All the big shots had gathered together, and because of that, almost the entire universe was now watching them discuss strategy.
Watching the elites beneath the tree.
And also watching... that guy up in the tree.
A huge number of people were gathered in He Yu’s livestream. There was no helping it — his position was simply too good. Not only could he clearly see everyone from above, he could also hear everything perfectly.
The muttered sentence He Yu had casually whispered wasn’t heard by a single person beneath the tree.
But everyone in his livestream heard it loud and clear.
The barrage that had been fiercely discussing things suddenly went completely blank.
The people debating the pros and cons of the alliance stopped.
The people discussing He Yu’s combat power stopped.
The people talking about the powerful contestants stopped.
After a bizarre stretch of silence and emptiness, a few comments finally appeared—
“......”
“...For a moment there, I genuinely didn’t know what to say.”
“Has it occurred to you... they might be talking about you?”
“This garbage-planet contestant He Yu really is... exactly the kind of person you’d expect him to be.”
“THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT YOU!!”
“You offended every single top-tier contestant by yourself, and you’re still sitting right above their heads. If they discover you... even if they don’t kill you, they’ll torture you until you wish you were dead!”
......
Ke Ai had been camping in He Yu’s livestream the entire time.
Honestly speaking, as a citizen of the Main Planet, there was no way Ke Ai should support some garbage-planet contestant.
But...
There was something toxic about He Yu’s livestream!
Everything about it was so bizarre and unconventional that Ke Ai couldn’t stop being curious. He kept wanting to see what else would happen around He Yu, what other... miracle he might create.
Ke Ai had always felt that He Yu was different.
He only had eight combat power.
Out of the million contestants who passed the preliminary selection, he was the one with the absolute lowest combat power.
Oh right, the second-lowest was also from Blue Star. What was his name again? Ling Buchen?
Back to He Yu.
A contestant with only eight combat power had somehow spent the entire competition dancing on the edge of death.
Like right now.
Every single person beneath the tree was an elite. Any one of them could lead a team. Any one of them had a high probability of reaching the finals and becoming a “Top Talent.”
These experts were below discussing how to kill He Yu.
Meanwhile, He Yu was sitting directly above them in the hollow of the tree, calmly eating fish.
He didn’t even realize they were talking about him.
—What the hell are you nodding along for?! They’re talking about you!!
Still, these experts’ estimation of He Yu’s combat power seemed to have a serious problem.
Ke Ai’s emotions were complicated.
If He Yu really died shortly after the elimination rounds began, then this season of <Top Talent Show> would lose a huge amount of entertainment value.
A person with only eight combat power yet capable of attracting this much hatred...
As long as he existed, he was already a spectacle.
Not to mention his actions were always... absurdly strange.
Ke Ai wasn’t the only one feeling conflicted.
Some Federation citizens took screenshots and created an image—
At the top was garbage-planet contestant He Yu calmly eating fish.
At the bottom was a group of Main Planet elites publicly condemning him.
Caption: Blind.
Failing to notice He Yu in the tree was blindness.
Failing to realize He Yu was from a garbage planet, had terrible combat power, and was absurdly weak... was also blindness.
This was Federation viewers mocking the Federation elites.
But for the people of Blue Star, it felt unbelievably satisfying.
Blue Star trending topics—
“I hope He Yu survives the elimination rounds. Even surviving one round would be enough to slap those people in the face!”
“Praying He Yu clears the first round. Just one round is enough!”
Wanrenzhan and the others remained completely unaware of the audience discussions.
“Forget him for now. If I meet him during the elimination rounds...” Wanrenzhan gritted his teeth. “I’ll definitely tear him into pieces and wash away this humiliation!”
Eugene recalled the image of that man descending calmly from the sky and let out a sneer.
—This Wanrenzhan really thinks he’s already the champion of <Top Talent Show>, huh?
“Eugene, what are you laughing at?” Wanrenzhan stared at him coldly.
Eugene shrugged. “Nothing.”
He turned around and waved casually.
“You guys can form your own team. I’m leaving.”
After speaking, Eugene strode away and quickly disappeared into the folded space.
Wanrenzhan stared darkly at his retreating back.
Tang Ke asked, “What do we do if he won’t join our team?”
