Chapter 16: Might as Well, Since I’m Already Here
She classified Jiang Ning as the same type of person as herself, someone who came to participate in this kind of competition to stimulate the awakening of their ability. Otherwise, it couldn’t be that Jiang Ning was here for the 5000 star coins mentioned in the promotion.
Jiang Ning felt a bit awkward, knowing that Ke Lai had misunderstood.
She was really just here for the 5000 prize money.
Now that she heard the winner had already been decided internally, her interest in the upcoming competition immediately diminished by more than half.
But there was only an hour left until they reached their destination, Planet Aurora. Even if she wanted to go back, she would have to wait for the next interstellar flight after landing.
Might as well, since I’m already here.
She could just treat it as seeing the world on another planet.
An hour and a half later.
The spacecraft successfully landed at the Planet Aurora airline station.
The moment she got off the spacecraft, Jiang Ning felt a rush of fresh air.
Planet Aurora was vastly different from Planet M412. The environment here was beautiful, with lush vegetation. From a distance, it looked like an oasis.
“This place isn’t polluted? It looks much better than Planet M412,” Jiang Ning said as she and Ke Lai walked along the commercial street below the airline station.
Hearing this, Ke Lai turned her head and explained, “Planet Aurora is a famous tourist planet. The environment on our Planet M412 naturally can’t compare to theirs.”
Jiang Ning looked at the passersby. She had just been wondering why these people were all carrying large and small bags to a competition. It turned out they were here on vacation.
“In the past, Planet Aurora’s environment was actually similar to our Planet M412. After the Yuan Xia Group bought this planet, they spent a fortune to transform it into what it is today.” After saying that, Ke Lai added, “The Yuan Xia Group is the Si family’s enterprise.”
“The Si family is?” Jiang Ning asked.
“You don’t know the Si family?” Ke Lai said in shock.
Ke Lai: “The richest family in the entire interstellar space.”
Jiang Ning shook her head.
She was busy taking care of her small farm and thinking about how to make money every day. She had never paid attention to this kind of economic gossip.
Ke Lai’s desire to share gossip was ignited. “I heard that the previous heirs of the Si family, a couple, passed away in an accident a while ago. All of their property was left to their only son. As soon as he comes of age, the management of the Yuan Xia Group will be handed over to him.”
“It’s really infuriating to compare people. Some people become billionaires at the age of twelve, while others at twelve are still thinking about…” Ke Lai’s emotions switched quickly. One second she was resentful of the gap between people, and the next she was blinking her big eyes and asking, “What should we eat later?”
“…”
“Nutrient solution,” Jiang Ning blurted out.
In her diet, only nutrient solution was the cheapest.
“No way, we finally made it to Planet Aurora, and you’re just going to drink nutrient solution?” Ke Lai looked at her strangely.
Jiang Ning casually led the complaining Ke Lai to a restaurant, pointed to the prices of the dishes on the promotional board, and said, “I’m poor.”
Ke Lai looked closely at the prices on it. “Stir-fried vegetable hearts for 866 star coins a portion? Freshly baked bread for 699 star coins for two slices? Special-blend lemonade for 499 star coins a glass?”
Ke Lai: “So expensive! Why don’t they just rob people!”
This price was more than double the market price.
“Miss Ke Lai, so if you want to eat, you should go by yourself,” Jiang Ning said with a fake smile.
Ke Lai scratched her face. “Um… I think drinking nutrient solution is also quite good.”
She had run away from home without her parents’ knowledge and didn’t have much money on her.
The two had planned to take a maglev bus to Mount Dora, but when they saw that a single trip on the maglev bus cost 28 star coins, while on their Planet M412 it was only 4 star coins per person.
To save money, Jiang Ning decided to walk. Ke Lai was here to train herself anyway, so she decided to walk with Jiang Ning. Fortunately, the airline station was only a two-hour walk from Mount Dora.
“Tsk tsk, too expensive!”
The two of them walked all the way to the foot of Mount Dora. Along the way, everything cost money, except for the air.
As expected, things in tourist attractions were not cheap in any era!
In the center of the semi-circular Roman square stood a floating cubic screen. At this moment, the screen was scrolling through promotional information for the competition.
Jiang Ning stopped and looked at the logo on the cubic screen.
“What’s wrong?” Ke Lai asked.
“That logo looks very familiar,” Jiang Ning said, looking up at the cubic screen.
Ke Lai followed Jiang Ning’s line of sight and said, “That’s the logo of the Yuan Xia Group. Yuan Xia’s enterprises are all over the interstellar space. You must be familiar with it.”
No, Jiang Ning shook her head. She was sure she hadn’t seen this logo on some product. Where had she seen it?
A figure suddenly flashed in Jiang Ning’s mind—that butler!
His cuffs and the flying vehicle both had this logo printed on them.
So, the rich young master who crashed into her house was actually the young heir of the Si family?
Good heavens.
This wasn’t just a rich second-generation, but the rich second-generation of the rich second-generations!
Jiang Ning and Ke Lai walked into the square.
The competition would officially start tomorrow. At this moment, the center of the Roman square was full of small vendors selling merchandise and food.
The two walked to the official registration point for Spark Rush Forward, registered their information, and each received a contestant details sheet before leaving.
The two found the cheapest hotel nearby and managed to share a room.
Even so, one night at the hotel cost her 300 star coins.
Jiang Ning’s heart was breaking.
300 star coins!
Enough to buy one and a half kilograms of planting soil.
