Doomsday Battle Map—Zerg Invasion
The day of the finals arrived quickly, and the venue was packed. Even with extra seats hastily added, a large crowd of people who had traveled to Yuheng Star for the event couldn't get in.
The ticket prices skyrocketed, with floor seats going for 100,000 star coins each—enough to cover two-thirds of Natata's competition expenses.
Xu Lingqu was in the Moye Chief Commander's lounge, where Vice Chancellor Su Li had her seated on the sofa, fussing over her appearance.
The stray locks of hair that had been a bit too long and overhung her eyes were brushed aside, fully revealing her black obsidian-like eyes that seemed to shimmer with light. Her hair now reached her collarbone.
It wasn't that she had some perfectly sculpted, model-perfect facial features, but Xu Lingqu had a certain charm that made it impossible to look away from her once your gaze landed.
"Perfect." Su Li gave a thumbs-up, and a staff member came to announce that Moye Military Academy was up to take the stage.
Kai Ang, Chen Ai, and Su Li stood behind, watching as the students of Moye marched out through the open doors together. Someone clenched a fist and shouted, "Blade of the Empire, invincible!"
The other students quickly joined in, shouting the slogan. And so, under the watch of billions, the students of Moye Military Academy made their entrance with passion and vitality.
What had once been a small cluster of flag banners was now a sea of dazzling purple, even in the VIP viewing section. Jinfang Taibai and Yun Yao had scrounged up a mountain of Moye cheering gear, and basically everyone in the VIP section had some.
Even the heiress Jia Xiangying, stone-faced, was holding a cheering placard bearing Xu Lingqu's name.
All four commentators were on hand to cover this final match.
"I don't know why, but I feel like today's Moye is different somehow."
"This year's Moye has been different all along!"
"Today, it's especially different... that sharp, cutting edge is flashing on every single one of them."
"What does Senior Colonel Ren have to say about that? How should we lead the cheering for Moye at the start?"
Senior Colonel Ren chuckled. "The Moye students have already given the shout themselves, so why don't we just—"
All four said in unison, with fervor: "Blade of the Empire, invincible!"
-
Xu Lingqu and all the Moye students settled into their competition pods. The Sky Network's battle map was their so-called surprise—you couldn't know what it was until you were inside.
Connecting to competition pod...
When Xu Lingqu opened her eyes again, she was sitting in an office. A line of text appeared on the desk in front of her.
[Welcome, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern District Military Region, Xiji City—Xu Lingqu.]
Immediately after, the Sky Network's system introduction began to appear before her eyes.
[Doomsday Battle Map—Zerg Invasion]
The two academies will be respectively the Northern and Southern District military forces. The city contains a large number of ordinary NPCs. In four hours, the Zerg will descend upon Xiji City from the sky, launching a devastating attack and purge. Beneath Xiji City, there is a shelter that can avoid the Zerg's assault. This battle map has no decapitation mechanism, but it does have an annihilation mechanism. The match lasts for one day. If, before the match ends, neither side is completely annihilated, the final victory is determined by a vote of the surviving ordinary residents. Please protect them.
Additionally: The Zerg are extremely powerful. It is recommended that both academies focus on negotiation and cooperation. After the invasion period has passed, you may then engage in battle and slaughter.
The rules were laid out one by one for the ordinary viewers and commentators as well.
"This... it feels like the Sky Network is actively urging Qingjun and Moye to work together for mutual benefit, doesn't it?" Lieutenant Quan joked.
"I don't know how to put it. When the fighting is at its bloodiest, suddenly someone runs out, grabs both sides' hands, and says, 'For the next few hours, you're best friends,'" Teacher Chang immediately followed his rhythm.
Senior Colonel Ren shook his head. "This shelter can hold at most 30,000 people, but there are 300,000 ordinary NPCs in this city."
"According to the rules, after the Zerg descend, there shouldn't be any survivors left on the surface. That means if Moye can't successfully annihilate Qingjun, the outcome will hinge on the votes of those 30,000," Professor Zhuang analyzed. "So in the first four hours of the match, both Moye and Qingjun will be competing for this shelter, trying to win as many surviving humans' votes as possible. This battle map only lasts for one day, there's no decapitation, so pulling off a full annihilation is quite difficult."
[What does this dead Sky Network mean? After all this drama, in the last match they suddenly pop up and say, 'Let's all make dumplings together~']
[Maybe Moye is planning to annihilate Qingjun within four hours?]
[Unlikely. I think the current Moye's overall momentum (mainly because of the commander) is stronger than Qingjun's, but a full annihilation in four hours is really a stretch...]
[Whoa, I think that jerk Jia Xianglan is going to start acting again. This time he might try to morally kidnap Xu Lingqu, calling for love at the center of the universe.]
[Xu Lingqu is the kind of person who would never be morally kidnapped by him. I think his act is mostly about condemning Xu Lingqu from a moral high ground.]
[I have a bad feeling about this. I hope Moye can find the entrance to that shelter faster than Qingjun.]
...
There was absolutely no way Moye would find the shelter entrance before Qingjun.
Jia Xianglan suppressed a smile and summoned Qingjun's deputy commander. He gave them the locations of the underground parking lots of seven major buildings in Xiji City and told them to spread out and start searching.
His dear father had already told him in advance where the shelter entrance was—it was in the underground parking lot of the fourth building among those seven. Mentioning all seven was just to cover his tracks.
The deputy commander was puzzled. "Why start with these seven buildings' underground parking lots?"
Jia Xianglan pretended to be profound. "My intuition. Trust me."
The deputy commander was skeptical but still relayed the seven locations and had Qingjun personnel begin the search.
About twenty minutes later, the deputy commander exclaimed in surprise, "We actually found it."
Jia Xianglan then put on a shocked expression. "What? We actually managed to find it? Great. Have our people get over there. I'll immediately issue a notice to the residents to come to the shelter as soon as possible."
He paused mid-sentence, stroking his chin. "Moye doesn't know we've found the shelter yet, right? Well, see if there's any way to get word to them, so they can tell Xu Lingqu I'm happy to share this shelter with her. As for how much space she wants, she can discuss it with me."
Better if she came begging him on her knees...
Jia Xianglan thought regretfully, but knowing Xu Lingqu, there was no way she'd do that.
She'd send people to kill them. That's exactly what he wanted now—to get all of Qingjun to the shelter.
If Xu Lingqu attacked them directly in front of the surviving humans, Moye would lose nearly all the NPC votes in the end.
After all, the shelter had been discovered by Qingjun in the first place. If Xu Lingqu really came at them, refusing their goodwill invitation to share the shelter and even ambushing them, it would look like Xu Lingqu and Moye were just scum.