Doomsday Spiritual Artifact Master

Chapter 40.1 – Bloody Ferrara (12)
◎Xiaoxing’s determination◎

 

“The heat of the Throne Race has escalated.”

Zhuang Qingyan flipped through Song Ke’s terminal, quickly browsing various news that were continuously fermenting. If, in the past, it was just a relatively popular medium-sized event within the Ferrara area, then starting from round 178 when Ilya appeared, the Throne Race Competition became a nationwide carnival.

The awakeners from the two adjacent C areas (C70, C71) and more than a dozen surrounding D areas were gearing up and coming here upon hearing the news.

Now, if you were to randomly throw a small stone onto the streets of Ferrara, it would probably hit two awakeners.

No one responded to his words.

Zhuang Qingyan raised his gaze, and Song Ke sat at the bedside, looking absent-minded with her short shoulder-length hair in disarray.

“What are you daydreaming about? Still thinking about what Ilya said to you?”

—”You and I, aren’t we the same?”

That night, in the dim player corridor, after leaving behind these profound words, Ilya disappeared on the spot.

Leaving Song Ke with a head full of question marks, her thoughts lost in the wind.

Zhuang Qingyan put down the terminal, his wheelchair slowly slid to the bedside, and then he leaned forward. The vibrant sunlight outside happened to shine through his back, casting him in backlight, highlighting his prominent brow bone and sensual thin lips. The two of them were only inches apart, and Zhuang Qingyan stared at Song Ke for several seconds.

Song Ke snapped out of it and stared back, puzzled. “What are you doing?”

Zhuang Qingyan’s lips curled slightly, and he shook his head slowly. “I dare not say anything else, but at the very least, you’re definitely not artificial intelligence.”

He retracted his upper body and lazily leaned back in his wheelchair. “From a general rational perspective, there shouldn’t be an AI like you.”

Before his words could settle, a shiny, flexible whip whizzed past his temple, landing heavily on the desk behind him, causing the pages of the books to rustle.

Song Ke puffed up her cheeks in frustration.

Just because she didn’t hear those middle words clearly, did he think she couldn’t hear them at all? Did he want to call her stupid?!

Zhuang Qingyan casually brushed away the severed hair strands, and he even had the mood to shake the blanket on his legs.

Alright, she’s not being absent-minded anymore, she’s full of life and energy now.

“Go freshen up and come back. We’ll talk about the competition.”

…

When Song Ke was washing up, Xu Xing entered with his hands behind his back, looking like a little lord.

Once inside Song Ke’s room, he lifted his chin, occasionally touched the bizarre short weapons at the foot of the bed, then helped tidy up the messy books on the table. Finally, he glanced at the annoying presence in the room, snorted arrogantly.

Zhuang Qingyan’s gaze landed on Song Ke’s terminal, ignoring him.

Xu Xing stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly asked, “Where’s your terminal?”

Zhuang Qingyan pointed with his fingertip.

“Aren’t you a researcher from some… some Lan’s group. Why didn’t you use your own terminal?”

Xu Xing was young, but he was quite intelligent. As he thought more about Zhuang Qingyan, he began to notice more and more things that didn’t add up.

Zhuang Qingyan was not an unknown person, nor was he from the technologically backward District F. Given his behavior, there was a high likelihood that he came from a big city. However, Xu Xing had never seen him use any communication device.

“Not only do you not use a terminal, but you also haven’t registered as an awakener. You definitely have a secret!”

If an ordinary person awakened their powers, they would be ecstatic and would rush to register, especially now, during the apocalypse, when awakeners enjoyed special privileges like changing districts. To officially register, one had to go to an awakener base belonging to the Alliance, take photos, and provide biological information. This would expose all personal privacy. Was Zhuang Qingyan intentionally avoiding registration for this reason?

“Oh? What secrets do I have? Tell me.”

Zhuang Qingyan said with a sly smile, clearly not feeling uneasy about his lies being exposed.

Xu Xing thought he had uncovered Zhuang Qingyan’s true identity and excitedly jumped up. “You’re a wanted criminal, that’s why you don’t want to leave any traces, and you don’t use communication devices to avoid revealing your whereabouts. Someone is after you!”

He taunted, with a mischievous grin. “I’m going to tell sister that you’re a bad person and ask her to get rid of you!”

Zhuang Qingyan raised an eyebrow, smiling ominously. “You’re right; I am indeed a wanted criminal.”

“Now that you know, I’ll have to eliminate you.”

At first, Xu Xing thought he was joking, but the air around him grew thinner, and an invisible force seemed to tighten around his neck. Xu Xing tried to summon his ice blades to resist, but his brain exploded with pain, and his powers couldn’t coalesce.

His face turned red, and his hair was soaked with sweat when Song Ke, with a wet towel on her face, returned.

“What’s going on here?” she asked.

The oppressive feeling instantly disappeared, and Xu Xing took a deep breath of fresh air, collapsing onto the bed.

Damn it, damn it! I can’t beat him!!

He became angrier the more he thought about it, feeling both frustrated and upset, and he started crying.

Song Ke turned to Zhuang Qingyan with a helpless look. “Don’t bully Xiaoxing.”

Zhuang Qingyan looked innocent. “How can you call it bullying? I’m just teaching Xiaoxing a lesson. Some things… can’t be said recklessly.”

