"Day four."
Counting the days, Lin Xiaoran realized that four days had passed before she knew it in the dangerous National Fortune Game instance.
Time seemed to have flown.
Over the past few days, Lin Xiaoran had mostly followed Issho on the road, hunted beasts, practiced basic swordsmanship, and practiced her Press-Press Fruit powers. She had been busy and worked hard, but she had been safe, never encountering any danger.
Also, as of today, only 27 of the 200 challengers remained.
Apart from Lin Xiaoran, a large portion of the other 26 had been deliberately sought out by Andrei and his group to help deal with her. Only that had allowed them to cross the beasts' blockade and survive safely until today.
As for another dozen or so people, beasts had eliminated them outright before they could meet Andrei's main group. There had been nothing they could do.
"Master, they seem to be waiting for us along the way. Should we charge straight through?"
In Lin Xiaoran's and Issho's perception, 26 challengers had set up an ambush ahead of them on the route to the finish.
Reaching the finish was not the key to victory. That location had been provided to push all the challengers into fighting as they headed toward the center, thereby determining first place.
As the map's safe zone shrank, by the fifth day, even if only two people remained alive, they would essentially be able to see each other because they would be so close.
In other words, Lin Xiaoran was not very far from the other challengers now.
"There's no rush to go over." Lin Xiaoran had no intention of acting immediately, because she had sensed a beast with a powerful presence on the map. If her guess was right, it should be the only A-rank beast in this round.
An A-rank beast was worth 1,000 points!
Taking it down would match everything Lin Xiaoran had earned over the previous two days.
"Uncle Issho, can you take care of that A-rank beast?"
"You mean that spider?" Clearly, Issho knew what Lin Xiaoran meant.
"That's right!"
"No problem. Its presence is about the same as the Sea Kings in the Calm Belt. I can handle it," Issho said confidently after assessing the A-rank beast's strength.
"Sea Kings? In that case, let's go there first."
The Sea Kings in the Calm Belt far surpassed those in the Grand Line in both size and strength. Something like the Lord of the Coast was only as big as an earthworm before them, too small to see.
Even the Navy, one of the strongest institutions and forces on the seas, had not dared enter or leave the Calm Belt lightly before developing warships fitted with Seastone to conceal them from Sea Kings and allow them to cross.
But even with those warships, they could not claim to have conquered the Calm Belt.
If they encountered Sea Kings, only Admirals and the stronger Vice Admirals could handle them.
Thus, this A-rank beast posed a massive threat to every challenger and every country in the world today!
At best, cities would be destroyed and people killed; at worst, nations would fall!
Just imagine how terrifying it would be if ten thousand Sea Kings, each as large as an island, appeared in the human world!
At the very least, Country R and Country H would definitely be finished!
[What are they talking about?!]
[Going after... an A-rank beast?!]
[Uncle Issho sounds pretty confident?]
[I still think it's a little risky. Don't they already know where the other challengers are? Why not just end the game early?!]
[Don't worry! Trust Student Lin's and Uncle Issho's judgment!]
[Right! Believe in them!]
Country R: [Hahaha, this is killing me! This is the first time I've seen anyone actively seek death!]
The U.S.: [What is this? They've gotten cocky! Especially that Heroic Spirit, actually leading his own Master to her death!]
E Country: [Hey, Lin Xiaoran, whatever you do, don't get killed by a beast! Wouldn't that make all our Andrei's planning a waste?]
Country H: [Dying to a beast would be best! Then our Park Bu would have a chance to win!]
Although Lin Xiaoran's and Issho's terrifying performance had left viewers from every country worrying whether the united challengers could defeat them, that did not stop them from mocking her actions to their hearts' content now. They even hoped she would capsize and die beneath a beast's feet!
Only then would their challengers have a chance to win!
Country H's viewers in particular had tremendous faith in Park Bu's Heroic Spirit. They believed that without the threat of Lin Xiaoran, Park Bu could face the remaining twenty challengers all by himself!
Even Andrei's Barbarian King would be no match for their army of thousands!
As viewers throughout Country L worried, Lin Xiaoran and Issho took down another two B-rank beasts before finally reaching the vicinity of the A-rank beast.
