The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

Above the vast Sky Dome, Darkness outlined the shape of a clock, with a full moon hanging within it.

The massive silhouette of the Mechanical Black and White Bear stood therein.

It seemed as if the City was merely... a miniature sand table placed on its desktop, and the luminous full moon in the Sky Dome, merely a light bulb.

[Judgment ended]

[Now announcing the rules of the battle royale]

[Everyone will be transported randomly to various places in the City]

[Based on personal progress during the day, each person will receive corresponding, specific Equipment and weapons, which will be updated and upgraded hourly]

[Current Equipment: beginner protective gear, beginner weapons, beginner vehicle (Please note: All stage Equipment will vary in form and strength, depending on the earnings index during operation and the performance in the events)]

[Random City events will occur periodically]

These are the newly announced rules of the battle royale.

Everyone's hands now bore a watch, displaying individual information including current coordinates in the City, and more.

Simultaneously.

Random transport had also begun, everyone heard the sound of gears turning around them, corresponding to... their vision getting covered by many gears.

"Speaking of which,"

Bei Shenxing glanced at his watch, "it seems this time it's not about two factions' rules but individual combat. Although it doesn't make much difference to the Present World and the Abyss... it's a good thing for me."

"I really don't want to get involved in the troubles of these two sides."

As soon as he finished speaking, both Bei Shenxing and Su Qi were enveloped by the gears that swirled around them.

The constant whirring of gears resounded.

Su Qi stood in the midst, stroking his chin.

"Opting out is not an option. As a member of The Hustlers, how can we stand idle in everything?"

The gears encased and turned, seemingly moving Su Qi.

In just ten seconds.

The surrounding gears began to separate and dig into the ground, and Su Qi also arrived at a coffee shop that had shut its doors.

Though this method seemed odd, if one thought about it, it resembled Personal Space.

[Now commencing the distribution of initial Equipment]

...

Elsewhere.

Whether it was the Heavenly Destiny People, Venerables, or various strong beings of the Present World and Abyss, they were all scattered around the massive City.

Their eyes were all fixed on their watches.

"Initial Equipment, huh..."

Several boxes formed from gears appeared before many Abyss Demons and Venerables.

Upon opening the box,

the first was an advanced bulletproof vest, followed by a high-quality, powerful pistol, and a thermal imaging scope lying beside it.

This was the initial Equipment. Although updates and upgrades would follow, for now, the Equipment seemed rather fine.

Meanwhile, an Abyss Demon with a mask bore a cold intent to kill:

"If we have these, I wonder what the Present World has... heh."

On the side of the Present World.

Black Cat looked at the three items in the Item Slot,

a safety helmet, an old-fashioned pistol, an energy drink.

"Black and White Bear, fuck your grandpa!"

Black Cat cursed loudly.

How could one play this?

However.

There was no choice. It had indeed been completely suppressed during the day, yet hope wasn't lost—it was about buying time... and waiting for the events within.

Previously, it seemed events could change the situation.

"Anyway,"

Black Cat licked her paw and put on the equipment: "First, let's meet up with the others."

Wearing the safety helmet and carrying the old-fashioned pistol, the cat leaped out onto the streets.

...

[Countdown to the first City event: 30 minutes, please prepare as much as possible]

Su Qi looked at the information on his watch, this battle royale wasn't as simple and rough as before, but began by randomly announcing events.

"City events, wonder what will happen."

And he regained his focus.

"And... my three items, aren't they a bit different from the others?"

The box that appeared before Su Qi,

The first item was a nanotech protective suit, simply put, it was an advanced protective suit used for interstellar travel, capable of resisting high and low temperatures, top-level protection against high-energy radiation, various particle energies.

As for bullets...

What were those even.

The second was a hand-sized pistol with blue particles.

"Little bee pistol."

But it bore the same label as the protective suit, seemingly from the same product line.

Su Qi had no intention of trying it out since randomly shooting in a quiet City wasn't a good habit.

The third item was,

[Annihilation Bee Swarm]

"Wait a moment, I remember..." Su Qi stroked his chin, "the weapon equipment everyone had last night didn't look like this."

Even if there was a difference in strength, they were all within ordinary firearms.

And now.

It was all high-tech here.

"Xiao Meng."

Su Qi was trying to wake Xiao Meng to ask what she changed at the last moment.

However, Xiao Meng did not respond.

Ever since the battle royale was declared, a lot of changes had occurred, and it seemed Xiao Meng had fallen into a deep sleep.

It wasn't clear if it was due to exploiting a loophole or because the Heart of Divine Weapon was overloaded.

Anyway.

It would take some time for Xiao Meng to wake up, and he could only wait for her to come out of hibernation to ask what had happened.

"So now..."

Su Qi raised his hand, and the nanotech protective suit melded into his body; the small pistol and the Annihilation Bee Swarm were also stored away.