Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 139

Chapter 139 Gentle Soul’s End

Chapter 139 Gentle Soul’s End

There had been eighteen players earlier now only ten remained.

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If they hadn’t simply wandered out of signal range, that meant eight were already gone. Taken out by monsters… or by other

survivors.

Just then, a few new messages popped up in the quiet group channel.

“Stalker: Damn… That girl, LittleRed. What a waste. I told her to stay put and wait for me, but she went ahead and picked that weird glowing flower anyway…

“Stalker: I feel like crap. I was so close to reaching her. This game’s penalty system is brutal.”

Reading those “guilt-ridden” lines, Riley paused.

Stalker-she remembered that ID.

Back when they first entered the dungeon and Little Red cried for help over the channel, this guy had been the most eager to respond. He’d asked all kinds of questions, pressed her for coordinates, and when he found out the dungeon didn’t show coordinates, he told her to describe her surroundings instead.

“GentleSoul: Don’t beat yourself up, man. Sometimes it’s just bad luck. This dungeon’s hard enough as it is-it says a lot that you even tried to help.”

“Stalker: Thanks… Honestly, I’m in a rough spot too. Rushing to get to her, I stepped right into a bear trap. My leg’s messed up, and the bleeding won’t stop.

“Stalker: I’m holed up near a patch of those glowing blue mushrooms. Pretty sure I hear wolves nearby… Is anyone around? Can anyone spare a tourniquet or some clotting gel? I didn’t pack any. I’ll trade gear for it-please!”

Glowing blue mushrooms?

Riley looked up.

Less than half a mile to her left, there was indeed a cluster of giant bioluminescent fungi. It was the high ground she’d marked earlier-the only path led right past it.

“GentleSoul: The blue mushroom patch? Hey, I think I’m close! I’m at a rock pile just south of it!

“GentleSoul: Hang in there, man. I’ve got some herbs on me–I mean, I’ve got some yarrow and gauze. You seem like a decent guy. I’ll head over now. We survivors gotta stick together.”

“Stalker: Seriously? Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver! Just be careful on your way-there’s a shallow creek along the edge of the mushrooms, don’t slip.”

“GentleSoul: No worries! On my way!”

“A decent guy?”

In a place like this, “decent guys” tended to die first.

Riley didn’t bother typing in the channel. Instead, she picked up her pace.

1/3

7:49 pm

ppp

Chapter 139 Gentle Soul’s End

Ten minutes later, she was lying flat on a thick tree branch, looking down over the glowing mushroom forest.

It was almost pretty.

The huge blue caps shone like neon umbrellas, casting an eerie, dreamlike glow over the clearing.

And there, right at the edge of the fungi, a man was sitting.

Stalker.

But he didn’t look anything like someone with a “messed-up leg that wouldn’t stop bleeding”.

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In fact, he looked perfectly relaxed, chewing on a strip of jerky. There was a bandage around his calf, but it was clean-not a single drop of blood showed.

Less than two yards in front of him was a thick, vibrant-looking bush dotted with bright, showy blossoms.

Riley recognized those flowers.

“Corrupted Mawbloom (Lv.8 Elite Plant-Type)

“Status: Camouflaged/Starving”

Its roots ran deep underground. Normally, it mimicked an ordinary bush-but the moment any living thing drew near, it would snap open into a mouth wide enough to swallow a man whole.

Right now, Stalker was pulling bloody chunks of meat from his inventory and carefully tossing them just within the plant’s reach. He was chumming.

Using bait to keep the thing agitated and ready, without letting it get full.

“Yep. Hunter.”

This guy hadn’t been trying to save anyone.

He’d used LittleRed’s distress call to locate her, watched-maybe even lured her into the mawbloom’s grasp, then scavenged whatever she dropped when she died.

And now he was running the same play, using himself as bait to catch the next do-gooder.

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