Wei Huan's vehicle had a lot of equipment. He had been collecting high-grade treasure chest equipment since the beginner assessment highway. While others still didn't dare to open Silver Treasure Chests, he was already going for Diamond Treasure Chests. Therefore, there were comparative data available even on the war vehicle.
"You're right, that's how it should be," Wei Huan nodded. "The Challenger World is a difficult progression, and a new batch of Challengers enters every year. It should be a form of reward that the strong protect the weak, and those ahead shelter the newcomers. Reaching the Tier 6 world means the assessment is halfway over, so improving the overall strength of that civilization is appropriate."
Mu Zhong smiled, "It feels strange to go from being a beneficiary to a navigator and benefactor. Let's see. We'll be able to confirm it by opening a few more chests."
Wei Huan nodded; he thought the same.
The two didn't say much more, and another Bronze Treasure Chest was opened immediately afterward. There was nothing much to see in a Bronze Treasure Chest. They opened twenty to thirty Bronze Chests daily, and the necessary supplies had long been in surplus, all being handed over to the Legion. The Legion would send these supplies to the "Initial Department" (Initial Challenger Support Department). After the newcomers enter the Challenger World next year, these materials will be directly distributed to them.
When Wei Huan participated in the beginner highway, small energy blocks were distributed for free. Though they were just small energy blocks, they enabled Daxia's newcomers to open a Black Iron Chest as their first chest. The Tier 2 Awakening Potions inside raised the lower limit of Daxia's overall strength by one tier. Now, with Wei Huan going all out and aggressively sweeping up resources ahead, the supplies from these Bronze Chests would further raise the lower limit for Daxia's new Challengers. In the long run, Daxia's Challengers would grow stronger and stronger, benefiting the entire Blue Star and making all human beings stronger.
However, today, to verify their conjecture, Wei Huan and Mu Zhong specifically checked the drops from the Bronze Treasure Chest.
Mu Zhong said, "No doubt about it. The attributes of the Bronze Gloves have reached Black Iron grade."
"Only the Black Iron grade from the beginner highway."
"That's still an attribute breakthrough. It's bound to be even higher when we reach the Tier 7 world."
"The Tier 7 world?"
"Do you lack confidence?" Mu Zhong looked at him with a smile.
Wei Huan naturally couldn't say no. The two exchanged a smile. Even if they reached the Tier 9 world, as long as they were together, they would dare to venture forth, let alone the mere Tier 7 world.
***
Following that, more treasure chests were opened, further confirming their conjecture: the equipment dropped here had indeed been upgraded.
Mu Zhong and Wei Huan discussed and formulated a new "Trade-in" regulation. Crew members on the war vehicle who replaced equipment of the same grade would receive different DKP (Dungeon Keep Points) discounts for each grade. They only needed to spend a small amount of points to swap their current equipment for superior gear of the same grade. The phased-out equipment also had a destination: it would be given to allied forces for replacement. Of course, if the allies had enough DKP, they could also purchase equipment and supplies at the allied price. After forming a strategic alliance, they would enjoy discounts only slightly lower than those given to the war vehicle crew members.
It is worth mentioning that 17 war vehicles bravely followed Wei Huan to tackle the Tier 6 highway assessment. Before their departure, the number of factions who had reached a "Temporary Covenant" relationship with Mu Zhong or had the intention of becoming covenant partners exceeded 800 war vehicles. However, when the news spread that Wei Huan was about to enter the Tier 6 highway assessment and head to the Tier 6 world, only 17 war vehicles were willing to join him.
Wei Huan was not surprised to hear this number. After all, humanity had not yet found solid footing in the Tier 5 world, and heading to the Tier 6 world, even with Wei Huan leading, felt extremely unreliable to many.
However, when Mu Zhong handed the specific list to Wei Huan, Wei Huan was greatly surprised. Out of the 17 war vehicles, one came from Aosam, one from the Great Bear Nation, and others from the Kangaroo Nation, Tula Nation, and Fence Nation—all nations with openly hostile relationships with Daxia. Yet, the war vehicles from smaller nations that he had initially expected to join mostly chose silence and a wait-and-see approach, rather than staking everything with him for a future.
