He Yu calmly looked at the shark ahead.
The sharks here were different from the sharks in He Yu’s memories. These sharks were bigger, and naturally, far more vicious.
At this moment, the shark was hunting humans.
The surrounding seawater was dyed blood-red. Broken rafts and scattered equipment floated everywhere. Only two survivors remained alive, one man and one woman. Their bodies were covered in wounds as they stared at the shark in despair.
It had probably already eaten its fill. Instead of killing the remaining two directly, it toyed with them like a cat playing with mice.
Sensing the giant fish’s arrival, the shark turned its emotionless eyes toward them.
The two people in the water instinctively looked over as well, their despair deepening even further.
“Huff—”
The shark’s breathing became heavier, sharp teeth baring from its mouth in warning toward the giant fish.
—These are its prey.
That was the message the shark was conveying as it pressured the giant fish to leave.
The giant fish was also thinking.
It had no intention of fighting a shark over humans, but...
After changing its diet, it might fight a shark over shark meat.
However, it was currently very full.
【They probably won’t fight. The giant fish will retreat. It isn’t hungry, and it doesn’t eat humans anymore, so it won’t fight.】
That was what a newly arrived viewer named Zhu Er said.
But the veteran viewers who had been watching for three days said nothing at all. No one knew where they had gone. The barrage was eerily blank.
Zhu Er looked at the silent chat in confusion.
“So weird. What was all that stuff earlier about new equipment and not getting angry? Why wouldn’t they explain? What kind of dumb riddle are they playing at?” Zhu Er muttered blankly, eyes fixed tightly on the screen, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.
On the screen, the giant fish was preparing to turn around.
And on top of its head, He Yu slowly stood up.
The two survivors clearly hadn’t expected there to be a person on the giant fish’s head. Their eyes widened as they stared at him.
He Yu’s movements were extremely calm.
After standing, wool yarn was still tied around his wrist, with a string of dried fish hanging from it.
Unlike the other contestants, He Yu carefully maintained his appearance every single day. So even after drifting at sea for so many days, his face remained clean and jade-white. His hair still looked fresh and neat. Even the sweater that had been torn apart halfway somehow carried a unique sense of fashion.
—That was also one of the reasons more and more people were speaking up for him.
Zhu Er deeply despised those people.
Letting a garbage-planet contestant ride on the heads of Federation contestants was already humiliating enough.
Zhu Er couldn’t understand what this garbage planet native was trying to do. All the veteran viewers had mysteriously disappeared, and the barrage remained blank.
He Yu raised his right hand and pushed up the rimless glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. Beneath the lenses, his eyes were deep and mesmerizing.
After adjusting his glasses, he calmly took out a... ruler? from his backpack.
It could probably be called a ruler.
One meter long, with no handle. The “ruler” was smooth, except for one side that looked slightly polished, as though it had originally been intended to become a blade but failed halfway through. It was unbelievably dull, probably so dull that even slashing someone wouldn’t leave a wound.
“Pfft—”
Zhu Er burst out laughing.
“Hahahaha! He Yu, this unlucky garbage planet bastard! First he got that plain useless knife, and now his weapon is even weirder. It’s actually a half-finished blade that hasn’t even been sharpened!”
Zhu Er laughed so hard he nearly fell over.
“But for a blade like that to still get three combat power points, the material must actually be pretty good. Guess his luck isn’t too terrible after all? Hahahaha!!”
Zhu Er stared at the screen while laughing wildly.
On-screen, He Yu held the “dull ruler-blade” in his hand and slightly raised his head, looking toward the sky, toward the direction of the sun.
Zhu Er continued laughing loudly.
“Hahaha! What, are you planning to fight with a ruler? With that dull blade, you can’t even—AHHH!”
A scream rang out as Zhu Er covered his eyes and cried out in pain.
His entire body curled up. The sudden turn of events left him in agony.
At that moment, the screen became frighteningly bright. The blinding white light scorched the eyes of everyone outside the livestream. Physiological tears instantly poured down their faces. The livestream became almost entirely white light, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
Zhu Er cursed furiously.
“Fuck! What the hell just happened?!”
His vision had gone completely black. That was the aftereffect of the intense flash, and it even affected his brain, leaving him dizzy and nauseated.
