Chapter 277 - 252: Rookie Competition (31), Part 2
Chapter 277: Chapter 252: Rookie Competition (31), Part 2
They were all clad in Exotic Armor, their appearances bizarre.
The mouths of the two members of the Alien Race protruded slightly, and their eyes were set wide apart.
Their hair was short and stiff.
Their skin looked as if it hadn’t been washed in a long time, caked with dead skin.
Watching them, Zhao Chi felt that something was deeply unsettling.
The nobles, however, were very respectful toward these two members of the Alien Race and quickly stepped aside to let them pass.
The military and government officials did the same.
’I can’t believe this Alien Race has managed to climb above everyone else...’
One of the members of the Alien Race saw Zhao Chi and split his wide mouth into a grin, revealing menacing teeth. "Not bad, heh heh..."
Seeing his sharp teeth, Zhao Chi was reminded of a Ghoul.
It just didn’t have as many teeth as a Ghoul.
"Zhao Chi, are you deaf? Captain Inoshita Yumaru is talking to you!"
Du Li glared at Zhao Chi.
Zhao Quan also said, "Zhao Chi, hurry up and greet Captain Inoshita Yumaru."
’Fuck!’
That was the only word Zhao Chi wanted to say.
But he had no choice.
With even Zhao Quan and Du Li saying so, how could Zhao Chi possibly resist?
He could only nod. "Thank you, Captain Inoshita Yumaru."
"No need, heh heh..."
Captain Inoshita Yumaru’s wide mouth split open as he chuckled twice.
His murky white eyes had tiny pupils, which was a chilling sight.
Although he was laughing, Zhao Chi still felt extremely uncomfortable.
The host respectfully bowed to everyone present.
Then he announced, "Alright, our distinguished guests have arrived. Next up is the award ceremony. But first, please welcome Captain Tuna to say a few words!"
The few people in the central area all applauded.
But the surrounding crowd was completely silent; the audience stared at the stage, completely unresponsive.
Captain Tuna stood before the 10 contestants and haltingly said a few words.
"Very happy... to present awards."
"You are all very good, very strong. You are the hope for the future."
"As long as you are loyal, you will all have the chance to serve under us."
"We will enhance you."
"You must be loyal. We can prosper together."
Listening to his hoarse voice and disjointed words, Zhao Chi felt increasingly uncomfortable.
Soon, Captain Tuna finished speaking.
The host led the fervent applause.
But just like before, only the nobles and others in the central area applauded, while the surrounding audience merely watched in silence.
Zhao Chi had initially wondered why no one was leaving.
But on second thought, he realized that no one would dare to leave early now.
The silence from the tens of thousands of pairs of surrounding eyes felt eerie.
The host smiled and announced, "In that case, let’s have our champion—Zhao Chi of Stream Village—come up to the stage to receive his award!"
This time, some applause finally broke out from the audience.
But the applause sounded out of place amidst the overall silence and quickly died down.
Zhao Chi walked onto the stage.
The host asked with a smile, "Alright, just as the rules stated before, it’s time for you to choose your prizes!"
A prize list appeared in Zhao Chi’s system interface.
[Prize List]
[1. Attribute Jade]
[2. Three Lives Stone]
[3. Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill]
[4. Wangchuan Water]
[5. Celestial Spirit Axe]
[6. Silver Treasure Chest]
[7. Dragon Scale Chest Armor]
[8. Territory Transfer Order]
[9. Celestial Fragrance Life-extending Dew]
[10. Ice Seal Skill Book]
[11. Hundred No Taboo Skill Book]
[12. Individual Gene Expansion Stone]
[13. Basic Hero Appointment Letter]
[14. Self-Selected Super-Improved Fashion Blueprint Treasure Chest]
[Please select any 3 of the above prizes]
Zhao Chi had already decided on his targets before the competition.
Although all 14 prizes were good.
But some were clearly better than others.
Zhao Chi immediately clicked and finished his selection.
[You have selected "3. Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill," "12. Individual Gene Expansion Stone," and "14. Self-Selected Super-Improved Fashion Blueprint Treasure Chest." Confirm selection?]
[Confirm!]
The moment he confirmed, the host received a notification.
He announced loudly, "As expected of our champion, Zhao Chi has chosen some excellent items."
As he spoke, a large screen appeared overhead again.
The 14 prizes appeared on the screen, and the 3 items Zhao Chi had chosen were grayed out.
Zhao Chi’s brow furrowed.
’Why are they announcing the prizes I chose?’
However, the ones frowning more deeply were not Zhao Chi, but the other contestants.
The Self-Selected Super-Improved Fashion Blueprint wasn’t too big a deal.
