Chapter 1170: Chapter 169: Tournament Schedule
If what erupted in the United States was merely a conflict,
then elsewhere, it could already be called a war.
In South America, the struggle between the European Heavy Industry Group and the American Military-Industrial Complex became apparent; both sides dispatched larger teams of Transcendent entities, along with conventional troops,
to formally engage in warfare in cities, fields, and barren mountains.
In just one day, forty mid-to-high level Transcendent beings died.
In order to gain a war advantage, both sides even resorted to assassinations to physically eliminate the management levels of each other’s interest groups.
As for the ordinary residents of South America, they flocked to the few cities with giant buildings, namely Sao Paulo, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago...
The population capacity of these urban skyscrapers was far from accommodating the influx of people from all directions,
the security teams from the European Heavy Industry/American Military-Industrial Complex stationed at the foot of the city towers were brought in from abroad,
they were far from being as "gentle" as their American counterparts to these non-local residents.
If South American residents dared to rush the city tower barriers, they would directly use assault rifles and even machine guns to drive crowds back into the original slums of the city.
Interest groups like the European Heavy Industry/American Military-Industrial Complex were never likely to be humanitarian enough to send these ordinary people to The Portal World,
all South American residents had to stay in South America,
to ensure the stability of increasing player qualification probabilities.
As for Australia,
their government officials were unable to acquire a portal door, merely constructing two city towers with mediocre defenses in Sydney and Melbourne,
Australia’s wealthy and middle-class seemed well aware of the combat strength of the Australian military, having early applied for immigration, moving to Europe or America,
so the vast lands of Australia ended up back in the hands of its indigenous people again—what irony.
The situation in Southeast Asia was not promising,
the long-term weakness of local governments couldn’t control public panic,
while conflict erupted in the United States, fires of chaos also arose in Southeast Asia,
opportunists seized control of the army and launched coups,
some major cities were swept into waves of looting and destruction.
Thankfully, the Special Affairs Bureau began expatriation activities a year ago, willing expatriates mostly recognized the situation, abandoning fixed assets, returning to their homeland.
Only a few Asians who despise their homeland and ethnicity insisted on staying in Southeast Asia.
They were among the first to suffer in the conflict.
As for South Asia, there is little to praise,
whether Vietnam, Myanmar, India, or Bangladesh,
their major cities also erupted into turmoil,
but remote villages temporarily had fewer bloody incidents—only time until news spreads fully for the ignorant in the villages to react,
then a saga of South Asian versions of witch trials will occur.
Europe, especially Central and Western Europe,
also faced a significant test,
hundreds of thousands of refugees from West Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe,
either by ships, cars, or on foot trek,
headed towards the borders of Germany, France, Italy.
These refugees suffer from war on one hand, but also know they can only survive by staying in the city towers,
they even pay any price to enter developed European countries.
However, this move encountered a direct blow.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees on the border saw barbed wire filled with spikes, cement walls several meters high, omnipresent spotlights,
and soldiers fully armed on the cement walls.
Countries in Europe, which had been enthusiastically welcoming refugees just a few years ago, changed their tunes entirely,
not allowing any bottom-tier refugees (those who are not doctors, scientists, engineers) to enter.
Previously, European countries were willing to treat refugees well, paying huge costs as a gesture,
firstly to embrace the politically correct white-left wave and reap political dividends,
secondly, to obtain low-cost labor to supplement population collapse caused by low birth rates.
But now, as the entire earth is about to become a battleground, who still cares about the refugee issue.
First, ensure enough native inhabitants survive,
then qualify to consider developing nations, accommodating more populations, reaping more player qualifications.
Thus, European countries directly broadcasted on TV,
announcing national martial law, forbidding refugee entry, while strictly searching for unregistered refugees domestically, to return them home.
Any act of harboring or concealing refugees will face the highest criminal penalties - life imprisonment.
Initially, residents of Europe, long influenced by politically correct culture, could not accept these official measures
some intellectuals even took to the streets, shouting that 20th-century Axis dictatorial powers are returning.
