The group stage means that each member in the group fights against each other once in a round-robin style.

Each group has between 11 and 12 people, and the top two in each group will move on to the round of 64 and take part in the knockout stage.

Logan checked the time. It had only been half an hour since he entered the rest area.

It was clear that Gwen had won almost every match, and each win took less than a minute.

So, the first big celebration of this internal battle went to Gwen. She stood in the center of the arena, enjoying the cheers and applause, and looked straight through the crowd toward the glass of the rest room.

Logan's eyes met Gwen's, and suddenly he felt a strange shake in his soul: "Something's wrong! She's not Gwen!"

He remembered the first internal battle, when that little girl needed his protection. He was 100% sure the girl in front of him—smiling sweetly—had been replaced.

As soon as he realized this, Logan called Sophia immediately: "Check Gwen. I think she's been replaced."

On the other end of the phone, Sophia was busy greeting famous guests and frowned as she looked at the center of the arena. "Are you sure?"

Logan nodded firmly and said: "Yes."

Sophia frowned and said: "It's going to be hard. There are too many people here. For now, just hold her back during the next round. I need to make sure the arena is completely safe."

Logan smiled: "Of course. These guests paid money. We can't let them get hurt."

After hanging up the phone, Logan looked back at the arena. The fake Gwen had already left the stage.

Logan knew exactly how strong the fake Gwen was. Someone who could shake his soul with just a glance had to be at least as strong as Vincent, and someone who was really good at mental power attacks.

Thinking this, Logan silently stood up and activated [Ghosts' Body], then floated slowly toward the rest area.

He followed Gwen quietly, trying to figure out what she was up to.

After leaving the arena, Gwen didn't go with the others. Instead, she walked alone to a quiet corner.

She lit a cigarette, took a slow puff, then made a face and said, "Human Federation cigarettes are so boring. The nicotine and tar levels are way too low."

Logan landed silently behind her, then deactivated [Ghosts' Body] and said coldly: "So what kind of cigarettes do you smoke normally?"

The fake Gwen didn't seem surprised at all when she heard Logan's voice. She smiled and said, "In our place, ladies' cigarettes have twenty times more nicotine than this."

Logan frowned. "Your place?"

The fake Gwen turned around playfully. "Yeah, the place you call [Pinocchini]."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "The group that left the human race and developed on their own in the Lost World, and turned into new humans?"

The fake Gwen nodded excitedly. "Man, you summarized it perfectly! You should really come see it for yourself. Want to go with me?"

Logan didn't hesitate. He shook his head. "No thanks."

"Pfft! Chicken!" The fake Gwen changed back to her real face—Nel, from Pinocchini.

Nel adjusted her clothes, showing off her figure, and raised an eyebrow. "You don't belong here. Pinocchini is where you should be."

She handed Logan an envelope with "Bell" written on it. "We were supposed to take Bell away. But we heard he's dead. Since you're his successor, we're offering you the same invitation."

Logan looked at the envelope and frowned. "What are you really after? Where's Gwen?"

Nel gave him a cold look and changed back into Gwen's face. She smiled slyly. "You like the small chest?"

Logan didn't even hesitate. He shot a [Mind Lash] at her and said coldly, "Answer my question properly."

Nel rubbed her head, still a bit dizzy. It felt like someone had hit her with a brick. She glared at Logan and said, "I'm a girl, you brute!"

Logan's eyes remained cold, staring straight at Nel. "Answer me."

Nel saw the killing intent in Logan's eyes and raised her hands. "Gwen is back in the dorm. My teammates are watching over her—she's safe."

When Logan heard that Nel had teammates, he frowned. "How many of you are there?"

Nel stretched and smiled. "I've answered enough of your questions. If you want more, beat me in the arena!"

With that, a familiar space opened behind her, wrapping her up and pulling her out of the area.

Logan watched the fading image of Nel and felt a chill.

She had opened a familiar space, and he hadn't sensed it at all.

That was almost impossible for him. Since he had mastered the [Slime Battle Style], he had never failed to sense a space around him.

He took a deep breath and warned: "We'll see about this."

When Logan returned to the rest area, Natalia and Lucia were already waiting for him.

After sharing their information, they all took the situation seriously.

Logan looked at the worried expressions on the girls and frowned. "What exactly is Pinocchini? And what kind of people are they?"

