Chapter 11

The spiritual projections of the audience within the virtual sphere of the Main Universe were, at this moment, plunged into an eerie silence.

"Can someone explain what is going on? I don't quite understand what the No. 001 Main God-level system is praising."

"Thanks for asking, Youyou is truly amazing."

"Hey, friend, nobody asked you to repeat the No. 001 Main God-level system’s praise!"

"(Smiling kindly) So, are you saying that, just like those low-level, common audience members, you don't understand the subtext of the system's language?"

"(An even kinder smile) But friend, the question is, the No. 001 Main God-level Soldier King System... does the four-character phrase it used actually have some special subtext?"

:)

Of course, it did not.

While the other 99 systems, from No. 002 to No. 100, continued the traditional style of the Soldier King systems—ruthless, cold, and utterly merciless—the No. 001 system, said to possess the power of the Black Universe Group’s Main God level and hailed as the strongest in history, now exhibited a style that felt bizarrely incongruous. It was difficult not to speculate whether No. 001 had been infected by some special system virus, leading to this unusually doting behavior toward its host.

After all, what great feat had the No. 001 candidate, a mere fledgling, just accomplished? He had simply lunged at the claw of the wilderness beast before him... and, of course, after the beast had frozen in place, he had even hugged its large tail, burying himself entirely in its thick, furry coat.

...I mean, was there really anything "amazing" about that?

Maka-Maka, the host also stationed at the scene, listened to the discussions in the audience area while observing the insincere envy and jealousy on their faces. He could only whisper to himself, "Our precious Youyou is truly amazing!"

One had to realize that this was the very same wilderness beast that had hunted Candidate No. 098 to the point of near-certain death! While the participating candidates were unaware of the true strength of these beasts, the audience in the virtual broadcast sphere had access to the data cards carefully prepared by the production team.

[Wilderness Beast: Gray Wolf Species]
[Origin: Higher-order lifeform from Plane No. 12768]
[Intelligence Level: 5/10 (Estimated based on Plane No. 12768’s composite rating)]
[Combat Power Level: 8/10 (Estimated based on Plane No. 12768’s composite rating)]
[Note: Plane No. 12768 is located in a secondary universe, ranking 70,100th in intelligence and 898th in combat power.]

In the current era of the Great Universe, the Main Universe has been carved up and occupied by massive factions like the Federation, the Empire, and various Corporations. As technology advances, the Main Universe alone can no longer satisfy the insatiable demand for wealth and rare resources, making the exploration and development of secondary universes the current priority for these powers.

Initially, people in the Main Universe were interested in recording the names of these secondary planes, but as more information became public, that interest waned. To date, the number of publicly known secondary planes has exceeded 100,000. It is impossible for people to memorize them by their unique characteristics, so under the unified calculations of Yar-Lian, the most powerful data-based AI of the Group, all known planes were sorted into rankings based on intelligence, combat power, resource reserves, and rarity.

Through these rankings, the audience can easily discern the features of any given plane and the development level of its inhabitants. It was clear that Plane No. 12768 was a world with low intelligence but immense combat power—in layman's terms, its inhabitants were all brawn and no brains. After all, out of over 100,000 known planes, they ranked outside the top 70,000 in intelligence, yet their combat power was in the top 900.

Among the 100 candidates from No. 001 to No. 100, fewer than 50% came from planes that surpassed Plane No. 12768 in combat power rankings. Take Salvador, the half-orc who had been chased by the Gray Wolf beast, Vorbelli; his home plane ranked in the top 5,000, yet there was still a massive gap compared to the top 900 level of Plane No. 12768. Even though Salvador was considered a talented genius in his own world, he still faced life-threatening danger in this tournament.

And then there was their precious Youyou...

Maka-Maka looked up at the data card for Su You in the No. 001 broadcast. Whether it was the plane number or the various ranking data, every field was marked with an asterisk, with a small parenthetical note at the end: *Undisclosed.*

This tiny, adorable fledgling did not come from any known secondary plane; he belonged to a secret plane under the sole jurisdiction of the Black Universe Group, one whose data remained closed to the public. In fact, this was not entirely uncommon. In this "Super-Meta Soldier King Battle Royale," seven out of the first ten systems had selected candidates from undisclosed secondary planes. However, even with the authority to select from such places, the ability to successfully penetrate and navigate to these hidden planes in such a short time required an incredibly powerful sensory and exploratory capability. This was enough to show that, alongside the Main God-level No. 001, the systems from No. 002 to No. 010 were also exceptionally powerful.

But back to the point...

Maka-Maka watched the feed from the No. 001 stream and couldn't help but scream internally: "You stubborn audience members! You're just jealous of that Gray Wolf beast, aren't you, because it’s the one being hugged by precious Youyou!"

Don't think he hadn't noticed that some of the spiritual projections in the audience area had secretly manifested gray wolf tails behind their backs—oh yes, even as spiritual projections, they could still have tails. But let it be known: your tails were not fluffy! Precious Youyou would never be tempted by your tails! Hey, you over there, your tail is already wagging frantically at the cub on the screen!

In short, no one present had ever imagined that when Su You lunged at this massive gray wolf, the scene would unfold this way. If these audience members could hear Maka-Maka’s internal screaming, they would surely respond in unison:

Yes, you wretched green-skinned host, you’re right! We are so jealous of this wilderness beast; to think he gets to have such a cute little cub voluntarily pounce on him! Precious Youyou, don't you like green? Why are you willing to pounce on this giant gray wolf when he isn't even green? If the jealousy and bitterness of these audience members could be quantified, their sourness would surely have reached the heavens.

***

On the grasslands of Plane No. 12768, Vorbelli the Gray Wolf had no idea that a group of people in the distant Main Universe were feeling such intense envy toward him. At this moment, he only knew that he was on the verge of losing his mind.

What was happening? Why was it that even though he intended to swipe this cub to death with a single claw, his strike ended up being so gentle that it couldn't even harm a single feather?!

After Vorbelli tried twice more, he realized this was no hallucination. It was truly bizarre! Sensing something was wrong, his wild, instinctual fear of danger led him to make a decisive choice: abandon both the prey he was about to catch and the cub clinging to him. As a wilderness beast, Vorbelli was normally obsessed with his food, but when he sensed that a meal might cost him his life, even a lifeform from a plane with low intelligence understood that survival was paramount.

Vorbelli decided to turn and leave, but at that moment, something even worse happened. He realized he couldn't get away. More precisely, he turned to leave, only to discover he couldn't pull his wolf tail free from the grip of the cub, who didn't even reach his forelegs in height.

This realization left Vorbelli stunned in place. He turned his wolf head, looking back at the little creature still buried in the long fur of his tail, rubbing against it haphazardly.

"Goo-woo, Tongtong, this little animal's tail is so comfortable to hug!"

As he spoke, Su You noticed Vorbelli looking at him, and with a face full of anticipation, he blinked his big, cyan eyes at the giant gray wolf.

The tiny cub asked a daring question: "Hello there, Fluffy. You look so tall, can I sit on your back and play?"

In that moment, System 001, the half-orc Salvador, and Vorbelli the Gray Wolf—the one who had just received the outrageous request—all fell into an eerie, unified silence once again.