Chapter 177 - - Cruel Candidate Battle_1

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Trust no one!

This was the second item on the teaching syllabus.

Mikaro promised Vito a reserve position as a warrior, but used domineering tactics to prevent him from fawning to investigate the truth.

At that time, Vito became suspicious of him.

Over the past few days, probably more than forty candidates had flocked to Mikaro.

Admiral Mikaro flaunted the title of “Paul’s Expeditionary Force,” attracting many candidates who were too late to reach Silver Mountain Port from other harbors.

Most of these candidates’ keywords played an insignificant role in battle, such as peace, tranquility, subservience, beauty, inferiority, optimism, and so on.

They tagged along simply to be part of the excitement.

Of course, it was possible that they disguised their own keywords, hoping to catch others off guard and snatch the final fruits of victory.

After all,

anything could happen until the simulation ended.

For example, wasn’t he considering how to use the trust between Mikaro and Paul to seize a top ten spot when the opportunity arose?

Vito’s fawning was hard to guard against; he took the chance to interact with the candidates recruited by Mikaro, and then, he uncovered a terrifying truth.

Almost all the candidates had been promised a reserve position as a warrior by Mikaro.

Besides him, everyone else was utterly convinced until they were awakened by him at that moment, only then realizing they had fallen for Mikaro’s skill.

Mikaro’s promises were full of holes.

The Alien Battlefield had never spoken of fairness; it was all about the spirit to strive for the first place against adversity.

Paul managed to fight for the first place in the simulation through his own abilities.

Moreover, being in first place itself poses a tremendous risk — how could the instructors use such vile means to disrupt the test, depriving the first place of their position by external intervention under the pretext of training others…

Could such means truly select the elites?

Therefore, there was only one possibility left: Admiral Mikaro’s keywords were related to deception, enchantment, and seduction, which could subtly influence others’ thoughts, making them serve him so that he could use everyone’s strength to take the first place in the simulation.

Usually, within a scam, without external intervention or enlightenment, the victims tend to be unaware of the deception, as if brainwashed.

Vito pondered; his resistance might be related to his fawning attribute, or possibly because he had chosen a fish’s name. When he changed the fish’s name, his fawning lost its effect on Paul.

Regardless,

he had seen through Mikaro’s conspiracy.

Next, it was time for his own planning.

Mikaro was the delectable second place, and of course, there was also Vaden Bus, who had ascended to the position of vice admiral of the royal navy with the keyword “Invasion Like Fire.”

Given his and Paul’s friendship, as long as he helped Paul seize the Compass, Paul would surely protect his position in the top ten, wouldn’t he?

Paul seemed much more sincere than Mikaro.

…

On the morning of the seventh day,

Barry came to report to Duge, “Captain, Ergale is just ahead, we’ll arrive in about three hours.”

“Send the order down; everyone changes clothes in an hour,” Duge, who had devised an exit strategy from the simulation two days earlier, was relaxed now, focused solely on finishing the simulation.

Of course, he didn’t dare to take it lightly.

Mans was right in reminding him that Mikaro and the other two were gathering candidates with the ability to move swiftly. If they found the right people, it was possible for them to catch up to him — in certain circumstances, candidates’ abilities could be more useful than Magical Treasures.

Sometimes, ranking doesn’t necessarily indicate strength. Just like Feng Jiu in the first simulation, if he could last until the end, transforming into Gluttony, he might turn the tables in one fell swoop.

For example, he still didn’t know who’d leaked the news that he had collected the Destiny Sea Map, and even the destination, Ergale, was exposed.

Jannie’s expression shifted as she approached Duge, “Paul, I don’t know what you mean by ‘candidates’ and ‘rankings,’ but I can tell you for certain that there are a lot of people on Ergale Island now.”

Before she finished speaking,

the personal panel in front of Duge flickered, and he and Mans did the same thing, opening their personal panels.

