Chapter 128: The End Of The Crucible
"A unique ability?" Nicholas asked, glancing at Selena.
She had a playful smile tugged at her lips., "Not everyone has to be smart to pass an exam. Sometimes, they might just have to guess right"
Nicholas glanced at Selena, but he didn’t probe further. It was obvious she wanted him to see for himself.
From what he knew though.
The last section of the crucible was perhaps the trickiest.
The points where both player A and player B had made their main moves lit up across the board.
From those points, player C was meant to map their coordinates based on positions and then use that to calculate where the end button was on the grid.
Oxord placed his hand over the six markers.
{Correct Guess: Activated}
He didn’t hesitate. He immediately picked the fourth marker.
The grid accepted it. Three coordinates locked together.
The simulation instantly shattered.
America’s three screens flashed gold.
"AMERICA CLEARS THE CRUCIBLE!" Julie shouted.
"They finish in the SECOND PLACE after solving the hidden reset mechanic!"
Cheers erupted from the American side.
Dana finally relaxed.
Selena let out a long breath.
"It’s sad we ended up second. If Thinker had been a little faster. we would end up first."
Nicholas looked at the screen slightly confused with what he’d seen, "He didn’t even look like he calculated anything. He just picked the grid"
Dana let out a mischievous chuckle, "Exactly, that’s Oxord’s ability. Correct guess."
"His ability allows him to get anything right, even if it’s by coincidence. Honestly it’s one of the abilities I wish I had, It would save me the stress of exams" Selena said.
"Sure, you’ll only take abilities that can help you become dumber than you already are" Nicholas shot at her, with a blank face.
Dana instantly burst into an uncontrollable laughter, Selena’s face flared up, "You might not know this, but as your supervisor I decide if you get paid or not!" She retorted, pointing a finger at Nicholas.
"Surprising how that’s possible when you don’t make as much as I do" Nicholas turned back to the leaderboard, leaving a red-faced Selena who was now trying to vent her frustration on Dana, who was barely holding her back from attacking him.
China first.
America. Second.
’They won the Crucible. We won the race.’
His gaze slowly drifted toward the Chinese side.
Combat was still worth the most points.
That would decide everything.
Nicholas gaze drifted towards Tianzun and almost as though he already expected his gaze.
Tianzun was already looking at him.
The monk slowly rolled one bead between his fingers.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Then he quietly closed his eyes once more.
Nicholas had a smile tugging up the side of his lips.
"Brazil has cleared the crucible!" Julie’s excited voice tore through the speakers.
All their gazes shifted to the Brazilians as they rejoiced.
In no time, all the other countries finished with the crucible. Unexpectedly, the Australians came last in the crucible event.
"Well that was unexpected, it’ll reduce their total points significantly" Dana said looking at the results of the crucible.
"Yeah, but then there’s the chance that they’ll come at us during the combat. We can’t underestimate Mercury" Nectron said with a stern voice.
"Well, since the crucible is now over.... I guess we’ll find out when the combat event begins tomorrow" Vixen said from the side as she threw a glance towards the Australians.
Mercury glanced back at them, as though she already knew they were talking about her, but her gaze didn’t linger on them for long.
It shifted to Nicholas, and their eyes locked for a moment before she threw her gaze away.
"She has a really competitive spirit. So try to ignore her, she’s more easy going after the tournament" Selena said noticing the gaze between them.
"Are you done raging?" Nicholas asked turning towards Selena, who seemed much calmer now.
Selena’s brows twitched, ’This brat, such a brave question to ask someone you deliberately pissed’
Selena casually took out her cigarette, lit it up and slipped it into her mouth, "Wasting my anger on you is pointless."
"Is that so? Or is it simply because you can’t do anything?" Nicholas asked leaning closer to her.
Selena’s brows twitched, ’Why does it feel like he’s deliberately trying to piss me off today?’ Selena thought, "No, it’s because you’re just an annoying brat" she replied as she casually walked away.
’She doesn’t want to drop the brat word, I guess I’ll keep it up with her’ Nicholas thought with a grin as he looked at Selena.
Previously, he never intended on deliberately pissing the supervisor, but after her drunken confession, Nicholas felt slightly hurt with her constant brat allegations. So if she wasn’t going to drop it, he was going to play the part.
’....She really is expressive when she’s angry. And she looks prettier that way’ Nicholas thought with a smile looking in Selena’s direction as she talked with Jackson.
"What is this I see, is my stoic hero knight finally having eyes for someone" Dana said as she sneaked up behind him.
Nicholas face went cold in an instant, "I have no interest in the supervisor. She’s entertaining to annoy, though."
Dana had a mischievous smile lingering on her face as she stared at Nicholas as though expecting him to say something more.
"What is it?" Nicholas asked her with a calm face.
Dana shrugged mischievously, "It’s nothing"
"Alright! Alright! Everyone listen up!" Julie’s face popped up on the screen once more.
"We’ve compiled the results from both the racing event and the crucible event! Coming first is America with an accumulated total of 350 points! Second place is China with 300 points! Australia is coming out with 265 points! Brazil with 200 points! and Russia with 190 points!"
As Julie’s voice rang everyone had their gazes on the list.
Everyone watched the leaderboard with grim expressions on their faces.
The Americans were still leading, but that was only by a small margin and it was the same for all the countries.
Each country only ahead of the next by a narrow margin.
"It’s a tight knot for all the countries now! And the final event that starts tomorrow will be the main deciding factor for who will be taking the Hero Emblem home! Are you ready?! For the final show down?!" Julie’s voice rippled with excitement as she leaned closer to the camera.
"Then stay tuned! For the epic combat!"