177: Chapter 174 Excitement! Cheers! Collapse!

Inside a medical ship of the Little Life Society.

Wei Xiaoyue sat cross-legged in a corner of the deck, eyes closed, focusing her mind on the individual battle leaderboard.

She stared only at one line of the ranking.

"Rank 4,230,599: Yang Hang (Yanhuang Civilization), Wins: 1500"

Rank 4,230,599.

It had dropped another 600,000 places since yesterday.

Wei Xiaoyue's finger traced the air over that line of ranking, as if caressing something precious.

She had been staring at it for six days.

From the moment Yang Hang's ranking began to slip on the seventeenth day, she had been constantly monitoring the Fate Master's ranking.

Refreshing it every hour, sometimes every half hour, sometimes every ten minutes.

Everyone on the Fate Platform was discussing the glorious victory in the camp battle, the crushing power of the Wall of Despair, and the dominance of the absolute title defense.

She didn't look at those.

In the camp battle, she couldn't tell which one was the Fate Master. But on the individual battle leaderboard, that name—Yang Hang—was her everything.

The first time, the Fate Master spent over an hour fighting 662 matches to reach the top of the leaderboard, but she didn't see it.

The second time, the Fate Master surged from 662 to 1,500 overnight, and she didn't see that either.

She missed both times.

Wei Xiaoyue regretted this for three whole days.

Starting from the eighteenth day, when she learned through the Fate Platform that the screen recording function could unexpectedly record the individual leaderboard, she spent karma points to activate the video recording function, keeping it running twenty-four hours a day.

Even when she slept, the recording kept running.

She wanted to record every second of the Fate Master.

Six days.

1,500 matches.

Not a single number changed.

The discussions on the Fate Platform went from anticipation to anxiety, from anxiety to acceptance, and from acceptance to giving up.

Everyone said the Fate Master wouldn't fight anymore.

Everyone said there wasn't enough time.

Everyone said miracles couldn't happen.

Wei Xiaoyue didn't believe it.

She had seen that person with her own eyes.

On that night of the Magic Sea Beast Tide, the giant mouth of a super-high-tier overlord-level sea beast opened, a foul stench rushing towards her, and her consciousness had begun to blur—then a hand pulled her back from the edge of death.

The owner of that hand was the Fate Master.

Someone who could save a person from the jaws of an overlord-level sea beast, would he care about some ranking? Would he care about whether there was enough time?

He just hadn't moved yet.

Wei Xiaoyue checked the time.

11:31.

Twenty-nine minutes until settlement.

She took a deep breath and continued to stare at that line of ranking.

Footsteps came from the cabin door.

"Xiaoyue?"

A young woman with a ponytail poked her head in, holding a stack of freshly organized medical gauze. It was her colleague from the Little Life Society's medical department, named Zhou Yutong.

"Are you still looking at the Fate Master's ranking?"

Zhou Yutong's tone carried a hint of helplessness.

"Yeah." Wei Xiaoyue didn't even lift her head.

"Forget it, Xiaoyue, the Fate Master must have given up on the individual battle." Zhou Yutong said while stacking the gauze into the storage cabinet, "You'd be better off looking at the top ten of the leaderboard. The President and the others are fiercely competing for rankings. President Shen Qing is currently fifth and has a chance to reach the top three—"

"He will come," Wei Xiaoyue said.

Zhou Yutong sighed. In the past six days, she had heard Wei Xiaoyue say this sentence no less than fifty times.

"Xiaoyue, I know you admire the Fate Master, and I do too. But the reality is—there are only twenty-some minutes left, the Fate Master hasn't made a move, and the Fate Master's match count is over 1,800 behind first place, and it's still increasing. There's no time—"

"The Fate Master will definitely come. As long as it's not the last second, there is still time."

Wei Xiaoyue repeated, her tone calm, staring fixedly at the individual battle leaderboard in her mind.

Zhou Yutong shook her head and stopped trying to persuade her. She turned around to continue organizing supplies, muttering, "She's obsessed..."

11:31:03.

Wei Xiaoyue's pupils dilated suddenly.

The line on the leaderboard for Fate Master Yang Hang, which she had been staring at, became blurred—and then disappeared!

It wasn't a refresh. It wasn't a jump. The entire line of text vanished into thin air.

She had a sudden flash of inspiration and flipped to the very top of the leaderboard, only to see a new line of golden text ranking listed at the very top.

