Life would always find a way- even when it had no other choice.
And as members of "New Humanity" gradually revealed their individual advantages and added their influence to the mix, they were prying the old order apart from within and steadily taking the stage of this era. Seemingly minor changes and conflicts kept accumulating: the natural opposition between vested interests and the newly emerging "special class," the usual international geopolitical disputes-all of it seemed complicated, but against the current backdrop, it amounted to no more than a few waves breaking on the surface.
Beneath those waves, however, lay ocean currents slowly changing course.
Li Yun saw this very clearly.
There was no denying that the prize pool atop the powder keg was still growing.
Throughout this process, capital and power struggles among major nations, along with numerous ill-intentioned covert actors, were quietly fanning the flames. That was an indisputable fact.
In particular, once perceptive observers compared the vague statistical data, identified certain hidden, objective disparities, and publicized them-namely, the disproportionately high representation of "visitors from relatively developed regions" in the random draw, resulting from factors such as major nations' stability and individuals' cultural and educational backgrounds-many displaced outsiders began risking their lives to get inside those countries. While plenty of people still shrank back from the "threat" posed by forced true body missions, these refugees wanted only a better chance to change their fate.
Only those deprived of order and opportunity truly understood how precious both were.
Borders ran through mountains, across rivers, and behind barbed wire. But even if wire fences and walls could stop beasts, they could not stop living people who knew how to use their heads.
Smuggling routes had openly listed prices on the dark web, and people smugglers were even busier than legitimate travel