183: Trial Rules

“Lord Pan, I observed from the air, you all have recovered quite well! Several surrounding sub-bases have also been built,” Mo Li said with a chuckle as he walked and chatted.

“Yes! Qin Zhong and his team were very capable. I didn’t do anything myself,” Pan Han replied politely.

“You are the Lord; their willingness to work diligently shows your excellent leadership,” Mo Li waved his hand, signaling Pan Han not to be modest.

From the gate to the hall, Mo Li was surprised to see a significant increase in the Dawn Base’s population.

“How many more people have you recruited?”

“Since Z Tower escaped, many nomadic groups and small organizations nearby have joined us. We now have over 3,000 people.”

“Good heavens! Lord Pan, your strength is truly formidable; you can support over 3,000 people?” Mo Li said, quite surprised.

“There’s a sub-base specifically for growing grains and vegetables. Some time ago, we found a batch of nutrient-rich soil, which came in handy. Tonight for dinner, I’ll let you all try our freshly grown vegetables.” Pan Han was quite proud of the Dawn Base’s construction and specifically recommended his own courtyard to Mo Li.

“Oh! Fresh vegetables? These are rare treasures. You can even produce them yourselves?” Mo Li, as an Intermediate Evolver, was usually serious, but he couldn’t help but be curious when he heard about fresh vegetables.

“Hmm! Let’s go, let’s go inside and sit first.”

After everyone arrived in the hall, they took their seats, and Qin Zhong’s second sister and others brought fruits, cigarettes, and drinks for everyone.

After Mo Li was seated, several Twelve Palaces soldierss stood motionless behind him.

Pan Han, seeing this, felt that the Twelve Palaces’ military discipline was strict. Of course, he admired their equipment even more; it clearly looked precious and extraordinary.

“Lord Pan, I see you’ve changed a lot since last time. It seems you are determined to succeed in this Trial!” Mo Li lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

The cigarettes he was given last time had long been given away or smoked by himself; today he could finally enjoy one.

Once a man smokes another’s cigarette, he’s considered half an insider.

“That’s still thanks to Mr. Mo,” Pan Han said politely.

“You see, saying that makes you sound like a stranger.”

The two talked back and forth, chatting about everyday things for a long time, like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in years.

Although Pan Han really wanted to ask about the Trial, he ultimately held back, thinking it wouldn’t be too late to discuss it during dinner.

At this moment, Cheng Xiao came to Pan Han’s side, indicating that dinner was ready.

So Pan Han stood up and invited Mo Li and others to another villa, which had been converted into a dining hall.

The Twelve Palaces soldierss had dinner on the first floor, accompanied by Old Six and others.

Pan Han, Qin Zhong, and Cheng Xiao accompanied Mo Li for a private meal on the second floor.

The dinner Cheng Xiao prepared today could only be described as luxurious.

Fresh pork, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and fresh rice. The entire room was filled with a mouth-watering aroma.

This kind of aroma was simply irresistible to people in the apocalypse!

The true aroma of food!

Mo Li sat at the table, looking at the bowls of food, an unknown liquid dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Can you believe that an Intermediate Evolver was actually brought to tears by craving!

“Mr. Mo, please!” Pan Han gestured for Mo Li to start, as everyone was waiting for him.

Mo Li nodded vigorously, rolled up his sleeves, and started eating directly.

It was truly delicious!

Everyone was very satisfied to see him eating so happily, especially Cheng Xiao, which meant her work was very well done.

“Come, Mr. Mo, have a piece of stewed meat.” Pan Han picked a large piece of fatty, glistening pork belly for Mo Li.

Mo Li was overjoyed to see it and swallowed it in one bite. Grease dripped from the corners of his mouth, instantly turning him into a greasy Intermediate Evolver.

The four of them went back and forth, quickly finishing half the table of dishes and rice.

At this point, Mo Li finally stopped eating, patted his stomach, and chuckled to Pan Han, “Lord Pan, please don’t mind me, I haven’t eaten like this in a long time.”

“Not at all, not at all, this is nothing. If Mr. Mo likes to eat, we can always come and go. I’ll send you a truckload another day,” Pan Han patted his chest, making a guarantee.

“Alright! He who eats from another’s hand is beholden to them. Let’s get down to business,” Mo Li lit a cigarette, looking at Pan Han and the others.

“Mr. Mo is truly a wise man; I haven’t even spoken, and you’ve already seen through me.” Pan Han said this, but thought to himself, ‘You’ve eaten so much, even the King of Heaven would have to talk to me now.’

“Then let’s first talk about the rules of the Billion Trial.”

Upon hearing this, everyone knew the main topic was coming, so they quickly sat up straight, straining their ears to listen.

“The Billion Trial is divided into five stages. Each stage can award a maximum of 20 points, for a total of 100 points. The top 12 scorers will receive an Intermediate Evolution Potion.”

Pan Han recalled that last time Mo Li only mentioned there were 12 spots but didn’t say it would be based on a hundred-point system.

“The first stage, then, is Zombie Siege!” Mo Li continued.

“Our Trial ground is a large city, so we’ll let everyone kill some zombies first, to warm up.”

“This stage is very simple: whoever kills the most zombies within the allotted time wins.”

“Mr. Mo, how is the score calculated for this stage?” Qin Zhong noticed a small issue and quickly asked.

“Qin Laoda, you are indeed sharp. The scoring rule is actually simple. The person who kills the most zombies gets the full 20 points. Everyone else loses 1 point for every 100 fewer zombies they kill,” Mo Li explained.

“Then wouldn’t some people possibly get 0 points?” Pan Han did a quick calculation; assuming someone killed 100,000 zombies and someone else killed 10,000, 20 points wouldn’t be enough to deduct.

“Exactly! Some people have rich combat skills and might pull far ahead of others! So, this stage has a very low danger factor, but there’s a high probability of scores being widely spread out.”

“Understood. Then, what equipment is allowed?” Pan Han continued to ask.

“Equipment will be provided by our Twelve Palaces. However, the method of provision is a bit special!” Mo Li extinguished his cigarette and lit another.

“How is it special?”

“We will drop various weapons and equipment in the Trial area. You can check their locations using a positioning device. Then you just need to go and retrieve them yourselves.”

“Various weapons? Then if there are very powerful weapons, wouldn’t many people fight over them?”

“Hehe! Exactly!” Mo Li suddenly gave a ghostly smile.

“I understand now. This stage seems to have no difficulty, but you are not testing our zombie-killing ability. You want to see us kill each other,” Pan Han said, suddenly enlightened.

“Yes, and no! Because if you don’t want to fight desperately, you can just not participate in the weapon scramble. Find a place to hide, and at most, you’ll get 0 points,” Mo Li knew Pan Han would ask this and easily diffused the situation.

“Good heavens! This stage is well-designed! Who came up with it?” Pan Han genuinely felt the first stage was quite profound and full of variables.

“It wasn’t me, anyway. It was all uniformly designed by ‘above,’” Mo Li once again used the word ‘above’.

Pan Han silently noted it down. He was very curious who this ‘above’ was that Mo Li spoke of.

“Mr. Mo, what about the second stage?” At this moment, Cheng Xiao asked.