Chapter 1637: Undercurrent

All... all wiped out?!

How could this be even more terrifying than the cataclysm?!

Even though he was a Fifth Stage, upon first contact with the Star Battlefield, the Stone Giant was instantly shocked in place, his whole body of stone trembling.

What a joke! Weren't they saying solo missions were much easier than catastrophes like the Calamity?!

Why is it still so terrifying?!

You should know, although their last cataclysm was horrible, it wasn't a big threat to Fifth Stages!

As if seeing the Stone Giant's fright, the Long-eared Elf shook his head and gave him a somewhat pitying glance.

Both being Fifth Stages, though unrelated to intelligence and thinking speed, he almost immediately guessed what this "big idiot" had gone through upon seeing him.

"Do you feel it's too cruel, too hard?"

"No, actually it's the same."

With the intention of winning him over, the Long-eared Elf simply began to explain patiently.

"Such disasters as cataclysms, calamities, and stellar crises cause greater destruction to civilization itself."

"If nothing unexpected happens, your civilization likely lost fifty to sixty percent in the cataclysm; if worse, seventy to eighty percent is also possible."

"Correspondingly, isn't that just the individual death rate?"

"In the system's eyes, we Fifth Stages and lower stages are all the same—if you can't hold up, you just die; there's nothing special about it."

Feigning ease, he shrugged, and a hint of bitterness flashed in the Long-eared Elf's eyes.

Though said that way, it's indeed hard to accept.

Each of these Fifth Stages is a legend of their own civilization, almost divine beings.

But in any random low-difficulty battlefield, they could easily be wiped out.

How tragic.

"Our last cataclysm... we lost sixty percent..."

"The planet was trembling; our planet seemed to have shed a layer of skin, and we stopped the vibration only by sending many of our people rushing into the core."

"So you mean solo missions are targeting our 'cataclysm'?"

Although he really didn't want to accept this fact, the Stone Giant fell silent for a moment and then spoke in a deep, hollow voice.

He may not be smart.

As a semi-silicate lifeform, their grasp of rules is innate, but that doesn't mean his comprehension is lacking.

"That's right."

The Long-eared Elf nodded and moved slightly closer to him.

"So you'd better pray this time it's a melee."

"Although a melee will also face pursuit by Star-Destroying Level beings, at least they will check each other, and our main opponents are still peers."

"With good luck, attaching oneself under a Star-Destroying Level greatly increases the chance of survival."

After saying that, the handsome-looking Long-eared Elf glanced meaningfully at the multi-headed dragon on the fortress core.

Among the seventeen Star-Destroying Levels, this huge beast resembling a Chimera stood out especially.

Its body suffused with emerald-green poisonous mist, it had a cruel beauty.

At a glance, one could tell this monster was a supernatural lifeform of the Fantasy System.

The Stone Giant fell silent for a moment; although the other hadn't said much, he roughly guessed why this self-proclaimed Natural Alliance individual had come looking for him.

Was this... a hint that he should join that Star-Destroying Level's team?

After all, he also belongs to the Fantasy Faction.

"I'll consider it."

"Just... I have a few questions I can't figure out."

After directly pointing out the Long-eared Elf's hint, the Stone Giant secretly sighed and turned to ask other questions.

The Star Battlefield is so terrifying; joining them is actually not bad.

Just...

"If it's the worst-case scenario, which Star-Destroying Levels would team up to hunt us?"

"How could we possibly have a chance to survive? And this is totally unfair... for those Star-Destroying Levels, where is their difficulty?"

"Star-Destroying Levels... their combat power is at least ten to dozens of times ours... we can't even break their defenses... let alone, their rules must be twisted!"

He couldn't help but voice his doubts.

Each rank difference brings an earth-shaking change in strength.

Let alone after Fifth Stage.

Those who can reach Star-Destroying Level are almost all high-level rules.

Take himself as an example; he excels at earth-element fusion, silicates, and inorganic shaping control. It's not a particularly impressive rule, but its advantage lies in being easy to grasp and innate.

But likewise, his future potential is extremely limited.

The harder the rule to master, the harder it is to grasp, and the higher the ceiling.

And vice versa.

If we say they are the hope and strongest of their respective civilizations.

Then Star-Destroying Levels are the rulers of an entire star system!