There were only 7 war vehicles from small nations. Most of these were familiar to Wei Huan: the war vehicle captains he had previously cooperated with in the No Man's Land and who had frequently adventured with him afterward, along with their 100 crew members. Wei Huan was not surprised by their firm commitment, as their relationship with him had reached a "strategic alliance" over the past few months, and some resources from his vehicle had flowed to theirs.
Another notable one was one of the only two vehicles from Jones's country, Congo, which had originally split off from Jones's vehicle and also firmly followed this time.
The remaining 10 vehicles came from major powers. Wei Huan couldn't help but sigh when he saw them. Why were major powers strong? It was because they all had foresight and a high tolerance for error. Most importantly, these nations had a strong sense of cohesion, and there was never a lack of ordinary people willing to fight for their country. Some things, even knowing they might lead to death, still had to be done by someone.
If Wei Huan succeeded in breaking into the Tier 6 world this time, the other nations would also gain an intelligence foothold in this world. If he failed, the hundreds of Challengers on these war vehicles who had signed life-and-death agreements would be honored with a state funeral, draped in their national flags, and their families would receive the highest treatment.
***
Although these war vehicles participating in the Tier 6 highway assessment were not their nation's strongest, considering the difficulty of the Tier 6 world, most were preferentially equipped with Tier 6 shields, Tier 6 outer hulls, and some had even upgraded to Tier 6 tires. The strategy was centered around being a "turtle shell," hard to kill and fast to run, simply keeping up with Wei Huan.
As for whether Wei Huan would abandon them, that was impossible. After all, Wei Huan still needed to look after the war vehicles that followed him, and as long as they stayed with these groups, they would enjoy the protection of the Undead army. Several superpowers were essentially playing a rogue game.
Of course, it wouldn't be difficult for Wei Huan to exclude them, but he chose not to. At this time, if he were to take the lead in creating conflict, humanity on Blue Star would truly be finished.
Mu Zhong also understood Wei Huan's thinking and immediately contacted the captains of these ten war vehicles. One purpose was to set the tone for the operation: since they were here to ride on his coattails, they needed to do so properly and avoid causing trouble. If they stirred up a big mess, they would not be rescued. The second reason, naturally, was that once they established contact with the opposing war vehicles, the higher-level AI Butler could successfully infiltrate these vehicles. Covert monitoring was also a preventive measure against any potential conspiracies.
Wei Huan slowed down, ensuring that none of the war vehicles fell behind, and drove rapidly in a diagonally upward direction through the deep-sea world.
***
Before long, they were intercepted by the treasure chest monsters that had refreshed in front of the vehicle. In about twenty minutes, they had opened one Silver Chest, one Black Iron Chest, and two Bronze Chests. These treasure chest monsters locked onto Wei Huan's vehicle after leaving the chest, constantly trying to catch up, but were slowly pulled away to the extreme distance. Wei Huan didn't manage the distance perfectly, and the Challenger World directly teleported them to his front. It was a good opportunity to check the strength of the monsters in this world.
"We need to slow down a little more."
Wei Huan looked at the enormous, hundred-meter-long, black smoke-emitting, dragon-shaped deep-sea giant beast blocking the path ahead. He calmly chatted with Mu Zhong while opening the teleportation gate and letting Moji out. Moji tried to run out but was quickly embraced by the Hand of the Undead and bound in place. Upon realizing he was in the room and next to his Dominator, Moji clearly understood that he was just a mascot now and lay down on the floor. His green-flame-emitting eyes looked around, finally settling on the projection screen in front. He seemed to understand what he was seeing, and his eyes showed a clear glimmer of intelligence.
The Tier 5 Moji was smaller, about the size of an adult horse, but his gaze and behavior were increasingly like a living cub. Wei Huan didn't focus on Moji but, having Moji as his "anchor," the black-smoking giant dragon in front disappeared, replaced by a cluster of Seaweed Remnants about a hundred meters in size.
