Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Greatness, No Words Needed
Outside the vehicle, Wang Meng held up his phone, attempting to illuminate the surrounding environment.
But the screen was completely black—no matter how many times he pressed the power button, there was no response.
"That's strange… dead battery?"
Still unconvinced, he smacked it a few times, then looked toward Chen Tong. "Teacher Chen, does that action camera of yours still work?"
Chen Tong fiddled with the Hidden Stone hanging around her neck, then shook her head.
"No, it seems completely broken—the indicator light won't even turn on."
"Mine still works though!"
However, the small desk lamp Liu Yuqing pulled from her bag—one that had cost only a few yuan—switched on without issue.
"I understand now."
Wang Meng watched the scene unfold, pushed up his glasses, and analyzed with a grave expression.
"Phones, cameras, and the bus engine… all these sophisticated, complex electronic devices have been completely disabled."
"But simple electrical circuit devices still function."
"This means… this world operates under certain laws, or some kind of magnetic field, that prevents us from using Blue Star's high-tech products."
After finishing, he looked toward Jiang Nan, who was seated atop the corpse mound, and asked flatteringly, "Boss, what do you think?"
Jiang Nan sat at the highest point, his expression calm, and gave a slight nod.
Then, under the curious gazes of the 3 others, he reached into his backpack and produced a small blackboard—along with a…
Pink pointer stick!
It was a tool he had prepared specifically to save himself the trouble of speaking.
Jiang Nan hung the small blackboard nearby and quickly wrote several large characters across it with chalk.
【Agree】, 【Refuse】, 【Eat】, 【Drink Water】, 【Sleep】, 【Restroom】.
Then, his expression blank, he tapped 【Agree】 sharply twice in quick succession.
"……"
"Do all tough guys secretly have the heart of a teenage girl?"
Watching that cold-faced killer swing around a little pink stick, Wang Meng's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
‘Truly, the capable always march to the beat of their own drum.’
‘That gap in personality… absolutely unbeatable.’
"I didn't know Jiang Nan had such a sense of humor~"
Chen Tong found him rather endearing, her favorable impression of him growing even stronger.
Liu Yuqing, meanwhile, asked with concern:
"Jiang Nan, are we still staying here?"
"The roof of the bus has been completely wrecked, it's on the verge of collapsing, and the smell of blood is so overwhelming…"
Jiang Nan tapped 【Agree】 once more.
The meaning was unmistakable—stay here until daybreak.
He understood clearly that although the Mutated Crows were bloodthirsty, they also possessed considerable intelligence.
That previous massacre had shattered their nerves—they absolutely would not dare return to throw their lives away tonight.
The most dangerous place was, in turn, the safest.
"Then I'll take the night watch."
Chen Tong volunteered, gazing at Jiang Nan's slightly weary face with concern:
"You rest for a bit first—though I'm not sure what technique you used just now, it must have been exhausting, right?"
"Agreed, Boss, get some sleep—we've got it covered!"
Wang Meng and Liu Yuqing both raised their hands in unison.
However, Jiang Nan simply cast a cold glance at the 3 of them.
The pointer stick shifted to 【Refuse】, and he struck it firmly.
Was he tired? Of course he was.
But he had not yet reached the point where he could hand his back—and his life—over to 3 people who couldn't even restrain a single crow.
Then the pointer stick moved downward, landing on 【Eat】.
The 3 of them froze for a moment, then scrambled into action, frantically digging through their own bags.
"Boss, here! This is the vacuum-packed braised beef I was saving!"
"Jiang Nan, have this—there's a whole drumstick in here!"
"Jiang Nan, this is the milk tea the teacher brought—bought it on the trip!"
All 3 of them handed over the best food they had brought.
Jiang Nan did not refuse. He accepted everything offered, chewing vigorously through the high-calorie meat, replenishing his body's expenditure.
The 3 below watched with visibly watering mouths, their stomachs growling, but with limited supplies, they could only huddle in the corner gnawing on dry bread.
Even so, watching Jiang Nan eat with such satisfaction, a sense of security settled over them.
As long as this great god had a full stomach, they had a chance of surviving.
……
Time ticked by, second by second.
All 4 of them sat back-to-back, keeping watch in each of the 4 directions.
Finally, the long night passed, and the eastern sky began to pale with the first light of dawn.
Day had broken.
The moment the very first ray of sunlight pierced through the violet jungle, a grand and solemn voice…
Exploded simultaneously inside the minds of every survivor.
