Thankfully, they seemed to be the only players close to this area.

As soon as they arrived at the safe zone, only fifty players were left. It appeared that it would be a much slower game than usual since it was much more common to be down to thirty players at this point. It also meant that Elevenless’ teaming tactic had worked. These people stopped trying to rip each other apart, and focused solely on hunting down Lu Li’s team. The car at the front slowed down, and the others followed suit. If Lu Li’s predictions were correct, these players who had failed to find him would be carrying out a new plan soon.

“I’ll take the jeep. Sister Maple, you take the red sports car. Snowy, you handle the trike. I’ll leave the last one to you, Innocent Bro. When you’ve taken down your target, help each other out. If you’re low on health, go hide behind our car. On my signal…”

Lu Li parked his car in a safer location that distanced itself from the enemies’ vehicles. No one suspected a thing.

“Now!”

“Shoot!”

The enemies in front of them had no idea what hit them. Since the code that Elevenless had given them was privately messaged, there was no way that it could have been exposed in such a short time, or so they thought.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lu Li had the hardest target. The sturdiness of the Jeep made it difficult for it to explode. However, he was using the M249, which was perfect for gunning down vehicles. It even made him the first in his team to take down their target. The players on the Jeep did not have any time to react and were instantly killed as the car exploded. The second explosion was caused by Water Fairy. The trike offered zero protection to its passengers, making it vulnerable to close range attacks. Even if Water Fairy didn’t cause an explosion, she could have easily gunned down all three players in no time. Lu Li wasted no time and switched to Maple’s and Innocent’s targets. Their plan was carried out flawlessly. However, the driver of Innocent’s target was quick to react, driving the car sporadically and successfully avoiding most of the bullets. One player even leapt out of the car without being knocked out, they may have lost a bit of health but survived nonetheless.

The two players who survived counterattacked by sweeping Lu Li’s team and successfully knocked out Unforgettable Maple. Thankfully, they were still no match for them and did not get the chance to kill off Maple. The results of the battle were as clear as day – four cars, twelve dead. The initial fifty-two players were now down to forty players.

Time to loot!

No amount of loot could beat the pleasure they felt killing these cheating players. They had successfully taken down twelve players in less than thirty seconds, a record that wouldn’t be beaten in a long time. Level three helmet, level three vest, level three backpack, an M249, a 98K, five first aid kits, ten energy drinks, and a lot of ammo – they were now more than prepared for the remainder of the game.

“How unfortunate that we can’t put spare level three helmets and vests in our backpacks,” Water Fairy sighed, looking at the multiple level three armors on the ground which were in perfect condition.

“What about compounding? Three level three vests compound into a level four vest, and three level three helmets to a level four helmet,” Unforgettable Maple suggested.

“That’s enough; we’ve got to go. Don’t forget there are still people on our tail,” Lu Li interrupted their daydreaming session.

“Please don’t tell me the remaining forty players are teaming up as well.”

Innocent Child was visibly worried. If what he feared was true, then there was no way that they would be winning. Them taking down twelve people at once was an opportunity in a lifetime after all.

“As long as they’re in the game, they won’t be able to come up with a new plan anytime soon. Also, they would have to abandon teaming up for the time being now that their code has been exploited,” Lu Li replied calmly.

“Speed is key. Let’s find people to kill,” Innocent suggested hastily. The four jumped back onto their sports car and sped off. Driving along the edge of the safe zone, they repeated the pattern of spotting enemies, slamming the brakes, and taking them out. Since all four of them had silencers, their enemies were down on the ground as soon as they heard a car nearby slowing down. The circle was down to less than twenty players in no time. Of course, it wasn’t just Lu Li’s team that were fighting. Since the teaming plan was abandoned, the players returned to fighting each other as well.

With the new safe zone announced, Lu Li decided to lay low in a house near the river. With the size of the circle growing much smaller, they no longer had the liberty to drive around killing people without giving away their positions to other enemies. As soon as their enemies were killed, they would notify other players of Lu Li’s location. It was now ten against four.

“Boat!”

With them hiding out near the river, the sound of a speedboat closing in was not unexpected.

“Take it down,” Lu Li said as he glanced out the window and decided hiding was not worth it at this point. With the circle shrinking as the timer counted down, fighting with other players face-to-face was unavoidable. There were four people of the boat, and if they took it down, there would be less than ten people in the circle. With four guns pointing at the boat (one of them being an M249), the vehicle exploded almost immediately. Only two enemies who were quick enough to react survived by jumping into the water.

