IMC Chapter 1

“There are only three minutes left before the registration ends! Let’s see if there are any brave warriors who are willing to challenge us!”

“This is a once-in-a-century survival race. If you miss it, you may regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Very good, I see an elegant Zerg warrior walking towards our registration point! Excellent, I can already feel the terrifying fighting spirit emanating from this warrior!”

The host’s passionate voice echoed across the immensely grand square, accompanied by the shouts and cheers of the crowd. In such a fervent atmosphere, the air around seemed to be infinitely heated, nearing boiling point.

This crowded square is located near the largest interstellar port in the Xianyin Galaxy. When you look up, you can see interstellar spaceships constantly coming and going above the port. Among them, a city-class giant starship is currently docked. The bright lights and sleek, gorgeous appearance of the starship attracted countless people’s yearning eyes.

“How many people will board our Noah starship? The answer will be revealed soon. Let us welcome this Zerg warrior who signed up at the last minute!”

Through the boiling crowd, an elegant man with typical butterfly antennae strides forward purposefully. His eyes, always adorned with a faint smile, are fixed on the registration point ahead. Behind him, a cloak made of giant butterfly wings lightly flutters with his movements.

Amid the host’s increasingly excited voice, the Zerg man was finally about to step into the registration line.

However, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, a spatial vortex suddenly appeared above the registration point. The vortex was no larger than a basketball and the center was black. It was a small-scale temporal wormhole. The vortex did not last long. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared. In its place, a light-colored fluffy ball fell from the sky.

Under everyone’s gaze, the ball hit the Zerg man’s head accurately. The Zerg man, who had already started walking, stepped towards the registration line with a ball on his head.

In an instant, the square fell into deathly silence. What just happened?

Amid the astonishment of the crowd, the ball that fell from the sky began to flail as it slowly slid down. It was a small mouse with off-white and light gray as the main colors. When the little mouse was about to roll off the head of the Zerg, it hurriedly grabbed the opponent’s antennae and used all four claws to action, perfectly demonstrating what it meant to take advantage of someone’s nose. Finally, it climbed back to the top of the head and sat down.

The elegant Zerg man maintained a faint smile in his eyes and did not get angry because of this sudden situation. He just reached out and picked up the furry ball on his head, trying to take the mouse off.

As a result, the confused little mouse got frightened and grabbed his antennae tightly with its two claws, forcing the Zerg man to stop. The little mouse frantically struggled with its four claws but stopped after it met the man’s eyes. It looked left and right as if it finally realized that it had hit someone and was grabbing their antennae. Embarrassedly, it released its grip and apologized, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to step on you.”

After saying that, as if to express his apology, the little mouse stretched out his claws to touch the man’s antennae and then let go. The bent antennae quickly rebounded and returned to their normal state. The elegant man smiled lightly and placed the little mouse on the registration table. “It’s okay. Let’s register this beast man first.”

After this reminder, the host quickly came back to his senses and quickly regained control of the rhythm of the scene. “It’s a great surprise. At the last minute of registration, we actually welcomed two applicants; one beast warrior who came through the wormhole, and the other elegant and humble Zerg warrior. The countdown is about to end. Are there any more surprises?”

The huge virtual digital countdown in the air reached zero under everyone’s intense gaze, without any unexpected events during the countdown. Everyone’s attention was once again focused on the last two applicants.

Shu Bao, who had just traveled through time and space, was still in a daze when a microphone was suddenly thrust in front of him. Seeing his chest fur sticking into the holes of the microphone, Shu Bao immediately inhaled, puffed out his chest, and tucked in his belly.

Next to him, the host asked, “What’s your name, brave warrior? And what do you think is your biggest advantage in this competition?”

Even though he didn’t quite understand the situation, Shu Bao maintained a calm exterior. He quietly took two steps backward, clasped his paws in front of his chest, and said honestly, “My name is Shu Bao, and my biggest advantage is that I’m a bit lucky.”

The host waited for a moment, making sure that the other party had nothing to say. He then took over the conversation, “It seems we have a straightforward warrior here. Let us witness the luck of this beast warrior in the events to come.”

Although this self-introduction was too concise, the personalities of different races varied greatly, so the host did not find it strange. He proceeded with the normal process to interview the next and final applicant.

Shu Bao, who was sitting at the table, was led to another huge table. The tabletop was made of some transparent glass-like material. It was more like a computer surface than a table. There was an electronic file on the table. A person next to Shu Bao pushed the electronic file in front of him and instructed him to press his paw print in the designated spot.

As Shu Bao was examining the documents, he heard the voice of the antennae man.

“My name is Fu Qing. I firmly believe that strength is supreme. The last thing I believe in in my life is luck. Anyone who tries to win by luck is rubbish!” Unlike his elegant appearance, his words seemed extremely arrogant and confident, as if he were a king standing on a high place and looking down on everyone. As soon as he finished speaking, the square suddenly erupted with shouts, which was in sharp contrast to the silence when Shu Bao introduced himself just now. Obviously, this person is very popular.

Shu Bao multitasked, quickly reading through the contents of the document. He understood that he was now at the registration site of a large-scale survival live competition. The contents of the document included the risks that the contestants would face, the possible consequences, and the various rewards they would receive after winning. Thinking that he was new here and really needed an opportunity to integrate, Shu Bao pressed his pawprint without finding any loopholes in the document.

When his paw print settled, the antennae man also walked over. The two looked at each other, but neither spoke a word.

“Mr. Shu Bao, please come with me to collect the competition items.” The voice of the staff interrupted the eye contact between the two. Shu Bao turned around, jumped off the table, and left with the staff.

The so-called competition item is actually just a bracelet that could freely adjust its size. Even someone with Shu Bao’s body shape can wear it. He shook his arms and found that the bracelet did not affect his movements at all. Shu Bao was very satisfied with this.

The staff introduced the functions of the bracelet to Shu Bao. This small bracelet includes multiple functions such as communication, light computer, projection, survival live broadcast system, folding space, etc. While listening to the staff’s explanation, Shu Bao followed them to the entrance area. At a glance, Shu Bao immediately thought of a word: a swarm of demons dancing wildly.

The entrance area is very spacious but still somewhat crowded. The most eye-catching things are the various strange creatures, including familiar humans and beasts. Ears and tails are their characteristics, and the characteristic of the Zerg is antennae. Most of the contestants here maintain their human form, and some, like Shu Bao, maintain their original form.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, little guy.” A rough voice came. Shu-little guy-Bao looked up and saw a tall hippo standing. He couldn’t help but take two steps backward and ended up stepping on something soft. He looked down and saw the tentacle of an octopus. Following the tentacle, he saw a creature with a human upper body and an octopus lower body busy eating food and didn’t notice anything.

Shu Bao gently raised his paw and grinned awkwardly. The octopus glanced at him and suddenly laughed, “Look, even mice have come to participate in the competition!”

“Isn’t this the mouse that just teleported over and hit Fu Qing?”

“Little guy, be careful. This competition is very dangerous.”

Everyone was talking at once, and Shu Bao’s ears twitched. Danger? Could it be that there were a lot of cats participating? This was indeed a problem worth noting.

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