Struggle

“Luo Feng,” the fist-sized Babata mumbled from his shoulder, “the Mengya Galaxy and the Weili Galaxy are incredibly far apart. Even traveling on the Yunmo Star ship, the fastest route would take at least 8 days, and we’re coming from the Ganwu Universe Nation… The Ganwu Universe Nation to the Gulun Universe Nation is too distant. You’ll have to ask Dilun for help with Divine Kingdom teleportation. Otherwise, the journey would take at least half a year, but the Blood Demon Trial starts in a month.”

“Understood,” Luo Feng nodded, pondering which galaxy to choose.

“Have you decided?” Babata asked. “The Virtual Universe Company is making you choose: on one side, 1 million Star-level individuals; on the other, 10 billion Planet-level individuals. In my opinion… choosing the Planet-level indicates your kindness, Luo Feng. Seeing more people, you choose the Weili Galaxy. But if you choose the 1 million Star-level humans, it shows your stronger belief in the survival of the fittest. Many powerful beings in the cosmos… believe that those with strength should have more right to survive.”

Luo Feng listened, nodding slightly.

Under the Blood Demon King’s oppressive rule in the Duotuo Starfield, those who could cultivate to the Star-level must have endured countless hardships and setbacks.

As for Planet-level individuals, a single galaxy could produce tens of billions of them. Clearly, the Blood Demon King had made Planet-level cultivation widespread.

Was it to choose the common 10 billion people?

Or to choose the 1 million Star-level individuals who had overcome trials and tribulations?

“I choose the Weili Galaxy,” Luo Feng said solemnly.

…

Luo Feng dared not waste any time. That very day, he departed Earth aboard the Yunmo Star ship. Dilun then performed a Divine Kingdom teleportation, directly transporting them to the Yufu Starfield within the Gulun Universe Nation’s territory. From the Yufu Starfield, they would fly to the Weili Galaxy at maximum speed, an estimated 26-day journey.

In the dark universe, the Yunmo Star ship advanced.

Inside the control room, Luo Feng and Dilun conversed.

“What a coincidence, Dilun. Your Divine Kingdom teleportation’s closest point to the Duotuo Starfield is the Yufu Starfield. It takes 26 days to reach the Weili Galaxy and 25 days to reach the Mengya Galaxy.” Luo Feng looked at Dilun, asking with a smile, “Did the Virtual Universe Company consult you before setting this mission?”

Dilun smiled, nodding slightly.

“Damn it,” Luo Feng couldn’t help but curse.

Just as he suspected!

The Virtual Universe Company had indeed calculated everything perfectly. They had probably even instructed Dilun not to use any closer ‘coordinate markers’ he might have in the Gulun Universe Nation.

“The Virtual Universe Company always acts from the perspective of nurturing talent,” Dilun said with a laugh. “Don’t be angry.”

“I understand,” Luo Feng nodded.

Luo Feng held no resentment towards the Virtual Universe Company.

As one of humanity’s two strongest forces, the Virtual Universe Company’s actions were naturally driven by the goal of ‘maintaining and strengthening the human race’! Since joining, Luo Feng had been quite satisfied, even with the Earth transaction… it was a fair balance.

If an ordinary person on Earth found a treasure worth millions of mixed yuan units, Luo Feng, given his status on Earth, would likely buy it directly. He’d probably offer a few tens of billions of Earth dollars, which would be considered generous. In Luo Feng’s view, that much money would ensure an ordinary person a worry-free life.

The same principle applied!

To the Virtual Universe Company, ‘Earth’ was a cradle created by that alien great being with immense effort, its value immeasurable. Even a powerful Universe Master might not be able to afford one percent of Earth’s true worth by emptying their entire fortune. But it was impossible to give Luo Feng such a vast fortune simply because of that.

“Your Highness, why did you choose the 10 billion Planet-level individuals instead of the 1 million Star-level?” Dilun asked curiously. “Without any technology, under the Blood Demon King’s oppressive rule, 99% of those who reach Star-level have done so through immense difficulty. And according to the information I found, the Duotuo Starfield has a high overall evolution rate. Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of Planet-level individuals can be found on any life-bearing planet. It’s not hard for a galaxy to gather 10 billion Planet-level members; these are just ordinary warriors.”

“Every individual is an independent life,” Luo Feng said softly. “My home planet, Earth, has experienced countless catastrophes. I know how cruel death can be.”

“Just like my family, they were ordinary people back then. Does that mean their lives are worthless? At least in my eyes, my family is more precious than a million Sector Lords! And perhaps in the eyes of those ordinary people, their own single life is more precious than those million Star-level individuals.”

“Should 10 billion ordinary people die so 1 million Star-level can live?”

Luo Feng shook his head.

There was no such rule!

Perhaps when it comes to the survival of a species or a race, painful choices must be made. For example… millions of people in a race might sacrifice themselves to protect the strongest, because the strongest are the hope for their race’s survival.

But this choice Luo Feng faced clearly didn’t involve the survival of a species or a race.

Luo Feng’s choice was naturally straightforward.

