As the fully enclosed energy shield over the Central Main Plaza slowly descended, the first stage's mass melee officially came to an end.
The bloody meat grinder ground to a halt.
Hundreds of specialized Military Medical Drones roared in overhead, their underside nozzles opening wide. Pale green restorative mist poured down like a torrential rain, engulfing the entire plaza in an instant.
"Huff... huff..."
The ten thousand recruits who had survived no longer cared how they looked or whether they were leaving themselves exposed.
Most collapsed like fish out of water onto the blood-smeared alloy floor, greedily gulping down the costly restorative mist.
The potent medicine entered their lungs with every breath, rapidly replenishing their depleted Blood Energy and repairing their torn muscles.
During this precious hour of rest, every second of recovery could decide what happened next.
Li Tai and Xu Bo lay on either side of Jiang Yue, their chests heaving as they savored the relief of having survived.
Both had taken plenty of hits, but with Jiang Yue and Shen Qing covering them, they had made it through the hellish elimination round.
Jiang Yue sat cross-legged on a relatively clean patch of ground, his eyes half-closed.
On the surface, he looked like the other recruits: drained and struggling to recover in the mist.
But beneath his dull, lusterless Skin Membrane, a ravenous feast was underway!
The Gluttony trait had surged to full power the instant it touched the restorative mist.
The pale green medicinal mist was precious, but ordinary recruits could absorb thirty percent of it at most. The rest escaped through their breath and sweat.
Jiang Yue was different.
Gluttony's ruthless stripping ability burned away the impurities in the mist he inhaled, turning it into the purest Life Essence. Without a sound, and without wasting a