Fortunately, once they officially entered the competition venue tomorrow, they wouldn’t have to spend any more money.
The environment on Planet Aurora was impeccable. Even the worst hotel had better room sizes and services than those on ordinary planets.
Jiang Ning lay on the soft mattress, a look of enjoyment on her face.
To be honest, this 600-a-night bed was more than a little bit more comfortable than the one in her home.
It was like lying on cotton, soft and gentle.
The aromatherapy in the room had a sleep-inducing effect, and the two quickly fell asleep.
Knock, knock, knock—
“Hello, guest. This is your scheduled wake-up call. It is now seven in the morning.”
The next morning, a hotel staff member knocked on their door.
To prevent oversleeping, the two had booked a wake-up call for seven in the morning last night.
Jiang Ning and Ke Lai opened their eyes, checked the time, quickly got up, tidied themselves, and checked out.
Spark Rush Forward started at eight in the morning. Contestants had to arrive half an hour early. The time was just right to get there from the hotel.
Mount Dora, Roman Square.
When the two arrived, the steps on the outer circle of the square were already packed with people. As far as the eye could see, it was a sea of heads.
The venue was enclosed in a circle, with only two entrances and exits. One for the audience, and one for the contestants.
Jiang Ning and Ke Lai stood at the very back of the line.
Because there was no age limit, the heights of the contestants were uneven.
Jiang Ning roughly scanned the crowd. Most of the contestants this time were teenagers, with only a few adults interspersed among the group of children.
In the last thirty minutes, a system prompt sounded from the broadcast in the contestant area: 【Attention all contestants, please begin entering the venue. When entering, please receive your competition supplies and tinder from the staff at the entrance in order.】
After the broadcast ended, the line began to move slowly.
When it was Jiang Ning’s turn, she discovered that the supplies mentioned in the broadcast were just 10 tubes of nutrient solution.
She took the nutrient solution from the staff member, then took a thumb-sized flame from the box in front of her.
The staff member explained to her how to use the tinder. Simply put, when in danger, crush it hard, and the staff would be able to sense the tinder’s signal and come to help her escape.
She took a waist bag from another staff member and put the tinder and nutrient solution inside.
Just as she walked in, she heard other contestants complaining, “Only 10 tubes of nutrient solution, that’s too little. We have to stay in here for a month. Even if we drink one a day, it’s only enough for 10 days. The organizing committee is too stingy.”
“Exactly, and we’re not allowed to bring our own food. Are they trying to starve us to death in here!”
Jiang Ning glanced at the few people on the judges’ panel. The scarcity of food, to some extent, indicated that the organizing committee was encouraging vicious competition among the contestants.
There was a rule clearly stated: Once the tinder is extinguished, the contestant is considered out of the game.
But it didn’t say that it didn’t count if someone else put it out.
As Jiang Ning was thinking, the next second, she felt a chill on her back. She looked up and saw a large, muscular man staring at her.
He snorted coldly and said to the person next to him, “What’s there to be afraid of? When you run out, just go and rob others. There are so many little brats on the field. It’s not certain if they can even last 10 days. It’s a waste to give it to them.”
As he said this, his gaze kept sweeping over Jiang Ning and Ke Lai.
In this group of people, she and Ke Lai were the youngest.
It was her first time participating in such an exciting competition. Ke Lai couldn’t contain her excitement and was curiously looking around.
As the muscular man’s words came out, more and more predatory gazes were fixed on the two of them. Even someone with slow reflexes like Ke Lai could feel it.
“Audience friends!”
Suddenly, a circular floating platform carrying a person flew into the competition venue.
Everyone, including the surrounding audience, fell silent and watched him quietly.
“Hello everyone, I am the host of this Spark Rush Forward competition. I am A Jin, Jin Jiu.” He held a microphone and flew in circles above the venue on a floating vehicle.
“A Jin! A Jin! A Jin!”
After his self-introduction, a thunderous scream erupted from the audience seats.
Jin Jiu was a famous commentary blogger on the StarNet. They hadn’t expected Spark Rush Forward to actually invite him to be the host of the competition!
Jin Jiu enjoyed this atmosphere of being surrounded by people. He waved his hands. “Let the applause be more intense.”
“A Jin! A Jin! A Jin!”
Another thunderous roar came from the audience seats.
Jin Jiu: “I can feel everyone’s enthusiasm. Now, please pay attention. The first Spark Rush Forward is about to begin. After the countdown, 300 contestants will be randomly dropped into the wetland, rainforest, and desert areas. Contestants need to collect the Spark Stamps from the three areas respectively, a total of 9. Among them, 3 wetland Spark Stamps, 3 rainforest Spark Stamps, and 3 desert Spark Stamps. After collecting all 9 Spark Stamps, contestants can proceed to the central area to participate in the final competition for the winner.”
Jin Jiu: “The difficulty of the three areas is equal. To ensure fairness and impartiality, the competition will be broadcast live throughout the entire process, and I will be explaining the situation of the contestants to everyone.”
Below the stage, Ke Lai lowered her voice and complained to Jiang Ning, “He says it so grandly, but in reality, the champion has already been decided internally. We’re all just here as foils.”
Jiang Ning didn’t think much of Ke Lai’s inside information.
But the others present didn’t know and were all confidently aiming for the championship.
【Ten, nine, eight, seven】
On the broadcast, a machine was playing the countdown.
Jiang Ning felt a strange movement under her feet.
The next second, her entire body was enveloped in a green light screen.