21: Chapter 21 The whole city is watching how you die.

Before the eight light flags were even firmly planted, the betting pool in Qinglan City exploded.

Above Shenmen Plaza, a massive golden odds board slowly unfolded, with eight names arranged from highest to lowest.

At the very top was Ji Mingxiao, with odds so low it was almost like giving away money; Lu Jingyao was ranked second, with several seed teams trailing closely behind.

In the very bottom row, the name was short, but the numbers were an eyesore.

[Lu Jin: 1 to 31]

The crowd fell silent for a moment, followed immediately by laughter.

"A nest of rats has snuck into the top eight. Is the Merchant Alliance afraid they aren't losing money fast enough?"

"If you ask me, 1 to 31 is too high. A live-streamed battle isn't like digging holes and scavenging. In a real head-on fight, what does he have to withstand it?"

"Didn't you watch the surveillance mirror replay? This guy's methods are too devious; corpses, broken flags, dead rats—he dares to throw anything into the fire."

"If the Temple sets its sights on him, he might not even be able to hold his spot in the top eight."

Below the light screen, betting chips fell into the pool like rain.

The most were bet on Ji Mingxiao, and quite a few on Lu Jingyao. Occasionally, someone looking for an upset would toss a couple of chips on other seeds, but when it came to Lu Jin's column, nine times out of ten, they were betting on him to be the first one eliminated.

By the stands of Qinglan No. 3 Middle School, a group of freshmen stared at those odds, their expressions extremely complex.

Some were gnashing their teeth, as if they themselves had been slapped in the face.

Some stared at the two characters "Lu Jin" and couldn't say a word for a long time.

There were also those who sneered to comfort themselves: "Making it into the top eight is already a stroke of luck. With the whole city watching the live stream, can he really just keep digging holes?"

On the higher observation deck of the Merchant Alliance, a youth wearing a light gold robe leaned against the railing, twirling a thin black betting chip in his hand, his eyes smiling.

The old man managing the betting pool lowered his voice: "Young Master Su, truly no one is betting on him. Should we take the opportunity to take a bite?"

The youth flicked the black chip onto the tabletop; it spun once and landed steadily on the bottom row.

"Odds are not battle reports."

"Giving him 1 to 31 only proves that you don't understand the underground."

The old man was stunned: "You favor him?"

The youth smiled, not answering directly, only glancing at the mining field below, which was shrouded in night.

"Others are busy calculating who will win; a person like him only calculates how many layers the soil has, where the wind enters, and where the fire travels."

"If you put six hours in the hands of a popular team, at most they'll replenish troops and restore divine power."

"In Lu Jin's hands, that's called 'preparing the battlefield'."

The night wind swept by, and the golden odds board swayed slightly.

The youth's name occupied only one line in the Merchant Alliance's VIP directory: Young Master Su Jiuheng.

The white light by the North Mining Ridge had not yet dissipated, and Lu Jin had already been transferred into the preparatory area of the live-streamed battle zone.

This place was more open than the sinkhole, like a grey-yellow basin that had been forcibly carved flat.

The three layers of soil on the ground were clearly distinct: the top layer was loose, unstable ash; the middle layer contained broken drainage channels; and only further down was the hardened old mining crust.

In the center of the basin stood an empty altar; the surrounding flag positions had not yet fully manifested, and only vague outlines and several intersecting flag-guiding paths could be seen.

The wind was direct.

The light was abundant.

Three surveillance mirrors hung overhead, their silver-rimmed edges glowing in circles, illuminating the entire preparatory area so that not a single shadow could be hidden.

As soon as Grey Pupil landed, his ears lowered.

"Three mirrors in the sky, twelve fixed light points on the ground."

"Someone wants to expose all the tunnel paths."

Lu Jin crouched down, thrusting his fingers into the soil, rubbing it gently with his fingertips.

The loose ash was soft, the yellow clay was sticky, and the old mining crust was hard.

It could be dug, but not slowly ground away like in the Abandoned Zone.

He looked up at the empty altar, then at the two guiding paths on the left and right and a partially collapsed drainage channel, already having a plan in mind.

"Digging Squad, test the soil."

"Ash layer, clay layer, echo layer—mark them all for me."

"Transport Team, disassemble the main ordnance plaque; separate the cable parts, lamp bones, and wheel axles into piles."

"Ambush Squad, disperse; you are not allowed to run outside, get to know the terrain first."

The rat swarm scattered with a roar.

The Tunneling Rats rushed toward the edge of the drainage channel; as their front claws landed, the ash soil was turned over layer by layer, and they quickly probed the positions of the hard layers and cavities.

The Transport Team surrounded the old main ordnance plaque to dismantle it, pulling out the lamp bones one by one; the chain cable buckles, wheel axle cores, and wooden frames were all sorted and placed within the black stone circle.