After all, these contestants were all Junior Lords; Super-Improved Fashion wasn’t very useful to them, and even if they had the blueprint, they wouldn’t be able to craft it.
The Individual Gene Expansion Stone and the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill, however, were a different story.
Although acquiring an Individual Gene was very expensive, these top-10 contestants all had family support, so obtaining one wasn’t difficult.
Expanding one more Gene meant gaining one more Ability.
Everyone wanted that item.
But they also knew that without winning the championship, they had no chance of getting it.
Quite a few people had also wanted the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill.
After all, it could randomly generate three new sets of Attributes, with a chance of producing high ones. High Attributes could immediately save a huge amount of training time.
But Zhao Chi had taken that too.
Since Zhao Chi was the champion, there was nothing they could do, no matter how regretful they felt.
The other contestants could only watch as the host took out the prizes and placed them on separate red silk trays.
He then respectfully handed one tray each to Captain Inoshita Yumaru, Zhao Quan, and Xiao Qiqian.
The three of them walked onto the stage in succession to hand the items to Zhao Chi.
Captain Inoshita Yumaru grinned. "Zhao Chi... heh heh, I’ll remember you, heh heh."
Zhao Chi truly hadn’t expected this.
’How the fuck did I get targeted by the Alien Race again?’
’I originally thought this rookie competition was just a Village Level event.’
’Who knew it would be this complicated?’
’Fuck...’
Zhao Chi’s mind was in turmoil, but his expression remained unchanged.
"Thank you, Captain Inoshita Yumaru."
Captain Inoshita Yumaru nodded and walked off the stage with his bow-legged gait.
Next, Zhao Quan approached.
On Zhao Quan’s tray, besides the prize, was a fist-sized Golden Treasure Chest.
Zhao Quan said, "This is the Golden Treasure Chest I promised you. Now that you’ve truly won the championship, it’s yours. Keep up the good work."
Zhao Chi nodded. "I will."
Zhao Quan did not leave the stage.
Instead, he whispered, "Zhao Chi, you are my subordinate. Your Loyalty must be to me alone. The Alien Race are not our kind. Don’t be fooled by them, and certainly don’t trust them easily."
Before Zhao Chi could reply, Zhao Quan walked off the stage.
Zhao Chi quickly put away his prizes.
’I never had a good impression of the Alien Race to begin with; there’s no way I would join them.’
’Zhao Quan is overthinking things.’
As he was thinking, Xiao Qiqian came up.
He was completely expressionless.
He handed the prize to Zhao Chi perfunctorily and quickly left the stage without a word.
The host chuckled. "Excellent! Zhao Chi, it is a great honor for you to receive awards personally from Captain Tuna and His Highness Zhao Quan. Do you have any acceptance speech you’d like to give?"
Zhao Chi said, "I want to thank the friends who have always supported me. I hope everyone can achieve their own goals."
The host nodded. "A wonderful blessing. Please step down and rest. Next, let’s welcome our third-place winner—Jiang Die of Binhu Village—to the stage!"
Jiang Die looked a little confused.
She asked in a low voice, "Yuan Zhao isn’t here. How will the prizes be chosen?"
The host laughed heartily. "Yuan Zhao is absent, so he is considered to have forfeited his chance to choose first. That makes you the second person to select a prize! Yuan Zhao will only get 2 prizes from whatever is left over."
Jiang Die was overjoyed to hear this.
The gloom from being defeated and taunted by Zhao Chi was swept away.
She quickly went on stage and made her selections.
Zhao Chi looked up at the large screen.
He saw the options for the Attribute Jade and the Three Lives Stone turn gray.
’Those are also some decent items.’
’If I didn’t have my Transplantation Talent, I would have chosen the Attribute Jade too.’
The host handed the prizes to Captain Tuna and Jiang Xuanye.
The two of them went on stage one after the other.
Just then, Zhao Chi suddenly heard the sound of wind whistling around him.
On the stage, Jiang Die’s long hair fluttered up.
The host turned his head in surprise, looking all around.
’This is a Virtual Space. If I didn’t program in wind, there shouldn’t be any wind.’
’What’s going on?’
Just as the host was about to adjust the system settings, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound.
He turned his head to see a massive Fireball heading straight for the awards stage.
The giant Fireball had actually broken through the invisible wall and entered the arena directly.
"Li Ping, what’s happening? Did someone breach the Virtual Space? Reset it, now!" Gongsun Ning shouted at the host.
So the host’s name was Li Ping.
Li Ping didn’t speak, his brow furrowed as he quickly manipulated the operating system.
"Who’s looking to die? Tired of living?" Du Li cursed, a brilliant light radiating from his hand as he thrust it violently toward the giant Fireball.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion.
The Fireball exploded.
It burst into pieces, scattering in all directions as streams of fire.