"This doesn't require a premonition," Chu Ran took a deep breath looking at the list. "Which lunatic arranged the match lineup?"
Chu Zhenzhen had been released by the Special Squad not long ago. Her mother had done many bad things, but none of them were directly linked to her. In fact, to protect Chu Zhenzhen, Lin Shenyin sold out the God Summoning Society completely. However, Lin Shenyin was abandoned by the God Summoning Society too early, and much of the information she provided was useless.
The Chu family's situation was not good now. Old Master Chu was missing, and Chu Heng had faked his death and defected. Chu Zhi was stripped of all his positions and became unemployed. Chu Yuan, because he was far away and due to his wife's connections, was demoted and transferred to a marginal post. The two surviving Chu family members treated Chu Zhenzhen with extreme coldness. Chu Yuan's family didn't even return to the Seventh Sub-Star and directly told Chu Zhi that apart from news about Old Master Chu, they didn't need to be informed about anything else. Chu Zhenzhen's support was not his responsibility as an uncle.
Out of consideration for Chu Zhenzhen's S-level spiritual power, Chu Zhi reluctantly took on the task of looking after Chu Zhenzhen. As the former jewel of the Chu family, Chu Zhenzhen's already fragile mental state collapsed completely. Seven days after her release, she disappeared. Three days later, she returned covered in injuries. Chu Zhi called a doctor and after confirming she wasn't in mortal danger, forcibly sent her back to the First Training Institute.
The students at the First Training Institute knew more about what happened to the Chu family than ordinary citizens. Whether out of hatred for the God Summoning Society or admiration and sympathy for Chu Ran, they found it hard to accept Chu Zhenzhen remaining at the First Training Institute. Teasing and mockery from classmates, even beatings under the guise of challenges, became commonplace. Chu Zhenzhen's expression grew increasingly gloomy, her hair longer and longer, eventually covering her entire face.
But she didn't drop out. She even chose to continue participating in the Spiritist Tournament.
"Maybe she wants to sell you a favor?" Chang He rubbed his nose, guessing.
Chu Ran looked at him like he was an idiot. "Should I thank him for making Chu Zhenzhen my opponent?"
"No," Chang He quickly denied. "Maybe others think you want to beat her up?"
Chu Ran sneered. "She's not a good person, but if we're counting accounts, she's far down the list." The people who caused the original owner's tragedy were Chu Heng, then Old Master Chu and Lin Shenyin. Chu Zhenzhen, like Chu Zhi, was an accessory. Moreover, beating her up in a virtual world counted as revenge? The real revenge was not giving her a chance to get back up.
"But," Chu Ran sized up Chang He's physique, "the Explorer Association's training is really intense."
Before Chang He left, he had the standard teenage build. Now, even wearing loose clothes, you could see strong muscles. His entire body width had doubled. Chang He looked at his own forearm muscles and relaxed. "Because I'm in the initial training stage. In the later stage, the muscles will reduce a lot." His situation was still good; some members who passed at the same time had arms as thick as a soldier's thigh. It was said that person had decided not to go home during the initial training stage to avoid damaging his image.
"Sister Maria originally wanted to come see you too, but something very important came up, so she couldn't come." Chang He took out a football-sized red divine stone from his space button. The color was exceptionally bright, like congealed blood. "The divine power contained in this stone is especially strong. Sister Maria said it might be useful to you."
The moment Chu Ran touched the divine stone, her fingertips grew warm. A warm current flowed into her heart, and her body seemed to hum, as if resonating. It really was condensed from a god's blood! Chu Ran stared intently at this blood-red divine stone. "Which divine tomb did this come from?"
"Seems like the Seventh Divine Tomb?" Chang He recalled, hesitating. "It's said to be one of Sister Maria's treasures."
The Seventh Divine Tomb... Chu Ran's eyes flickered. Then she turned and carefully placed it in the cabinet, acting as normal. "Thank you."
"It's nothing," Chang He waved his hand. "I still have dinner with my mom tonight, so I'll go first. We'll all come cheer for you during the match!"
After seeing Chang He off, Chu Ran's gaze fell back on the blood-red divine stone. Unnoticed by her, the wooden box in her suitcase seemed to sense something, beginning to melt and deform.
