Chapter 251: I'm Going to Take on Ten!

The Weird Contest, a place unknown.

Deep within the exhibition hall of the Weird Contest, there lies a place of pitch-black darkness.

This makes the host in the gray suit seem as if he has dissolved into the shadows.

And in the depths of that darkness, there stands a peculiar telephone booth.

"How truly interesting, Lord Taurus. Among the contestants known to have self-destructed for points, the highest has already surpassed seventy thousand."

"There are four competition zones remaining in total. The one performing the worst right now is Zone One."

"They have only reached the third round, yet in the second round of eliminations, nearly ninety percent of them have died. Damn it, not a single person in the entire zone noticed the butterflies."

"It is a pity; I estimate that in half an hour, this zone will be completely wiped out..."

The host waits for a reply over the phone.

The person on the other end of the line simply says:

"A shame, but cannon fodder that doesn't use its brain can only be cannon fodder for life."

"Has no one with decent potential for a commander appeared this time? Also, are you certain there is no human interference?"

The host shakes his head and says:

"We have detected humans as well, but they should be nothing to fear; they likely died in the third round."

"The elite species with the highest potential currently should be the Black Liquid in Zone Three, the tree in Zone One, and the giant in Zone Four."

"Its innate ability is comparable to the acquired skills many dream of."

"However, the big tree in Zone One should die. The probability of Zone One being completely wiped out exceeds ninety-seven percent."

The person on the other end of the line just gives a faint "hmm":

"It seems this batch hasn't recruited any good talent. You must be careful; if there are humans in the third round, find a way to eliminate them."

"Those who can survive to the third round might just make it to the final round..."

"The humans who can enter this place were either brought by my younger brother, or... they are from the bunker, which would expose our plan."

The host pats his chest in assurance:

"Great Lord Taurus, please rest assured~ According to the laws of history—humans cannot survive the second round."

……

……

Zone One.

Three red butterflies and one white butterfly land on the statue; Wen Xishu knows very well that this number will not trigger a major catastrophe.

With the confidence provided by the Weird God Card, they can calmly await the results.

The result is that before the fourth-round statue is even lit, the big tree begins to fight with dozens of rare species.

Without a doubt, the massive big tree is huge; its powerful, sturdy vines, combined with the big tree's Strength Enhancement Card and Speed Enhancement Card—this dual guarantee makes it the most powerful existence.

As for the rare species flying in the sky, that aggregate of lobster and bat, although it has many points, its card quality is not very good.

Seeing that the situation is not right, it immediately flies high into the sky.

The situation changes; a giant toad treats this rare species that resisted the big tree's tyranny as a gift to curry favor with the big tree.

This giant toad has very weak attack capabilities against static targets, but against dynamic targets, it possesses near-precognitive abilities!

The ground begins to tremble, and an ultra-long tongue wraps around the lobster-bat; the big tree immediately follows up, its vines whipping toward the sky, finally entangling the rebel as well.

Wen Xishu sighs:

"A bunch of dead weights. Old Zheng, this is what happens when you meet on a narrow path; they didn't lose because the big tree was too strong, but because they lacked courage."

Zheng Zai also sees it; this group of rare species tried to resist the big tree, but when the real fighting started...

Only a third of them actually took action. Over a hundred rare species could naturally take down one elite species that had run out of skills and items.

But as it happens, only a few dozen people took action, while the other several dozen... were hiding.

There is no surprise in the outcome of the battle—the rebels lost.

The big tree also realizes it must divide the rebels, so it splits them into several teams.

They supervise and manage each other. As for the rules of who goes to light the statue, they are still determined by the big tree.

Soon, among the rebels, that aggregate of bat and lobster who had boasted about fighting to the death—the monster that had a higher initial score than the big tree—becomes the sacrificial lamb forced to light the fourth statue.

The fourth statue is a door.

When the statue is lit and the door sheds its rock-gray color...

Including the sacrificial victim who lit the statue, a total of twelve people die.

They are all sucked into the world inside the door; people do not know what is in that world, but without a doubt, the end of that world is death.

Having experienced the sea of death flowers that claimed thousands in the previous round, the fact that only twelve people died this time actually gives the remaining people hope.

The current number of people is down to just over a hundred.

The fifth round, the sixth round, the seventh round...

Insect plague, blood explosion, hellish arms...

Various disasters appear, and the number of survivors is now less than thirty.

The other zones are not having an easy time either, but people in other zones have already touched upon some thresholds.

At this very moment, the big tree also notices those butterflies, but it is too late; certain concepts it holds have already destined it to be unable to find the correct answer.

When over five thousand people are reduced to only thirty in just a few rounds, the big tree panics too.

It has tens of thousands of points, but it cannot take them out.

Interestingly, in the eighth round, which no butterflies occupied, no one died.

The statue for the eighth round is a ball of fire, which originally hinted to everyone that they would be burned to death...

But because the eighth round became the correct answer, this ball of fire became warm and harmless.

