National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

Chapter 290 - 289: Through the Narrow Crack, Specks of Blood-Red

Chu He looked around the vast venue and noticed that the teams from many small Empires had already disappeared.

He had received some news about this beforehand. After the bizarre incident involving the giant head at the Luxury Hotel, the morale of those small Empire teams had collapsed. They simply didn’t have the courage to stay and continue participating in the Martial Arts Academy Ranking Tournament.

Just the brief appearance of that giant head had made them feel powerless and afraid.

If they stayed on the Black Continent Grassland, how many more terrifying beings might they encounter?

As soon as dawn broke, several Empire teams officially withdrew from the competition.

Over the next few days, several more small Empire teams also withdrew, one after another.

This caused quite a stir globally and became the butt of many jokes.

Netizens, ever eager for drama, had already compiled a list of the Martial Arts Academy teams from the small Empires that withdrew and posted it online.

The number of shares alone surpassed a billion; the impact was immense.

The teams that withdrew from the Martial Arts Academy Ranking Tournament had also been blacklisted by many people,

who commented that they lacked even this much courage.

They wouldn’t dare send their own children to be trained at such Martial Arts Academies.

One had to wonder if the withdrawn Martial Arts Academy teams from those small Empires felt any regret after seeing such comments.

"There’s no need for any of you to worry.

I know many Empires have likely already explored the Rainbow Welfare Institute,

and that one of our own judges, Chu He, has even ventured deep inside and returned unscathed.

But that doesn’t mean we have gathered enough intelligence on the Rainbow Welfare Institute

to allow your respective teams to search for these Rubies with ease.

Feel free to verify what I’m about to say.

Because the Rainbow Welfare Institute is influenced by the Mysterious Power of the Black Continent Grassland,

it changes drastically every single day.

The buildings, decorations, and even the grounds inside—

even something as simple as a book or a desk lamp will be completely different.

We are currently unable to explain this bizarre phenomenon.

Some of you in the audience, both here and watching the livestream, might not understand what I mean,

so let me give you a simple example.

It’s like having a neighbor who is a twenty-year-old man when you see him today,

but tomorrow, he might be a twenty-year-old woman,

and the day after that, an eighty-year-old woman.

With changes like these, even if you saw it the day before, you cannot gain any advantage."

The speaker smiled faintly. "So this is a very important piece of intel I’m revealing to our competing teams.

When the sun rises tomorrow, the areas you explored after entering the Rainbow Welfare Institute

may have changed completely. This means your exploration yesterday was a waste of time. This will be a test of your tenacity."

"Dean, is what this guy is saying true?"

Lin Zuoguang sighed, closing his laptop.

Before the competition officially began, he had wanted to search online for as much information about the Rainbow Welfare Institute as he could.

But unexpectedly, all devices except for official ones had been blocked from connecting to the network at the opening ceremony venue.

"It’s true that the Rainbow Welfare Institute is highly problematic.

Whether it’s exactly as he described, however, is still uncertain.

However, the fact that the Lighthouse Empire set the Martial Arts Academy Ranking Tournament at the Rainbow Welfare Institute

very likely means they already have a basic understanding of it,

and they might even be using the tournament to conceal some ulterior motive."

Chu He said, "Once you enter the Rainbow Welfare Institute, you’ll be on your own.

It’s possible that some of you who go in this time won’t be coming out.

But since you chose to participate in this Martial Arts Academy Ranking Tournament,

I assume you’ve already mentally prepared yourselves.

Good luck. I hope all of you make it out of the Rainbow Welfare Institute in one piece."

Hearing Chu He’s words,

the expressions of the young people—Xiao Yu, Nanting Snow, and Lin Zuoguang—all turned grim and tense.

’They were all slowly beginning to understand that once they entered the Rainbow Welfare Institute,’

’they would truly be fighting for their lives.’

’If their luck was bad or if they encountered something they couldn’t possibly fight,’

’the entire National Road Academy team could be wiped out inside.’

Beneath a sky shrouded in a heavy, oppressive haze,

the Rainbow Welfare Institute stood in silence, like a forgotten ancient castle,

but a sinister, indescribable chill emanated from it.

Time had etched mottled scars upon its frame.

On its ancient doors, peeling paint revealed the mottled wood grain beneath.

As a cold wind swept by, the great gate creaked open, revealing a hair-thin crack,

like a peephole into some unknown world, slowly prying itself open.

A bone-piercing chill seeped from the gap, terrifying to behold.

It was accompanied by a drawn-out CREAK, the uniquely piercing, heart-stopping sound of aged metal grinding against wood.

It sounded as if the gate was resisting the intrusion, yet also as if it were warning any living thing about to step into this forbidden place.

But the most horrifying sight was what shone through that narrow crack: specks of blood red.

They were eyes—countless pairs of eyes. They were blood-red, blazing like the fires of Hell, like the deepest terrors of a nightmare.

They were packed densely together, stretching from the top of the crack to the very bottom,

forming a suffocating wall of crimson.

Some of the eyes were wide with endless terror and despair.

Others were half-lidded, as if peering at the outside world or plotting some unspeakable secret.

’It was impossible to imagine what kind of horrifying existence was hidden behind that seemingly ordinary door.’

’Was it a single behemoth with so many eyes it covered the entire door?’

’Or was it countless smaller monsters, stacked one on top of the other,’

’all piled together to create this chilling spectacle?’

Every pair of eyes swiveled silently, as if alive, staring hauntingly forward,

enveloping the contestants who were about to enter the institute in an unspeakable dread.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

The wind itself seemed to die, plunging the world into an eerie silence.

Only the blood-red eyes, glinting in the crack of the door, remained as the one living symbol of terror in the dead silence.

As the competition officially began,

the teams from the various Empires lined up and entered the Rainbow Welfare Institute one after another.