Translator: AnubisTL
"We've certainly been through a lot," Chen Jiang murmured, lying on the bed with his hands clasped behind his head, his eyelids slowly closing. "When explorers arrive on a new continent, new stories always emerge."
"We call them stories now, but future generations will call them history."
"Rest for a while. We'll head back when you wake up."
"Alright."
Scar Dog shrugged, dismissing the thought. After a quick wash, he activated his three-star item, Time Anchor, and carefully reviewed the album under the dim light. Satisfied, he tucked it into his chest pocket, lay down on the other bed, closed his eyes, and began to rest.
Soon, the final few hours had passed.
Less than ten minutes remained until the end of the global event.
"It's over," Scar Dog said, already awake, glancing at the forum news on his screen. "The players who escaped from the out-of-control Ten Thousand Races Arena have been almost completely wiped out."
"When the federation's organized troops began their sweep, the escaped players stood no chance. They caused some civilian casualties and significant damage to the city, but ultimately achieved nothing else. Approximately sixty percent of the race players died in this massacre."
"This data isn't entirely accurate. It's just an estimate someone on the forum calculated based on rumors about player deaths and the average number of race players in past Ten Thousand Races Arena events."
"But we can be reasonably certain that the recent Ten Thousand Races Arena malfunction didn't significantly impact the federation. The person who initiated this event has likely lost everything."
"People on the forum are lamenting how someone poured over a decade's worth of savings into building the Ten Thousand Races Arena, only for it to suddenly malfunction. They've lost everything and will probably spend the rest of their life paying off debts, with little chance of recovery."
"Fortunately, the affected planets weren't fully converted into Ten Thousand Races Arena zones."
"When the global event caused by the malfunctioning arena ended, the assimilation process halted. Some speculate that if the event had lasted three days, the affected planets would have been completely assimilated."
"However, many individuals actually benefited from the Ten Thousand Races Arena malfunction."
"For example, some residents whose home planets were being assimilated by the Ten Thousand Races Arena inadvertently gained personal innate abilities. Others were lucky enough to have their household miscellaneous items transformed into items, which was quite a windfall."
"Of course, our gains should be the greatest."
Scar Dog clicked his tongue, then sighed with emotion. "Wu Jinshen sent word that nearly 40 million miscellaneous items were converted into one-star items."
"Originally, there were close to a hundred million, but the assimilation stopped the moment the Ten Thousand Races Arena's global event went out of control. Only 40 million items were converted; the rest didn't have time to be assimilated before it ended."
"They're asking when we can accept them."
"40 million?" Chen Jiang raised an eyebrow, smiling. "That's an absurd number. 40 million one-star items—that's no small amount. In the Ten Thousand Races Arena, it would be impossible to acquire such a massive quantity of items."
"Looks like acquiring one-star items is much faster within the galactic federation."
Just then—
Wu Jinshen's communication request came through, and at Chen Jiang's nod, Scar Dog accepted the video call.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Jiang Cheng," Wu Jinshen greeted, his face flushed with excitement as he smiled at Chen Jiang from his chair. "This harvest should be far greater than our last one. A full 40 million one-star items have already filled several of my warehouses."
"Of course, I understand these items may not meet your expectations yet, Mr. Jiang Cheng. But please be patient."
"Do you recall when I mentioned that when these miscellaneous goods were converted into one-star items, their item effects didn't manifest immediately? Instead, there was an eight-hour countdown?"
"That countdown has long since passed. Mr. Jiang Cheng, please take a look at this item panel."
Immediately, an item panel popped up in mid-air:
[Item Name]: A Folding Stool
[Item Star]: One-Star Item
[Item Effect]: It functions exactly as a folding stool should.
[Item Description]: "..."
"As you can see, Mr. Jiang Cheng, the miscellaneous goods assimilated into items have no special effects whatsoever. They're essentially just ordinary items, possessing nothing beyond their item status."
"This is clearly abnormal. Something must have gone wrong during the assimilation process."
"But given that it involves the Ten Thousand Races Arena, many things defy common sense."
"These are among the first batches of miscellaneous items to be converted into items. Our experiments show that without exception, all miscellaneous items converted into items are like this—completely lacking any item effects and indistinguishable from their original state, except for their new item status."
"This means these one-star items are essentially worthless."
"And since many planets have been affected by the Ten Thousand Races Arena's recent rampage, I'm certain there are countless miscellaneous items on those worlds that have been converted into one-star items."
