76: Chapter 76 Misplaced Battlefield

The red countdown numbers pulsed silently on the official dedicated interfaces of all major human Safe Zones.

Without the clamor of a nationwide broadcast, hundreds of millions of people could only stare at the constantly refreshing global selection tournament leaderboard at the top of the page, their hearts hanging by a thread.

This competition of geniuses, which concerned the future, was monitored throughout by the Federation's dedicated operations team. Only Dungeon maintenance personnel and high-ranking Federation officials could glimpse the actual scenes of the battlefield. Everyone outside was isolated from the battlefield and could only rely on real-time point rankings to judge the movements of the prodigies inside.

Humanity, having survived the Centennial Catastrophe, was now distributed across dozens of giant Safe Zones. Tens of thousands of young Awakened rushed to this unique selection tournament, ultimately to determine the top 100 geniuses.

The moment the last second of the countdown hit zero, tens of thousands of beams of light were scattered across the genius Awakened in the various Safe Zones.

There were no earth-shaking shouts, no parting conversations. Every participating genius had a tense expression, gripping their weapons tightly, ready to face other geniuses head-on.

The power of space instantly enveloped their bodies, and a slight sense of dizziness passed in an instant. The next moment, all the geniuses were separated and scrambled by the Dungeon, scattered irregularly into every corner of the Dislocated Battlefield.

Lin Yan's feet landed firmly on a dry, yellowish-brown wasteland, the gravel underfoot crunching with a faint sound. Looking out, the view was empty and desolate, with fallen dead trees crisscrossing the area. In the distance, one could vaguely see the broken remains of giant buildings—it was a terrain where ruins and wasteland merged.

The air was filled with the unique stench of monsters, mixed with the gritty scent of wind blowing over sand and stone. All around was the sound of the wind whistling past.

The Federation deliberately scattered all Contestants to prevent the phenomenon of grouping up at the start and joining forces to farm points, testing every Awakened's individual combat ability from the root.

Partners from the same district and opponents scouted in advance were miles apart from the moment they landed. The entire massive spliced battlefield was like a Go board, completely separating the Awakened into different battlefields; there was no possibility of gathering together at the start.

Just as all the Contestants landed, a cold, mechanical, global notification sounded simultaneously in every Awakened's mind.

[Welcome to the special Dungeon — Dislocated Battlefield.]

[Dungeon Type: Survival Points]

[Points Rules: 1. Obtaining Points: (1) Basic Survival Points: Receive a fixed 600 points per hour (settled daily). (2) Monster Kill Points: Consistent with the experience gained from killing monsters. For consecutive kills (interval between two kills ≤ 5 seconds), each additional monster killed grants an extra +5 points, with a combo limit of 50 layers. (3) Player Combat Points: Defeating a Contestant: +1500 points, receive 10% of the defeated Contestant's accumulated points. Furthermore, each Contestant starts with 500 bounty points; upon being defeated, all of their bounty points are transferred to the killer. For every 1000 total personal points accumulated, bounty points increase by an additional +50. (4) Resource Exploration Points: Normal Resource Point: +1000 points upon successful opening. Elite Resource Point: +5000 points upon successful opening. BOSS Resource Point: +100000 points upon successful opening.]

[2. Point Deduction Rules: (1) Teaming Up Timeout: If two people team up for more than 30 minutes, 1% of total points are deducted for every minute over. Over 60 minutes, all-attribute penalties are added. Over 100 minutes, continuous health deduction per minute occurs. As the number of people teaming up increases, the time limit decreases and penalties increase. For every two additional people teaming up, the time limit is reduced by ten minutes. (2) Deliberate Avoidance of Combat: If no targets are killed or resources explored for 3 consecutive hours, 1000 points are deducted every hour.]

