Chapter 110: Encountering Bai Xingchen Again

“I’ve already said it—we should just leave this place and stop messing around with those strange challenges!”

A girl in a white dress complained to the two men beside her, but they paid no mind, instead looking at her with indulgent affection.

The two men were dressed very plainly—simple T-shirts and worn jeans—and their appearances were unremarkable, neither striking nor unattractive.

Xiyan and Lin Shuang watched the girl from a distance, and memories of her immediately surfaced in their minds.

This was the same girl they had encountered at the teleportation point in the Ninth Survival Zone.

Seeing her, Lin Shuang smiled faintly, then reached up to pull the hood of his black cloak over his head.

The black cloak had been given to the two of them by the man in black they had just met, with instructions to wear it at all times.

Xiyan recalled that the girl’s name was Bai Xingchen. At the time, Qingyan had shown disdain toward her and mentioned something about the Bai family.

...

“Greetings, three players,” Lin Shuang said, lowering his head as he approached and deliberately lowering his voice to speak to Bai Xingchen.

Bai Xingchen, spotting someone clad in a black cloak before her, immediately frowned and said, “Are you wearing that cloak to hide your face?”

Beneath the cloak, Lin Shuang clenched his fists in anger, but he maintained a calm tone as he replied, “Not at all. I’m the leader here. I came to introduce you all to how this swing works.”

Lin Shuang’s gentle demeanor only seemed to embolden Bai Xingchen further. Suddenly, she raised her hand and swiftly yanked off Lin Shuang’s hood.

Caught completely off guard, Lin Shuang was unsuccessful in preventing it.

At first, Bai Xingchen smirked mockingly, but the moment she saw Lin Shuang’s face, she froze in place, her expression turning to one of terror.

“You... how could it be you...” she stammered, taking a few fearful steps back.

The two men flanking her, noticing her reaction, immediately stepped forward to shield her, placing themselves between her and Lin Shuang. They glared furiously at Lin Shuang and demanded, “Have you been bullying Xingchen?!”

Watching the two men feign anger, Lin Shuang rolled her eyes in silent exasperation.

From afar, they had seemed capable of protecting Bai Xingchen, even formidable. But as they drew nearer, Lin Shuang realized they were nothing but useless.

Among survivors, there was generally no obvious intimidation based on level differences. Lower-level survivors rarely had the chance to mingle with higher-level ones; Xiyan was an exception.

When lower-level survivors encountered higher-level ones, the latter could sense their inferior level.

Typically, a level difference of around fifty was required to generate such dominance.

For example, Lin Shuang was currently level fifty-six, so she naturally exerted a pressure over survivors below level six and could easily defeat any of them.

This was hardly surprising—such a vast level gap was difficult to encounter.

Lin Shuang never imagined she would face such a situation.

What surprised her even more was that the two men accompanying Bai Xingchen were only level six.

Still, Lin Shuang did not underestimate them outright. Many capable individuals in the survival zones liked to disguise themselves as low-level players—a classic case of playing the fool to catch the tiger.

“How could you think that? Why would I bully her?” Lin Shuang smiled sweetly at the two men.

Her mature, commanding beauty was now fully revealed after Bai Xingchen had pulled off her hood, and the two men’s earlier boldness immediately gave way to lascivious gazes.

Their expressions made Lin Shuang wish she could kill them on the spot, but she knew it wasn’t the time.

Xiyan was still trying to understand the mission to leave the swing area; acting rashly could have serious consequences.

“Ah... well...” one of the men stammered awkwardly, then glanced at Lin Shuang and added, “I also believe such a beautiful lady wouldn’t do anything to bully others.”

“Yes, yes! Miss, maybe there’s some misunderstanding between you and Miss Bai? If so, it’d be great to clear it up—then you could be friends!” the other man chimed in eagerly.

Their demeanor made Bai Xingchen feel both annoyed and jealous. Though she was pretty in a cute way—not a lolita kind of cute, just a modest, gentle prettiness—it paled in comparison to the commanding presence of a mature beauty.

In their eyes, those two men had already dismissed Bai Xingchen entirely.

At this moment, they were certain Bai Xingchen was just making trouble without reason.

“There’s no misunderstanding! What are you two even talking about? Who exactly are you trying to help?” Bai Xingchen stomped her foot angrily.

Lin Shuang noticed that Bai Xingchen’s demeanor had changed drastically since before. He remembered that at the Ninth Survival Zone’s teleport spot, Bai Xingchen had been timid and submissive. Now, she spoke with such confidence and boldness.

“Don’t be upset. We can all talk things through and solve this. There’s no need for unpleasantness, right?” One of Bai Xingchen’s men glanced at the other and gave a subtle wink.

The other man immediately caught on and continued, “Exactly! Miss, is there a misunderstanding between you and Miss Bai? Oh! We haven’t even asked your name yet!”

Lin Shuang covered his mouth to suppress a chuckle. He found these two men amusing—he’d never met anyone quite like them. Despite having pledged loyalty to Bai Xingchen, they were still trying to flirt with him.

Xiyan watched with great interest, not eager to intervene.

Bai Xingchen was fuming with rage at the men’s behavior, but they seemed utterly indifferent to her reaction, their eyes locked solely on Lin Shuang.

Their gaze made Lin Shuang feel as if he were standing there completely unclothed.

It was an uncomfortable feeling, so he quickly spoke up, “No misunderstanding here. We do have some issues between us. So, what do you two plan to do... what are your intentions toward me?”

He smiled sweetly, though the two men paid no attention to his words at all.