164: Chapter 164 The Spectacular Explosion

Only the Dragon Country finished the 'tower climb' ahead of schedule.

Seeing other countries' towers still being lit up layer by layer, Chen Aoyun had nothing to say about the Dragon Country's Raider having a low level and being unable to reach the higher levels.

What frustrated Chen Aoyun wasn't the floor count, but the 'Background Hero'.

"If it weren't for the Foundation Item [Optimal Choice] forcing me to deploy the Background Hero [Ying Si] in advance, I could have swapped for a different Background Hero and borrowed their power to climb at least ten more floors!"

The Background Hero forcibly deployed in the second act was [Ying Si]. As for this gentleman, let alone Chen Aoyun knowing little about him, even if Chen Aoyun were to travel back to the Old Era and browse historical records at will, there probably wouldn't be much information about him in the records.

It is difficult to construct a unique skill for a historical figure with no anecdotes.

Although the duration of a Background Hero's unique skill is limited, changing to a hero other than [Ying Si] would have only allowed Chen Aoyun to climb ten more floors at most, which wouldn't have made much of a difference.

But the problem is, Chen Aoyun feels stifled!

"Optimal Choice? More like Worst Choice!

The hero deployed for me in the first act wasn't suitable, and it's still not suitable in the second act.

If this pattern continues, what about the third act? The fourth? The fifth? ... There are four more acts in total. If the Dragon Country's Background Hero is like a piece of decoration in every act, won't the already disadvantaged Dragon Country be under even more pressure?

How can we clear the subsequent acts?"

To put it bluntly, given the current situation in the second act, the Dragon Country might as well give up voluntarily.

Chen Aoyun could accept giving up one or two of the seven acts, as long as the Dragon Country performed well in the subsequent ones, there would still be a chance for the Dragon Country to take first place in this Game of National Destiny.

But if the Background Hero, a special resource that every country has in each act, is useless for the Dragon Country, then there's no point in even talking about the Dragon Country achieving the highest total score!

Just as Chen Aoyun was grumbling about the so-called 'Optimal Choice,' the Raiders from various countries began to appear in this space one after another.

It was about time, as the average tower climbing height for all countries had reached over four hundred floors!

The first to emerge was Ottoman, with their tower lighting up to floor 412.

Having finished climbing the tower and being transported to this space, Ottoman [Strategist] Adar spotted the four members of the Dragon Country at a glance.

Since there was no one else in this space besides the four from the Dragon Country, Adar was stunned when he saw Chen Aoyun, then he grinned and greeted him warmly,

"Yo, Brother Chen, out so early?"

Chen Aoyun nodded in acknowledgement. This 'enthusiastic brother' had no real malice toward the Dragon Country; the few times they had been enemies were simply due to their positions in the Game of National Destiny.

Fighting was not allowed in this special space, so Adar, sensing this, walked toward Chen Aoyun with a smile.

"It's frustrating. This tower is really hard to climb. I led Ottoman to the three-hundred-something floor and couldn't climb any further.

I just came out. How did you guys in the Dragon Country do?"

While walking and asking enthusiastically, Adar was observing the surrounding environment. When he discovered that the progress of all countries could be seen on a screen floating in the air, the expression on his face became slightly awkward.

The tower marked with the Ottoman flag clearly showed 412 floors, but Adar had just said three-hundred-something floors. This lie had been exposed rather quickly.

The embarrassment on his face flashed by. Adar's skin was unusually thick, especially when he saw that the Dragon Country's tower was only lit up to 273 floors; his smile became even brighter.

It wasn't a mocking smile, but rather the kind of strange, genuine brotherly smile that appears when a poor student in school discovers someone who is doing even worse than themselves,

"Only the top three in the first act get points, and the same goes for the second act.

Even though I got a hero from a Famous Scholar in the first act, I didn't make it into the top three in the end, just soy-saucing the whole act.

I didn't expect the situation to be similar in the second act. Other countries are still climbing, and even the lowest floor count is higher than my Ottoman's 412. If it weren't for your Dragon Country being at the bottom, I would be dying of embarrassment right now.

We're being broadcast live; I can't afford to lose face like that.

Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness you're here, brother!"

Hearing this, Fan Ling's eyebrows twitched. "Are you here to watch the Dragon Country make a fool of itself?"

Adar quickly raised his arms and said with a sincere face,

"How could that be? Your Dragon Country is last, and my Ottoman is second to last. We're both in the same boat; who would mock whom?

If I were to mock anyone, it would be the Dragon Country mocking my Ottoman. At least in the previous act, your Dragon Country was in the top three and had a total score. My Ottoman's total score is currently zero."

Adar really knew how to talk; in a few sentences, Fan Ling's anger was completely cleared, and he even started chatting and laughing with the other man.

