94. The Abyssal Maw

As the competition commenced, hundreds of drones were released into the sky above the arena to capture footage. Naturally, the organizers would dedicate most of their camera time to the more distinctive teams. Those mercenary squads who crouched down and hid from the start—the so-called “crawling worms”—would likely go unseen throughout the entire event.

“Let’s see what the contestants are up to!” At Flavi’s command, the live feed began to switch randomly between scenes.

In a desert ruin, the three members of the Gunslinger Devils—gun-modified cyborgs—wove between crumbling stone pillars, advancing while hunting for opponents.

The Triune Fusion team wandered across the sands, their three zombie-like heads arguing incessantly, causing their massive body to spin in place:
“This is infuriating! Those two women dared to mock us! I want to kill them right now!”
“Hold on, we’re still in the match. Don’t forget our dream!”
“Let’s turn left! I have a feeling there are enemies that way!”
“I think there are enemies to the right as well!”
“So should we go left first, or right?”
“Let’s go back and kill those two idols!”
“Shut up!” x2

Flavi signaled for the director to change the feed, and the scene quickly shifted to the Tyrannosaur Cavalry team. Three riders astride red dinosaurs sped across the sands, heading directly toward where the Fox Sword Glasses team was concealed, as revealed by the drones’ footage.

“Oh, oh, oh! The positioning beams haven’t even dropped, and two teams have already encountered each other!” Flavi waved his hands excitedly. “Is the battle about to begin? Will they fight?! Come on, let the audience taste the sweet scent of blood!”

Chen Shang and his two teammates hid behind a ruin, eyes fixed on the rapidly approaching dragon cavalry.

“Come out, I know you’re here!” The three riders drew their submachine guns and sprayed bullets into the ruins.

“Hey, hey, hey! How did they spot us?” White Fox shrank his neck, his ears twitching in anxiety.

Chen Shang pondered, then said, “Probably thermal imaging.”

With that, he and Swordbro simultaneously looked at White Fox.

“Alright, alright! I get it—it’s my fault, isn’t it?” White Fox smoothed his upright ears and drew a pistol from his thigh. “I’ll deal with them!”

“I’ll go too.” Swordbro hefted his weapon.

“Then I’ll cheer you on from behind~” Chen Shang balled his fists, encouraging his teammates.

“You...!” White Fox glared at Chen Shang in annoyance, but Swordbro, unfazed, charged out of the ruins toward the three riders.

Swordbro had long realized Chen Shang wasn’t skilled in combat, but was more of a leader and strategist. In truth, Chen Shang’s fighting ability already surpassed most peers, but at the end of the day, he was just a high schooler—no match for these deadly experts.

The tall man in mechanical armor used his greatsword as a shield. Powered by his armored suit, he barreled toward the dragon cavalry like a tank. White Fox followed closely, quietly unzipping his sleeve.

The three riders aimed their submachine guns at the two contestants and fired. Bullets rattled against Swordbro’s blade with a metallic patter. The magazine was emptied in moments. As the riders prepared to reload, a severed arm flew toward them, tracing a perfect arc in the air.

“Dodge! It’s going to explode!” The Tyrannosaur Cavalry clearly knew their opponents’ tricks, yanking their reins and scattering their dinosaurs to evade.

Boom—

The arm landed in the sand, kicking up a three-meter wave of dust. Though the riders escaped the blast zone in time, they were showered in sand, both riders and dinosaurs blinded.

“Calm down! Red Pill, calm down!” One rider, ignoring the sand in his eyes, tried to soothe his frenzied, blinded dinosaur. “Boss, let’s retreat!”

He barely finished speaking before Swordbro was upon him, raising his heavy sword to cleave his head. With the crack of bone, the rider and his dinosaur were chopped in two, flesh flying everywhere.

White Fox, not to be outdone, severed his newly grown arm and tossed it at another rider’s face.

Boom—

The rider was blasted off his dinosaur, which shrieked in pain and fled in panic.

The last rider managed to clear his eyes, only to see his teammates dead and gone. Panicked, he tugged the reins, urging his dinosaur to flee.

Just then, the dinosaur abruptly froze, staring warily ahead.

“Move! What are you doing?” The rider yanked the reins, shouting anxiously.