【Good morning! Warriors—and you lucky ones!】
【Congratulations on successfully surviving your first night in the Savage Realm!】
【From this moment forward, you will each receive an opportunity to take root and establish yourselves in this world—along with the qualification to return to Blue Star!】
The instant the voice faded, no matter where they stood, every living person found a peculiar fruit materialize in their hands out of thin air.
【Awakening Fruit: Upon consumption, grants a random chance to obtain a random superpower! Ranging from Grade F to Grade S—and even mysterious abilities that transcend the established sequence!】
Before anyone could recover from the elation of receiving the fruit, the voice continued its proclamation.
【In addition, to honor the standout newcomer warriors who distinguished themselves on the first day!】
【We will now announce the 'First Day Kill Leaderboard!' The top 100 will receive extraordinarily generous bonus rewards!】
【Now… the announcement begins.】
Bzzzt!
An enormous golden Light Screen stretched across the heavens, appearing in the vision of every human being.
……
At that same moment—【Newcomer Arrival Zone No. 101, Huaxia Nation's Second Base.】
Located in the central heartland of the Savage Realm's main continent, this was a towering fortress of steel.
Atop its high walls, armed soldiers stood in full battle readiness, their muzzles trained on the wilderness beyond the city.
On the battlements above, an elderly man with graying temples leaned on a cane. Supported by a middle-aged officer, he had ascended to gaze out into the distance.
His name was Wan Changzheng—the highest commanding officer of this base, and one of Huaxia Nation's pillars in this world.
The middle-aged man beside him was Chief of Staff Zhao Yan.
Staring at the enormous Light Screen that blanketed the entire sky, a trace of reminiscence flickered through Wan Changzheng's clouded eyes.
"Xiao Zhao, this spectacle… is far grander than what we had when we came over as the first batch of Summoned Ones."
"Indeed, Commander."
Zhao Yan said with a sigh: "Back then we only had a dry, bare-bones voice notification—nothing like this holographic projection."
"But as the numbers grew over the years, the 'system' scaled up accordingly."
"Especially this time…"
Zhao Yan's voice dropped lower: "Everyone from Blue Star has come."
Wan Changzheng's grip tightened on his cane, his expression pained.
"Yes, all of them… and more people are dying than ever."
"Before, it was 1 batch per year, 1,000 people per batch—we could still barely manage to receive them."
"This time, billions descended simultaneously… this is a catastrophe."
"This godforsaken Savage Realm—on the very first day, it destroyed every piece of modern firearms and vehicles!"
"It even scattered people across all kinds of death traps!"
Wan Changzheng pointed toward the land beyond the walls.
"Our Newcomer Arrival Zone No. 101—the Canglan Continent—sits in the central interior, rated Grade B danger level. That's considered relatively 'mild.'"
"And even so, on our very first day in this world."
"The Recon Company was ambushed by a pack of Werewolves—half the men died before the rest escaped with their lives…"
As he said this, the old general's eyes reddened slightly.
Zhao Yan let out a long exhale and pulled a crumpled sheepskin map from inside his coat, spreading it open:
"Commander, compared to other zones, we truly are fortunate."
He pointed to several regions on the map.
"Zones 1 through 50 are located in the west—the Twilight Forest—Grade D danger level."
"Only ordinary beasts. Mortality rate is just 8.1%. That's a genuine paradise."
"Zones 51 through 100, to the south—the Tropical Rainforest—Grade C danger level."
"Venomous insects everywhere. Mortality rate surges to 23.3%."
"Then there's our zone—101 through 150—the Canglan Continent—Grade B danger level."
"Though there are natives and mutated beasts, over the years we've established bases for every major nation, and the mortality rate has been kept to around 19.1%."
Zhao Yan's finger continued upward, coming to rest on the pale-white region in the north:
"Zones 151 through 175—the Polar Ice Wastes—Grade A danger level."
"Word is that actual Dragon Breeds have been spotted there."
"And on top of that… most people freeze to death the moment they land in temperatures of minus 20 degrees. Mortality rate stands at 61.8%."
Finally, Zhao Yan's hand trembled as his finger pointed to the far east edge of the map—an isolated island marked entirely in red.
"And lastly… Zone 176 and beyond—the Eerie Island, east of the Canglan Continent."
"Grade S danger level!"
"By all accounts, the place is crawling with unspeakable, indescribable creatures, and its rules are in utter chaos."
"To this day… not a single newcomer has ever made it out."
