Chapter 36: Start of the Competition
The next morning.
Su Bai took the cub to Nangong Mountain, where the annual Cannes Trainee Pet Tamer Survival Challenge would be held this year.
The whole game would last for one day and one night. The competition was two players a team, but no other group formation was allowed. Everyone would have a number tag.
The final ranking was calculated according to the number of tags each team obtained.
“Howl!”
The cub walked in front of him with its head held high in confidence as it led the way.
Once the owner-pet pair hit the main road, they directly took a taxi to the Spirit Market, where Su Bai and Chen Rouxue had arranged to meet.
He waited for a few minutes before he saw the girl coming over on an electric scooter.
“Over here!”
He beckoned to her. Chen Rouxue, in gray sportswear and black sneakers, had her hair tied up today as she carried a backpack and drew closer with her Little Devil.
Su Bai was in a similar outfit. Since he would be in fights today, he naturally had to don good sportswear.
“Why did you come here on your electric scooter? Didn’t you say that you’d call a cab?” he asked.
Parking the scooter and running briskly to him, the girl replied, “I changed my mind. If there’s a traffic jam on the way, all our preparations would be for naught. With the electric scooter, I could drive on small roads and didn’t have to worry about any traffic jams.
“Anyway, Nangong Mountain is only a little over forty kilometers away, so my electric scooter can easily make the return trip after the competition.”
“Oh, I see. Have you eaten breakfast yet? If you haven’t, let’s eat first. You can drive us on your scooter after.”
“I don’t wanna ride, and I already had my breakfast. I still have some snacks in my backpack for us to munch on between fights.”
Chen Rouxue pushed the key into his hand and dragged him to the scooter. She herself went to sit on the back seat.
“Fine, but you’ll be the one to drive us back.” Su Bai shook his head helplessly. He did not want to ride the scooter, either; it was so much more comfortable sitting behind.
“Okay, I’ll be the rider on the return trip as long as you’re not afraid.” The girl smirked.
“Why would I be scared? If you dare to drive, I dare to sit.”
He shrugged casually. Although Chen Rouxue looked rather delicate and seemed like a calm and docile girl, she was fiercer than him when riding scooters.
Su Bai got on the scooter and set off.
Forty minutes later, before 8 a.m., they arrived at the foot of the mountain.
They parked the scooter and walked over. The whole mountain was sealed now because its entirety was the competition venue.
“We specially asked the head teacher for a leave to participate in this competition. If we get eliminated early on, won’t it be embarrassing to death?”
Chen Rouxue grumbled as she went up the stairs.
“Don’t worry; with me around, that sort of thing is impossible.”
Su Bai patted her shoulder reassuringly.
They went up the stairs and entered the gates of the venue. After showing their IDs, the staff allowed them inside.
Inside was a square venue. The rostrum, which was set up here, was empty at the moment. The competition would only start at 8 a.m.
There were already hundreds of people waiting in the venue; most of whom were sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youths. Su Bai and Chen Rouxue came in and surveyed their surroundings.
“Wow, purple irises? Isn’t that eye color a sign of an emperor monster?” Someone pointed at Purple Jade’s amethyst orbs.
“No way; it must be a rare eye mutation. Both their pets are just mid-level servants.” A boy in black corrected his companion. Behind him was a fiery-red Flame Crow, and the duo’s pets exuded the aura of low-level warlords.
“That’s Zhao Li, the seeded player of Iron Second Middle School. Let’s go there and sit down while we wait.” Chen Rouxue did not have stage fright and whispered calmly to him. She pointed to a corner next to him.
“Okay.” Su Bai nodded. He then looked around and saw that no pet here was a low-level servant. The lowest was at least a mid-level servant.
There were some high-ranking servant pets, but not many. As for pets at the warlord rank, there was only Zhao Li’s.
“A boy and a girl? Aren’t they just a young couple, who treats this competition as a way to flirt?”
“Who cares! Anyway, they’re doomed if they bump into us. I just hope that they won’t break up after they lose. Hehe!”
As soon as Su Bai and Chen Rouxue sat down, the two youths beside them began whispering arrogantly.
He glanced at them and saw that they were wearing a pair of peasy shoes despite being in a competition. Besides that, their words also revealed their essence.
However, the pets of these two people were not bad. One was a high-level servant Snake Lizard, while the other was a mid-level servant Flower Pool Devil.
“Let’s sit further away.”
Su Bai did not want to be too close to these losers.
“Okay.”
Chen Rouxue nodded.
“Do you know who they are?” He asked once they had moved to another place.
“No, let me check. Anyone with a high-ranking servant pet should be easy to find…” The girl shook her head while typing on her phone.
“I found it. That one is called Zhang San; he took the college entrance exam last year and failed. Now, he’s a loose Pet Tamer.”
The so-called loose Pet Tamer referred to one without a professional license.
“Okay, our first goal is that rascal. Keep an eye on him.” He glanced at the pompous pair again.
“Okay, it’s him. Who told him to be such a jerk?” Chen Rouxue nodded in agreement.
As time went by, more and more people arrived at the venue, and so were the strong ones.
“Look. The twin sisters who are coming in are from Third Middle School. They have the same type of pets, Triangle Starfishes, and they’re high-level servants. Those two girls are rather popular online.”
Chen Rouxue whispered.
Su Bai also noticed that the female pair attracted everyone’s attention as soon as they came in.
Immediately afterward, the water-fire attribute twins of First Middle School arrived. Their pets, a Lava Salamander and a Diving Crocodile, were both warlords.
Finally, a player with a warlord pet from Fifth Middle School appeared, and he was called Wang Tao. His pet was a rare undead Mantis Withered Bones, which literally looked like rotten bones and had blue flames for eyes.
Other than that, nearly a hundred players had high-level servants, while the rest like Su Bai had mid-level servants.
At exactly 8 a.m., the opening ceremony started. Representatives of the organizers, Xingyu Gymnasium and several other institutions, all sat down at the podium. Su Bai spotted his master, but he did not say hello.
There was no audience at this competition and it was mainly streamed online. There were electromagnetic satellite monsters specifically responsible for shooting in the stadium to broadcast the wonderful battle scenes.
“Let’s invite Mr. Gao An, the president of Cannes Trainer Association, in front to announce the rules of the competition.”
“Hello, everyone. My name is Gao An. The rules of ‘Cannes Trainer Pet Tamer Survival Challenge’ are as follows…
…
“Next, each of the participants will receive a number tag. If your number tag is snatched during the match, you’ll be eliminated and sent back by our special personnel.
“Remember: The number tag must be carried on your body. No other actions are allowed, or it will be regarded as cheating, and hence elimination.
“Finally, at ten o’clock tomorrow morning, the surviving teams must arrive at the other contest venue on top of Nangong Mountain. The final statistics will be conducted and bonuses will be awarded there.
“Now, please come up, collect your number tag, and enter the arena. Once the fireworks are set off in the sky and the voice of the electromagnetic satellite monster is heard, the competition will officially begin.”
Following the announcement, the players got their number tags and entered the forest in batches. At the front were Su Bai and the others with mid-level servants. The four competitors with warlord pets were the last to enter the forest.
Looking at the number tag in his hand, he noted that it was made of a special material. It weighed only one gram, and even if he obtained all the number tags, all would weigh two kilograms at most.
However, even such a nearly weightless number tag could transmit electromagnetic signals of its wearer’s identity signatures.
“Let’s go in that direction.”
Su Bai chose a random direction as he led Chen Rouxue into the forest.
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