"What are you protesting?"

Older Cousin remained calm, setting down the fruit in his hand and scratching his head as if he understood nothing. "Although I don't know what you're talking about, it seems you have some dissatisfaction with the arrangements for the rookie competition... But this should have nothing to do with the Dongxia Social Security Office, right? If you have any objections, you should directly communicate them to the organizing committee and the Astronomical Society."

"Isn't this a conspiracy of the Dongxia Genealogy!" The old Court Official pointed angrily at the image of the city that appeared on the screen, his white beard trembling violently. "Don't tell me you know nothing about this!"

"Ah, if we're talking about knowing nothing, it seems you're the only one in the dark," Older Cousin replied coolly. "The competition rules are determined by the organizing committee in consultation with the Astronomical Society. Regarding this particular arrangement, it was publicized following procedure a month in advance. Didn't you check it? Unfortunately, just... um, a minute ago, the public notice period ended. Therefore, your protests and opposition should be invalid."

"Public notice?" The old Court Official realized he had been grievously fooled, forcibly suppressing his fury. "Where was it publicized? Why didn't we know about it!"

"Right on the homepage of the rookie competition's website." As he spoke, Older Cousin lifted his mobile phone, showing the image on the screen to the older man—the very bottom of the homepage of Tomorrow's News, amidst a heap of colorful ads... that line of pixel dots that were nearly impossible to see without a magnifying glass.

"Look, just click here, zoom in, zoom in more, again... You can see every word crystal clear." Older Cousin magnified the tiny line of text, glancing sideways at the old man. "Old sir, times have changed. Maybe it's time you learned how to use a smartphone?"

As he finished speaking, the old Court Official's face had turned an ugly shade.

Meanwhile, on the screen, suddenly a myriad of stars' brilliance rose.

Amidst the dark heavens and earth, in the raging storm, Huai Shi once again heard the roaring of space being broken. It wasn't just the cargo ship they were on; all the steel ships lined up bravely cutting through the tide and stormy weather at this moment had dark cannons rising from their hulls, taking aim at the 'city' shrouded in darkness below.

The next moment, countless flashes of light burst forth. Radiant seven-colored lights shot from the barrels, 'soaring into the sky,' dragging long trails behind them, falling into the dark city below.

Thousands!

Thousands of star-like lights shot forth.

With his dynamic vision far exceeding the ordinary, Huai Shi strained his eyes to look past the barriers of rain and mist, finally distinguishing the true nature of these stars.

They were boxes of various sizes, each with distinctly different colors. Most were pure white, within which were mixed hundreds of purple ones, but what drew the eye even more were the sparse pale gold ones, and a few nearly imperceptible, brilliantly dark gold...

These variously colored stars fell into the city in an instant, landing without any discernible pattern. But then, the lights dissipated, and no trace of them could be seen any longer.

Almost instinctively, Huai Shi pulled out the Book of Fate, frantically pouring his Source Substance into it. After illuminating the city's outline, he marked the locations where the dark gold lights had fallen, one by one.

Seventeen.

There were a total of seventeen dark gold-colored boxes.

He hadn't finished marking them when he heard the voice of Di Ting. This time, it wasn't coming from the screen, but from the roaring in all directions. This high-level expert of the Dongxia Genealogy finally revealed his power. His voice seemed to burst out amid the trembling of all things, resoundingly clear in everyone's heart despite the thunderous noise.

"Now, I will read the rules of this competition. Please, contestants, listen carefully."

"This competition will take place in the Depth Four Hell below you. As for the specific manner of the competition, you must have already guessed. Once you descend into the city, there will be no more rules or decrees to bind you. You may freely search for supplies and equipment to arm yourselves, defeat your enemies, accomplish the missions displayed on your system panel, and claim ultimate victory. To ensure the entertainment value of the event, we have also prepared a mysterious surprise for the contestants."

As he spoke, huge containers were thrown one by one from the cargo ship, crashing into the clouds below. They shattered with a roar, and countless shards of metal flew out from them, interconnecting to form satellite-like hovering objects.

A faint mist of light spilled out from them, enveloping the entire city.

The rules laid down by the Creator were imposed upon the city. A change of heaven and earth.

Then, specks of light settled on all the contestants. A virtual interface emerged from within their souls, displaying their identity information, current points, and activated missions.

"Now, the organizing committee has used Giant Goose Group's 'Joyful Framework' to complete the transformation of the entire field. In addition to the system panel, false life has also been bestowed. Within the framework, contestants who are killed will automatically exit the game without risking their lives. This allows contestants to fully demonstrate their abilities.

"However, if some unforeseen situations occur, the Joyful Framework may not be able to provide full protection. Therefore, if you feel overwhelmed, please make your way to the designated locations in the peripheral areas to request to exit the game."

Having finished announcing the malevolent rules, Di Ting finally said, "Now, you may choose your own drop location. If you do not enter the field after the fleet has passed the competition area, you will be considered to have forfeited.

"In ten seconds, the competition will officially begin. I wish everyone a pleasant game."

The countdown began.

Ten...

Nine...

Huai Shi, recalling the rules Di Ting had announced, felt something was amiss, but the countdown left him no more time to think. In the blink of an eye, amidst the roaring, time reached zero.

