Translator: AnubisTL
During the 24-hour guardian of Kindling City event, an interim settlement was made for the race kill rankings.
Chen Jiang once again claimed the top ranking.
After all, during the event, Chen Jiang had already gone on a rampage, his artillery fire raining down indiscriminately across the battlefield.
Under such circumstances, how could anyone possibly compete with him?
The reward for securing the top spot in the race kill rankings remained a random one-star item.
In fact, most of the human players' few one-star items had been obtained as rewards for Chen Jiang's top rankings in the race kill rankings.
Just as Chen Jiang settled into his armored vehicle, turned on the air conditioning, and prepared for a well-deserved nap before dealing with any issues later, his eyes suddenly snapped open, his expression blank.
He had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something crucial.
But for the moment, he couldn't recall exactly what it was.
After a moment of silence, he silently convinced himself it was just his imagination and calmly closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
He quickly drifted off to sleep.
Ever since the turret caliber had been upgraded to over three meters, he slept much more soundly.
With such a device stationed beside him, indiscriminately mowing down any creature within range that wasn't on the whitelist, he could indeed sleep like a log.
After Chen Jiang fell asleep, Scar Dog and the others sat groggily around a table, nodding off repeatedly.
"Um..."
Li Hao, jolted awake by another nod, looked up at Scar Dog with a wry smile. "Boss, should we get some sleep first? We can discuss the Perpetual Motion Machine Series Products construction later when we're more awake."
"Hmm..."
Scar Dog hesitated briefly, glancing at Li Hao and Zhao Ritian's exhausted states. He was feeling drowsy himself. Finally, he nodded. "Alright, let's take a nap. We'll talk about it after we wake up."
"Perfect," Zhao Ritian mumbled, his expression dazed, before collapsing backward onto the slime behind him and instantly falling asleep.
Soon, eight hours had passed.
Chen Jiang slowly woke up inside the armored vehicle, rubbing his eyes as he glanced out the window. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with the hues of dusk.
He shook his head with a hint of resignation.
What kind of messed-up biological clock is this?
But considering he was in the Ten Thousand Races Arena, he couldn't exactly expect a normal sleep schedule.
After a quick wash, he climbed back into the armored vehicle. With a serious expression, he removed the small rabbit badge from his chest and placed it on the center console. Then, he pulled out the Encyclopedia of Jokes from his pocket, cleared his throat, and forced himself to say:
"Today, let's tell a joke."
As soon as the words left his lips, he thought he saw the rabbit's ears on the badge suddenly perk up.
Chen Jiang shook his head, dismissing the notion. He flipped through the Encyclopedia of Jokes, his eyes landing on the first joke. Steel himself, he began to read aloud:
"In a classroom, a white teacher asked the students, 'Who knows how much fifty dollars could buy in the 19th century?'"
"Just then, a young black boy eagerly raised his hand and shouted, 'Me! Me! Me!'"
"The teacher nodded approvingly. 'Excellent. Now, how should we spend the remaining $49?'"
TL/N: WTF
"..."
What kind of lame joke is this?
Chen Jiang stood there expressionless, unsure whether to continue reading.
But then—
A burst of laughter erupted from outside the window!
Chen Jiang turned to see Scar Dog standing behind him, clutching his stomach and roaring with laughter. "Brother Jiang, that joke was hilarious! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Seriously, Brother Jiang, why are you telling jokes all of a sudden? This is the first time I've ever heard you tell one!"
"..."
After a moment of expressionless silence, Chen Jiang casually tossed the Encyclopedia of Jokes into Scar Dog's hands. "Here, take it. Enjoy your laughs."
He then grabbed the rabbit badge from the console and headed for the door, intending to get out of the car.
But just as he was about to leave—
He suddenly noticed that the rabbit's carved smile on the badge seemed... to be smiling?
Chen Jiang glanced at the item description again. The note had indeed changed: "Your little Rabbit is currently in a cheerful mood and will absorb any incoming attacks for you within the next 24 hours."