After quite a while, Zhu Er finally managed to recover with difficulty.
His eyes were bloodshot as he cautiously looked toward the screen again, squinting painfully while trying to make out the now-exploding barrage—
“Holy shit, good thing I dodged fast!”
“Hahaha, I switched streams earlier too. I only came back after figuring he was done flashing people.”
“I was wearing sunglasses and my eyes still feel uncomfortable.”
“This move is disgusting. This is the first time I’ve injured my eyes watching a livestream!”
“I can already predict the newcomers raging.”
“Now everyone understands what his three-point scumbag equipment actually does, right?”
“He’s been using this move nonstop lately! Too fucking dirty.”
“If I didn’t know he was from a garbage planet, I’d think he was cheating! He’s literally a walking disaster. Everywhere he goes, people suffer.”
“Recently, tons of contestants have run into him. The lucky ones lose equipment. The unlucky ones lose their lives. Fucking tragic.”
......
Zhu Er: “???”
His bloodshot eyes widened, and his entire body felt awful.
He Yu did this?
With that dull “ruler” that barely looked like a blade?
And he did this regularly?
—Fuck, is this even something a human would do?!
Zhu Er snapped.
Together with countless other viewers whose eyes had turned red from the flash, they furiously filled the livestream with curses. They cursed not only He Yu, but even the organizers of <Top Talent Show>.
<Top Talent Show> was held once every ten years. This was the thirty-second edition. Across more than three hundred years, He Yu was the first contestant ever to injure viewers’ eyes through the livestream.
And not metaphorically.
He literally injured their eyes.
Even the organizers themselves were utterly dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, the people of Blue Star burst into laughter. Some of them had also gotten their eyes flashed, but that didn’t stop them from feeling delighted watching those self-important Federation citizens rage and stomp around in fury.
—He Yu, beautifully done.
He Yu looked at the barrage and calmly put away the dull blade.
—He had done it on purpose.
The day he picked up the dull blade, the angle of the sunlight had accidentally flashed his eyes. Looking toward the sun in the sky, He Yu had immediately realized how to use this three-point dull blade.
He Yu never believed any equipment was useless.
As long as it was used correctly, any equipment could produce unimaginable effects.
He knew Federation technology was far more advanced. Those viewers didn’t need to watch livestreams through phones or computers like Blue Star people did. They seemed capable of experiencing things almost firsthand.
More realistic. More stimulating. More immersive.
The Federation didn’t require cameras like the ones used on Blue Star, but that didn’t mean there were no cameras. The Federation’s “cameras” existed in another form.
And if that was the case...
Then with the light and this dull blade combined, along with those excessively clear “cameras,” couldn’t he also give the audience a few additional experiences?
The moment He Yu thought of it, he immediately put it into practice.
So when he encountered another mini-boss, he tested it on the spot.
Looking at the barrage collapse into rage and curses, He Yu felt extremely satisfied.
It could help him during the competition while also leaving a deep impression on the audience. Nothing could be better.
The corners of his lips curled slightly upward as he looked ahead.
—Remember this feeling.
—All of you, remember it well.
—You will remember my name forever. Even if you want to forget it, you won’t be able to.
The creatures on-site experienced the flash even more intensely than the viewers outside the screen.
The two survivors had already been completely stunned by the flash. They floated blankly on the water with empty eyes.
The shark’s eyes had also been flashed, and it was furious now.
It couldn’t distinguish between He Yu and the giant fish beneath him. Since it had been staring in the giant fish’s direction earlier, it naturally assumed the giant fish had done it.
The giant fish was provoking it!
So it lunged forward.
The giant fish: ?
The giant fish was briefly confused before becoming enraged as well.
—This thing had already bitten at it. Was it supposed to just not fight back?
Even though it wasn’t hungry, the giant fish viciously charged forward.
Amid the battle between the two enormous monsters, He Yu moved with agile precision, doing his best to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
—The greater the danger, the greater the fortune.
He Yu had never feared danger.
By the time Zhu Er finished cursing to his heart’s content, he realized the giant fish had already achieved overwhelming victory inside the livestream.
It had bitten the shark into a horrific mess.
Of course, it was injured too.
