Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 489

Chapter 489 Mutual Deterrence

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The dungeon terrain grew increasingly treacherous. The flat stone corridors gave way to jagged cliffs and narrow, suspended stone bridges.

In the middle of a bridge barely wide enough for two people to walk shoulder–to–shoulder, Riley bumped head–on into a four–man squad.

Below the bridge was a pitch–black, bottomless abyss. There were no guardrails. Fighting in this kind of choke point was a guaranteed murder–suicide pact.

The four–man squad were clearly veterans. The exact second they saw a lone woman step out of the darkness, all four snapped into a tactical formation on sheer reflex.

The lead Knight violently slammed his tower shield down onto the stone bridge with a heavy thud.

The two Swordsmen flanking him raised their blades, locking eyes with Riley. The Mage in the backline instantly conjured a volatile fireball, bathing the bridge in a menacing red glow.

“Hold it! Take one more step and we drop you!” the Knight barked, his rough voice loaded with heavy warning.

They didn’t strike immediately. On Floor 8, anyone wandering alone was either a complete idiot or a total nightmare. They clearly weren’t willing to risk getting counter–killed or thrown off a bridge just to gank someone when there was no loot on the line.

Riley had absolutely zero intention of fighting either.

Her calm gaze swept over the four players. Their gear was vastly superior to the struggling trio she saw earlier, but they were still well within a manageable threat level for her.

But there was no point. This was a death trap, not an arena.

Without saying a word, Riley cooperatively halted her advance. She lowered her axes slightly, adopting a defensive posture that clearly telegraphed she had no intention of striking.

Then, she pressed her back flush against the right edge of the bridge, yielding the lion’s share of the pathway.

Seeing this, the four players noticeably exhaled.

“Stay sharp. Push through fast,” the Knight muttered to his squad.

Maintaining their phalanx, they hugged the left edge of the bridge. Like four highly paranoid hedgehogs. they kept their eyes glued to Riley, inching past her step by step.

For those few seconds as they passed each other, the air felt frozen solid.

The only sounds were heavy breathing and the wind howling up from the abyss.

Riley could clearly see beads of sweat rolling down the Mage’s forehead.

It wasn’t until they completely cleared the bridge that the squad broke into a jog, rapidly vanishing into

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12:03 Thu, 16 Jul

Chapter 489 Mutual Deterrence

93%

+10 Free Coins

the darkness ahead.

It was a bloodless clash of wills.

Riley turned her head and resumed her trek.

She realized that in the dungeon, despite the maxed–out paranoia and suspicion, as long as the map was wide enough and there wasn’t a glowing treasure chest sitting right between them, most players opted for mutual deterrence and avoidance. They weren’t mindless beasts; they knew they only had one life.

Over the next stretch, Riley bumped into quite a few survivors.

Most wanted no part of a fight, but naturally, a few saw a lone wolf and got greedy.

Don’t mess with me, and I won’t mess with you. That was Riley’s golden rule. But the second someone took a swing at her, their final destination was becoming a loot crate.

However, Riley wasn’t sure if her RNG was blessed or cursed. She opened several Silver and Gold Chests along the way–even scoring a highly coveted “+1 Random Stat” item–but she didn’t find a single trace of the heavily rumored Comms Card, nor did she run into anyone from her server.

Floor 8 was simply too vast.

Throwing tens of thousands of survivors from multiple servers in here was like throwing handfuls of sand into a desert. Bumping into a familiar face relied entirely

“Should be close.”

“Ind, stupid luck.

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