Cheng Shuang's caution was not wrong, but the other party was obviously a step ahead. In a room that resembled a monitoring room, the scene of the little girl obediently doing her homework was playing out.
The monitoring room, which was usually sparsely populated, was now filled with men and women in uniforms, their eyes fixed on the same frame of the screen, intently watching.
Two young women kept muttering to themselves, "So cute! She's so cute!"
"Look at her little hands, look at her little feet, her cheeks are rosy and she's very healthy!"
"Twelve years old? He seems a bit thin."
"You're so good! You actually did your homework on your own!"
"Is this... a primary or junior high school math problem?" A man tried to zoom in on the image, but for some reason, his hand froze in mid-air and then withdrew. He clicked his tongue. "My son's math problems were simpler than this, and that brat still failed me."
"Hehe, my daughter gets 100 every year!"
The group chattered amongst themselves about the various breakdowns they experienced while helping their children with their homework, which eased the somber atmosphere somewhat. However, it wasn't long before one of them said with a wry smile, "If my child could live to go to school, I would rather accompany him to review every day!"
The air fell silent.
Suddenly the door was pulled open, and Edren strode in, followed by Linda.
Edren was very unhappy with his men slacking off and scolded them, "What's going on! Are you all gathered here not going to work? Do you think the Master gave you ageless faces and bodies so you could eat and drink your fill and chat about trashy things? Get out of here, all of you!"
The group of people tensed up, their eyes filled with awe. They responded in unison, turned around and left decisively. Even those who were supposed to stay in the monitoring room rushed out in a panic.
"This is far too lax!" Edren said discontentedly. "Did they think that just because there are invaders, the Lord would completely let humanity go?!"
Linda didn't speak; her gaze was drawn to the child in the corner of the screen.
Taking a few steps closer, she said in a somber tone, "If my brother were that good at math, we wouldn't have argued back then, and he wouldn't have impulsively run away from home."
"Enough!" Edren roared. "What's going on?! A little kid, causing such unrest! She's not one of us, she's an alien invader!"
“But they are human beings too!” Linda couldn’t help but retort.
Edren abruptly turned his head to look at her, his eyes filled with a hint of ferocity. "Humans? Do we humans have superpowers? Do people on Earth have superpowers? Have you forgotten those invaders? They used us as pawns back then, causing all those hiding in the shadows to die, all of them!" If they had superpowers, would this world still be like this? Would their resistance still be a futile joke?
"People are not all the same, and there are bad people everywhere!"
In the past, Linda would never have uttered such naive words. Edren was utterly enraged; he even regretted his words of advice in the arena.
He took a step closer to Linda, their stubborn eyes meeting, neither willing to back down.
Edren slammed his fist on the screen, his hoarse voice roaring, "Linda, you're the only doctor on this floor! Don't make me report you!"
After making the threat, he turned and left, leaving Linda alone in the monitoring room, her eyes filled with despair and sorrow.
The original Edren wasn't like this. He was courageous and responsible; he was an inextinguishable beacon in their hearts. But to save the lives of the remaining humans, he bent his steely body and became a dog in front of the master, and an unappreciated one at that.
If she could, Linda would rather they die on the battlefield, but there are still people behind them who need protection. They cannot act impulsively, nor can they escape through death.
Taking a deep breath, Linda glanced one last time at the girl who was still diligently working on her problems at her desk, then turned and left.
Everyone can be soft-hearted, except for them; they have neither the right nor the means.
Cheng Shuang was unaware that a minor disagreement had broken out between Edlen and Linda because of her. After doing practice problems for forty minutes, she rubbed her rumbling stomach, took out a large meal from her storage compartment, and ate her fill.
After resting for a while, she categorized the weapons she could use into different levels in her spatial grid, leaving the most powerful firearms for last. Because of Edlun's leak of the questions, she planned to use the Tang sword given to her by Sister Yuewei in the first round, combined with Luo An's speed, to keep a low profile and pretend to be weak while actually being strong.
She hadn't seen any spectator seats in the arena, so it was highly likely that the 'Master' wouldn't be there in person.
Since there's a gun-shaped scanner, there must also be some kind of live streaming system!
The little girl wasn't afraid of a life-or-death duel; what she feared was that in the end, the "Master" would never have appeared, but could control their lives and deaths remotely.
With the intention of getting information out of her, Cheng Shuang was led out of the house by Edlun. As they walked down the corridor, before she could say anything, Edlun, who looked increasingly gloomy, suddenly spoke up, "Don't do anything unnecessary in the cell, unless you want your spatial devices to be restricted!"
Cheng Shuang's eyes flickered. She wasn't intimidated by the fierce Edren, but she also didn't take advantage of his past 'soft-heartedness' to act recklessly. The young girl always knew how to read people's expressions. She could tell that Edren was truly angry, and there was a hint of murderous intent in his eyes as he looked at her.
She nodded obediently, "I'm not doing my homework anymore!"
Edren didn't react and continued walking away with his head turned away. After a while, he said, "If you want to see your companions, you can apply to participate in more duels. Only after you win against your opponents and reach the fifth floor will you be qualified to choose your companions."
Cheng Shuang nodded obediently again, without asking any unnecessary questions. What good would it do to ask? Edlun was currently in a state of discontent, and would either be ridiculed or ignored. It was better to remain quiet and save herself the trouble of talking.
Moreover, this time, Edren's suggestion was not like the previous ones, which were made with weak pity and no purpose.
Cheng Shuang didn't know what had happened, but she was certain that Edlun probably preferred her to die in the arena or win a few rounds to leave the first level.
The long corridor eventually came to an end. A woman stood in front of the closed gate, her slender and tall figure wrapped in a white coat. When she saw Edlen, she paused in her steps to greet Cheng Shuang.
Edren gave her no chance; the instant the gate opened, he grabbed Cheng Shuang by the collar and threw her inside.
Caught off guard, Cheng Shuang rolled straight to the center of the arena. Before she could turn around, the sound of the gate hitting the ground came loudly from behind. One after another, flying machines half the size of drones hovered above her head. Then, her face was slammed against the wall surrounding the arena, as if projected onto a screen, completely capturing her situation.
Compared to the empty arena, the little girl's figure appeared even more disheveled and helpless, her eyes filled with a bewildered innocence, like a young animal that had wandered into human society, evoking pity.
Soon, several aircraft flew away from her, and the gate was activated.
Cheng Shuang slowly stood up, her eyes changing as she did so; her battle was about to begin.
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