341: Chapter 341 Tricking 50,000 players into coming to their deaths?

Several skeletons wearing tattered red vests emerged from the shadows beneath the stands.

They carried three podiums cobbled together from white foam boxes, huffing and puffing as they ran to the poolside.

Numbers were crookedly written on the podiums in red paint.

On the foam box with the number "1" written on it, half a shipping label still remained.

Chen You watched the skeletons moving the foam boxes; their movements were stiff, and a rib or two would fall off from time to time.

One skeleton, in a scramble for the foam box marked "1", directly twisted off its companion's skull.

Referee Aguda kicked the troublemaking skeleton away, picked up the skull, and popped it back on.

"Please don't laugh, sir. The quality of the grassroots staff is a bit low," Referee Aguda explained while rubbing his hands.

Chen You: "..."

Forget it, whatever.

Then, the dilapidated loudspeaker in the corner of the sports center emitted a burst of ear-piercing static.

An extremely desolate and mournful suona version of the "Athlete's March" echoed through the venue.

The music was not only desolate but also laced with faint, ghost-like wailing.

Chen You's mouth twitched twice.

Ao Guang, wrapped in a tattered towel he had found somewhere, held a thermos in both hands and walked shiveringly to the front of the podium.

"What kind of underworld music is this! Even an old man like me can't stand it!" Ao Guang grumbled, taking a sip of hot water from his thermos.

Zhang Shun, on the other hand, was exceptionally excited.

With a single stride, he rushed onto the highest podium marked "1", hands on his hips, waving to the empty stands.

"Thank you for coming, folks! I, the White Streak in the Waves, have taken the top spot today. It is well-deserved!"

The Big Yellow Duck waddled over and stared at the podium for a moment.

Then, it opened its flat beak and, with a "crunch," bit off a corner of the foam box.

"Quack, quack." It chewed twice and spat out a mouthful of white debris.

Referee Aguda raised a hand toward Chen You.

With a dark expression, Chen You stood on the highest podium.

From the end of the tunnel came the harsh sound of wheels scraping against porcelain tiles.

Two skeletons dressed in faded red qipaos pushed out a rusty supermarket shopping cart.

The cart was lined with a red velvet cloth full of holes, upon which sat an object.

This was the award ceremony of the Huangquan Games.

"Sir, the prize has arrived," Referee Aguda approached obsequiously, rubbing his skeletal hands.

Chen You stared at the bulging outline beneath the red cloth.

According to the usual cultivation tropes, beneath this should be a Foundation Building Pill radiating rainbow light, or some kind of natural treasure containing the laws of the Great Dao.

He took a deep breath and reached out to lift the red cloth.

There was no rainbow light.

There were no laws of the Great Dao.

Inside the shopping cart lay a plastic-shelled megaphone.

The edges of the megaphone had some peeling paint, and the handle was wrapped in several layers of yellowed clear tape.

On the side of the megaphone, a line of blurred text was printed: "High prices for old refrigerators, color TVs, and washing machines."

Chen You's hand froze in mid-air.

The scene was dead silent.

Only the sound of the Big Yellow Duck flapping its wings could be heard.

"You call this a clearance token?" Chen You turned his head and looked at Referee Aguda.

Referee Aguda took half a step back, the green fire in his eye sockets flickering unsteadily.

"Sir, let me explain. Although this thing doesn't look like much, it is indeed a quest item recognized by the system."

"I want Foundation Building items," Chen You's voice was flat, without any fluctuation.

"I hatched a duck, drafted teammates, and swam a lap in this broken pool with you all."

"And now you're trying to brush me off with a junk collector's megaphone?"

Zheng.

The yuhuang sword was unsheathed by half an inch, its sword qi instantly shredding the nearby tiles.

With a "thud," Referee Aguda knelt down again, clutching Chen You's calves with both hands.

"Sir! It's really not that I'm withholding your reward! It's just that Huangquan has really been in a slump lately!"

Chen You looked down at the weeping skeleton.

"How exactly is it in a slump?"

"You have no idea. Inflation in the underworld has been too severe these past few years. Hell Money has devalued, and prices have skyrocketed.

"Now, Meng Po Soup has to be diluted with eighty percent tap water just to break even. The toll station at the Bridge of Helplessness just went bankrupt last month, and Ox-Head and Horse-Face have gone to the living world to deliver takeout!"

Referee Aguda was all snot and tears, even though he had neither.

"The Huangquan Treasury has long been empty. Forget heavenly treasures for Foundation Building, we can't even find a single intact coffin nail."

"This megaphone was something King Yama brought back on a whim when he went to the living world for an inspection; it's been at the bottom of a chest ever since."

Listening to this preposterous tale of woe, Chen You's eye corner twitched.

"So, after all that, my Foundation Building quest is stuck?"

"No, no, no! There's a way! There's definitely a way!" Referee Aguda kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead bone thumping against the tiles.

"Sir! Rules are fixed, but ghosts are flexible! Although the item you want is no longer in the warehouse, we can 'manufacture' it on the spot!"

Chen You paused: "Manufacture it? You think you're making pancakes?"

Referee Aguda hurriedly pulled out a crumpled parchment scroll from his robes and offered it to Chen You with both hands.

"This is the blueprint for the Yellow Springs Yin-Gathering Formation."

"As long as there is enough 'Yang energy' as a catalyst, we can forcibly extract Huangquan Essence."

"With Huangquan Essence, I guarantee you will successfully complete your Foundation Building!"

Chen You took the parchment scroll and scanned it.

[Item Name: Damaged Yellow Springs Yin-Gathering Formation Blueprint]

[Quality: Legend]

[Effect: Consumes a large amount of Pure Yang Energy to condense Huangquan Essence.]

[Note: Pure Yang Energy must be provided by living beings.]

[Quantity Required: Extremely High.]

"How much is 'extremely high'?" Chen You asked.

Referee Aguda held up five skeletal fingers and made a gesture.

"Five hundred?"

Referee Aguda shook his head.

"Five thousand?"

Referee Aguda still shook his head and swallowed hard: "Fifty thousand... at the minimum. And they must be living people willing to release their energy."

Zhang Shun sneered from the side: "Bullshit! Where are we going to find fifty thousand living people in this underworld? You're clearly making things difficult for my brother!"

Ao Guang also stroked his beard and sighed: "Fifty thousand living souls... the karma is too great. Young man, this won't be easy."

Chen You did not speak.

He stared at the blueprint, his mind spinning rapidly.

Fifty thousand living people.

In the real world, it would certainly be difficult to manage.

But in the Source Realm, what were living people?

They were players!

Just now, he had "faked his death" at West Gate Plaza, and hundreds of thousands of players had held a funeral for him; that scene was still fresh in his mind.

"Does the formation have to be set up in this swimming pool?" Chen You asked.

"No, no, no, anywhere with a crack to Huangquan will do," Referee Aguda explained quickly.

"For example, the entrance where you came in, by the Moat, would work. Once the formation is activated and Yang energy is poured in, the source energy will flow out continuously."

Chen You rubbed his chin.

That made things easy.

"Give me the Array Disk," he said, reaching out his hand to Referee Aguda.

A system prompt sounded at the right moment.

[Ding! Exclusive Foundation Building quest updated.]

[Quest Objective: Due to the depletion of Huangquan resources, you need to use the power of Adventurers from the living world to gather strength.]

[Please use the quest item 'Huangquan Roarer' to gather at least fifty thousand volunteers and condense Huangquan Essence.]

Chen You looked at the quest panel. "Huangquan Roarer?"

Referee Aguda nodded and pointed to the megaphone in the shopping cart.