Chapter 122: Opportunity Strikes Forcefully

The Armed Vehicle Innovation Contest ended on its third day after the update went live.

The competition required participants to assemble vehicles using no more than ten thousand sacrificial power, and during the event, each entry’s simulation test parameters were displayed on the forum.

Evaluation scores were calculated across multiple dimensions, with weights assigned to multi-terrain performance, cost-effectiveness, and forum player likes.

The top ten players would directly receive the simulated armed vehicle assemblies.

Among them, the top three players’ innovative entries received a landslide lead in forum likes.

The first-place winner was the player “DrawSwordSlashLove,” who assembled the Divine Traveling Sword.

He named the vehicle template “Cloud-Hidden Azure Dragon.”

Aesthetically, the blade’s surface was painted with intricate spirit patterns depicting a complex cloud-dragon totem—the dragon’s head raised proudly, its tail coiled gracefully, lifelike as if ready to burst into the sky and soar through the nine heavens; embedded within the cloud-dragon motif were cleverly placed slots for installing spirit stones to extend range, while the broad hilt housed an energy core, surrounded by fine silver spirit patterns that formed the shape of a blooming hellflower.

This assembly was essentially a simplified version of sword-flight, allowing players to ride the blade across the skies.

But the drawbacks were obvious.

First, due to incomplete configuration, flight endurance lasted only thirty minutes, requiring additional energy from spirit stones purchased in the mall.

Second, control was problematic: as a foot-mounted ride, there was a risk of falling off the vehicle.

Maintaining one’s center of gravity became especially critical.

The player who released the sword template stated that he originally intended to install two foot restraints on the blade, but doing so severely compromised the sword’s aesthetics and consumed extra weapon modules, so he ultimately abandoned the idea and retained the pure sword form.

Despite its flaws, the Cloud-Hidden Azure Dragon earned massive player likes due to its blazing speed and stylish design, ultimately securing first place in the overall score and becoming the champion of this innovation contest.

The second-place winner was the player “IWalkWithWind,” who assembled a unicycle motorcycle.

The rider’s seat was positioned at the center of the wheel, equipped with multiple auto-balance systems capable of adapting to complex terrains; its greatest advantage was drastically reducing weapon module consumption.

The entire structure consisted of an inner ring and an outer ring—the inner ring for riding, the outer ring rotating to propel the unicycle forward.

When Qi Sheng saw this design, his first thought was of a unicycle motorcycle from a movie he’d watched before crossing over: *Men in Black*.

The third-place winner was the player “GameModder,” who assembled powered boots.

This vehicle’s weapon Cultivation Mode could be said to be nonexistent—or rather, the vehicle Cultivation Mode *was* the weapon Cultivation Mode; the vehicle simply took the form of a pair of shoes.

It provided wearers with enhanced mobility efficiency.

The core design feature was energy jet nozzles on the soles for propulsion, enabling players to launch forward with a spring-like start during jumps or sprints.

Its compact size allowed for more configuration options, using only mid-tier weapon modules, granting higher regional armor values than the top two entries.

But the drawback was clear: the armor protection offered by the boots was ineffective in combat.

This was a purely vehicle-oriented, simplified assembly.

Yet lacking armor defense did not mean this armed vehicle offered no combat advantages.

Under mental control, the powered boots allowed players to manually activate or deactivate propulsion, significantly boosting movement efficiency in battle.

If used by a magic-user, they could rapidly backstep to evade melee attackers.

Their performance in the evaluation videos was exceptional.

All three armed vehicle templates consumed less than ten thousand sacrificial power, surpassing all other imaginative concepts in both comprehensive evaluation and forum likes, earning them the top three prizes in this innovation contest.

After the top ten were announced, Qi Sheng spent a total of 98,320 sacrificial power on rewards.

After the event ended, player discussion about armed vehicles on the forum showed no signs of slowing.

New vehicle designs continued to emerge.

For instance, many players with friend groups, considering the high price of individual vehicles and their usual group activities, pooled resources to build one vehicle capable of carrying multiple riders.

This gave rise to numerous wildly imaginative vehicle models.

For example, a low-spec “Dragon Truck” based on the Black Armor Snake mount, equipped with twelve powered wheels and multiple carriages, could carry eighty players at once—overloading posed no issue since the Monster World had no overload limits; thus, the Dragon Truck featured additional suspended seats, creating a hilariously crowded scene as a full load of players rolled along.

The sole drawback was its weak defense—it could not charge through battlefields like the Black Armor Snake mount, and external attacks easily caused structural collapse, resulting in vehicle destruction and rider ejection.

Or a steel truck designed around defense as the core metric.

This design was specifically for Stone Statue users: the truck’s front was fitted entirely with mid-tier weapon modules, intended to carry a full load of Stone Golem players into dense enemy zones to assist in frontal charges.

Many other interesting multi-rider mounts existed.

But all such designs consumed over ten thousand sacrificial power; even if highly practical, they were ineligible for this innovation contest’s evaluation.

…

Ghost Shadow Sea.

