Wei Huan was in no rush to open the treasure chest. He frowned slightly, shifting his gaze from the chest to the surrounding environment.
There was a whole expanse of cliff face, with inward-sloping indentations that looked like they had been deliberately excavated. The smaller caves were about ten square meters, while the larger ones could be thirty to fifty square meters. They looked like rooms, but no living creature was inside. Perhaps too much time had passed, and even traces of habitation were invisible.
Wei Huan then realized that these "houses" were not only on this one cliff face. In fact, throughout his entire journey, there were "houses" on these steep, water-adjacent rock walls. At a glance, there were countless of them, densely packed.
After observing for a while, Wei Huan ordered the Demon Eye Lord to leave and return to the Gold Treasure Chest. He wasn't curious because he knew what these things were and why they existed here.
Relics with such traces of civilization suggested that this Gold Treasure Chest was more likely to yield a War Race member.
The "War Race." Nothing more than a group of surviving monsters.
In the previous life's failed ending for humanity, even if the War Race had survived to the end, preserving human civilization, they would still just be monsters waiting to die.
Faced with a new civilization—one favored by the Challenger World, able to cultivate, acquire resources, and return home for rest—how would the eliminated human race feel in the presence of this civilization full of light and hope? Especially when this civilization needed to kill humans and plunder humanity's few remaining sanctuaries to advance? What would they think?
They would be jealous, wouldn't they? They would hate, wouldn't they? They would reach out from the abyss and drag them all down to hell!
So, why would anyone believe that a civilization's War Race, which had been eliminated, would hold any good intentions for them?
Human civilization has arrived in the Tier 5 world. It will surely seize the treasure chests from their hands, kill them, conquer them, and then step on their corpses and shattered homes to head for higher-tier worlds...
Conflict and antagonism—that is the core logic of the Challenger World!
The Demon Eye Lord, through which Wei Huan was viewing, was in front of the Gold Treasure Chest. As the sound of "caw, caw, caw" rang out, Wei Huan commanded the Demon Eye Lord to open the chest.
The treasure chest disappeared the moment it was touched. The materials, like a set of data, appeared directly on Wei Huan's vehicle. However, these materials did not yet belong to him. If he failed to kill the treasure chest monster, he would be relentlessly pursued by it forever. No matter how far he ran, the monster would be instantly teleported in front of him, and he would be unable to leave the Challenger World. During this period, the items would be locked and couldn't even be traded.
As the light dissipated, a huge, hideous-looking snake appeared before Wei Huan's eyes. The sea serpent was interwoven with blue and green, its colors dazzling, yet conveying an extreme sense of danger. Its body was as thick as a barrel, over ten meters long, coiled on the platform where the Gold Treasure Chest had been. Its body showed thin fins and a flattened tail, confirming it was a sea serpent.
The moment the sea serpent emerged, its body stood erect. Its cold eyes stared intently at the Demon Eye Lord that Wei Huan was possessing. Its body swayed, and its tail thumped on the ground. Even through the eyes of the Demon Eye Lord at a distance of several kilometers, Wei Huan felt waves of dizziness.
Immediately afterward, the giant serpent before him gradually began to transform, growing arms and legs, taking on a human form. That face, after reading his will, slowly transformed into Mu Zhong's appearance.
Perhaps because Wei Huan was highly vigilant and knew exactly what this thing was, its shapeshifting—or rather, its mental attack—was unsuccessful. The entire transformation process was not only slow but was filled with grotesque distortion, like a Van Gogh painting. The eyes of the "Mu Zhong" even grew above the eyebrows, on both sides of the temples.
With such distorted facial features, it still attempted to display a look of deep, joyful affection, crawling towards Wei Huan like a puddle of mud. Correctly, in Wei Huan's heart, the real Mu Zhong had not yet grown his legs. But it would happen soon. As long as he became strong enough and accelerated humanity's entry into the Tier 6 world, the appearance of the Life Angel would grant Mu Zhong his true legs.
And this thing before him, unable to accurately read the person Wei Huan truly loved deep down, and unable to piece together a pathetic appearance or story to evoke sympathy through the thoughts of a mind devoid of emotions (the Undead), everything began to look ridiculous and absurd.
"Humans, are you undergoing the civilization assessment of the Challenger World... Please trust me, I am not an enemy... I am also from Blue Star. Ten thousand years ago, you called us the Atlanteans... We can cooperate..."
The same rhetoric—whether due to gene awakening like the Dark Beasts, or if the contents of Wei Huan's mind were being stolen—in any case, only the Aosam people would believe this nonsense.
Wei Huan could not stand this "Mu Zhong," which was not even a successful imitation, a blob of mud. He gave an internal command, and the Undead army swarmed forward. It began to fight back, to struggle. Its piteous voice rang out directly in Wei Huan's mind.