"By spending a little time and a few star coins, we can easily collect these useless one-star items. I'm confident that within seven days, I can deliver another massive batch of one-star items to Mr. Jiang Cheng."
"The number... conservatively, eight figures."
"Eight figures?"
Chen Jiang paused, gazing at Wu Jinshen on the screen, before slowly rising with a smile. "Wu Jinshen, you truly are my best friend, always understanding me so well."
"Of course, gaining Mr. Jiang Cheng's friendship is the most successful thing I've ever done in my life."
"Then, Mr. Jiang Cheng, when would be a convenient time for you to receive this batch of items?"
"In half an hour."
"Very well, we'll await your instructions, Mr. Jiang Cheng."
After hanging up, Chen Jiang casually glanced at Scar Dog beside him, a satisfied smile curving his lips. "Our friend always handles things so smoothly. Forty million one-star items should be more than enough to enhance the turret to an absurd level."
"Indeed," Scar Dog grinned, nodding in agreement. "You have to admit, the old man's reliable. With more people like him, upgrading the turret caliber to 3,000 meters would be a piece of cake!"
Soon, the final ten minutes had passed.
A white circle of light suddenly appeared beneath Chen Jiang and his companions' feet. A flash of white light followed, and the trio vanished from their location, reappearing in the Ten Thousand Races Arena.
[Global Announcement!]
[The global event 'Hide-and-Seek' has concluded successfully!]
[The top-ranked Hunter is Wang Zi of the elf race, who found the Night Hider in 1 minute and 16 seconds.]
"The top-ranked Nightwalkers are—Chen Jiang of the human race, Scar Dog of the human race, and Li Hao of the human race, having evaded capture by the pursuers for a full 24 hours."
"The top-ranked Nightwalkers will receive additional rewards."
Huff!
Scar Dog let out a soft breath, glanced around, and sniffed the familiar air. With a satisfied expression, he tilted his head back, spread his arms wide, and exclaimed, "Ah, that familiar scent! For some reason, returning to the Ten Thousand Races Arena feels like coming home."
"Even though it's only been 24 hours, it feels like ages have passed."
"We went for a stroll and somehow ended up taking the top spot. This is ridiculous! These pursuers are useless—they can't even find people in a game of Hide-and-Seek. What a bunch of amateurs!"
Scar Dog shook his head and clicked his tongue in disbelief as he jogged toward a small earthen mound nearby.
Clearly, he hadn't realized that their trio had inadvertently wandered all the way to the galactic federation. How could the players left in the Ten Thousand Races Arena possibly find them?
With their fucking heads!
It was like playing Hide-and-Seek as a kid. You close your eyes to count, and your friend kicks off with both feet and rockets straight to Mars. How are you supposed to find them? With your head!
Scar Dog, having reached the small earthen mound, immediately knelt down and began pulling items from his chest pocket.
"Here, Mom, I brought you some new gadgets from my trip."
"They say the World Origin Consciousness will gradually lose all awareness as the Ten Thousand Races Arena progresses, until it's completely extinguished. I don't know how much consciousness you have left now."
"Honestly, I don't know how to handle any of this. All I can do is bring you these little trinkets from the outside world to broaden your horizons. You've probably never seen anything like them before."
"Look, this piece of meat is from a cosmic behemoth. They're supposedly massive creatures that can roam through space. I've never seen one myself, but this meat was incredibly expensive."
"Just take a look. I'll eat it later. You can't eat it anyway."
"And this thing—it's a magnetic levitation car. I stole it. I didn't dare try figuring out how to drive it in the galactic federation, worried it might have tracking or self-destruct systems. Now that I'm back, I can tinker with it at my leisure."
"The principle behind it? How would I know how this thing works?"
"I brought a lot of things. Come on, Mom, take a look at them one by one. Speaking of which, you've been around for billions of years. Haven't you ever thought about finding a companion?"
"..."
Chen Jiang glanced at the somewhat absurd Scar Dog kneeling near the earthen mound, his expression mildly speechless. After a moment's pause, he strode toward the mound as well.
After all, the Blue Star World Origin had subtly played a crucial role in both the Three-Star Event's activity design token and his smuggling into the galactic federation. Out of both duty and gratitude, he needed to thank his mother.
As a citizen of Blue Star, calling Blue Star "Mom" felt perfectly natural.
The top ranking reward had granted him a Three-Star Random Item Chest.
He, Scar Dog, Li Hao, and the others each received one.
It was truly absurd.
He hadn't even participated in the global event, yet he still claimed the top ranking and a Three-Star Random Item Chest.
