Ji Tianjin’s communicator suddenly beeped: “Rong Shao just sent over the complete data on the thirty-two surrounding desolate stars.”
Even though the Federation hadn’t officially announced the exact location yet, they could already make some educated guesses.
First, the Extreme Individual Battle wasn’t about hunting strange beasts, so holding it on an desolate star made more sense than a barren one. Second, as Cyril mentioned, most of the nearby desolate stars had rainforest environments.
Su Cha sighed, “I’m starting to miss the desert and the icy wastelands.”
Rainforests alone contained hundreds of thousands of poisonous species—if not more.
Ji Tianjin said, “We need to quickly eliminate the other planetary opponents.”
A rainforest was not a suitable battlefield for drawn-out, grinding tug-of-war matches.
After roughly reviewing the maps, the conversation gradually lightened up. Liu Xiqin teased, “It used to be forced feeding, now it’s forced slapping—two-pronged approach.”
All the while, his peripheral vision was fixed on the still-trembling flower leaf, the spirit form seemingly always ready to slap someone.
Su Cha replied, “It’s still the same little white flower yearning for peace.”
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and the lotus magnolia floated in the air, instantly giving the illusion of being in a hidden paradise. If he unleashed it fully, he was confident he could instantly make an opponent lose the will to fight.
“Perfect match,” Di Yuansi affirmed.
The spirit form forcibly calmed others, and the master would follow up with a face slap.
That image—no one would dare imagine it.
Since they represented different factions, Ji Tianjin and the others didn’t stay long. After finishing their discussion, they returned to their own groups.
Not long after, Cyril came back as well and handed over the packed equipment.
As Su Cha was putting it away, he casually gave Cyril a heads-up: “Our strategy might be a little… unconventional.”
Cyril didn’t mind. He had seen Su Cha lead affiliated school students and Land in a mock battle on an desolate star before—whatever strategy they came up with now couldn’t possibly be more outrageous than that. So he offered his support: “As long as it works.”
He wouldn’t get involved in the planning. He figured he should leave some room for the kids to take the lead.
Su Cha suddenly began thinking about what would happen if they won: “If in the end, it’s just me and…”
Cyril interrupted, “Don’t worry, I’ll negotiate a mutual benefit arrangement with the Galan Empire.”
Nothing complicated—just private agreements to take turns controlling the wormhole would suffice.
Three days later, the competition venue was officially announced. As expected, it was a rainforest environment. Su Cha had previously looked into this desolate star: Dawn-Dusk Star.
On Dawn-Dusk Star, day and night weren’t clearly defined, and the rainforest was filled with ferocious animals that posed serious survival challenges.
Over thirty factions were participating, with nearly a hundred competitors.
A large-scale event like this naturally required an opening ceremony. All competitors were required to participate in a parade first. For the first time, Su Cha formally asked Cyril for a favor: to negotiate with the organizing committee so he could skip the entrance parade and instead simply set off with everyone when the competition began.
At this moment, competitors from various planets were entering the stadium holding their banners, accompanied by adrenaline-pumping music. The grandeur of the scene far exceeded that of the Ten Schools Tournament.
The announcer from the Federation stood on a high platform, introducing the competitors as they walked in, with a massive screen behind him displaying brief profiles of individual participants.
“Coming toward us now is the team leader from Tiannan Star, ranked number one in the national holographic simulation tournaments, holding the title of ‘Meteor Arrow.’”
The moment Su Cha heard the word “title,” his hair almost stood on end. Yesterday, Ji Tianjin had specially told him that all nations had carried over the title system for mechanical gloves—that was the real reason he refused to attend the opening ceremony.
Cyril suddenly asked, “What’s your title?”
Su Cha also had mechanical gloves. With his talent, he must have one too.
“Haha… what title…”
Cyril had just asked casually, but now his curiosity was piqued. He considered going directly to ask someone from the Galan Empire.
Su Cha instantly realized what Cyril was planning and replied with a bluffing tone: “His Majesty Sanses doesn’t let things slide—no matter how small, there’s always a price to pay.”
