Apocalypse Gachapon

Soon, they realized—this group wasn’t helping them at all.

In just two minutes, Cloud Peak had crushed the evolved on the ring-shaped path in front of the passage. Some at the back fled, and Cloud Peak didn’t bother chasing them.

Afterward, with practiced coordination, the Youth Army looted the battlefield while the rest turned toward the faction on the passage.

After a few seconds of silence, that faction made a decision—they voluntarily relinquished the passage and retreated in the opposite direction.

Cloud Peak’s attack had shaken them, and they were now afraid.

Only Cloud Peak remained around the passage.

After taking control, Ye Zhongming kept a close eye on the time. Everyone knew what their leader was waiting for.

At four minutes and forty seconds, the black shadow they had been anticipating appeared in the sky.

Some hot-tempered soldiers cursed aloud.

The missile was easily destroyed, but the occupation timer reset, souring Ye Zhongming’s expression.

It wasn’t that the attackers’ method was wrong, but it was incredibly annoying and despicable.

“Red Hair, go check the other passages. See if any faction has successfully secured one.”

Ye Zhongming gave the order, then waited quietly. With Red Hair’s strength, she could complete this task safely.

After enduring another missile strike, Red Hair returned.

“It’s strange.”

Those were her first words.

“No passage has been taken, but I found one with no one on it—just scouts from other factions occasionally checking it out.” Red Hair’s tone was puzzled. “That passage is covered in corpses, all dead in different ways.”

“Aside from us and the Cannibal Chain facing this situation, two other passages are in similar straits. Of the remaining three, one is that empty one, and the other two are in complete chaos.”

Red Hair relayed her findings, then tilted her head suspiciously.

“On one part of the ring-shaped path, I saw a very strange team. They weren’t fighting—just standing there quietly. They were… a fully mechanical squad. I didn’t see a single evolved.”

“Oh?” Ye Zhongming was intrigued. For some reason, he felt this detached team was the key to the problem.

Even Cloud Peak, the Cannibal Chain, and other major factions were fighting hard to secure a passage.

This team had come to compete for the Mountain King Wheel—there was no reason for them to stay so uninvolved.

Ye Zhongming’s mind raced—the missiles, the lack of secured passages, that eerily silent team that hadn’t reacted even when Red Hair passed by.

After a while, Ye Zhongming exhaled deeply.

“What’s wrong?”

Red Hair, who had been standing beside him, asked.

She was one of the few who could speak to Ye Zhongming so casually.

“I’ve been overlooking something.”

Ye Zhongming narrowed his eyes at the winding ring-shaped path.

Huh?

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

“According to the roulette space’s rules, securing a passage requires meeting one of four conditions. First, holding a passage for five minutes uncontested. Second, repelling five attacks. Third, killing over 5,000 evolved. Fourth, reducing the number of factions to seven.”

Everyone knew this. After Ye Zhongming reiterated it, they listened carefully, knowing the next part was crucial.

“Our focus has been on the first and second conditions.” Ye Zhongming stepped down and stood on the ring-shaped path.

“That’s not surprising, because the first and second seem easier to achieve… No, I should say, they appear easier to achieve.”

At first, no one understood, but soon it clicked.

Meeting the first condition essentially required annihilating or intimidating all competing factions—at least enough to deter them for five minutes.

But every faction that made it here was strong. Even if there were disparities, the gaps weren’t vast. Destroying or cowing two such factions would inevitably incur heavy losses.

With everyone sending scouts to monitor each passage, who could guarantee another faction wouldn’t swoop in to exploit their weakened state?

As for the second condition—repelling five attacks—it seemed more achievable in the chaos. But the situation on this passage had already shown that unless a faction were overwhelmingly strong, by the fourth attack, others would unite to drive them out!

So, while the first and second conditions seemed straightforward, they were deceptively difficult.

And let’s not forget—there were no restrictions here. Alliances could form and break, cooperation could turn to betrayal, and battles could erupt at any moment. This was already happening everywhere.

“But the third condition is also tough.”

Xiao Xuan knocked his head, voicing his thoughts.

Ye Zhongming nodded. “True, the third is hard. Although the kill count applies to the entire team, slaughtering 5,000 evolved would come at a heavy cost. During our arena matches against that little freak, we avoided five-man team battles—let alone now. Only a madman would choose this method, because even if it succeeded, the losses would cripple us in later stages.”

“The fourth condition is actually the easiest! If we ally with factions like the Cannibal Chain or Gyanendra to eliminate others, reducing the total to seven, we’d clear this stage without needing five minutes or five repelled attacks!”

Xiao Min’s eyes lit up. The boss’s analysis made the path forward clear.

If they cut the number of factions to seven, they could pass this stage effortlessly, ignoring those damned missiles entirely.

Others nodded in agreement. With Cloud Peak’s strength and the Cannibal Chain’s help, wiping out some factions was entirely feasible.

But Ye Zhongming unexpectedly shook his head and said something that seemed contradictory.

“We’ll choose the third method.”

“Kill 5,000 people?” Xiao Min was stunned. “But boss, you just said…”

“That it’d cost us too much?”

Everyone nodded.

“Right. If we’re only considering clearing this stage, the third method is unwise—it’d inflict heavy losses.”

Ye Zhongming himself felt a sudden clarity.

“But think further ahead—to the final competition. From that perspective, isn’t it better to eliminate as many evolved as possible now? That way, in the next stage, we’d face less resistance.”

The group exchanged glances. The boss’s thinking was advanced, but it made sense. Many were starting to see the bigger picture.

Ye Zhongming continued, “Ideally, we’d take advantage of this free-for-all to wipe out every faction here. Then, even before the final test, the Mountain King Wheel would be ours.”

“But that’s unrealistic. Eliminating every faction alone is impossible, and even if we could, the losses would be unacceptable.”

“However, if we ally with the Cannibal Chain and wipe out as many factions as possible, the road ahead will be smoother. Even if six factions remain, it’s better than seven!”

Ye Zhongming addressed the group. “Let’s go. Staying here is pointless. We’ll find Wu Xiu, then pick a direction and carve our way through!”