#140 - Return! Champion!!
Chapter 140: Return! Champion!!
The key was successfully drawn to the surface.
Zhao Zheng, however, appeared even more cautious.
He held the key in his hand but didn't retract it, maintaining his grabbing posture.
The others were puzzled by this.
"Zhao-ge, what are you doing?" Jiang Hebin couldn't help but ask.
Zhao Zheng said, "There's a thread on the key. It should be some kind of mechanism. If it's broken, something bad might happen."
The others were startled.
Looking closely, they indeed found a thread on the key.
This thread was particularly thin and transparent. It was hard to see without careful observation.
If everyone's strength were still intact, they would naturally be able to see it, but now that everyone is an ordinary person, they have to stare to see it clearly.
Upon seeing this thread, everyone felt genuine admiration for Zhao Zheng.
If it were them, they would have definitely broken the thread long ago.
"You guys go to the exit first, stay as close to the edge as possible, and don't step on the ice!" Zhao Zheng added, "I suspect the mechanism connected to this thread is likely related to the ice."
Hearing this, everyone moved and approached the exit.
Everyone followed Zhao Zheng's instructions, standing against the wall, not daring to stand on the ice.
After everyone was in position.
Zhao Zheng abruptly snapped the thread and sprinted towards the exit with the key.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Almost as soon as Zhao Zheng reached the exit, the previous ice layer shattered piece by piece, falling into the rushing river.
Seeing this, everyone was so frightened that cold sweat broke out.
If it weren't for Zhao Zheng's reminder, they didn't know how many people would have died in this wave.
No wonder they say the escape mode is the most dangerous.
This is too much of a trap!
At this moment, everyone admired Zhao Zheng to the point of prostration.
Zhao Zheng didn't dawdle, using the key to open the exit door, leading everyone to successfully pass the second level.
Next was the third level.
The others still had no intention of giving up.
With Zhao Zheng around, they were full of confidence!
The third level's secret room was a laser-killing secret room. The ground leading to the exit had many squares. If you took a wrong step, you would be shot by lasers from the walls on both sides!
This level was obviously more difficult!
Under his command, everyone passed the third level without any danger…
Then the fourth level…
The fifth level…
…
Inside the viewing hall.
Seeing Zhao Zheng's performance.
Everyone was so shocked that they couldn't speak.
Those secret rooms, those mechanisms, if they had tried to break through them, they would have died countless times.
But what about Zhao Zheng?
He was always able to discover useful clues, lead his teammates to avoid various deadly traps, crack mechanisms and secret techniques, and finally successfully pass the levels.
Under Zhao Zheng's command, all nine teammates were fine.
Everyone saw Zhao Zheng's extraordinary insight and exceptional wisdom.
It was simply a gift.
"I finally understand now why that child, Haitang, insisted on teaming up with this kid, Zhao Zheng."
The one who said this was Teacher Shen.
She looked at Zhao Zheng's performance on the screen, sincerely convinced: "So, Zhao Zheng has such talent. No wonder he and Haitang can always maintain an SSS-level rating, far ahead."
Old Chu was sitting not far from Teacher Shen.
Hearing this, he was also filled with emotion: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would have been hard to believe that he has such talent."
Similar discussions.
Began to ring out constantly.
President Song, who was sitting in the front row, fell silent.
He finally realized that he had a serious bias against this Zhao family kid.
If he put aside those preconceived prejudices, he would have to admit that Zhao Zheng's performance just now was very excellent.
"This Zhao Zheng is truly a treasure!"
The president of Zhenwu University commented with a smile.
…
The four-hour competition time.
Passed quickly.
When the competition time ended.
Zhao Zheng and the others, who were in the secret room, were teleported out one after another.
Inside the viewing hall.
A huge screen also displayed the scores of each team!
Ranking first.
Was precisely the team led by Zhao Zheng.
And it was a clear first!
In the past four hours, Zhao Zheng led his team to earn a full 3.2 million points.
This was because the escape mode was the most difficult, giving the most points.
And it was a ten-person competition.
As long as they successfully passed a level, each member would get 200 points.
One level down, ten members meant 2000 points.
And in the past four hours, Zhao Zheng led his team to pass sixteen levels in total!
Which was 32,000 points.
Ranking second was Victor's team.
The other party had good luck and was in the hunting mode, getting a total of 1873 points.
