At the Countermeasures Research Office base, inside a large training ground.
Dozens of people were surrounding one person in a circular formation.
Every Ascendant participating in the encirclement moved with agility, attacked with force, and coordinated with perfect understanding. Any one of them would be called an expert outside.
Yet at this moment, despite their overwhelming numerical advantage, they were locked in a bitter struggle and completely unable to take down their lone opponent.
None of their attacks seemed to hurt him in the slightest. Some were even knocked backward by the recoil, while the more seriously injured ones suffered internal damage and bled from the corners of their mouths.
After the encirclement continued for nearly fifteen minutes, fewer than ten of the dozens who had formed the formation were still standing. Everyone else had collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion.
The few who remained standing were all panting heavily and utterly drained.
“We can’t go on. Our stamina and Mind Power are both exhausted. We can’t fight anymore.”
“We surrender, we surrender.”
“The gap is still unbelievably huge.”
The few people gave up the fight one after another. The sturdy man who had fought them gave a slight nod, then turned and walked out of the training area.
Some people were dissatisfied with his attitude and began grumbling under their breath.
“So many people are acting as his sparring partners, and he can’t even say thanks? Seriously...”
“Who told you he’s a captain the officials are focusing on training?”
“All right, maybe the officials intend to have him participate, so he’s under a bit of psychological pressure right now.”
After Dragon Soul walked out of the training ground, he saw Silver Fox standing by the door.
“Dragon Team, your ‘Sturdy’ has grown quite a bit stronger too.”
“It’s still not enough.” Dragon Soul looked at his hands and clenched his fists. “If the goal is to secure victory, I have to train to the absolute limit over the next half a month.”
“The shortlist hasn’t even been announced yet. Are you sure you’ll be participating, Dragon Team?”
“I’m not sure. But whether I participate or not, I have to be prepared.”
“...”
Silver Fox looked at Dragon Soul’s determined expression. Thinking about the excessive training he had subjected himself to every day recently, she felt somewhat worried.
Dragon Soul had not started acting this way only after the new rule was announced. Ever since he returned from Sakura Prayer Country last time, he had entered a state of relentless training.
She later learned from Zhang Minglu that Dragon Soul had been pushed into this state by Guan Tong.
At the time, in the rainforest outside Antu City in Sakura Prayer Country, Dragon Soul and Guan Tong had developed a conflict over how to handle the prisoners. That was when Dragon Soul realized that the gap between them had widened considerably compared with before, and the discovery had deeply shaken him.
As a captain whom the officials had invested substantial resources in training since the Doomsday Rules first appeared, Dragon Soul knew that he represented the reputation of Beixing’s official training system.
The strength of his abilities affected more than just himself. It also concerned the authority of Beixing’s officials.
If outsiders thought he was weak, they would naturally question Beixing’s entire Ascendant training system as well. That was something he could not accept.
To avoid bringing disgrace upon the official base, he could only demand that he become stronger. Thus, ever since returning from Sakura Prayer Country that day, he had spent nearly all his time outside of eating and sleeping on intensive strengthening exercises.
Silver Fox and the others had naturally seen this with their own eyes, so they could not help worrying about his mental state.
“Dragon Team.” Seeing his grim expression, she still could not stop herself from trying to persuade him. “You’re already very strong. There’s no need to put so much pressure on yourself.”
Dragon Soul shook his head with his brows tightly furrowed. “Shadow is the true strong one. Even now, my odds of victory against him are practically zero.”
“That’s because his ability is special and counters a great many people. But Dragon Team, why do you insist on comparing yourself with him?” Silver Fox was utterly puzzled. “Does failing to surpass him mean you aren’t a strong person?”
No one knew just how deep Guan Tong’s strength truly went. Many people had once tried to study him, but now they had all given up.
From the officials to civilian organizations, everyone now acknowledged his position as World Number One. They considered him a typical example of the “great luck plus snowball growth” model.
Ascendants without great luck, who failed to obtain a powerful exclusive ability or item at the beginning, found it difficult to start a snowball rolling through the successive Doomsday Rules. Naturally, the gap between them would grow wider and wider.
In Silver Fox’s eyes, Dragon Soul was an Ascendant without great luck.
His “Muscle Enhancement” ability could not be considered bad, but it was not top-tier either. At most, it was mediocre, neither particularly good nor particularly poor.
His ability to reach this point relied entirely on the combination of official resources and his own ascetic, high-intensity training.
Everyone at the base understood, however, that these two methods alone were not enough to surpass a “darling of the era” like Guan Tong, who possessed both overwhelming luck and extraordinary opportunities.
Dragon Soul fell silent for a moment after hearing this. He looked straight at Silver Fox and said, “I understand all of you are worried about me, but only by measuring myself against the strongest can I keep giving myself the motivation to move forward. Only then will I be worthy of the enormous resources the officials have invested in me over the past three years.”
