National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

Chapter 289 - 288: Ranked by the Total Weight of Obtained Rubies

A group of fully armed Order Maintainers from Cateran City rushed onto the scene, forcibly separating the students from the National Road Academy and Leland Academy.

"I am the supervisor on duty in Cateran City today. You can call me Bolette."

The man, who was fluent in the languages of every Empire, strode to the very center and looked sternly at the students from the National Road Academy and Leland Academy. "

I know there are intense conflicts between your two Empires, but those matters have nothing to do with Cateran City.

If you start a fight on this street, you will undoubtedly bring chaos and destruction, affecting the entire operation and development of our city.

This is something Cateran City absolutely will not tolerate. I hope you will calm down immediately and return to where you’re supposed to be.

Your Martial Arts Academy ranking tournament is about to begin. If you have energy to spare, save it for the competition."

Lin Zuoguang took a few steps forward, patted Xiao Yu on the shoulder, and said, "Come on, let’s go."

"Didn’t you see they were the ones who started it?" Xiao Yu asked indignantly.

"So what if they started it?

That Order Maintainer from Cateran City just made it clear that brawling isn’t allowed here."

Lin Zuoguang reasoned, "Let’s save our anger for the ranking tournament. In there, life and death will be decided by fate.

If we insist on fighting now, we’ll get on the wrong side of Cateran City and just become a laughingstock for the other Empires.

If you want to survive in these chaotic times, you can’t just act on emotion."

"Fine."

Xiao Yu quickly understood Lin Zuoguang’s point. He turned and strode away without a backward glance.

The other students from the National Road Academy followed.

The Leland Academy students, however, burst out laughing.

Some flipped them off, some pulled at their eyelids, and others hurled vicious taunts without restraint.

And the one hurling the most vicious taunts was, of course, Yang Haichao, the defector from the Great Xia Empire.

The gloom that had been building inside Yang Haichao recently was instantly swept away.

’What just happened proves my choice wasn’t wrong. These current frustrations and this feeling of being suppressed are only temporary.

Once I graduate from Leland Academy,

whether I stay to build my career in the Lighthouse Empire or go to another prosperous, major Empire,

I’ll have it made.’

’As for the strange looks and bullying from my classmates at Leland Academy,’

Yang Haichao decided, ’I’ll just have to endure it a little longer.’

’After all, my time studying here is just a few years. Once I graduate, I’ll be free.’

At this thought,

Yang Haichao’s taunts and jeers toward his former classmates from the National Road Academy grew even more intense.

’Yang Haichao is really unbelievable.’

Nanting Snow could clearly hear his voice as he gloated behind them.

It wasn’t just Nanting Snow; the others heard him clearly as well.

After all, they all came from the same Empire and were speaking the language they’d grown up with.

His words naturally stood out, grating on the ear amidst the chaotic jumble of foreign tongues.

"It doesn’t matter. Just remember this.

Once the Martial Arts Academy ranking tournament starts,

if you run into Yang Haichao, don’t show him any mercy.

Showing him mercy now would be a cruelty to our future selves.

I can already see it. If we ever truly meet on the battlefield one day,

that guy would sell out his own people for glory. He’d kill us without hesitation to take the credit."

Xiao Yu had calmed down quickly, his expression now placid, but his voice was exceptionally cold.

...

「Several days later」

The competing teams from the various Empires began to leave Cateran City in succession.

After all, the Martial Arts Academy ranking tournament couldn’t possibly be held within the city itself.

The resulting destruction would likely reduce Cateran City to a pile of rubble in a matter of days.

Now, the eyes of the entire Blue Star were focused on the Black Continent Grassland.

Everyone knew as clear as day that while this was ostensibly the Martial Arts Academy ranking tournament, the moment it began,

it would be a time to settle old scores and right old wrongs.

And it was precisely for this reason

that in recent days,

the hottest topics of conversation around the globe were the Martial Arts Academy Ranking Tournament and the Black Continent Grassland.

A temporary venue for the Martial Arts Academy ranking tournament’s opening ceremony had been erected on a flat expanse of land.

Chu He had been appointed a judge for the tournament,

and he also held supervisory authority over the competition.

There were twelve judges in total, each from a different Empire.

This had been a demand from the Lighthouse Empire.

After all, with Chu He’s power and global influence,

if he wasn’t qualified to serve as a judge for the Martial Arts Academy ranking tournament, then who else could be?

Who else could command such universal respect?

Finally, a tournament official took the stage to deliver a speech and the opening remarks.

The long-winded, tedious monologue made many in the audience start to yawn.

But it was an unavoidable formality, necessary to lend the event an air of officiality.

Judging by the grand scale of the Lighthouse Empire’s preparations,

they clearly intended to make the Martial Arts Academy ranking tournament

into the world’s most prestigious, fair, and coveted competition.

Even this temporarily constructed opening ceremony venue looked modern and exquisite.

"As for the location of this year’s competition,

I believe it’s a place that none of you here will find unfamiliar once I say its name.

In fact, it is precisely because this location is so familiar to everyone that we’ve delayed its official announcement until this very moment.

This place is called the Rainbow Welfare Institute."

"The Rainbow Welfare Institute is an incredibly bizarre place. It is still constantly changing, including the buildings within it.

Even now, we have been unable to determine the institute’s true size.

We suspect it hides a great secret.

However, a secret of that magnitude is naturally not something we can allow these young students to explore."

"Therefore, the rules for this competition are as follows: participants will infiltrate the Rainbow Welfare Institute

and acquire Rubies like the one I’m holding.

The more Rubies you obtain, the better your score.

The final rankings will be determined by the total weight of the Rubies collected by each Empire’s team."

The speaker raised a blood-red gem in his hand.

It appeared to be roughly the size of a two- or three-year-old child’s fist

and glinted under the sun with an eerie, crimson light.

As the speaker turned the crimson gem in his hand,

rays of blood-red light flashed from within it.

At the same time, the scent of blood began to permeate the air.

The entire gem looked as if it had been carved and polished from solidified blood.

"According to the data we’ve collected, the blood-red gems inside the Rainbow Welfare Institute are very strange.

Every single one is identical in size. Their weight and all other metrics are nearly indistinguishable."

The speaker then revealed another piece of information.