It was exactly as he thought. The lowest-level chests in this world were already spawning Remnant Clan's deceivers. Opening high-level chests would likely yield Tier 7 world Remnants.
Wei Huan had already figured out how to deal with Remnant Clan's deceivers and calmly dispatched his Undead army to slaughter them. Soon, the cluster of seaweed was killed at its "brain," and the rest of the body turned to ash. The small, red, worm-like twisting fine roots also turned to ash.
In this world, encountering low-level chests meant Wei Huan could proceed fearlessly. As for the Tier 7 world Remnants coming out of high-level chests, Wei Huan didn't know how hard they would be to fight, but with his strength, which exceeded the Tier 5 world ceiling, he was confident in challenging high-level chests.
The battle ended easily, and the war vehicle set off again. Wei Huan wanted to recall Moji, but Moji's voice resonated in his mind: "No, look, stay..."
This was an unknown language, likely the Dark Beast language. The Challenger World wouldn't translate the Dark Beast language for humans, but Wei Huan understood the message Moji conveyed.
'He can communicate with me?'
Sure enough, Moji was very special. Wei Huan didn't refuse him. Since he was his summoned creature and a crucial anchor for clearing this world, spoiling him a little was fine.
***
As they continued their journey, Mu Zhong, who was momentarily free, came over and saw Moji lying obediently on the floor, no longer restrained by the Hand of the Undead.
"He's looking at the projection screen?" As Mu Zhong said this, he noticed Moji turned his head to look at him, and he was even more surprised, "He's that intelligent already? He'll probably be able to talk in one or two more tiers?"
Wei Huan didn't rush to answer Mu Zhong. Instead, he observed Moji's reaction and found that after staring at Mu Zhong for a while, he clearly remembered him, and his emotions were very stable as he turned his gaze back to the screen. Wei Huan also tried to communicate with him again, but he didn't send any more language.
"Currently, his intelligence is like that of a relatively clever dog," Wei Huan concluded.
Simply put, the Tier 4 Moji was full of life but unruly and acted solely on instinct, single-mindedly. The Tier 5 Moji, however, had learned to express opinions and could now be calm. Wei Huan, who had watched Moji bounce around for the better part of a year, now found the sight of him quietly lying down watching the projection screen fresh, let alone Mu Zhong.
The two briefly talked about Moji and then returned to discussing the world.
"We've covered over two thousand kilometers, almost the distance of Daxia's horizontal axis."
"It's still early. Compared to the Tier 5 world assessment highway, reaching the destination in half a day is acceptable."
"If we can't go full speed, the time will likely be longer. Besides, we can go, but the war vehicles following us probably can't. The environment at the edge of the world is extremely harsh."
"We still need to go and check the situation of this world."
"That's true. A deep-sea world. Is there really no sky? No surface? And what about the seabed? Where do we plant the World Tree?"
"The World Tree is a divine species, different from ordinary plants. It doesn't necessarily require soil."
"It can live in water?"
"It can live in seawater."
At this point, both of them realized something. They exchanged knowing smiles, sensing a deeper meaning. Whether the truth matched their thoughts remained to be seen, but they were both confident that their line of reasoning was likely correct.
***
Nothing significant happened during the journey. After confirming that the monsters in this world were exactly as they expected, it became the norm to simply accumulate and then slaughter the treasure chest monsters all at once. Every time the treasure chest monsters were teleported in front of their vehicle by the Challenger World, they continued at full speed and crashed through, waiting to kill them only after they had accumulated a sufficient number. Even the allied war vehicles following behind appeared calm. After all, this wasn't the first or second time they had followed Wei Huan in opening chests. His "plow-style" chest opening was renowned, and everyone around the world knew that within 60 kilometers of Wei Huan's passing, not a blade of grass remained. The supplies were essentially "free shopping," making everyone drool with envy.
