Chapter 2087 – Passing Rate?

“What’s going on?”

“I thought Zero Wing only sent 112 members. How did so many of them pass?”

The players in the Auction Arena stared with wide eyes when they saw how many Zero Wing members had made it through the qualifiers, unable to believe their eyes.

The various major powers waiting for the official competition’s start were just as baffled.

“Impossible! The system must have made a mistake!” Sky View practically shouted when he saw the numbers on the water globe.

Zero Wing had only paid for 112 participating members in the qualifying round, yet 107 of them had made it through. This passing rate was absolutely horrifying.

Only about 55% of the teams from top-ranked first-rate Guilds like Bloodbath Family, Sin Realm, and Holy Reincarnation had passed the trial. Even then, it was impressive. Ordinary first-rate Guilds like the Star Alliance only had a 40% passing rate.

As for the various participating superpowers, even the best-performing Guild, Blackwater, had only managed 88% of its team, yet 95.5% of Zero Wing’s members had cleared the qualifying round, surpassing Blackwater. No matter how Sky View thought about the situation, he couldn’t believe it.

Superpowers had plenty of experts and detailed training programs that were particularly efficient when nurturing players. Ordinary powers simply couldn’t compare. Moreover, the players that were powerful enough to be considered for this competition were the various powers’ experts among experts.

Yet, Zero Wing had surpassed all of them.

Sky View wasn’t the only confused player. Not even the various major powers’ members could fathom how Zero Wing had built such a powerful foundation.

“Zero Wing is amazing! Its passing rate is even higher than those superpowers’!”

“Didn’t they say that Zero Wing hasn’t had enough time to develop, and its foundation regarding expert players is weak? Why do I feel like Zero Wing’s expert foundation is even stronger than those top-ranked first-rate Guilds?”

When the independent players watching from outside of the Auction House saw Zero Wing’s passing rate, they reevaluated their opinions of the Guild, especially the expert players from other kingdoms and empires.

Based on the passing rates, it was, more or less, clear that Zero Wing’s expert foundation was no weaker than top-ranked first-rate Guilds. In fact, it might even be slightly stronger than its competition.

“The difference is actually so great?” Galaxy Past was at a loss for words as he stared at the magic water globe.

He had thought that the Star Alliance had a chance against Zero Wing’s expert foundation. After developing for so long, the Star Alliance had grown considerably.

Nowadays, God’s Domain’s popularity continued to increase, and more people joined the game every day. As a result, more experts continued to rise. Not only had the Star Alliance successfully nurtured a lot of experts, but it had also recruited experts from elsewhere. The Guild was many times stronger than when it had joined God’s Domain.

However, only 40% of the Star Alliance’s players had made it through the qualifying round, while 95.5% of Zero Wing’s players had succeeded. No matter how Galaxy Past looked at it, the Star Alliance wasn’t on the same playing field as Zero Wing.

Meanwhile, when Melody, who watched from a private spectator room, saw the passing rates, the darkness in her eyes vanished. She couldn’t help her growing excitement as if she had just seen a ray of hope illuminate a dark sky.

However, despite Melody’s elation, the Half-elf man beside her remained unperturbed.

“I’m assuming that you think Zero Wing now has some hope of holding White River City, right?” the Half-elf man said as he glanced at Shi Feng, who stood in the Auction Arena. “Unfortunately, that is still impossible.

“Zero Wing’s passing rate is amazing, but no matter how many players made it through the last round, Zero Wing still only has 107 members participating in the official competition. Compared to the four participating superpowers, that is nothing. Even Pantheon, the superpower with the fewest members in the competition, has 68 more players than Zero Wing.

“At the end of the day, this competition is a test of a Guild’s comprehensive strength. Zero Wing might be able to deal with top-ranking first-rate Guilds like the Bloodbath Family and Holy Reincarnation, but it doesn’t have the power to contend with superpowers.”

