The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

Here stood a building that had turned to ruins, and several members of the Night Blades were vigilantly observing their surroundings.

"The Heart of the Blood Moon is inside the building. However, I still need to enhance your abilities; in your current state, you won\'t be able to directly contain the Heart of the Blood Moon," Shadow Celestial said with a smile as he turned to Sophia.

Sophia responded coldly.

"You don\'t need to worry about that! Just hand over the Heart of the Blood Moon to me!"

Shadow Celestial nodded and led Sophia into the building.

The moment they stepped inside, Sophia felt the overwhelming power of the Blood Moon.

She was certain that the Heart of the Blood Moon was indeed here.

"It seems you\'ve sensed the presence of the Heart of the Blood Moon. It\'s located underground in this building. You can go and retrieve it directly now," Shadow Celestial said.

His words made Sophia hesitate slightly.

Sophia asked coldly, "Aren\'t you coming with me? Or have you set a trap beneath this building, intending to betray me?"

Facing Sophia\'s suspicion, Shadow Celestial candidly replied, "I don\'t actually know whether there are traps beneath this building. When I found the Heart of the Blood Moon, I sensed that something was off about its state. There must be a powerful Blood Moon force surrounding the Heart. I could very well be corrupted by that force, which is why I can\'t accompany you down there."

Shadow Celestial\'s explanation did hold some merit.

After contemplating for a moment, Sophia coldly remarked, "You better not have set a trap for me! If you have, we won\'t be able to continue our collaboration."

With that, Sophia headed directly toward the lower levels of the building.

Shadow Celestial silently watched her movements.

It appeared he was secretly plotting something.

At the same time, in the real world, at the headquarters of the Green Ivy Company in the City of Warding,

James was organizing his weapons and tools.

He felt a slight sense of anxiety.

His recent conversation with Irving made him realize that the real world was also not a safe place.

James hoped to quickly select the weapons and knives needed for his defense plan.

After selecting for a while, James let out a sigh.

"None of the weapons and tools I have are really usable. Most of them are low-level items, and among the few high-level ones, there\'s nothing I can handle well."

At that moment, James felt a slight regret.

He had previously boasted to Irving that he could single-handedly deal with an attack from a Night Blades elder.

But after careful consideration, James realized he didn\'t have that capability at all.

However, even if he wanted to backtrack now, it was already too late.

James knew full well that Irving had already devised a strategy for their upcoming actions. If he suddenly told Irving that his earlier judgment had been mistaken, Irving would undoubtedly be furious.

As James thought of Irving, the memory of the box he found the day before resurfaced in his mind.

The power emanating from that box was immense.

James felt certain that there must be a very powerful item inside.

"Even if there\'s a powerful item in that box, I can\'t get to it now. Irving has already taken the box, so I shouldn\'t dwell on it."

James muttered to himself, hoping to distract his mind from overthinking.

However, it was clear that James\'s attempt was unsuccessful.

In the following hours, he couldn\'t stop thinking about what kind of item might be inside the box that Irving took.

His curiosity about the specifics of that item grew stronger by the minute.

Ultimately, James decided to act independently.

He returned to the place where he first discovered the box.

As James looked around, he noticed that although some chaotic energy still lingered, it had clearly begun to dissipate.

"It seems that what I\'m doing here is completely pointless. Even if I come back, I won\'t be able to find any information related to that box."

James said to himself in a self-deprecating manner.

Just as he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of a panicked passerby out of the corner of his eye.

When James turned to look at the frightened stranger, the person suddenly bolted in the opposite direction, fleeing quickly.

"Stop! Don\'t run! Why are you so nervous?!"

James shouted angrily as he saw the person take off.

At the same time, James immediately chased after the fleeing figure.

Although the panicked passerby was running slightly faster than an average person, he couldn\'t shake off James\'s pursuit.

After all, James had been enhanced through the Shelter Game.

After a few minutes of chasing, James successfully intercepted the boy.

At that moment, James finally got a good look at the frightened boy\'s face.

The boy was under twenty, gasping for breath and constantly glancing at James with a look of panic in his eyes.

"Who are you? Why did you run away when you saw me?"

James asked, his tone icy.

The anxious boy stammered a few words, but James couldn\'t make out what he was saying.

"If you\'re not going to answer my questions, you\'ll have to face the consequences. Since you chose to flee the moment you saw me, you must understand that my strength is quite formidable. You know I can make you pay a heavy price."

James spoke slowly, hoping to apply pressure while allowing the boy to collect himself.

If the boy remained overly anxious, he wouldn\'t be able to respond to James\'s questions.

James\'s approach proved to be somewhat effective.

The panicked boy gradually calmed down.

After taking a few deep breaths, the boy replied, "I don\'t know who you are! I ran away because the person who hired me told me to do so."

The boy\'s response left James feeling perplexed.

"Someone hired you to act like this? Who hired you? What else did they ask you to do?"

Although James was still slightly confused, he had heightened his vigilance.

He began to understand that everything he had encountered might have been orchestrated by a hidden enemy.

The boy did not hold back; he slowly recounted everything he had experienced.

Three days ago, two mysterious individuals approached the boy.

They wanted him to place a box in the area controlled by James, and they also instructed him to monitor the area where the box was located for a week.

If someone took the box, the boy was to wait for that person to return.

Upon seeing the person who had taken the box reappear, the boy was to immediately act panicked and run away.

After hearing the boy\'s answer, James asked, slightly puzzled, "Didn\'t you ask them why? Do you just do whatever they tell you?"

"They told me not to ask questions. They said that if I asked, they wouldn\'t pay me. The reward they offered was very generous, and I couldn\'t refuse it," the boy replied, his tone very honest.

After thinking for a moment, James pulled out a thick stack of money from his wallet and placed it in front of the boy.

"You must know how to contact those people, right? Even if you don\'t have their contact information, you should know how to find them. Take me to them now. If you can bring me to them, all this money is yours. Plus, I will give you even more rewards afterward."

The boy\'s expression turned eager as he looked at the money. He quickly nodded.

"I know how to reach them! Follow me; I\'ll take you to my house. I can only contact them from there."

With that, the boy headed toward the civilian district of the City of Warding, with James closely following behind, remaining vigilant and observing his surroundings.

James felt certain that there were others watching his every move from the shadows.

About half an hour later, James followed the boy to his home.

The boy\'s house was very simple, seemingly inhabited only by him.

"Make yourself comfortable! I\'ll contact them right away! They should come to my house soon!"

The boy picked up a worn-out phone and started dialing a strange number—a series of zeros.

The call was quickly connected, and the boy said, "He wants to meet with you! He\'s in my house right now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the call was abruptly cut off.

James looked at the boy with a cold expression. "Have you already prepared for all of this? This situation must be part of your plan, right?"

The boy was startled by James\'s demeanor and was at a loss for words.

Moments later, Elder Astra appeared behind James.

"Why pick on an ordinary boy?" Astra said slowly. "I\'m here now; you can deal with me directly."

James turned his head slowly, scrutinizing Elder Astra.

He could only confirm that Astra was an elder of the Night Blades, but he couldn\'t gauge the full extent of Astra\'s strength. Therefore, James refrained from launching an immediate attack.