Not even a fraction of Zhao Zheng's…
Third was the team led by Ma Jun of Jingda, also in hunting mode, getting 1822 points.
Only 51 points less than Victor, which was a pity.
Seeing the score rankings on the leaderboard, everyone in the viewing hall showed smiles.
"Hahaha, we are the champion team!"
"There are rewards to be taken, this trip was not in vain."
"Very good, the 20 Spirit Energy points reward will allow me to upgrade my Armament Haki by another level. At the beginning of next month, I am confident to try the twenty-fifth level of the Spirit Realm."
"When they drew the escape mode before, it scared me to death. I even thought that the favors I owed this time would not get any rewards! Fortunately, that Zhao Zheng was awesome…"
"One Song Haitang, one Zhao Zheng, with these two children, Zhenwu University's ranking in this year's academy rating will definitely be raised."
…
"Zhao-ge is mighty! Haha, let us lie down and win 100 Spirit Energy points."
"Too awesome, Zhao-ge! I really don't know how his brain is made?"
"Damn, when I go out later, I must apologize to Zhao-ge. I completely misunderstood him before."
"Me too, I always thought of him as a gigolo who lives off women. I feel too bad about it."
"Zhao-ge is really something, why didn't he say it earlier?"
"Hehe, would you have believed it if he said it before? There were similar rumors in the school before, but I didn't see you guys believe it!"
"That's right… Without seeing it with my own eyes, who would have thought that Zhao-ge has this kind of talent?"
Inside the viewing hall.
Everyone was discussing.
…
At the same time.
Zhao Zheng and the others were teleported to a special space.
At the moment the mission time ended, they were teleported here.
Subsequently, a prompt popped up in everyone's left eye, showing that their team had already won the championship.
Seeing the prompt.
Everyone was very happy.
Zhao Zheng and Song Haitang were fine. They had always been SSS-level mission evaluations since their debut, and they were already immune.
The others were excited.
"Great, we are the champions!"
"Zhao-ge led us through so many levels. It would be abnormal if we still couldn't win the championship."
"I really didn't expect that we could win the championship. I was desperate when we drew the escape mode before."
"Hehe, Wang Fei, the feeling of not having to die, is it very good?"
In the midst of everyone's discussion, a holographic screen suddenly popped up in the void in front of them.
Words appeared on the screen:
[As champions, you are qualified to continue challenging unknown levels!]
[There are three levels in the unknown level. Each time you successfully challenge one level, all members will receive a reward of 50 spirit points.]
[Note: Once the challenge begins, you cannot quit midway. You must complete all three levels of the unknown level.]
[Do you want to continue challenging the unknown level?]
[Yes \\ No]
Seeing the options on the screen, everyone was slightly stunned, but not too surprised.
Teacher Shen had told them about the unknown level and gave advice: if you win the championship, don't try the unknown level.
Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but look at Zhao Zheng.
Now the decision is in the hands of Zhao Zheng, the captain.
"What do you say?" Zhao Zheng asked with a smile, "Does anyone want to continue challenging the unknown level?"
These words made everyone think.
Zhang Chenggang took the lead and said, "50 spirit points per level, only 150 spirit points for three levels, it's a bit too little."
"It's a bit too little." Tang Chuan nodded in agreement: "I don't think it's necessary to take this risk for 150 points."
Chen Kai thought for a while and said, "Although we have Brother Zhao here, and our chances of passing are higher, I personally still prefer to give up the challenge. The teacher also said that no one has ever successfully challenged the unknown level so far."
"Brother Zhao, I'll listen to you." Jiang Hebin was the most eloquent: "Just follow your meaning. If you want to continue challenging, then continue challenging."
With Jiang Hebin taking the lead, the remaining few people said one after another: "Yes, Brother Zhao, we'll listen to you."
Zhao Zheng looked at Song Haitang again.
Before he could say anything, Song Haitang said, "I'm the same as them, I'll listen to you too."
Zhao Zheng then said, "Then let's give up! 150 spirit points is really not worth the risk."
As soon as he finished speaking.
He chose "No" on the screen.
This was his true thought!
If the rewards for the unknown level were more generous, he might have been interested in trying it.
150 spirit points?
Is that for beggars?
Anyway, Zhao Zheng didn't like it.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that although they said they would listen to Zhao Zheng, they actually didn't want to continue the challenge.