"Rank 1: Yang Hang (Yanhuang Civilization), Wins: 5000"

Wei Xiaoyue's brain went blank for 0.3 seconds.

And then—

"Ah—!!!"

A scream shattered the silence of the entire medical ship.

The gauze in Zhou Yutong's hands scattered all over the floor. She whipped her head around, thinking something had happened.

"Look, look!!!" Wei Xiaoyue sprang up from the floor, her whole body trembling, her finger frantically pointing at the invisible air in front of her, "The leaderboard!!! The Fate Master!!! He's first!!! He's first!!!"

Zhou Yutong frowned: "Xiaoyue, calm down—"

"First!!! 5,000 matches!!!" Wei Xiaoyue's voice cracked, tears shimmering in her eyes, "I told you he would come!!! I told you!!!"

"Xiaoyue." Zhou Yutong put down what she was holding, walked over, reached out to press on Wei Xiaoyue's shoulders, and said in a serious tone, "Wake up. Are you hallucinating because you want to see the Fate Master on the leaderboard too much?"

"It's not a hallucination!!! Look for yourself!!!"

"Impossible," Zhou Yutong shook her head, "I just glanced at the leaderboard, and the Fate Master was still at over 4 million. In just a few seconds, how could he jump from over 4 million to first? Xiaoyue, stop joking—"

"Look!!! Just look and you'll know!"

Wei Xiaoyue lunged forward, grabbing Zhou Yutong's arms with both hands, pulling her back and forth.

"Let go of me—I still have work to do—"

"Just let me see it!!! Just one look!!!"

Zhou Yutong was pulled and stumbled two steps; unable to resist the sudden burst of strength from this usually gentle girl, she had no choice but to helplessly focus her Qi and look at the golden leaderboard hanging in her mind.

Then her movements froze.

"Rank 1: Yang Hang (Yanhuang Civilization), Wins: 5000"

Golden text.

First place.

Yang Hang.

5,000 matches.

Zhou Yutong rubbed her eyes.

The text was still there.

"This..." Her voice suddenly became very soft, "Are you sure it's the Fate Master? Not that Yang Hang with the Little Luck Technique talent?"

"Look!" Wei Xiaoyue rapidly operated her life ring, flipping the leaderboard down, her finger pointing precisely at the third-place position.

"Rank 3: Yang Hang (Yanhuang Civilization), Wins: 3366"

Two Yang Hangs.

One in first place, 5,000 matches.

One in third place, 3,366 matches.

"I have the recording," Wei Xiaoyue's voice was trembling, but every word was articulated clearly, "Twenty-four-hour continuous recording. From 1,500 to 5,000, ranking from over 4 million to first place, it's absolutely real."

The last roll of gauze in Zhou Yutong's hand slipped from her fingers.

It hit the deck and rolled far away.

She opened her mouth, the golden text reflected in her pupils, and she murmured:

"How is this possible... this, this, this... Fate Master... is this a miracle..."

Wei Xiaoyue didn't answer.

She stood there, covering her mouth with both hands, tears sliding down silently.

Not sadness.

It was tears of joy.

Six days.

She had waited six days.

When everyone else was giving up, she didn't.

She always firmly believed that the Fate Master would never let everyone down.

At the same time, the discussion on the Fate Platform's Symphony Realm stalled for that one second.

It wasn't the silence before a boil.

It was the silence of everyone's brains simultaneously showing a blue screen.

And then—

"???????"

"What??????????"

"My eyes are playing tricks on me, right??? I just saw the Fate Master at over 4 millionth place, how did he suddenly jump to first place???"

"No... what is this... how did this..."

"Refreshed it three times. Didn't misread it. Individual battle leaderboard top spot, 5,000 wins, so neat it's terrifying."

After three seconds of dead silence, the comment section exploded at a near-manic speed.

"[Storm Eye (Yanhuang Civilization): I'm never doubting the Fate Master again!!! From today on, I'll fight anyone who questions him!!! [Crazy kowtow.jpg]]"

"[Little Taro (Yanhuang Civilization): Does anyone have a recording? Did it really jump from 1,500 to 5,000 matches directly!!! Is there an intermediate process? Even if there was, it would be impressive, but if there isn't, how is this done? Is it possible the Fate Master is hacking the Sequence Battle, using a number editor?]"

