A series of system notification sounds rang out in Lin Ran’s mind.
[Congratulations to #18029# Team Battle Field Wang Fatty, for successfully defeating the second wave of enemies! Score ranking: 12]
[Congratulations to #18029# Team Battle Field Qi Xiaoyu, for successfully defeating the second wave of enemies! Score ranking: 98]
[Congratulations to #18029# Team Battle Field Lin Ran, for successfully defeating the second wave of enemies! Score ranking: 1!]
First place is still safe…
Lin Ran nodded, feeling reasonably satisfied with the result.
After all, he had racked up so many points already that even if he slacked off a bit later, his position at the top of the leaderboard would remain secure.
Second place on the leaderboard was Chen Jing.
As expected of a member of the Student Council and one of the most prominent people in the group so far.
Even so, her score was nearly half of his.
It was clear just how much Lin Ran’s current strength surpassed everyone else.
The reward for first place on the leaderboard was quickly settled as well.
A broadcast only he could hear sounded in his mind.
[Congratulations, you have obtained first place in this battle’s score. Special reward ‘City-Building Goblin Worker Summoning Horn’ granted.]
[City-Building Goblin Worker Summoning Horn: Can summon 2,000 Goblins to build a city for you. Goblins can ignore air walls during construction. Once the city is complete, the air wall inside will be removed.]
？？？！！！
Lin Ran’s eyes widened the moment he saw this treasure, his breath catching in his throat.
Remove the air wall!!!
Was there any item better than this?
In this apocalypse, the essence of human helplessness against monsters and scarce resources was that humans couldn’t cross the air walls.
The air wall had become the underlying logic of this apocalyptic world.
All the hardships revolved around it.
It blocked resources, cut off support, and turned humanity into isolated islands.
But now, this horn could create a territory without an air wall!
If he could unite the entire school…
No, even if he just gathered a trustworthy group and built a secure city…
Then his survival rate, the survival rate of the people within his city, and that of the monster girls…
Would be dozens, hundreds of times higher than anyone else!
However, the premise of uniting everyone in the school…
Was a bit difficult.
At least now, the number of survivors left in the school might not even be that many—
“This is only the third wave… Did so many people already die?”
Since earlier, the notifications hadn’t stopped.
[Warning! #18011# Team Battle Field: All members have been annihilated.]
[Warning! #18085# Team Battle Field: All members have been annihilated.]
[Warning! #18018# Team Battle Field: All members have been annihilated.]
All were notifications of teams being wiped out.
Up to this point, only Lin Ran’s team and Chen Jing’s team had successfully resisted.
According to Zhou Qingqing, all four of Chen Jing’s matched teammates were also Student Council members, making them extremely strong.
But even with such a lineup, they only barely overcame the second wave of crisis.
As for his own team, even with his own strength, they had just barely made it through with outside assistance.
In other teams, there were even people like Liu Yan who, even after understanding what to do, couldn’t figure out how to produce smoke.
Losing wasn’t surprising.
Fortunately—
Humans are creatures who help each other.
[Lin Ran]: “The mysterious enemies in the second wave are called Thief Ants. They’re extremely small, invisible to the naked eye, but can be driven away with smoke.”
[Student Council Committee Member – Chen Jing]: “Everyone, please note, smoke can deal with the second wave of enemies @all members.”
The two of them sent this message almost simultaneously.
The group chat exploded instantly.
[I’m the most flamboyant in the village]: “Damn! Lin Ran! How did you do it, even stronger than those Student Council monsters!”
[Invincible Overbearing Sports Student – Zhang Ba]: “Thanks for the intel, you two. Already burning down the house.”
[Anime Club – Li Hao]: “Of course it’s Lin Ran, still pulling brothers up even while sitting at the top. Wang Fatty, your ancestors are smiling in their graves, being in the same team as Lin Ran!”
[302 – Wang Fatty]: “Of course. Just look at who the big bro is.”
Lin Ran smiled faintly as he read the praises in the group.
Even in the apocalypse, humanity’s warmth hadn’t faded.
For classmates like this, he would naturally save their lives.
Both because he was human, with compassion.
And because it took little effort—there was no reason not to.
Also, for the sake of having more hands to help when building the city in the future.
People are the most valuable resource in the apocalypse.
Of course, that doesn’t include certain individuals…
Lin Ran’s gaze fell on Liu Yan once more.
She probably couldn’t be saved.
Her wooden cabin was already more than half destroyed, with dozens of crystal cores scattered across the warehouse.
But was the solution really that hard?
She just needed to buy a lighter from Baku and get some cotton or something.
Lighting cotton to create smoke was all it took.
Survival was that simple.
If that didn’t work, even just splashing some Medicinal Liquid from Qi Xiaoyu onto the planks was better than standing there doing nothing.
But she chose to just stand there, motionless.
She couldn’t even come up with a solution like that, nor did she ask Wang Fatty for help.
Lin Ran sat in his cabin, preferring to watch the healing scene of slimes helping Scarface move supplies downstairs rather than look at that woman again.
“Lim, would you want to save her?”
Lin Ran half-reclined on the chair, stroking Lim, who leaned against him, as he asked.
Lim thought seriously, then answered honestly:
“Why…? Is there any benefit to helping…? But if Master wants me to, I’ll help…”
Right after, Vera and Lin Illusion Box gave the same answer.
Good.
No bleeding hearts in his backyard.
In times like these, a team member obsessed with saving everyone—even deadweight—was the most dangerous.
Even if it was just a small favor.
People unsuited for the apocalypse were bound to be eliminated sooner or later.
Even if saved this time, they wouldn’t survive the next.
So it was better for such people to be weeded out early.
…
But…
Wait…
She’s still not moving at all?
Even an idiot would instinctively try to survive in this situation!
Even just trembling, or stepping back—anything.
But Liu Yan stood like a statue, unmoving from the start.
Lin Ran seemed to realize something, a warning bell ringing in his mind.
He rushed downstairs and moved in front of Liu Yan.
A face, turned purple from suffocation, came into view.
Eyes wide, pupils unfocused—already lifeless.
A suffocation-type enemy?
No, this wave of enemies didn’t have that effect.
It was that person!
The one who attacked Zhou Qingqing and deprived people of their ability to breathe—the Mysterious Person.
He’d struck again.
Compared to the monsters of the apocalypse, this Mysterious Person was the most troublesome enemy Lin Ran had ever faced…!
…