A few of the strongest male rats dragged two wheel axles forward to test them; once the bone wheels were installed, they immediately rolled about in a decent manner.

Grey Pupil crouched nearby, watching those two test bone wheels, his claw tips quickly scratching four marks on the ground.

"Ten rats, Trailer Team."

"The ones with the most strength and the thickest backbones go first."

"Pick another twenty with steady forelimbs and unblinking eyes; hang throwing bags on them."

Lu Jin nodded.

This was no longer the rat swarm just grabbing points in the trial.

This was the prototype of a battle nest meant for the camera and the flag positions.

The fire room was also quickly set up.

The Transport Team dragged all the scavenged fire sand bags, moth sac residue powder, pack beast fat, and badger marrow into a shallow pit beside the drainage channel, and Grey Pupil went down to mix them personally.

He first pressed the pack beast fat into a black stone basin, then sifted the fire sand in bit by bit, and finally sprinkled the red powder from the moth sacs.

He used his claw tip to gently pick up the grey fire fungus paste and dripped it into the basin.

With a hiss, a bubble of dark red fire immediately rose in the black stone basin.

Several nearby Ambush Rats instinctively shrank back; Grey Pupil didn't even look up, just coldly threw out a single sentence.

"Stay."

Those rats immediately crouched down.

The awe in their eyes was deeper than yesterday.

Lu Jin could feel the lines of faith quietly changing.

It was not just purely fearing him, nor just purely obeying him.

After seeing the grey fire tide, seeing the Thunder Vultures in the sky, and seeing the city-wide light mirrors, this group of creatures finally began to believe one thing.

Their master wasn't just someone who could lead them to steal a way to survive.

He could truly lead them to slaughter their way into the crowd.

The contents in the fire basin boiled until thick, eventually being scooped by Grey Pupil into fist-sized oil bags, wrapped in a layer of grey fire fungus skin, which wouldn't leak even when dropped on the ground.

He raised a claw and pointed; the twenty selected throwing rats immediately gathered around, letting him tie the fire oil bags one by one onto the bone racks on their backs.

"Don't be in a rush to light them."

Grey Pupil's voice was hoarse, yet as steady as ice.

"First, memorize the weight, memorize the throwing arc, and memorize the wind when it explodes."

"Whoever throws fire back onto their own face, I will slit their throat first."

The throwing rat swarm was deathly silent.

Lu Jin stood to the side, watching those few newly formed bone-wheeled trailers rolling back and forth on the grey ground.

The carts weren't large, but the wheel bones were thick, and the lamp bones removed earlier were stuffed into the wheel axle cores, making them push more steadily than imagined.

Ten Cart-pulling Rats divided into two columns and harnessed themselves with bone ropes; they could actually drag the full crates of fire oil bags and stability potions very quickly.

This was what he lacked most right now.

It wasn't troops; it was rhythm.

Once the burrowing style switched from "grabbing points" to "waging war," the first things that needed to be replenished were transport capacity and firepower.

Grey Pupil finished handling the fire basin and turned to the Breeding Cave.

The White-Bellied Mother Rat was lying beside the crystal core heat slot, her tail curled around a litter of newborn pups.

Those little things were a size sturdier than the initial batch of Gray-tailed Burrowing Rats, their nose tips glowing with a hot red, yet they were strangely quiet while nursing.

As soon as the White-Bellied Mother Rat saw Grey Pupil approaching, she immediately lowered her head, and together with the surrounding mother rats, she yielded the slot position.

Grey Pupil broke the last piece of compressed biscuit, mixed it into the grey fire fungus paste, and pushed it in front of them.

"Feed them full."

"The extra pups, don't put them on the front line; first train them to carry, to drag, to hide."

After he finished speaking, his grey eyes lifted to look at Lu Jin.

"In a real live-streamed battle, you will die faster than now."

Lu Jin walked into the Breeding Cave, bent down, and looked at the litter of new pups.

"Then make the ones who survive more decent."

Grey Pupil didn't speak again.

The light outside, however, was becoming increasingly blinding.

On the three surveillance mirrors, it was unknown when the odds board and the rolling comments from the outside world had been synchronized and projected.

The words swept across the air line by line, like bright, flashing blades.

"Dead Ash Mine, the weakest of the top eight."

"Burrowing style is useless once exposed to light."

"Evil sacrifice to raise rats, they really dare to put this in a live stream?"

"Lu Jingyao drawing him is just free points."

A few lines were even harsher, pressing directly above Lu Jin's preparatory area.

"The whole city watches how you die."

A Cart-pulling Rat was dragging a half-cart of lamp bones past; it looked up, saw that line of text, and the whole rat stiffened for a moment.

Its tail trembled, and it almost overturned the cart.

Lu Jin walked over, steadied the wheel axle with one hand, and lifted the rat with the other, pressing it back onto the ground.

"Watch the road."

