The Last Sentinel

"Daxia News: The highly anticipated Super Game Carnival event, which took place half a month ago, has concluded. Congratulations to Hua Xiaobai, the strategist of the SLG game 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' for winning the championship of this Super Game Carnival event, receiving a prize of 100 million Daxia coins, a villa, and one wish! Tencent Games headquarters has awarded Hua Xiaobai the title of Best All-Game Supreme VIP of the Year, and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms headquarters has erected a life-size golden statue of Hua Xiaobai to recognize his contributions to Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

"As reported by this station, the tsunami and earthquake damage in Tokyo is still ongoing. Unless absolutely necessary, please stay away from the areas near Tokyo for your safety and that of your family."

"Breaking news: Due to severe environmental degradation in the Himalayas, multiple environmental organizations have jointly decided to conduct an environmental cleanup. For the next three months, starting today, the Himalayas will be closed to tourists. The specific reopening date will be announced later..."

Qi Tian scrolled through the messages on his phone, and a line of gold numbers stood out.

Merit points: 5978!

Ranking of merits: No. 2!

The Merit Shop is now open!

Real-world currencies (including Great Xia Coin, Lighthouse Coin, and any other currency on Earth; please check the specific exchange rate yourself).

Praise of the Goddess of Life x1, 200 Merit Points.

The latest A-level complete set of individual soldier equipment (including a complete set of close combat and long-range communication equipment), 100 merit points.

Just then, a golden pop-up window appeared on the phone screen.

[New Arrival - Universal Version], S-Rank Mech Fragment x1, 100 Merit Points. Collect 100 Mech Fragments to exchange for a Universal Mech Exchange Coupon. With the exchange coupon, you can go to the Human Alliance Headquarters to exchange for a 100-meter standard S-Rank Mech.

[New Arrival - Limited Edition], 1 limited fragment of the Vanguard-class mech, 300 merit points. Collect 100 mech fragments to exchange for a Vanguard-class mech exchange voucher. With the exchange voucher, you can go to the Human Alliance Headquarters to exchange for a 300-meter Vanguard Titan-class mech.

[New Arrival - Collector's Edition], 1 limited edition Spinning Vanguard-class Mech Collector's Fragment, 500 Merit Points. Collect 100 fragments to exchange for a Collector's Edition Mech Exchange Coupon. With the exchange coupon, you can go to the Human Alliance Headquarters to exchange for a custom-made 300-meter Vanguard Titan-class Mech.

Note: All mech fragments can be used interchangeably, but a higher-level mech fragment can only substitute for a lower-level one; a lower-level fragment cannot substitute for a higher-level one.

Qi Tian was astonished when he saw the price of the mecha fragments.

Even the most basic S-class combat mech requires 10,000 merit points.

These 10,000 merit points, when converted into human heads, are equivalent to 10,000 Neanderthal heads.

You need to kill 10,000 people to get a mech.

The total merit value for the entire Perfect City campaign was only 16!

After all, there were only 160,000 Neanderthals.

This price is beyond the reach of ordinary hoarding players!

But it's not quite right to say it's outrageously expensive!

Mechs are powerful weapons of war for gaining great merit. With a mech, you can gain up to 30% more merit in a battle!

In other words, in the Perfect City battle with 160,000 points, if you have a mech, you can earn at least 40,000 to 50,000 merit points by yourself!

A mech costs only 10,000. If you play the entire game, you can earn four mechs. It's a sure-fire way to make a profit!

Not to mention, in the past, mechs were a type of weapon of war with a very high barrier to entry, something that was destined to be possessed!

Now that it's widely available, you can redeem it as long as you have merit points!

In terms of eligibility, this is definitely a family benefit for the vast majority of members of the People's Alliance!

Just then, the phone rang.

Qi Tian answered the phone, and Hua Xiaobai's laughter came from the other end, "Brother Qi, congratulations! You've gained 6000 merit points in one go! Tsk tsk, just one more perfect battle and you can exchange for an S-class mech!"

Qi Tian laughed, "Hua Sang, you're too kind. Compared to you, you have the most merit points; my five thousand points are nothing!"

Hua Xiaobai said, "Let's get down to business! Brother Ba is throwing a party at the beach and invited us brothers to go out and have some fun! Where are you? I'll send a spaceship over to pick you up right now!"

Qi Tian said, "No, you guys go ahead, I'm picking up my sister from school!"

Hua Xiaobai said, "Bring your sister along, no problem! Come on over, this is a proper party, not some random one! Bring your sister along, I'll give her a big gift!"

"I'm not going!" Qi Tian grinned. "Hua Sang, don't try to use your deceptive tactics on your own people! While you were gone, Brother Eighty gave us a lot of training on how to deal with you!"

On the other end of the phone, Hua Xiaobai cursed, "Zhuge Mengde, you're such a wife-obsessed man! You're slandering me behind my back again!"

"Damn it, did I slander you? You're clearly that kind of jerk, I was just the first to see you clearly! Who are you talking to? Seventh Brother! Seventh Brother, you go ahead and do your work, give my regards to the Sentinel!"

Qi Tian said, "Have fun, everyone, haha!"

After hanging up the phone, the crisp sound of the school bell rang out from inside the school.

Qi Tian got out of the car and saw several smartly dressed security guards coming out of the gatehouse. They saluted in unison when they saw Qi Tian and said, "Mr. Qi!"

"Greetings, Mr. Qi!"

Judging from their build, these security guards were clearly ground staff of the People's League.

The Human Alliance promised to protect my sister in secret, and they have kept their word.

