Preliminary Round 7
Registration for the ladder tournament at 2:50 AM.
Crystal yawned loudly, "Boss, why don't you go back and rest first? I'll wait for the result alone."
Several students from several colleges were set on fire during the preliminaries, suffering severe mental trauma. After withdrawing from the competition, they remain in medical wards, their recovery uncertain. Organizers have urgently implemented an over-the-counter injury protection mechanism, which will ask participants if they wish to be immediately ejected from the competition if a fatal risk is detected.
At this point, persuading Black Swamp Academy to withdraw would only make the ladder competition, which had undergone several rounds of frequent changes, a bigger joke. In order to avoid more unknown risks, the ring competition was moved online.
Putting aside the amount of public opinion this decision would bring to the current Palace Master, Linyin and Shuijing had no choice but to take advantage of the last bit of time before the game and stay at the registration office late at night to measure the light disc.
Special homemade props like this cannot be used during the competition if the specific data is not entered in advance.
Linyin saw that a part of the chair on the side of the road was about to fall off, and on a whim, she broke it off.
Invisible ripples spread from her palm, and the scrap material seemed to be deformed by a deft hand. "Let's test this together."
She handed the material to be transformed into a CD to Crystal, who understood and took out a spare veneer and began to assemble it.
After condensing the so-called armored weapon from her "Earth Condensation Technique," they tried various methods and discovered that in the hands of others, the weapon was no different from ordinary weapons made from the corresponding materials. However, in Linyin's hands, its hardness, sharpness, ability to carry true energy, and flexibility were incomparable.
However, an exception occurred. Crystal accidentally discovered that using materials condensed by the Earth Condensation Technique to create a trap disc could greatly increase the strength of the trap.
After discovering this, the entire team began to collect waste as much as possible, such as disposable alloy dinner plates, ultra-light synthetic material packaging of training equipment... all of them were taken and refined.
However, plans cannot keep up with changes. After the things are made, there is no time to test them one by one.
"We have to register it in the end anyway, so why not let them help with the testing?" Jerry suggested, saying that he was too old to stay up late, so he sent Crystal and Rinone away and went back to the dormitory to sleep soundly.
Behind the glass, Morris, on duty, waited for the instrument to produce results, his eyes too sleepy to open. He vaguely saw two dark figures standing in front of the counter, one of them knocking on the glass.
"Hello, here's one more prop." Linyin stuffed the newly made CD into the small window on the glass. The crisp collision sound made Morris shudder.
"More?" He frantically wiped away the nonexistent saliva. "Can't you just give them all to me at once? New item registrations are prohibited six hours before the match."
"It's not time yet, sorry." Rin looked at the clock. It was 2:57, only three minutes to go. That was a close call.
“…” Morris resigned himself to his fate and took out the CD. He looked at the light twice and threw it into the instrument.
………………………………
It was late at night, and the headquarters building of the Fantasy Beast Hall was brightly lit.
The cold sweat on the PR director's forehead was illuminated by the specially designed high-wattage phantom light. He didn't bother to wipe the sweat off his face, his eyes fixed on the constantly refreshing images on the screen.
[A major safety incident occurred in the Fantasy Beast Ladder Tournament. Who is responsible for the omissions in the tournament system? ]
Why is she like this? Uncovering the current Master of the Fantasy Beast Palace's path to power.
The current Master of the Fantasy Beast Palace has made numerous inept moves. When will the Frost Family rectify the situation?
Bold headlines dominated the front pages of major media outlets.
When I clicked on one of the titles, it turned out to be a live report.
The background is the medical department of the martial arts center. Reporters holding live broadcast equipment can be seen everywhere, blocking the corridor.
A mother stood in front of the camera with red and swollen eyes and a hoarse voice, as if she had been crying for too long.
"They said it was an accident!" She clenched her fists. "The fire burned for so long, and they didn't do anything to deal with it. My daughter's brain nerves have stopped responding! She's only sixteen, and it's questionable whether she can live a normal life in the future!"
Behind her, through the transparent glass of the medical cabin, she could see a dozen young students soaking in light green regeneration fluid, their bodies connected to dense tubes.
On the other side, dozens of students and parents in school uniforms gathered in front of the camera, holding up glowing electronic banners.
"malfeasance!"
"murder!"
"Give me back my future!"
In the crowd, some people shouted slogans angrily, some lowered their heads and wiped away tears, and still others held up photos of the victimized students and repeated to the camera over and over again: "This is a serious dereliction of duty! They must be held accountable!"
The PR director trembled in fear. He hadn't neglected his duties, yet within a single hour, public opinion regarding the Fantasy Beast Hall's mishandling of the situation spread like wildfire, with countless tabloids capitalizing on the situation, exposing the "Hall Master's past"...
This is not something that a mere worker like him can control!
But the boss wouldn't listen to his explanation and would only think he was incompetent.
If it were any other boss, the worst that could happen would be resignation. But Flora...resignation wasn't the answer. He couldn't imagine how he would face an angry Flora.
