The global ranking continued scrolling:
[4th Place] [Free Nation Camp: 2100 points][5th Place] [Combat Nation Camp: 2100 points][6th Place] [Black Tribe Camp: 1900 points]...[10th Place] [Sakura Camp: 1800 points][11th Place] [Argentina Camp: 1700 points]...
The announcement stopped after listing thirty-six camps—those were the regions participating in the National Fortune Game. Some were massive, like the Euro Alliance, pooling talent from several countries; others were small but proud, like Argentina, lucky enough to possess its own national opportunities.
Huaxia's camp erupted in excitement.
"Our score is nearly twenty thousand!" someone shouted."The second place only has about three thousand!" another exclaimed."What a gap!""We're unstoppable!""Captain Cao, Huaxia's strength is overwhelming!"
Flattery swarmed Cao Linxuan. People crowded him with breathless praise and speculation: "You must have cleared tons of levels!" "You didn't stop at six—you pushed toward ten!" Cao's face burned with pride, though privately he felt a sliver of doubt—he'd only reached level six, and the eye-covered monster from that stage still made his skin crawl. Still, the points added up, and the math made sense.
"Zhiyuan, how far did you get?" Cao asked.
Yan Zhiyuan—calm, composed, a man in grey robes with star-bright eyes, personally assigned by Old Master Cao—answered simply: "Six."
That single word told Cao everything: between him and Yan Zhiyuan, and Duan Nanyang's five, Huaxia's team had pushed the score over ten thousand.
Gu Liao eased off pressing Chen Xiao about his own progress. The stronger Huaxia looked, the better his odds of survival. Awakening a second animal type was suddenly within reach; status in the apocalypse could be remade.
A hum ran through the air. New text appeared:
[National Fortune Game][Second Stage][Hexagonal Sky][About to start]
Silence fell. The system's voice continued, now narrated in a tense, intimate tone as if the game itself were confessing secrets.
[We've been assigned to one corner of the Hexagonal Sky.][To survive, we must eliminate the other five corners.][There is no choice.][This is a cage fight.][Only one final victor will remain.][Me. I must survive.]
A list populated the screen:
[Participating camps in Hexagonal Sky:Huaxia CampIndia CampMaple Leaf CampBlack CampSouth Continent CampArgentina Camp]
[Note: If only one camp remains, the game ends.]
[Game starts.]
A tense hush settled over the courtyard. The rules were brutally simple: kill the other visible camps. The Hexagonal Sky was split into six regions, and in their sector Huaxia faced five rival blocs. The elimination rate would be merciless—only one side could walk away.
"Since only one side can survive, we'd better unite," someone argued.
"Our opponents include third-place India and ninth-place Maple Leaf… this won't be a cakewalk."
"Hmph—they should be worrying. Huaxia is first place for a reason," others retorted, comforted by the points.
"Captain Cao, this stage is cruel," the man with the pointed mouth muttered beside Cao Linxuan. It was Duan Nanyang, one of the few who'd cleared four opponents in Stage One.
Cao clenched the mechanical glove on his palm, eyes stern. "Huaxia must win the national fortune." His voice carried more command than question.
"I'm determined to get the second animal type," another chimed—the ambition in the group palpable.
Duan Nanyang laughed, loud and bright: "Captain Cao's right. Huaxia will crush everything."
Chen Xiao's expression tightened. Under Dragon's Breath, he detected a tremendous power in Duan Nanyang—second only to Cao Linxuan himself. Yan Zhiyuan, in contrast, showed almost no fluctuation—calm as a monk. How many of Cao's proteges were sprinkled throughout this team? How many "Old Master Cao's people" were quietly protecting the captain?
"A team fight—good," A Yao squealed, patting Chen Xiao's arm. "This is a team battle!"
Chen Xiao smiled but stayed measured. "Teams don't make you immortal."
A Yao waved dismissively. "With our Stage One score? Who'd dare die now?"
Chen Xiao found their confidence naive. A Yao, seeing his composed face, misread it as nerves. "Don't worry, Zhou Xun—with the Thunderclap Divine General and the Tongbi descendant here, we'll be fine!"
Gu Liao added, "A Yao's right—our strength makes this stage easy."
Chen Xiao nodded; pragmatism and arrogance intertwined in the camp. At the front, Cao Linxuan lifted a hand.
"Move out. Kill."
And with that order, the Hexagonal Sky opened—Huaxia's corner cracking like a gauntlet dropped on the world.