After Zhao Zheng made his choice.
A prompt appeared on the screen again:
[You have given up challenging the unknown level...]
[Please note: This spirit realm has ended and will be teleported out of the spirit realm in 30 seconds...]
[29, 28, 27...]
The countdown to return appeared in everyone's left eye.
When the countdown ended.
Everyone in the fifth level of the spirit realm disappeared.
...
Blue Star.
Zhenwu University.
The three hundred people who had entered before appeared on the playground at the same time.
Everyone was still holding hands.
After discovering the return.
Everyone immediately let go of their hands.
Then, everyone's eyes turned to the members of the participating team.
To be precise, it was towards Zhao Zheng.
Zhao Zheng's performance this time was impressive and completely changed everyone's impression of him.
Next.
Zhao Zheng heard the most compliments ever...
The others were okay.
What some people said to him was very impressive...
Teacher Shen: "Zhao Zheng, I used to have some opinions about you. I want to apologize for my prejudice... I hope you can come to my Class A."
Old Chu: "You kid, you're really hiding your strength! Teacher Shen just invited you to Class A, right? If you want to go, I will definitely cooperate."
Some classmates: "Brother Zhao, I'm sorry, I used to think you were a gigolo... Thank you for your efforts, which allowed us to win this time and get 100 spirit points."
Cousin Zhao Rong: "Zhengzi, I heard from my family before that Grandpa plans to focus the family's resources on you. I was a little unconvinced at first, but today, after seeing your performance in the spirit realm, I realized that Grandpa's choice was simply brilliant! Our Zhao family will rely on you in the future. As your brother, I will follow your lead!"
President Song: "Not bad, keep up the good work..."
...
Every time after the freshmen's spirit realm experience, the school has to collect and record the students' scores in the spirit realm.
However, this time, there is no need to check the students' scores one by one.
Because everyone knows exactly what rewards everyone has received.
Song Haitang, Jiang Hebin, and others, as participants in the champion team, each received 275 spirit points.
Zhao Zheng is the captain and can receive an additional 80 spirit points, for a total of 355 spirit points.
Other freshmen all received 100 spirit points!
Everyone quickly dispersed.
A moment later.
Zhao Zheng appeared in the principal's office.
"Student Zhao Zheng, I didn't expect you to have such outstanding talent. It's really a genius-like insight!"
The fat principal looked at Zhao Zheng with a face full of emotion.
Zhao Zheng sweated a little and immediately said, "Principal, you are too kind."
"Not too kind!" The fat principal said, "If you had a slightly better talent ability, you would simply be a talent born for the spirit realm."
Seeming to realize that this was a bit problematic, the fat principal quickly corrected: "Your current cooperation with Song Haitang is also a very correct choice. The two of you working together are enough to dominate the spirit realm."
Zhao Zheng was also very sensible and said, "This is also thanks to the principal's cultivation. If you hadn't given me Armament Haki back then, I wouldn't have achieved what I have today."
"It was a very correct choice for me to give you Armament Haki back then."
The fat principal said with a smile, and then asked, "I heard that you still live off-campus?"
Zhao Zheng nodded: "Yes."
"Then you should move back to school quickly!" The fat principal said, "Many people saw your performance today, and you definitely won't be able to keep it a secret. I'm afraid that in less than a day, others will know your importance. If you continue to live off-campus, it is estimated that you will be in danger."
Zhao Zheng was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Principal, do you mean that someone will target me?"
"Yes! You must also know about the bounty on Song Haitang. Those people didn't realize your importance before, but now that they know, they will definitely take action. Song Haitang is very well protected in the school, and they can't do anything about it. If you continue to live off-campus, they will attack you in order to attack Song Haitang."
After a pause, the fat principal continued: "The off-campus environment is mixed with people, and it is very inconvenient to protect you! So, you should also move back to school! It's not too late to leave the school when you and Song Haitang have enough self-protection ability."
Hearing this.
Zhao Zheng had a headache.
He didn't want to be trapped in the school every day like Song Haitang, like being in prison...
However, what the fat principal said also made sense.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
(PS: The little author has seen everyone's criticisms. This kind of secret room escape copy is indeed difficult to write with a refreshing point, so the little author who listens to advice chose to end it quickly. The next spirit realm will return to the normal pretending mode...)
