Chapter 78: [Survivors: 481]

On the bloodstained hillside, Qin Hao gazed at the translucent text that appeared before him.

[Survival mission completed. Completion: 481/5980.]

This number sent a shock through Qin Hao’s heart.

Before reversing time, the number of surviving heroes in [Survival 2] was only 123—barely one percent. Back then, the fact that four heroes survived in Yangchuan City was already quite impressive. Yet this time, nearly 11% survived the mission. Why did so many more heroes make it through?

The first person Qin Hao thought of was Zihui.

Zihui’s Eye of Myriad Sects had spread across Huaxia, with a hundred in total, which meant a hundred cities in the country were aware of the situation. As a populous nation comprising one-fifth of the world’s population, Huaxia had been allocated two thousand of the ten thousand hero systems. One-third of the cities’ heroes—that was six hundred people. Using Zihui’s method, even if their chances of killing the hunting creatures alone weren’t high, at the very least, when facing eight mutant beasts, if they couldn’t kill them, they could escape. As long as they released two of each type into the black hole space, and there were no others around, escaping was still possible.

Moreover, the influence Qin Hao and Zihui wielded extended far beyond that. Even in cities without Zihui’s Eye of Myriad Sects, people might have seen her livestreams and deduced that the number of hunting creatures was tied to the number of humans present.

Most heroes would surely choose to face the challenge alone or in small groups. In this way, the survival rate of Huaxia’s heroes increased dramatically. After all, not every hero was as obstinate as Lu Shaohua, deliberately working against Qin Hao and Zihui.

Qin Hao was confident in his guess, and this brought him great comfort. All his efforts had not been in vain; things were moving in a better direction.

He continued to check the mission status.

[Hero Points Reward: 50,000.]

[Hero Qin Hao, you have excelled in this mission. The Peace Alliance, in recognition of your outstanding performance, will award you a random prize. Please draw now.]

This time, the invading civilization had not cheated, but Qin Hao had still slain many monsters, and every survival mission saw a significant number of heroes perish. Thus, the mission itself did not directly reward hero points.

Qin Hao had slain twenty thousand hunting creatures in one go. If exchanged for hero points, that would amount to two hundred million.

The Peace Alliance had offered him a form of compensation.

Qin Hao looked at the spinning wheel before him. There was no gray segment; white occupied 40%, green 30%, blue 20%, with the remaining six colors sharing the last 10%. That sliver of starlight, representing a divine artifact, was as fine as a hair—impossible to imagine ever landing on it.

“Would you like to draw your reward now?”

“Draw.”

The wheel began to spin. Qin Hao didn’t hesitate and called to stop it.

In this lifetime, he knew he would never again draw something like the Time Reversal Card, so anything else was of little consequence. After all, with his power, he could grow stronger on his own, even without outside help.

The pointer slowed, gradually coming to rest—landing directly on the sole starlight segment.

Qin Hao was momentarily stunned.

Divine grade!

He had actually drawn a divine-grade item.

Before him, a spatial black hole opened, and from it emerged an object wreathed in starlight—a longsword.

Qin Hao already possessed Starcleaver; he hadn’t expected to gain another sword. This one was forged of a translucent material, bearing a snowflake emblem. As soon as he gripped it, a cool sensation flooded his mind, sharpening his thoughts and invigorating his mental power.

The hero system displayed information about this new divine item:

[Divine Creation: Frost Abyss Divine Blade] [Divine Grade]

Note: This item was crafted by the Sea King Civilization of the Universal Peace Alliance. It contains a trace of divine cold, capable of freezing the force of life itself.

“Sea King Alliance…”

As Qin Hao gazed at the divine weapon, a premonition arose within him.

Just as the invading civilization watched humanity, so too did the Peace Alliance—and they were especially watching him.

If the spatial disk last time had merely been a casual gesture, then this time, the Frost Abyss Divine Blade was a blatant reward.

He could indeed exchange slain creatures for divine weapons, but if it were purely a matter of random chance, there was no way he would ever draw the starlight grade.

These were the workings of the gods.

“What are they really thinking?” Qin Hao frowned deeply.

Despite surviving for twenty years in the apocalypse and learning much about the great civilizations, the minds of the gods remained unfathomable to him.

“Heh, what’s the point in dwelling on this? One day, I will become a god myself. Then, I’ll finally understand their motives.”

With that thought, Qin Hao sheathed the Frost Abyss Divine Blade.

He opened his spatial ring and stored away the nearly twenty thousand first-level evolved hunting creatures.

Then he set off toward Skyvault Base.

In the sky, the Eye of Myriad Sects noticed Qin Hao’s movements and followed him. Before long, a liquid metal car transformed itself and rolled up alongside him.

Zihui sat within, a beauty amidst luxury—a breathtaking sight.

“Welcome back, great hero.”

She smiled at Qin Hao, though her eyes were rimmed with a trace of red.

Qin Hao had fought all night, and Zihui had watched the entire time. That night, she suddenly felt a deep appreciation for being alive.

She hoped that, in the future, she could survive every [Survival] mission.

“Let’s go!”

Qin Hao took the passenger seat, letting Zihui drive them back.

Within Skyvault Base, after the mission’s end, the remaining six heroes had yet to leave.

They now knew with certainty that, after this mission, only seventeen heroes remained in all of Magic City.

None who had followed Lu Shaohua survived; all perished—a heavy loss for Dubei.

Still, the six surviving heroes suddenly realized that Qin Hao was now the pillar of Magic City, and his Dubei Base was truly the safest haven.

Thus, all decided to join Skyvault Base.

Qin Hao paid these matters no mind. Returning to his quarters, he cleansed himself with his water ability, then began to activate his powers.

Gene Devouring Technique.

Through this battle, he had acquired new genes.

Iron Skewer Demon, Crocobeast, Liquid Walker, and Flame Demon.

These genes would further enhance Qin Hao’s strength.

He began to select from among them.

The more powerful the creature, the easier it was to find divine gene fragments within its DNA. Qin Hao had slain five thousand of each type, storing countless gene fragments within himself, waiting to be discovered.

Soon, he found the divine fragments hidden within these genes.