The rear of the Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical base was originally a vast square, but after being flattened by the Titan mechs, it had been transformed into a huge tarmac.
In the past few months, Otto had obtained a lot of aircraft and stored them here. He had also specially allocated a Titan squad to guard this place.
And at this moment, in the very center of the airport, there was a wooden sailing ship that should have only existed in rivers and oceans, and should have even been buried in history long ago. It sat here as if it were in a museum.
The towering masts seemed to pierce the simulated canopy. The layered, time-worn linen sails were not open at this moment, like folded wings.
On the thick oak hull, one could see clear wood grain and the vicissitudes of time carved by the waves and time. Some places even retained the faded colors of ancient paint.
However, on top of this ancientness and vicissitude, there were also intertwined streams of light that did not belong to its era: faint blue energy circuits, like glowing vines, snaked along the hull and masts, pulsating in the wooden structure;
"Noah's Ark," a miraculous ship that carried the dreams of the old days, but sailed towards the battlefield of the future.
The participants arrived one after another, gathering in twos and threes, talking in low voices, or making their final preparations alone.
When Shu—or rather, when "Kevin's" figure appeared at the entrance of the tarmac, the originally faint noise paused for a moment, and then resumed with some stagnation.
Shu himself also paused for a moment when he entered the airport. He could feel that almost at the same time he appeared, most of the people on the tarmac had intentionally or unintentionally glanced over.
Kiana was standing with Mei and Bronya. Seeing Shu, Kiana's mouth opened as if she wanted to shout something, but she was gently pulled by the sleeve by Mei next to her.
So she could only forcefully swallow the word "Shu" that was on the tip of her tongue, and instead looked at him with a slightly scrutinizing and "first meeting" curious gaze.
"Sigh, silly Kiana," Bronya sighed and pulled Kiana to turn in another direction, so that Shu couldn't see her expression.
At the same time, Cecilia also pulled the twisted-faced Siegfried behind her with a smile.
Seeing that there was a cover between him and Shu, Siegfried, whose face was twisted into a knot, finally found a chance to speak: "No, I really didn't expect Shu to dress up like this..."
When he first saw the name "Kevin Kaslana," Siegfried had already gone through the family tree in his mind. After repeatedly confirming that there was no such person, he learned that Shu would be participating in the selection competition with another identity.
Even Siegfried could instantly combine the two pieces of information. Shu was that "Kevin."
But... why?
Siegfried, who had gotten the answer, still had this question. He didn't know why Shu had to go to the trouble of changing his identity to participate. Was there some rule that stipulated that Shu couldn't participate?
It wasn't until yesterday morning, before Shu had arrived, that Cecilia had told him the whole story.
What selection competition? This was a setup specifically designed to achieve the result of "eliminating Shu."
If Shu didn't participate, then it would be held normally, and everyone would be happy no matter who won. But Shu had come. Even if the rules clearly stated that he couldn't participate, he had still tried his best to get in.
Then this was no longer an ordinary competition. Everyone had to strike hard!
And on the side, there was another person with a twisted expression.
"Rita... do we really have to fight with Dad... uh, Senior Shu?" Bianka's face was a little uneasy as she asked Rita with some hesitation.
Bianka was very happy to fight and spar with Shu. But when this battle was added with a different purpose, Bianka had a kind of resistance from the bottom of her heart.
"Can't we... just talk it out?"
"Lady Bianka, many times, only facts can convince a person," Rita smiled and shook her head. Bianka was still too naive. Although she could distinguish between good and bad people by intuition, she still didn't know how to see a person's essence.
Shu seemed very easygoing, and could even be said to be a little soft, and could be easily manipulated.
But how could a person who could be easily manipulated be the dawn of all mankind, and bear so much pressure alone until now?
So there was at least one bottom line in Shu's heart that could not be compromised. And it was often the case that a person who was usually easygoing would have a more terrifying counterattack when their bottom line was touched.
Just like—in the relevant data that Otto had given her, recorded by the "Book of Time," the outbreak of Shu's crushing of the Herrscher of Desire with what could be called brutal means.
"Boom—"
A slight vibration came. Shu's gaze almost instantly moved to a mechanical door on the ground.
The next moment, under the gaze of Shu and the others, the huge mechanical door slowly opened, and a Titan mech and a heavy magnetic storm mech slowly rose from the mechanical door.
Shu's eyes widened slightly.
"Quinn? And... Kai?" The two mechs that rose up were still moving freely without a pilot. Shu immediately recognized their identities.
These two... these two intelligent machines are also participating?
Then who is protecting the base? Fu Hua?
Shu tilted his head and saw Fu Hua standing with Li Sushang, who was holding the Xuanyuan Sword.
Fu Hua is also participating! Everyone is going out—who will protect the base? With Otto and those Divine Keys? Can he really use the Divine Keys?
Wait...
Shu stiffly moved his gaze back to Quinn. He saw that Quinn was currently carrying a huge black box, from which various familiar auras were constantly being emitted.
The aura of the authority of evolution was a little unexpectedly fluctuating, the memory was still a pool of stagnant water, and there was also the theory of a thousand equal parts...
Not sure, let's take another look.
The sword that Li Sushang was holding was indeed the Xuanyuan Sword. The aura of binding on the small golden cross hanging on Theresa's neck was not fake. And Sirin... she seemed to be pulling faces with Sin Mal for some reason.
Plus "Noah's Ark"...
All the Divine Keys that Shu knew of were here! In other words, at this moment, besides the people, the base had been completely emptied?!
What on earth are you doing, Otto? Are you being so arrogant just because I left the scepter in the base?!
Shu felt his fists clenching a little. He got angry in a fit of anger.
...what could he do? He could only inject more [Hope] into the scepter while the broadcast sounded.
"Everyone, I am very happy to see you all here," Otto's voice came from the airport's broadcast. "All contestants, please board the ship. The competition will be held in the designated sea area of Sapphire City."
"I believe everyone has already memorized the rules, but please allow me to repeat them once more. The rules are simple: the last one standing—"
"Will get everything you want."