He failed to notice Chen Shang, with his pheromone suppressor activated, already standing before him with a cheerful smile, submachine gun raised.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—

A flash of gunfire, and the final rider and his dinosaur erupted in bloody blossoms, collapsing with cries of agony.

“I didn’t expect our ‘Fox Sword Glasses team’ to eliminate the Tyrannosaur Cavalry so quickly!” Flavi watched the drone footage, dancing with excitement. “No wonder this is the team I favor—keep up the good work!”

“Um... I think you should call them the ‘Phantom Thief team,’” the dragonmaid beside him whispered, unable to bear it.

“I think just calling them the White Fox team is fine~” Ameng chimed in with a strange suggestion from the TV.

Chen Shang had named his team “Phantom Thief” to keep a low profile, avoid attention. His goals were only twofold: to topple the Xu Corporation and obtain the genetic repair serum. Fame, popularity, and wealth held no appeal for him.

After defeating the Tyrannosaur Cavalry, dozens of yellow positioning beams suddenly descended from the sky, illuminating every contestant’s location.

“All right, the first wave of positioning beams is down! Next, let’s see how the other teams are doing!” Flavi switched perspectives and shouted excitedly, “The Sacred Blade, Oni, and Kabuda teams have encountered each other, weapons loaded—they’re preparing for a brawl! Wait, the Fusion Monster team has stumbled into the fray as well—could this match devolve into a four-way melee?!”

On screen, the gigantic Fusion Monster burst into the battlefield with the three mercenary teams, its zombie-like eyes sweeping over nine enemies.

“Should we deal with it first?” a Kabuda mercenary ceased fire and suggested to the other teams.

“Agreed, let’s take out the monster first!” The others concurred, raising their rifles and unleashing a hail of bullets at the distant creature.

These mercenaries knew the wisdom of “joining forces to eliminate the strongest enemy.” Their marksmanship was superb, and the monster’s massive bulk made it an easy target; bullets riddled its bloated flesh, not a shot wasted.

Soon, the giant monster was riddled with holes, its rainbow-colored blood oozing from the wounds and sending up foul-smelling smoke from the sand.

“It hurts! They’re shooting us!” one head growled.

“Eat them!”

“Alright!”

The three heads instantly agreed, and its multitude of legs began moving swiftly in one direction.

“Damn, it’s still alive?” a mercenary exclaimed in shock.

The monster’s belly split open, revealing a gaping maw lined with rib-bone teeth, green stomach acid drooling out.

In the next moment, a thick intestine shot from its mouth like a frog’s tongue, ensnaring a mercenary.

“Help! Help!” The unfortunate man barely had time to cry out before the stinking intestine wrapped around him, dragging him into the monster’s belly maw.

The horrifying jaws snapped shut, the monster’s body squirming. The other mercenaries, realizing he was done for, showed no intention to help, instead spreading out and continuing to fire.

“That’s terrifying. If it were me, I’d rather be shot dead than eaten like that!” Flavi instinctively shrank, the petals atop his head quivering. “Let’s check how the other teams are doing!”

The feed switched. The heavily modified cyborg team, Gunslinger Devils, had also encountered a mercenary squad. After a brief exchange, the mercs were obliterated by the cyborgs’ heavy firepower, not even scraps left behind.

Elsewhere, the three members of the Kunlun team struggled after being ambushed by mercenaries. But their Daoist quickly regained his rhythm, skillfully manipulating his mechanical flying sword to decapitate an enemy with lightning speed.

The Confucian then activated his mighty scroll, transforming into an iron colossus and charging the mercenaries, twisting off two more heads.

The cloak-wearing man in the Peking opera mask merely watched from behind, not joining the fray.

“It looks like the match is heading for its climax! Once the number of contestants drops below half, Radiant Bird Corporation will unlock the ‘Explosive Segment’ for this event!” Flavi raised both hands, his excitement echoing across the arena: “Audience members, remember to scan the QR code at the bottom of the screen to participate in our quiz activity! But first, let’s run a commercial break...”

“Huh? A commercial now?” The dragonmaid tilted her head in confusion. “Won’t the audience complain?”

“Hehehe... White Fox, my lady...” Ameng giggled foolishly at the screen.