Chapter 601 - 566: Compensation of Ninth Heaven
Star used teleportation all the way back to Radiant City.
At this moment, singing once again echoed over Radiant City. Indeed, Heliana was quite dedicated, but listening to this song made him sleepy. However, Star couldn’t afford to sleep! In short, it wasn’t convenient to disturb her, and he had to set aside her matters for now as nothing was more pressing than the Eight-Headed Snake.
Star and his party headed straight to the docked Flying. The military advisor stepped forward to report, "Lord City Lord, Vice City Lord, during your absence, we have refilled all ten Magic Charging Crystals and loaded the 500 units of food and beverages ordered by the Vice City Lord onto the ship. You can set sail at any time."
Anlicia said with satisfaction, "Very well, thank you for your hard work, Advisor."
"No problem, it’s my duty."
Indeed, having NPC officials was truly convenient. Giving an order and having it executed seamlessly was the joy of being a Lord.
Star remembered something and handed the Mysterious Core, obtained from slaying the Electric Eel, to the military advisor. "Give this to Isaac for research. I suspect it’s a Basic Godhood."
The military advisor received the Crystal Core with surprise. "Understood, my Lord. By the way, Mr. Isaac’s Super Slime Monster is about to debut. At that time, the pollution problem of the Pool of Radiance will be further resolved, which might allow the World Tree to awaken sooner."
Great, technology really was the primary productive force!
Now, with one less concern, everyone boarded the ship. With a flash of light, the scene shifted, and the submerged Flying appeared in the Blood Sea once again. The Spider Demons were still busy digging, but Star had lost interest in them by now.
With another scene shift, the Flying appeared in the Vine Demon Space. Welcomed by the Vine Demons, the Flying docked once again to unload. When the Vine Demons saw the large quantities of fresh, exquisite pastries and drinks, they cheered excitedly.
After all, meeting people’s needs for food and drink was the simplest and most effective leadership approach.
At this moment, Tachiusu flew over to report, "Welcome, Lord. Now, Miss Tamilia has completed the transplantation of the Evil Branch Fortress, and the continuous absorption of Dark Energy by the Holy Vine has been focusing on the Ancient Tree Heart within the Evil Branch Fortress. We believe results will be seen in due time."
"In due time?" That was a race against the Eight-Headed Snake!
Star quickly said, "Very well, I need to go observe the situation with the Eight-Headed Snake."
Thus, Star and his team landed again, and Star checked the wooden message Tai Da sent yesterday:
"Lord, today is as peaceful as yesterday. But the steam eruption time of Mercury Lake was shorter than yesterday. At this rate, the steam from Mercury Lake might no longer erupt. This is good for our logging progress. Habbit Village Chief has also mobilized 200 villagers to assist us fully in logging. In short, we must race against time!"
Indeed, race against time! Though Star didn’t know what plans Dragon Slayer had, as long as he could delay for another day, he could log for one more day!
Now, Star and his team again took the leaf boat to navigate into the Eight-Headed Snake’s passage. Excellent, just as Star predicted, there were no mutations in the Eight-Headed Snake. It was the same as before, with four or five heads swaying back and forth. Star’s small boat approached the Eight-Headed Snake again, testing its alert range. Its boundary had indeed shrunk a bit compared to yesterday.
Okay, now he wouldn’t go anywhere. He’d watch it closely because he couldn’t afford any mistakes in this battle.
...
The time passed by slowly with boredom. It was now 5 a.m., and by this time, Star was undoubtedly the most exhausted after a day of high intensity and tension, even having spent all his energy. Watching the constantly swaying heads of the Eight-Headed Snake, Star’s head also swayed involuntarily, his eyelids growing heavy as he drifted close to sleep. But he dared not sleep, fearing that once he closed his eyes, he might sleep like a pig, immune to ten alarms.
Star finally understood the opponent’s misery, also deeply feeling the helplessness of being a solo player.
No, he had to ensure he slept to maintain his energy! The more crucial the battle, the more he had to be fully alert! He had to gamble that nothing would happen! Bet that if something did happen, he would be awakened by the alarm! After all, it still had three or four heads down, right?
Star adjusted the system prompt to alarm mode again, then closed his eyes, and the whole world became instantly blurred and quiet.
...
"Hello, viewers! Welcome to the ’Hero News’ morning broadcast. Today at 4 p.m., the much-anticipated Hero Tournament international elimination round will open. Players from different regions will be drawn randomly for battle, finally narrowing down to the top hundred and the world’s number one. Among these 1,332 contestants are world-famous professional players and ordinary players who are masters in private. For this event, our live studio invited Shenlan, a professional player from the ’Ninth Heaven’ Guild, to connect with our live studio, answering viewers’ most concerning questions. Hello, Shenlan!"
