“Uprating?”

Mangzi stared at this unremarkable little stone in confusion; there was a golden line on it.

The next second, a thunderous uproar erupted across over thirty cities.

{Oh my god, it’s the uprating device!}

{For those who haven’t heard of this thing, let me explain: it can turn an obtuse model into a triangle, and elevate a triangle into a quadrilateral!}

{Ahhh, I want to enter the Demon Hero Hall too!}

The resting bridge had already burst into excitement; drawing the uprating device was no wonder it was called the mystery prize!

“Pick it up and take a look, Mangzi. Only you can pull it out!”

With a blissful expression, Mangzi picked up the pitch-black stone.

“What incredible luck! Hurry, how many chances do you have left? Keep going!”

“But I’ve almost used up all the lottery tickets, and we’ve already gotten the mystery prize. Maybe we should call it quits.”

Bang! Bang!

Two fists landed on Mangzi’s head.

Sporting two lumps on his head, the man continued to stuff the remaining tickets into the machine.

After a few tries, he looked up innocently:

“There really is another mystery reward.”

An envelope popped out of the machine.

……

Zorro’s Demonic Nightmare motorcycle roared across the boundless plain, its crimson form stretching like a trailing red lightning bolt under the gloomy midday light of the Deadfrequency Grounds.

“Happy Red Pony, I’ve almost run through every corner of this place!”

The man, wearing an eye patch to conceal his hideous scar, slightly hunched his body over the motorcycle.

His hair whipped wildly in the gusty wind.

He accelerated, making the wind whistle sharply.

“Alright, then let’s head to the next place!”

With a flick of his hand, the man sent a coin engraved with “Zicang First Year” flying forward, catching it instantly as his speeding palm met it.

Smack!

As his gloved hand, with exposed fingers, grasped the coin, the red streak vanished into the void ahead.

On the desolate plain, the racing vehicle was gone, leaving only abruptly disappearing tracks and the slowly rippling breeze.

……

Inside Starlight Illusion’s ancient spherical building.

In the grand meeting hall, several production team members stared at Boppoli.

“Was it you who slipped that model upgrade item in there?”

“Hehe, Sister Huan Bao’er felt our rewards were too low-key, so she requested a reassignment for us. There are four more left in this city’s lucky wheel.”

“Whoa.”

“No wonder it’s a demon-level arena city—such generous rewards.”

Even the Illusion Company staff couldn’t help showing envy; this kind of reward was usually reserved for director level and above. They shifted their gaze back to other scenes on the screen.

But then, a letter marked “Mystery Prize” caught their attention.

……

In Li Xing Xing’s retro office, Huan Bao’er, propping her head up with her hand, stared at it suspiciously for a while.

Suddenly, she squinted and said,

“Who was in charge of this lottery system at the time?”

The dozen or so people in Lianxingke shifted their puzzled gazes from the screen to the general director in the large chair.

The honest-looking person who had handed Zorro the “Bouncy Bounce Egg” said,

“I remember it was Zorro. I even donated a prize for that lottery system.”

Huan Bao’er turned and barked, “Get that bastard back here! Immediately!”

“Director, didn’t he resign?”

“Resign, my foot! That’s fleeing from justice!”

Just as she stood up, she suddenly froze in place.

The dozen or so people gathered here for the live broadcast looked over in confusion. Huan Bao’er sat back down, propped her chin lightly with her hand again, and continued watching the screen.

It was as if her outburst had just been an illusion.

None of them dared to say anything more, so they fell silent and continued watching the old-fashioned screen.

Cheng Yunze took the envelope, tore it open, shook it with suspicion, and a dark photograph slid out, featuring an indistinct image of a crystal engine that seemed to waver between reality and illusion.

[I have obtained 【Sub-Ether Channel Trial: Dark Gold Hubville】.]

—”This is…!”

Cheng Yunze felt as if an electric current had shot through his hand, his entire body freezing on the spot.

The dozen or so people in Lianxingke still weren’t sure what was going on.

“Wait, isn’t that the ether channel photo paper?”

“It looks like it, but the specs seem different from what we normally use.”

A sudden cry of exclamation came from the screen.

——“These really are the teleport coordinates for Dark Gold Hub Town! Unfortunately, it’s a trial version, usable only once.”

“Wha, what?” Several people in the office, also from Hub Town, stood up trembling, staring incredulously at the screen.

The people inside were gathered around Cheng Yunze; the instant the photo paper was touched, its information became known. With so many people there, Cheng Yunze had no chance to hide the treasure’s details!

“Even if it’s only once, at least it can be traded.”

“Who would have thought there’s a third Hub Town! I wonder what’s in that one.”

The team in Lian Xing Branch listened, stunned, to the amplified sound in the projection.

“Huh?”

“That guy actually made the coordinates of Dark Gold Hub Town a prize and threw it into the lottery system?”

Some leaning back in their seats, others sitting cross-legged on the floor, these people stared blankly at one another, confirming what they had just heard.