Unfortunately, others couldn't replicate this tactic. Either they lacked the Ghost Crows' long-distance exploration and chest-opening ability, or they couldn't kill the monsters once they accumulated too many. Even some strong teams that could simultaneously challenge two Silver-grade monsters still faced a near-certain death against Gold-grade monsters—it was too dangerous.
***
As for Wei Huan's side, after traveling for half a day, the monsters trailing behind grew in number, creating a sense of psychological pressure. Finally, Wei Huan stopped.
The swarms of sea beasts rushed up from behind. The 17 allied war vehicles, like ducklings following their mother, immediately gathered together and moved quickly to hide behind Wei Huan's war vehicle as soon as he stopped. However, before they could settle in to watch, Mu Zhong sent a message, requesting their participation in the battle.
At such a moment, everyone naturally stood together. Even Aosam, which was often at odds with Daxia, and the three nations in its interest group, emerged from behind Wei Huan's war vehicle, lined up, and revealed their weapons.
Immediately afterward, the monster army and the Undead army collided. Most prominent was the massive 300-meter-long Subterranean Mother Beast that emerged from the teleportation gate. With an "eerie" cry, it elegantly swam out from the rear of the beast tide. It then violently collided with another monster of equal size that had relentlessly broken through the low-tier monsters to reach them.
The impact force of the two giant monsters colliding stirred up a strong undercurrent in the seawater, making the war vehicles sway. After stabilizing themselves, the people focused their eyes.
This was an extremely massive sea beast, over two hundred meters long, with a winged, snake-like body and a total of nine heads.
"What is that?" someone shouted in surprise.
"Is this an illusion? Xiangliu? Hydra?"
"No! Xu Qingqiang has made his move; I can see him. If he's there, it's not an illusion."
"Could this be a Remnant sealed in the Tier 6 world?"
***
As more Challenger Worlds were cleared, humanity gradually summarized a rule. Opening Gold Treasure Chests in the Tier 5 world had a chance of yielding Tier 6 world Remnants, such as the Remnant Clan's deceivers. Of course, there were also King-grade monsters within the current world's level range. Although it was still uncertain which category this creature belonged to, its size and aura undoubtedly confirmed it came from a Gold-grade or higher chest. No wonder even Wei Huan had to stop and deal with it seriously. Being entangled with such a formidable monster was extremely troublesome.
Because their interests were perfectly aligned, everyone in every war vehicle hoped Wei Huan would win and guide them through the assessment.
However, within about a minute, everyone realized their worries were completely unnecessary. In front of Wei Huan's Undead and his powerful combat squad, this monster was merely a big, tough target. It wasn't hard to kill at all.
The main combat personnel on Wei Huan's vehicle had various buffs applied, and each one now possessed the strength of a Super Captain. With such a group of Super Captain-level individuals gathered, combined with countless Undead, killing a King-grade monster from the Tier 6 world was far easier than imagined.
On Wei Huan's war vehicle, Yake stood at the combat platform's battle position, not rushing to kill the massive creature. Instead, he harvested the lives of Silver-grade and lower monsters one shot at a time. These monsters often tied up a portion of the Undead's combat power. The stronger Undead were sent to the Gold-grade monster, and the remaining Undead fighting the small fries were also not very strong, often resulting in stalemates across the battlefield. Yake's powerful long-range sniping and his Eagle Eye Strike skill easily freed groups of Undead from battle, all surging toward the Gold-grade monster. This action demonstrated Yake's superb sense of the overall battle situation. If Mu Zirui were commanding the ranged combat here, he would only order ranged attacks on the Gold monster, as that big creature clearly looked hard to kill. It wasn't that Mu Zirui's idea was wrong, but Yake's war strategy was superior, as Wei Huan's Undead army was the main body of the entire battle.
Mu Zirui was a person who was eager to learn and humble. He immediately reflected on his long-standing approach, realizing that he still had a long way to go to become a qualified commander and that he should learn from Yake.
