Wei Ying and the other two looked at the back of the Stone Crystal Giant as it left, the three of them falling into deep thought.
After a while, Lu Jun finally spoke, "This Jiang Kai… what the hell is he doing?"
Su Lanlan frowned deeply, "Wait wait wait, let me sort this out… the Allied Army's plan targeting Jiang Kai was broken up by these monsters?"
A moment later, the previously silent Wei Ying finally opened his mouth.
"I understand now! Jiang Kai wasn't pretending to be a prisoner, he really was imprisoned!"
"Once we get that clear, the whole course of events can roughly be figured out."
Seeing Lu Jun and Su Lanlan both looking at him, Wei Ying patiently explained to them.
"That kind of monster is called a Stone Crystal Giant. Although its strength is immense, it has a weakness. As long as you don't touch the ground before it locks onto you, it won't detect you."
"When Jiang Kai was first imprisoned, he must have been hiding on this thick tree, so the Stone Crystal Giant didn't find him. Then, this tree happened to be entangled by that King-class Stone Crystal Giant's weapon, so he had no choice but to follow it as it moved."
"In an imprisoned state, although you can't move, you guys saw earlier, Jiang Kai could control his weapon. I speculate that the weapon is controlled by Jiang Kai's willpower, and that became his only chance to turn things around."
"He collected Redemption Cards dropped when the Stone Crystal Giant killed players, and completed his first self-redemption. But tragically, he got imprisoned again the second time."
With Wei Ying's explanation, all the doubts were finally cleared up.
"So that's how it is," Lu Jun said with sudden realization, "No wonder no one could find Jiang Kai in the beginning, he was stuck in the tree all along."
Su Lanlan's eyes widened, "This Jiang Kai, to still be alive in that kind of situation… I'm really impressed…"
Wei Ying smiled slightly, "That kid Jiang Kai is really impossible to predict."
"But even though he finally got rid of the imprisonment, what he and Fire God are about to face is the real challenge!" [T/N: He and the burden]
———
Jiang Kai immediately used five Redemption Cards to lift his own seal.
He moved his already numb limbs, intoxicated as he took a deep breath of air.
"I can finally get on the field," Having followed the Stone Crystal Giants for so long without being noticed, Jiang Kai was increasingly certain of one thing.
If he were targeted by the Stone Crystal Giant, jumping wouldn't help. But if he wasn't locked on, as long as he could find the right timing and jump onto a tree, he didn't have to worry about being discovered at all.
Thinking of this, Jiang Kai looked gratefully at the King-class BOSS, "Bro, actually hitching a ride with you wasn't bad at all, but my friends are still waiting for me, so I won't go with you. Thanks!"
With that, Jiang Kai aimed at the forest below, locked onto a lush tree, and leapt down.
The thick leaves blocked Jiang Kai's falling momentum, and he finally grabbed onto a branch.
Watching the Stone Crystal Giant go far away, Jiang Kai let out a sigh of relief, "Finally got away from those big guys."
"Time to collect those Redemption Cards, and I can also avoid the rock monsters," Thinking this, Jiang Kai immediately leapt through the forest, retracing his steps.
Jiang Kai quickly returned to the previous battle site.
Dozens of Redemption Cards were still floating on the ground. He immediately gathered them all.
"Ninety-two in total, I used five, so I've got eighty-seven left," Jiang Kai carefully stored away the Redemption Cards.
This wasn't a place to stay long. On one hand, Jiang Kai worried those who fled might come back for the Redemption Cards and ambush him. On the other, the Stone Giants were likely just the vanguard, with more beasts about to conduct a carpet sweep of the entire area.
If he ran into other beasts, he'd be dead for sure.
Thinking of this, Jiang Kai immediately moved toward the center of the competition area.
Half an hour later, Jiang Kai received a system prompt.
[Championship Tournament (Beginner) Stage Three activated. Each team will have one non-imprisoned member become imprisoned. Beast invasion speed increased by 200%.]
[All imprisoned players will self-destruct and die automatically if not released within 30 minutes.]
[A new functional item has been added to the Place of Redemption.]
"Self-destruct automatically…", Jiang Kai felt cold sweat down his back. If he hadn't broken free just in time, in thirty minutes, he'd be blown up…
"And the beast invasion speed increased by 200%? That fast! Looks like the game pace is picking up," Jiang Kai's eyes widened.
He didn't hesitate anymore and sped up his movements.