"Trust me! Humans can join forces! We are all from Blue Star! We must join forces to break the Challenger World's curse!"
With the barely plausible rhetoric, coupled with the mental attack, many people would likely hesitate at this point. What if it's telling the truth? The alliance of two civilizations would surely defeat the Dark Beast Lords. Why not try to believe it? They could capture it and interrogate it, slowly investigate and understand. They could cautiously engage with this race. This might be humanity's only path to victory; they couldn't lose it due to impulse... It's so beautiful/handsome, and it doesn't even want to hurt my warriors, and its voice is so soothing. It's not resisting. I should take it back first.
The mind was thus contaminated.
But Wei Huan was clearly "as hard-hearted as iron," unshakably ordering the Undead army to intensify the attack. They must kill it, tear it to shreds! So, just like when he killed the War Race member on the seabed in the assessment world, it had the ability to resist but chose to give up, ultimately choosing to die to prove its point after its persuasion was "ineffective."
Blood splattered, limbs were severed and scattered on the ground. In the backdrop of the sinister Undead, it looked as if Wei Huan's side were the evil demons.
In the vehicle's storage, the "locked" status of the Gold equipment was lifted. Wei Huan had indeed easily killed this Gold-tier monster. He took one last look at the "tragic scene" and left without hesitation.
So easy to kill? If all the Gold monsters on the Five-Star Island were War Race members, wouldn't he be able to crush two per second if they fell into his hands? A free gift!
"Caw, caw, caw..."
As Wei Huan departed, the Ghost Crows, carrying Nether Flame Bombs in their beaks, flew to the cliff face and threw the bombs inside.
"Boom! Boom!"
"Boom! Boom!"
And to create the tension and difficulty of this battle, Wei Huan threw in his Tier 1 Nether Flame Bombs without restraint. It was bombed for over an hour. Green light flared across the island, and thick smoke billowed, leaving the Aosam personnel stunned.
"Didn't they say Wei Huan's supply of Nether Flame Bombs might be insufficient? Where did that news come from? He clearly has so many! Is he going to kill that Gold-tier monster with just one vehicle?"
"Should we... go inside and take a look?"
"Are you crazy? What if we get caught up in the fight between the Gold-tier monster and the Undead army? Crucially, we don't even have the materials. Should we work for free?"
The middle-aged Captain of Aosam was reminded, grit his teeth, and said, "Go! Expose this in the World Channel! Demand that Daxia stop breaking the rules!"
"This... didn't the high command say recently that we shouldn't casually speak in the World Channel, especially not to expose our military weaknesses?"
"Although we had a ruin stolen this time, Wei Huan was the first to violate the agreement! Expose him!"
"...Alright."
[According to the terms within the Island Development Protection Rights, the Pioneer Corps that announces the island's existence, explores and publishes its resources, obtains a 72-hour development protection period. G5 Island has been documented by our Aosam Pioneer Corps and currently belongs to our military. However, Wei Huan is forcibly exploring G5 Island despite clearly knowing its ownership. We strongly condemn Wei Huan for this and demand the return of the resources on G5 Island.]
The World Channel of the Tier 5 world was anything but harmonious. Every day was filled with condemnation, cursing, or showing off. People treated the World Channel as a public media outlet. Since they couldn't truly resort to force, they used this method to either display national power or make demands. Nearly every sentence had a political purpose. The Pioneer Corps were established by nations, and their members were almost all military personnel, so they generally wouldn't speak nonsense in the World Channel; if they spoke, it was with a purpose.
For example, the recent clumsy actions by Aosam were mocked by Daxia and its allies day and night. The government used diplomatic language, but only private individuals could hurl the truly unpleasant insults, which was satisfying to watch.
So, after the Aosam Captain posted this somewhat official letter of condemnation, the first reaction was inevitably not from Daxia's officials, but from the group of people the Pioneer Corps jokingly called the "Verbal Diplomacy Corps."
[What? No way? Does your Aosam now have the capability to develop Gold Treasure Chests?]
[No ability to develop the chest, but guarding it so others can't develop it. That's like occupying a latrine without taking a dump.]
[Aosam is getting more and more disgraceful. They say don't air your dirty laundry, but you guys can't wait for the whole world to know.]
[G5 Island is in your Aosam direction, right? Can't even protect your own resources on your own turf, and you have the audacity to broadcast it everywhere?]
Of course, Aosam also had its "Verbal Diplomacy Corps," who immediately plunged into the "battle" without fully understanding the sudden barrage of insults.
[It is a fact that Wei Huan violated the Island Development Protection Rights. Is Daxia going to break the rules it set itself?]
[Daxia is becoming increasingly arrogant. Do you remember when our Aosam aircraft carrier blocked your port and your warships couldn't leave?]
[When did Daxia, a nation that prides itself on being an ancient civilization, have its reputation rely on a 20-year-old young man? Is there no one left?]