The red light in that rat's eyes flashed violently twice, and a low-suppressed whine rolled out of its throat, then it lowered its head to pull the cart again, its pace actually steadier than before.

Grey Pupil looked up at the sky, his voice cold.

"They are scaring the rats."

"And they are also scaring you."

Lu Jin ignored those words, raised his hand, broke a piece of the just-dismantled fire-guiding flag pole into two, and stuck them into the soil on the side of the empty altar.

"They are busy watching how I die."

"Perfect."

"It saves others from seeing what I am doing."

Just as he finished speaking, several light but distinct footsteps came from the outer edge of the preparatory area.

Three figures in black robes stood outside the fixed light line, all with grey-gold emblems on their chests.

The leader was about forty years old, his gaze very indifferent, holding a narrow, thin mirror board in his hand; the board's surface was facing the fire room, Breeding Cave, and Trailer Team on Lu Jin's side, and he was recording something stroke by stroke.

The academy teacher responsible for recording lowered his voice and spoke: "Inspector, during the preparatory period, you are only allowed to watch, not to intervene."

The black-robed person didn't even turn his head.

"I know."

"Just keeping records."

His gaze swept over the black stone fire basin, swept over those fire oil bags wrapped in fungus skin, and finally landed on Grey Pupil, pausing for two breaths.

"Heroic embryo."

"It took shape quite quickly."

The teacher frowned: "The Unified Exam allows the smelting of relic resources; as long as it doesn't touch the Forbidden Sacrifice list, it is not a violation."

The black-robed person closed the mirror board, his tone devoid of emotion.

"I didn't say he was in violation."

"I just want to know if his Sacrificial Fire will bite when the live stream begins."

This sentence was neither loud nor low, just enough to be heard within the preparatory area.

Several Ambush Rats' ears immediately flattened.

Grey Pupil's tail tip tightened, his gaze sweeping over like a blade.

Lu Jin, however, didn't even turn his head.

He walked to the edge of the empty altar and laid out the black stone circle, broken flag cloth, half a lamp bone, and the ruined ordnance plaque pieces one by one.

They were placed very loosely, looking like junk thrown aside casually, but when gathered together, they vaguely formed the outline of a sacrificial site.

Grey Pupil understood at a glance.

"A fake sacrificial point?"

"Do it first."

Lu Jin pressed the last piece of the ordnance plaque into the soil, his voice flat.

"Someone thinks I hide too deeply."

"Then let's show them something they are willing to see."

Fire oil bags were formed row by row in the fire room, and the bone-wheeled trailers increased from two to five.

The Digging Squad gnawed out seven narrow paths under the drainage channel; the shallow ones were used to deceive vision, and the deep ones were used to hide transport lines.

The Transport Team separated the stability potions, fire oil bags, chain cable parts, and earth-binding crystal nails into boxes; which boxes should go to the surface and which should sink to the bottom were all clearly marked by Grey Pupil.

The night color pressed down bit by bit.

Less than two hours remained in the preparatory period.

The rolling comments in the sky were becoming increasingly insane, and even the odds had changed accordingly.

[Lu Jin: 1 to 36]

Someone was betting crazily on him to lose.

Young Master Su Jiuheng's black betting chip sat lonely beneath that string of numbers, as if deliberately going against the whole city.

Lu Jin had no interest in looking at who bet how much.

He only stared at the ground.

The old mining crust under the empty altar was very hard, brittle-hard, and would crack into pieces once subjected to vibration.

Although the drainage channel on the left was shallow, it had an echo layer underneath, suitable for hiding empty paths.

The flat ground on the far right looked stable, but in reality, it buried an old cable trench; as long as the fire was guided correctly, the entire area could be overturned.

He walked through it once, and in his heart, he had already sliced half of the preparatory area into three layers.

Grey Pupil followed right behind him; the more he followed, the deeper the cold light in his eyes became.

"This isn't preparation to guard the flag."

"It is preparation to drag people down and kill them."

Lu Jin stopped his steps, looking at the main flag position in the distance that was still empty.

"Those who guard the flag are all for others to see."

"Only those who seize the flag are qualified to set the rules."

Just as this sentence fell, the three surveillance mirrors overhead suddenly lit up simultaneously.

A prompt sound, sharper than before, tore through the night; the light screens above all preparatory areas stopped simultaneously, and even the rolling comments and odds boards were abruptly cut off.

That cold main voice of the Unified Exam pressed down once again.

"Temporarily added rule."

The entire preparatory area instantly went quiet.

Even the black-robed Inspector outside the surveillance mirrors lifted his head.

Lu Jin slowly straightened up, Grey Pupil's tail tightened silently, and those black stone basins in the fire room that were still boiling seemed to pause for a beat along with it.

The main voice fell word by word.

"To ensure the fairness of the live stream and the transparency of the sacrificial path."

"All participants, within a quarter of an hour before the battle begins—"

"Must publicly project the main altar."