Heroes' Prison

Chapter 738 - 704 Killing, Is Another Kind of Redemption

Huang Yi and Thunder God were doing just that, drinking beer while watching the advertisement on television. The prison was quiet, and nearly all the criminals were on the forums, watching the live broadcast in sync.

"Countdown to The Second World annual ceremony, 10, 9, 8..." Finally, after a series of commercials, the countdown to the third annual festival’s opening ceremony began!

At this moment, media from all over the world were counting down in their own languages!

More than nine billion viewers were following the annual festival through various channels. The Second World had become deserted, as almost all players had logged off to watch the opening ceremony!

When the countdown reached the last second, audiences around the world held their breath, fixated on the screen!

On the big screen at the venue, the promotional video for this year’s annual ceremony began to play, accompanied by stunning background music that reached the eyes of every viewer worldwide—

Under the moonlit night, a team of five hundred riders on fierce mounts galloped wildly across the plains, kicking up a trail of dust. The thundering Ironhoof was like an unstoppable torrent, making even the screen itself tremble slightly!

The camera passed over these people and zoomed in on the leader at the front. A bald man with a pair of blue eyes, he was TNT, who had risen to fame last year. The few hundred people behind him were his Divine Nation Guild. This guild, with only five hundred members, had the scale of a regiment, but they had achieved 31 consecutive victories in the martial arts tournament team competition, an unbeaten record!

"The most powerful explosive isn’t TNT, but the rage of humans," said TNT’s deep voice at that moment.

The scene shifted to a man walking in the midst of a vast desert under the scorching sun, his body wrapped in layers of bandage like a mummy, holding a woman in his arms.

A sandstorm loomed, blotting out the sky, yet the man’s figure remained unshaken. He continued through the relentless storm, holding the woman and stepping toward the camera. His face emerged from the murky dust, and he was none other than the Egyptian leader, Pharaoh. Staring at the woman in his arms, he whispered softly, "Even if I become a mummy, I will not forget you."

Next, the camera rapidly switched, featuring one representative superplayer after another. Each superplayer had a quote, corresponding to their identities, as if it was a monologue from their hearts:

You might say I’m in Heaven, but I’ve always been on the road. — Pope (Founder of Heaven’s Guild, Heaven’s Church, Leader of American players)

Every hunter was prey at the very start. — Giant Bear (World’s Number One Hunter, Leader of Russian players)

No matter how strong a Martial Emperor is, they can’t be invincible. — Miyamoto Musashi (Martial arts tournament singles champion, Leader of Japanese players)

The reason ordinary people are common is because they all share a common problem, thinking they will always be ordinary. — Yang Yuheng (Leader of ordinary players, Leader of the Draenei Race)

It’s tough for a hero to get past a beauty, so what about a heroine? — Zhitian Shi (World’s Number One Female Master)

A knife is only sharp; it shines with light. — Dao Feng (Former World’s Number One, Best Individual of the first Annual Ceremony)

The most fearsome sword is always hidden in its scabbard. — Sharp Sword (Best Individual of the second Annual Ceremony)

...

Finally, the promotional video came to an end.

In the scene, a mountain of corpses and a sea of bones appeared, the ground littered with the bodies of various demon gods. Amidst the endless sea of corpses stood a tall throne. A king sat on it, holding a War Halberd dripping with blood, his expression filled with murderous intent as if he was a Tyrant. He looked down at the vast sea of corpses and slowly said—

"Slaughter is another form of redemption!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the music stopped, and the video ended.

The last person in that promotional video was none other than Huang Yi!

In last year’s promotional video, he also appeared at the end, but that seemed more like being ranked last.

This year, however, he was also the last to appear, but as the concluding act.

In just one year, he had grown incredibly fast.

"Ah-Yi, the Era Corporation made your scene too showy, but I like it, haha!" At this moment, Thunder God turned his head to look at Huang Yi and teased him.

"Let’s keep watching, I wonder who the flag bearer for the China delegation is," Huang Yi said as he picked up a cigarette from the table and lit it, continuing to watch the live broadcast while smoking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening! This is the greatest annual event for humanity..." At this moment, footage of the main stage appeared on the TV, with the host speaking in both Chinese and English, the two most widely spoken languages, delivering the opening speech for the grand event. The flashlights from tens of thousands of spectators became a sea of stars.

Next, the host introduced the heavyweight guests in attendance, including top executives from Era Corporation, high-level officials of the World Federation, presidents or chairmen of several superpowers, as well as some super-first masters from The Second World.

Following this was a cultural performance segment that showcased some local customs and culture from India.

Generally, the proceedings were the same as last year’s grand event, with no significant changes.

...

"Coming up next, please welcome the delegations from various countries!" Finally, the opening ceremony reached one of its most anticipated moments!

