Chapter 154: Global Championship

The Fire God Squad had been having a relaxing time these past few days.

Jiang Kai had used two Deception Substitutes before, and now both had fully recovered. His injuries had also completely healed.

Zhuzi and Nuannuan had returned to peak condition. After Zhuzi's sword was cut off by Onoda Juro, Lu Dachaun delivered a new heavy sword.

The quality of this sword reached Second-Tier, Grade-One—already the highest quality among conventional weapons.

Hu Yan, after his enviable romantic encounter, had experienced a surge in strength.

Only Ruan Yu had been in the forest, comprehending Tai Chi Sword Intent.

The difficulty of Ruan Yu's training was actually quite high. Simple intoxication or chaotic consciousness didn't count as a focused mind. Only by reaching a deeper state of Drunken Reverie could he fully unleash the effects of Tai Chi Sword Intent.

And to enter this state, he needed a special trigger. Meaning repeated attempts.

During this process, even Jiang Kai and the others didn't dare step into Ruan Yu's training area lightly.

Who knew if this drunkard would recognize anyone when he got too wasted…

———

On this day, in the territory of Country A in South Part, a severely injured team was making its way back to the safe zone. However, they were ambushed by wild beasts along the way, and one of the team members accidentally fell into a canyon.

This was normally nothing unusual. However, two days later, when that fallen teammate miraculously survived and painfully opened his eyes—

He saw a faintly glowing Light Gate.

At the same time, all players in the Public Zone received a system notification:

[The conditions for the Global Championship (Preliminary) have been met. The tournament will officially begin in 48 hours!]

[Tournament Rules: Each country may send up to three five-person teams. Any country exceeding this limit will experience random instant deaths, resulting in permanent elimination.]

With only 48 hours left before the tournament started, the system issued another reminder.

Each country could only send three teams to participate.

Since exceeding the limit would trigger random deaths, players had no choice but to start withdrawing extra teams. After all, most teams were carefully structured, and losing even one member could drastically impact combat efficiency.

The moment the tournament rules were announced, chaos erupted in the Public Zone.

All countries began urgently evacuating surplus teams.

Originally, the Public Zone was bustling with people everywhere. But within a day, it became significantly quieter.

The remaining teams anxiously awaited the final launch of the tournament.

It was worth noting that the system had only given two rules so far:

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1. Only kills count as true eliminations.

2. There is a strict limit on the number of participants per country.

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As for the tournament format, the battle locations, and other details—no further system notifications had been provided.

As time passed, every team suffered through the agonizing 48-hour wait. But even as the final seconds ticked down, no new system messages appeared.

Just as everyone was utterly confused—

Bright beams of white light suddenly shone in every camp.

The next moment, without any warning, all participants were mysteriously teleported to unfamiliar locations.

And at last, the system notification arrived:

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[The Global Championship (Preliminary) has officially begun.]

[At the start of the match, all participants will be randomly teleported to various locations and given 10 minutes of preparation time during which they are immune to all damage.]

[When the preparation time ends, one random member of each team will be "Imprisoned", unable to move. They can be killed, moved, or "redeemed" by others.]

[If an Imprisoned teammate is killed, another random team member will immediately be Imprisoned, continuing until the entire team is eliminated.]

[Eliminating a non-national opponent grants a "Redemption Card." Five Redemption Cards can free one Imprisoned teammate.]

[Every two hours, one additional team member will be Imprisoned.]

[As the tournament progresses, large numbers of elite wild beasts will appear at the outer edges of the Public Zone, gradually shrinking the battle area.]

[The tournament will conclude when only three teams remain. Ranking will be determined based on the number of "free" team members and remaining Redemption Cards.]

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Upon seeing the final tournament rules, everyone was stunned.

"Wait, we're all getting randomly teleported at the start, and someone gets instantly Imprisoned? If that person happens to spawn near enemies, they're dead for sure!"

"Every two hours, one more teammate gets locked down? This difficulty is insane!"

"This system is testing both individual strength and overall team coordination. Any weak link could doom an entire squad!"

As players were still digesting the shocking rules, the system's countdown had already begun:

[Preparation Time Countdown: 600 seconds remaining!]

The tournament had begun before anyone was ready.

———

Jiang Kai found himself at the base of a small hill.

Yuan Zhu, Nuannuan, Ruan Yu, and Hu Yan were nowhere to be seen.

Not far away, several figures moved within the forest. Likely members of other teams.

Since they were in the preparation phase and immune to damage, those players didn't attack him. Instead, they ran in the opposite direction.

"Wait, someone's about to get randomly Imprisoned!"

Jiang Kai suddenly recalled the rule.

With no teammates around, if he got chosen, he'd be a sitting duck, completely defenseless.

"What kind of ridiculous rules are these?", Cursing under his breath, Jiang Kai quickly scanned his surroundings.

The safest move was to find an isolated spot to wait and see if he would be the unlucky one.

Wasting no time, Jiang Kai dashed away.

However, with nearly 300 teams (totaling 1,500 players) scattered across the Public Zone, there weren't many places truly safe from others.

With no better option, Jiang Kai climbed a dense tree, using its thick foliage as cover.

Meanwhile, Su Nuannuan had good luck, she found a cave and quickly sealed the entrance.

"I wonder who'll get Imprisoned…", she murmured.

———

At that same moment, deep in prayer:

Jiang Kai nervously wished, "Please don't let it be me… Zhuzi, Zhuzi, Zhuzi, get Imprisoned!"

Yuan Zhu, hiding in a narrow gap between two boulders, muttered under his breath, "Not me, not me, not me… Jiang Kai's the clever one, he should be the one to get Imprisoned!"

Hu Yan, curled up beneath a rock, whispered, "Ruan Yu should get Imprisoned!"

Meanwhile, Ruan Yu, buried under a pile of fallen leaves, was confidently chanting, "Hu Yan should get Imprisoned!"

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