“But...” Although Melody wanted to argue, she knew his words were true when she saw how calmly the various superpowers’ members had reacted to Zero Wing’s results.

Even the various top-ranked first-rate Guilds, whose members had been surprised to see Zero Wing’s success a moment ago, regained their composure as they realized that the strength Zero Wing had displayed did nothing to change its circumstances.

Meanwhile, an old man in black armor with a slightly hunched back stood at the lead of King’s Return’s team in the Auction Arena. After taking a look at the water globe, this old man smiled and turned to Mu Cheng, who stood a short distance away.

“Brother Mu, long time no see. I hadn’t expected to see you in action again. I certainly didn’t expect to find you here,” the hunchbacked man said, smiling.

“You’re here as well, so what’s so strange about my presence?” Mu Cheng asked the old man. Although his tone was disdainful, vigilance filled his gaze as he addressed the hunchbacked, old man.

He was vigilant because this man was one of King’s Return’s old monsters. He had risen to fame more than three decades ago, earning the nickname ‘Blindman.’ While his nickname sounded demeaning, the older generation’s expert players knew it was by no means an insult. In fact, it was the highest form of praise.

This old man was truly blind in the real world, but since virtual reality games connected to the brain directly, they allowed people with disabilities to function as if they had none in the game world. Naturally, those with sight disabilities could see normally in the game world. However, not only did Blindman recover his sight in virtual reality games, but his sight was also far sharper than the ordinary person’s. By relying on his superior sight, he had carved a place for himself in the virtual gaming world. The Secret Pavilion had even called him the All-seeing Sword Saint.

Even when Mu Cheng had been at his peak, he had only been able to win four out of ten fights with Blindman.

“I’ve heard that you have a close relationship with Zero Wing; is that true? Unfortunately, our King’s Return has a little enmity with one of that Guild’s little fellows. How about this? If you don’t help Zero Wing, we won’t target the Guild,” Blindman asked, chuckling.

Blindman’s suggestion rendered Mu Cheng speechless. It seemed that Zero Wing wasn’t satisfied with provoking superpowers like Starlink and Blackwater, but it had provoked King’s Return as well...

However, when Mu Cheng saw that more than 200 people standing behind Blindman and compared them to the dozen or so subordinates behind himself, he could not help but nod helplessly, replying, “Fine, it’s a deal.”

Mu Cheng then turned to look at the distant Shi Feng and muttered to himself, “This is the most I can do to help you.’

When the various major powers’ members overheard the old men’s conversation, they couldn’t help but send Zero Wing sneers and looks of pity.

“Zero Wing is always so arrogant, provoking so many superpowers. Now, these superpowers want retribution.”

“Hahaha! So what if more than 100 players from Zero Wing made it through the qualifiers? In the end, its efforts mean nothing!”

Now that Zero Wing had lost one of its capable supporters, its chances of holding White River City had fallen even further.

Time passed quickly. After another two minutes, the qualifying players were distributed across five different battlefields. Each battlefield was the size of a small leveling map, easily accommodating tens of thousands of players.

The rules for this competition were quite simple. The competition had a three-hour time limit, and throughout its duration, energy crystals would randomly fall into the battlefield. The power that secured the most energy crystals after three hours would be crowned as the victor.

When the bell rang throughout the five battlefields, the official competition began as every player in Star-Moon Kingdom watched.

“Everyone, listen up! Prioritize Zero Wing’s members above all others!”

When the competition began, the various major powers issued commands to target Zero Wing to curry favor with the various superpowers.

“I found some of Zero Wing’s members here!”

“Good! Get rid of them first! We’ll fight for the energy crystals later!”

As soon as the major powers’ members discovered Zero Wing’s, they charged toward them.

“Zero Wing? Die!”

Sky View sneered when he saw the beauty observing her surroundings. He immediately charged at the woman from Zero Wing alongside a dozen or so of his subordinates.