"Kevin, you wanna be the boss, huh..."

  The middle-aged man, Monty, with a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes, questioned in a low voice. Then, catching everyone off guard, he suddenly lunged at Kevin.

  Chaos erupted inside the bus as people screamed in panic and scrambled to get out of the way.

  No one present was blind. Seeing Monty brandishing a dagger with murderous intent, their first instinct was to avoid the danger and save themselves.

  Previously, when looting chests on the bus, everyone had agreed not to use weapons. After all, nobody wanted to get killed by a weapon in the melee.

  But now, things were different. Kevin wanted to take over the bus, and Monty wasn't about to give up his power and position. That's why he acted decisively to eliminate Kevin.

  Monty looked down on Kevin, considering him someone who latched onto someone of status within the bus system. He thought he could easily stab him to death with his dagger.

  "Holy shit!" Kevin was also startled. He pushed his way through the crowd and retreated quickly, not wanting to fight Monty. But Monty was after his life.

  Seeing the other man closing in with the dagger, Kevin had nowhere to run. A fierce determination rose in his heart.

  If he didn't fight back, he'd just be waiting to get stabbed to death.

  "Damn it, you asked for it!" Kevin pulled out a Goblin bone dagger from his pocket, ready to fight Monty.

  Luckily, he had spent five Escape Coins to buy the bone dagger for self-defense yesterday, and now it came in handy.

  Kevin was at a slight disadvantage weapon-wise, but he had just equipped a new pair of boots. That upgrade greatly improved his speed, which may make up for any deficits.

  After days of killing monsters and looting resources in the Escape World, both Kevin and Monty knew that only by taking down the other could they survive.

  They both acted ruthlessly, simultaneously stabbing at each other with their daggers.

  Kevin's pupils constricted, immediately sensing the proximity of death. His body reacted instinctively, and the dagger in his hand cut through the air with lightning speed.

  *Thud-- Thud--* The spurts of blood caused several women on the bus to scream in terror, making them feel despair for the bus ecosystem.

  The men started fighting each other over petty grievances. Violence and bloodshed was mainstream. Law and morality were utterly useless.

  The fight ended in a single exchange. Kevin's left arm was stabbed, but not fatally.

  Monty wasn't so lucky. Kevin's attack speed was too fast; he couldn't react. Kevin's dagger pierced the left side of his neck, and blood spurted.

  The two figures collapsed together, the daggers still embedded in their bodies.

  Monty's pupils dilated and blurred, his face full of unwillingness. He collapsed and died.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Even as he died, he couldn't understand why Kevin, who was less powerful than him, had suddenly become so deadly.

  He had lost the knife fight, even though he never would have expected that result.

  Everyone on the bus stared at the two men in shock. Various emotions flickered across their faces – joy, fear, and worry.

  Because the ruler of this bus had emerged.

  It was Kevin, standing in front of Monty's corpse.

  Kevin's face was contorted. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and he gritted his teeth as he pulled the dagger from his left shoulder.

  Luckily, he stabbed Monty to death with one blow. Otherwise, Monty would have pulled out the dagger and stabbed him in the heart.

  "From now on, what I say goes on this bus. Anyone who disagrees can step forward," Kevin said, his expression fierce, as he scanned everyone present.

  Finally, Kevin's gaze rested on the seven men guarding the treasure chest.

  These seven men were Monty's henchmen, and they looked at each other, caught in a dilemma.

  Should they submit to Kevin... or work together to kill him?

  One of the men couldn't help but ask, "We can submit to you, but you have to guarantee we have enough food to eat. We can't go hungry."

  These seven men had a large appetite. Before, Monty had focused on supplying them with food.

  A bus could open only seven or eight treasure chests a day, yielding about twenty to thirty servings of food, enough for everyone on the bus to have one serving.

  If they had to feed these seven men, most of the food would go into their stomachs.

  Monty's choice had been to support them.

  If Kevin couldn't meet their needs, they might have to fight him.

  Now that Kevin was injured and his combat strength had decreased and his authority and status had not yet been consolidated, they could definitely kill him if they worked together.

  All eyes were on Kevin.

  Kevin's expression hardened. He knew he had to make a choice.

  Did he choose the seven powerful men, or the support of the other dozen or so men and women?

  As the effects of adrenaline wore off, Kevin felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.

  If he didn't treat his wound and stop the bleeding soon, he would die before the seven men even had to lift a finger.

  Kevin licked his dry, pale lips and said sternly, "I can only guarantee that everyone on the bus gets one serving of food per day. If you want more, you have to contribute to the group."

  "If you're not satisfied, come and fight me."

  Kevin picked up the dagger stained with his blood and pointed it at the seven men.

  He couldn't show weakness now. Otherwise, the seven men would definitely attack him.

  The seven men hesitated again. Following Kevin would definitely be less comfortable than following Monty. But who dared risk their life to fight Kevin?

  At this moment, someone on the bus who was good at reading the situation immediately spoke out in support of Kevin, "Let's all support Kevin! Food should be distributed equally!"

  The dozen or so men and women on the bus suddenly woke up and quickly expressed their support for Kevin.

  "I believe in Monty. Otherwise, we'll starve to death on the bus."

  "That's right, anyone who doesn't support Kevin can fight me."

  Some people on the bus took out stones, wooden spears, and bone daggers, ready to fight.

  This wasn't like competing for treasure chests. This was about deciding the distribution of future benefits, and they couldn't help but fight for it.

  Seeing this, Kevin breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he had the support of some people, he had a chance to survive.

  The seven men became discouraged and immediately expressed their allegiance to Kevin.

  It was then that Kevin completely controlled the bus.

  Kevin clutched his wounded left shoulder and ordered everyone, "First, collect the food and resources from the treasure chests. Don't even think about pocketing a single Escape Coin. We'll distribute them tonight."

  Everyone nodded in agreement. Only then did Kevin, his face pale, find a corner to sit down and open a private chat with Tiffany on the system interface.

  He didn't have the energy to deal with the bus now. Treating his injuries was the most important thing.

  "Tiffany, I took control of the bus... but I was injured. Do you have any medicine to treat injuries? I'm willing to trade a 1-star dagger for it."

  Kevin sent Tiffany a photo of the wound on his shoulder and information about the dagger he had taken from Monty.

  Tiffany was now his backer, so Kevin asked for her help first.

  If Tiffany didn't have any medicine, he would have to go to the chat channel to trade the dagger, but whether he could get the medicine was another matter.

  After a few minutes, Tiffany sent information about a jar of honey.

  Honey: Has the effect of restoring injuries.