53: Chapter 53 Choices in a Pig Butchering Scam

[Event Rules: Time limit of three days (72 hours).]

[Acquisition Method: Hunt exotic beasts to earn points.]

[Points for ordinary exotic beasts: Small 2 points, medium 5 points, large 50 points.]

[Point Multiplier Bonus: Hunting Pale Species in the Lost Lands earns double points: small 4 points, medium 10 points, large 100 points!]

[Reward Mechanism: The top 15 in the points ranking will receive rewards including equipment, supplies, purification potion, and even national fortune feedback.]

[Penalty Mechanism: All surviving Challengers must obtain a minimum of 20 points. Those who fail to meet the quota will face mandatory punishment.]

[Note: During the special event, the activity level of exotic beasts and Pale Species will increase significantly at night.]

[Scarlet Hunt, now begins!]

[71:59:58]

Red numbers appeared in the top right corner of the light screen, ticking down second by second.

On Blue Star, global livestreams were in an uproar.

This event was equivalent to holding a knife to everyone's throat.

Want to keep hiding in a cave and playing it safe?

Keep dreaming!

USA exclusive livestream.

Scott, covered in blood, was standing on a ruined street.

Under his feet was a Pale Species whose skull he had just crushed.

Hearing the broadcast, he grinned and stuck out his tongue to lick the black blood off his face.

"Hahaha! Come on! All of you, come out!"

He kicked the corpse away, gripping a steel bar as he walked deeper into the ruins.

[USA: God! This competition format is tailor-made for us!]

[USA: The top spot is definitely America's! He's already killing like crazy in the Lost Lands!]

[USA: Double points! We've got this in the bag!]

It wasn't just the USA; Russia, Japan, United Kingdom...

As long as their Challenger was in the "Lost Lands," the viewers were all as excited as if they'd been injected with adrenaline.

[Russia: Ura! Big Ivan! Tear all those monsters apart!]

[Japan: The samurai sword of the Yamato warrior is already thirsting for blood! Banzai!]

The bloody internal competition officially began.

In the Great Xia Live Stream, the atmosphere was mixed with joy and worry.

[It's over, this competition format is extremely unfriendly to campers!]

[This lousy rule is forcing people to risk their lives! Contestants who are good at infrastructure and farming are at such a disadvantage!]

[Brother Eye finally managed to build a shelter, is he going to give up his advantage to go head-to-head?]

[What are you afraid of! Brother Eye is a badass who just solo-killed a Mountain Beast!]

[There's no way back, we have to kill! Brother Eye, we're counting on you!]

Disaster Prevention Administration, Command Center.

Zhou Jianping frowned:

"Director Wei Tiejun, the situation is not good."

"We only have Soldier King Xu Haifeng in the ruins; Lin Ye and everyone else are in the wilderness and jungle areas."

"In other words, except for Soldier King Xu Haifeng, no one can currently benefit from the double points."

Director Wei Tiejun did not reply.

His gaze was fixed firmly on four words on the screen.

"purification potion..."

Beside him, Lu Chen pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Director Wei Tiejun, this potion... if nothing goes wrong, it is the key item to restore the 'Spirit Grid'!"

Once these words were spoken, the command center fell silent.

Everyone knew that the Challengers were isolated and helpless in the Void Sea, with no way to communicate.

Whether they could obtain the rewards depended entirely on themselves.

...

Waterfall Cave.

Lin Ye stood by the fire pit, the firelight shining on his face.

He was not carried away by the rewards.

"Heh, what a brilliant open scheme."

Looking at the rules on the light screen, he was very clear in his heart.

Double points for killing Pale Species?

This was clearly using high returns as bait to drive everyone into the "Lost Lands"!

Not only did he have to fight the Pale Species, but he also had to compete with Challengers from other countries.

Under high-intensity fighting, injuries were inevitable.

To survive, one would have to passively, or even actively, absorb pollution in exchange for power.

"This damn supreme will wants to accelerate pollution assimilation and force a wave of ripening."

However, so what if he saw through it? Could he not go?

No.

On the light screen in his right eye's field of vision.

[Spirit Grid: 99.99%]

Even if it only dropped a tiny bit, it was an irreversible erosion.

"That 'purification potion' in the rewards is most likely related to the Spirit Grid."

Lin Ye clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

"This pig-butchering scam—even knowing it's a trap, I have to grit my teeth and jump into it."

Get the 20-point minimum?

That wasn't his style.

Since he was going to play, he would go to the top of the leaderboard and get the highest tier of rewards!

He wanted both the purification potion and the national fortune feedback!

Lin Ye immediately took action.

He walked to the corner and cut the mutton he had smoked yesterday into two-finger-wide strips.

He wrapped them tightly in two large bundles with thick broad leaves and stuffed them into his backpack as combat rations.

Then, he filled his thermos with water.

He quickly checked his equipment.

The fire axe was hung on the outside of his backpack.

The dagger was sheathed and tied to the outside of his thigh.

Before leaving, he readjusted the angle of the three sets of spike barricades, wedging them firmly inside the water curtain.

Even if he wasn't there, any thief who wanted to enter the cave would have to leave a pool of blood behind first.

Prepared, Lin Ye stood at the entrance of the cave, listening to the sound of the waterfall outside.

He raised his right arm and aimed.

"Bang!"

The Wind-Chasing Claw fired, the grappling hook biting into a protruding rock on the cliff wall to the left of the cave.

He pressed the switch, and the cable retracted!

Lin Ye swung out of the waterfall, braving the spray, and landed steadily on a moss-covered rock.

He hooked his left hand into a rock crevice.

The grappling hook retracted, and he looked up at the source of the waterfall tens of meters above.

He raised his hand, aimed again, and fired!

"Click!"

The hook bit into a giant rock at the top of the waterfall.

Using his hands and feet, combined with the pulling force of the grappling hook, Lin Ye climbed rapidly up the slippery cliff wall.

"Killing those two-point and five-point mobs outside, I won't get into the top 15 even if I work myself to death."

"If I'm going to play, I'll go straight for the Pale Species!"

His target was not the exotic beasts wandering in the wilderness or jungle, but the Lost Lands deeper within the Floating Island!

A few minutes later.

Lin Ye grabbed the rock at the top of the waterfall with one hand.

Using his core strength, he vaulted up.

He wiped the water vapor off his face.

What met his eyes was a primeval forest far larger in scale than the periphery below.

Deep in the forest, rugged mountains rose and fell, with everything above the mountainside submerged in clouds and mist.

Eye of Destiny, activate!

In just a fleeting scan, within that area shrouded in clouds and mist in the distance,

the densely packed red halos almost stung his optic nerves.

Without hesitation, he closed his left eye, cutting off the mental drain.

"Hiss... with this scale, there must be big prizes."

Lin Ye drew his fire axe backhanded and, following the upstream of the creek, stepped into the forest ahead.

Meanwhile.

At the edge of the light screens of all Challengers globally, a semi-transparent leaderboard quietly appeared.

[No.1: Scott (USA) — Points: 54]

[No.2: Ivan (Russia) — Points: 12]

[No.3: Soldier King Xu Haifeng (Great Xia) — Points: 8]

[No.4: Kobiyangyang (Japan) — Points: 4]

...

Relying on the inherent advantage of being in the Lost Lands, plus his deeply enhanced physique, Scott led with a landslide score.

The carnival of the hunt had only just begun.