To these people, European countries officially convey only one message—residential rights in the European city towers and migration qualifications to The Portal World are extremely limited,
only available to a portion of national citizens.
Anyone who shelters or harbors refugees is damaging other citizens’ rights to city towers and The Portal World migration.
Die yourself or let the refugees die.
Seen so many reports of strange anomalies, most European residents obediently shut up, choosing not to care about so-called refugee rights.
Metamorphosis can indeed make people unable to seek survival or death.
Compared to such fear, the sympathy deeply rooted in human nature is insignificant.
Only a very few European citizens insisted on voicing for the refugees distressed on the borders,
hold small demonstrations in city towers, demanding the government open the borders to accommodate those poor refugees.
The fate of these people was very simple—either kicked out of city towers or imprisoned for violating public security management ordinances.
As many players expected, in these three days,
nearly a million people died worldwide due to turmoil and war.
Moreover, as major powers collectively withdrew overseas military forces, reduced overseas rescue efforts, diverting national ships back home,
The Global Occult Coalition and the World Health Organization of the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, among others, faced insufficient support,
couldn’t deliver enough food, medicine, personnel to underdeveloped areas like Africa.
In the next few days,
more people will die of illness and hunger.
Just a version update announcement for the killing game has exterminated tens of thousands of Earth’s population,
before stability returns, casualties on Earth may exceed the sum of both World Wars...
Even the most optimistic sociologists and economists agree that the concept of Earth Village is now irretrievable.
Human civilization has returned to the disconnected state before the Age of Discovery.
————
"Ssss..."
At the exit of the Yin City Building, Li Ang leaned against the lamppost, leisurely sipping on milk tea.
Wang Congshan also held a cup of milk tea standing next to him, the two of them watching the long line of vehicles, packed with passengers, driving out of the Yin City Building and heading north.
The Special Affairs Bureau and Heterodox Academy finally made a decision to relocate most residents to The Portal World,
while a few who chose to stay on Earth were concentrated in a few city buildings.
"They’ve all relocated."
Li Ang watched the dense traffic passing through the gates and sighed, "I didn’t expect it would be this fast."
"Yeah."
Wang Congshan put down her milk tea, feeling a bit melancholic, "It’s only been a year, and it feels like everything has changed.
First, they abolished towns, then city buildings, and now collectively moving to The Portal World.
I wonder when this endless wandering will come to an end."
"Hmm..."
Li Ang thought for a moment and asked, "What about your parents?"
"They’ve already moved. Went through the family channel, arranged in the New World First Zone Colony.
I’ve been to that place before; the natural environment is much better than Earth, with vast primitive jungles and rivers, lakes, and seas, fresh air, and abundant resources,
but wild animals are quite dense and fierce, so ordinary people still need to live inside city buildings."
Wang Congshan waved her hand nonchalantly, but a trace of worry lingered on her face.
Communication between The Portal World and the real world requires consuming the energy of the portal holder,
which means the more powerful the Transcendent, the more toll they have to pay, making it harder to travel freely between the two worlds.
Separated by long distances, with unpredictable fates,
after this farewell, who knows when we will meet again.
"Do you think if there were never any kill arena games, would life be better now?"
Wang Congshan gazed into the distance, looking at the people by the gate, who were reluctantly parting through the car windows, and softly said, "Villages and towns would still exist, and everyone’s daily life would be playing with phones, scrolling through Douyin and Weibo, playing games,
we might still be preparing for college entrance exams..."
"I wouldn’t need to prepare."
Li Ang grinned widely, carelessly said, "I just need to wear a sweater to the exam."
Wang Congshan tilted her head, "Huh? A sweater?"
Li Ang said matter-of-factly, "When I can’t answer the questions during the exam, I’ll take a bite of the sweater."
"Make yourself full of acrylate, and you’ll be able to answer any question, right?"
