The New Year celebration was just around the corner. It was only one month away.
Even though the rotation and orbital period of the Other World was slightly different than that of Earth so the same calendar system could not be used, once the societal order recovered, the transmigrators soon remembered their traditional holidays.
It was one of the few connections they still had with their home planet.
The New Year celebration was incredibly lively and grand.
Red lanterns were hung all over the streets weeks away, and banners filled with words [Welcome to a New Year] were all over the place as well. Fireworks and crackers made of all sorts of monster powder were released into the night sky to light it up with their brilliant colors.
Since the shops had a lot of resources, all homes had a thick aroma of meat. The culture of eating that had lasted for thousands of years in Dragon City created an amazing chemical reaction when the people ran into ingredients from monsters.
One family made Demonic Halberd Pig sausages, while another family used the method to make roasted ducts to cook incredibly juicy reptile-type monsters. There were even shops that created a hotpot with a diameter of more than two meters so that the people could cook Iron-armored Rhinoceros meat in it.
As news of victory from the frontlines was sent back along with all sorts of frozen superbeast meat, the normal citizens gained benefits too, because as the development of the new area went well, their pockets also became full of money. They saw hope and believed that they could now have a taste of the legendary Nightmarish Beasts.
It was the same for the Meng family.
Ever since Bai Suxin began receiving treatment and could walk around smoothly, she fell in love with going out to shop. She did not like buying clothes or beauty products, but she enjoyed going to markets in the corners, which sold items at fair prices, or suppliers. She had all sorts of ways to cook good food for the family.
When she heard that her son was about to return home victorious in a few days, she prepared a whole balcony of pickled snakes, dried lizards, Demonic Halberd Pig sausages, and Iron-armored Rhinoceros jerky to replenish all the nutrients her son had lost over the months.
She also used spices unique to the Other World to prepare around twenty types of flavors and had her daughter taste test her food, which resulted in her gaining eight kilograms. The girl grew so terrified of it that she ran off whenever she smelled the aroma of meat.
But while she could usually run away, she could not on that day. When it was time to eat, Bai Jiacao obediently sat at the dining table. Even Meng Yishan, who was really busy because the company’s business had been growing, came home on time. The family turned on their television and watched the latest news report from the frontlines with wide eyes.
“Little Cao, will your brother really be on television today?” Bai Suxin handed her daughter a dried lizard.
“Of course, the sports channel will be livestreaming the freshmen tournament between the alliance of the five universities and the freshmen from Dragon City University. I heard that the situation this year is going to be different. Since a lot of freshmen reached a breakthrough during the battle, the five-men tournament can no longer fully display the strength of both sides.
“So, they changed it to a 100 vs 100 super tournament. They’re even going to livestream the entire thing! Meng Chao is on the list of the alliance of the five universities, so we’ll definitely be able to see him later!” Bai Jiacao handed the dried lizard to her father.
Meng Yishan looked troubled. He glanced at his daughter, then at his wife.
The two of them stared at him expressionlessly.
He could only take a bite of the lizard and force a smile. “Dear, your cooking is pretty good. It tastes great. Since this tastes so good, when A’chao comes back, he’ll be letting you down if he doesn’t eat all of the food in the balcony!”
As he spoke, overhead shots from Shattered Starlake and Graveyard Forest were displayed on the screen. They were all shots taken by the drones.
At that moment, the northern frontlines had already done a 180 degrees turn compared to when Meng Chao had gone over a few months ago.
Two railroads and a six-vehicle highway had been built. They stretched from the main city to Shattered Starlake and went through Graveyard Forest to under Raging Waves.
Every day, tons of resources were sent to the depths of the wild by the main road.
Automatic steel construction machines weighing nearly one thousand tons dug out intersecting drains and canals in Shattered Starlake. Then, water pumps with high horsepower worked day and night to extract the accumulated water in the swamps, which then shrank in size and revealed black mud underneath.
The mud contained nutrients that had accumulated from various living beings and microorganisms at the bottom of the swamp for thousands of years. As long as it was mixed with monster blood, flesh, or bone powder as well as fertilizer, it would become an endless mass of fertile land.
The first batch of dried and modified swamps had rows of silver tents. The etherealized plant botanists and agricultural scientists planted the seeds of genetically modified etherealized plants on the land, so when summer and autumn arrived, they would bear fruit containing vast amounts of spirit energy.
The originally dark Graveyard Forest was surrounded and attacked by superhumans and the Red Dragon Army multiple times, so almost all of the superbeasts as well as carnivorous etherealized plants that posed a threat were killed or chased into Raging Waves or further into the wild.
A few sections of the forest had already been smoothed out. The mining and smelting factories, spirit energy transportation stations, and the various other heavy industries centered around crystals and metals from the Other World began to be built rapidly once the pile drivers, cranes, drills, modularized assembly machines and various construction machines were brought in. The beginnings of the industrial area were just set up.
As for Raging Waves, even though Dragon City was unable to develop it for the time being, hundreds of armored airships flew over it every day. One of the reasons was to monitor whether there were still high-grade superbeasts wandering in the mountains, and the other reason was to gather the spirit energy that was still gushing out from underground. They also used the environment above Raging Waves to conduct various scientific experiments, because the air above Raging Waves contained a lot of spirit energy.