“Dragon Team, you...” Silver Fox sighed softly. “Having too strong a sense of responsibility must be exhausting too, right?”
“What does a little fatigue matter? At least we’re still alive. Our fallen comrades would give anything to feel tired, but they no longer have the chance.”
“...That really is true. It seems I need to train harder too.”
“You should spend more time training with Captain Bai over the next few days. She might also be included on the shortlist.”
“What about me? Dragon Team, do you think I have a chance?”
“No.” Dragon Soul answered without holding back. “Your ability is too specialized. The officials won’t risk putting you on the shortlist.”
Silver Fox lowered her head and spread her hands. “I thought so too. I still need to develop it further. By the way, Dragon Team, what about your Mind Power...”
Dragon Soul hesitated before saying, “Over the past few days, I’ve occasionally had a strange dream. In the dream, some giants keep walking across a gray land.”
Silver Fox’s eyes widened. “A strange dream? Dr. Zhang said that when someone’s Mind Power upper limit approaches two thousand, the appearance of special signs is very likely the beginning of obtaining Authority and becoming an Awakened One!”
Dragon Soul nodded. Unlike Silver Fox, he did not seem excited. He only knew that before truly obtaining Authority and becoming an Awakened One, he still needed to move forward one steady step at a time.
...
After the Intelligence that “entering the Arena has only two possible outcomes, victory or death” spread, some of the powerful people who had originally been eager to try began having second thoughts.
If they let someone else participate, then even if that person lost and their own Mind Power upper limit was reduced, as long as the reduction was not too severe, they could still recover over time or through a new opportunity.
But if they personally entered and lost, they would never have another chance to start over.
Even if victory came with additional rewards, those rewards still seemed insignificant compared with the enormous risk of death.
When the people outside the official system rearranged the candidates among the top nine on the overall rankings, this factor also caused some changes.
On April 4, several days after the rule was announced, the officials of every country finally issued a unified announcement.
The announcement publicly released a shortlist of thirty Ascendants who could participate.
The officials stated that the countries had held repeated meetings and discussions, making several revisions before finally settling on this shortlist.
The thirty Ascendants included on the list had been selected after the officials of every country conducted a comprehensive evaluation based on hard strength data, practical combat experience, battle records, individual mentality, and numerous other factors.
Not every one of them could be called a six-sided warrior, but at the very least, none had any obvious weaknesses.
Three names on the list were displayed in red, signifying that they were “confirmed.”
Just as everyone expected, the three names were “Shadow,” Guan Tong, Shi Jingyi, and “GM,” Han Qiu.
That was right. The representative vote was conducted through recognition. Voters did not need to enter a Mind Power identification number. As long as they recognized the person in question, that was enough.
In other words, even if someone did not know Guan Tong personally and did not have his identification number or contact information, as long as they recognized him, they could vote for him through thought.
Therefore, on the representative vote rankings interface of the Arena function, the names near the top were displayed as nicknames.
Guan Tong’s real name had been exposed long ago. Shi Jingyi had never set a nickname from the beginning, so the Terminal Panel directly displayed her real name.
Only Han Qiu had a nickname that the public learned about after he appeared on the rankings. It was unexpectedly “GM.”
Those who knew him could only feel that the boy was far too arrogant. Not only did he treat everything as a game, he even considered himself the administrator of that game.
The three names displayed in red were also the top three on the overall rankings by a wide margin, securing their participation slots in advance.
Guan Tong had more representative votes than Shi Jingyi, who was in second place, and Han Qiu, who was in third, combined. This showed just how broadly the Ascendant community recognized his strength.
Aside from those three being far ahead, the situation from fourth place onward was unclear. Even the larger gaps amounted to only a few hundred votes, which was not particularly significant.
This meant that many Ascendants had not yet hurried to vote, and that was precisely why the officials of every country had provided a “shortlist.”
In the announcement, the officials of every country declared that, aside from the three names displayed in red, those who still held representative votes should choose one person from the remaining twenty-seven names and cast their vote.
The officials did not force anyone to vote for a specific person. They merely hoped that voters would choose someone from the shortlist whenever possible, since that would increase the probability of securing a victory.
The remaining twenty-seven people were represented in the announcement by more than just their names. The announcement also included detailed information reports on each of them.
The reports contained not only their basic personal information, but also the effects of their respective exclusive abilities and items. The purpose was to give voters a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of each person.
By contrast, the three names displayed in red, Guan Tong, Shi Jingyi, and Han Qiu, only showed their nicknames and names. No detailed data reports were provided.
For a time, the Ascendants who still had votes in hand downloaded the announcement one after another, examined the information reports on the people listed, and decided exactly whom to cast their vote for.