Getting close to the fire even allows one to feel the wounds on their body healing.

The number eight. It is actually a correct answer.

Wen Xishu smiles and says:

"They are lucky to live a little longer, but that's all it will be."

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief; they have finally found the first correct answer!

But a single number eight cannot allow the big tree and the others to deduce any results. From this single number, no pattern can be found.

Thus, the big tree can only continue the cruel elimination, arranging for people to light number nine.

Due to the scarcity of people, the big tree can no longer be willful and arrange for nine people to light it.

The atmosphere on the field is one of despair. Faced with ten correct answers, they have only found one.

The statue numbered nine is a guillotine, a fine thing as famous as Louis XVI.

Wen Xishu doesn't even need to think to know the method of death this thing brings—it must be decapitation.

Six red butterflies, three purple butterflies, six blue butterflies. Two white butterflies.

Relatively speaking, it is quite attractive to butterflies.

Wen Xishu says:

"After this round ends, only we will be left. I don't know about other zones, but in our zone, Old Zheng, only you and I will be able to survive to the end."

The statue is lit. Light shines, yet countless lights dim.

Not long after the rock-gray color of the guillotine fades, it reappears.

As the blade falls—countless vines full of vitality soon become lifeless.

Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai, who had been hiding for a long time, finally end their concealment.

When the two appear in the battle again, the vast battlefield contains only the two of them.

The big tree, which possessed nearly fifty thousand points, is already dead.

No matter how close it was to winning, if the points cannot be carried over to the next card-drawing period, it is all vanity.

Zheng Zai is somewhat emotional:

"Little brother... over five thousand people, all dead just like that. And this is only the ninth round."

Wen Xishu says:

"In other zones, it's not impossible that someone noticed the butterfly variable, and it's not certain that the third statue was also a flower."

"So it's just that our zone is relatively unlucky."

At this moment, Wen Xishu doesn't care much about the big tree's fifty thousand points, after all—

He has hundreds of thousands of points in his hands.

Wen Xishu silently steps over the corpses of countless monsters and arrives in front of the number one statue.

That lamp will be lit once again.

Zheng Zai exclaims:

"Little brother, that's the wrong answer!"

Yes, numbers one through eight have all been lit. The results seem to prove that one through eight are all wrong answers.

But Wen Xishu says:

"Old Zheng, let's interpret this sentence now: the strong can command the weak to light the statue, letting the weak become the steps you gaze from, but you will not be higher than these steps, nor will you be lower than these steps."

"What does this mean?"

Zheng Zai shakes his head:

"I... I don't understand."

Wen Xishu says:

"It means you are as tall as these steps. The strong are stronger than the weak; assuming you are the strong, you represent a larger number, then a large number will be greater than a small number, but when facing a step formed by a number weaker than you, you will not be greater than this number, nor will you be smaller than this number."

"This means... you are the same as the number formed by the small number."

"You are equal to the sum of the two preceding numbers."

"So the answer is this: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89."

"In fact, the Great Tree chose to start from one, which was a lucky guess; this round is very simple."

"Between one and eight, there are a full five correct answers."

Zheng Zai began to catch on.

It really was; 1+2 equals 3, 2+3 equals 5, 3+5 equals 8...

He understood; it turned out that the host's sentence was the key to unlocking everything.

You will not stand higher than these steps, nor will you stand lower than these steps. This can only mean that you are the same as them.

But the numbers on the one hundred statues do not repeat.

Zheng Zai suddenly realized:

"So the butterflies... are the variables?"

Wen Xishu said:

"After several rounds of verification, blue butterflies represent addition—however many blue butterflies there are, that is how much you add; purple butterflies represent subtraction—however many purple butterflies there are, that is how much you subtract; red butterflies represent multiplication, and white butterflies represent division. The rule is the same for all."

As Wen Xishu spoke, he shooed away the three red butterflies on the number one statue.

Then, taking advantage of the fact that no other butterflies had flown over yet, he quickly lit up the number one statue.

The light turned on, and the light that had been melting people now changed color, making Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai feel completely refreshed.

Zheng Zai understood; one must drive the butterflies away.

He also understood why the host said that more people might die, or fewer might die.

Because there were also butterflies representing subtraction and division.

It was just that the innate number of purple and white butterflies was lower than that of blue and red ones.

So, in terms of probability, although there existed a situation where the actual number of deaths was less than the number on the statue, such a probability was very low.

Clearly, the people in the first competition zone were unlucky.

Zheng Zai said:

"Brother, if in the ninth round... thirty-two people were to die, what would you do?"

Only thirty people died in the ninth round; it was a bit of a coincidence, but whether it was a coincidence or not no longer mattered.

Wen Xishu said:

"I would kill them all before they could light the lamps."

Thinking of that terrifying Great Tree, Zheng Zai still had lingering fears:

"You... can kill that many people?"

After asking this, Zheng Zai felt he was a bit stupid. Why was he questioning the gold content of 530,000?

