Chapter 46: Chapter Forty‑Eight: Dragon Gate Coins

He opened his eyes once again, and once again returned to the plaza of the Challenge Tower.

Jiāng Jiāng immediately began searching the surroundings for Chén Chén's figure, only to find, to her surprise, that the people around her seemed not to have woken up.

Putting it that way, I actually ended up being the first to finish???

Speaking of which, I seemed to have knelt as soon as I entered the second stage, and indeed it was over quickly—so was I really let off easy?

For the time being I had no time to think about anything else; after all, after searching around I couldn't find even a simple trace of Chén Chén.

Could I still be inside the illusion?

But that doesn't make sense—my consciousness is clear now and my memory intact. Jiāng Jiāng shook her head again; perhaps a deep illusion was affecting her judgment.

As Jiāng Jiāng pondered, searching for a break in her surroundings, a figure she had been eagerly awaiting suddenly burst out from a side door.

Just as Chén Chén stepped out, he felt a sneak attack from the side, about to react instinctively, before realizing it was Jiāng Jiāng lunging at him.

Jiāng Jiāng threw herself into Chén Chén's arms, her black hair and red ribbon flying in the air, exuding a girlish scent; although she weighed only a hundred or two hundred catties, one could feel the weight of a girl.

Chén Chén still clearly remembered when such a scene had last occurred.

Back then, my previous life's 'corpse' had been pronounced utterly dead, and only with difficulty did I manage to master the ability to create an earthly-body clone, secretly using my own flesh to rapidly reforge it—thus becoming the current human-body clone.

Jiāng Jiāng, having gone three days and nights without food or water while carrying her own corpse over sixty kilometers, ended up suffering severe shock and nearly kicked the bucket; fortunately, Chén Chén arrived in time, lifted her, and saved her.

After confirming Jiāng Jiāng was fine, Chén Chén's earthly body slipped away to relieve himself, never expecting that upon his return Jiāng Jiāng would already have awakened.

Then and now, it's exactly the same.

Only back then, Jiāng Jiāng's weight hadn't yet increased from martial training, and her frail body rushing to Chén Chén's side almost made her tumble head over heels.

Now Jiāng Jiāng, though acting on pure instinct, could, if she truly collided with a freshly awakened patient's embrace, possibly end up killing him outright.

Jiāng Jiāng hemmed and hawed for a while before managing to squeeze out a sentence.

"Um, Chén Chén, where did you go?"

"I went to the toilet."

Jiāng Jiāng always felt that answer was familiar, but it didn't matter anymore; as long as she confirmed Chén Chén was still there, that was enough.

"Speaking of which, how did you finish so quickly?" Chén Chén asked, somewhat puzzled.

Āyún's illusionary technique, though only half-understood by me, should still be hard to break through even with talent and the support of the spirit stele—let alone Jiāng Jiāng, an illusionist, managing to pass the illusion so quickly.

Is this child's talent really that exaggerated?

But I seem to have asked a not-so-smart question; after all, given Jiāng Jiāng's personality, such a thing would naturally never be said in public.

"I don't know either?"

Jiāng Jiāng wore an expression even she found strange, her acting outshining today's top actress; Chén Chén rolled his eyes and didn't press further.

The environment below continued.

Naturally, the environmental test did not expect these kids to break through the illusion directly—such difficulty would be too high.

The environment set up by Āyún is estimated to have only one person on Earth capable of handling it: the world's foremost strongman, Hóng, who truly deserves the title.

To enter the Dragon Gate examination, one only needs to show a certain performance in the illusion and be able to step forward at a life‑or‑death critical moment.

And Āyún will also do his best within it to help everyone pass the examination.

In a sense, the time spent in the illusion exceeds the twenty‑plus years these children have already lived through; although after the illusion ends those memories will be compressed into fragments.

A person's nature is not determined innately but largely shaped by later influences; besides the test, the final stage's illusionary experience will leave this group of newly‑minted martial artists with a valuable experience, an invisible seed.

This is also why the illusion test serves as the final stage.

The more resolutely one faces the illusion, the faster the time passes; in this regard, no one present seems to surpass Jī Hēng, who only passed the test a little after Jiāng Jiāng.

After that, the rest are roughly the same.

When the illusion examination ended, the names of over twenty more people faded, signifying that their Dragon Gate journey ends here.

Among them were one or two geniuses ranked in the top twenty of the combat rankings; though they might still feel resentment, they had no courage to vent it here, merely following the waiting guide away.

The remaining forty‑seven people are the new members of Dragon Gate.