It was like skipping his college entrance exams to play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive all night, sleeping through the day, and then discovering he'd become the valedictorian with a full scholarship.
This was utterly absurd.
For now, he needed to first pay his respects to his mother, chat with her for a bit, and see if he could persuade her to reward him with tens of millions of one-star items or something similar.
Then he would open those three Three-Star Random Item Chests.
"You're finally back!"
Wang Defa strode excitedly toward Scar Dog, waving his arms wildly as he exclaimed, "You wouldn't believe how much fun this dungeon was! I haven't had such a relaxing time in ages!"
"No life-threatening risks, no restrictions from my innate ability—just 24 hours of pure, unadulterated fun!"
"Seriously, missing this global event and running off to the galactic federation was a huge mistake!"
"If you'd been here, the whole thing would have been even more epic!"
"Too bad you're regretting it now—it's too late!"
"What's so great about the galactic federation anyway? It's just another steel jungle like Blue Star, and probably even more dangerous. You have to be constantly on guard, no chance to relax at all!"
"Uh..."
Wang Defa trailed off mid-sentence as Scar Dog and Li Hao simultaneously turned to look at him, their expressions eerily identical—a strange mix of pity and heartache.
"What's with those looks?"
"Brother Jiang, what's wrong with them?"
"Nothing."
Chen Jiang pulled three cigarettes from Scar Dog's pocket, lit them, and held them up. Gazing at the small earthen mound before them, he murmured without turning his head, "They've been grinding those needles down to nubs."
"Just ignore them."
Meanwhile, on the subhuman star...
Wang Jili stood before the floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of the city's tallest office building, his hands in his pockets, relishing the panoramic view of the metropolis below.
Everything had settled into place.
He, Wang Jili, would inherit everything from his father-in-law and Liu Deping, merging their three companies into a conglomerate far more powerful than the Black Europe Company.
Of course, the rules forbade such a merger.
But rules were rigid, while people were adaptable.
When a person dies, the rules naturally come to life.
Perhaps this is relativity.
He lifted his head and gazed into the distance, his expression calm and silent. There lay the Black Europe Company's warehouse.
Almost the instant Eugenia Star went dark, he knew who was behind the incident.
Jiang Cheng and the Black Europe Company.
His certainty stemmed from a simple fact: long ago, he had secretly planted small devices within Eugenia's three massive miscellaneous goods warehouses.
These devices served no practical purpose. Their sole function was to automatically record one minute of audio and energy fluctuations—including the number of personnel present—whenever energy levels near the warehouse exceeded a certain threshold. This data would then be transmitted remotely to him before the devices self-destructed.
By analyzing the familiar energy signatures and conversations recorded near the warehouse, identifying Jiang Cheng and the Black Europe Company as the culprits was a straightforward task.
His Shark Company had never conducted any business with the Eugenia Company.
The reason he had painstakingly planted these small devices in Eugenia Company's miscellaneous goods warehouse was simple: he had done the same at nearly every company across several nearby planets. Eugenia Company's warehouse was merely one of many.
Some devices were for tracking, others for transmitting audio, and still others for surveillance.
He had programmed each device with a trigger condition. When the condition was met, the device would transmit pre-set information to him.
Why go to such great expense and effort for these seemingly unrelated tasks?
The answer was straightforward: he trusted no company. He believed any of them could become his future enemies, and preemptive precautions would prevent him from being caught off guard, unsure of where an attack might originate.
It was a clumsy method, but he wasn't a particularly clever man.
Now, as he gazed toward the Black Europe Company's warehouses in the distance, his mind raced. He knew Black Europe Company and Jiang Cheng had pulled off a major heist.
He also wanted to team up with Jiang Cheng for a big score.
But first, he needed an entry ticket—a large quantity of one-star items.
Wang Jili stood in silence for a moment before whispering, "We need to move quickly. Before the Black Europe Company can react, we must swiftly acquire all the miscellaneous goods on the planets affected by the Ten Thousand Races Arena's rampage that have been assimilated into items."
"Speed is crucial. Do you understand? We need to be fast."
"These assimilated miscellaneous items have no item effects whatsoever. They're only useful as items, nothing more. You can acquire them for far less than the cost of purchasing one-star items."
"All I need you to do is move quickly."
In truth, what he really wanted was to raid Black Europe Company's warehouses, seize all those items, and give them to Jiang Cheng.
But he wasn't sure if that would offend Jiang Cheng.
That Wu Jinshen is one lucky beggar.
(End of the Chapter)
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