Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level Drop Rate with Abundant Resources

"00:29:45".

The countdown on the electronic screen was still ticking, and Shen Xi turned his gaze away from the contestants. More than two thousand people were scattered across this open field, while he and Mingying were inconspicuous.

Nobody noticed them.

This was exactly what Shen Xi wanted.

He leaned against a pillar at the edge of the field, arms crossed. The cape of his Starshine Rhythm uniform draped down, covering half his body and blending him into the shadow cast by the pillar. Mingying stood silently behind him, his two-meter-tall skeletal frame as still as a statue.

Just then, the four giant electronic screens on the dome of the venue lit up simultaneously!

"Buzz...!"

A grand, majestic, and emotionless mechanical voice resounded throughout the entire venue!

That's the sound of a post-apocalyptic survival game.

[System Announcement: Registration for the Kyoto City Championship has closed!]

[Final number of participants: 2137!]

[Number of spectators: 108,631!]

[The detailed rules for this competition are now being released...]

The white light on the electronic screen condensed into lines of large golden characters, while at the same time, that mechanical voice echoed in everyone's mind:

The championship is divided into three stages...

[Phase 1: Elimination Rounds (Code Name: "Break Through the Siege")]

[Rules: All participants will simultaneously enter the super dungeon "Kyoto Ruins Arena". The dungeon is teeming with rotting corpses (normal level 8-15, including special high-level corpses). Defeating corpses earns points, and defeating a player earns 50% of that player's current points. Players who are defeated or voluntarily surrender will have their points reset to zero and be eliminated.]

[Points Rules: Ordinary Corpse 1 point, Elite Corpse 5 points, Boss Corpse 10 points, Lord Corpse 50 points.]

[Time Limit: 6 hours.]

[Advancement criteria: Top 500 in points ranking.]

[Special Note: Death within the instance is considered a real death.]

Shen Xi looked at the rules.

Killing other players earns you 50% of the points? This rule is interesting. It means that if you painstakingly grind through six hours of zombies, accumulating thousands of points, only to be killed in the last ten minutes, half of your points go to someone else. Meanwhile, the strong players can simply skip grinding in the early game and wait to harvest the "workers" who have been grinding for six hours.

Murderers and arsonists wear golden belts, while those who build bridges and pave roads leave no trace of their bodies.

These rules are clearly designed to encourage players to kill each other.

The venue was in an uproar.

"Holy crap! Killing players grants 50% of the points? Isn't this forcing people to kill each other?"

"It's over, it's over. What's the point of playing as a casual player like us? Those big clans will definitely send people to harvest us!"

"What's there to be afraid of? Just hide and avoid them. The dungeon is so big, who can find who?"

"Are you stupid? They have scout-type professions with tracking skills. Where are you going to hide?"

"Stop arguing, stop arguing, and continue listening to the rules!"

The text on the electronic screen continued to scroll:

[Second Stage: Group Stage (Code Name: "Four-Way Battle")]

[Rules: The 500 qualifying players will be divided into 50 groups of 10 each, either voluntarily or randomly, and will enter the "Kyoto Subway Station" instance. The instance contains 5 "outposts," and capturing an outpost grants 1 point per second. Defeating corpses within the instance also grants points (same scoring rules as in Phase 1). Defeating a player grants 30% of that player's current points.]

[Time Limit: 3 hours.]

[Advancement Criteria: The top ten groups (100 people in total) advance to the third stage.]

[Special Note: Points earned at checkpoints are shared among team members, but individual kills are recorded separately. Team disbandment conditions: Teams will automatically disband if they have fewer than 3 members. After disbandment, members will become independent players, and their points will be recalculated based on individual kills.]

Shen Xi's eyes lit up.

Outpost battle? Ten people per group, five outposts, three hours.

These rules don't test individual skill, but rather teamwork, tactical execution, and resource allocation. A ten-person team, if well-coordinated, can easily capture two or even three strongholds, snowballing their points. However, if the team is internally divided and members fight individually, even the strongest individuals will be picked off one by one by the opponent.