The Seventh Divine Tomb? Chu Ran stood in front of the cabinet, one hand on the table, fingers idly tapping the surface. If she remembered correctly, the trace of the Divine Ruins Key was discovered in the Seventh Divine Tomb. At this juncture, sending this divine stone—was the Explorer Association hinting at something? Chu Ran stared at the blood-red divine stone, silent for a long time. She felt another storm brewing.
Soon it was match day.
Chu Ran lay inside the immersion pod, looking at the crowd surrounding her, feeling helpless. It felt like being watched as she was being buried. "Don't you think this arrangement is a bit excessive?" She looked at Gao Yuan, who was at the front.
Gao Yuan had moved a chair, leaning half against the back, very calm. "Plans can't keep up with changes. Look, from the time you left the hospital until now, how many unexpected things have happened? Ever since I found out your opponent, my heart has been beating wildly. I always feel something else is about to happen." He touched his increasingly thinning hair and sighed. "If this match can end safely, I'd be willing to accept that that old man will slack off on a healing planet for several more years."
Although Andrew and Yu Mei were there to keep order, the Zerg and God Summoning Society were always reckless. If another S-level Zerg suddenly descended, he might as well resign early and go home.
Chu Ran turned to Edwood. "You're planning to stay here until the match ends too?"
Edwood looked at her lifelessly and gave a light snort. Ever since that damned vice president became a traitor to humanity, he had started working for free. This time his task was to guard Chu Ran's immersion pod to prevent anyone from using the match to harm Chu Ran's body.
Chu Ran understood, gave up trying to communicate, closed the immersion pod, and when she opened her eyes again, she was inside the battlefield.
This time, there was no voice of No.3 in her ear.
No one was on the battlefield; Chu Zhenzhen hadn't come in yet.
The audience seats were extremely far away, and several layers of protective shields had been added between the battlefield and the audience, obviously to prevent any accidents inside the battlefield from threatening the audience again.
Even so, the audience seats were still half empty. With the previous precedent, most people didn't intend to risk their lives watching the match. But in their hearts, they regretted it, because from the matchup list, they could tell this match would be spectacular.
After the match information was announced, the Spiritist Tournament official website was flooded by netizens, who strongly demanded a live broadcast. Unfortunately, it was ruthlessly rejected by the tournament officials.
Jian whispered gossip to Chu Ran privately, "This time, Master Yu and Commander Andrew will both be watching on-site. Fewer spectators actually benefit security. Instructor Li even said it felt like divine blessing."
"High Commander Gao suggested filling the empty seats with soldiers, but the president rejected it, saying the Spiritist Tournament has never faked anything."
Chu Ran looked at Chang He and the others, who had already sat in the middle of the audience, and smiled.
The match countdown began, but Chu Zhenzhen still hadn't appeared on the field.
The few spectators in the audience couldn't help whispering, "Could she be chickening out?"
"No way. If she didn't want to participate, why would she sign up in the first place?"
"If she really flees, can I get a refund on my ticket?"
"Tickets are nothing; the betting money is the main thing... Although almost no one bet on Chu Zhenzhen, the official detailed the match duration. Those who bet on a walkover are basically zero."
"Could the tournament officials be fixing the match?" one person couldn't help complaining. "Shouldn't they know very well whether Chu Zhenzhen will participate?"
"That's too far-fetched. The Spiritist Association may be short on funds lately, but they wouldn't stoop to cheating you out of a little money."
A cold mechanical voice sounded in the field: "3, 2..."
Just as "1" was about to fall, Chu Zhenzhen appeared on the battlefield.
The moment she saw her opponent, Chu Ran raised an eyebrow slightly.
Since coming to this world, this was the first time she had met Chu Zhenzhen face to face. In the original owner's memories, Chu Zhenzhen was like the bright moon in the sky, exceptionally aloof.
Now, even Chu Heng probably wouldn't recognize Chu Zhenzhen at first glance. She was extremely thin, her hair long enough to cover her eyes, holding a pistol creation forged from a golden divine stone. Her clothes were nice—the latest combat suit from StarNet.
She stood straight, but it felt like her back was bent.
Chu Ran looked at Chu Zhenzhen, unable to see her eyes but able to feel the twisted hatred emanating from behind her hair.
No one spoke, just like in the original owner's memories: one disdainful, one too afraid.
The countdown sound faded within the battlefield, and a cold mechanical voice announced, "Match begin!"