As they spoke, Raiders from more countries finished the tower climb and arrived in this space one after another. Soon, when most countries' Raiders had arrived, only three countries remained in the tower:

Russia, USA, and Sakura Country.

Tower climbing is a test of a Raider's absolute combat power.

Chen Aoyun had already experienced the high combat power of the USA and Sakura Country's Raiders in the first act, but what was going on with Russia?

Russia's performance in the first act was average, so why were they so fierce in the second act? Not only were they still climbing, but their height was even higher than that of the USA and Sakura Country?

Adar blurted out, "Russia must have swapped people."

"Swapped people?" Chen Aoyun was shocked; he had never heard of being able to swap people halfway through a Game of National Destiny.

"It's Russia's God-Grade Foundation Item!

Although this act restricts the use of Foundation Items, Russia's Foundation Item was activated before the Game of National Destiny started, so it's not subject to the restrictions.

A God-Grade Foundation Item!

Its biggest feature is that it can be used repeatedly, and it can be activated in advance. You can choose to use it or not after activation. If you use it, there is a cooldown period of ten Games of National Destiny; if you don't use it, you can continue to activate it in the next Game of National Destiny.

Awesome, right?

My Ottoman only has one such God-Grade Foundation Item, and it's a core national secret. Even I, an Ottoman Strategist, don't know what our country's God-Grade Foundation Item is.

Damn it, I really envy powerful countries like Russia for being able to use their God-Grade Foundation Items just like that!"

There was a God-Grade Foundation Item above T0; Chen Aoyun really didn't know about it until Adar mentioned it.

"It's normal that you don't know there are items above T0, as your Dragon Country has been weak for a long time.

Don't take it for granted just because the Game of National Destiny can be broadcast. When it involves some special objects, the broadcast will automatically 'beep' them out.

By the way, have you ever tried watching the Game of National Destiny broadcast on the 'Children's Channel'?

Watching the Game of National Destiny on the Children's Channel is quite interesting. The profanity between Strategists from various countries will be automatically censored, and when the images are too bloody, they will be automatically blurred. It's a completely different experience!"

Adar spoke with great excitement, and while Chen Aoyun was shocked, he also felt that this guy was a bit perverted.

What adult would watch a live broadcast on the Children's Channel for no reason?

At the same time, a question arose in Chen Aoyun's mind:

"The broadcast of the Game of National Destiny originates from the rules.

Was Tang Junlin really that free back then? When planning the beta version of the Game of National Destiny, he had the mind to create a children's channel? In my impression, Tang Junlin didn't have the traits of a saint?"

Adar's next words answered Chen Aoyun's doubts and also caused endless waves in Chen Aoyun's heart!

Adar said,

"The Game of National Destiny has been around for thousands of years. Over these thousands of years, the Game of National Destiny has been influencing the human world, and the human world has also been influencing the Game of National Destiny!

As far as I know, at least five powerful countries have used the Foundation Items in their hands to influence the underlying logic of the Game of National Destiny!

They have even influenced the will of the Game of National Destiny!

The current Game of National Destiny is completely different from when it first appeared thousands of years ago!

And recently, the Game of National Destiny seems to have had new changes!"

Chen Aoyun's internal monologue:

"No wonder, no wonder I always feel that the Game of National Destiny is somewhat incompatible with Tang Junlin's ideals.

If Tang Junlin just wanted to design a beta version of the Star Chess War to let humans come into contact with the power of heroes in advance, based on my understanding of Tang Junlin, he should have also considered human unity.

And regardless of whether the cultural fault and historical loss were Tang Junlin's forced choice or intentional, shouldn't Tang Junlin have guided all humanity to pick up these lost things through the Game of National Destiny when designing the beta version of the Game of National Destiny?

No, none of these things that should be there are there.

The Game of National Destiny does not have much content to guide humanity to unite, let alone pick up lost culture and history.

So that's it, the Game of National Destiny is already different from the one Tang Junlin originally designed!"

Just as Chen Aoyun was thinking about these things, the last three countries still climbing the tower began to finish one after another.

Among the three countries, the first to finish was Sakura Country, with a final height of 499 floors!

Some time later, it was the USA, 555 floors!

Immediately after, it was Russia, which left the tower last. After swapping people, Russia's tower lighting finally stopped at 560 floors, only 5 floors away from the second-place USA!

The [Raider] was changed, but the [Strategist] was not. Russia's [Strategist] was still the same [Strategist] who accepted Chen Aoyun's ancient book fragment in the previous act.

Russia's [Strategist] Toslev nodded to Chen Aoyun after finishing the tower climb and arriving in this space.

Although Adar was being friendly with him now, the only [Strategist] who had sworn not to assist the Japanese anymore was Russia's Toslev.