To get here, Lin Xiaoran had even deliberately taken a detour to avoid Andrei's group.
"An A-rank beast really is something."
Though mist filled her vision, Lin Xiaoran had already clearly "seen" its power.
The viewers were puzzled, and their curiosity grew.
Soon, as Lin Xiaoran and Issho advanced, the visible range, originally only five meters, suddenly expanded. As though a stain had been wiped off the lens, the entire livestream became clear and clean, making everyone's eyes light up.
Through Lin Xiaoran's livestream perspective, they could see that the entire street ahead, along with several neighboring streets, was free of mist.
Across the whole area ahead, the exteriors of every building and tower were wrapped in densely packed white spider silk. Threads also connected the high-rises, blotting out the sky.
Perhaps to give viewers a direct look at the A-rank beast's power, the National Fortune Game raised the camera into an aerial view.
Then, to every viewer's horror, what covered all the streets and buildings within that visible area turned out to be one enormous spiderweb!
[What a huge web!]
[Hiss!]
[A single strand is over a meter thick! I can't even imagine how big this beast is!]
[Can Uncle Issho handle it? If not, hurry and leave while you can!]
[Exactly! It's only a thousand points! There's no need to risk your life like this, Student Lin!]
The livestream's images frightened the viewers speechless, and they worried even more about Lin Xiaoran's safety, afraid she would act too rashly and throw away the enormous advantage she had worked so hard to gain!
After all, Lin Xiaoran had already broken the National Fortune Game's challenger record. There really was no need to take such risks!
Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoran could not see their bullet comments, so she would not simply leave.
"So many spiders!"
Countless little spiders crawled over the meter-thick strands and through the corners of nearby buildings.
The farther up they went, the larger the spiders became. There were even F-rank spiders!
In other words, the higher the webs were above the ground, the stronger the spiders and the higher their ranks became!
More importantly, this A-rank beast's lair was truly enormous!
With such a vast territory, the beast itself would be huge too. In any case, Lin Xiaoran had already sensed an enormous spider lurking high in the distance, deep within the densely tangled white silk, occupying the center of the web.
"Uncle Issho, using swordsmanship alone would probably mean cutting for ages." Lin Xiaoran clicked her tongue in wonder.
"Not necessarily. If the great swordsman Hawk Eyes were here instead, one slash would do it. But I'm not that capable, so I'll still have to rely on my fruit power," Issho said, shaking his head.
Honestly, never mind the great swordsman Hawk Eyes-even any one of the previous generation's Three Admirals could have handled this effortlessly, without the strength to blow away a speck of dust.
Of course, Issho was no slouch either.
"In that case, Uncle Issho, finish it in one go. Let's give the only A-rank beast here a present before we leave."
"A parting gift? Understood."
Issho nodded with a smile. This was his signature move.
With that, Uncle Issho gripped his sword in reverse, crouched slightly, and abruptly drew it from its sheath!
Hum!
With a vibration, several purple rings appeared around Issho and shot into the sky before disappearing!
Issho sheathed his sword. "Let's go."
"Let's go!"
Standing on a rock, the two quickly flew away.
Their actions left the viewers completely baffled.
[Wait, what are they doing?]
[A day trip to an A-rank beast's lair?]
[Also, what do they mean by a parting gift? Why are they leaving already?]
[What about the A-rank beast? They're leaving before we've even seen what it looks like?]
[Huh? Haven't Student Lin and Uncle Issho already left? Why is the camera still here?!]
Suddenly, the livestream camera, which had remained there, rose again into a god's-eye view.
Just as the viewers were puzzling over it, a fiery light pierced the clouds and descended from the heavens!
The fiercely burning flames and the meteor hurtling along at tremendous speed under the earth's gravitational pull produced a piercing noise!
Even the air itself trembled!
[Th-th-this... this is a meteor!!]
[You've got to be kidding! How can there be a meteor inside a game instance?!]
[Wait! Could this be the "parting gift" Student Lin and Uncle Issho mentioned?!!]
[Who gives someone a meteor as a gift?! Aaaah!!]
[Someone tell me! Why can Uncle Issho's gravity-controlling power pull down a meteor from outer space?!]
