Chapter 422 - 381: The Finals Begin

Chapter 422: Chapter 381: The Finals Begin

February 22nd. Today is the last day of the Rule Stage.

The "Grand Tournament" held by the Soloma Empire was also about to enter its final stage.

The venue for the finals had been moved to the Capital’s largest event center. Before the competition officially began, a long line of beautiful women and handsome men took the stage to warm up the crowd, dancing and singing their hearts out.

The venue, which could hold tens of thousands, was packed to the rafters. Even with ticket prices scalped to several times their original cost, countless Ascenders were still willing to pay.

Many audience members who had taken their seats held beers and sodas in one hand and jumbo tubs of popcorn in the other, as if they were there to watch a movie or a regular sporting event.

Some had even brought braised meats and other cooked foods, earning them sideways glances from those around them. Once the match started and they saw the competitors tearing each other to bloody shreds, would they still have the stomach for meat?

With some time to spare before the competition started, the seated audience members began chatting with those around them.

"Hey, buddy, did you snag this ticket yourself or buy it from a scalper?"

"I snagged it myself! The finals tickets were in such high demand, I almost didn’t get one!"

"Haha, I got mine myself too. Hey, man in front, did you get your ticket yourself?"

The Ascender in the front seat turned around and sighed. "My luck sucks; I didn’t get one. I had to pay a scalper three times the price... It stings to lose the Sublimation Coins, but this is the finals! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so it’s worth it."

The young man in the seat next to him laughed. "Three times the price? That must be several hundred coins. You’re loaded. I could never afford that much."

"Did you get your ticket yourself?"

"Scalper, too."

"Then how could you afford it if you—"

"I borrowed the money."

"Borrowed???"

The group was a bit stunned. You could borrow Sublimation Coins?

The young man roared with laughter. "Haven’t you heard? There are institutions now that lend Sublimation Coins. The higher your Psychic Power limit, the bigger your credit line! I figured I’d borrow it, spend it, and enjoy myself now. Whether I can pay it back is a problem for later. Besides, if I die in the next Rule Stage, who cares about paying it back!"

"..."

The other audience members fell silent. They hadn’t expected that institutions for lending Sublimation Coins already existed.

Still, they knew that being able to borrow so many Sublimation Coins meant the young man’s Psychic Power limit must be quite high, giving him a good chance of surviving for a long time. Otherwise, the lenders would have deemed him too high-risk and refused the loan.

「In a VIP Suite.」

The scions of various powerful families were scattered among different suites, with the best one occupied by a group of top-tier youths centered around the King’s daughter, Ishan.

Ishan gazed at the large, circular stage specially constructed in the arena, her curiosity piqued. "It’s only been a few days, and they’ve already built a whole ring. They really spared no effort."

"They say the organizers did it to give the audience a more thrilling view," someone immediately explained. "I heard the ring is made of a high-strength, non-conductive metal to make sure it can withstand the action."

Another person added, "They definitely needed sturdy materials. The previous venue was full of pits and craters after less than ten matches. It was practically unusable."

"Speaking of which, I wonder who will take the championship today?"

"Miss Ishan, you must be rooting for that white-haired guy with the ability to control Thunder, right?"

Ishan nodded slightly. She did, in fact, have high hopes for the young man.

"That guy is definitely a top contender," someone said. "Ever since the first round, when he instantly killed the other fourteen in his group, everyone in his bracket has ganged up on him in every subsequent round. The fact that he still made it to the finals shows just how powerful he is."

The others nodded in agreement.

To be ganged up on by the other fourteen people in his group every single round and still make it to today’s finals—his track record was truly exceptional.

Just then, another noble lady said, "It’s a shame about Miss Ishan’s brother... Otherwise, if he had competed, he would have surely taken first place."

Ishan’s expression darkened at the words, but she said nothing.

Everyone in the suite knew that Ishan’s brother had an accident during a previous Rule Stage, and they all fell silent.

Someone then changed the subject. "That Adam isn’t in the country right now, or he’d definitely have made it to the finals too, right?"

Already in low spirits, Ishan’s face suddenly contorted when she heard Adam’s name. "Shut up!" she snapped.

A few others in the group also looked uncomfortable.

"Ah... I’m sorry, Miss Ishan..."

The person apologized hastily, then retreated to a corner, completely confused about what had just happened.

Someone who knew a bit more of the story walked over and whispered, "You’ve got some nerve, kid, bringing up Adam in front of her."

"Do they have some kind of history??"

"I heard... Miss Ishan likes Adam. She pursued him, but he... ahem."

The person was stunned. "Adam rejected her? Is that guy out of his mind? How could he reject... His Majesty the King’s daughter?"

"Who knows what he was thinking."

"Hey, the match is about to start!"

