Chapter Ch85.2 - Fourth Elimination Match
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
In the last half an hour before the curfew, the two of them went over the existing elimination match clues in the dorm, and Wei Shi also went over Wu Jin’s training results––he was worthy of his ident.i.ty as a drillmaster who’d been purchased for a full year.
Wu Jin tried to tarry around in the big boss’s bedroom using whatever reason he could. He followed the big boss around, then wiped and touched everything around the room, as industrious and hard working as a homebody trainee who pursued the utmost in hospitality. It wasn’t until the lights went out in the twin towers that he finally picked up Brother Rabbit, who’d been nesting well-behaved by the window sill, and left.
South Tower staircase.
Wu Jin walked steadily from the third floor to the fourth, then drifted his way up to the fifth floor before pumping his legs and bouncing around happily––
The trainee who was brushing his teeth downstairs looked up doubtfully, then grumbled after a long while, “What’s there to be so excited about in the middle of the night!”
The second last week of training before the elimination match went by in a flash.
By the time they reached the last page of their handouts, the last trainee was also able to clear the vine obstacle course in under 20 minutes. The gate of the base was once again full of suspension busses, and the long-awaited holiday quietly rolled in.
There were seven days of holiday, but three of them needed to be spent back at the company. For the last four days, the team from White Moonlight walked out of the company building––after adapting to the high-intensity training rhythm, they were at a loss on what to do.
Fortunately, Zoe made a quick decision and dragged the other three straight to the zoo.
“Look carefully, and watch seriously. It’ll definitely be important for the next round…” Zoe was halfway through his words when he frowned at Caesar, who was currently toying with the orangutan on the other side of the gla.s.s.
Caesar exclaimed, “Can you see anything?!”
Zoe: “Yep. If I put you in and trade you for the orangutan, the zookeepers might only discover the change after pa.s.sing by a few times.”
The zoo was full of luxuriant vegetation, and the central air control system constantly delivered heat to the interior. The group of them were armed with masks and sungla.s.ses, soon attracting the attention of the pa.s.sers-by. Wu Jin hurriedly brought his teammates into the reptile pavilion before any Crosson Show watchers could come by.
The Komodo lizard, who was idly nourishing its spirit, looked over slowly.
Caesar started gesturing at the lizard while Wen Lin and Zoe discussed the toxicity, running speed, and weakness of the lizard in front of them––until a zookeeper started to look suspicious.
Wu Jin gently pressed his palm against the gla.s.s and carefully observed the lizard’s body shape and gait. He only left to follow after his teammates after a long delay.
One week later.
The Crosson Show base that had been silent for a week was once again bustling as the contestants all came back one by one, but the twin towers were completely empty.
Their luggage was unloaded from the suspension cars belonging to various entertainment companies, but they weren’t carried back to the tower by the robots. Instead, they were sent directly to the star ship that was docked in the small star harbor nearby. Their ‘final pre-execution meal’ before the fourth elimination match began would also be served on the star ship.
Before boarding, the students all drew lots one by one beneath the eyes of the program producer. All the fixed teams broke upk2013;k2013;and players wouldn’t be told about the ident.i.ty of their new teammates until they landed at the compet.i.tion grounds six hours later.
At the port.
Wu Jin made a final check over his suppliesk2013;k2013;4 hour breathing filter, 6.3 oz **, magnesium bar, tinder, parachute, and thermal protective clothing.
Wu Jin entered the quarantine area, and the female nurse from the Crosson medical team smiled as she checked his antibodies and gave him a release stamp.
Inside the star ship, the field of vision suddenly cleared up.
The French windows were clean and bright. From the front of the dining table, one could see the shrinking star harbor, and the sparks from friction between the outer coating of the star ship and the atmosphere.
The breakfast was unprecedentedly scrumptious and abundant.
Wu Jin silently poured a spoonful of truffle, abalone, and sea cuc.u.mber over his rice.
Compared with the contestants who were building up their energy, the Crosson Show staff and instructors were relaxed and enjoying the excursion like a vacation outing.
The program producer and Blood Pigeon had chosen to turn it into a business trip and had brought their families along. The baby carriages, children, pets, and dogs on the star ship had turned into a chaotic mess. Ying Xiangxiang was currently discussing with her a.s.sistant, “Is this make-up suitable for watching dinosaurs? Will this skirt clash with the Archaeopteryx…”
“……” The contestants to one side were nervous. They’d clearly stuffed themselves so full they were burping, but they were still eating. Obviously, they didn’t have confidence in being able to find any food after the start of the game.
5 hours and 46 minutes.
Another pale blue star suddenly magnified in their field of vision––the diameter of the planet wasn’t big, and the atmosphere around it was dense. Dozens of satellites surrounded it, having been prepared ahead of time for the program shoot.
