Heroes' Prison

Chapter 417 - 407: A New Generation Emerges

Cain furrowed his brows, pondering for a moment before saying uncertainly, "I didn’t attend that auction, but I remember passing by the entrance of the auction house right as the auction was ending, with some of the bidders coming out. A few of them passed by me, and one of them mentioned he had spent a great deal of money to finally secure a Black Cloud Stone, but I have no idea what that is; I’ve never heard of it before." Cain trailed off, shaking his head slightly.

"Huh? Black Cloud Stone!" Huang Yi was startled upon hearing these three words.

It brought to mind a place—The Abyss!

Not long ago, while being pursued by Celestial Realm Experts, he had ventured into The Abyss in search of the Black Demon. After entering the first layer of The Abyss, he had heard a Minotaur Skeleton mention something about a Black Cloud Stone!

At that time, the Minotaur had spoken of a man with a blade and a woman of the Demon Clan who often vied for their Black Cloud Stones. Huang Yi had never heard of the Black Cloud Stone in the outside world; it was clearly not something one could easily acquire.

The matter had suddenly become complicated. T.N.T. possessed something like the Black Cloud Stone, indicating that he must have entered a perilous place similar to The Abyss on the Italian Mainland and acquired it, which from another perspective, reflected his formidable strength.

More importantly, this gave Huang Yi a deeper hunch. Places like The Abyss often hid entrances to the spaces where The Seven Archdemons resided. The Second World contained hundreds of continents, and almost every continent had one or two Demon King’s Gates, most of which lay in dangerous sites difficult for ordinary people to reach. That T.N.T. could venture into such perilous places to acquire Black Cloud Stones suggested he might have joined forces with The Seven Archdemons, allowing him to move freely in these areas, just like the encounter Huang Yi had with Nameless.

This speculation also indicated to Huang Yi that there was an undertow brewing; The Seven Archdemons had not officially invaded this world, but their subtle influence was constantly eroding The Second World from within, surreptitiously hiding some pawns. In the future, when these pawns erupted, it was uncertain how much impact they would have.

"Ah-Yi, why are you sitting here?" At that moment, Thunder God’s voice came from nearby.

Following that, Thunder God approached with a meal tray and sat down beside Huang Yi.

Upon seeing the Prison Overlord, Thunder God, Cain immediately became more restrained, sitting up straight and eating in silence, not daring to make another peep.

"I was asking Cain about T.N.T.," Huang Yi said to Thunder God, lowering his head to take another bite of his meal.

"You’ve started paying attention to T.N.T. too?" Thunder God’s already stern face grew even more solemn, "I’ve heard of his deeds as well. It’s surprising that their mere band of five hundred warriors managed to get 14 members into the top 1024 worldwide. This T.N.T. must be a tough character, perhaps on par with Sharp Sword. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be able to make it into the top 64 and enter the league matches."

"Plus, for the next Best Newcomer Award, he’s likely to be one of the top contenders," Huang Yi spoke gravely, his eyes narrowing slightly to hide the black pupils within.

Qualification for the Best Newcomer Award was not based on how long one had been in The Second World, but whether the contender had been shortlisted for any awards in the previous Annual Festival. Even someone who entered The Second World two years ago was eligible for the Best Newcomer Award if they had never been shortlisted for any awards.

This award was originally intended by Huang Yi and Thunder God for the Rose Prison’s members. With over five hundred Rare Class Holders in Rose Prison developing, they could generally sweep the next Annual Festival’s Best Newcomer Award. But now, the sudden emergence of T.N.T. threw a wrench into their plans.

"Once he makes it into the top 64, we’re likely to face him. Then we can directly test his strength to find out," Thunder God said, turning his head to gaze out the window.

At that moment, his gaze became incredibly profound, as if piercing through the dull prison cells and reaching towards the far-off Italy.

...

In the days that followed, the competition entered its final elimination round to narrow down from the top 1024 to the top 64. Excluding certain special cases with byes, each person and team had to fight four times, spanning four days.

Leading the Heroes’ Guild, Huang Yi encountered some trouble in this round but nothing that threatened their advancement to the top ranks, overall fighting fairly comfortably.

On the first day, the Heroes’ Guild faced a team from the American Paradise Guild, marking their first encounter with Heaven’s Guild.

However, this team was not the seed team led personally by the Pope, but a substitute team. Huang Yi and Hero Guild employed their time-tested tactics, securing victory after over ten minutes. After this day, seven teams from the Hero Guild had been reduced to four eliminations, leaving only three teams advancing into the top 512 worldwide.

