"Brother?" Li Qianxia approached, concerned.
"It's nothing." Li Changzhou withdrew his thoughts.
"Boss Li," the man with a voice trembling like reinforced steel said, "we shouldn't have doubted you; we were wrong."
"From now on, whatever you say, we'll do!" Deadly Light Flame added hastily.
Li Changzhou looked towards the Central King.
"The process had some mishaps, but in the end, it was your father who willingly handed over the Crown, and I spared you."
The Central King, reminded of her deceased father, let tears flow down her face that mourned for a king of wind and light.
"The Central remains yours. Earthlings who enter must abide by the laws you set... You had a father worthy of respect. He loved the gods, he loved you even more, and indeed, more than the gods themselves."
The Central King's eyes reddened. She looked up, wanting to say something, but Li Changzhou flicked a drop of blood into her mouth.
"What are you doing!" The Guard Captain drew his sword.
"Stop!"
The Guard Captain looked towards the Central King, whose terrible shoulder wound was slowly healing — but that wasn't why the Central King commanded him to halt.
She had lost too much over these fourteen days and didn't want to witness the death of another mentor willing to draw his sword for her against the gods.
Li Changzhou turned around to face Li Qianxia, Yang Qinglan, and those from Turquoise Pool: "Let's go back."
At the game's descent, besides Hou Feng who refused to return and those whose ambitions had died, the remaining twenty-six transformed into streaks of light and burst through the atmosphere of the Four Seasons Star.
Such immense strength and speed didn't even lift a breeze on the ground; the Central King only saw twenty-six shooting stars flash past the edge of the Sun.
Across billions of light-years, Li Changzhou opened his eyes to a waiting hall on Earth.
The lights were bright, Xiao Yue watched them with a giggly smile, and behind her stood a serious photographer.
The surroundings were empty, save for the twenty-six of them.
"Are we the only ones to succeed?" Li Changzhou removed the Crown, and Li Qianxia immediately took it from him.
"It's still too soon to say, y'know. There's still another day left," Xiao Yue replied.
"How many teams were wiped out?" Turquoise Pool asked.
Li Qianxia cautiously placed the Crown on her head, and in an instant, her consciousness descended upon the Four Seasons Star.
The sensation was bizarre; the Four Seasons Star was the divine body of the King of Wind and Light. Upon donning the Crown, one could control this divine body and its offshoots, somewhat akin to the account of a game administrator.
The slight difference was, operating the Divine Body was very difficult.
Coming from a distinguished lineage as "Jade Leaf," with a share of Li Changzhou's divine body and having learned much about the Five Elements Interacting and Five Elements Inhibition from him and Yang Qinglan, Li Qianxia could only manage to make it rain.
She located Qing Shui and caused rain to fall solely on her.
Watching Qing Shui's stunned face, Li Qianxia let out the same giggle she did when reading romance novels.
"Okay, that's it." Xiao Yue returned her gaze from the ceiling.
Li Qianxia quickly regained her composure.
"I didn't count how many died, excluding you, there are still thirteen groups alive. Ten of them might as well be dead, but three groups still have a chance," Xiao Yue said.
With a clap of her hands, her chest under the uniform quivered and she winked, saying, "Alright, nevermind them, your business isn't over yet~"
First came the rewards.
The surviving twenty-six could, from this moment on, open a Teleportation gate directly to the Four Seasons Star.
"The Teleportation gate can only be opened in the real world and can't be used once inside the transportation we manage, like buses, subways, ships, or airplanes," Xiao Yue explained.
Curious, Xiao Wu opened a Teleportation gate.
An ordinary door; Li Changzhou glanced at it and estimated its dimensions — 2.4 meters tall, 0.8 meters wide, with negligible thickness.
His keen eye was honed while constructing houses in the 'Honey Pot World,' limited only to this aspect.
On the other side of the gate was a blizzard; snowflakes passed through and fell on the waiting hall floor, quickly melting into water.
"Close it, close it, hurry up, it's freezing!" Xiao Yue held down her uniform skirt.
Xiao Wu quickly closed the gate.
This was the reward for the sacrifice of fifty-four players and millions of lives on the Four Seasons Star, a reward whose value Li Qianxia couldn't comprehend.
Was the New Year's event (a festival of Wind and Light on the Four Seasons Star) held by the Value Games meant to weed out the weak, boost the players' morale, or eliminate gods attempting resurrection?
Deadly Light Flame and others were thrilled. They had survived and gained a gate to another planet!
The Teleportation gate could be used to flee and was a backup plan for after Earth's destruction — no one could guarantee Earth's safety.
It could also be negotiated with the Special Warfare Bureau, powerful factions, companies, to open Teleportation gates for them in exchange for Game Coins, items, money, and status required.
"Since the event also counts as a mission, you can enjoy yourselves to the fullest for the next fifteen days without entering the game. How lucky you are~" Xiao Yue conveyed as if they had struck gold.
Everyone felt like punching her.
Not considering the danger level, based solely on time, regular game missions, no matter how long, only take one day in the real world. Those who took part in the New Year's event were at a severe disadvantage.
There was also a genuinely beneficial feature; players could sell their memories and charge for admissions on the ship.
That would be a considerable source of income; likely, gamers worldwide would buy tickets to watch.
But with benefits come risks. Players who sold their memories could alter their appearance, but their skills would be exposed.
The strongest moment for a player is always before they reveal their abilities; a player who discloses their skills gives enemies potential hope of defeating them, akin to a boss showing its health bar.