Chen Aoyun would, of course, respond to the friendly gaze cast by Toslev.

Nodding slightly to him, Chen Aoyun intended to walk over and chat, but at this moment, the second act entered the stage of constructing a wonder!

At the same time, new rules appeared:

[Second Act Rule 3, the creation of a wonder statue, materials are the foundation, but remember, don't overload the wonder]!

What does 'don't overload the wonder' mean?

Chen Aoyun and Adar, both [Strategists], couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Soon Chen Aoyun guessed something.

Almost at the same time, the eyes of Adar beside him also became clear.

Obviously, both of them had guessed one possibility.

Smiling at each other, they were both foxes from Strange Tales; after looking at each other, Adar and Chen Aoyun kept their guesses to themselves, and Chen Aoyun naturally wouldn't be stupid enough to say what he was thinking.

The construction phase of the wonder had begun.

[Strategists] from all countries had to determine their chosen wonder within the specified time.

After determining the specific wonder statue and the magnificent outline of the wonder statue was outlined in the space, it was time to fill in the various 'tower building materials'.

The wonder must be a 'statue' type wonder, but there was no restriction on the content of the statue.

Ottoman [Strategist] Adar was already outlining the silhouette of the wonder [mount nemrut colossus]!

[mount nemrut colossus] consists of giant stone heads of ancient Greek and Persian mythological figures from the Old Era. It was moderately famous in the Old Era, and Chen Aoyun recognized it, but he didn't know the specific mythological prototypes.

On the other side, Chen Aoyun was all too familiar with the wonder silhouettes constructed by the USA and Russia:

The wonder silhouette constructed by the USA was one that Chen Aoyun recognized at a glance—the [statue of liberty] from the Old Era that almost everyone knew!

Looking at Russia, the wonder silhouette outlined by Russia was also a very famous statue from the Old Era—[the motherland calls]!

Chen Aoyun, who had not yet started to outline the wonder silhouette, shifted his gaze and looked at Sakura Country.

The statue outlined by Sakura Country [Strategist] Saku Kenichi was the [benkei colossus].

Chen Aoyun knew a little about the [benkei colossus]. Benkei was a mythological figure with a historical prototype, but Chen Aoyun didn't quite understand why Saku Kenichi would choose to outline the [benkei colossus] when Sakura Country clearly had more famous wonder statues to choose from.

[Second Act Rule 3, the creation of a wonder statue, materials are the foundation, but remember, don't overload the wonder].

Chen Aoyun understood it, and the Japanese Saku Kenichi couldn't have failed to understand it.

If Saku Kenichi also understood it but still outlined it this way, then in Chen Aoyun's view, there were only a few possibilities:

First, because of cultural loss and historical gaps, Saku Kenichi had no choice.

Second, because of cultural loss and historical gaps, Saku Kenichi miscalculated the strength of the [benkei colossus].

Third, Saku Kenichi had a reason that Chen Aoyun couldn't have anticipated.

It wasn't Chen Aoyun just guessing blindly; countries that didn't understand [Second Act Rule 3] would soon pay the price, for example...

The [hercules statue] constructed by the Prussians!

The Prussians' [hercules statue] was overloaded in this way:

When the time to outline the statue ended, after the Prussians successfully outlined the [hercules statue], they began to pour 'tower materials' into the wonder outline in order.

First was the lowest grade [Bronze Grade Construction Material]. After one hundred such 'tower materials' were poured into the [hercules statue], the [hercules statue] was visibly covered with a layer of wonder power.

Then came the injection of [Silver Grade Construction Material].

The [hercules statue] absorbed these 'tower materials' and became more powerful, and the wonder power on the statue became increasingly abundant.

Next was the pouring of [Gold Grade Construction Material] 'tower materials'.

When the Prussian [Strategist] poured one hundred Gold Grade 'tower materials' all at once into the [hercules statue] that had been outlined in advance, the [hercules statue], which had already absorbed [Bronze Grade Construction Material x100] and [Silver Grade Construction Material x100], exploded instantly in front of the Prussian [Strategist]!

It exploded until not even a residue was left!

Until the [hercules statue] exploded, the Prussian [Strategist] still couldn't figure out the reason.

In fact, the reason was in the known [rules]!

For any wonder statue, its strength is determined by the injected 'tower materials'.

But the upper limit of the wonder statue is already determined!

The more world-famous the wonder statue from the Old Era is.

The more civilization weight and human belief the wonder statue carries.

The higher the upper limit will be!

What is the [hercules statue]?

It wasn't famous at all in the Old Era!

The Prussian [Strategist] desperately stuffed 'tower materials' into such a wonder statue; if it didn't explode, that would be a miracle!