Chapter Forty-Five: PVE Mode

Day Thirty-Two.

The fifth wave of the undead would soon be upon him.

Disgusted by the military fat zombie’s long-range attacks, Qin Fei surrounded the wooden platform with a ring of wooden walls. These walls not only shielded him from the corrosive acid sprayed by the military zombie, but also kept his two hens enclosed, preventing them from running away.

With the walls secured, Qin Fei resumed grinding his steel plates. He had to make as many blade traps as possible before the undead tide arrived.

A faint sound drifted in from outside. Qin Fei set down the steel plate and listened intently.

It sounded like footsteps.

Could it be a zombie?

Unlikely... If it were a zombie, the system would have marked it with a yellow dot. This had to be a living person.

The footsteps were soft, as if the newcomer deliberately tread lightly to avoid detection.

Qin Fei decided to investigate. He loaded bullets into both his pistol and shotgun, disengaged the safeties, then stowed the shotgun in his backpack. With the shotgun hidden, he could surprise any threat by suddenly drawing it from his spatial backpack.

Finally, he donned his scrap iron chest armor and helmet, then stepped out of the shelter holding his pistol.

He saw a woman standing on his cultivated land.

Her back was to Qin Fei, bent over, apparently stealing potatoes from his field.

He scanned the surroundings, confirming she was alone. He leapt down from the platform and approached her.

“What are you doing?” Qin Fei called out, aiming his pistol at her.

She turned upon hearing his voice.

Qin Fei was momentarily stunned.

She was Asian.

Because of the game’s setting, everyone Qin Fei had encountered in Naviqan was a blond, blue-eyed Caucasian. But this woman had black hair and eyes, a classic Asian face… Her skin was smooth and fair, unlike the rough, sallow complexions common in the apocalypse. Clearly, it was well cared for with skincare products.

Her hair was tied up into a ponytail at the back of her head.

She looked young and rather cute. Aside from her clothes and the potato she’d just dug up, she didn’t even have a backpack.

Qin Fei surmised she was likely a transmigrator like himself. Most survivors in the apocalypse carried backpacks everywhere. Only transmigrators like Qin Fei, who possessed a system storage space, ventured outside empty-handed.

After staring at Qin Fei for a while, the woman suddenly spoke three words.

“Transmigrator?”

She must have noticed Qin Fei’s Asian features and was testing him without exposing her own identity. If Qin Fei were a native, he’d be completely baffled, and she’d reveal nothing. But if he was a transmigrator, he’d understand her meaning.

She was clever.

Qin Fei’s eyes showed a hint of contemplation, but he didn’t answer immediately.

There were two possibilities. Either she was a transmigrator like him, or she had encountered people like Qin Fei and knew some secrets about transmigrators.

After a brief consideration, Qin Fei instantly put away his pistol. As it vanished, he drew his shotgun from his backpack and pointed it at her.

This swift weapon swap using the system backpack was almost a direct declaration that he was a transmigrator.

Qin Fei glanced at the potato in her hand and gestured, “Put your potato into your storage space.”

He gripped the shotgun, watching her intently. If she was a transmigrator, she’d have a system storage space, and stowing the potato would be easy. If she couldn’t do it, she wasn’t a transmigrator, and Qin Fei would immediately shoot her to keep his secret safe.

She smiled upon seeing Qin Fei’s weapon switch. In an instant, she drew a pistol from her system backpack.

“Go ahead and shoot.”

Bang!

Qin Fei reacted swiftly, pulling the shotgun’s trigger as she drew her pistol.

But to his astonishment, the shotgun’s pellets stopped midair, frozen before striking her—blocked as if by an invisible shield.

Seeing Qin Fei’s shocked expression, the woman explained, “Don’t panic… In PVE mode, we can’t harm each other.”

PVE mode?

After her explanation, Qin Fei finally understood. In these game worlds, he wasn’t the only transmigrator. While the first world each transmigrator entered was solo, subsequent worlds often had two or more transmigrators.

This woman had transmigrated into this world alongside Qin Fei, but her arrival point was different.

Her name was Xie Nainei, and besides this zombie world, she had experienced two others.

In the worlds transmigrators traversed, there were two survival modes: PVP and PVE. In PVE worlds, transmigrators couldn’t harm one another, whether directly or indirectly. The specifics were very similar to the PVE mode of the game “Ark: Survival Evolved” that Qin Fei had played.

In PVE mode, transmigrators only needed to cooperate against looming crises.

In PVP mode, the task was usually to kill members of the opposing faction—often ending in brutal conflict among transmigrators.

Xie Nainei, like Qin Fei, had joined a survivor camp after arriving here, intending to lie low until day fifty. But her camp failed to withstand the fourth undead wave, and only Xie Nainei escaped.

Her food supplies were already scarce, and after several days, she had almost nothing left. Near Qin Fei’s shelter, she spotted his potato crop and, driven by hunger, decided to dig up a few.

Since this world was PVE mode and harm between transmigrators was impossible, Qin Fei relaxed, even giving her a few more potatoes to take with her.

Upon seeing Qin Fei’s shelter equipped with an electric grid, Xie Nainei expressed her wish to stay.

Qin Fei pondered for a moment.

Though this world was PVE, vigilance was still necessary; teaming up with Xie Nainei might carry risks. Who knew if she was entirely trustworthy…

But from another perspective, having a teammate would greatly increase their chances of surviving the undead tide.

With his current food reserves and the cultivated land nearby, there was enough for both of them.

Most importantly, Xie Nainei was tall and slender—about one meter sixty-something, with a well-proportioned figure and rather cute looks… though that hardly mattered.

Overall, having another person was more advantageous than not.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Qin Fei agreed to let Xie Nainei stay.