Doomsday Rules Countermeasures Research Office.
After the conclusion of the first Ascendant Challenge Tournament, the person in charge, Gao Liangwei, found Dr. Zhang alone and held a small meeting in the office.
"How was the performance of the five squads?"
"I think it was pretty good," Dr. Zhang said. "The first squad, Dragon Soul and his team, got third place. The fourth squad got fifth place."
Gao Liangwei nodded. "With so many teams, having two of ours place is acceptable. Especially that little girl. I never expected a team of just herself could actually pull it off."
Hearing this, Dr. Zhang said, "To be honest, I haven't seen a Mind Power item more powerful than her mecha yet... If there's any flaw, it's that this child is young and her temperament isn't fully mature. Also, her personality is reclusive; she can't get along with others, which is why she's a one-person team."
"Let's not talk about her for now. Tell me about the eliminated second, third, and fifth squads. How were they eliminated?"
"I've asked," Dr. Zhang said in order. "The second squad had bad luck, encountering the Wolfpack team from the Tulip Federation. They were outnumbered and had no choice but to be eliminated."
"Wolfpack team?"
"Yes. The Federation's teams agreed on a rendezvous point before the match. After entering the island, they rushed to that point. Once gathered, they relied on their overwhelming numerical advantage to eliminate teams from other countries."
Gao Liangwei said coldly, "They really thought of that. But I have to admit, doing that is indeed effective."
"Yes. If their 'alpha wolf' hadn't died, they definitely would have placed... Anyway, the second squad died by their hands. The third squad... the third squad's elimination was somewhat special."
Dr. Zhang recounted the process he heard from the team members. After listening, Gao Liangwei's expression turned very grim. "If that's the case, then the captain, Gu Fei, bears an inescapable responsibility!"
"I believe so... Back then, we chose him as captain because of his considerable talent in close combat, plus his willingness to fight and take risks. Now it seems that was a wrong choice, my mistake."
"What about the fifth squad?"
"According to the reports from the fifth squad members, they were defeated by 'Shadow' while trying to seize the hidden treasure, the 'Holy Grail'. This 'Shadow' also successfully survived to the end, obtaining first place and the hidden reward."
"Just who is this Shadow? Can we find out as soon as possible?" Gao Liangwei asked.
Dr. Zhang thought for a moment and said, "Currently, because he fought multiple people, some of his powers have been exposed. First, he can summon the living dead that appeared in the fifth rule. Second, he can create explosions and smoke within a small area. Third, he can manipulate shadow-like things to inflict damage..."
Gao Liangwei immediately said, "Pass this intelligence to relevant personnel everywhere. Tell them to pay more attention during their usual duties. If they discover anyone using similar abilities, report it immediately."
"Alright, I'll take care of it shortly."
"Shadow is first, Dragon Soul's team is third. Who was the second team?"
"The second team was Adam's team."
"Adam?" Gao Liangwei seemed to have heard this name before. "Could it be..."
"Yes, he is a participant in the 'Eden Project' carried out by the Suroma Empire. According to secret investigations, all participants of this project were sent to an island called 'Eden Island'. That process of nurturing the 'Children of God' takes place on that island.
As for this person named 'Adam'... it's said he is the most favored candidate to be a 'father'. His four teammates also seem to be his wives, who will bear children for him."
"..."
Gao Liangwei was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say.
But this was, after all, the Suroma Empire's plan, and he couldn't interfere. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Was there a count of participants in this challenge tournament?"
Dr. Zhang shook his head. "No, there wasn't. But the number of participants wasn't as high as imagined, because many eligible people in various countries chose to discard their invitation letters—after all, before the tournament started, no one knew what form it would take. If it turned out to be a real life-and-death battle, some people didn't want to take that risk."
Gao Liangwei could understand that.
As the saying goes, "A man of great worth does not sit under a dangerous wall." Some people with higher status and position were unwilling to participate in a competition with an unknown format. They preferred to deal with the Doomsday Rules step by step while pooling resources, which felt safer.
"Regardless, the Ascendants who participated in the challenge tournament are ultimately a minority. Most others basically don't care much about this competition. They are more concerned about whether they can pass the next rule, which is also our main task."
After saying this, Gao Liangwei added, "Also, from today onward, remove Gu Fei from the Doomsday team cultivation plan. His performance was too disappointing!"
"...Understood."
...
Guan Tong walked to the shelter's entrance. He wasn't in a hurry to go in, instead first examining its exterior.
Honestly, it differed quite a bit from the shelter Guan Tong had imagined. From the outside, it was a small wooden cabin, not much bigger than the property management storage room he currently lived in.
"A shelter made of wood... really 'reassuring'."
Guan Tong muttered as he walked inside. The interior actually gave him the feeling of walking into a 30-yuan-per-night budget hotel room.
There was a bed, a wardrobe, a wooden table with a stool, and a bathroom. Nothing else.