"[Fishing Light Song (Yanhuang Civilization): ...Everyone, let's calm down. Last time it was 838 matches in one night, and everyone was already shocked. This time it's an air-drop into first place from over 4 million in one second, and he's leading the second place by at least 1,500 matches. Without a doubt, with less than thirty minutes left, the outcome of the battle for the top spot is decided; it's the Fate Master. I'm really happy and excited, thinking that the Fate Master being number one is exactly what I wanted, but I still can't help but ask one question—what about the matching? The battles? The process???]"

"[Iron-Faced Ruthless (Yanhuang Civilization): No process. There really is no process. The numbers just jumped. I was staring at the leaderboard the whole time and saw with my own eyes the jump from 4 million to the top spot, with no transition in between.]"

"[Data Fanatic (Yanhuang Civilization): I recorded it. I was thinking of recording the final moments of the leaderboard and happened to capture this scene. I played it back frame by frame—the first place jumped from Hans Weber to the Fate Master. There wasn't even a 0.01-second intermediate value; it really was an air-drop to first place.]"

This post was instantly pinned.

The comment section turned from shock into an atmosphere of near-religious fanaticism.

"A miracle. This is a miracle."

"The Fate Master really doesn't need to fight! Are you kidding me? Can you use a number-editing cheat on the Magic Sea?"

"Don't you understand yet? In the Fate Master's eyes, the Sequence Battle is not a battle at all. Everything before wasn't that he didn't want to fight, it was that he didn't need to. The moment the individual battle leaderboard appeared, the first place was already locked by the Fate Master!"

"Before, when I said 'You call a god a human' as a joke. Now I'm serious—you guys, really shouldn't call a god a human."

Thousands of miles away.

Hans Weber was planning to match his 3,463rd individual battle.

But just as he was about to click the match button, he habitually glanced at the top of the leaderboard.

Then his blue-gray pupils constricted.

"Rank 1: Yang Hang (Yanhuang Civilization), Wins: 5000"

He froze.

His finger stiffened in mid-air.

Arcs of lightning darted from between his fingers, crackling and scorching the edge of the life ring's projected screen.

First confusion, suspecting his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Then, after looking carefully, he screamed.

What's going on with the first place?

It's not him anymore?

He is second place.

Yang Hang?

Is it that Yang Hang with the Little Luck Technique?

How is that possible?

Hans Weber breathed heavily, with an expression of disbelief, and hurried to look down a few times.

No, the Yang Hang in third place is still there!

Then who is this first place?

A thought suddenly emerged in Hans Weber's heart, impossible, but it made him feel terrified.

He flipped down the leaderboard like a madman, trying to find the ranking of the Yang Hang who was previously ranked over 4.2 million.

The result.

None.

None.

Still none.

How is this possible!

How is this possible!

He roared, his face twisted as he rapidly flipped back and forth through the leaderboard.

But the final result was still nothing.

He couldn't help but go crazy, trying to swing his fist to smash the intangible individual battle leaderboard in front of him.

The Silver Grade Houseboat flipped wildly in his frenzy, nearly capsizing several times.

After discovering he was doing useless work.

He stopped with heavy breaths, his lips chapped, subconsciously wanting to click into matching to catch up quickly.

But the next moment, his finger stopped.

He stared at that number for a long time.

5,000 matches.

A difference of over 1,600 matches!

28 minutes.

The gap is too big!

There's simply not enough time!

He slumped onto the floor with a thud, falling into deep despair.

And besides Hans Weber, other top ten powerhouses on the leaderboard, such as Victoria, Zheng Yuanshan, Zhang Haotian, President Shen Qing, Jack, Jackson, and Solomon, also saw Yang Hang, who had air-dropped to the top of the leaderboard with 5,000 wins, at some point after their personal matches ended.

Victoria's first reaction was relief, then she fell into deep thought, shocked by the irrationality of the leaderboard.

The powerhouses of the Yanhuang Civilization, such as Zheng Yuanshan, President Shen Qing, and Zhang Haotian, went from disbelief to relief, and finally to excitement.

Jack, Solomon, and Igor sighed, surprised by the anomaly in the Fate Master Yang Hang's ranking change, and also lamented their own bad luck.

Why must there be a Zhou Yu if there is a Zhuge Liang!

Among them, Jackson, who had been kicked off the Fate Platform by Yang Hang, finished a battle with his dual pistols and saw the leaderboard. From suspicion, disbelief, and shock, he finally realized he might miss out on the top spot, turning into a frenzy, firing wildly over the Magic Sea, stirring up waves that reached the sky.