Gedai sneered.
“We never expected him to join in the first place. Calling him over was just an excuse to see what he gained during the preliminary stage.”
The others all looked toward Wanrenzhan and Gedai.
Wanrenzhan took a deep breath.
“Eugene was extremely lucky. He got a lot from the preliminary stage. During the first phase of the elimination rounds, we absolutely cannot fight him. So it’s best not to travel together.”
Because even if they fought him...
They wouldn’t win.
Siya brushed back her hair and narrowed her eyes.
“But we could observe one of his fights and see exactly how strong he’s become.”
Gedai nodded.
Earlie moved closer to Siya and extended a hand.
Siya revealed a bright smile and also reached out. Blackened fingertips emerged from her sleeve, horrifying to look at.
Earlie’s expression changed instantly. He jerked his hand back.
“Siya, are you insane? Why the hell is your whole body covered in poison?”
Siya sneered.
“I specifically prepared it for people like you, Earlie. I’m not some weakling from a garbage planet or Chaos Planet.”
Earlie clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand.
Wanrenzhan also shot him a warning look before saying,
“Control yourselves. You all saw Eugene’s mechanical arm. It’s dangerous. Right now, surviving the elimination rounds and gathering as much equipment as possible is the top priority. Let’s discuss how to deal with the next round.”
Immediately, everyone’s expressions became serious.
Wanrenzhan said, “Based on the previous season’s format, the elimination rounds will be divided into regions. Contestants may enter the same instance type, but not everyone will compete together. The people inside an instance could be enemies... or teammates.”
His chin lifted slightly as he spoke.
This was where his confidence came from.
He was different from everyone else.
He had personally participated in the previous season. He possessed experience no one else had.
Watching livestreams could never compare to actually experiencing it firsthand.
Following Wanrenzhan meant gaining access to that experience.
That was the true reason the others were willing to cooperate with him.
Up in the tree, He Yu nodded heavily.
—Mm. Learned something new. Continue.
Barrage comments: “......”
Wanrenzhan continued,
“We still don’t know the player limit for each instance. But regardless of the number, we should try to enter the same instance whenever possible. If it’s only us, we cooperate. If there are outsiders...”
His gaze turned vicious.
“We eliminate them first.”
He Yu listened very seriously and nodded again to show he understood.
Barrage comments: “......”
Wanrenzhan said, “Since you’re willing to cooperate with me, that means you trust me, so I’ll tell you this too — in the first elimination-round instance, don’t rush to clear it. Stay as long as possible. NPCs are qualified to issue quests, and you can obtain reward equipment from them.”
He Yu blinked and nodded obediently.
—Oh. So that’s how it works.
Barrage comments: “......” Wanrenzhan, I’m begging you, look above your head!!
As if remembering something, Wanrenzhan added,
“As for equipment, everyone relies on their own ability. But let’s make one thing clear first — that black-haired, black-eyed man belongs to me. His life is mine to take.”
Earlie snorted coldly.
“I want his life too. If I meet him first... I won’t be saving him for you.”
Wanrenzhan looked at him expressionlessly.
“I believe his life belongs only to me.”
Earlie shrugged.
“We’ll see once we enter the instance.”
He Yu tilted his head blankly, took another bite of dried fish, and continued listening attentively to the “lecture.”
—Clearly, he hadn’t connected himself with the black-haired, black-eyed man they were discussing.
Barrage comments: “......” I’m done. Completely done.
Wanrenzhan hefted his axe and turned around.
“That’s all for now. We’ll discuss the rest after entering the instance and learning the rules. There’s still one night left. I’m going to continue searching for that man.”
His eyes were cold and vicious.
Earlie and the others followed after him. Since they were teammates now, it was best to move together.
Of course, they also wanted to find the black-haired, black-eyed man who had stirred the entire ocean into chaos.
Up in the tree—
After finishing the dried fish, He Yu carefully wiped his hands and mouth with a fishskin handkerchief. He tightened his clothes, leaned against the tree hollow, and closed his eyes. His glasses rested lightly against the bridge of his nose.
Ten minutes later, his breathing became long and steady.
That night, He Yu slept soundly.
Wanrenzhan and the others searched the entire night.
They found absolutely nothing.