...This is too crude, isn't it?
Guan Tong picked up the [Wordless Book]. That's right, it clearly said "Fully-Functional Shelter" on it. How does this look fully functional?
Could it be, like the initial 'shadow outline' situation, that I got a super-shrunken version?
Guan Tong thought it was very possible.
However, it definitely wasn't that disappointing.
Because Guan Tong quickly discovered several highlights.
The room had sockets, providing electricity. The bathroom faucet produced water. The toilet could flush. The showerhead could be used for bathing.
But just when he finished testing everything, thinking this shelter had unlimited water and electricity resources, he noticed his Mind Power had silently dropped from 2 points to 1 point.
"...?"
Guan Tong was stunned for a moment before realizing. "The shelter consumes Mind Power while it exists?"
He immediately tested it and found that was indeed the case.
After the shelter was summoned, for every 10 minutes it existed, it consumed 1 point of Mind Power.
That meant if Guan Tong wanted to maintain it 24 hours a day, he would have to spend 144 points of Mind Power daily.
"I previously recovered 1 point of Mind Power every 5 minutes on average. After equipping the 'Victor' title, that decreased to 2.5 minutes per point. That's 576 points over 24 hours."
He could afford to stay, but having to constantly pay "rent" was somewhat annoying.
But who told him he desperately needed a portable shelter? And having water and electricity was indeed much more convenient, at least allowing him to take a shower every day or something.
However, the defensive capability of this shelter was too low for his satisfaction. Wooden construction—it wouldn't even need other attacks; a single fire would burn it to ashes.
This convinced him that this must be a shrunken version of the Fully-Functional Shelter. Perhaps when his Mind Power upper limit increased, summoning it again would upgrade parts of it.
"Mind Power upper limit... need to raise it as soon as possible."
Guan Tong's current upper limit of 134 points was definitely more than an average person's, but he himself still felt it was far from enough.
Yet the methods to increase it were extremely few. Currently, Guan Tong had only discovered two. One was through geic optimization serums, and the other was through frequent, intense combat to stimulate growth.
Not only was the former hard to come by, but the latter was the same.
Aside from special circumstances like the challenge tournament, generally there weren't that many combat scenarios in reality.
Not to mention Guan Tong now tried as much as possible not to act recklessly.
He knew that after that Holy Grail defense battle, many people had gained some understanding of his abilities. Who knew how many people were currently searching the world for him? It was better to keep a low profile.
You can't have the best of both worlds. Guan Tong decided to take things one step at a time and wait for the sixth rule to come out.
"Let's rest for a bit."
During the eight-hour challenge tournament, Guan Tong's mind had been highly tense almost the entire time. Now that he relaxed, fatigue washed over him.
He lay on the shelter's bed, looking at the Wordless Book in his hand, thinking, "What would happen if I were inside the shelter and recalled the shelter back into the Wordless Book? Would I follow it into the book?"
"...Forget it."
Guan Tong didn't want to recklessly experiment with his own life. What if he really went in and couldn't get out? If he really wanted to test it, he could buy a mouse later, put it inside the room, and test it from the outside.
Lying on the bed, drowsiness surged, and he soon fell asleep.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, he woke up, took a shower, and while his hair was drying, he took out his phone to browse.
Regarding yesterday's concluded challenge tournament, online discussion wasn't high, but there were some popular posts.
One post with over ten thousand replies discussed none other than him.
The post title was: "In-depth Analysis of Champion Ascendant 'Shadow' Boss's Ability Composition!"
Guan Tong clicked in to look. The poster was someone who participated in the challenge tournament and claimed they went to seize the Holy Grail, ultimately dying under the "black spikes".
Guan Tong knew what the poster called "black spikes" was the materialized "Thorn Shadow Kill Array".
Afterwards, the poster solemnly analyzed, with some parts right and some wrong. The right part was that the "black spikes can transform". The wrong parts included analysis claiming Shadow "laid landmines all over the ground" and such.
However, what made this post popular wasn't the poster's analysis, but rather a comment in the thread.
A user with the ID "Snow Traces" commented: "Shadow is just a pervert who likes tentacles and poop!"
Seeing this comment, Guan Tong almost immediately determined this was the person who piloted the mecha.
Not only did he recognize it, but many other participants also recognized her from this ID.
"Snow Traces! The boss who ranked fifth in the challenge tournament?!"
"That white mecha!! I saw it too!"
"Snow Traces, do you remember me? I'm the one you killed with one slash of your lightsaber!"
"I also saw that mecha! It's literally the coolest Mind Power item I've ever seen. I'm so jealous!"
Many participants who saw that mecha on the island replied.
Guan Tong certainly had no intention of replying. He thought this person dared to swing a Power Sword to chop people, yet could be scared off by some disgusting things. She was truly a bizarre character too.
Moreover, what he was really concerned about was that Lucifer. The latter said his wings were called "Fallen Angel Wings
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