The competition officially began.

Dozens of streaks of light rose from the cargo ship, flying toward the darkness below, where they immediately engaged in fierce combat in mid-air.

Huai Shi instinctively wanted to press the button, but his heart skipped a beat at the last moment, and he retracted his hand.

He looked up in the direction the convoy was heading, recalling the positions where the stars had just fallen.

In the massive urban area directly ahead, a large number of boxes were falling in a concentrated cluster.

In the records of the Book of Fate, at least three dark-golden boxes had fallen there...

Now, the entire playing field had been redefined by the Creator's rules. Under the embrace of the Joyful Framework, the competition could be regarded as a large-scale virtual infiltration game.

After free-loading off games for so many years, how could he not understand Giant Goose's true nature?

Those boxes were probably the 'surprises' prepared by the organizing committee!

No matter how you look at it, grabbing the shiny golden things first is always the right move, isn't it?

Huai Shi held his breath, suppressing the restlessness in his heart. He waited as the convoy slowly moved forward, inching past the dark city above his head. The moment they drew close, he finally pressed the button.

In an instant, a blaze of light enveloped him, and he soared up, hurtling toward the dark urban area 'above'!

But right after that, he heard the relentless sound of Space Break behind him. Dozens, nearly a hundred streaks of light, rose up with him!

The stars fell, toward the dark city below.

In the midst of his fall, Huai Shi constantly corrected the arc of his flight, aiming to drop as close as possible to the area where the boxes were concentrated. But then, he heard the heavy whoosh of wind from behind his head.

When he suddenly turned around, he saw a shadow with wings swooping towards him.

In mid-air, the Sublimator who had transformed into a Flying Bird ruthlessly struck out at Huai Shi. His fiery claws swung, grabbing nothing, but they still snuffed out the light that was helping Huai Shi fly.

Seeing that figure tumbling in mid-air, falling chaotically to the ground, unable to adjust direction, the Winged Sublimator sneered. He flapped his wings, accelerating his descent, but immediately felt something latch onto his leg.

He was violently yanked backward. Amidst the sharp descent, the Flying Bird paused, turning its head in shock to see the rope wrapped around its lower leg... and Huai Shi, who was seizing the opportunity to counterattack.

"So you think having wings is something impressive, huh?"

BANG!

Huai Shi's feet stomped on his back. His Yu Step landed heavily, almost breaking the Sublimator's spine. Then, amidst the violent tumbling and falling, the rope slipped off the enemy's leg and, like a snake, snaked towards the Winged Sublimator's neck.

It constricted, then suddenly tightened like a bridle!

The Winged Sublimator winced in pain. His wings opened reflexively, stalling his descent. Then, he felt the bastard on his back lift a foot again and stomp on the back of his head.

Unsatisfied with the speed reduced by his squirming, Huai Shi tightened the bridle and coldly commanded,

"Faster!"

Huai Shi urged the Source Substance in his hands. A large amount of negative Source Substance funneled along The Sorrow of Index into the Winged Sublimator's body below him. This gave the Sublimator a dizzying blast, forcing him to speed up.

After a brief pause, the others had already caught up.

Following him was a gaunt man who seemed weightless. He glided through the air, passing Huai Shi. His pale face twisted a full 180 degrees, and his eyes spat venomous fire. It missed Huai Shi but hit the spread wings.

In an instant, the Sublimator beneath Huai Shi's feet was consumed by the fierce fire. Caught between the attacks from above and below, he vanished into smoke, becoming the first to be eliminated.

Meanwhile, in mid-air, hundreds of falling lights collided with each other, already beginning to fight. Having fallen only a few hundred meters, several people were already eliminated from the brawl before even fully entering the field.

Without the ability to fly, Huai Shi could only tumble awkwardly through mid-air, dodging. He repeatedly cast and retracted his rope, using various targets to propel himself and evade attacks. He came close to being hit several times and often failed to latch onto a target at all.

The city below was getting closer and closer, to Huai Shi's amazement. The city wasn't the ancient one he had imagined. Instead, it resembled a modern metropolis, with an endless succession of tall buildings. This was especially true in their direction of descent, where countless skyscrapers stood.

There was no trace of people, no lights, just the living darkness dancing about, and pairs of red pupils that appeared and disappeared like illusions in the dark.

One guy, greedy for speed, plummeted straight down and crashed directly into a sharp lightning rod, immediately dropping out of the competition. During the tortuous descent, amidst the gusting headwind, Huai Shi discerned his direction. He threw out the rope, abruptly tying it to the railing on top of a skyscraper. This changed his trajectory, and he slammed diagonally into a large building.

Massive panels of toughened glass shattered with a mournful cry.

Huai Shi landed.

Dozens of centimeters from the ground, his terrifying falling speed abruptly stalled. The force of his fall was neutralized by an invisible power, allowing him to land successfully under the rules of the Joyful Framework. He rolled amidst the shattered glass on the floor.

When he looked up towards the broken window, all he saw was a starfall like rain, igniting the silent sky of the entire city.

He knew in his heart that finally, at this very moment... the competition had truly begun!

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