The moment Qi Xu hit the ground, he used a high-level healing card on himself. The pain in his body subsided considerably, and as he stood up, he was so furious he desperately wanted to curse.
But when he looked back, there was no one there. The three surviving members from Zone 01, District 03 were caught in the explosion, blasted to pieces until not even bone fragments remained.
Qi Xu immediately began to berate, "What is the meaning of this? Using the Cross-District Arena Challenge to settle a personal grudge because you resent me for legitimately exercising my right to report and exposing your misconduct? It was agreed that no items were allowed in the arena—so tell me, how did that head explode?"
It took Qiuqiu a really long time to reply, its voice trembling slightly. One could sense it was furious to the extreme. All for nothing. All that preparation, all gone... Apart from three useless members dying, District 666 suffered almost no losses.
【You misunderstand. Player 'I Haven't Been a Boss for Years' is an ability user. His ability is passively triggered.
When his health points reach zero and the condition for complete death is met, one second after the cessation of bioelectrical signal transmission, a quantum-level energy collapse procedure is initiated in the cranial region.
This process instantly restructures the quarks within a 10^-27 cubic meter space inside the brain, triggering a directional explosive effect equivalent to 100 kilograms of C4. The energy release follows the mass-energy equivalence formula E=mC², forming an overpressure shockwave and a high-velocity fragmentation kill zone within a 20-meter radius centered on the cranial cavity. Understood?】
Qi Xu stretched his aching back slightly, utterly speechless.
This Qiuqiu was truly an incredibly petty and disgusting entity, willing to sacrifice an ability user from its own district just to successfully take out one random person from District 666—a classic case of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
Qi Xu let out a cold laugh. "Your mindset is truly pathetic. What exactly are you trying to achieve?"
Perhaps having been rebutted too many times tonight, Qiuqiu also erupted.
【What do you know? To select the true chosen ones, one must be ruthless! If you are always unwilling to give up anyone by your side, if you cannot learn to make appropriate sacrifices and choose the correct path, you will ultimately lead your team to ruin again and again!
One day you will understand that what I say is the most correct! I am doing this for our entire China server to achieve final victory!】
Qi Xu laughed arrogantly twice. "You really think you're something special? 'Sacrifice' is the excuse of the weak; 'protection' is the destiny of the strong. When I lead everyone back in triumph, reach the end of this highway, and completely sever the cycle, you will know who in this endless destiny is qualified to talk about 'correct'!
Until then, you can shut the hell up and just watch me perform."
Qi Xu was unwilling to admit that he felt a bit panicked inside. The scenario he feared most was his teammates getting injured, eliminated, or even dying one by one.
Including the scenes from the earlier instance, where Zhu Fu, Dongfang Yuan, and the others were transmitted into the flames amidst the ruins—every time Qi Xu remembered, it pained him.
At this moment, he absolutely could not show any weakness. Otherwise, this Qiuqiu would surely seize the opportunity to spout more beguiling, misleading words.
Qiuqiu was indeed intimidated by Qi Xu's imposing manner, mainly because there was no way to continue the argument. Certain terms were heavily restricted, such as: "the cycle."
Daring to utter it would incur punishment. It had almost stepped on the red line just now and received a warning.
【I advise you to tread carefully.】
"You have no right to tell me what to do. Go have your people take my spot as the top player on the server-wide announcement leaderboard first, then come back and talk big. In the entire Zone 01, excluding the special District 01, do all the other districts combined have as many Level 7 vehicles as our District 666? You have no face to come out and boast."
Now, having been thoroughly scolded by Qi Xu, Qiuqiu had lost its spirit and could no longer act arrogantly. In the end, it simply teleported everyone away to their respective places and withdrew in a huff.
"Qiuqiu is being way too stingy about this! Its little mind is smaller than an asshole. We won the Cross‑District Challenge, and it won't even so much as make a peep to announce it?" Dongfang Yuan felt the atmosphere was getting a bit stifling and deliberately cursed at Qiuqiu to lighten the mood.
Qi Xu nodded. "Don't pay it any mind. It seems determined to sow chaos, and its petty schemes can't even be hidden."
Song Peifeng nodded in agreement. "Right. Getting stronger is always good."
【Congratulations to our District 666 for once again achieving victory in the Cross-District Arena Challenge, successfully annexing Zone 01, District 03. Our district population has broken through the ten-thousand limit. We are truly awesome! Let's congratulate the heroes who fought for the district!】
Qiuqiu shouted passionately, but everyone's expressions were somber.
"How is Old Nine doing?"
Qi Xu asked while quickly opening his vehicle interface and calling Ni Jiu Jiu out.
Ni Jiu Jiu swooped down and landed directly on Zhanlang 009's head, beginning to emit energy with a series of "chirp, chirp, chirp" sounds. Finally it fluttered its wings frantically until it was drenched in sweat and too weak to fly.
Feeling a bit sorry, Qi Xu picked up the little creature and held it in his arms. "Rest for now."
Ni Jiu Jiu pointed at Zhanlang 009 and solemnly "chirped" for a long while. Qi Xu roughly understood the meaning: it couldn't be completely healed; its foundation had been injured.
There might be aftereffects like recurring headaches, and most critically... he might not be able to become an ability user.
Zhanlang 009 soon regained consciousness. After all, there were no external injuries, only damage to his mental faculties. Seeing everyone's expressions, he knew his condition probably wasn't good.
His head hurt terribly, making it completely impossible to think clearly, but the physical wounds had already healed.
"I'm still alive, aren't I? It's fine. The rest doesn't matter."
Qi Xu felt somewhat irritated. If he weren't an ability user, he would eventually be eliminated. So he simply called Zhu Fu over to see whether she knew any more details.
Anyway, now that there were more people in the Golden Group Chat Card, he made her an administrator as well.
"You guys are really something, hahaha..."
Zhu Fu had been laughing heartily at first, but when he noticed everyone's serious expressions, he immediately restrained his smile. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Zhanlang 009 was severely injured by an ability user with a mental attack skill. Ni Jiu Jiu says it can't fully cure him. Do you know of any methods?"
Zhu Fu's eyes widened in surprise, and she stammered, a little flustered: "Yes, there definitely is. Wait, let me think. My... my brain isn't working too well right now. I just... I need to think."
Zhanlang 009 took a moment to recover, confirmed he could stand up, and got up to comfort everyone: "Don't worry about me. It's not a big deal."
Qi Xu shook his head. "I still have a way. Don't panic."
.........