Mo Tuo clearly understood in his heart that if he couldn't obtain any system rewards, he might remain a low-level Fifth Stage for life.

Their civilization lacks research ability; how far they can go depends entirely on talent and luck.

"Fair?"

Hearing the Stone Giant's somewhat childish question, the Long-eared Elf couldn't help but chuckle, but after thinking it over he went on to explain.

Although fairness doesn't really exist, I can explain your problem.

You mean the advantage of star missions for Star-Destroying Level is too great, too simple, right?

No.

If it's about assigning camps, those Star-Destroying Levels won't have it easy either.

First, the system will likely give us escape time, or rather preparation time.

During this time, all of us Star-Destroying Levels can join forces and coordinate.

You know, some War Star Level rules are also quite strange. If we cooperate well, we might not be completely powerless to resist.

Moreover, Star-Destroying Levels have time limits and kill quotas.

If they don't kill enough, they will suffer punishment!

Tsk tsk, think about it: they all have kill quotas, but we're just this many people—do you think they can still cooperate with each other?

If you kill more, he dies; if he kills more, you die.

Under this brutal internal competition, this is our chance to survive!

Oh, and there's one more thing.

Mid-sentence, the long-eared elf suddenly gave a mysterious smile, a flash of fervent color passing through his eyes.

If it's a camp war! Our reward for killing Star-Destroying Levels will be greatly increased—at least tenfold! Killing those Star-Destroying Levels not only gives point rewards, but the points on them will also belong to us!

Hearing the long-eared elf's explanation, the stone giant's heart jolted.

He had thought the star battlefield was simple—just a head-on clash!

Looking at it this way, is it actually an all-around test of them?

Seeking survival in the cracks, a desperate counterattack?

Tenfold point rewards? Even one's own points will 'burst' out?

Thinking this way, the Star-Destroying Level behind this long-eared monster has probably already set things up in advance.

Even if it's a camp war, Star-Destroying Levels might secretly assassinate each other—using them as knives to split the tenfold reward?

It's a simple logic; after figuring this out, the stone giant shook off the rubble on his body and looked up at the countdown with a complex gaze.

Scheming and deceitful, I don't even know if I can survive.

In the silence, the long-eared elf seemed to see the unease in the stone person's heart.

Knowing that this big oaf should have understood his meaning, he simply went over to comfort him, hiding nothing:

"Join us, and Lord Chimera can guarantee your safety."

"Do you see those fifth-stage ones who only just came running?"

"These people are the ones who die the fastest."

"With them as cannon fodder, our hope of survival is still great."

The long-eared elf gave a light chuckle, as if looking at the dead, gazing at the scattered fifth-stage individuals flying in hastily.

The speed of gathering often indicates the strength of the rules.

Although not necessarily accurate, it definitely represents mobility.

In the star battlefield, the strength of one's power isn't really important; what matters is survival ability—whether one can escape under pursuit and encirclement!

Those who arrive quickly are usually skilled in spatial rules and have the strongest survivability; those who arrive slowly, no matter how strong their combat power, will hardly survive to the end!

"They're the cannon fodder?"

The stone giant instinctively looked toward the last few fifth-stage individuals flying in hastily.

The number of gathered individuals appearing in the sky turned out to be 3,493.

One thousand five hundred fifth-stage individuals have mostly arrived—over 1,400 are present, and the remaining fourth-stage ones are basically all there as well.

According to the numbers given by the system, they have a total of 3,400 participants in this star battlefield.

"Yes."

The long-eared elf gave a strange smile.

"Why does the system want us to gather?"

"Essentially, it's to make us reveal our own rules."

"In a sense, this trial has already begun from the moment we entered..."

"Before those last few hundred who arrive late are all killed, we are safe..."

"Before those last few hundred who arrive late are all killed, we are safe..."

This seemed to verify the long-eared elf's judgment.

All that could be seen was the countdown about to end.

The later-arriving fifth-stage trialists, all of them had faces grim to the extreme; it seemed they had also realized this logic.

Out of worry, many even rushed into the fortress and hastily 'changed their appearance,' trying to conceal themselves.

However, under the collective gaze of thousands of fifth-stage individuals, they were like fireflies in the night—utterly unable to hide.

Those indifferent pairs of eyes, filled with greed and cruelty, had already put them on the kill list.