"..."
"This actually works?"
Chen Jiang's expression turned slightly odd as he examined the badge in his hand. It seemed all it took was a joke to put it in a cheerful mood. That didn't seem too difficult at all.
He pinned the badge to his chest and strode forward confidently.
With this item, he had to admit, his sense of security had increased significantly.
He was now practically armed to the teeth. Unless some formidable enemy appeared, he was virtually invulnerable.
"Ah..."
Chen Jiang carried his rocking chair to the base of the world tree and settled into it, gazing up at the starlight filtering through the dappled leaves overhead with a satisfied expression.
It was time for a break.
The series of global events had left him utterly exhausted.
Even though he hadn't had to lift a finger himself, the constant vigilance—keeping his eyes open and monitoring every piece of information—had been far from relaxing.
After lounging for a while, he pulled a slightly larger coin from his pocket and began examining it closely.
This was a star coin.
He had obtained a pile of these coins during the Mist Paradise dungeon, after swindling them from the woman who had dropped her tablet.
There were quite a few—over 90,000 star coins.
They had been piled in the farthest corner of his space bracelet.
The only description for this item read: "This star coin is the most stable currency in the universe."
It sounded incredibly valuable.
But he had nowhere to spend it and no idea where it could be used.
Under the night sky, Chen Jiang carefully examined the star coin. The relief on its reverse side depicted the profile of an old man.
A universal currency.
This universe must have other civilizations—many of them, in fact. And these civilizations had already established a unified currency: the star coin.
So, could the Ten Thousand Races Arena itself be a creation of one of these civilizations?
A flicker of doubt crossed Chen Jiang's eyes, but he didn't dwell on it. After toying with the star coin for a moment, he tucked it back into his pocket.
These are questions I can't answer, even if I tried.
The only thing that mattered now was maximizing his strength, surviving until the end of the Ten Thousand Races Arena, and ensuring the human race emerged as the sole victorious race.
Yet so far, among the 97 races, not a single one had been completely wiped out.
This meant the chaotic Hundred Races War was still some time away.
But it couldn't be too far off now.
It was clear that the Ten Thousand Races Arena had been orchestrating this conflict all along, as evidenced by the seemingly impromptu event triggered by a mere joke.
The arena had been openly and brazenly inciting the hundred races to slaughter each other.
Just then—
A series of piercing screams erupted beside him!
He turned to see his mechanical race slaves and other captured slaves, now wearing step-tracking devices, beginning another day of grinding steps.
"Hmm," Chen Jiang nodded without comment. Scar Dog was undeniably reliable in his duties.
For one thing, he had never once forgotten to use the slaves for step-grinding.
"Hmm," Scar Dog gazed contentedly at the slaves bobbing up and down in the air, knowing another large influx of energy blocks was imminent.
He then turned back to Li Hao and Zhao Ritian to continue their research on the Perpetual Motion Machine Series Products.
It had to be said, the three of them made a remarkable team.
Scar Dog provided the vision and the crucial phantom gate technology.
Li Hao handled map manifestation and calculated precise data.
Zhao Ritian managed the energy drive, often relying on slimes as the primary power source.
---
Inside Kindling City, a woman sat cross-legged in a civilian dwelling, her face grave as she studied a sketch on a blueprint.
The sketch on the paper was unmistakably Chen Jiang.
More precisely, it depicted the back of Chen Jiang.
Leaning on his cane, he stood at the edge of the city wall, gazing down at the light gate in the distance.
She had drawn this herself.
The woman sat silently, her expression shifting between dark and bright, her thoughts unreadable.
She wanted to get closer to Chen Jiang.
Not long ago, Chen Jiang had appeared in Kindling City—his first appearance before her and the closest she had ever been to him. Yet she had refrained from acting.
She knew that any premature move would only alert him.
Afterward, she glanced at her talent panel.