The delegations from different countries started to enter in order, with flag bearers holding their nations’ flags and leading the qualified participants along the red carpet.

"Coming towards us now is the Indian delegation. With 2744 individuals qualified for this year’s awards, their flag bearer is none other than India’s super-first master, Mr. Ganges..."

One by one, the delegations made their appearance, with the host introducing each in turn.

After a long wait, Huang Yi and Thunder God finally saw one of the largest delegations approaching, and the flag in front was none other than the familiar Five-starred Red Flag.

"Approaching us now is the China delegation, with the highest number of qualifiers for all of the awards at this annual event. They have a total of 3446 people qualified, similar to last year. The flag bearer, leading the delegation, is the very famous master from the China region, ’Desire Arises from the Heart’!"

"Hm? Why him? Even ’Gentleman’ would have been a decent choice," Thunder God paused, finding it a bit odd. The flag bearer was usually the leader of the players from that country, and both he and Huang Yi were qualified, but they did not attend. Besides them, the flag bearer should have been selected from ’Dao Feng’, ’Dragon Spike’, or ’Sharp Sword’.

Although ’Desire Arises from the Heart’ is indeed a master, he’s a notch below those few, and even somewhat inferior to ’Gentleman’.

With the China delegation being so large, their entrance took a long time, which gave the host an opportunity to elaborate further, "China is the strongest country in The Second World, with as many as five super-first masters. If we were to add ’Gentleman’, it would be six. Unfortunately, all six of these top masters are absent from this year’s grand event..."

All at once, Thunder God and Huang Yi had an epiphany!

It turned out that none of China’s super-first masters attended! Apart from them, China’s top masters would be ’Unbeaten’, ’Desire Arises from the Heart’, and ’Second Brother Who Studies Medicine’.

Among them, ’Desire Arises from the Heart’ was indeed the most suitable, with a strong political background and being one of China’s official representatives. However, with ’Dao Feng’ above him, who also has a political background, it had been hard for him to get ahead.

Now, with all the super-first masters not attending, ’Desire Arises from the Heart’ could finally take up a leadership role for once, truly a moment for him to shine!

On the TV screen, ’Desire Arises from the Heart’ was holding the national flag in one hand, and waving to the audience with the other, with a slightly proud expression, as if he was the King of the World.

"Desire Arises from the Heart’, whose real name is Zheng Jing, 25 years old, the prototypical second-generation military and wealthy elite. His father’s lineage are all high-ranking military and political officials, while his mother’s lineage are all financial tycoons. Even his girlfriend’s family has a powerful background! In this respect alone, ’Dao Feng’ can’t compare to him!" Thunder God watched ’Desire Arises from the Heart’ on the television screen, turning to introduce him to Huang Yi. He had been a military man in China before and was familiar with the political powers.

Huang Yi nodded, his understanding of ’Desire Arises from the Heart’ mostly came from The Second World. In The Second World, the guild founded by ’Desire Arises from the Heart’ was named Desire Kingdom, ranking just after the Hero Guild, Sun Guild, Xuanyuan Clan, Hall of Famous Generals, and Styx Sect as a super-first-class guild. The guild’s main power was in the south of the mainland, too far from the area influenced by the Hero Guild.

When Miyamoto Musashi had taken hostages recently, he hadn’t captured any higher-ups from Desire Kingdom. Neither Huang Yi nor the Hero Guild had had much to do with them. They had always kept to themselves.

...

Meanwhile, on the beaches of Hawaii, Miyamoto Musashi, TNT, and the Pope were gathered together, watching a wireless TV set in front of them, enjoying the cool sea breeze.

"We three just appeared in the promotional video just now, what a coincidence!" TNT showed a cynical smile, staring at the television screen.

"Such titles are meaningless to me now. I’m just eager to reach Hero’s Continent as soon as possible," Miyamoto Musashi said with a dark expression, not happy about being featured in the promotional video.

"Indeed, we need to speed up our fleets!" The Pope stroked his faint stubble and spoke with gravity, "Now is the perfect time for our combined forces to invade Hero’s Continent. Among China’s super-first masters, ’Dao Feng’ is still in his hiatus, ’God of Slaughter’ has just undergone Reincarnation, ’Dragon Spike’ has not been seen for a long time and seems to have left the Hero’s Continent. As for ’Sharp Sword’, shrouded in mystery, he is unlikely to come to stop us. That just leaves ’Thunder God’, who will have a hard time holding us back. Plus, these days they are all focusing on the annual grand event, if we invade now, we’ll face much less resistance."

"If only we knew where ’God of Slaughter’s’ First Transformation occurred!" Miyamoto Musashi clenched his fists, Huang Yi’s image coming into his mind again. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)