[Daxia is heading towards hegemony, publicly tearing up the Blue Star United Covenant and expelling ordinary Pioneer members from nations including Aosam, the Mulberry Nation, and the Stick Nation from Black Tortoise City. Is this an attempt to use the Challenger World mechanism to eliminate dissenters?]
[It's because your Aosam acted wickedly first! Black Tortoise City is still under reconstruction. If another beast tide breaks out during this time, who will bear the risk? You have the guts to scheme against others but don't dare to admit it?]
[Individual actions have nothing to do with the country.]
[Do you even believe that? A dog wouldn't believe that!]
[Who are you calling a dog?]
[Did I call you a dog? Are you admitting it yourself?]
[Damn Daxia...]
[Damn Aosam...]
The two sides went back and forth, continuing the exact same process of escalating from calm debate to uncontrolled argument that had been happening for the past few days. Eventually, the World Channel became a chaotic mess, with information scrolling rapidly, "lively" but completely lacking the seriousness expected of national armies. Yet, this was the most normal scene.
Most of the time, small issues could indeed be resolved through this verbal sparring. Moreover, the Blue Star Pioneer Corps had been fighting independently with constant friction, and the soldiers already held deep resentment towards other countries. Conflict should be channeled, not suppressed, and this was an excellent outlet for that frustration.
Today was another day of two major nations' Pioneer Corps arguing, while other countries watched the spectacle, either fanning the flames or lending support. Just as the atmosphere reached its climax, and the two sides seemed ready to schedule a duel, many people, as if by prior arrangement, sent the same message, flooding the screen instantly. Controlling the screen for 30 seconds, it was hard to miss.
Upon closer inspection, they were all Daxia Challengers.
[Aiya, wasn't the flag planted on G5 Island the flag of our Daxia Azure Dragon Legion? I was almost fooled. It's truly shameless for Aosam to insist it's theirs.]
[G5 Island has the Daxia flag. We are opening our own resources during our protection period. Is there a problem?]
[Fellow humans, go and see! You've been tricked by Aosam. G5 Island was actually flagged by Wei Huan long ago!]
[What a major reversal today! I'm dying of laughter. So G5 Island wasn't Aosam's after all!]
Similar content appeared simultaneously, with every sentence claiming G5 Island was first flagged by Daxia. In a chat room with so many people, controlling the screen for 30 seconds—who would believe there was no organization involved?
The Aosam Captain, who had been smugly following the argument, felt his vision swim when he saw the 30-second screen control in the World Channel. Without even needing to verify G5 Island's ownership, he knew it must now be in Daxia's hands, otherwise Daxia wouldn't pull off such a stunt.
But...
"I clearly remember successfully reporting it." The Deputy Captain was sweating profusely. He had immediately opened the World Map, and seeing the Daxia military flag on G5 Island, his vision kept flashing black. The Deputy Captain forced himself to explain: "I confirm I saw the data uploaded successfully and received the World Map update receipt. Look, it's still here!!"
As he spoke, the Deputy Captain opened his email. The first thing he saw was the World Map update notification sent by the system not long ago. A smile suddenly blossomed on his face, and he pointed at the email: "Captain, look, it's right here! I told you I confirmed uploading the G5 Island data."
The Captain was initially impatient. If it wasn't done, it wasn't done. Why so many excuses? The rules of the Challenger World reign supreme, followed by the system algorithm, which, originating from the Challenger World, holds a security level second only to the laws and is absolutely unchangeable. So, no matter how eloquent the words, if the system hasn't changed, it proves the action was never taken.
That is, until the Deputy Captain found the evidence and showed him.
The Captain looked over, somewhat surprised... Could he really have found evidence?
But at that look, fury surged within him, and the veins on his temples bulged. The email he was pointing to was none other than the "Report of Captain Charl's Abnormal Behavior Reply Letter!"
The Captain roared: "You investigated me? You betrayed me? I trusted you so much, and you treat me like this! Merlin, I'll kill you!!"
"No, no, no! I never sent that email! I swear to the gods, a moment ago it was still the World Map update receipt! Ah!! Captain Charl, please spare my life!!"
Regardless of the chaos inside that vehicle, Wei Huan collected his Undead army and left without a second glance after completing the development of this Gold Treasure Chest. It was as if the person who caused this major event that shook the entire Tier 5 world wasn't him.
He briefly looked at the Gold equipment he had opened and threw it into the warehouse. It was useless to him, but it was highly useful to his crew. This time, he opened a core material for upgrading a vehicle. They would soon have one more Tier 5 vehicle. vehicles still play a significant role in war. Not only do they have remote output weapons, but each vehicle also has four ranged output positions. If they were all equipped with Sequence 5 "Forbidden Curse Mages" and "Summon Masters," it would greatly alleviate the problem of insufficient attack power in the Undead army during sieges.
