"Boss, what's wrong?"
A subordinate next to Aaron noticed his unusual behavior and asked.
Aaron retracted his gaze. "Nothing. Check the leaderboard. Have you seen Shanhai?"
"Saw him. He's second with six hundred points," the subordinate replied after fiddling with his communication terminal.
"Looks like he ran into two squads, but one must have escaped. Otherwise, he'd have seven hundred points."
Aaron frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "No, with Shanhai's displayed strength and personality, he wouldn't let any points escape."
"He must have shared them with his teammates, or perhaps he encountered a squad with fewer than three members."
"After all, their group is less than three..."
After analyzing, Aaron moved on from the topic.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore."
"Have you located the next nearest squad? Getting points is the most important thing right now."
"Once I get more than half the points, I'll share the rest with you!"
...
Thousands of miles away in the sky, Lin Feng was still traveling with Aofei Li.
"This is seriously messed up. Is this planet under some kind of restriction?" Lin Feng grumbled as he flew.
With Lin Feng's speed, he should have reached the next black-robed squad in under a minute, and that was even accommodating Aofei Li.
But Lin Feng's speed was not the issue. This tiny planet felt ten times larger than it looked when flying, which was rather peculiar.
If it weren't for the need to secure his qualification for the selection, Lin Feng would have used his teleportation skill long ago.
Just as Lin Feng was about to scan the planet's condition again, Aofei Li spoke up.
"Oho, I know this! I know this!" Aofei Li, being dragged along behind, was flying leisurely and raised her little hand.
"The core of this planet is made up of a treasure called the Super Cube!"
"This thing can compress countless planets into one. It looks like a tiny planet, but when you land on its surface, you'll find that the planet has inexplicably expanded manifold!"
"The big shots here must have specifically used it to assemble the checkpoint planets."
"Otherwise, with these people's strength, even if they created a universe solely for fighting, it probably wouldn't be sustainable..."
Lin Feng glanced back.
"Did you see that with your eyes again?"
"Of course!" Aofei Li replied proudly. "So, don't let the size of this planet fool you. In terms of mass and everything else, it's equivalent to the sum of an entire parallel universe."
"These big shots are truly incredibly powerful."
Aofei Li's eyes filled with admiration, while Lin Feng silently filed away this piece of information.
"Stop admiring your big shots for now. I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"What happens to those black-robed individuals whose points have been stolen?"
"If I steal all their points, won't there be no top ten?" Lin Feng had just thought of this.
It wasn't beyond his capabilities to steal everyone's points.
If he took them all, wouldn't he be the only one to advance, and the others wouldn't even need to participate in the later stages of the selection?
He even felt a little excited at the thought, as if he had found a quick way to advance.
Aofei Li chuckled.
"What are you thinking? It's not that simple!"
"You see they're all acting in squads now, right?"
"But actually, within each squad, there's a core contestant."
"The other two teammates will help the core contestant acquire a large number of points in the early stages to ensure the core contestant's ranking."
"And in the latter half of the time, these individuals will split up and act independently!"
"Didn't I also say that points are calculated per person, not per squad?"
"So, in the latter half, these core contestants will engage in battles with each other, while the departed teammates will go elsewhere to continue acquiring points."
So that's how it is?
Lin Feng nodded, indicating he understood.
Then, Lin Feng asked again, "There are only a little over a hundred people in total. Calculated this way, aren't the points finite? Where else can points be acquired?"
There were only so many total points. Even if all 105 people were present, it would only be 10,500 points.
In response, Aofei Li rolled her eyes and couldn't help but retort.
"Didn't the black-robed person who explained the rules earlier say that the ferocious beasts on this planet also count towards points, albeit at a lower value?"
"Weren't you listening carefully?!"
Lin Feng scratched his head. "Damn, beasts count towards points, you didn't say that sooner! All this time was wasted!"
During this short flight, he had encountered at least ten beasts, but Lin Feng hadn't bothered with them.
Aofei Li was also getting annoyed.
"You weren't listening, and you're blaming me?!"
"That's not important!"
"You!"
Aofei Li was exasperated.
Lin Feng ignored her and began to descend, taking out two hand cannons, preparing to deal with the beasts along the way.
These hand cannons were quite old, commissioned by Odin of Asgard to be forged by dwarves back then.
They were originally meant to augment his attack methods, primarily powered by his own energy or the energy of the Infinity Stones.
However, he had used them only a few times before they ended up gathering dust in his warehouse.
Mainly, they were not very useful, and Lin Feng hadn't thought that far ahead at the time.
But now, they proved useful.
Lin Feng took down small beasts with each shot, flying without pausing, harvesting points with sparks and lightning, and heading towards the next black-robed squad.
The only drawback was that the points from these beasts were indeed as Aofei Li had said, very low.
On average, each beast was worth only two to three points, with the highest not exceeding five.
Killing beasts and snatching points along the way, Lin Feng felt quite fulfilled.
Time ticked by.
Soon, more than half a day had passed.
And the black-robed individuals participating in the selection quickly began to disperse, as Aofei Li had said, to acquire points individually.
However, Lin Feng's acquired points kept increasing.
This was because the dispersed black-robed individuals, without exception, carried a considerable number of points.
Of course, Lin Feng ignored those who deliberately sought out beasts to kill.
These individuals had their points stolen, and Lin Feng disdained the meager points gained from killing beasts.
Meanwhile, in that unknown dark space, conversations once again echoed.
"The progress of this year's first checkpoint is much faster than in previous years..."
The same slightly aged Chinese voice resounded in the space.
It carried a hint of lament.
"That's because of the presence of these two variables this year..." the younger voice replied, also with a hint of lament.
"Yes, these two lads have absolutely no idea what restraint is."
"If they keep fighting like this, I doubt the next two checkpoints will even be necessary..."
The aged voice responded, with a hint of amusement.