The next day, Hero Guild continued their relentless advance. Their opponents were the only remaining team from New Zealand, which had gathered the country’s top players, drawing nationwide attention similarly to the previous Rwandan team.

However, since their country had a small population of less than ten million, fewer even than members of the Hero Guild, their strength was not very formidable. After a fierce battle with Huang Yi’s Hero Guild for twenty minutes, they eventually succumbed to defeat, allowing Hero Guild to advance once more.

That day, another Hero Guild team was eliminated, leaving only two teams, including the one Huang Yi was in, advancing into the top 256 worldwide. The other team was the third team of Sword of the Hero, one of the strongest teams in the Hero Guild besides the seed team.

After reaching this stage, the competition had become extremely tough. Many countries had been completely wiped out, with not a single player or team left to advance.

All the Great Guilds had basically, only a few seed teams remaining. Even the Xuanyuan Clan, ranked first in the martial conference, had only seven teams left in advancement.

That afternoon, Huang Yi sat on the top floor of the City Hall, holding the sleeping Xiao Chunzi in his arms, listening to Qin Shiyu recount the competition from the past two days.

"Brother Yi, in the individual competition, only three of our guild members have made it into the top 256. Xiao Chunzi and I have been eliminated," Qin Shiyu said with a smile, glancing at the sleeping Xiao Chunzi in Huang Yi’s arms.

"Only three people?" Huang Yi frowned. He had been fast-tracked to the top 64, which meant that apart from himself, there were only two others who had made it into the top 256.

Huang Yi mused, "According to my earlier predictions, there should have been four or five people. Apart from me, Sunset, Knight, Light Demon, Nameless, and Ghost Cloud’s Words—those people should have had a chance to get into the top 256. Each of them has Legendary Equipment, giving them a considerable advantage."

Qin Shiyu shook his head, "You’ve been out of touch with the outside world recently, fully immersed in level grinding. Now, the overall strength of players has increased, and many countries have started sporting Legendary Equipment. Just on our continent, there are over 40 people with Legendary Equipment. Although Sunset, Light Demon, Nameless, and Ghost Cloud’s Words all had Legendary Equipment, they encountered tough nuts to crack. Especially Sunset, he faced Sharp Sword and didn’t last ten seconds before being eliminated. Among these, only Knight successfully advanced."

"Sunset actually encountered Sharp Sword? No wonder he lost!" Huang Yi could totally imagine Sunset’s sense of helplessness. Sharp Sword was a contender that even he wasn’t confident about facing. With Sunset being relatively new to The Second World and not yet fully grown, facing such an opponent meant he stood no chance at all.

"Who’s the other person, then? You said there were three who advanced, didn’t you? Apart from me and Knight, who else is there?" Huang Yi continued to ask, and various high-ranking members, such as the Head of the Knight Hall Supreme Overlord Flame and High Priest Prideful Death God, flashed through his mind.

"There’s another person you’d never expect," Qin Shiyu said with a mysterious smile, "It’s a regular player named Quick Spike. He’s neither a Rare Race nor a Rare Class holder, but somehow he’s made it this far. I couldn’t believe it when I heard the news!"

"Quick Spike?! Him again?" This revelation sent shockwaves through Huang Yi!

Reaching this level, when thousands of Rare Class holders had been eliminated, and the world was left with just over two hundred people, Quick Spike, an ordinary player, had carved a bloody path all the way to the present! The difficulty was unimaginable!

A few days earlier, he had heard from Yi Feng, the head of the affairs department, about Quick Spike’s astonishing feats, and later he had arranged for Yi Feng to provide Quick Spike with the best resources to quickly boost his strength.

Moreover, Huang Yi had transferred Quick Spike to his own Hero Guild team. He had seen the other’s performance in the past two days of competition, which was indeed commendable. But that was within a team, which requires mutual cooperation, making it hard to truly display individual strength. He hadn’t fully grasped the true extent of Quick Spike’s power.

Huang Yi didn’t expect that Quick Spike could have made it this far. If he had been a Rare Class, who knew what level he could have reached!

"The world is changing too quickly!" Huang Yi couldn’t help but remark. These past few days, he had heard many dark horse stories. The world was full of hidden masters everywhere. Players like T.N.T. and Quick Spike, who kept a low profile normally, were like big fish swimming in the deep sea. Now that the martial conference had cast its net, these hidden experts had suddenly surfaced.

He, the former top rookie, was now facing a fresh wave of newcomers.