"After entering Smokeless City, you are not allowed to leave the city limits without permission. If you do, it will be considered a voluntary withdrawal.

Make good use of the wristwatch you have. Pay close attention to the information broadcasted and the changes on it....

The performance points you accumulate during the examination will be converted to corresponding Merit points after the examination ends.

Even if you don't pass the examination, you can still exchange it for a hefty amount of money...."

"So...do your best!"

At the entrance of the Fly Shuttle cabin, a middle-aged man in a white bear suit who was in charge of explaining the examination rules handed Lu Yuan a black wristwatch with a liquid crystal dial.

He then patted his shoulder as a final gesture of encouragement.

Lu Yuan nodded, secured the wristwatch, and watched a silver Fly Shuttle lift off in front of him, then rapidly ascend.

He was the last of the five examiners on the Fly Shuttle who had decided to participate in the examination.

The Fly Shuttle "deployed" the five of them at different locations inside Smokeless City.

Apparently, they did not intend for them to stay together and act as a group from the outset.

Lu Yuan was now in an old alleyway with an ancient charm. There were no people around, only a black cat squatting quietly beside a garbage can not far away, watching him.

Lu Yuan moved forward.

The black cat didn't seem frightened of him at all; instead, it walked towards him.

Then, about two meters away from him, it lay down languidly, its eyes half-closed, watching him provocatively.

Lu Yuan blinked in surprise.

Before he could react, a small wooden door by the alleyway creaked open from the inside.

"MEOW—"

A long-haired woman in a white dress came out and gently picked up the black cat.

As she left, she politely smiled at Lu Yuan. But the moment she turned her head, her gaze turned exceptionally cold.

"Tsk...."

Lu Yuan clicked his tongue, feeling a surge of indescribable sentiment.

His extraordinary sensitivity detected an almost "numb" emotion from both the black cat and the woman.

Their emotional fluctuations were flatter, or rather, far more indifferent than those of ordinary people.

There was a sense of "seeing through the world" and "loss of interest in life."

"It seems like the so-called 'eternal life' of the new era...is not exactly a good thing either."

With a sigh, Lu Yuan slowly walked out of the old alley.

The area where the Fly Shuttle had dropped him seemed to be a nostalgic old district of Smokeless City.

The architectural style was quite old-fashioned.

This was a stark contrast to the futuristic and technologically advanced cityscapes he had seen when he looked down from the Fly Shuttle—cityscapes featuring structures resembling sailboats, bird's nests, and discs, all adorned with neon and flowing light strips.

Lu Yuan walked down the street for a while.

There were not many people on the street, and everyone seemed lethargic, giving Lu Yuan a feeling similar to his encounter with the black cat and woman in the alleyway.

Lu Yuan stopped at an open-air café playing classical blues music.

He ordered something casually, then sat on a chair, fiddling with the special wristwatch for the examination.

Operating it was similar to a mobile phone, but when the screen was touched, an enlarged virtual display would float above it.

It was clearly a product of the new world's advanced technology.

Lu Yuan clicked on the screen, and the first thing that popped up was a map of No. 3 Smokeless City.

There was a light point on the map, representing his current location.

The upper left corner displayed the real-time and a string of numbers: [14:23:55:22]

The numbers were constantly decreasing, clearly a countdown for the examination.

The upper right corner indicated: Examinees: 179.

The total number of participants in this new blood examination was 179.

There were dozens of areas on the map with different colors.

These areas were mainly divided into four colors: black, red, blue, and green.

The number of areas decreased in that order.

There were only three black areas, eight red areas, and over fifty blue and green areas combined.

Lu Yuan tried clicking on an elliptical black area, and immediately information popped up in front of him:

[Task Level: S]

[Task Details: Locked]

[???]

Lu Yuan's expression twitched slightly, then he clicked on the red, blue, and green areas one by one.

The feedback indicated that these three colors corresponded to: A-level, B-level, and C-level task points.

Based on the shade of the color, each level was divided into: A-, A, A+; B-, B, B+; and C-, C, C+, three different tiers.

Both the A-level and B-level task points were shown as locked.

Only C-level task points were all open.

—

[Task Level: C-]

[Task Goal: Rescue the Trapped Hostages]

[Task Reward: 100 Points (Basic)]

[Task Details:

Task Point Topographical Map: Click to Expand

Guard Distribution Map: Click to Expand

Guard Information— Normal Guard: D-Level Robot, Main Weapon (7.62MM Caliber Automatic Rifle, 59-type Bow-style Grenade....)

Boss: Blood Wolf, Overall Strength Evaluation D+, Fist Strength 795kg, Speed....Expert in Military Hand-to-Hand Combat, Master Killer.

Note: Death Convict, Can Be Killed]

Lu Yuan's eyes paused slightly on the final words "Death Convict, Can Be Killed," and he suddenly had a deeper understanding of the exam format of this simulated task.

"They are really using real criminals as test subjects...hence the death waiver agreement signed before the examination makes sense...."

The coffee was served, and Lu Yuan politely thanked the waiter, who wore a fake smile.

Opposite him at the entrance of the coffee shop, a TV was broadcasting the morning news, all of which was boring content such as fires, car accidents, and lost cats and dogs.

Lu Yuan gave it a cursory glance and then lost interest.

He picked up the warm coffee and took a sip; it was so awful it almost made him spit it out on the spot.

He initially wanted to call the waiter over to complain, but considering their apparent state of life, he figured it was to be expected and decided to let it go.

"New Blood Leaderboard."

Lu Yuan found a new option on his wristwatch and clicked on it to check it out.

Inside, however, it was completely blank.

It seems that this leaderboard will not have any entries until someone completes a task.