As he walked, Jiang Kai suddenly realized something and exclaimed with surprise, "Hmm? I can still move? Hahaha, this time I wasn't the one imprisoned!"
'Survived a great disaster, good fortune must follow. My luck's turning!'
Maybe because he had been unlucky for so long, Jiang Kai really did get lucky. Not long after, he found a Place of Redemption.
The new Place of Redemption had transformed into six stone tablets, surrounding a small stone tower.
Besides the same kinds of cards as before, this time there was a new card added.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Arena Card: Force one team member and a specified unit to enter Arena Mode (can also specify a beast). Can be activated three times, each match lasts a minimum of ten minutes.]
[Redemption Cost: 60 Redemption Cards.]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Jiang Kai thought for a moment, "This Arena Card seems powerful. No wonder it's so expensive!"
"Might come in handy at a critical moment. I'll get one!"
From eighty-seven Redemption Cards, he suddenly had only twenty-seven left.
Jiang Kai then exchanged for a Team Locator Card and a Solo Teleport Card, spending thirteen more Redemption Cards.
'Still have fourteen left, I'll save them for redemption.'
After a shopping spree, Jiang Kai activated the Team Locator Card.
The card projected a map, and on it were five red dots.
Aside from one red dot, the other four were clustered together, close to the center of the competition area.
That lone red dot was clearly Jiang Kai himself. The remaining four must be the other members of Fire God's team.
"None of them are dead, not bad," Jiang Kai smiled slightly and immediately activated the Teleport Card.
———
Su Nuannuan and Hu Yan dragged Yuan Zhu and Ruan Yu into a dense forest.
"Those two guys just now were too tough. Zhuzi and Ruan Yu are both injured," Hu Yan wiped his forehead.
They currently had nine Redemption Cards in hand, but after four battles, all their Status Removal Cards were used up.
Ruan Yu and Yuan Zhu were both unconscious, and they had no more Purification Cards.
At this moment, they received the Stage Three notification.
Right after that, the previously fumbling Ruan Yu suddenly froze.
"Ruan Ghost's been imprisoned," Hu Yan's eyes widened. Now they not only had to buy Status Removal Cards but also redeem Ruan Yu, and find Jiang Kai, and save Jiang Kai. They were far too short on Redemption Cards.
"When it rains, it pours," Hu Yan cursed fiercely.
What's worse, after continuous fierce battles, the whole team was running low on resources. Especially Hu Yan, after repeatedly using his Rain Prayer skill, was now mentally exhausted and in terrible shape.
Getting more Redemption Cards was already very difficult.
Su Nuannuan sighed, "At this intensity, normal teams gain Redemption Cards slower than they consume them."
Two minutes later, the Global Info Card lit up faintly, the global info had been pushed.
[Current remaining participants in the Championship Tournament: 616 people, number of teams: 182. Beast invasion progress: 542 Commander-class beasts, 61 King-class beasts, active in a 38-kilometer border area of the competition zone.]
"Six hundred people were eliminated in Stage Two," Hu Yan said in shock, "At this rate with faster beast invasions, we're probably getting close to the final showdown."
Hu Yan and Su Nuannuan were both helpless in the current crisis.
At this moment, a faint noise came from the woods behind them.
Hu Yan quickly turned his head.
Two foreigners walked out of the woods.
Both were tall and strong, eyes fixed intently on Hu Yan and Su Nuannuan.
A shorter man with a freckled face sneered, "Hehehe, we've been watching you for a while. Your team of four, two are already out of commission, and of the other two, she's a healer, so basically only one of you can fight."
"Killing one person gets four Redemption Cards, we're not gonna miss a chance like this."
Hu Yan and Su Nuannuan immediately stood up, but Hu Yan felt dizzy as soon as he got up.
"Big Brother Hu!", Su Nuannuan looked at Hu Yan in worry and quickly supported him.
Hu Yan steadied himself and coldly stared at the two across from them, "Want to kill us Fire God folks? Come try it if you've got the guts!"
The freckled man snorted, "You can't even stand up straight. Who are you trying to scare? Billy, hurry and kill him, take the Redemption Cards!"
Just as the two of them rushed forward, several dark shadows suddenly shot out from the forest on the side.
The flying darts carried massive force and directly knocked both of them sideways.
Hu Yan and Su Nuannuan's eyes widened in disbelief as they looked toward the direction the darts came from.
That familiar ambush technique, familiar weapon, familiar knockback…
"Captain Kai…"
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