But Xiao Linlin noticed something was wrong: "Huh? Brother, this match didn't ask you if you wanted to be matched with teammates!"

"I've noticed that too."

Su Lin nodded; this was a subtle change.

Before the two could continue their conversation and observation, new game prompts appeared before them.

Welcome to Promotion Match: City Hunt!

[World Setting: This is a world where urban superpowers and technology coexist! It's filled with various conventional 21st-century Earth technologies, and everyone possesses unique superpowers! Your "superpower" has been lost; please find it as soon as possible!]

[Additional Match Limitation]: All individual attributes of all players, including talents, skills, inventory, weapons, and personal stats, have been completely lost! Find them as soon as possible! Regain your amazing abilities!

[Clues to Lost Items]: All lost items may exist in various containers or as quest rewards; rest assured, no one can search for and obtain other people's lost items.

[How to obtain the escape location]: Complete at least 10 chase missions and recover 50% of your own items; you will then obtain the game map and a random "escape" location.

[How to find out the hidden escape location]: Only by completely retrieving the items you left behind will you have a chance to find clues in random missions.

[Team Mechanism Unleashed]: Any survivor can form a "cooperative" relationship with other survivors. Once a "cooperative" relationship is formed, it cannot be broken in the current game and will enjoy all the mechanics and effects of all "teammate" relationships. Cooperative relationships cannot exceed the limit of 100 players.

[Additional Failure Penalty]: If you die before the end of the promotion tournament, you will randomly lose at least 1-3 "unrecovered lost items"; after the end of the promotion tournament, even if you do not qualify for promotion, you can recover all lost items after the match.

[Important Reminder for the Current World]: People who have lost their superpowers are considered freaks who need to be restricted here! Please be careful not to let anyone discover that you have lost your "superpowers", especially in front of NPCs.

[Promotion Eligibility Announcement]: The top 100 players with the highest overall evaluation among all successful escapees are eligible for promotion! The top 200 players with the highest overall evaluation are immune to promotion failure penalties!

[Promotion Timeline:] When the number of players in the current match is equal to or less than 20, the promotion tournament is considered to have ended, and promotion ranking can be carried out! 24 hours before the start of the next promotion tournament, regardless of the number of players in the match, the match will be forcibly ended and the current promotion results will be evaluated!

......

As the game information was fully released, Su Lin had just finished reading everything and hadn't even had a chance to exchange views with Xiao Linlin when he looked down and saw that the Tang sword at his waist had suddenly disappeared!

Not only the Tang sword, but also the three-foot-long green sword he was holding, the luck-breaking weapon on his back, the supplies in Jia Zhengyi's backpack, and even the various consumable items that Xiao Linlin always held in her hand... all of them were gone!

Even the combat protective suits worn by his followers and Su Lin himself, and the combat potions Su Lin was ready to swallow at any moment, were all gone!

Su Lin could even clearly feel that his strength was rapidly draining away, and in the blink of an eye, he was back to the level of an ordinary soldier. His individual stats, skills, talents, and techniques were all reset to zero!

Even more outrageous, the vial of insect corpses that Su Lin used to maintain the effect of his [Death Smell] talent was also gone! Even that disappeared!

"Aaaaaah! This isn't fair! How could this happen?!"

Xiao Linlin was the first to react, letting out an angry scream: "So many of our war supplies! We've invested tens of millions of resource coins! We've been preparing for this promotion competition for so long!!"

That's all!

It's all gone!

At that moment, all the survivors entered the state they were in during the "first match".

Who could have predicted this?!

The promotion match caught all the survivors completely off guard! No one could have predicted this outcome!

All they had was the experience of escaping from a few matches... No! Su Lin had more than them!

"At least, the retinue is still there."

Su Lin remained calm. He quickly regained his composure, adjusted his mindset, and narrowed his eyes to assess the situation: "Linlin, don't panic! Although I've lost all the mechanism projects, it's not a permanent loss, and... your abilities are still there!"

This is the only surprise amidst the worst circumstances, and it may also be the only key to breaking the deadlock in the promotion tournament!

The follower program is too unique and independent!

Even in promotion matches that strip players of all items, minions were not nerfed, preserving the combat power of all players' minions.

"A mandatory starting line?"

Xiao Linlin took a deep breath, suppressing her anger. She still felt it was extremely unfair: "The system is really crazy! It made [Su Lin] the center of attention, but it also took away [Su Lin's] strength. Now our situation is even worse!"

"Actually, I think it's pretty good."

Su Lin smiled slightly: "At least, I don't have to worry about the strange talents of the others. If I were to be the center of attention, the effects of those strange talents would be the most troublesome thing."

"But now, everyone is barefoot! Everything has to start from scratch, and everyone is panicking."

Su Lin laughed indifferently: "Whoever adapts first will win."

"Wait, having experience and memories, but losing strength... This scene seems familiar."

Jia Zhengyi suddenly scratched his head and tentatively said, "I've been reborn, back to the beginning of the escape game. This time, I'm determined to take back everything I lost."

"well?!"

Xiao Linlin was stunned for a moment, then screamed, "Scout! Stop reading those mindless wish-fulfillment novels! We're counting on you now!"

"That would be even better."

Jia Zhengyi didn't feel any pressure. Instead, he shrugged and said, "I've been reborn. I've returned to the beginning of the game, and I even have two followers to help me. In this life, I'm destined to rise to the top and become king."

"Good, not bad, very motivated."

Su Lin smiled, watching the light membrane in front of him fade away, and patted Jia Zhengyi on the shoulder: "The [rebirth] you mentioned has begun."

"Old Jia, start the performance and lead me to victory."