Xu Xing: =皿=!!

“Have you finished washing up? Come and look at the profiles I’ve prepared for the contestants.”

Perhaps satisfied with the result of his “teaching” of Xu Xing, Zhuang Qingyan stopped teasing him, put on a serious expression, and said.

Song Ke sat down at the edge of the bed, and Xu Xing quickly moved closer, snuggling up against her thigh and keeping his distance from the smiling devil.

“The format for the main competition has been announced. Unlike the qualifiers where we had to advance, the first round is a battle royale. All participating teams will engage in a chaotic battle, with the top 64 teams advancing.”

“The qualifiers, which has already ended, consisted of a total of 192 rounds, with 130 teams successfully advancing. The following individual players or teams are interesting, you can pay attention to them.”

Zhuang Qingyan was a person with clear thinking and strong initiative. Since Song Ke decided to make the Throne Race a stable source of income for them during this period, they had to manage it well, plan ahead, and obtain maximum benefits at minimal cost.

“First, let’s talk about the most highly anticipated championship contenders.”

He gestured twice in the air, and the luxurious 24K projection immediately displayed the team’s information.

“Duanmu Qi, the captain of ‘Three Grandsons and One Grandpa.’ We’ve crossed paths with him before in Luli Port. Public records show that he is the only B-level awakener in the team, specializing in plant-type thorny vines, and he controls the group.”

Song Ke knew that Zhuang Qingyan wouldn’t randomly single out a B-level awakener without reason.

“Is the information… fake?”

Zhuang Qingyan shook his head. “Duanmu Qi is indeed a B-level awakener, but ‘Three Grandsons and One Grandpa’ has more than just him.”

“This is their qualifiers match video. As you can see, only Fan Peng and Qiong Mingcheng actually engaged in combat. Duanmu Qi and Xiao Chen seemed busy but only did some clean-up work.”

In the high-definition footage, the focal figures mentioned by Zhuang Qingyan indeed stood their ground. When Duanmu Qi’s thorns were deployed, they blocked most of the rush routes, and a total of 200 fierce zombies were eliminated by the other two team members alone.

As for Xiao Chen, he stood by with his arms crossed and never lifted a finger.

“Do you suspect that Xiao Chen is also a B-level?” Song Ke guessed.

“No,” Zhuang Qingyan’s eyes gleamed with a hidden light. “I suspect that all four of them are B-level.”

Song Ke and Xu Xing were both stunned, their mouths agape in sync.

Four B-level awakeners! This was no longer “Three Grandsons and One Grandpa”; it was clearly “Four Grandpas”!

“Their rate of points accumulation is rapid, and their competition goal is clear—aiming for qualification in District B.”

Less than a week after the chaotic battle for the mutated zombie in Luli Port, “Three Grandsons and One Grandpa” had climbed to a terrifying 2176 points on the Ferrara leaderboard, leaving the second-place team far behind, making them the envy of all awakener teams.

“For Duanmu Qi, winning the Throne Race is a sure thing.”

“By choosing such a team name, they’re focusing all the attention on Duanmu Qi and, in turn, ignoring the other three. In fact, Fan Peng, Qiong Mingcheng, and Xiao Chen are no pushovers, and their cooperation in Luli Port was seamless. If opponents underestimate these individuals because of this, they might take a big fall in the main event.”

Truly worthy of championship contenders, they were already playing mind games before the competition. Song Ke watched the projection screen, silently thinking that if they ever faced them in the future, she would have to be extremely vigilant.

“Next, ‘Shunxing Teahouse,’ the team with the oldest members in the competition.”

Song Ke glanced at the screen and suddenly exclaimed, “Hey, that old man looks familiar.”

“Mr. Xiang, real name unknown, abilities unknown. It is said that he keeps a group of talented individuals under his wing, including a spatial-type awakener.”

“The advantage of Shunxing Teahouse lies in its flexibility. You never know which abilities Mr. Xiang will deploy in this situation without any prior intelligence. You can only rely on improvisation.”

Song Ke nodded. She couldn’t underestimate her opponents either. After the apocalypse, age was no longer the standard for judging strength; it was all about abilities. She wasn’t clear about Mr. Xiang’s hidden cards, so she had to be careful when dealing with him.

“Next is the ‘Anna Knights,’ all members are mechanical modifications.”

The style of this team was somewhat similar to Bartel, whose head had been smashed by a mutated zombie named Zhang Lei. It combined the cold mechanical bodies with human muscle tissue, creating a cruel and violent aesthetic.

“Next…”

Zhuang Qingyan went on to explain in detail about more than a dozen teams, and she wondered how he managed to do it. He had watched all 192 rounds of the competition in just two nights and had recorded all the participants’ information. With a quick glance at the intelligence, he could speak fluently. This person’s memory was at a terrifying level.

“Lastly, this is the recording from last night’s qualifying match, and I think… you might be interested.”

Zhuang Qingyan’s two fingers swiped, and the projection displayed a pair of familiar figures.

Although the young woman wore a mask, and her appearance was hard to distinguish, her vivid red lips and big wavy ponytail made her unmistakable. Along with another elusive figure in the arena, Song Ke recognized them almost instantly.

Beautiful Sister!

It was Lin Youyou and Su Cha. How had they ended up participating in the Throne Race?