From the top of the black spirit stele, the vanished Dōngjūn somehow emitted a voice again from somewhere.

"Finally, welcome all of you to join Dragon Gate; those who passed the trial should already have the resolve to join Dragon Gate, and with that resolve join our war. Let me reintroduce myself here—I am the Lord of Dragon Gate City—Dōngjūn."

……

"Dōngjūn, our Dragon Gate's lord, is also the Seventh Councilor of the War God Palace, a legendary strongman said to be able to match Hóng and the Thunder God."

And the faction Dōngjūn belongs to needs no further explanation.

"It is said that precisely because Lord Dōngjūn has been stationed at Dragon Gate, the monsters have lacked the resolve to launch a joint total assault here."

Wánghóu walked along, giving everyone a simple briefing on Dragon Gate's situation.

"Inside Dragon Gate, the most convenient way is to pilot one's personal flyer—like the ae86 we're sitting in now, which can switch between multi‑person and single‑person modes, with a top speed of 1200 km/h, although within the city the speed limit is 500 km/h."

Both when we arrived and now, everyone is seated in a flyer; inside Dragon Gate one can see many martial artists piloting flyers—some single‑seat, some double‑seat, and some like Wánghóu's with four seats, whose piloting is nearly fully automatic.

However, according to Wánghóu's current explanation, this flyer should also be able to change its form.

"This is the latest product of the World Tree, currently sold only in Dragon Gate and Xin Aili; in Dragon Gate it can be bought with Dragon Gate coins, but the price is essentially free for us, a small perk for martial artists who come to Dragon Gate, and driving it has no threshold."

"Dragon Gate coins?" Jiāng Jiāng expressed doubt, having never heard that currency name before.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you: in Dragon Gate, the basic currency for most consumption is Dragon Gate coins; in fact, all services provided by the World Tree in its cities require this currency, and eighty percent of Dragon Gate's operations are supplied by the World Tree."

"Although this currency wasn't first issued in Dragon Gate, because Dragon Gate gathers strongmen from all over the world and is also the true turning point in humanity's war against monsters, it was simply named Dragon Gate coins."

"The purchasing power of Dragon Gate coins is roughly a hundred times that of the renminbi, but they cannot be exchanged for foreign currency; however, privately one can trade Dragon Gate coins with other Dragon Gate martial artists for other currencies, though the rate is at least five hundred to one—of course, if you have such a good deal, just call me."

"Right, this examination will reward Dragon Gate coins according to ranking, which you can check in the balance of your already‑recorded smart wristwatch. First place should get one million, second place nine hundred thousand, third place eight hundred thousand, and so on—though not a lot, it's enough to tide you over for a while."

Luofeng, listening, also opened the projection of his smart wristwatch; in the wallet option a separate 'Dragon Gate coins' card pack appeared, and opening it showed a balance of 600,000.

"Up ahead is your residence, Area A4—also the lodging for this batch of newcomers; the outermost building is your property‑management center, which can handle all your chores or any living needs you might have."

"Which room you move into, and how you later remodel or decorate it, can also be settled at the property‑management center."

"I'll see you off here; if anything remains unclear, you can ask me via your smart wristwatch, or come straight to Area A3 to find me—I've sent you my address."

By the way, there's still a welcome party specially organized for you guys tonight; I'll come pick you up later to go together.

Having arrived here, Wang Hou's mission could be considered completed; as for the contact information left behind, not everyone would mind this hassle, but given the talent shown by Chén Chén and the others, it's naturally worth Wang Hou making a good connection.

Chén Chén and Jiāng Jiāng naturally just need to share one apartment; I don't know if it's an illusion, but Chén Chén always feels that Jiāng Jiāng has become clingier after the evaluation, and I also don't know what she experienced in A Yun's illusion.

Just as the illusion affects others, although Jiāng Jiāng never fell into the first layer of illusion from the start, this experience of living alone for several years still planted a hint in her, and with the second layer of illusion, her attachment to Chén Chén is now close to becoming obsessive; she wishes they could be conjoined twins.

(Yun Jun: Another merit for my father's great cause ︿(￣︶￣)︿)

Although the property management center here serves the entire A4 District, the service can be said to be all-encompassing: each household has a dedicated cleaner, a gardener, a renovation specialist, a dedicated dispatch team, and even provides a five-star chef; the culinary skills that even someone as naturally gifted and self-taught as Jiāng Jiāng would admire.

