"Next, the third faction to clear the Death StaircaseâCannibal Chainâshall strike the Soaring Crystal."
Just as everyone wanted to observe the Women Guard's situation on the Bright Star, the space denied them the opportunity, immediately calling upon the third qualifying faction, Cannibal Chain, to step forward.
Wu Xiu and Ruan Xiao, having witnessed the Women Guard's results, felt considerably more at ease. Ruan Xiao strode out first, picked up the stone hammer at the platform, and even glanced back at Ye Zhongming's group before swinging it.
The Soaring Crystal flew through the air, soon landing on the third star, one position behind where the black woman from the Women Guard had struck.
"The hammer is peculiar. The force application is unusual," Ruan Xiao suddenly remarked. Ye Zhongming nodded in agreement.
This was Cannibal Chain's way of tipping off Ye Zhongming. It didnât matter if other factions overheardâbetter that than letting Cloud Peak walk into a trap.
When prompted to choose between Purchase or Challenge, Cannibal Chain naturally opted for Purchase.
A saying from the pre-apocalypse eraâ"Any problem that can be solved with money isnât a real problem"âfound its perfect embodiment in Cannibal Chain. Ruan Xiao began pulling out items from his spatial equipment one after another.
No demon crystalsâjust equipment, materials, scrolls, potions...
This went on for a full five minutes!
Other factions stared in disbelief as Ruan Xiao emptied one spatial ring after another, switching to a third.
The only impression this left was sheer, unfathomable wealth.
After the first spatial ring was emptied, Ye Zhongming signaled his team to stop keeping track.
He had already realized: Ruan Xiao was essentially dumping his 'junk'.
Not that these items were literal garbageâthey were simply things without immediate use or yet to be identified (like certain herbs or materials).
Since most werenât high-value, quantity compensated for quality, hence the five-minute spending spree to purchase the Bright Star.
Cannibal Chainâs entire force was then transported onto their conquered star.
Next up was the fourth faction, Motley Crusaders.
Having learned from Cannibal Chainâs tip about the hammerâs odd mechanics, their representative practiced a few swings before striking, achieving a better result than Women Guard by landing on the fifth Bright Star.
Each entrance had only ten stars before the chaotic central zone. Reaching the fifth in one go was impressive.
The fifth faction was Gyanendra himself.
He personally stepped forward, struck the crystal, and landed on the sixth star. Like the others, he chose Purchaseâbut his method was the polar opposite of Cannibal Chainâs.
He offered a single item, and it was enough.
No one caught what it wasânot even Ye Zhongmingâonly a fleeting black glint, vaguely diamond-shaped.
For one object to secure ownership of what was likely the most expensive Bright Star so far, it had to be extraordinarily valuable. Based on previous factionsâ expenditures, it was worth at least one eight-star evolution potion.
"That old fox is really willing to splurge," Xiao Min muttered, curling her lip.
After the West Asian Saint settled on his star, it was Mechanical Geniusâs turn.
Even now, Ye Zhongming hadnât located this bizarre factionâs controller. The combat puppet that shouldâve housed him showed no visible entry points.
This was an opportunity to expose their leader, but disappointment followed.
The space allowed the combat puppet itself to strike the crystal, bypassing the need for a human representative.
Ye Zhongmingâs instincts prickled. This faction was bound to pull something unexpected.
Sure enough, after the puppet struck the crystal to the eighth star, the space posed the usual question:
Purchase or Challenge?
Mechanical Ghost chose the latter.
Challenge!
Then, their entire mechanical army materialized on the Bright Star at once!
"Thatâs impossible!"
Cloud Peakâs soldiers erupted in uproar.
How could the entire faction appear before completing the Challenge? Normally, only purchasing or succeeding in a Challenge allowed that!
Shouldnât Mechanical Ghostâs controller have appeared alone, like Great Americaâs black man?
Before vanishing, the lead combat puppet housing Mechanical Ghost twisted slightly toward Cloud Peak, as if delivering a message.
Ye Zhongming smirked coldly. He understood the taunt.
It was a mockeryâof othersâ stupidity, and a provocation aimed squarely at Cloud Peak.
"Normally, this would be impossible," Ye Zhongming said, watching the Bright Star swarm with unknown creatures ready to clash with the mechanical army.
"But since itâs happening, thereâs only one explanation."
He pointed at the mechanical legion. "These are all considered his equipment by the space."
The revelation stunned many.
A single person, commanding an entire mechanical army, all classified as his gear?! What abilityâjob, bloodline, or skillâcould enable this?
Ye Zhongming could rival this in sheer numbersâwith war beasts like Yellow Ball, Icebird, Yangos, even Red Hair, his undead puppet army, Ball Ball, lightning sand creatures from his bloodline, the Explosive Mechanic, puppets, and more.
But in raw power, they fell short of Mechanical Geniusâs combat puppets.
Those ancient-seeming puppets likely matched Yangos, Yellow Ball, or Red Hair, while the rest outclassed undead/lumbering puppets.
"He chose Challenge on the eighth starâwhy is he so smug? Why taunt us?"
"Because heâs laughing at othersâ stupidity. Testing if we grasp his meaning."
Ye Zhongmingâs gaze swept the starfield. "Look at all these Bright Stars. If each must be purchased, would anyone have enough resources?"
The question silenced Cloud Peakâs fighters.
Rightâeven at one eight-star potion per star, how many would it take to reach the Mountain King Crown at the center?
If stars grew more expensive and trials harder, then challenging early stars to conserve resources for later, tougher purchases was the correct strategy!
The earlier factions⊠mightâve blundered badly.
Just as this realization dawned, Ye Zhongming delivered the twist.
"He thinks himself clever. But this time? Heâs still a fool."