Over the month after the spirit energy magnetic field became stable and the communications between the frontlines and the rear smoothed out, many media outlets and websites started livestreaming the northern offense all day without stop.
Only certain core secrets were not shown. Since all Dragon Citizens were soldiers, the livestreams of the war effort could give them pride, and the belief that they were bound to win gave them motivation to cultivate and fight.
As they watched how the land turned from an uncultivated area that had nothing but danger into a paradise for Earthlings, the pride they had for overcoming difficulties and opening up the land became the most valuable wealth and fighting power.
This was especially so for families like the Meng family. Since they had family members fighting at the frontlines, they felt incredibly proud.
“One month ago, we encountered an extremely rare spirit energy geyser at the northern offense, and the entire battlefield turned into a blessed ground filled with spirit energy. The superhumans who had been working in the battlefield, especially the new superhumans who had just started showing their splendour, welcomed a tactical blessing that only appears once in a blue moon.
“Based on incomplete data, thousands of one-star superhumans below thirty have gained various degrees of improvement from the spirit energy geyser.
“Then, the freshmen from the six universities started fighting fiercely with victory at hand while led by the freshmen of Dragon City University. They fought fiercely and broke through the limits of their lives time and again, fully displaying the spirit of Dragon City, Earth, and humans!
“Today, we’ve gained a firm hold over hundreds of kilometers of fertile land from Raging Waves to Shattered Starlake. Dragon City has taken a firm step forward on its path to conquering the Other World. Our youngsters are bound to arrive at the top of the Other World. How great is their strength currently? Now, let us bear witness to it…”
The commentator’s voice came from the television.
Meng Yisha, Bai Suxin, and Bai Jiacao held their breaths and watched with wide eyes.
The camera lens on the drone suddenly zoomed in. The scene was continuously magnified, and it stopped at a corner of Graveyard Forest, where a huge arena had been set up.
There were two preparation areas set at two sides of the forest. Two hundred students from Dragon City University and the alliance of the five universities were warming up over there. The camera swept past them.
“Over the past month, we have livestreamed a few of the fights of these new superhumans on our platform, and we have also interviewed some of the outstanding new superhumans. I believe that you are not unfamiliar with some of them.”
As the commentator said this, the camera stopped for a brief time on a few students.
All of them had outstanding battle achievements, and their strength was above that of others. They were all the outstanding people among the new superhumans.
Meng Chao was among them.
As if he had noticed the drone, he smiled brilliantly and waved at the camera
“Look, it’s Big Brother! He looks to have grown taller over the last few days. Ah, seriously, now, I’m at most only up to his chest!” Bai Jiacao cried out.
“It’s really A’chao!” Meng Yishan and Bai Jiacao were shocked and delighted.
Almost a year ago, their son had been rolling about on his bed, wondering whether he could get into a better postsecondary specialized college. Who could have expected that after some time, he would be able to shine brilliantly on the battlefield and stand out among thousands of new superhumans.
This change caused them, as parents, to feel gratified and delighted, but their hearts also ached because their son had been training and fighting madly.
“The freshmen tournament between Dragon City University and the alliance of the five universities comprising the University of Technology, Agricultural University, Medical University, and the University of Science is a traditional tournament that has a long history. In the past, we had a five versus five group battle, but this year, the youngsters of Dragon City have risen to power, and we can say to have entered the golden era. Hundreds of people have reached the standards of the outstanding people in the past.
“Hence, the tournament this year is an unprecedented 100 vs 100, and no other tournament will be like it. The rules are very simple. Both sides will each send out one hundred candidates, and they will enter the dangerous Graveyard Forest at the same time. The sensory chips implanted in the defensive suits will monitor the students’ physiological parameters. They will produce simulations and analyze the students’ injuries to judge whether they have been defeated.
“Before either side’s last contestant is determined to have lost, they will have the chance to fight one against ten and turn the tides despite being in a desperate situation. Graveyard Forest has a complicated environment, which adds quite a lot of variables to the tournament. We will wait and see just which is the stronger, Dragon City University or the alliance of the five universities.
“Alright, the contestants from both sides have entered Graveyard Forest. We will talk in detail about the star contestants and the analysis of their fighting strengths during the exciting battles later. Now, let the tournament officially begin!”
“Mom!” Bai Jiacao was so excited that she slapped the table. “The tournament has started! What are you doing?! Hurry up and look for where Big Brother is!”
“Wait, let me send a message,” Bai Suxin said calmly. “I have to make all our relatives watch A’chao’s match.”
She pressed send and opened another group chat.
“Are you done?” Bai Jiacao was getting really worked up.
“Yeah, I’m sending a message to our neighbors now,” Bai Suxin said. “A’chao is the pride of Blessed Heavenly Garden. If our neighbors know that he’s on TV, they’ll definitely come to cheer for him.”
She sent another message.
“What about now?” Bai Jiacao wiped off her sweat. It was from how worked up and excited she was.
“I also joined a few grocery shopping groups and the patient group in the medical center…”
Bai Suxin sent the message about the tournament to more than ten groups, and she deliberately attached the picture of Meng Chao smiling at the camera just now. She added the caption “My Son” to the picture and sent it to all groups.