The livestream viewers stayed awake watching them all night too, dark circles forming beneath their eyes.
The barrage...
Had already run out of things to say.
When He Yu woke up, the sky was already bright.
He lazily stretched, movements leisurely and relaxed. After loosening up his body, he carefully cleaned himself, ate dried fish, and drank water.
Once he had finished tidying himself up, the familiar mechanical voice sounded—
【Ding — Elimination Round One, reducing one million contestants to one hundred thousand, is about to begin. Please prepare to select your instance battlegrounds in sequence!】
【There are ten instance templates. Each template contains ten thousand battlegrounds. Each battleground can accommodate ten contestants.】
【Since there were no audience voting rankings during the preliminary stage, selection order will instead be determined according to livestream viewership and discussion popularity rankings from the preliminary stage.】
The rules were very simple. He Yu understood them immediately.
There were one million contestants in the first elimination round.
They would be divided into one hundred thousand battlegrounds.
Ten different instance settings.
Ten thousand battlegrounds per setting.
Ten people per battleground.
Contestants would select according to popularity ranking.
The higher the ranking, the earlier the selection priority.
After all, the ten instance settings clearly differed in difficulty. Some obviously looked harder, while others looked easier.
The livestream audience quickly understood too and immediately began discussing—
“This is pretty good. Contestants don’t trust each other anyway. Aside from pre-formed alliances, everyone will probably just want to kill all the other contestants in their battleground. If only one person survives each battleground, that leaves exactly one hundred thousand survivors.”
“Of course, some battlegrounds will definitely form alliances and end with more than one survivor. Which means some battlegrounds might end with nobody surviving at all!”
“Ranking by popularity is good too. The strong contestants definitely won’t choose the same battlegrounds.”
“Right. It’d be pointless for the strongest contestants to slaughter each other in the very first elimination round.”
......
After the mechanical voice finished speaking, information on the ten instance settings appeared directly in He Yu’s mind.
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
Wanrenzhan and the others were also discussing things nearby.
Annie asked, “The instances are out. Which one are we choosing?”
Wanrenzhan answered casually,
“Doesn’t matter. They’re all the same. Ten people per battleground. Jun, choose another battleground. The rest of us make exactly ten.”
Their alliance had eleven people total.
Wanrenzhan directly excluded the weakest one.
Earlie whistled.
Jun’s face darkened, but he didn’t dare object.
Tang Ke, Duan Yuchen, Siya, and the others all agreed.
At that moment, the mechanical voice continued—
【Next, the contestant ranked first in preliminary-stage popularity will make the first selection as an example for everyone.】
【Preliminary-stage popularity rank #1: He Yu. Please select an instance and battleground number.】
Barrage comments: “???”
Barrage comments: “HOLY SHIT!! Why is He Yu ranked first in popularity?!”
Wanrenzhan and the others frowned.
He Yu?
They had never even heard the name before.
The preliminary-stage popularity champion was actually some unknown person?
All of them looked up curiously.
Above them, He Yu’s face slowly appeared in the sky.
Black hair.
Black eyes.
Delicate features.
A rimless pair of glasses casually resting against the bridge of his nose.
His expression was lazy, his voice slightly hoarse—
“I’ll choose the instance <Dawn Training School>. It seems pretty interesting. Battleground number... let’s go with 8.”
After speaking, He Yu’s projection disappeared.
Text appeared in the sky—
【<Dawn Training School> Battleground 8: He Yu】
Wanrenzhan and the others’ expressions changed drastically.
“It’s him?!”
【Other contestants may now select in sequence.】
The instant the announcement ended, Wanrenzhan, Gedai, Annie, and Tang Ke all blackened in expression. Their bodies blurred and vanished from the spot one after another.
Wanrenzhan disappeared first.
And extremely quickly.
Earlie froze.
Duan Yuchen shouted,
“Hurry and follow them! They entered <Dawn Training School> Battleground 8!”
As soon as he finished speaking, they immediately selected <Dawn Training School> Battleground 8 in their minds.
However—
Their bodies remained where they were.
Clear words appeared in the sky—
【<Dawn Training School> Battleground 8 is full】
Earlie: “???”
He stared in disbelief.
“Fuck! Didn’t we agree to team up??”