Their vehicle was growing stronger bit by bit. He believed it wouldn't be long before it became the strongest vehicle in the world.
After dealing with the matters at hand, Wei Huan looked at Mu Zhong in the video call and smiled: "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard. This is what I should do. It's great that I can help you even from this distance, and the main credit this time goes to our Butler."
Suddenly mentioned, a round-faced little doll appeared in the bottom right corner of Wei Huan's screen, displaying a cute and ingratiating smile. Because Wei Huan and Mu Zhong, both "straight men," disliked the Butler appearing in a human form, regardless of gender, the Butler secretly calculated the "parents'" preferences and created a metallic-textured, robotic round face for itself. Due to its high intelligence, it could cater to their preferences, almost like a sentient intelligent life form.
Such an advanced intelligent system already transcended the regular systems of the Challenger World. The only thing it couldn't surpass were the rules of the Challenger World itself. But rules set by humans, such as the "Island Development Protection Rights," including uploading the World Map, were merely conventions established by humans. Wasn't changing the rules a matter of seconds for the Butler? G5 Island had indeed initially fallen to Aosam because Wei Huan didn't know the rules. But now, with the Butler, it belonged to Wei Huan.
As for the Deputy Captain's email being "falsely attributed" (referencing the idiom "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse"), perhaps if he hadn't established a video connection with Wei Huan, he wouldn't have met such a miserable end. As it stands... because the Butler knew it had made a slight oversight in its own process, it had just scanned all the information on that Aosam Captain and his vehicle, ensuring that even if the Challenger World itself came to inspect, the records would show that they were the ones who had flagged the island first.
As for the 30-second screen control, Mu Zhong achieved it through his "Heart of Steel," which performed a remote operation after obtaining permission from a portion of the Azure Dragon Pioneer Corps members. In terms of intelligence, the "Heart of Steel" was definitely slightly higher than the "Butler." An easy win.
A farce, which could have been minor or major, ended with the conclusion that "Aosam is now maliciously slandering Daxia without cause." Coupled with Aosam's previous monster-baiting incident, Daxia stood on the absolute moral high ground in its diplomacy this time.
On Blue Star, the Daxia naval fleet conducting military exercises outside Aosam's waters even pressed into Aosam's territorial waters, constantly pushing the limits of Aosam's tolerance. They then discovered that this country was truly in decline. A paper tiger.
However, Wei Huan was unaware of the changes on Blue Star, or that his every action was causing massive shifts there. He was discussing the War Race with Mu Zhong.
"...It was a colorful sea serpent, but it possessed some kind of mental attack. It could steal my thoughts and project an appearance that I would be reluctant to harm."
Mu Zhong asked: "What did it transform into? Me? And you said you were reluctant to harm it?"
"No. If you had seen the appearance it transformed into, you would be like me and wouldn't want it to live for another second."
"Then I'm truly curious. What did it look like?"
Wei Huan couldn't describe it, and that appearance was only seen by him. After briefly describing it, feeling that it didn't convey even a tenth of the monster's repulsiveness, the Butler utilized its AI drawing capability to illustrate a five-parts similar mud monster.
Mu Zhong saw it, his features squeezed together: "Like this? It's hideous."
Wei Huan said: "Approximately."
"Then it should be killed." After saying this, Mu Zhong suddenly put two fingers to his lips and blew a kiss. "Here, cleanse your eyes. That was too disgusting."
Wei Huan laughed.
The two chatted and joked for a while before returning to the main topic.
Mu Zhong said: "I don't know about other countries, but our Daxia should not have had contact with the War Race yet. The War Race does not appear in low-tier treasure dungeons. However, it will happen soon. Captain Fang was planning to open a Gold Treasure Chest, but we killed it by mistake. I think the news about the Tier 5 world's War Race can be released, at least for investigation and discussion within Daxia. I want to ask you a favor: help me restore the War Race's living environment, their true appearance, and the appearance when their illusion fails—I want all of it. Also, the fact that they all claim to be Atlanteans every time they appear is very important. In short, if you encounter the War Race again, just send a flying camera in. There is nothing more convincing than a real video, seen with one's own eyes."
"Alright," Wei Huan agreed immediately.
This time, he had indeed lacked consideration. He had been single-mindedly worried that letting other crew members see the War Race would shake their resolve, which was detrimental to unity within the vehicle. He had forgotten that for this kind of thing, they needed to see more. Only through comparison would they understand the horror of this race.
"So, they have a unified narrative and like to die to prove their point. This kind of behavior is hard for a self-aware race to achieve. Is this another hive-mind civilization?"
When Mu Zhong said this last sentence, Wei Huan's eyes lit up, and the coldness in his expression eased significantly. Finally, they had hit the nail on the head.