“I’m willing to pay to hear it.”
“… ” Su Cha was silent for a full five seconds. “If I tell you, you’re not allowed to laugh.”
“I swear on my honor as king.”
Cyril had this trait: whenever Su Cha was worried about something, he would always make a sincere promise.
Su Cha finally relaxed and quickly whispered: “It’s ‘Treasure Boy.’”
Cyril’s shoulders trembled slightly.
At first, he just chuckled softly. But then his laughter grew louder and louder. The guards behind him had no idea what was going on and were surprised to hear the king laughing so heartily.
In truth, the title itself wasn’t that special—Su Cha truly was a treasure in the hearts of the Fog Star people. But judging by his current expression, it wasn’t hard to guess that Su Cha had likely experienced a similar title announcement before. With his low-key personality, he probably forced himself to stay calm at the time, which must have been quite amusing.
“… “ You liar, you said you wouldn’t laugh.
“You’re up next,” Cyril managed to suppress his laughter and gave him a reminder.
Su Cha wasn’t participating in the entrance parade, but in exchange, he needed to go on stage as the player representative to give a speech.
This Interstellar Youth Tournament had become a grand event due to the involvement of major factions, and it was being broadcast everywhere. Since Su Cha was representing Fog Star, skipping the entrance completely would seem inappropriate.
That was the official reasoning from the Federation President—hard to argue with. Having Su Cha speak as the competitor representative subtly indicated that Fog Star supported the event, avoiding the impression that the Federation was suppressing anyone.
At this moment, a staff member approached him quietly to call him to get ready.
As Su Cha walked forward, the announcer smiled and said, “Next, let’s welcome the competitor representative from Fog Star to deliver a speech.”
Applause surged like a tide. Su Cha straightened his clothes and calmly walked toward the center stage.
He stood atop the high platform and turned on the microphone. The arena was circular, and in an instant, all eyes from every direction focused solely on him.
Regardless of anything else, the proud and striking figure of the young man, standing calmly under countless burning gazes, was already enough to be praised.
Federation reporters took the chance to capture several more photos, preparing to later highlight that Fog Star was willingly participating in this competition.
“First of all, I want to thank the Federation for providing us with this stage to showcase ourselves…”
Su Cha’s tone was very sincere, without a trace of pretense. “I believe this competition is about friendship first. Please, everyone, let’s not harbor hatred toward each other. I once studied in the Galan Empire, and back then, I said something: love your enemies.
I also hope everyone here today can uphold this belief: if someone strikes your left cheek, you should offer them your right cheek as well.”
The whole venue erupted.
Ji Tianjin and the others had just returned to their seats, and Di Yuansi, who sat down last, almost stumbled.
Su Cha’s speech was brief but sharp. To paraphrase: thanks to the Federation for giving me the chance to slap you all; ‘friendship first’ refers to later cooperation; and the ‘turn the other cheek’ theory clearly wasn’t for himself, since he specifically emphasized “everyone here.”
But others weren’t in on this, and the leaders of various nations could only rely on their powerful spiritual senses to confirm Su Cha wasn’t lying.
Having been through this sort of thing, Xie Rongjue removed his glasses, wiped them, and shook his head.
When Su Cha starts ‘forgiving,’ the smarter ones know that’s the real moment to be on guard.
Even if some disliked this ‘pushover’ attitude, it didn’t change the fact that Su Cha had now become an absolute prize.
He had status, no temper, and even came with a calming floral fragrance—was there a more perfect marriage candidate?
The rulers’ minds were spinning with schemes, and the Federation President whispered something to his secretary, who soon left on an errand.
The opening ceremony wrapped up fairly quickly. The commentator briefly recapped classic moments from previous competitions, and the contestants were sent off to their starting points.
The rest of the audience stayed in their seats since the arena would soon begin live broadcasts of the competition.
Su Cha waved to Cyril, then boarded the starship with the other contestants.
As a precaution, each planet had sent their own starships to accompany them.
Once aboard, the team leaders immediately handed out chest badges and smart wristbands: “These are extreme protection devices. As long as you can force another contestant’s protection device to eject, it means they’ve been eliminated.”
