Alien Species Invasion? I Kill Them Back.

Chapter 19: Chapter 17: Storage Slot

In the evening, Huangfu Miaomiao finally woke up.

She sat up groggily and looked out the window at the glowing sky, too dazed to tell if it was sunrise or sunset.

"You’re a heavy sleeper," Feng Ling remarked, propping her chin on her hand as she watched her. "You were out for a full twelve hours."

Huangfu Miaomiao was dazed for a moment.

’Ever since I logged in, how long has it been since I’ve slept properly?’

’I can’t remember...’

She seemed to spend every single day in a state of terror—afraid of being caught by the Inspection Bureau, of having her Cards taken away, of failing her missions, of so, so many things...

Later, she’d thought she could find allies on the forums, only to stumble into another disaster.

’If I hadn’t been backed into a corner, who would willingly risk working with a Boss?’

As Huangfu Miaomiao’s head cleared, her vision slowly came into focus. She saw new clothes, new shoes, and a cartoon watch next to her.

"Is this for me?" she asked, curiously picking up the watch.

"That’s right," Feng Ling said, her eyes crinkling in a smile. "I bought you a watch phone. The SIM card is already installed, and I’ve put it on silent mode so it doesn’t suddenly ring and give us away once we’re in the tunnel."

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

’Looks like the Boss is dead set on going to that tunnel.’

"I also bought some other supplies. I’ll carry half, you take the rest." Feng Ling dragged over two heavy outdoor backpacks, picked up the smaller one, and placed it in front of Huangfu Miaomiao, leaving no room for refusal.

Huangfu Miaomiao opened the backpack—

Inside were food and water, rope, a shovel, and a flashlight. A very heavy, long-handled hammer was strapped to the outside.

After all, Huangfu Miaomiao wasn’t a normal little girl. Despite her small, thin frame, she was physically a bit stronger than the average person.

She silently picked up the Iron Hammer, testing its weight in her hand, and gave Feng Ling a look filled with mixed emotions.

"Want to give it a try?" Feng Ling asked, her gaze surprisingly soft. She was holding an alloy steel battle-axe. "I bought the hammer and the axe from the same shop. Same-day delivery. No idea if the quality’s any good."

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

’Clearly, Feng Ling hadn’t given her a weapon out of trust. She was just looking for a thrill.’

’And I have no intention of giving Feng Ling that thrill.’

Huangfu Miaomiao pressed her lips together and lowered her head. She zipped the backpack shut and put it away, then put the hammer away as well.

Feng Ling froze.

The backpack and hammer she had just placed in front of Huangfu Miaomiao vanished right before her eyes.

"How did you do that?" Feng Ling couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the spot where the backpack and hammer had been. It was, indeed, completely empty. "What kind of ability is that?"

"It’s not an ability," Huangfu Miaomiao explained. "It’s the player’s inventory function. Every player starts with a two-slot inventory."

"Starting state?" Feng Ling was very interested. "Does that mean the storage slots can be increased?"

"Uh-huh." Huangfu Miaomiao counted on her fingers. "I started with two inventory slots when I logged in. I got one as a quest reward, and later I spent 10 points to buy another one. So now I have four slots in total. Each slot can hold items weighing up to 10kg."

Feng Ling smiled. "This ability is more practical than Cards. Why not buy more slots?"

Huangfu Miaomiao pursed her lips and mumbled, "They’re too expensive... The first one only costs 10 points, but the second one jumps to 50. The third is 200, the fourth is 1,000... and the fifth one costs 5,000 points."

’What a shame...’

Feng Ling thought to herself, ’If this were a Card Ability, I’d definitely be tempted to kill a few more Alien Species to steal their slots.’

Huangfu Miaomiao gave her an ingratiating look. "Do you need me to store your backpack for you?"

"No need," Feng Ling said, shouldering her pack and gripping her axe. "Stowing everything away so neatly would just make people suspicious. You should take your hammer out, too. Otherwise, people will wonder where you pulled such a big thing from."

That was a good point.

Huangfu Miaomiao nodded, and the hammer instantly materialized in her hand.

Feng Ling checked the time and asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Hungry," Huangfu Miaomiao nodded again meekly.

Feng Ling said, hefting her axe, "Go get changed. I’m taking you out to eat. Once we’re full, we’re heading to Jiangkou City."

Huangfu Miaomiao’s heart warmed at her words.

’If I just ignore that last part about "going to Jiangkou City," getting new clothes and a full meal is just too wonderful!’

...

The two of them went to the buffet restaurant with the best reputation in the city.

This place used to be packed. During peak meal times, you’d have to take a number and wait in a long line. Now, business wasn’t nearly as good.

Feng Ling walked into the restaurant and leaned down to ask Huangfu Miaomiao, "Any Alien Species in here?"

Huangfu Miaomiao carefully scanned the room, then shook her head. "No."

"None, huh..." Feng Ling patted Huangfu Miaomiao’s head. "Let’s eat."

After filling their stomachs, Feng Ling drove to Jiangkou City.

The road was bustling with traffic. She asked Huangfu Miaomiao again, "Any Alien Species?"

Huangfu Miaomiao stared out at the cars for a moment. "...No."

Feng Ling sighed, slumping over the steering wheel. "So many cars, and not a single Alien Species among them."

The human-shaped detector, Huangfu Miaomiao, silently brought up her blue virtual screen. After watching the numbers in the top-left corner flicker for a moment, she hesitated before finally speaking. "There are currently 97,681 players online. If they’re spread evenly across the globe, that’s less than ten players per city. It’s probably normal not to run into any."

Feng Ling perked up, staring into her eyes. "You can see the number of online players?"

"Uh-huh." Huangfu Miaomiao glanced at it again. "Now it’s 97,679. Two just died..."

Her voice held a faint, almost unnoticeable hitch.

’Huangfu Miaomiao didn’t dare reveal a trace of the grief she felt for her comrades. She knew all too well that if they could fall, so could she. While she mourned two of her own, that same number—over ninety thousand invaders—was a stark reminder of how many compatriots Feng Ling had already lost.’

’She and I belong to two naturally opposed factions. We might be getting along now, but sooner or later...’

’Sooner or later, she’s going to kill me,’ Huangfu Miaomiao thought.

"That doesn’t make sense," Feng Ling said as she drove. "Alien Species attacks happen in Qingjiang City all the time. I feel like there are plenty of them around."

"I don’t know..." Huangfu Miaomiao mused. "Maybe... maybe it has to do with the system’s spawning mechanism. Your world has games too, so you should understand, right? Players are usually spawned in villages, not out in the wild in some monster camp. So, if you look at the whole map, it makes sense that some areas would have more people and some would have fewer."

"’Monster camps...’ Heh, interesting," a smirk played on Feng Ling’s lips. "So you’re the players, and we’re the monsters. How very interesting."

She took one hand off the wheel, pulled a tablet from the side of her seat, and tossed it onto Huangfu Miaomiao’s lap. "Write this down," she said. "This information is interesting too. Get it all down."

"Okay..."

...

The night grew deeper.

The traffic on the road had visibly thinned.

When Feng Ling arrived at the Jiangkou City train station, there wasn’t a soul in sight. Tall streetlights illuminated the empty road, casting a silent, desolate glow.

"Look up ahead." Feng Ling flipped on her high beams, lighting up a van in front of them.

Her lips curved into a smile. "Someone’s in the van. Hanging around outside at this hour... very suspicious, don’t you think?"

From dozens of meters away, Huangfu Miaomiao got a clear look at the van. Her eyes widened in shock. "It’s..."

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