[Dungeon Tips: 1. The Dungeon is a massive, spliced, mixed battlefield, randomly fusing diverse terrains such as wastelands, ruins, canyons, swamps, floating platforms, underground caves, and volcanic lava. Every 2 hours, the global terrain is randomly reorganized and refreshed; roads, cover, resource points, and monster spawn points are all reset. There are no fixed routes and no permanent Safe Zones. 2. Every 2 hours, 1 mandatory battlefield rule is refreshed for different Dungeon battlefields, with each rule lasting 4 hours. New and old rules can stack; a maximum of 2 battlefield rules can exist simultaneously. Rules are not announced in advance and apply uniformly to all Contestants and monsters on the battlefield. 3. Monsters are refreshed simultaneously with terrain reorganization and rule refreshing. Monster levels range from 1-30, with no fixed spawn areas. Monsters are also affected by all dynamic battlefield rules, and their overall strength gradually increases as the Dungeon progresses. 4. Environmental damage such as swamp corrosion, high-altitude wind blades, cave miasma, and extreme heat is in effect throughout. Each terrain reorganization triggers a global shockwave, dealing fixed true damage to all units on the field, which increases as the Dungeon progresses. 5. Resource points produce temporary potions, one-time skill scrolls, and short-term attribute boost items. All temporary items are only effective within the Dungeon and are automatically cleared upon leaving. 6. Once defeated by a monster or Contestant, you will be taken out of the Dungeon by your protective gear and directly eliminated. There is no resurrection mechanism, and point accumulation ceases for eliminated participants. 7. Tie-breaking rules: After the 7-day Dungeon ends, if multiple Contestants have the same total points, they will be ranked according to the following priority: First priority: Total player combat kills; Second priority: Number of high-level BOSS kills; Third priority: Total survival time; Fourth priority: Percentage of remaining HP at the moment the Dungeon ends.]

The translucent rule screen hovered in front of everyone, the dense items making one's eyes dizzy.

All over the battlefield, many geniuses who had just landed subconsciously rubbed their eyes, their faces full of shock.

They had ventured through one-star, two-star, and even high-star random Dungeons, but they had never seen a Dungeon with such complex rules and such strict restrictions.

Dynamically changing terrain, unexpected mandatory battlefield rules, pervasive environmental damage, combined with strict teaming-up point deductions and anti-avoidance penalties, not to mention the clearly graded point and bounty systems.

This meant that there was no room for opportunism on this battlefield. Those who only wanted to rely on waiting to get basic points would have points continuously deducted for long-term avoidance of combat; those who tried to find partners to team up would also be punished by the rules.

To stay at the forefront, one must take the initiative, hunt monsters, fight for resources, and face opponents, exchanging strength for points.

After landing, Lin Yan stretched his limbs. The full dark gray tyrant set fit his body perfectly, nearly three hundred thousand health points surged within him, and his physical strength had long surpassed all other Contestants of the same level.

Just as he was preparing to study the Dungeon rules and tips, two more notifications popped up.

[The battlefield terrain in this area is: Wasteland Gale — This area has strong gales. Being hit by the gale causes magical damage equal to 5% of the target's maximum health.]

[Current battlefield rule: Mana Exhaustion — Mana and ability-type skill consumption is doubled; all characters on the field have a fixed amount of mana deducted every second, lasting for 4 hours.]

On this part of the battlefield, Awakened who were good at spell attacks kept cursing. "How can I be so unlucky? How am I supposed to fight without mana? Let's just hide for four hours first, or go to another battlefield."

Lin Yan didn't care; for him, this was actually an advantage. Most of his skills were either passive skills or consumed health or stamina.

Throughout the battlefield, the roars of monsters rang out one after another, and scattered sounds of battle rose and fell. Some people encountered high-level monsters as soon as they landed, hastily drawing their swords to meet the enemy; some moved forward cautiously, sorting out the rules while remaining vigilant against unknown dangers all around; others with keen perception immediately headed towards the direction of suspected resource points in the distance.

Far away in the Federation's operations command centers in various Safe Zones, giant holographic screens were divided into countless frames, completely recording every movement of the Dislocated Battlefield.

Staff wearing standard uniforms ran back and forth, as the system tracked real-time points, monster distribution, and Contestant elimination data for the entire field.

The public outside could not see the scenes inside the arena and could only stare at the global leaderboard constantly jumping at the top of the page. Rows of names and points were updated in real time, and every change in ranking tugged at the heartstrings of countless people.