Meanwhile, He Yu was collecting equipment.
With practiced ease, he stuffed a recovery potion into the giant fish’s mouth.
Not long afterward, the giant fish recovered completely and continued moving forward full of energy, its movements cheerful.
Zhu Er was as dumbfounded as the two survivors.
After a long pause, he finally blurted out—
“This operation is so fucking ridiculous! He’s carrying around a three-point combat power dull blade and using it to pull aggro everywhere so the giant fish fights monsters for him while he picks up equipment from behind??”
“Now I understand why you guys called it a ‘scumbag’ weapon. That dull blade should never have existed!!”
Many people shared his sentiment.
Especially as they watched He Yu gather more and more equipment.
Even though he still didn’t possess many weapons or items that directly boosted combat power, the Federation viewers still felt deeply dissatisfied.
Why should equipment go to a garbage planet native?
The <Top Talent Show> discussion plaza once again exploded because of He Yu.
His livestream remained fixed in the First Ring layer, and every topic related to him became trending.
Even those Federation viewers who disliked him and constantly mocked him failed to realize—
The name “He Yu” seemed to truly be on the verge of becoming universally known.
He Yu didn’t care about these people’s opinions.
During the preliminary stage, no matter how outstanding his performance was, his identity as a Blue Star native meant very few people would support or like him.
Since “combat power rating” was valued this heavily, there had to be a reason for it.
And his initial score of two points could never be changed.
So during the preliminary stage, he could only accumulate as much capital as possible in preparation for the upcoming elimination rounds.
That was why He Yu wasn’t in any hurry to reach land.
Even though the match announcement system continuously transmitted anxiety-inducing messages to him.
【Battle Planet contestant No. 324 Wanrenzhan and Mechanical Planet contestant No. 3678 Gedai have landed ashore. Congratulations on officially entering the <Top Talent Show> competition!】
【The number of landed contestants has reached 667,846. Remaining slots: 332,154. Contestants, please work hard~】
More than half the slots had already been taken.
And this period was precisely when massive numbers of contestants were reaching land.
Once the one million slots were filled, anyone remaining at sea would be trapped in this ocean forever.
Many contestants panicked upon hearing the announcements and desperately searched for islands.
Meanwhile, He Yu calmly read <Basic Principles of Combat Power Development>, his expression not changing in the slightest, as though he hadn’t heard the announcements at all.
He simply allowed the giant fish to continue wandering aimlessly across the ocean.
Only when encountering other mini-bosses would He Yu close the book and stand up.
His livestream remained firmly positioned in the First Ring layer.
Especially after he started mass-collecting equipment, his viewership consistently ranked within the top three.
At this moment, his viewership ranked second.
The first place belonged to the famous Main Planet expert known as the “Lone Wolf,” Zhen Xing.
At this moment, Zhen Xing was battling an enormous sea monster.
Their streams occupied first and second place because the two were about to encounter one another, attracting countless viewers eager to watch.
Zhen Xing possessed an enormous fanbase.
Although most people favored Wanrenzhan to win overall, Federation viewers clearly liked Zhen Xing more. Some even predicted that once the voting channels opened, first place would belong either to Zhen Xing or Eugene!
That alone showed how popular Zhen Xing was.
At this moment in the preliminary round, while Zhen Xing and the sea monster fought fiercely, with Zhen Xing gradually gaining the upper hand—
He Yu arrived riding atop the giant fish.
Zhen Xing’s expression changed instantly as he instinctively looked over.
And then—
He was nearly blinded.
By the time he regained clear vision, the giant fish had already passed by and bitten the sea monster he had been fighting halfway through directly to death before dragging it away.
“Dadadada—”
Its tail swayed cheerfully.
Meanwhile, tears streamed uncontrollably from Zhen Xing’s eyes as his gaze met He Yu’s in the distance while He Yu picked up the dropped equipment.
The two stared at each other across the ocean.
Under Zhen Xing’s bewildered gaze, still holding his blade, He Yu calmly stored the equipment inside his backpack.
“Dadadada—”
The giant fish carried He Yu away happily atop its head.
Zhen Xing: “?”
After a long while, he suddenly exploded with—
“Holy shit, who the fuck is that guy??”