Wang Congshan’s eye twitched, and Li Ang immediately gave a big thumbs-up, praising, "You really are like a worm in my stomach, a pinworm, a tapeworm, a whipworm, a hookworm, a fecal roundworm,
I’ll give you a wave of praise."
Wang Congshan rolled her eyes, "Why do I not feel at all praised—must you use such disgusting words to compliment someone?"
"It’s the reduplicative words that are disgusting."
Li Ang curled his lips, casually said, "If there were no kill arena games, and everyone took the normal college entrance exams, what university and major would you choose?"
"Hmm..."
Wang Congshan tilted her head, thinking about how when they were in their final year of high school, the teachers had asked all the students to fill out their ideal aspirations,
but by then Wang Congshan had become a player, and the timing had happened to be missed.
"I might apply for a literature major?"
She said somewhat uncertainly, "Oh, I don’t know; I haven’t really thought about it.
What about you?"
Li Ang thought for a moment, "As a local candidate from Yin City, of course, I’d prioritize applying to local schools. For instance, the Experimental Middle School of Yin City."
"Are you serious right now?"
Wang Congshan said helplessly, "Classic repeat student, huh."
"More like monitored stay."
Li Ang waved his hand, casually said, "Of course, given my intelligence and wit, even if I stayed back, I’d be able to spark a wave of grassroots resistance,
becoming a class teacher shouldn’t be a problem."
Wang Congshan rolled her eyes, "So you could formally write comments on students’ test papers, is that it?"
Honk! Honk!
The long whistle blared at the gate passage in the distance,
A high-speed train sped out of the city building heading north.
The warmth of the milk tea slowly rose, blurring the air,
The two watched the spectacle of human migration that exceeded that of the spring festival, falling silent for a moment,
Li Ang’s eyes flickered, unsure of what he was thinking.
Buzz——
Wang Congshan’s wristwatch vibrated slightly; the version update time for the kill arena game finally arrived.
Li Ang no longer leaned against the electric pole; he stood straight, gazing into the distance.
There was no earth-shaking, nor celestial omnipotence, everything was extraordinarily calm.
"News from the frontline, the Sky Arena has appeared."
Wang Congshan took a deep breath, pressed the watch button,
The small hole on the side of the wristwatch immediately projected a holographic image.
The holographic projection displayed the scene of a vast ocean,
with dozens of aircraft carriers and warships from different countries and forces hovering in the sea, each ship on alert, waiting for something.
Boom!
At the moment the clock’s hands pointed to twelve, the sea surface boiled like a pot,
A massive white tower, unimaginably gigantic, pierced the seawater, rising from beneath the sea.
Hundreds of meters, thousands of meters,
The white tower soared into the clouds; huge amounts of seawater cascaded down the tower’s surface, crashing onto the broad bedrock that rose from the sea along with the tower.
The kill arena game’s version update created a large island at the center of the Pacific out of thin air.
The buildings on the island were none other than those in the Sky Arena at the Game Square.
With no hesitation whatsoever, the international ships waiting in the surrounding waters immediately headed for the island,
dispatching personnel in small boats to land on the island covered with black reefs, following the path toward the Sky Arena.
For national governments and ordinary people, the new version of the Sky Arena offers a chance for ordinary people to be promoted to players, hence it’s uniquely important,
but for Li Ang and other players,
their focus is on the personal menu.
The schedule for the Battle of Destiny has finally been announced, divided into three segments: preliminary, semifinals, and finals.
In the preliminary stage, players must go to the Sky Arena and participate in one-on-one ring matches to climb as high in the arena as possible.
The top 2000 players in final point rankings advance to the next round.
The semifinals will also take place in the Sky Arena, in more varied formats, including one-on-one death battles, team modes, random match modes, even script mission modes,
where two or more squads compete to win.
The system will ultimately evaluate and select the top 1000 players to advance to the finals.
This time, the kill arena game explicitly mentioned in the update statement that the finals would be like the Portal Battle, competing against players from other worlds, on a larger scale.