“Fried fish, fried fish!” Unforgettable Maple chuckled. “Man, I’ve been dying to use these frags.” With that, he threw one frag grenade after another into the water.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The so-called ‘fried fish’ referred to bombing players who had dived into the water. Guns were useless when you didn’t know where a player was, but bombs had a large area of damage and therefore could take people out easily. Lu Li threw one grenade into the water as well and surprisingly took down a player.

“He’s swimming towards us!”

Lu Li and Unforgettable Maple were in charge of bombing, while Innocent Child dived into the water as a lookout for the enemy. With their flawless teamwork, Lu Li took down the last player of the boat team with his grenade.

“How could you do this to me? I threw six frags and you only threw two, but still got both kills,” Maple pouted.

“I got lucky I guess,” Lu Li laughed.

The two boxes being in the water made it easy and safe to loot. Since there were only twelve remaining, including Lu Li’s team, it would take time for the enemies to reach their location. Even if they did, Lu Li was ready for them. Victory was almost within reach.

“Wow, these guys are rich,” Water Fairy said as she found a replacement for her damaged helmet and vest. Not only this, but all three boxes also had at least one level three armor, and even the ammo was more than the team could carry.

“Hold on, this guy’s got nothing.”

The box Innocent chose to loot had nothing but a handgun and some bandages; he couldn’t even find a helmet or vest in it.

How poor!

They had nearly reached the end of the game, and this guy had nothing?

“He might’ve thrown away his loot. I’ve done the same thing in the past,” Maple said.

“How petty.”

Innocent Child dived to the bottom of the river and found himself speechless.

“This guy was throwing away his loot as he swam. How petty do you have to be to decide that you would rather die than give your enemies your loot?”

“He could be stalling,” Lu Li chimed in.

“You’re saying the remaining eight players are going to surround us?” Maple asked as his expression paled. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t faced off against two enemies at once in the past, but it was not exactly a walk in the park either.

“How about this – Sister Maple and Snowy, you guys act like you’re still looting and wait for them to fry fish. Innocent and I will be sniping up there,” Lu Li proposed, coming up with a new plan right away. The three-story building by the river had some fences on its roof which offered decent protection, and also a clear view of the river bank. Being able to come up with strategies on the spot while taking into account his surroundings was probably one of Lu Li’s most reputable strengths. As he predicted, players came running towards the river in no time.

The eight remaining enemies were of three separate teams, and since they formed an agreement before the game, they were able to communicate with each other using third-party software. All eight players were now teamed up to take down Lu Li’s team.

Unforgettable Maple was swimming in the river and had his head up every few seconds, making him impossible to miss. The enemies were quickly focused on the water, and with their commander being Midnight Ghost, all eight of them were holding onto their frags and throwing them into the river excitedly. While they did so, the two players in the water could do nothing but swim as they were restricted of battle actions when underwater.

All eight players gathered by the riverbank, and one by one, they threw out their frags, thinking that victory was ensured. It was difficult to spot players who were underwater, so they were unable to locate Maple and Water immediately. Who would have suspected that Lu Li could be so sneaky?

Bang!

Bang!

The two sniper rifles were aimed at players with level two helmets – with one shot, they were already down on the ground. Lu Li and Innocent Child switched to their assault rifles and swept the river bank. With nothing to offer cover, five players were taken out of the game almost immediately.

“Jump into the water!” Midnight Ghost called out. It wasn’t any more a brilliant tactic than it was a simple avoidance of the danger in front of them. The remaining three players were all underwater by this point.

Without skipping a beat, Unforgettable Maple and Water Fairy jumped out of the water, their guns pointed at the river. By this point none of their enemies were brave enough to stick their heads above water for air – it would have been suicide after all. The two of tehm walked up to the five fresh boxes and continued looting. They already had more than enough resources, but they still needed frag grenades so that they could fry fish. The three players underwater realised the bleak situation they were in. One of them decided that he wouldn’t be a sitting duck and jumped back onto land. Unfortunately, the second his figure appeared above water, Maple and Water had their guns pointed straight at him and he was knocked out within seconds. Water Fairy switched to her frying pan to conk the crawling figure while Lu Li could only stare at her, stunned. He had a raging urge to point his gun at Unforgettable Maple.

He was a bad influence on Snowy!

Definitely a bad influence!

The team ‘fry fished’ their way to victory once again, but this time, Lu Li could feel nothing but the stinging in his chest.