In stark contrast to his state, while waiting in line in front of the coffee machine in the tea room, the employees seized the time to discuss, and the air around them was filled with the smell of popcorn gossip.
"It's said that that one," Employee A pointed to the ceiling, "refused to attend the succession selection, so the Frost family fell out and spread the scandal everywhere."
"Is your information reliable?"
"Of course. My uncle works for Frost's family."
"How fascinating! When the Frost family acknowledged the current successor, they acted as if they were 'only seeking a virtuous person to lead the Fantasy Beast Palace to the top'? They've fallen out so quickly."
"It's an act. Look at the latest one: 'A mistress becomes the one in power, and it turns out she got there by relying on her pregnancy.' There's a lot of blood and gore between that person and the Frost family."
"Hey," someone asked Employee A, "are these rumors reliable? Why don't you ask your uncle?"
"Stop watching the show. We are the ones who suffer when they fight. We don't know when the mess created by Black Swamp Academy will be cleaned up." Someone was full of resentment.
"That's right. I guess I'll have to be on call for several weeks." Someone became even more resentful.
Rumi had just come in to fetch water, and upon hearing this ear-scorching gossip, he was in a dilemma. He just wanted a stable job; he had no interest in family secrets or power struggles.
"This isn't just a spectacle. The fact that this matter has become such a big deal overnight shows that all media outlets are on Frost's side."
"They are more informed than us. I think we should prepare early."
What preparations are there? A poor employee is siding with the boss. Who do they know among the Palace Master and the Frost family? They should just consider which of the many supervisors they want to flatter.
Rumi shook his head and decided not to drink the coffee for the time being and leave this place of trouble first.
He turned around, but was caught off guard and bumped into the person. Fortunately, his cup was empty, otherwise with the force of the collision, the scalding coffee would probably have splashed all over his face.
The man, with his signature blond hair, shook his shoulders and asked, "You bumped into someone and didn't even apologize?"
After saying that, he ignored Rumi and walked straight into the tea room. "What are you talking about? Tell me?"
The people in the tea room exchanged glances, and Employee A put on a smile. "Nothing much. Look, everyone's waiting for coffee. It should be ready soon."
"Don't be afraid, I know what's going on." He looked around arrogantly. "Pay attention to the direction the wind is blowing right now. You all need to know which tasks you should do well and which you should leave alone. Don't ignore the broad path and head straight for a dead end."
Everyone in the tea room lowered their heads, and their faces turned towards the floor, with unclear expressions.
Ginger Frost, the only descendant of the Frost family's predecessor, is currently listed under the Public Relations Director's name, acting as his own paid personal assistant. While he holds no official position, this young master, relying on his background, acts rather arrogantly in the building.
At this moment, the lights on the entire floor suddenly dimmed, leaving only a chandelier at the elevator entrance.
Everyone looked over at once, only to see countless dark red threads crawling out from the cracks in the elevator door, spreading across the ground like living vines. The elevator door opened, and a towering figure slowly approached, stepping on a red carpet woven from blood-red vines.
She towered over everyone present, her long, thick black hair like the falling Coachella night, making her pale skin seem almost transparent. Her black robe trailed silently along the ground, and with each step she swung, a faint glint of blood could be seen.
After many years, Flora stepped into the building again.
The PR director tried to stand up to greet him, but a blood-red thread wrapped around his wrist and pushed him back.
Jin Jie had his back to the elevator, still unaware of what was happening. Suddenly, countless red threads emerged from the vent above his head, twisted into thin vines, and then suddenly poured down like a waterfall, tightly wrapping him up.
In the darkness, there was silence, only the dark red cocoon rolling on the ground made a whimper.
Flora tilted her head slightly, her long, thick black curls gliding across everyone's view. Her gaze fell on the struggling cocoon, a cold interest in her eyes.
The next second, the sobbing stopped abruptly. With a teeth-grinding creaking sound, the cocoon was flung out of the window. The silk thread trembled elastically a few times before finally coming to rest at a height of more than a hundred stories.
Seeing this, everyone's heartbeat almost stopped. Rumi felt that his legs had lost the strength to support his body. He slid to the ground and hugged his trembling body tightly with his arms.
"Snap, snap, snap."
Three slow rounds of applause broke the silence.
Flora had vines wrapped around her wrists, a smile playing on her lips, as if she were watching a play. "Let's deal with the people who are delaying everyone's work and get back to work." She turned to the Public Relations Manager and said, "For those who worked overtime this time, we will pay them triple the overtime rate. Please notify the Finance Department."
The minister who was named had not yet recovered from his great shock and could only nod stiffly.
"You, you, and you." Flora pointed at a few people casually, and when she turned around, the corner of her robe brushed across the back of Rumi's hand covered with cold sweat, crawling quickly like a snake.
"Come to the conference room."
The few people who were named were as if facing a great enemy. They forced themselves to ignore the soreness in their knees and walked in calmly with all their strength.
As soon as the heavy alloy door of the conference room was closed, the coffee machine in the tea room made a "beep" sound.
Rumi let out a long breath and leaned against the wall.
The coffee is finally ready.
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