But the responsibility for cooking must still be firmly held in hand; on one hand it's about safety, and on the other it concerns Jiāng Jiāng's own family status, which absolutely cannot be given to others.

So Jiāng Jiāng will have an additional cooking training each day from now on, though the community's head chef is also busy; to find time to teach Jiāng Jiāng, one must pay some wages, namely Dragon Gate coins.

What surprised Jiāng Jiāng was that the head chef's salary in Dragon Gate is also not low, actually reaching over seven hundred thousand per month, already exceeding the reward for third place in this evaluation; according to the purchasing power Wang Hou mentioned, if placed outside it would be tens of millions per month, earning more than ordinary martial artists.

It's the first time a martial artist wants to learn cooking, and the head chef doesn't put on any airs, merely charging Jiāng Jiāng some lost-work fees according to the rate, which Jiāng Jiāng can still afford.

Then came the aircraft; Chén Chén originally planned to buy one each for himself and Jiāng Jiāng, but Jiāng Jiāng refused outright, so in the end they only bought a single black gtp68.

Dragon Gate has no physical market; all goods can be ordered directly online, and the logistics center will ship them immediately to the property management centers of each district, which can deliver to your door at any time.

Speaking of online shopping, Dragon Gate's internal market can almost buy everything Jiāng Jiāng knows of—from private aerial combat warships down to the scallions needed for a cold salad in the afternoon; whether it's daily life, combat, Secret Manuals, research instruments, or special services, everything can be delivered to your door.

The strangest thing is the price; first, regarding food, according to the purchasing power coefficient Wang Hou mentioned, aside from Dragon Gate's local seafood specialties, the vast majority are several times more expensive than outside vegetable prices.

But thinking about Dragon Gate's location, it's reasonable that these things are a bit pricey.

Moving on to daily necessities, electronic products, and weapons and equipment, things start to become abnormal: on all external market websites, items originally priced at hundreds of billions cost only tens of millions to a hundred million Dragon Gate coins in the Dragon Gate market.

The purchasing power is even more than a few times the hundredfold Wang Hou mentioned; if Wang Hou didn't misspeak, then Dragon Gate's pricing offers an enormous discount.

What surprised Jiāng Jiāng even more was that the Secret Manuals available outside are also clearly priced in Dragon Gate, but the prices are astonishingly low.

I once saw the Secret Manual 'World Annihilation' worth hundreds of billions on the martial arts hall website; in the Dragon Gate market it only costs ten thousand Dragon Gate coins plus 100 contribution points.

Seeing Jiāng Jiāng wandering the market alone for half a day, her expression shifting from contemplation to Σ(っ°Д°;)っ, Chén Chén already knew what she was going to ask and answered first:

"Have you discovered that prices in Dragon Gate are much cheaper?"

Jiāng Jiāng nodded.

"Especially regarding equipment and Secret Manuals？"

Jiāng Jiāng nodded like a pecking chick.

"As they've repeatedly said, this is humanity's most important battlefield; the supplies provided for it are naturally of utmost importance, so market surcharges are not allowed here."

"As for Secret Manuals, this place gathers talents from around the world; these are also key to humanity's final battle against monsters, so naturally there should be some preferential treatment when choosing Secret Manuals。"

"Regarding Secret Manuals, there is such a concept in the World Tree called Open Source……"

Whether the intellectual property rights of Secret Manuals are a good thing or a bad thing, especially now that humanity has entered a life-or-death situation……

"Wait, wait!"

"Chén Chén, what did you just say？"

"What does 'humanity's most important battlefield' mean?! ？"

Jiāng Jiāng suddenly interrupted, having grasped the key point.

"Didn't they introduce this before? A city gathering the world's elites would naturally become a thorn in the monsters' eyes and a spike in their flesh"

"In a sense, as long as Dragon Gate isn't destroyed, humanity's most elite bloodline and most advanced civilization will not disappear"

"In other words, if monsters want to wipe out humanity, they must first deal with Dragon Gate"

"This is also the reason Dragon Gate has constantly been at war"

Jiāng Jiāng seems to have missed the point all along; it should be said that she's been dazzled by the prosperous scene of Dragon Gate's technology.

"But we entered a training camp, didn't we? It shouldn't be a cradle for geniuses, a warm bed for the strong！"

"Of course it is." Chén Chén nodded in reply.

"Also!! ？"

"After all, the War God Training Camp is just a name slapped on from the outside; in fact this place is a genuine war fortress"

……

After that day, Jiāng Jiāng began training beyond human limits and arranging her schedule, because life in Dragon Gate truly lacks any sense of security^