[What kind of monster is he?!]
Country L's viewers went wild!
The scene was so stunning that they could hardly believe Issho had summoned this meteor, even though they had personally witnessed him draw his sword earlier.
Viewers from the other countries were even more frantic than those in Country L.
Although they had known Issho might still have some trump card or ultimate move he had not used, the ultimate move they had imagined was merely him using gravity to lift a building!
Who could have known he could summon a meteor?!
Was this a joke?!
How the hell were they supposed to fight that?!
The other challengers might as well forfeit and eliminate themselves!
An alliance! A plan targeting Lin Xiaoran!
What a joke! It was enough to make someone die laughing!
At that moment, viewers from other countries felt as though their faces were being slapped over and over, stinging fiercely!
So humiliating! So disgraceful! So hopeless!
Lin Xiaoran! Why was your Heroic Spirit so overpowered?! It was infuriating!
The National Fortune Analysis Bureau.
Silence filled the command room.
Jiang Jiayou raised his head and exchanged looks with Che Yisi, Han Wenju, and the other staff members opposite him. They all saw the shock in one another's eyes!
"Simply unbelievable!" Jiang Jiayou took a deep breath, desperately wanting to calm the excitement and fervor within him, but his body trembled uncontrollably!
"Yes! I feel like I'm dreaming!"
"Whew! Student Lin is incredible! She actually summoned such a powerful Heroic Spirit!"
"We're going to win! We're definitely going to win!"
"Exactly! They thought they could unite the challengers against Student Lin! They're all clowns!"
"Hahaha! This feels great!!"
Inside the game instance.
As the meteor rapidly approached, its incomparably immense pressure began crushing everything beneath it!
At that moment, deep behind the concealing silk at the center of the gigantic web shrouding the city's buildings, the A-rank beast, the Deadly Poison Spider King, opened its eyes. Every hair on its body stood straight up, trembling slightly.
Its innate animal sensitivity to danger made the Deadly Poison Spider King sense a lethal threat. It hurriedly crawled out of the web and climbed to the very top, looking up at the sky. A fiery red glow reflected in its pitch-black eyes!
The spiders below reacted the same way. Whether D-rank, E-rank, F-rank, or the little spiders, they all erupted into motion, frantically crawling outward. Instinct told them that if they wanted to live, they had to leave this area immediately!!
With the Deadly Poison Spider King emerging of its own accord, the viewers finally saw what the A-rank beast looked like.
Its enormous body stood on the web like a giant monster from a movie! Merely looking at it inspired fear!
But now, the one that needed to fear was this Deadly Poison Spider King!
Like the other little spiders, the Spider King glanced at the sky, then immediately sprang up and leaped away from the web's center. Its twelve legs scrambled rapidly as it fled madly!
But it was already too late.
This was no free-falling meteor. Issho had used his power to pull it down, making it several times faster than one in free fall!
Almost as soon as the Deadly Poison Spider King sensed danger, the enormous meteor was already halfway down the sky.
Barely a second or two after it began fleeing, the meteor struck the web.
The strands, each over a meter thick, melted instantly beneath the flames' intense heat.
Then the meteor hit the ground and exploded.
There was only a boom!
The surrounding webs, the Deadly Poison Spider King, the other little spiders, and the nearby buildings and high-rises were all melted, collapsed, and sent flying by the explosion!
In mere moments, everything was obliterated by the shock wave!
Far away.
While Andrei and the others lay in ambush, waiting for Lin Xiaoran, the ground suddenly shook.
"An earthquake?" Park Bu asked in confusion.
"Natural disasters sometimes happen in game instances. It's perfectly normal," Andrei explained.
"Why hasn't Lin Xiaoran arrived yet?"
As they spoke, a powerful blast of air swept toward them, nearly dispersing the thick mist around them.
The blast also carried heat. Andrei and the others almost lost their footing, and for a moment their breathing grew hurried and oxygen-starved.
"What's going on?! Where was that explosion?!"
"What kind of natural disaster is this?!"
"How should I know?!" Andrei shouted.
"Wait! That direction... that's where the A-rank beast is!"