The battle ultimately concluded without a clear victor.
Agate intervened.
Of course, he didn't go down to the planet to attack the two of them, he wouldn't do that.
Instead, he used his privilege to halt the selection process for the first stage.
The reason was simple enough.
With these two anomalies present, the first stage selection had become tainted.
There was no further point in continuing the competition, as the top ten on the leaderboard were almost certainly set.
Therefore, to save time and to prevent the planet from being further damaged, halting the selection was within reason.
The seven major factions organizing the selection unanimously agreed to stop the fight between the two, using their current rankings as the basis.
Damn it, this planet was a valuable piece of equipment too. These two had been fighting for a while, and the ground looked like it had been gnawed by dogs. It needed repairs.
In such a situation, there was indeed no need to continue fighting.
However, the name "Shan Hai" was silently etched into the minds of all the bosses...
Upon hearing the news, Lin Feng was helpless and had to abandon the fight.
He thought, one couldn't possibly fall out with the individuals in the first sequence just for a fight, especially when he was supposed to be undercover.
Ultimately, Lin Feng secured the first place on the leaderboard, but it felt rather anticlimactic.
"Say, is there no material reward for the first stage?"
After the first stage of selection concluded, Lin Feng returned to his resting area and casually propped his feet on the table, feeling bored.
The first stage allowed for a three-day rest period.
During this time, the top ten on the leaderboard could use their rankings to exchange for information and items.
"Just exchange for some items, what do you want?"
Ophilia was on the side, repairing the set of equipment she had been wearing earlier.
Even though she hadn't seen much combat, routine maintenance was essential.
Ophilia was in good spirits. She had placed tenth.
"Speaking of which, your fight was too intense. They even called off the selection. It's the first time I've ever seen that."
"But why did Agate stop the fight? His son only got second place."
"Logically, they should have waited for the victor to be decided before ending it..."
Ophilia bit her finger, looking somewhat confused.
Lin Feng snorted dismissively.
"He was afraid his son would be crippled by me and unable to participate in subsequent stages."
"Besides, he clearly couldn't defeat me. If the winner was decided, all his points would go to me, and what would he have left to play for!"
Lin Feng spoke with a hint of annoyance.
But there was nothing he could do. Aaron had a good father who could protect him.
Otherwise, Lin Feng would have made Aaron lie at home for a good while.
"How do you know you would have won?" Ophilia asked with a smile.
"Silly girl."
Lin Feng gave her a strange look, thinking she was a bit daft and not wanting to explain.
"Who's a silly girl?!"
Ophilia puffed up, making a move to scratch Lin Feng.
She wasn't silly at all. She could see that Lin Feng was someone who protested but acted otherwise.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to divert some energy to protect her safety during their previous fight.
Having spent a few days with Lin Feng, Ophilia was gradually learning his "user manual."
Knock, knock, knock~
While they were playfully bickering, there was a sudden knock on the door.
The two instinctively exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
"Is it Aglay?" Lin Feng asked.
"Probably not..." Ophilia shook her head in response.
"Aglay has already gone back to prepare for the second stage. It shouldn't be her..."
On this planet, even though everyone wore black robes, they were adversaries in the selection. Who would come looking for them?
Could it be Aaron?
Never mind, Lin Feng couldn't be bothered to guess, nor did he want to use his super vision for such a trivial matter. He walked over and opened the door.
A pair of pitch-black cat ears appeared right at the level of Lin Feng's nostrils.
Oh ho?
Lin Feng's gaze shifted downwards, and he chuckled.
"It's you?"
Standing at the door was a cat-eared woman in a black robe.
The oversized black robe concealed her figure. She was the peeping tom who had been observing Lin Feng and Aaron during their fight earlier.
Lin Feng had noticed her then, but he hadn't had the time to attend to her.
Now that she had come to his door, what did she want?
Diona, upon hearing Lin Feng's words, her pupils trembled involuntarily.
Her guess was correct. Lin Feng had indeed noticed her earlier.
"What is it? Speak!"
Lin Feng leaned lazily against the doorframe, showing no intention of letting her in.
Diona was not annoyed. She took out a small note she had prepared and handed it to Lin Feng.
"After the selection, I hope to have a chat with you!"
With that, Diona quickly ran off, leaving Lin Feng stunned.
What the heck? So hurried.
Lin Feng had no idea what was going on.
He looked at the small note in his hand. It contained a contact method, one that could be used for communication via a personal terminal.
"This is all so messy. I don't know what they're up to..."
Lin Feng flicked the note, indicating he didn't understand the cat-eared girl's perplexing behavior. He was about to crush it.
He already had two cats at home; he couldn't keep a third, and he didn't want to get involved in any strange matters.
A chat about what? He had no time!
However, after a moment, Lin Feng stopped his action.
He looked at the note in his hand and pondered for a moment. He then put it away.
Don't act rashly. What if he could get some unexpected information about the black robes from her?
One had to cast a wide net to catch more fish, right?
Yes, he would keep it for now...
Closing the door, Lin Feng made a mental note of the incident and decided to see how things unfolded after the selection.
However, before that, he needed to find a way to figure out what this little cat-eared girl was all about...
"Who was it?" Ophilia walked over curiously, only to find the door already closed.
"Just a little black cat~" Lin Feng waved his hand indifferently and walked towards the sofa.
"Little cat? What little cat? Can cats knock on doors?" Ophilia's eyes widened with suspicion, firing off a rapid-fire series of questions.
Lin Feng's steps faltered as he walked.
Huh?
He almost forgot. Wasn't Ophilia in charge of intelligence?
"Do you know if there was a cat-eared woman in this selection?" Lin Feng asked, sitting back down on the sofa.
"Cat-eared woman?"
"You mean Diona? Was that her knocking?"
Ophilia quickly made the connection to the recent knock on the door.
"Whoa, you actually know her? Do you have any information on her?"
"Yes, why wouldn't I?!"
"Did you forget what I do for a living?"
Ophilia replied with a smile and then rummaged through her terminal, pulling out a pile of data. Finally, she extracted a file and handed it to Lin Feng.
She had already accepted Lin Feng as a teammate, so the information was free.
Of course, the main reason was her fear that asking for money would earn her Lin Feng's "left straight kick."
She honestly admitted to herself that she couldn't withstand that large foot...