On the metal stage, after the warm-up acts concluded, the host took the stage and greeted the crowd with overflowing enthusiasm.

"Hello to our audience here in the stadium and to everyone watching the livestream! Today is the last day of the Rule Stage and the final day of our Grand Tournament! Today, we will welcome our true, one and only champion! The King of the Tournament!"

"WOOOOOW!!!!!"

The whole stadium roared. Although the title ’King of the Tournament’ sounded a bit old-fashioned, in this context, it was incredibly thrilling, sending a surge of adrenaline through the audience.

The host struck while the iron was hot. "Our King of the Tournament will not only win all the points from the other contestants, helping them compete for the Rule Stage ranking rewards, but they will also receive a special prize from the tournament organizers! Please look at the big screen!"

A massive 10% appeared on the giant electronic screen.

"Ten percent of all ticket revenue from this event will be given to the King of the Tournament as the grand prize!"

"OH?!!!!"

The crowd instantly erupted. One-tenth of the ticket revenue was undoubtedly a massive sum of Sublimation Coins. Whoever won it would become fabulously wealthy in an instant!

In an era where Sublimation Coins could buy almost anything, every Ascender dreamed of striking it rich. With such a huge prize on the line, even if they couldn’t win it themselves, the mere prospect was a huge thrill.

"And now, let’s welcome the contestants for the final round to the stage!"

As the host’s voice faded, a total of eighteen Ascenders walked onto the stage, accompanied by dramatic music.

Out of the several thousand who had entered the competition, only eighteen remained. Each one was now famous, with a large following, and their appearance was met with a wave of cheers.

The white-haired young man favored by Ishan received the loudest cheers when he appeared. The calls for him to win were the strongest, and naturally, he had the most fans.

Nearly ten thousand contestants had participated this time. Each of these eighteen finalists had several hundred points to their name, and after the match, all those points would be consolidated onto one person.

Who would it be? Everyone waited with bated breath.

Since this was the finals, they couldn’t just start fighting immediately—it would be over too quickly and not be worth the ticket price. So, the host introduced the contestants one by one, building up the audience’s anticipation.

On stage, some of the contestants had grim expressions, while others were smiling. A few exchanged glances before collectively turning their hostile gazes toward the white-haired young man. His nickname, compared to the others, was quite plain: just "Peter."

The camera work was sharp, and the big screen clearly broadcast the exchange of glances and the hostile looks directed at the white-haired young man, drawing a number of boos from the crowd.

The live chat comments were also scrolling by frantically.

"Those guys aren’t even trying to hide it. Looks like they plan to gang up on Peter right from the start!"

"How shameless, ganging up on someone in the finals!"

"Peter has it so rough... He’s been ganged up on from the second round all the way to the finals..."

"Just a bunch of clowns. Watch our Thunder Tyrant fry them all!"

"Everyone who made it to the finals is skilled. It’s hard to say who will be the last one standing."

...

"Are you really interested in the outcome of the match?"

Shangyuan Zi walked into the lounge in the manor and saw Guan Tong sitting on the sofa watching the live broadcast on TV. She asked curiously.

"I’m just watching because I have nothing better to do."

Two days had passed, and all of Guan Tong’s wounds had healed.

Shi Jingyi had also used Teleportation Items to return to North Star yesterday. As a lecturer, she was responsible for her students and couldn’t just skip her classes.

However, Guan Tong had told her that with the collapse of Valery’s ’military-political-financial-espionage’ system, Yelena would soon be able to find her footing.

He told her he would return to North Star during the interval after this Rule Stage ended and before the next one was announced, and he would look for her then.

Shangyuan Zi looked at the packed crowd on the screen. "So many people enjoy watching a live slaughter?"

"Yup, and they even paid for it."

"...By the way, Sisiya’s competition ended yesterday. Yelena went to the venue to present the champion with their reward, but she didn’t seem to be in a very good mood."

Aside from Soloma, most other countries’ competitions had already ended a day or two ago.

This was because other countries held closed competitions. They had fewer participants, the entire event took place in a sealed venue, and no recordings were allowed to be distributed. As a result, the level of public attention was worlds apart from Soloma’s.

But the countries that chose closed competitions didn’t want excessive public attention in the first place; they just wanted to provide a legitimate path for Ascenders within their borders who wanted to compete for the rankings.

Guan Tong said, "The birth of one champion comes at the cost of hundreds or thousands of deaths. As the Governor, how could she possibly be in a good mood... But I believe she’ll be able to bounce back. After cleaning up the likes of Valery, this country will get better and better."

Shangyuan Zi nodded. Just then, the sound of ceremonial cannons—BANG! BANG!—erupted from the television. The host had left the stage, and the finals were about to officially begin.