Subsequently, Wen Xishu lit up the second statue, the third statue, the fifth statue, the thirteenth statue...

When the final number eighty-nine statue was lit—

Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai heard a sound of surprise.

The surrounding scene began to change, which meant that Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai had advanced.

Meanwhile, far away in the observation area, the host of the Weird Competition wore a look of shock:

"How is this possible!"

"I just reported to my lord... that no human could survive to the third round of the competition, that Zone One would be wiped out, so how did it suddenly... suddenly become like this?"

Zone One was not wiped out, and two humans had survived to the third round of the competition.

The host was deeply shocked.

The first competition zone, which was said to be the first to be wiped out, had now become the first to clear the stage.

And the survivors after clearing the stage were only two humans.

This was truly too abnormal, to the point that it felt it had seen wrong.

"They are not humans! How could humans possibly survive?"

Countless thoughts flashed through its mind.

It certainly would not forget the instructions of my lord Taurus.

"I must arrange that competition in advance! I cannot see these two humans' points! Damn it, I cannot see them!"

"They have God Cards on them!"

A thought that even the host found unbelievable appeared.

Yes, being unable to detect their aura before, and being unable to view the other party's information after...

This meant that these two people were protected by special rules.

The source of these special rules could only be cards. And only God Cards could shield the host's investigation.

Hell, two humans... humans without any sequences, items, or even attributes, able to survive in an environment full of monsters?

And they could draw God Cards?

This is the Weird Competition, not a sci-fi competition!

"Must! Must arrange that competition! I must also induce them; I must let people from other competition zones eliminate them! No problem, no problem!"

Although it was unfair, in the Weird Competition, everything could be blamed on the weirdness.

At this moment, the host firmly believed it had a way to change the situation; after all, they were just two humans.

"They are just humans; having God Cards is just luck. Can they be covered in God Cards?"

Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai had already arrived at the lounge.

The two checked; for winning the first round, Zheng Zai only got two hundred points, while Wen Xishu got two hundred and ten points.

But by the second round, Zheng Zai and Wen Xishu both got one thousand two hundred points.

For Wen Xishu, this was roughly equivalent to nothing, but for Zheng Zai, this was truly getting rich.

At the same time, Wen Xishu discovered that after passing the second round of the elimination tournament, another card slot had appeared.

This was good; he could draw a new God Card again.

However, the competitions in other zones had not yet ended, which also resulted in... no other contestants being visible in the entire lounge.

Wen Xishu and the others could only choose to wait.

"Congratulations to you both. Wow, these are truly rare faces; you know, it is not easy for humans to receive an invitation in the first place."

"You both not only received an invitation but also successfully passed two challenges with extremely high elimination rates. I am very impressed."

"Next, I will tell you both about the next round's challenge."

Giving information in advance? Wen Xishu did not think the host was that kind, but listening was no harm.

"Much obliged," Wen Xishu said.

The host said:

"Next, you both will participate in an asymmetric elimination tournament. Hehe, this is a very interesting competition. Simply put, a very small number of lucky ones are responsible for playing the Demon King."

"The rest will play the Brave Ones. The Brave Ones have different skills; if they combine together and cooperate well, they can defeat the Demon King."

"But if they do not cooperate well, the person playing the Demon King will win, and you all will be eliminated."

Wen Xishu said:

"How is the identity of the Demon King and the Brave Ones decided?"

The host said:

"Naturally, I will arrange the draw. The probability of drawing the Demon King is very, very low. If you draw the Demon King, winning will not yield extra points, but if you draw a Brave One and defeat the Demon King, there will be unimaginable points to challenge the final ultimate level."

Generally speaking, as long as a Demon King does not make a mistake, they can take on hundreds of Brave Ones.

And thirty Brave Ones must make absolutely no mistakes... and cooperate tacitly, to possibly defeat one Demon King.

The host had already decided to pull some strings and add one extra Demon King.

In this way, the two humans acting as Brave Ones—would surely die.

Wen Xishu, however, seemed to have guessed something:

"In other words, the number of Demon Kings and Brave Ones is determined by probability?"

The host nodded:

"Yes."

Wen Xishu became interested:

"Generally speaking, is it dozens of Brave Ones defeating one Demon King to get excess points?"

Seeing that Wen Xishu did not suspect anything, the host was very happy:

"Of course. You must cooperate tacitly. I believe the status of you two humans is enough to act as the brains of the team; I presume you two will certainly be able to make the team cooperate tacitly and eventually achieve victory."

The host, of course, would not let Wen Xishu get the Demon King role. It could indeed manipulate the number of Demon Kings and Brave Ones to a certain extent, creating a dead end where the Brave Ones could not possibly clear the stage.

But the sentence Wen Xishu said next made the host suddenly a bit confused, suspecting that this human had something wrong with his brain.

"Then is there a way to participate in hell difficulty... and let two Brave Ones challenge dozens of Demon Kings? To get more points?"

Host: Huh?

(End of chapter)