"The memorial service has come to a temporary close. Next, we will posthumously award the Crescent Moon Medal to the martyrs. Family members of the martyrs whose names are called, please come up on stage to receive it on their behalf."

Wang Li, Zhang Yuan, Zhou Kai... Chen Yuanze... Wu Sihai....”

As each name was read out, the families of the martyrs sitting in the front row stood up one by one, some helping each other up, others walking alone onto the platform.

For the families of these martyrs, the medals of honor are not only a source of solace but also a strong guarantee of livelihood, signifying government subsidies and preferential treatment in social rights.

It took a full half hour before the family members gradually came down from the platform.

Ye Qinghuan's expression was solemn. "Next, please invite the family members of the martyrs whose names are called and the martyrs themselves to come up on stage to be posthumously awarded the Fireworks Medal."

"Wu Hongwei, Wang Xiong, Qin Xiao!"

Qin Xiao stood up, straightened his clothes, and Ilya straightened the hem for him.

As they slowly walked onto the stage, of the three people whose names were called, only Qin Xiao was actually present.

Wu Hongwei's family member is a child under fifteen years old. It is said that his mother also died in the land reclamation operation. Commander Wu has never remarried.

A lone child, a woman with gray hair.

The audience members couldn't help but feel a lump in their throats, and even Qin Xiao felt a deep sadness upon seeing this scene.

Ye Qingya picked up a gleaming, torch-shaped badge from the plate beside her and handed it to the child, the woman, and finally hung it around Qin Xiao's neck.

As he stepped off the stage, Qin Xiao noticed that the child's red eyes were staring at him.

Qin Xiao composed himself, walked over to the child, squatted down, touched his shoulder, and asked gently.

"Wu Yu, why are you staring at me?"

The child wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes, "I want to become as strong as you when I grow up, so that I won't get killed by bad guys!"

Qin Xiao was silent for a moment, then said, "Go for it, you can do it! You'll drive all the bad guys away. Wu Yu, are you coming alone?"

Wu Yu nodded, gripping the badge tightly in his hand until his knuckles turned white.

"My father died, my mother died, and my grandparents were eaten by a monster."

Qin Xiao was at a loss for words.

He took out his bracelet and sent a message to the other person's bracelet.

"Wu Yu, add your brother on WeChat. If anyone bullies you in the future, just send me a message."

Wu Yu opened Qin Xiao's contact and accepted the application.

"Big brother, I can take care of myself. When I grow up, I will fight monsters and bad guys!"

Qin Xiao stood up and patted his head.

"Okay, from now on we'll fight monsters, protect our home, and drive away bad guys!"

As they were talking, Ye Qingya came down from the stage.

The portal to the individual competition opened, and the students participating in the preliminary rounds had already entered, while the crowd gradually began to leave.

"He will go to an official welfare institution where he will be taken care of by dedicated staff until he reaches adulthood, and he will receive excellent care."

Ye Qingya said softly, she could tell something from Qin Xiao's expression.

Qin Xiao remained noncommittal, greeted her, and said goodbye to Wu Yu.

Once outside the plaza, riding on Ilya's back, Qin Xiao was somewhat distracted, fiddling with the Fireworks Medal in his hand.

Qin Xiao didn't care at all about the reward or the benefits behind the medal.

As he watched the bustling crowd leaving, many people stared at him, and he, in turn, stared at the martyrs on the wall.

With this parting, their lives came to an end forever.

"Ilya, do you think we can make it to the end?"

Ilya knew exactly what Qin Xiao was thinking.

Her voice was gentle yet conveyed absolute trust.

“Master, Ilya will always be by your side. No matter where the end is, we will definitely go to the end together.”

"Master, we will definitely reach the summit, sweep away the chaos, and restore order to the world!" Bai Ling's voice rang out, her tone impassioned.

"Yo~~~"

Qin Xiao smiled for no apparent reason, and his mood suddenly relaxed.