“Where did that guy even get that photo paper?” The speaker was immediately silenced by a hand over their mouth.

“So, so cool!”

Suddenly, someone jumped up.

“Wow! Haha, Director Bao’er, we actually had someone do it!”

“No wonder that Zoro guy took off running!”

“Long live Russell! That’s damn awesome!”

Inside the division, everyone erupted into celebratory cheers.

Huan Bao’er, facing away from the crowd, leaned her head on her hand in the front chair, speaking not a word.

But the corners of her mouth slowly curled into a slight smile.

[You have gained [Flare of Heroes] +1.]

……

Inside the cube, Yang Zicang’s eyes were nearly blinded by this scene.

“Damn! You actually built that thing into the lottery system! Zorro, you madman!”

At this moment, the gloom accumulated in his heart from the casualties at the Demon Glory Hall was significantly alleviated by this sudden surprise.

Yang Zicang never expected Zorro to give him such a huge surprise—and one for everyone. With just one photo of a trial sample, one could find a way to let more than one person enter. As for how that would be accomplished, it would depend on the efforts of those who obtained the trial sample themselves.

The simplest method, of course, was no other than Xiao Machao’s Illusionary Realm Travel ability on the Lost Frequency Land!

“Amazing! You finally pushed through that long hard work and made it happen!”

The Silver-White Model user could only resonate with the statue’s force field that defended against physical attacks here, while the Red Model resonated with the statue’s force field that defended against sound waves, blasts, and the like.

The Dark Gold Bloodline Resonance Statue, however, could defend against telekinetic attacks.

And as long as this rare Dark Gold Statue was found, it could serve as a bridge between the Red and White Models, fully resonating with all three force fields and enabling mental links with models of any color without obstacles!

“Zorro, this time you really did an absolutely brilliant job!”

But… were there only ten chances in the lottery?

Yang Zicang recalled Croft’s words.

—”For instance, you can increase the odds for those girls who always love to chat…”

“Zorro, you must not forget that line!”

……

“And what’s this trial sample supposed to be?”

In the monitoring room, Zhu Yin spat out the coffee in his mouth, casually tossed his cup onto a chair, and stumbled hurriedly toward the backs of the wooden chairs where several employees were seated in front.

“M…Magic Hall.”

The deputy town lead excitedly watched the footage broadcast by the little journalists from the air.

“Yang Zicang did it… that guy is truly incredible. Did he do it alone, or with someone else?”

Zhu Yin instantly recalled Zorro, who had entered the Lost Illusion Company ahead of Yang Zicang.

And also those who had entered the Lost Illusion Company years earlier—some caught, some not.

“Zorro, Yang Zicang.”

These two had already intersected in the Lost Frequency Place, and their paths had been converging towards the same location through a series of intersections.

And at this very moment, they were at this incredible, final success time convergence node.

Who ultimately achieved it was no longer important.

Because in this operation to acquire the Dark Gold Hub Town, over a dozen years, at least twenty or more people who knew this information had, with their own efforts, gradually pushed the operation forward. Only then did this success come to pass.

“Good, good, good. Since you really delivered the coordinate point, leave the next task to me.”

The mission to allow everyone to communicate without hindrance and completely sever the opposition between models was truly about to begin!

Zhu Yin joyfully looked out of the room.

The outside, bustling with intense atmosphere, had no idea that behind this seemingly surprising event, there were so many people striving to push it forward.

……

In the slowly rotating Mordo Fang Chamber, Lü Bu and the others, upon receiving the information, immediately dispersed their forces, heading through different rooms to search for the “Special Invitation Tickets” that would increase their chances of obtaining mystery rewards.

On the third morning, at the Second Rest Bridge Corridor of the two cities, teams that had pulled through through the night to clear their trials began to appear—these teams were mostly temporarily assembled from experts who had originally belonged to different groups.

Yang Zicang’s heart grew increasingly anxious.

He didn’t know exactly how many envelopes Zorro had stuffed in, but it certainly couldn’t have been too many. If this group drew at the rate of one hundred N per draw, with each person drawing ten times, and among the over thirty thousand to nearly forty thousand people who had entered so far—assuming fifty percent participated—that would be ten times twenty thousand draws…

And then multiply that by a hundred…

“Croft!”

Damn bastard.

He, Boppoli, and Little Jiaoma hadn’t put in even a single prize that required spending Time Sequence to draw.

Now, with this low-probability hundred N per draw system appearing, along with that damned “drawing atmosphere” prompt sound…

Who had tampered with this big wheel—it was clear without saying.

If it weren’t for the extra hundred years of time sequence draws added for each person, then even if I showed up five days after the Magic Hero Palace opened, I would still have a chance to draw the “Sub-Ether Channel Photo,” which contains the coordinate of the third hub town.

But now, if I wait until the fifth day to come out, there won’t be anything left for me!

What should I do?

“Two days and twelve hours left.”

Yang Zicang let out a worried sigh and looked at the cube, which was the size of a small bedroom.