Chapter 41: The event is over, ranking

Sitting under the treehouse, Xu Xin stared silently at the sun that was gradually tilting westward.

He knew why he couldn't go up anymore.

Because the tendrils that pulled him up were actually the aerial roots of the banyan tree, a type of adventitious root. Essentially, they were still roots, and since the roots were undergoing secondary growth, these tendrils naturally had temporarily ceased their function of entering and exiting the treehouse.

It was too difficult; he couldn't even go up to lie down and be idle.

After sitting for a while, Xu Xin still decided to do something.

Xu Xin looked at his backpack, which contained a stone spear, stone axe, stone pickaxe, stone hoe, golden treasure chest, several bottles of water, and various fruits. These few items alone had already nearly filled up the 10 slots in his backpack.

Because of this, he had left the fertilizer and seeds in the treehouse when he went out last night, which meant he couldn't plant birch and pine trees now.

"The slots are still not enough; I need a more advanced backpack."

"…I'll clear out an area first. Otherwise, there won't be any place to plant these two types of trees."

Xu Xin first took out the golden treasure chest from his backpack and placed it next to the base of the treehouse. This thing was heavy enough even when in the backpack; carrying it would affect his work.

He then took the sleepy Coco from his shoulder and placed it on top of the golden treasure chest.

Coco weakly whimpered and slightly opened its eyes.

"Help me watch the golden treasure chest, don't let anyone take it," Xu Xin joked with Coco, after all, where would other people come from around here.

Coco's little head nodded slightly, then curled up into a ball and continued sleeping.

Xu Xin then took out his stone axe and found an area near the treehouse with more green-level soil. He began indiscriminate felling, directly storing the chopped wood in his backpack.

His stone axe was blue-level, so the felling speed was very fast. One chop for a white-level poplar tree, two chops for a green-level poplar tree. Before long, he had cleared out an area.

In this area, 70% of the soil was green-level, and Xu Xin didn't plan to deal with the remaining 30% white soil. After all, each piece of soil was only about one square meter, and considering the planting intervals, not every piece of land could be planted with trees, so this was already enough.

Xu Xin then ran to the lakeside, collected some reeds, and dug up a few lotus roots for tonight's dinner.

Lotus root with bear meat, perfect.

Before leaving the lakeside, Xu Xin looked towards the piranhas in the center of the lake.

…Indeed, he still felt that the activity range of these piranhas seemed to have expanded a bit. Although not by much, they were definitely closer to him now.

It seemed he needed to think of a way to deal with these piranhas.

If the situation was allowed to develop, when the piranhas' activity range expanded to the entire lake, not only would all the other fish and shrimp in the lake be doomed, but even his water collection and gathering at the lakeside might be affected.

If these piranhas swam into the stream… Xu Xin dared not imagine the scene then.

He wondered if the giant crocodiles in the stream could solve the problem of these piranhas.

[Treehouse root system secondary growth completed, treehouse protection range expanded to a radius of six kilometers.]

Suddenly, a prompt sound rang in Xu Xin's ear, and he was overjoyed. Finally, he could go home!

Coco, who had slept for two hours, had now woken up and was sitting dumbly on the golden treasure chest.

"Let's go up, Coco, we're going home."

"En."

Xu Xin put the golden treasure chest into his backpack. The wood and the golden treasure chest in the backpack immediately made him feel a bit overwhelmed, so he quickly hugged Coco and entered the treehouse.

After placing all the chopped wood on the first floor, Xu Xin returned to his third floor.

"Comfortable!" He threw his backpack on the ground and crashed onto the wooden bed. The wooden bed had the effect of quickly restoring stamina and spirit, and just lying on the bed made Xu Xin feel a sense of relaxation.

Coco curled up on the bed and fell asleep again.

However, Xu Xin didn't rest for long. After lying down for just a moment, he sat up.

Just as he sat up, the mysterious voice sounded again.

[The jungle exploration activity has ended. Congratulations to all survivors who found treasure chests and obtained limited resources in this exploration activity. You are excellent treehouse explorers.]

[For survivors who didn't find treasure chests, don't be discouraged. This is just the first step; you still have the possibility to catch up with them.]

[Now, the regional ranking for this activity will be announced. The top one hundred will receive corresponding rewards. Please check the screen in your treehouse.]

[For the last 50 survivors, you have 10 minutes left to say goodbye to the world.]

Xu Xin hurriedly came to the screen and clicked on it. He saw that another option had been unlocked: [Rankings].

Clicking on this option, there was only one activity at this time, [Jungle Exploration Activity], which could be selected.

Continuing to click, a ranking list appeared before his eyes.

[First place: Xu Xin, opened gold, silver, and bronze treasure chests, and obtained various other resources, highest blue level.]

[Second place: Ji Chaoyang, opened gold, silver, and bronze treasure chests, and obtained various other resources, highest blue level.]

[Third place: Wen Guixin, opened silver and bronze treasure chests, and obtained various other resources, highest blue level.]

[Fourth place: Li Wenxi, opened silver and bronze treasure chests, and obtained various other resources, highest blue level.]

…

[7132nd place: Lu Renjia, did not obtain any treasure chest or other resources.]

The last place was the 7132nd.

"So it can't be anonymous anymore." Xu Xin didn't really want to have his name hanging at the top of the rankings, as it would attract some unnecessary trouble. "Well, real name it is then."

Xu Xin looked down, his gaze focusing on the person in second place.

Ji Chaoyang.

This name was all too familiar to Xu Xin. During the novice protection period, he had been strategizing for everyone. During the beast rampage period, the strategies he posted in the regional channel made the death rate of the entire region far lower than the world average, saving quite a few lives.

"He actually found the golden treasure chest? Does that mean he also knows the secret of this world?" Xu Xin muttered to himself.

When he discovered the secret before, that mysterious voice had said, [Do not share the world's secret with those who don't know the secret], but what about those who know the secret?

If it's someone who knows the secret, would it be possible to exchange some information with them?

"Does this person have special abilities like me, or did he obtain the golden treasure chest solely on his own? Whether it's the former or the latter, he's a big shot worth getting to know." Xu Xin thought silently.

Continuing to look down, Xu Xin saw Li Wenxi's name at fourth place.

Well, well, this little beauty opened a silver treasure chest?

Seeing Li Wenxi's name hanging at fourth place, Xu Xin fell into deep thought.

Before this, he had always thought this little beauty was just a cheerful, lucky rich girl, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. It was absolutely impossible to rank fourth among ten thousand people based on luck alone.

When chatting with her before, she seemed to have briefly described the process of obtaining the bronze treasure chest in just one sentence. Although she was covered in wounds, she didn't show the weakness of an injured person, but instead seemed somewhat excited.

Now she had obtained a silver treasure chest.

Xu Xin didn't know how others obtained their silver treasure chests, but looking at the entire ranking list, including himself and Ji Chaoyang, only nine people had obtained silver treasure chests, and Li Wenxi ranked fourth among these nine.

She must not be as simple as she appeared on the surface. Like Xu Xin himself, she must be hiding something.