…

Twenty-six days later.

The Yunmo Star ship hovered above a planet that was entirely yellowish-brown.

“This is a lifeless planet, roughly spherical, with a maximum diameter of 18,023 kilometers,” Babata’s sharp voice rang out. “According to the Virtual Universe Company’s intelligence, this is where the Blood Demon Trial will be held. Look… there are already quite a few people stationed on this planet. But don’t worry! There’s no way they can detect us.”

“Hmm.”

Luo Feng looked down. Indeed, there were over a hundred people stationed on this mineral planet, most of them Universe-level.

“Let’s wait,” Luo Feng said softly, “wait for those 10 billion Planet-level individuals to be transported here.”

…

At this moment, the 10 billion Planet-level individuals gathered from hundreds of thousands of planets in the Weili Galaxy were being transported by 10,000 spaceships, flying through the dark universe towards their destination.

…

Inside one of these spaceships, three entire decks were packed with countless cages. Each cage held ten Planet-level individuals. At a glance… each deck was densely filled with hundreds of thousands of Planet-level members.

“Mama.”

“Lis~~”

Faint cries and murmurs emanated from the tens of thousands of densely packed cages. This… was truly hell.

Inside one of the cages,

A boy in tattered animal skins, his face grimy, tightly hugged a girl. Because of the Blood Demon King’s rule, the overall evolution rate of humans in the Duotuo Starfield was high, so Planet-level youths were very common. And for selection purposes, these young individuals were often chosen for the Blood Demon Trial.

“Wuwa,” the boy whispered, holding the girl. His grimy face held bright, yearning eyes, a longing for life. He seemed to be talking to himself, “Brother will definitely make sure you survive, definitely.”

The girl suddenly trembled slightly.

She looked up. She was a delicate girl, though equally grimy, one could tell she was beautiful. However, in the Duotuo Starfield… the concept of strength first had long been ingrained. If one lacked strength, good looks were useless.

“Brother,” the girl whispered, “will we die? I heard that in the Blood Demon Purgatory, only 100 out of 10 billion people survive. Many of these 10 billion are elites from various sects, possessing psychic weapons, primal energy weapons, and special secret techniques. We don’t have good weapons, and only know basic secret techniques. How can we survive?”

Upon hearing this, the boy’s tears flowed uncontrollably.

His fate had been tragic since childhood.

His parents died young, so he wandered with his sister, diligently practicing the widely circulated basic secret techniques. He eventually became Planet-level, hoping to live a stable and happy life. But this life had barely lasted two years… they, with no background whatsoever, were rounded up to make up the numbers. It was known that every planet had to provide a sufficient number of participants for the Blood Demon Trial.

If there weren’t enough ordinary people, even some Planet-level individuals with backgrounds would be seized!

The Blood Demon Trial was a command issued by the ‘Blood Demon King’; no one dared to defy it.

“We will survive, we will survive, brother swears,” the boy whispered.

“Mm,” the girl softly responded, burying her face back into her brother’s embrace.

Perhaps…

In the last few days before the purgatorial nightmare arrived, cuddling in her brother’s arms was the happiest thing she could do.

“Definitely,” the boy clenched his right hand tightly, his fingernails digging into his palm, his eyes filled with a hint of hysteria, shouting internally, “I must make sure my sister survives, I must.”

100 chosen out of 10 billion.

What kind of concept was that?

And it was a battle to the death. Even those geniuses with special secret techniques, primal energy battle suits, and primal energy weapons could die if they were carelessly ganged up on. After all, 10 billion people on an ordinary mineral planet meant an incredibly high population density. Once the frenzied slaughter and encirclement began… who could claim certain survival?

And those who survived to the end must possess strength! Intelligence! Courage! And a bit of luck!

…

The struggle of the lowest tier: all the Planet-level individuals confined in cages were terrified and worried about the impending Blood Demon Purgatory. Even with strength… facing a chaotic free-for-all, they would feel despair.

…

“Ship No. 0229, dock at position No. 0293!”

“Ship No. 3619, dock at position No. 0123!”

The yellowish-brown planet had already been slightly modified. And now, the deep purple, flat spaceship hovering above this desolate planet continuously directed the arriving transport ships carrying Planet-level humans. Ship after ship arrived and landed on the planet. As their cargo bay doors opened,

Large batches of cages were opened, and countless grimy men and women, their faces showing undisguised fear, emerged. Densely packed, people continuously walked onto this barren planet.

The planet’s surface temperature was extremely low, around minus 80 degrees Celsius. Being a mineral planet, it was impossible to breathe, but Planet-level members no longer needed to breathe.

“Whoa, whoa…”

“So, so many people.”

The spaceships on the mineral planet took off and left after disembarking these Planet-level humans. The Planet-level individuals immediately saw dense crowds in the distance… over 5 billion people had already arrived. They had never seen such a terrifying number of Planet-level individuals before.

And at this moment—

A blood-red triangular spaceship, with its stealth system activated, also hovered tens of thousands of kilometers above this planet, monitoring all the Planet-level humans on the entire planet.