Furthermore, groups with fewer than three members are automatically disbanded. This means that if you want to eliminate a strong team, the easiest way is to reduce their players to only two. Once a team is disbanded, their points are reset to zero and recalculated, rendering all previous efforts futile.

These rules are practically tailor-made for those tightly organized large families.

Sure enough, in the center of the arena, Gu Yunting's lips curled into a confident smile as he turned his head and said something to the people beside him. Jin Buhuan, Naluo, and Helian Tieshu also began to make arrangements in hushed tones. Only Wu'an Jun remained standing there expressionless.

The text on the electronic screen continued to scroll:

[Third Stage: The Finals (Code Name: "Battle for the Throne")]

[Rules: The 100 qualifying players will enter the final dungeon, "Kyoto Throne." The dungeon is a multi-tiered tower structure with ten floors. Each floor is guarded by Corpse Guardians (their strength increases with each floor). Players can choose to defeat the guards to clear the dungeon or defeat other players to gain points. If a player fails to clear all ten floors within the time limit, they will be ranked according to the number of floors cleared and their points. The first player to clear all ten floors and defeat "Kyoto Boss - Corpse General" (Level 20 Gold Lord) will be the champion.]

[Time Limit: 24 hours.]

Ranking Rules: The first player to clear a level is the champion. Other players are ranked according to the number of levels cleared, and those on the same level are ranked according to their points.

[Special Note: The kill scoring rules for Phase 3 are the same as for Phase 1. Death within the instance is considered a real death.]

The moment the words "Level 20 Gold Lord" appeared on the electronic screen, the entire venue fell silent.

Then, a deafening scream erupted!

"A level 20 Gold Lord?! Isn't that even more terrifying than the boss in the class advancement dungeon?"

"Holy crap! Who could beat this? Even if the four great families joined forces, they might not be able to win!"

"No wonder the champion's prize is so generous; the difficulty level is ridiculously high!"

"Forget it, you'll be lucky to clear ten floors, let alone kill a lord! Dream on!"

Shen Xi heard these comments.

Level 20 Gold Lord?

The Desperate Reaper he killed in the Crimson Hatchery evolved into a Gold Lord, with stats significantly higher than a regular level 20 Gold Lord. Although Ghost Child finished him off in the end, he had fought it head-on before.

What's more, he's currently level 22, with dual classes, the Pangu Axe and the Primordial Pearl in hand, and Mingying, his Asura henchman. Classic quotes abound from "Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level, Abundant Drop Rates and Resources," come find resonance!

In his eyes, this rotting corpse general was nothing more than a walking experience pack and a bag of gold coins.

However, he did not intend to reveal his strength so soon.

First, send the four major families and the military to scout ahead. Once they've fought their fill, then strike and reap the rewards.

The text on the electronic screen continued to scroll:

[Schedule: After the first stage, there will be a 30-minute break to announce the list of those who advance. After the second stage, there will also be a 30-minute break. The third stage will run continuously for 24 hours without breaks.]

Finally, best of luck to all participants...

May your military prowess be abundant!

The moment the words were spoken, the countdown on the electronic screen suddenly accelerated!

"00:05:00!"

"00:04:59!"

"00:04:58!"

The atmosphere inside the venue instantly became extremely tense. More than two thousand participants began their final preparations; some frantically drank medication, some repeatedly checked their equipment, and some prayed quietly.

"00:01:00!"

"00:00:59!"

Shen Xi took out the Pangu Axe and took a deep breath.

"00:00:10!"

"00:00:05!"

"00:00:04!"

"00:00:03!"

"00:00:02!"

"00:00:01!"

"Teleportation initiated!"

A blinding white light descended from the sky, illuminating the entire venue as bright as day!

Two thousand one hundred and thirty-seven beams of white light and two thousand one hundred and thirty-seven figures vanished from the spot at the same time!

The feeling of weightlessness lasted only a moment.

When Shen Xi opened her eyes again, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar ruin.