Unlike the environment of Azure Star Sea, this sea was perpetually shrouded in a thick layer of fog.

When night fell, countless ghostly flames resembling phantoms drifted across the surface, and occasionally, ethereal, mournful wails echoed above the sea—hence its name, Ghost Shadow Sea.

At the sea’s center lay a massive island—the location of the Death Arena.

One could see aircraft continuously piercing the energy barrier surrounding the island and entering.

One such aircraft docked at a corner of the island, and as it landed, numerous metal crates were sequentially ejected from its belly hatch.

Steam rose as the hatch slowly opened.

Thirty-eight captured warriors stepped onto the stage.

Before them stood a burly barbarian slave, wielding chains.

He scanned the captured alien warriors with cold eyes, ignoring their expressions of despair, and began explaining the arena’s rules.

After concluding the rules and requirements, the God-Slave added:

“As the weak, to come here and gain the chance to please the God is your honor.”

Just as the God-Slave turned to lead this group to the First Layer’s Giant Snake Arena, one of the captured aliens stepped forward:

“Wait—I have urgent information to report.”

All eyes turned to the speaking alien warrior—he was the Black Wind Tribe warrior, Hei Ying.

The God-Slave turned to Hei Ying, his cold eyes flickering with menace:

“Speak.”

“I have intelligence: I know the dwelling place of a tribe that possesses a wide array of extraordinary abilities—perfect for capture and forced participation in death duels to please the God.”

Upon hearing this, the God-Slave’s Iron Face twisted into a cruel grin:

“So this tribe has wronged you—you seek to use the Arena’s power to curb their growth.”

“To you, it doesn’t matter. You only want elite warriors—that’s the key,” Hei Ying replied, his expression unchanged despite his certain death.

“Good. I’ll give you a chance. Speak.”

“At the southern end of the Ghost Shadow Sea, beyond Azure Star Sea, lies the Colorful Mist Coast—a region connected to the mainland, home to a tribe with exceptionally unique abilities…”

After listening to Hei Ying’s report, the God-Slave nodded:

“I’ll relay your intelligence to the Hunters. They’ll investigate. If your claims hold true, it will become a priority target. But none of this matters to you anymore—your future lies in the Arena.”

Hearing this, Hei Ying took a deep breath:

“I heard that if a warrior wins fifteen times, they earn freedom—is that true?”

The God-Slave nodded:

“Win fifteen battles, and you earn ten years of freedom. Then the God will take you to a higher-tier Arena to become a high-rank warrior. To gain eternal freedom, there is only one way: become a thirty-win warrior.”

“At that point, you will no longer be a bound combatant—you will be granted the title of Champion Warrior by the God, honored to serve Him.”

“I understand,” Hei Ying murmured, a bitter expression crossing his Iron Face.

He knew how difficult fifteen wins were.

A fifteen-win warrior had once appeared in nearby seas; all Arena legends originated from him.

Yet in recent years, only that one fifteen-win warrior had emerged in the surrounding seas.

He knew his own strength was insufficient to survive the Death Arena—he would most likely fall in one round after another of brutal promotion battles.

He had heard the Arena provided precious resources to accelerate warrior growth, pushing every fighter’s potential to its absolute limit—growth here far surpassed anything possible in the outside world.

But every warrior received this accelerated growth; he was no exception, and the vast majority could never carry their enhanced strength out of the Arena.

In the end, all would perish on the path to promotion, becoming stepping stones for others’ advancement.

“Come with me—begin your first battle to please the God,” the God-Slave said, turning away.

Facing a foe vastly stronger than themselves, the captured alien warriors couldn’t even muster the thought of resistance—they followed silently toward the First Layer’s Giant Snake Arena.

…

Half a day later.

Colorful Mist Coast.

After crushing the Black Wind Tribe, the coastline had returned to its usual bustle.

Some players organized combat squads to hunt in the Crystal Palace node; others captured crabs to sell at night markets; still others fished for spiritual fish along the shore… Each player had their own way of experiencing the game.

At that moment, a player shouted over the regional voice channel:

“Guys, check the map—quick! A hidden quest is rapidly approaching the Colorful Mist Coast!”

Hearing the alert, players immediately opened their maps.

They instantly spotted an Arena aircraft, marked as a hidden quest, hurtling toward the Colorful Mist Coast at high speed.

Sensing opportunity, nearby players rushed toward the shore.

Players in the Colorful Mist Coast newbie village or Emperor Tomb Village space also hurried over, eager to engage the hidden quest and begin their Arena journey.

As one player put it: “The actual Arena duels don’t matter—what matters is pleasing the God.”

Soon, the shore was packed with players.

They stared longingly toward the horizon, waiting for fate to descend, hoping to be chosen as the lucky one.

If any other sea tribe witnessed this scene, they’d find it unbelievable.

In their eyes, the Arena meant despair and death—no one captured ever returned alive.

But for players, death was routine.

Every player has experienced death; if death could bring substantial rewards, they would willingly embrace it.

During the wait, some players had already imagined themselves winning consecutive battles in the arena, reaping abundant sacrificial power.