As everyone pinned on their badges, the team leader sternly emphasized: “Once a protection device is triggered, both parties must immediately cease all action, or they’ll face trial by the highest interstellar court.”
The protection devices put most people at ease—at least their lives wouldn’t be at risk.
Only the corner of Su Cha’s mouth twitched slightly. He mumbled to Ji Tianjin, “You have to be on the brink of death for the device to eject. That’s pretty inhumane.”
He didn’t lower his voice, so people nearby heard him and found his reaction a bit bizarre. They wondered what kind of upbringing the Fog Star heir had that left him with such a delicate constitution.
A Federation contestant winked at his teammate and laughed quietly, “Can’t even handle a little hardship.”
His teammate shrugged. “Isn’t that perfect for us?”
The two exchanged a knowing glance and said no more.
The starship was mostly quiet except for occasional whispers. Most contestants had already closed their eyes to rest. The competition had no time limit—it would continue until only one faction remained. They needed to be ready to endure the days ahead.
To keep the leaders who were watching the live broadcast from waiting too long, the organizers had deliberately chosen a relatively nearby waste star, which would take just a few hours to reach.
About ten minutes before arrival, the team leader found Su Cha and equipped him with drop gear. Other solo contestants received the same treatment. This was to prevent gang-ups at the start, so the starship would drop contestants in separate locations.
Su Cha raised his eyebrows. His joint plan had hit a small snag—seemed like he’d have to work solo for a while.
Lien suddenly approached, smiling as he said, “The Federation’s scheming like this, and you can really swallow it?”
Su Cha looked seriously at the overly youthful Zerg king. “Every word of my earlier speech came from the bottom of my heart.”
As he spoke, he was using his last moments to double-check his equipment. Lien caught sight of some medicinal ointment for bruises and asked, “What’s that for?”
Su Cha smiled and quickly stashed his backpack back into his storage device. “Nothing.”
He just didn’t want his hands to hurt.
They arrived at 4 p.m. Visibility on the Dawn-Dusk Star was low. At the team leader’s signal, the starship door opened, and Su Cha jumped from tens of thousands of meters up.
As he dropped closer—just a few dozen meters from the ground—he noticed a swarm of drones in the sky, meaning the live broadcast had already begun.
Su Cha made a heart gesture to one of the cameras and safely landed, popping a candy Cyril had prepared into his mouth.
In the arena.
The largest screen was showing the live feed. As the first contestant to land, all the cameras were focused on Su Cha. Many people shook their heads—it looked like he was on vacation.
Before anyone could gossip about it, Su Cha ran into trouble—a golden python launched a surprise attack on its prey.
It was huge but lightning-fast.
Su Cha didn’t even turn his head, continuing to walk forward as if nothing happened.
Behind him, his sweetly fragrant and serene magnolia spirit form appeared. Its leaves shot out faster than the snake could react, smacking the python away on the spot.
The magnolia honestly wanted to slap its lazy owner while it was at it.
Su Cha pulled out his communicator and snapped a selfie: “Get closer.”
He made a peace sign while the magnolia’s leaves instinctively supported its flower like a hand cradling a face, perfectly posing for the shot.
“Let’s go.” Su Cha pocketed his communicator.
He seemed to be looking for a hiding place, showing no interest in attacking.
The entire time, Su Cha focused on following his compass. Whenever he encountered more dangerous animals, his spirit form handled them.
“Wow, you’re amazing.”
“This angle makes your face look so small.”
…
Amid Su Cha’s endless compliments—obviously a scheme—the spirit form still gradually lost itself in the flattery.
Viewers weren’t focused on the dynamic between Su Cha and his spirit form; they were fascinated by something else.
“I didn’t know spirit forms could mutate. Normally, they inherit the host’s personality.”
In the video, Su Cha and his spirit form were clearly opposites—one lazy, one aggressive.
Nearby, people from the Galan Empire overheard and exchanged glances.
Could it be… that when Su Cha hits people, he’s exactly like his spirit form?
