Chapter 98 - Explosion

Chapter 98: Chapter 97: ExplosionStanding in the corner as an observer, Li Cheng inwardly praised the professionalism. At times like this, one cannot simply do nothing, but he didn’t want to take action, so the only choice left was...

"Stop!"

Li Cheng, holding the 170 Straight Blade, took two steps forward and just as he entered the combat range, he suddenly flung the blade upwards as if it were spring-loaded, then staggered several steps backward with a pale face, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Little Red Riding Hood quickly asked with concern, "Mr. Ant, are you alright?!"

"I’m fine, just suffering from some old wounds that haven’t healed, wounds from battling dozens of mutant beasts alone to escort a group of vegetarian/environmentalist/animal rights/transgender/depressed/childhood trauma/minority/disabled/terminally ill/overweight orphans across the wasteland to their guardians."

Li Cheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth (actually blood from biting his oral cavity), and sighed while clutching his wrist.

Harley and Jin Huixing threw cautious glances without leaving a trace. No, the outside world is already a wasteland, where do all these politically correct buffed orphans come from? And what’s with being simultaneously vegetarian and overweight? Are they all freaking herbivores byd, eh?

This guy named Mr. Ant, his level of bluffing and acting skills are not to be underestimated...

Ding Ding Ding—

On the TV screen, the countdown for the current segment officially finished, as several mechanical arms simultaneously retracted their cameras and boom mics, transforming into cannon-like barrels and targeting the area below, fiercely shooting out metal rods.

It’s unknown what principle the fire control system of these mechanical arms use, but they were able to firmly track and lock onto Irfan in high-speed motion. Four rods penetrated his shoulders and thighs, pinning him to the ground like an insect specimen.

The mechanical arms, emitting wisp of blue smoke, ignored Irfan’s painful screams, and brutally picked him up and dragged him towards the door.

Bang!

The door automatically opened, and the mechanical arm violently threw Irfan out into the deep, dark abyss.

His screams grew fainter and fainter, until the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground could be heard, followed by the roar and howl of some beast, before silence took over.

The door slowly closed under the action of the damper.

One after another, the mechanical arms retracted their rods and took out cleaning tools such as vacuum cleaners and floor polishers, cleaning up the messy room like housekeeping staff. There were even mechanical arms that pulled out glue and wooden planks to fill up the holes on the floor and to mend the broken porcelain decorations.

The repair work proceeded swiftly and in an organized fashion, and the broadcast in the ceiling’s corner came to life, still that impassioned and deep narrator’s voice.

"Ah ha, it looks like our wasteland romance reality show has produced its first eliminated contender. Mr. Irfan didn’t receive enough votes and is regrettably out of the competition. The remaining contestants will now have 2 hours of rest time to return to their rooms and recuperate. After two hours, we will move on to the talent show segment. But now, let’s have a quick commercial break."

The live broadcast was thus interrupted, and on the TV screen, the votes of all contestants were reset to zero. Irfan’s portrait turned grey with a large red stamped across it.

The next round required reaching three million in heat.

’Something’s not right...’

The handsome black young man, Will, slightly narrowed his eyes. With each round, one contestant is eliminated, yet the required heat incrementally increases – this does not make sense. As the number of contestants decreases, the program’s highlights should inherently reduce.

Unless conflict is artificially instigated to forcefully create highlights...

"Annie, right?" Leonardo, who had been forced into a battle involuntarily, sheathed his Two-handed Greatsword and looked coldly towards Annie, "I will remember you."

"Don’t be so cold, handsome."

Annie pretended to be pitiful as she batted her eyelashes, "I was also thinking of everyone’s well-being. If we don’t meet the heat requirement, everyone gets executed. Besides, I’ve increased your support rate. In the next round, we can still work together."

"Hmph."

Leonardo couldn’t be bothered with more words and turned to leave. The other contestants were also unwilling to interact more with Annie, the femme fatale, and scattered from the living room to explore the villa.

The villa covered an extensive area, with facilities including the living room, master bedroom, secondary bedrooms, kitchen, playroom, dressing room, wardrobe room, as well as an indoor swimming pool, gym, private theater, and a parking lot, among others. Similarly, the world outside the windows was nothing but darkness.

Leonardo walked into a bedroom, closed the door, rubbed his sore shoulder, and suddenly pulled a smile, bursting into silent laughter.

What a foolish woman, hahaha, she thought she had eliminated a competitor, when in fact, she was digging her own grave.

"Idiot?"

At that very moment, Little Red Riding Hood, who was exploring the villa with Li Cheng, voiced her genuine doubt, "Mr. Ant, why do you assess Annie that way?"

"Because she really is stupid."

Li Cheng fiddled with the Nuclear Energy Lighter, casually remarking, "She framed Irfan as a sex offender, and while eliminating him, she also crafted the persona of ’harming a survivor’ for herself.

As a result, in the subsequent game segments, other contestants targeting her will easily be perceived as ’harming the weak.’ And the audience is more inclined to give her sympathy votes.

From the perspective of this specific round, Annie’s strategy has no problem. But she overlooked one thing; the mission briefing states that the significance of this show is the continuation of human civilization."

Little Red Riding Hood puzzledly asked, "What’s the problem with that?"

"If we set aside the politically correct factors prevalent in the West, to continue human civilization, it would require both men and women, wouldn’t it? Neither the mission briefing nor the television advertisements mentioned if this world had cloning technology or android technology and such."