“Your behavior is a bit over the top.”
Lan Qingyou picked up a spoon, scooped up some red sweet sausage and white rice, gave it two quick puffs to cool it down, and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Hah-hoo... Of course, hah-hoo... It’s also possible these were only recently acquired. Though, with Blue Star losing its prime-age demographic—the young and middle-aged adults—it’s a toss-up whether the remaining old and young could even sustain so many industries.”
Because it was so hot, the spoonful of food Lan Qingyou had taken tumbled around in her mouth several times before she finally swallowed it.
“...”
Seeing Lan Qingyou so relaxed, everyone felt that their own previous tension was somewhat ridiculous.
Especially Xin Tianle.
To be honest, now that he had become an evolved being and a member of the elite, he theoretically should have been able to walk tall wherever he went.
In fact, he did exactly that—he was arrogant and wild.
But for some reason, when facing Lan Qingyou, he always felt as if he were naturally a head shorter than her.
It wasn't fear, nor was it dread.
It was... what was that term from the Dragon Country? Ashamed of one's own unworthiness? Feeling inferior by comparison?
Anyway, it was something like that.
Mainly, it was because the impression this Witch had made on him was so deep that she seemed to possess a high-class aura, as if viewed through a filter.
While the eight of them were resting in the area, people in the outside world were watching their every move and even their conversations clearly through the sky-screen.
Perhaps to make the footage of the resting area look more professional and move away from the previous makeshift feel, the world consciousness had even set up a multi-camera, multi-angle filming style.
This allowed the onlookers outside to see the current state of the eight contestants more clearly and intuitively.
“Tsk, tsk, the world consciousness is really thorough, actually coming up with a resting area like this.”
The world channel was buzzing with intense discussion as they watched the images on the sky-screen.
“Holy crap! Look at that! Golden Caviar!”
“My god, I only ever saw that in videos before, and now I still have to watch it in a video. I’m starting to feel like my transmigration was a bit redundant.”
“Heh, I used to eat it all the time. The taste is just so-so, nothing special.”
“And what about now, Young Master?”
“Now? Don’t ask. I have to go back to moving bricks.”
“You have to move bricks today too? We all have the day off here specifically to watch the tournament.”
“Can’t compare, can’t compare. The deadline here is tight and the task is heavy.”
“Must be nice. So many foods, drinks, and snacks from before. I haven’t had spicy strips in so long, I’ve almost forgotten what they taste like.”
“You’re still thinking about eating? The combat is the main point, isn’t it? I want to see fighting! I want to see action!”
“The book is open! Market Channel 553, odds have been updated! Get your bets in!”
Some people were even directly opening betting pools.
“Don’t you guys think they’re being treated too well? Free food and drink—look at that Witch, look at how much she’s eating.”
“Envious? Jealous? Then why don't you get up there!”
“If I were an evolved being, I would’ve gone up a long time ago. You think I’d be here listening to you talk crap?”
“It’d be a lie to say I’m not envious, but I’m more concerned about who’s going to win the upcoming matches.”
“I think it might be a Witch. After all, three of the eight people present are witches.”
“Makes sense. I also think it’ll be a Witch, but the question is, which one?”
“Is that even a question? It’s obviously the Witch of the Tower. She’s the founder of the entire Witch race; even this trend of evolved beings was started by her.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“True. Personally, I’m actually favoring the Workshop Witch over the Witch of the Tower.”
“Why?”
“She’s just too mysterious. Looking back at her battles, although she won them all, it feels like we didn’t actually see anything.”
“Exactly. I didn’t even see how she attacked before her enemies collapsed.”
“Well, if you put it that way, Ursula should be the favorite to win. Every single one of her enemies either committed suicide or forfeited. That’s eerie enough, right?”
“Speaking of eerie, I’m leaning more toward Hoger.”
“The Void race? That’s the first I’ve heard of them.”
“Heh, maybe it’s like that where you are, but here in Twilight Canyon, they’re a very powerful race.”
“What ‘Void race’? I think it’s very likely going to be Xin Tianle. He’s from the Demon race, after all. Sounds like he’d be incredibly strong.”
“Forget that scumbag Xin Tianle. It’d be best if Li Huai just took him out the moment he steps on stage. No, dismembering him would be better.”
“Brother, there’s a story in your tone. Why not share it so we can all have a good laugh?”
“It’s nothing much. Just that when the first mana tide arrived, he scammed over a thousand people in our district out of their supplies and ran off, leaving only a handful of those thousand-plus people alive.”
“Hiss...!! He’s that much of a beast?”
“Yeah. He’s ranked alongside the Witch of the Tower as one of the Five Notorious Figures of our District 666.”
“Oh! While it’s a shame that happened, doesn’t that just prove that his evolution into the Demon race was well-deserved?”
“...”
In reality, the discussions on the world channel had never stopped since the preliminary stage began.
It was just that, compared to how prominent the final eight were now, everyone used to discuss their own local affairs.
It was different now.
With these eight people on stage, everyone only needed to focus their attention on them.
Furthermore, because some individuals were so famous, their level of attention was incredibly high.
Even Market Channel 553 had only given symbolic odds of 1 to 0.03.
In other words, if you bet on Lan Qingyou, you would practically be losing money after fees.
Of course, one could phrase it more nicely, calling it a ‘labor of love’ or saying ‘faith is priceless.’
And compared to the others just watching for fun...
At this moment, the person most relieved was probably Diana, who was sitting in her office with a little notebook, watching the live broadcast.
Back during the selection process, she had actually felt a bit of an impulse to ‘join in the fun and see what happens.’
Fortunately, she had suppressed that damned curiosity and impulse.
Otherwise, if she had gone in and wanted to come back out, she would likely have had to fight her way back.
Of course, the main reason was that even though she held a civil post, she knew a bit of magic. If she had fought, she would probably have had to go through many rounds.
The thought of wasting so much time made Diana shudder.
As expected, it was best to leave the fighting to those who enjoyed it and were good at it.
“But why did the two of you lose? I’m curious.”
After glancing at Lan Qingyou eating and drinking in the resting area, Diana looked up at Alice and Nangong Lengyue, who were sitting on the sofa across from her desk.
To be honest, including Ursula, these three were absolute elites she had carefully handpicked in the shortest time possible.
As it turned out, two of them had been defeated just like that.
And both were defeated in a rather inexplicable manner.
Rate on N.U.
