The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

Chapter 186 You Must Live Well

"Old Wang, you don't actually think that these three passes that end up in my hands are completely problem-free, do you?"

Li Can smiled and took out the black card that he had originally placed in the empty gashapon capsule from his consciousness space.

He tucked the three cards between his fingers; in the sunlight, their blackness appeared even more intense.

"What...does this mean?"

"It means exactly what it says." Li Can said, taking out a little of the golden energy that came with this instance of the game from his spatial storage and dripping it onto the card.

"If I were a fake human, and I knew that the only items the base could deliver to me were these access cards, and Chen Ling happened to be one of my people, guess what I would do?"

"Hiss, I'll do something with this. If the technology for fake humans allows, I might even try implanting a positioning device. It won't hurt to give it a try."

Wang Defa stroked his stubble as he pondered.

"Even if most of those sent out failed."

"But as long as one person successfully delivers the card to you and takes it back to the Earth you traveled to, they will be able to pinpoint the exact timeline of your existence..."

"But the question remains: do they really have that much capability?"

Without Li Can needing to say more, judging from the interaction between the golden energy and the black pass card, it was quite obvious that a small chip had appeared embedded in the center of the black card.

The chip's material doesn't appear to be solid; to the naked eye, it looks like a transparent, jelly-like substance, about the size of a little fingernail.

However, it clings firmly to the card like a parasite, and no matter how much you shake it or try to pry it off, you can't get it out.

"Holy crap, there really is something here! Peach Blossom, when did you find it?"

Wang Defa took one of the cards, examined it closely, and occasionally exclaimed in surprise.

"It was during these past few days that I finally had some free time to tidy up the things around me. By some strange twist of fate, the golden energy I had collected flowed onto the card, and that's when I discovered the trick."

Wang Defa still had some doubts, "But how can we be sure this thing is wrong? What if all the cards have chips? That wouldn't be surprising, would it? Maybe we're just overthinking it..."

Li Lan frowned. "We have had all the access cards in the base tested and analyzed by the relevant departments. We once tried to manufacture access cards so that most people would no longer be afraid of dungeon restrictions and could pass the trials smoothly."

"I was there during the experiment, and it was definitely not like it is now. I'm 100% certain that this pass has been tampered with."

"Moreover, given the technological level of Earth, no one is currently capable of manufacturing implantable chips made of this material."

Li Can collected all the cards and put them back into her gashapon machine. "Yes, I wasn't sure at first either."

"Now that we've confirmed it, we've eliminated the source of danger in advance. We currently know nothing about the fake people and the planet they inhabit, and exposing my timeline coordinates is not a good thing."

"I won't take these away until I find a way to deal with the 'worms' on them."

"However, although this thing has problems, it doesn't prevent you from using it outside the game. As long as you consume it on the spot, it doesn't matter. So, what I'm going to do next is very simple."

"Either you recruit those three people, or you take these cards back with you, or I'll destroy them."

"Compared to the other two, I prefer one or two."

Wang Defa chuckled awkwardly a few times. "If that's the case, then I think you should choose one or three. This pass has a GPS tracking feature. If either Li Lan or I have it, it's a ticking time bomb. It's practically telling those fakes that we're in big trouble and they should come and arrest us..."

"Yes, so instead of letting these things be destroyed, we should let them make the most of their remaining value." Li Lan agreed.

If they didn't understand why Li Can went through all that trouble to test these ordinary people before, they now completely understand.

In such extreme circumstances, we must maximize the benefits of everything at our disposal.

Looking at Li Can's young and angular profile in the sunlight, Wang Defa couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

This is far too cautious... He can avoid any traps that the alien pseudo-humans might dig in front of him beforehand.

If he were still on the villain's side, he would probably be furious to death on the spot if he knew Li Can's thought process.

Li Can was already too far away for them to choose, and now that they found him to be extremely cautious, it was even more difficult for them to make a move.

"Terrifying..."

Li Can raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Hahaha, it's nothing, it's nothing. I was just praising you." Wang Defa waved his hands repeatedly, looked up at the sky, and, realizing that things here were over, changed the subject.

"Then I'll leave the rest of the people to you, Peach Blossom. We'll meet again on our phones when we get back to Blue Star. Li Lan and I can't linger in the dungeon for too long, after all, that kid Zhou Ye has been out there for so long."

"We've suddenly become suspects, and it'll be hard to explain when we get back."

Li Lan nodded, calculating the time. "It didn't take too long. It's just right to go back now."

"Yes, please be careful when you get back and take good care of yourselves," Li Can replied sincerely.

Wang Defa pursed his lips, put his hands on his hips, and placed one hand on Li Can's shoulder.

"Yes, Peach Blossom, you need to be careful. If you feel lonely in this world, remember to call or message your brother Wang. I'm always online."

"Oh no, that would make us seem too close. So I'll do more live streams on the survivor forum to show you what people are like on our side and give you a feel for everyday life!"

Li Can felt a lump in his throat from his words. He smiled and replied, "Okay, then I'll be looking forward to your TV show. I also want to see what kind of people your brothers are."

"Tsk, you can't be jealous of that, can you? Those are my buddies who have been with me for years, through thick and thin in the underworld. Of course, you are too now! I'll introduce you to them later."

"Okay," Li Can replied.

Li Lan also took out her black pass card. She looked at Li Can, who stood there motionless for a long time. In front of Wang Defa, she dared not say or do too much.

Throughout the entire game, they only showed their true feelings when they were alone in the eerie hotel. At other times, they always acted like ordinary acquaintances.

"Come on, let's give each other a hug. We're leaving now, and we don't know if we'll ever see each other again." Wang Defa pulled Li Lan up and gave Li Can a big bear hug.

Just like how Li Can treated Zhou Ye before.

Li Lan followed suit and hugged half of Li Can's body.

Her body stiffened momentarily, then slowly relaxed, her eyes reddened for a moment, and she soon returned to normal.

"You must live on."

"I will, and so will you."