Natalia turned cold when she heard the word "Pinocchini." "The humans there are no longer the same as the ones we know."

Sophia and Lucia both sighed. Finally, Sophia stepped forward to explain the group that the Human Federation was very afraid of.

At the beginning of the arrival of the Dimension Blood Cultivation Realm, a large part of human territory was lost. Many humans were forced to be trapped in the Lost World, facing the power of dimension beings all alone.

During that time, among the human forces that had fallen into the Lost World, there were religious groups like The Black Church, as well as places like Pinocchini, where survivors gathered.

At first, Pinocchini was a shelter that took in survivors and helped them survive together.

Later, some of the stronger survivors gained power and started to build new forces.

More and more humans were saved and brought back to Pinocchini. Strong humans joined exploration teams, while the weak ones focused on production.

Gradually, a city built by human survivors stood firm in the Lost World and successfully resisted several monster attacks.

After that, the survivors who had power began to marry with each other. Their children started to gain supernatural abilities as well.

With each generation, they were surprised to find that their children were getting stronger and stronger. Babies could lift an adult with one hand right from birth.

Some even had pregnant women kick them out of the window during sleep, leaving them naked and falling onto the street.

When Logan heard this, he muttered under his breath: "Damn it! Are they even human anymore?"

Natalia gave Logan a look and laughed. "The leaders of the Human Federation had the same thought as you."

In fact, before the formation of the Human Federation, one of the strong warriors who fought side by side with the first chairman had once visited Pinocchini.

At that time, to expand the territory of the Human Federation and protect the border, the new humans from Pinocchini had provided great help.

Even that strong warrior stayed in Pinocchini for many years and discovered a way for humans to break through the Saint level. He personally brought the Fire Seed back to the Federation.

But after that, the Human Federation became too afraid of the new humans.

The warrior realized that traditional humans and the new humans couldn't coexist, so he led the new humans to expand further, building Pinocchini into a strong fortress.

Finally, during a period of intense internal conflict within the Human Federation, a large number of human familiar tamers launched a surprise attack on Pinocchini, hoping to enslave the new humans.

In that battle, the new humans of Pinocchini showed overwhelming power. Suddenly, seven or eight Saint-level warriors appeared.

Traditional humans needed Fire Seeds to break through to the Saint stage. The number of Saint-level familiar tamers was almost unheard of.

But the new humans from Pinocchini didn't need Fire Seeds. As long as they were strong enough, they could naturally advance.

This discovery made the Human Federation unable to ignore Pinocchini any longer. They wanted to fully conquer it. This angered the warrior who had once given the Human Federation the Fire Seed. After a big fight, the two sides completely broke up.

From that day on, Pinocchini became fully independent. The first human Saint-level warrior led the new humans to block most of the northern exits of the Human Federation.

Although this did help protect the Human Federation from a lot of monster attacks, it also stopped the Federation from expanding northward.

And that Saint-level warrior was eventually killed defending the northern border from a huge monster attack.

At this, Logan asked, "Can a Saint-level warrior really be killed by a beast tide?"

Natalia looked at Logan and sighed. "Of course they can. The Saint stage is the end for the Human Federation, but it's just the beginning in the Lost World. In the Lost World, the new humans of Pinocchini call the humans who have the potential to reach the Saint stage as [First-stage Transcendents]."

"When they actually reach the Saint stage, they call them [Second-stage Transcendents]."

"And when a Saint-level warrior becomes a Demigod, they call them [Third-stage Transcendents]."

"According to legend, only when humans become gods will they stop being called Transcendents."

After hearing this, Logan raised an eyebrow.

It was clear that Pinocchini had a much clearer understanding of the power levels in the Lost World.

So their ranking system was all aimed at one goal—becoming a god.

Realizing this, Logan asked, "So, does that mean I'm a First-stage Transcendent?"

Natalia smiled. "Exactly. You're a First-stage Transcendent with 18 stars of power."

Sophia explained: "In the eyes of the people from Pinocchini, each stage of Transcendent requires lighting 28 stars before you can move on to the next level."

Lucia looked a bit disappointed. "But traditional human familiar tamers can only light 20 stars when they reach the Legend stage. That's why we need Fire Seeds to accumulate human faith energy to light the remaining 8 stars and break into the Saint stage."

…

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