Above, the sky was a hazy gray, thick clouds obscuring the sunlight, and the air was thick with the stench of decay and dust. All around were half-collapsed high-rises, cracked asphalt roads, and abandoned vehicles lying haphazardly. In the distance, several leaning television towers could be vaguely seen, like the skeletons of dead giants, piercing the gloomy sky.

Kyoto Ruins Arena.

Shen Xi quickly scanned her surroundings, and after confirming that it was safe, she activated her All-Seeing Insight technique with a slight thought.

Golden light swirled in his eyes, and information from within a hundred meters surged forth like a tidal wave…

The nearest corpses are about 80 meters to the southeast, one a level 9 ordinary and the other a level 11 elite, lying behind an abandoned bus and gnawing on something.

Further away, at least seven or eight more red dots were moving slowly.

Three meters away from him, a familiar figure stepped out from the white light.

A two-meter-tall body, white bone armor, and the Asura Spear.

Mingying.

Good luck.

"Let's go." He lowered his voice. "Let's find a safe place first and figure out what's going on around us."

The two disappeared silently into the shadows of the ruins, one after the other.

Meanwhile, at the Kyoto Convention Center.

The white light faded, and all the contestants inside the stadium had disappeared. But more than 100,000 spectators remained seated in the stands, their eyes fixed on the four giant electronic screens on the dome.

The screen has switched to the interior of the copy.

It was an aerial view, showcasing the entire "Kyoto Ruins Arena" to everyone. Vast city ruins, crisscrossing streets, densely packed building remains, and scattered green dots representing the contestants.

More than two thousand green dots are currently scattered in a chaotic manner throughout the instance.

On the right side of the screen is the points leaderboard.

At this moment, the leaderboard is blank.

Nobody has points.

But soon, the first name will appear.

In the audience, 100,000 people held their breath in anticipation.

The screen started switching automatically.

The scene first cuts to Lord Wu'an.

He appeared on a wide avenue, surrounded by no corpses or other contestants. He simply stood still, scanning his surroundings, then chose a direction and strode off.

The scene cuts to Gu Yunting.

He appeared on the rooftop of a partially collapsed office building, looking down at the street below. Behind him were seven or eight members of the Gu family; clearly, they had quickly assembled due to the nearby teleportation location. Gu Yunting raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction; the group immediately dispersed, advancing in a fan shape.

The scene cuts to Jin Buhuan.

He had already joined up with more than a dozen members of the Jin family, and they were now fiercely attacking a level 12 elite zombie. Jin Buhuan held the tower shield at the forefront, the zombie's claws slamming against the shield with dull "thump" sounds, yet it remained unmoved. The archers and mages behind him were unleashing their fury, and the elite zombie's health was dropping at a visible rate.

The scene cuts to Nara.

She moved alone, like a ghost, through the ruins. Her speed was astonishing; her figure flickered among the rubble, appearing in a different location each time.

The scene cuts to Helian Tieshu.

He had activated his berserk mode; his bare upper body bulged with muscles and veins. He wielded his massive double-bladed battle axe, directly confronting a level 14 boss zombie. Each strike was accompanied by spurts of black blood and the zombie's screams. Behind him, dozens of members of the He family were clearing away the surrounding ordinary zombies.

Five images rotate on the screen.

Cheers erupted from the stands.

"Lord Wu'an! Lord Wu'an!"

"Keep it up, Gu Jia!"

"Jin Buhuan! Kill it!"

"Helian Tieshu is awesome!"

But no one noticed that two figures would occasionally flash across the edge of the screen.

One side was silver-gray, the other was bone-white.

They appear in the corner of the frame, flashing by. Each appearance is extremely brief before disappearing into the shadows of the ruins.

The audience didn't notice them.

The points leaderboard remains blank.

At this moment, Shen Xi was squatting by the window on the fifth floor of an abandoned residential building, observing the street outside through the broken glass.

"East, three ordinary ones, one elite," he whispered. "West, two ordinary ones. South, five ordinary ones, one leader. North... empty."