These security personnel were well aware that the young man in front of them was no longer the useless gamer. He was a powerful superhuman who had returned from a life-or-death battle and was ranked second on the Perfect City Merit List!

"Thank you all for your hard work!"

As he spoke, Qi Tian raised his hand and gave each person a black and gold card. The card was the size of a playing card, made entirely of metal, and printed with images of pills, weapons, or armor.

This is a regular item card that Qi Tian redeemed from the Merit Shop. Each card only costs three merit points, so he can give it away without feeling bad.

Ground security personnel are not qualified to access the merit level; their salaries are in ordinary human society currency, and their equipment is all standard; customized items are reserved for combat personnel.

At that moment, Qi Tian casually handed each of them a prop card, and the security personnel greeted him warmly, "Mr. Qi, you're too kind!"

"Mr. Qi, that's quite unconventional of you!"

"Mr. Qi is a meritorious marquis, second on the list of meritors! Just accept it!"

"We have long admired Mr. Qi's heroic deeds in giving birth to the Tree of Evolution in Perfect City to fight against the will of the origin. Mr. Qi truly deserves to be an elite of the Human Alliance!"

The bridal sedan chair was carried by everyone. Qi Tian knew very well that he would be traveling a lot for work in the future, and under normal circumstances, he would have to rely more on the ground staff to help his sister.

Giving the other party a small favor is a reasonable and human courtesy.

At that moment, an eleven or twelve-year-old girl with pigtails walked out of the school gate. The girl looked curiously at the group of school security guards bowing and scraping to a young man, and then at the young man's well-tailored black uniform long trench coat, combat boots, and familiar features.

"elder brother?"

The girl with pigtails rubbed her eyes. "Holy crap, you really are my brother! Big brother—"

The girl with pigtails grabbed Qi Tian's arm. "Hey bro, when did you buy all this? The fabric is really high-quality, it doesn't look cheap..."

While rubbing the girl's head, Qi Tian gestured to the ground security personnel around him, and they all dispersed.

"Brother, it's been two weeks! Where have you been?"

"Didn't Aunt Wang from next door tell you? I'm going to a game carnival!"

"A gaming carnival? I remember now, that super gaming carnival with a prize pool of 100 million yuan recently! I think the first place winner was an SLG game player, not your game, bro!"

"Yes, that carnival!"

"Brother, what place did you get?"

"Haha, that's not important, not important at all! Come on, get in the car!"

Standing before the luxurious black Cadillac Escalade, the younger sister stared at the car in disbelief, her voice low, "Brother, are you sure you're not mistaken? This is your car?"

Qi Tian said, "No."

My sister said, "I knew it! How could you possibly have a car like this? It doesn't look cheap."

Qi Tian said, "This was a gift from a friend. He said I could drive it for as long as I wanted, and I didn't have to return it even if it was scrapped. Consider it a gift to me."

The younger sister was stunned. "Really? Brother, have you lost your mind from playing video games? A car like this costs at least several million. You think someone would just give it to you like that?"

"Really," Qi Tian said. "I don't know that person either. After he brought it back to me, he saw that I didn't have a car, so he gave me his car."

The little sister rubbed her cheek with her small hands. "Brother, if you're going to lie, can you at least make your story sound better? A complete stranger giving you a luxury car is more like you stealing it..."

Qi Tian was speechless; that was just the way it was.

After I flew back, the head of the ground personnel team who picked me up at the airport, upon hearing that I didn't have a car, gave me his car directly. He also generously said that if I encountered any trouble, I should just mention his name, and he could handle any kind of legal or illegal matter in the central region.

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Qi Tian shoved his mischievous younger sister into the back seat. "Come on, I'll take you to meet some elders!"

The car started and sped away.

Looking at the scenery outside the car, the younger sister was shocked and couldn't help but say, "No, brother, you've been out for a while and you seem like a completely different person! You used to be so down-to-earth, you talked like a dead person, you were like a loser every day, and you would hang yourself at the slightest disagreement. How come you are so positive and motivated now?"

Qi Tian said, "People always change! 'A scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days' absence. I've been gone for almost half a month, so it's normal for me to have changed a bit!' By the way, when we get there, don't just eat whatever you see. We're paying respects to our elders, so be discerning!"

The younger sister said, "No, I have class tomorrow."

Qi Tian said, "I'll take the day off tomorrow. Today, I'll take you to meet my senior brother, master, and other senior figures like my grandmaster!"

The younger sister said, "Brother, when did you have senior brothers and masters? You're a socially autistic guy who blushes like a monkey's bottom after just a few words with girls your own age. How could you possibly have such a strong social network?"

Qi Tian retorted irritably, "Can't you look at your brother with normal eyes?! I'm not the same seventh brother I used to be!"

The younger sister sighed, "Fine, fine, fine, Seventh Brother, you're still the same as before. You get all worked up if I say something wrong. Can't you ever give your sister a break?"

Qi Tian grinned and said, "If you say another word, I'll beat you up when we get off the bus!"

The younger sister said, "I'm not trying to criticize you, brother, but when you go to visit your elders, aren't you going to prepare some gifts? A few boxes of milk, a box of sausages or something! Is it appropriate for you to go empty-handed, with a long face?"

Qi Tian paused for a moment, then realized that it was true; he should prepare some gifts.

My younger sister pointed to the street and said, "They sell Coke and fruit baskets over there, let's buy some!"

Qi Tian said, "Okay, then I'll buy some."

The next moment, the street vendor was stunned.

A young man stepped out of a luxury car worth millions and bought himself some cheap fruit, a case of drinks, and a case of sausages.

No, are all the rich people these days so abstract?