Then,

he saw the name of the person in second place changing rapidly on the panel…

Mikaro’s name disappeared, replaced by someone named Rodrigo; but Rodrigo’s name only stayed for three minutes before it was replaced by someone named Duran Mings; and Duran Mings held on for only five minutes before he was replaced by someone named Luqiao Vidal…

The name in second place changed like a carousel, and with each change, the total number of people in the simulation decreased by one, eventually settling on someone named Gaul Pedder.

But even though the second place was fixed, the total number of people in the simulation continued to drop, decreasing by more than thirty people before it stopped.

“Poor Mikaro, in the end, he ended up making the wedding dress for someone else,” Mans said, shaking his head with a sigh as he watched the changing names.

“I’ve always said that he shouldn’t have gone out of his way, better to stay quietly in Silver Mountain Port, maybe even hold onto a top ten spot.” With the changes in names, Duge could already imagine how fierce the competition on Ergale Island must be.

He sighed, reminding himself that once he set foot on the Alien Battlefield, he must be extremely cautious, not flaunting his presence as he did in the simulation, where he had been high-profile all along.

Being in the top ten is like being a live target, with countless people waiting to take your place, the higher one’s profile, the faster one’s downfall.

What Nan Youlong said was right.

“He couldn’t possibly have stayed in Silver Mountain Port,” Mans shook his head, “Just one month has passed, everyone’s attributes were similar to begin with, the closer to the main storyline, the greater the changes in the rankings. One minute you could be in the top 100, the next minute you could jump into the top ten if you interfere with the progression of the main storyline. No smart person would hold on to such wishful thinking, the risks and rewards are always proportional.”

Alright then!

It’s just that I’ve experienced too few simulations.

Duge laughed it off, not arguing with him.

In his first simulation, he had no clue about anything, relying purely on passion to develop key terms, stumbling into first place;

In the second simulation, he managed a trade that snowballed until the collapse, still not understanding what the main storyline was;

In the third simulation, he advanced the main storyline by force…

It was really not easy for him to put himself in other candidates’ shoes for a while.

In Duge’s understanding, if Mikaro and Mahamadu hadn’t messed around, searching for whatever speed key terms,

he would have easily gotten the Sea God Scepter and handed it over to Jannie, and their rankings theoretically wouldn’t have changed at all. That’s probably what is meant by being too smart for one’s own good!

…

On Ergale Island,

Thirty-some bodies lay strewn haphazardly.

A young man with brown hair stood on the rocky shore, holding the Golden Compass, looking at the nine people standing in front of him: “Mikaro used his instructor identity to deceive us, attempting to control us all for his service, he deserved to die. But I am not like him, I am more ruthless, and I keep my word.

Now, with the Golden Compass in my hands, it means the world’s main storyline is under our control. Next, as long as we join forces, wiping out everyone in the simulation, we would be the top ten. I trust none of you would oppose my proposal!”

No one spoke.

The young man with brown hair looked around: “If anyone opposes, you may leave now. I can send you to reunite with Mikaro. If no one leaves, then I expect everyone to be unanimous in the upcoming battle. If I discover any betrayal during the fight, I would rather give up the second place than keep you around. No objections? Then I’ll take that as agreement.”

Vito sighed silently to himself, having already known that these people were up to no good; Mikaro was too confident.

Unfortunately, his skills were not combat-oriented, putting him at too much of a disadvantage in this game.

“Next, we have to confront Paul. Everyone knows he’s the first in the simulation, and he commands all sorts of unimaginable methods. His keyword is likely chaos, and the skills he’s awakened are probably related to smiling.”

Gaul continued, “We’ll stick with the plan Mikaro set out previously. Vito will lure Jannie away from him, Jimmy will use Freedom to release his control over the Sea Beast, preferably inciting mutiny among his soldiers, which should be easy for you; Vaden with Invasion Like Fire will boost our attributes, Kaffee will use Peace to stabilize everyone’s mood… most importantly, we must not let anyone laugh.”

Battles have proven that laughter triggers bad luck; we must avoid this at all costs.

“Once we take out Paul, with the Feather of the Sea God, the Ocean Horn, the Sea Beast Enke, and the Sword of the Giant Dragon that Paul holds, no one in the simulation will be our match…”

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