Elsewhere, at the forest's edge, A Yao led the four surviving Huaxia members in a frantic retreat. Grief drowned her. In a loop of memory she replayed the "fake Zhou Xun": the steak he'd fried, the hemp rope that bound them, the way he'd shielded her with the bright lamp, the gentle tug as he tucked a stray hair behind her ear, the broad, steady back she had leaned into. It all felt like a shattered mirror — impossible to mend. The "fake Zhou Xun" was gone.
"A Yao, accept our condolences.""Zhou Xun saved us. We owe him our lives.""He was a true hero. Huaxia will remember him."
They gathered around her, offering what comfort they could. Her face was pale as a bitter melon; she had wiped her tears along the way, refusing to show weakness.
"How's Captain Cao doing?" one asked."You still care about him? He abandoned us!""What can we do? Fight back? Cao Linxuan is our only hope.""Sigh… even if he fled, maybe he did it to preserve Huaxia's future.""You're still defending him?""What else can we do? If we don't rely on Cao Linxuan to win, do you really expect Zhou Xun to have beaten them all alone?"
A hum of system text filled the air.
[Second Stage] [Hexagonal Sky] [Huaxia Camp: Cleared][Points awarded based on performance] [Individual points added to total][Final settlement after Third Stage]
[Global Rankings]Huaxia Camp: 55,500 pointsEuro Alliance: 15,800 pointsCombat Nation: 11,000 pointsFree Nation: 10,500 pointsSamba Homeland: 9,500 pointsCherry Blossom Camp: 6,800 points
"…What is this?! Huaxia… over fifty thousand points?!" somebody stammered. "That gap… there's only one explanation: Huaxia wiped out the other five camps single-handedly!"
The survivors were stupefied. They had been arguing survival plans while, apparently, someone had already carried them to victory. Who had done it? Glances turned toward the hiding places, toward the impossible: had Captain Cao returned and unleashed some overwhelming force? Had Zhou Xun — but he was gone. They could barely grasp the scale.
A Yao's eyes trembled. A sliver of hope flared — what if he had lived?
Cao Linxuan, crouched and shaking in a thicket, felt only terror. "Cleared? How is this possible?" He rose, barely able to believe it. Victory required eliminating the four other camps; Yan Zhiyuan was dead, Duan Nanyang had betrayed them, and he himself had run. How could they possibly have won while he hid?
Across the field, the other camps reacted in their own ways.
The Euro Alliance survivors whispered: "This is bad. How did Huaxia's points explode?""Did they send the White-Haired Divine General?""Unlikely — he's in Australia.""The Second Divine General? The Woodcutter? Maybe. In any case, we still have Little Zeus."
Little Zeus, flanked by his Euro backers, relaxed into a confident curl of blond hair and a faint smile. "Europe backs me fully. I'll win this."
Combat Nation's Brown Bear Squad bristled with fists and fury: "Fight! Crush them!" they cried. "We don't fear Huaxia or Europe."
Free Nation's five survivors took a calculating tone: "If the rules don't force a fight with Huaxia, avoid them. Let others thin each other out first."
Samba Homeland fretted: "Huaxia's lead is too big. Maybe we should ally for the final stage. A head-on clash is suicide."
Cherry Blossom Camp, bruised and angry, spat and plotted. Their five included three top-ranked warriors: Bushido heir Hokai, dual SSS talent Kuroki Hoshino, and speed ace Kawakima Aki. "We still have a chance," they said. "We're the elite of the elite; miracles happen."
Once the points settled, a blinding white light bathed everyone. Color drained away; after a moment the world snapped back to brightness and they found themselves shifted by the game's rules.
The National Fortune Game's third stage had begun. The final stage. The endgame.