The nine-headed serpent was surrounded and beaten severely, quickly accumulating many wounds. Xu Qingqiang, leading a portion of the sufficiently strong Criminal Sequence Challengers, buried themselves in the serpent's bloody mouths, frantically tearing at it, even drilling into its body to feast ravenously. The newly joined Criminal Sequence Challengers cooperated with Xu Qingqiang, aiming to bring this Gold-grade monster from the Tier 6 world into the Endless Prison. As Xu Qingqiang's Warden rank increased, they would become stronger, and this professional training ground also provided motivation for the infamous "lone wolf" profession to engage in team combat.
Soon, the nine-headed serpent was devoured by a group of convicts transformed into demons, leaving no corpse behind. The war vehicle captains of various nations who witnessed the team combat strength of the Criminal Sequence Challengers squinted their eyes, re-evaluating the Criminal Sequence.
'However... the Endless Prison, which can stabilize the criminals, is in Wei Huan's hands.'
'Tsk, it's truly stifling everywhere, making every step forward difficult.'
"What Sequence professional training grounds haven't been found yet?"
"Gardener Sequence, Dancer Sequence, Gambler Sequence, Sage Sequence, Prayer Sequence, and Diviner Sequence."
"Diviner? There's intelligence that Wei Huan has acquired the Diviner professional training ground."
"Even Wei Huan himself cannot confirm this point. The person who acquired the suspected Diviner training ground is a child born in the Challenger World who only recently turned eight. It is said that the Dome has been in his possession since he had memories."
"Any special item that enhances the corresponding Sequence is a professional training ground. How did Wei Huan get all the good stuff!"
"Well, many of them were acquired by opening Diamond Treasure Chests."
"Yes, we certainly don't have the strength to open Diamond Treasure Chests, but he also gets some for free! The Dome and the Stable weren't opened by him; how did they end up in his hands?"
"..." The adjutant stopped speaking, looking at his commander, who was contorted with envy and jealousy.
The commander took two deep breaths and stabilized his emotions. Thinking of something, he sighed deeply, "It's unlikely that the remaining ones will be acquired by other countries. Unless they have been taken in by unknown forces beforehand, Wei Huan only needs to open one Diamond Treasure Chest to acquire a professional training ground."
"Commander, there is a piece of intelligence I cannot confirm the credibility of, but I heard that someone in South America has always had a professional training ground in their possession. They call it the Forest of Nature..."
Wei Huan also suddenly thought of the professional training grounds. Gold-grade monsters were not the limit of the Challenger World assessment. They might encounter Platinum Chests or even Diamond Chests next. Diamond Chests could yield professional training grounds, but they were too few in number, and Wei Huan had encountered very limited numbers so far. At the same time, to ensure that a professional training ground could be opened from a Diamond Chest, they had to arrange for a Challenger who had definitely not yet found a professional training ground to attempt it, all while taking huge risks.
Who should go next?
If judged purely by Wei Huan's own combat needs, he would certainly hope to open the Dancer Sequence training ground. That would mean asking Mu Zhong to go. But from a personal perspective, he didn't want Mu Zhong to take risks. It would be better if Mu Zhong could always stay by his side, living under his protection. However, he also knew that Mu Zhong definitely wouldn't want that kind of life, so this matter still required careful thought...
After clearing this monster and acquiring a Gold-grade equipment with Platinum-grade attributes, even Wei Huan took a second look. High-tier world equipment was indeed excellent. Didn't that mean that if they could find a Platinum-grade chest, the gear opened would have Diamond-grade attributes, and he could replace his own set?
The newly opened Gold-grade equipment was instantly snapped up the moment it was released into the war vehicle's inventory. Following that, sounds of regret and teasing came from all parts of the war vehicle.
"Who was that fast?"
"I've been waiting for it! It was snatched by the lurker!"
"I really want that equipment. How about I give you more DKP to trade it to me?"
"Whoever gets it keeps it. Trading it with extra DKP will only encourage scalpers! I hate scalpers the most!"
"Everyone, relax. We are already in the Tier 6 world. With our boss's chest-opening efficiency, there will be plenty more."