"A few years back, Eagle Nation's elite Seal Strike Force went in fully armed—and only 1 came back."
"He was insane, raving incoherently. Within 2 days he put a gun to his own head."
"That place is a true forbidden zone. Mortality rate… 99.9%!"
The two men fell silent.
And this was only the explored territory—half of the Savage Realm remained shrouded in mist, land humanity had yet to set foot on.
"We can only hope not too many civilians ended up on the Eerie Island."
Wan Changzheng heaved a long sigh.
Just then, the Light Screen in the sky suddenly blazed with golden light as the leaderboard refreshed!
【Newcomer First-Day Kill Rankings (Global)】
Wan Changzheng and Zhao Yan immediately looked up.
One look, and the expressions on both their faces darkened considerably.
The top 20 were almost entirely dominated by names from Eagle Nation and Sakura Nation!
——————
【No. 20: Carey Rob (Eagle Nation)】
【Location: Eerie Island (Grade S)】
【Record: Wandering Corpse (Grade E) killed ×1】
【Score: 100】
——————
……
——————
【No. 3: Muraguchi Kazusu (Sakura Nation)】
【Location: Eerie Island (Grade S)】
【Record: Corpse Wolf (Grade E) killed ×6】
【Score: 600】
——————
【No. 2: Arielia Alice (Eagle Nation)】
【Location: Eerie Island (Grade S)】
【Record: Wandering Corpse (Grade E) killed ×12】
【Score: 1,200】
——————
"The Eerie Island?!"
Zhao Yan's pupils contracted sharply: "How is that possible?"
"Nearly half of this year's top 20 were on the Eerie Island? And they survived?"
"Killing even a single monster in a Grade S zone earns 100 points—that score would have placed them in the top 5 in any previous year!"
"This year it only gets you to 20th place?"
Wan Changzheng's expression darkened: "Something's wrong."
"Eagle Nation and Sakura Nation must have used some special method!"
"Or they received advance intelligence and concentrated their elites to descend onto the Eerie Island!"
"Look—the types they killed are extremely uniform. That's coordinated, organized pack hunting!"
He searched anxiously for Huaxia Nation's names.
However, only 2 had broken into the top 10.
【No. 9: Huaxia's No.1 Romantic (Huaxia Nation)】
【No. 10: Silk-Stocking Desperado (Huaxia Nation)】
Also on the Eerie Island—with a pitiful score of only 300 points.
"The gap is too great……"
Wan Changzheng stared at that sea of red on the leaderboard, a wave of desolation washing through his heart.
‘Slow off the mark once—and you fall behind in everything that follows.’
If the first-day rewards were swept up by foreign nations, Huaxia Nation's position in this new world would become even more precarious.
"Forget it. Help me down to rest."
Wan Changzheng waved his hand, unable to bear looking any longer, and turned to descend the battlements.
However—at the very instant he turned away.
The Chief of Staff Zhao Yan beside him suddenly began trembling all over, pointing at the very top of the Light Screen.
"Com… Commander!!"
"Wait! Look—quickly!!"
"Look at what? It'll only make me angry."
Wan Changzheng frowned.
"No! 1st place! 1st place is one of ours!!!"
Zhao Yan let out a voice-cracking shriek.
"What?!"
Wan Changzheng spun around immediately, abandoning his cane, and lurched forward to the railing with stumbling steps, craning his neck upward.
There, at the very top of that enormous Light Screen, a golden name radiated with a brilliance that crushed everything beneath it!
Every single name below it was cast into shadow by comparison!
【No. 1: No Words Needed (Huaxia Nation)】
【Location: Eerie Island (Grade S)】
【Record: Mutated Corrosive Crow (Grade E) killed ×333】
【Score: 33,300】
……
Dead silence.
The entire battlement—indeed, the entire Base No. 101—plunged into a silence that lasted a full 10 seconds.
Wan Changzheng rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again.
"Ones… tens… hundreds… thousands……"
The old general's hands shook as his cane clattered to the ground.
"Thirty… thirty-three thousand points?!"
Compared to 2nd place's 1,200 points, this was a crushing, tier-breaking obliteration!
One could even say—tally up every single point from the other 99 entries on the board, and it still wouldn't be enough to carry this 1st-place finisher's shoes!
"This… how is this possible?!"
Zhao Yan's eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets:
"Grade S zone Mutated Crows… those are pack creatures!"
"He killed an entire regiment's worth—alone?!"
"No Words Needed… just who in the world is this person?!"
"What manner of divine being is this?!!"