"Ling'er's literary skills have improved a lot; she deserves a reward!"

"Hmph, that stinky master doesn't even look at Ling'er's talent!"

"Yo~~"

...

Three days later, at the Ye family's mayoral villa.

Zhou Lei, Liu Piaoxu, and Ye Qinghuan gathered together, while Mayor Ye Qingya stood guard at the Beast Taming Square.

Today is the last day of the semi-finals, which also determines the top ten teams and sets up the first match of the finals.

The format of the finals is that the top five in the first round of the finals will be determined, and the bottom five will participate in a revival round, from which two winners will be selected.

Eight people entered the second round of the finals to determine the final four, while the four losers competed in a ranking round.

The four winners will advance to the semifinals, where each player will face three opponents, and the rankings will be determined by points.

If the teams have the same number of wins, they will play a tiebreaker match.

Qin Xiao had already entered the secret realm, while the three who hadn't participated in the competition could only watch the live stream.

Zhou Lei held a can of cola in his hand and switched back and forth on the live broadcast screen.

"Where's Xiao Ge? Where's Xiao Ge? Does this director even know what a top-tier contestant is? How did he cut the shots like that? He's a real genius!"

"Brother Lei, why don't you just switch to the player's personal channel?"

Liu Piaoxu sat on the sofa, hugging a purple ferret and eating potato chips.

Zhou Lei, however, remained on the live stream screen in the lobby, saying, "Hehe, you don't understand, this is where it's lively."

"The captain's roster for the first match is out! Wow, it's Fu Caiyun from Nanyun City!"

In the live broadcast room, two hosts were giving their reports.

In this individual competition in Qingzhou, only Qin Xiao made it into the top ten, while Ye Lanfeng, who was a seeded player, did not participate.

Zhang Zheng: It seems Qin Xiao is quite lucky; his opponent this time is ideal.

Chen Fei: It should be good, this time it's a sure thing.

Passerby: Hey, hey, hey, stop jinxing us here! Are you going to open champagne at halftime?

First Thermometer: The host is quite skilled at speaking; his words are impeccable.

Nan Yun City's Number One Affection: You dog, stop your nonsense. Fu Caiyun is Nan Yun City's number one insect master. It's still uncertain who will emerge victorious.

Low Temperature Phoenix: Haha, caught a Nanyun person! Quick, quick, boil some water!

Regardless of the commotion in the live stream, the first round of the finals is about to begin on the official competition arena set up in the secret realm.

Once the five groups of players are in place, the competition will proceed simultaneously, and they will not leave the secret realm to gather intelligence.

Qin Xiao sat on a rock throne nearly two meters high with a backrest, resting his chin on one hand and stroking Bai Ling with the other.

With Ilya's upper body right beside him, Qin Xiao turned his head and said, "Ilya, isn't this seat a bit too extravagant?"

Ilya smiled and said, "Even a king must have his own dignity."

Qin Xiao's eye twitched. At this moment, the projector showed his opponent, and the referee had already signaled for the contestant to step onto the stage.

In the first arena, the opponent is Fu Caiyun from Nanyun City.

Qin Xiao nodded, and without thinking much about it, he stood up from the rock throne, mounted Ilya, and headed towards the arena.

Many of the other participants and staff around him were looking at him with complicated expressions.

Everyone knows he's very strong, but the videos aren't very complete, so we don't really know just how strong he is.

But just for that air of sophistication and presence, it certainly drowned out all the other noises in the room.

On the arena, Qin Xiao cautioned Ilya, "My Queen, take it easy, don't kill her."

Although there are many healing-type beast tamers around, it would still be quite difficult to deal with if this thing could kill you instantly.

Ilya nodded silently, her four hooves pacing in place, somewhat excited.

Across from us, a tanned, sexy woman walked up, a colorful butterfly fluttering around her.

Fu Caiyun's eyes sparkled, her hands clenched tightly, and she looked excited.