Shenlan laughed heartily. "Hello, everyone, hello to the host. It’s embarrassing to be on TV for two days straight. What’s more embarrassing is me sitting here talking about martial arts even though I didn’t make it through—I feel like despising myself."
The host laughed. "It doesn’t matter. Many well-known professional players didn’t even participate, let alone make it through. After all, this is a temporary international competition held to test the opening of the international arena net, and it doesn’t truly reflect players’ strength. Once the ladder ranking system is fully implemented in the future, it’ll be much fairer and more reasonable."
Shenlan shook his head sternly. "Sorry, I disagree with the host. I believe the more chaotic and imperfect the competition system, the more it reflects a player’s strength. I make no secret of it—I was eliminated, and it’s because I wasn’t as skilled."
The host laughed. "But as I know, you and South Korea’s number one, Lee Min-ho, were in the same venue."
Shenlan sighed with a smile. "But we both lost, and that’s a fact. If, if I had three more days, perhaps I’d have a glimmer of hope. Three days later, I’m not the same as I was three days before."
The host laughed, "Indeed, three days might not seem much in reality, but for professional masters, it’s a game month, capable of immense changes. During these three days, the qualifying players of all countries are intensifying their targeted development, which is what players are most concerned about. Shenlan, who do you think could surprise us after three days?"
Shenlan coughed dryly with a bitter smile. "This question... is indeed of most concern to players because the masters are secretly developing themselves, and everyone wants to know what they’re up to. However, this is a master’s secret. What I know cannot be said, and what can be said has already been eliminated. So, I’m really sorry, my apologies to the audience."
The host laughed. "Then why not tell about those who can be spoken of, the ones eliminated, since there’ll be official competitions later. Their status is very noteworthy."
Shenlan laughed, "For example, the biggest news is what the host mentioned earlier, about South Korea’s number one, Lee Min-ho. In these three days, he has been on fire! As mentioned in the interview yesterday, the Korea District is also imitating Japan by conducting faction cleansing, and the leader of Korea District is Lee Min-ho. He managed to capture a small Hell Race NPC town. Think about it, who in the world could achieve that? Although Japan started faction cleansing early, they still don’t have the capability to capture an enemy NPC town. Of course, we can’t rule out that Japan’s strategy is to deplete the NPC’s active forces, but even so, Japan can’t conquer territory in three days."
The host nodded with realization, "This is indeed big news! I wouldn’t have thought that the world’s number one, Lee Min-ho, is leading South Korea’s casual players. Does he have a Divine Artifact? How did he manage to do this?"
Shenlan stated seriously, "Whether he has a Divine Artifact is unknown. What’s key is that Lee Min-ho’s Hero Special Ability is Rapid Strikes, which increases the Attack Speed of all units by 50% in the first round of combat. Since this ability only affects the first move, it’s not considered a God-level ability, but with his extreme attack speed and special high-speed units, he often strikes twice in the initial round, even three times, four times, directly knocking down enemy NPC heroes. A thousand troops and horses crumble without attack, and capturing an NPC town is not impossible. In short, to be worthy of spectators, I can reveal that something big is sure to happen in the Korea District soon. Everyone, stay tuned!"
The host was surprised, "It’s unimaginable that Lee Min-ho, as South Korea’s number one, would do something so amateur with casual players!"
Shenlan shook his head laughing, "In these past three days, despite South Korea revealing no professional player movements, the news can’t be concealed. Everyone knows that on our battlefield, only Star made it through, and Lee Min-ho was directly defeated by Star. Although there was a plague factor, he lost and that was it. Clearly, he was provoked! If my source is accurate, Lee Min-ho might already have left the national team and focused solely on training."
The host was shocked, "It’s Star again! Actually, early this morning, Star did something significant again!"
Shenlan shook his head with a bitter smile, "For this event, I make no comment. But regarding Star’s capabilities—in these three days, his level could be described as skyrocketing, even when he has so many Vice Heroes sharing experience. You can imagine how strong Star’s actual power is. Lee Min-ho didn’t lose unfairly. Personally, I suggest that players from China Region unite to face the upcoming National War. For those ordinary players’ losses this morning, I suggest that the involved Royal Guild should generously set an example and compensate. If that doesn’t work, our Ninth Heaven is willing to compensate."
The host was surprised, "Your guild compensates?"
Shenlan sighed, "Indeed, seeing the unity of Korea District and Japan District deeply affected us. It’s also our contribution as a large guild to the China Region..."
...
"What a schemer!" Meanwhile, Eternal Star, lying in bed at the command center and watching the morning news, was simmering with anger. "Trying to please and win over Star while appealing to ordinary players, Little Huang’s got plans spinning!"
(Seeking monthly and recommendation tickets)(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)