Finally, a silent flying arena vessel appeared on the horizon.

Seeing this, many players leapt and waved, hoping the arena vessel would notice them.

Some players even purchased signal flares from the Mall to launch, fearing the arena vessel might change course and leave them empty-handed.

As the players waited, the vessel arrived as hoped, growing larger in their sight.

When the vessel docked above the shore, the players cheered excitedly.

The arena hunters inside the vessel, witnessing this, looked utterly bewildered—they clearly couldn’t understand the strange behavior of these beings on the shore.

Before this, wherever the vessel had flown, the marine alien species dwelling on the islands had fled in all directions, terrified of being captured and sent to the arena.

Yet these beings on the shore seemed to eagerly anticipate its arrival.

But the hunter gave no further thought—he only needed to complete the task assigned by the Ancient God: capture warriors.

In an instant, a beam of light shot from the vessel, sweeping over the alien species waiting on the shore.

Immediately, dense red and blue dots appeared on the front-line biological detection radar, their brightness indicating the life strength and mental power of the alien species below.

Seeing the scan data, the hunter frowned.

These beings were generally weak; most failed to meet capture standards, yet a few barely qualified as Chuji warriors.

He then activated the vessel’s energy ropes, precisely wrapping them around the alien species who met the criteria and dragging them into metal containers for imprisonment.

Seeing the vessel begin selecting targets, the players became wildly excited.

One player, as he was yanked upward by the energy rope, turned and flipped the middle finger at those below:

“Hahahaha! Luck finally landed on me—I’m off first!”

Another player, seeing his brother ensnared by the energy rope, reached out and grabbed the rope, trying to ride along and “ascend” with him—only to be instantly blasted away by the rope’s energy surge. As his brother departed with laughter, he cursed loudly:

“You’re really dead, bro. Hope you come back with zero wins—I’ll be waiting here for you!”

One player, while being dragged aloft by the energy rope, turned and struck a pose showcasing his biceps, grinning at his fellow guild members:

“This is what it means to be strong, brothers! Don’t see me off—I’ll go to the arena, fill a few sacks with cash, and return in glory to hand out red envelopes!”

…

The capture process took less than a minute.

Twelve players were taken aboard the arena vessel.

As the vessel departed, the remaining players looked grim, feeling they had missed their chance at fortune.

The voice channel was filled with constant curses:

“Why are only humans being taken? Is this Ancient God race discrimination? Why weren’t any of us from the Gills Tribe or Abyss Fish Tribe picked? I protest! I’m reporting this to the Earth Alliance—it’s unfair!”

“Seeing my brother taken away hurts more than dying. We’re the same Ming Hun rank—he plays melee, I play mage. Why him and not me? The more I think about it, the angrier I get. When I grow strong enough, I’ll smash that arena to pieces!”

“Bro, don’t talk like that—the arena is the holy land for farming rewards, and pleasing the Ancient God is our deepest wish. I firmly defend the Ancient God’s dominance in this sea region and won’t allow anyone—not even the Ancient God—to destroy the arena!”

“Wasted twenty minutes waiting and got nothing. Let’s head back to the Crystal Palace and kill more shrimp and crab soldiers—let’s secure that rule-domain node soon. I can’t wait to see what this rule buff will do!”

…

The hidden quest in the players’ eyes had ended.

This batch of players heading to the Death Arena became the focus of forum attention.

The captured players were also quite clever.

Knowing they could livestream to boost popularity—and possibly earn donations from paying players—they all activated livestream Cultivation Mode.

During this time, the capture vessel made multiple stops across other islands before flying straight through the Dark Moon Domain toward the Ghost Shadow Sea.

Forty-seven minutes later, the vessel docked inside the Death Arena.

The captured players gradually emerged from their metal cages.

Unlike the other alien warriors, who looked terrified and hopeless, the arriving players rubbed their hands together, beaming with excitement.

The Ancient God’s servant, witnessing this, was visibly surprised.

“Interesting.”

He turned to the vessel and said in a deep voice:

“Hunter, what race are these warriors?”

A voice came from the vessel:

“Unknown. I was given intel from No. 4 to capture these lifeforms near the Rainbow Mist Shore.”

“No. 4?!” Hearing this, the Ancient God’s servant nodded, then scanned the players and asked with a mocking tone:

“Aren’t you afraid? Do you know where you are?”

One player immediately shouted back:

“The Death Arena!”

“And do you know what you must do here?”

“Pleasure the Ancient God!” the players answered in unison, their eyes glowing with unrestrained joy and excitement.

The Ancient God’s servant was visibly stunned, then burst into laughter.

“Excellent. You’ve pleased me. Though your blood energy is weak, your fierce determination and awareness surpass those warriors who possess strength but cower from battle. You are more worthy of being called true warriors.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the terrified alien warriors, revealing undisguised contempt.

Then he turned to the vessel still docked nearby:

“Hunter, pay special attention to this race.”

The hunter said nothing, piloting the vessel straight into the sky, preparing for the next round of captures.

(End of Chapter)