The star ship broke through the thin atmosphere, and the coating sizzled with heat.
Inside the cabin, Wu Jin quickly pulled on his combat suit, lifted up his backpack, and b.u.mped shoulders with Wen Lin, who was closest to him, in a gesture of mutual encouragement.
6 hours and 12 minutes.
The hatch opened, and the constant pressure devices slowly withdrew from the contestants’ seats.
Wu Jin put on his breathing filtration equipment and curled his fingers slightly before jumping.
The air was cool and moist.
The starlight was disappearing into the shadows as the planet rotated––meaning that the first challenge for the fourth round would take place at night.
Wu Jin jumped.
The air roared in his ears, and the primitive, dense forest at dusk was spread out beneath his feet. A river ran through the terrain, and there were strange animals howling in the mountains.
The dense forest was more monotonous than he’d imagined. Wu Jin opened up his parachute and squinted against the air, barely able to recognize several varieties––giant ferns, stone pines, and cycads.
A few minutes later, he was able to turn on the team communication device. There were still parachutes descending in the sky, and the distance between players was quite far.
The communication equipment was quite simple and was similar to telegraphs from ancient times. Teammates could only communicate using Morse code. Wu Jin reported his estimated position via the communication channel and negotiated a meet-up point with his randomly selected teammates before quickly landing and trudging his way towards the river.
A breeze blew through, rustling the leaves in the fern forest.
There were no flowers on all the plants here, and there were only monotonous shades of grey, black, dark brown, and green in his field of view. The wind was damp and cold against the back of his hand, and he could occasionally see some unrecognizable reptiles in the forest.
The ferns were overgrown and abundant, showing that the oxygen content in the air was at least 28%. The rich oxygen in the environment encouraged the vegetation to grow wantonly into huge behemoths.
The slight flicker of the breathing filter indicated that there were several times more carbon dioxide in the air than normal.
This was a paradise for monsters, but h.e.l.l for humans with fragile respiratory systems.
Wu Jin landed precisely and soon reached the river bank. There was a man there already who was clutching at his backpack. He looked nervous as he spoke the code, “Ab-abalone and fried sea cuc.u.mber?”
Wu Jin was almost delighted when he saw him. This teammate of his was the big brother he’d forced several cups of water on in the Temperance card instance of the previous elimination match.
Wu Jin quickly spoke the next sentence, “You can soar after eating!
That big brother was finally relieved and hurriedly came to Wu Jin’s side. He was quite satisfied with the results of his draw and quickly sucked up, “With Brother Wu here to carry us, we’ll do great in this round!”
Hearing this big brother call out ‘Brother Wu’ so shamelessly one month later still left Wu Jin unable to react for a while.
“Don’t––” Wu Jin paused.
The sound of a plastic bag crinkling reached his ears from a distance.
Their other two teammates were still out there, but no parachutes could be seen nearby, and there were no plastic bags on the planet.
Or, rather than plastic bags, it was more like the sound of wing membranes fluttering in the air.
It seemed that there were long and narrow wings quivering in mid-air just behind him. Wu Jin could even imagine the fierce and large compound eyes, and the bright red, congested network of veins––
That big brother’s pupils contracted suddenly. He looked behind Wu Jin, and his hands trembled as he pulled out his gun!
Wu Jin abruptly turned back.
The cameras near the river bank were activated at the same time, and the quantum satellite 400 kilometers above the ground was steered around by the program team.
At this time, the entire Crosson team had already been stationed and ready at the base nearby. Beneath the light of the stars that hadn’t yet been obscured, the star ship was now slowly gliding away.
The planet left behind in its wake was like a lonely island in the river of stars.
Satellites and gravel bands hung suspended around the island. A faint electrical current could be seen streaking through the atmosphere, indicating that this seemingly primitive ecology had been artificially cultivated. Even the refraction of the starlight had been fine-tuned.
At the filming base.
The timer beeped and rang.
The little stage manager looked at the terminal, “It’s about to rain.”
Dusk was about to subside, and black clouds gathered near the river bank. In the surveillance camera, Wu Jin’s teammate burst out into a shrill scream––
The program producer slapped the table, “Hurry up! There’s enough live stream traffic. Do I still need to teach you what to do?”
The little stage manager hurriedly got up and directed the camera to zoom out and show the virtual background. Words popped out in the middle of the screen with a tw.a.n.g:
“Crosson Show 4th elimination match. The Phanerozoic, extinction and regeneration––sponsored by the Evolutionary Scale Ecological Transformation Laboratory.”
Juurensha: Let the Jura.s.sic Park instance begin!
xiin: soooo yeah there’s lots of old prehistoric animals and stuff in this round. i’ll try to footnote/image some of them but if you don’t know what it is just google them. the creatures/plants in this instance really did exist millions of years ago~