[Talent Name: Mantis]
[Talent Effect: After mating with a human male, you will strip him of his personal innate ability, causing his death. Usable once per month.]
[Stripped Innate Ability: Weapon Manifestation]
[Talent Effect: Allows you to manifest a crimson longsword from thin air. When this sword kills mutated beasts or alien race players, it absorbs a warm energy that flows into your body, enhancing your physical attributes.]
[Innate ability deprived: Lucky Star.]
[Talent Effect: Once per week, you can perform a free lottery draw. The lottery pool contains various items.]
[Innate ability deprived: Precision Shooting.]
[Talent Effect: You possess an extraordinary understanding of firearms. Within a hundred meters, you can hit any target you desire with perfect accuracy.]
Yes.
Her innate ability allowed her to continuously deprive others of their talents, with no upper limit to how many she could accumulate.
Now, she possessed three innate abilities:
[Weapon Manifestation], [Lucky Star], and [Precision Shooting].
All three talents had been stripped from human players of decent strength.
The process was simple.
Upon arriving in this world, without clean water, cosmetics, or beauty filters, most women lost the allure they possessed on Blue Star, making it difficult to stir any genuine emotion in others.
But she had specifically traded several one-star items for a few precious cosmetics through barter.
Even if her looks were average, with a little makeup and a proactive approach, none of the three prey she had targeted could escape her grasp.
Which man could resist a woman who offered herself so readily?
Especially one who came willingly, obedient and compliant—no man could refuse such a creature.
After three nights of passion, she had acquired three formidable innate abilities.
Yet she remained unsatisfied.
Though these abilities were strong, they couldn't guarantee her survival in the Ten Thousand Races Arena.
For some time, her target had been Liu Yiping, the human guardian.
While she didn't know the specifics of his innate ability, as the leader of the Human Race Guardian Association, it was undoubtedly powerful.
Unfortunately, opportunities to approach him had been scarce.
The reason was simple:
It wasn't because Liu Yiping was old and uninterested in women.
Rather, she simply couldn't find a way to get close to him.
Until Chen Jiang's name suddenly burst onto the scene!
She set her sights on Chen Jiang, but unfortunately, she never had the chance to meet him. All she could do was hear his name constantly ringing out in the global announcements.
Each time his name echoed, her resolve grew stronger.
Until Chen Jiang finally appeared in Kindling City!
Right before her eyes!
When she realized the man standing on the city wall was Chen Jiang, she nearly jumped for joy. If she could obtain his innate ability, she was certain she could surpass him and become the strongest human player!
Though she didn't know exactly what Chen Jiang's innate ability was, there was no doubt it was extraordinary.
His status as the strongest human player, constantly mentioned in global announcements, had to be closely tied to his innate ability!
She had already guessed what it might be: the ability to summon that massive turret.
Even though her heart was pounding with excitement at the sight of Chen Jiang, she didn't rush forward immediately.
She understood the psychology of wilderness loners all too well.
Even among fellow human players, they remained constantly wary.
Especially since it was her first time in Kindling City. Although Chen Jiang appeared completely unguarded, she was certain that while he was attacking the alien race players, he hadn't let his guard down for a moment against the human players behind him.
She couldn't just rush up and throw herself into his arms!
That would be too obvious!
Her experiences on Blue Star had taught her a valuable lesson: powerful men often despise women who are too obviously driven by ulterior motives.
So...
She planned to orchestrate a chance encounter.
She would "accidentally" bump into Chen Jiang, acting like a naive and innocent girl who didn't know his identity. This would stir his protective instincts toward women, making everything seem natural and inevitable.
She took a deep breath.
With a serious expression, she gazed out the window, secretly clenching her fist to steel her resolve.
Come on, Dong Yin, you can do this.
He's just a man, even if he's a powerful one. Men are still men.
And a man's greatest weakness lies below the waist.
Control his lower half, and you control everything!
(End of the Chapter)
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