"Tasks, leaderboard.....It feels like I'm playing some sort of real online game."

Lu Yuan lightly tapped his fingers on the table, his eyes bright.

"This seems intriguing."

Just then, a prompt popped up on his wristwatch: [You have a new group message, please check it promptly.]

"Oh," Lu Yuan laughed. "There's even player interaction."

He clicked on it and immediately found himself in a multiplayer chat group.

Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang): "1"

The message was from this "Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang)."

Lu Yuan recalled the signatures of nearly everyone who had submitted death waivers; his mind instantly connected this name to a long-haired young man in a black exoskeleton.

Headshot (Xu Chengying): "Idiot?"

Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang): "???"

Well, this Xu Chengying is most likely the punk girl who sat directly opposite him in the Fly Shuttle, the one who doesn't tie her shoelaces.

Unexpectedly, her name sounded quite nice; it was a big contrast to her persona.

Blue Electric Finger (He Jun): "LOL."

Immovable as a Mountain (Xiang Shenghao): "(smile) Hi everyone."

The blue-haired young man who had modified New Martial, and the Pure Martial youth.

Lu Yuan thought about it and, intrigued, also sent an emoticon.

Lu Yuan (Lu Yuan): "(handsome)!"

Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang): "@Headshot (Xu Chengying), what do you mean?"

Headshot (Xu Chengying): "(smile) It's just what it sounds like."

Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang): "@Headshot (Xu Chengying), where are you? Come and try my 5-ton Fist Strength."

Headshot (Xu Chengying): "Your family's cemetery. (smile)"

Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang): "I'll XXXX (rage) you!"

Immovable as a Mountain (Xiang Shenghao): "Stop it, we're teammates. Let's think about how to do the task first (frown)."

Blue Electric Finger (He Jun): "Oyster is right. Everyone, gather at my coordinates now. We'll discuss the assessment. (location)"

Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang): "??? Why should we gather at your coordinates?"

Blue Electric Finger (He Jun): "Look at my nickname. I'm the strongest; I should be the one to lead you all."

Headshot (Xu Chengying): "(middle finger)"

Natural Dominator (Ye Wuqiang): "(middle finger)(middle finger)(middle finger)"

...

Lu Yuan stared at the chat group for a while, and the more he looked, the more bored he felt.

It was just like being in a group with primary school kids.

"Am I really going to have to complete this evaluation with such a group of teammates?"

Lu Yuan shook his head. "Forget it. Worst-case scenario, I just lose the team task points."

With that in mind, he quit the group chat altogether.

Just as he quit, he noticed that someone had sent him a friend request.

When he clicked to see, it was "Headshot (Xu Chengying)."

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

He then explored the chat channels again and discovered that besides the group chat, there was also an all-public chat channel.

There were already people shouting to form a team in the channel.

They were likely new blood examinees like him, dissatisfied with the quality of their initial teammates and preparing to form new teams to complete the tasks.

"There's a lot of freedom. It seems that teamwork is critical in this assessment.... I suppose they're looking at us tackling difficult tasks with a team-oriented approach. That's probably what the Yellow Bear invigilators would like to see."

Just like on the way here, when the middle-aged White Bear who introduced the rules of the evaluation emphasized that they did not recommend fighting alone.

"But...."

Lu Yuan rose from his chair and gently pushed up his black-framed glasses.

He casually accessed the nearest C+ level task point on the map and sauntered off.

"I can choose not to follow this suggestion."

"It's the average players who like to group up. High-ranking masters...."

"Are usually accustomed to soloing nightmare dungeons."

…

"Fine! Let's compromise! In half an hour, everyone gathers at this Dream Seeking Bar on the map!"

On a bustling street, a long-haired young man in a black exoskeleton impatiently typed this line into the watch on his wrist.

At last, there were no objections in the chat group.

After all, they had been arguing and bickering for a significant amount of time already.

「Half an hour later.」

In the eastern part of Smokeless City, there was a bar filled with futuristic and sci-fi elements.

The four people who had just separated aboard the Fly Shuttle gathered together again.

The long-haired man in an exoskeleton, taking up almost two seats, checked his watch and said in a deep voice, "Alright, let's begin."

"Someone hasn't arrived yet," the punk girl, chewing gum and yawning, said.

"Right."

The muscular, dark-skinned young man, Xiang Shenghao, also nodded and said, "Lu Yuan from the group chat hasn't come."

"Are you suggesting we all wait for him any longer?" the blue-haired boy next to him urged impatiently. "If we don't start soon, I'm going to find another group."

"Indeed, let's not wait anymore."

The long-haired young man briefly recalled and then affirmed, "I remember that Lu Yuan. He doesn't have any signs of technological modifications. No powerful equipment either; it's likely he's relying on Pure Martial. But looking at his build....."

The long-haired youth glanced at Xiang Shenghao and continued, "His Pure Martial strength is probably mediocre. With his kind of filler-level combat strength, one more or one less of him makes no difference. And his absence could also mean that he has joined another group. We'll kick him out of the group chat later. Let's focus on us."

Saying this, the long-haired youth looked around the table and spoke formally, "Before we start our team collaboration, it's important to familiarize ourselves with each other. So I suggest we all stop beating around the bush and reveal our respective strengths and advantages, so we all have an idea. I'll start. I am Ye Wuqiang, following an exoskeleton enhancement route, with Fist Strength that can reach..."

"DING DONG!"

Before the long-haired young man could finish speaking, the watches on all four people's wrists chimed with a pleasant notification sound.

The other three reflexively looked down to check.

Soon, someone exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, someone has already achieved the first clear for a C-level task!"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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