An upscale bar not far from War God Square.
An effeminate man wearing a light gray cloak appeared silently beside a handsome young man sipping red wine. His movements were utterly noiseless, as though he didn't exist at all, drawing absolutely no attention from anyone else in the bar.
"Young Master, getting a reserved spot won't be easy. The Fish-Dragon Seven Extremes didn't eliminate Zero Wing — they're just letting Zero Wing fend for itself," the effeminate man whispered. "Zero Wing has already finished registering. They're just waiting for the preliminary selection battle three hours from now."
"Zero Wing certainly got lucky — they still weren't eliminated even after all that." The handsome young man frowned slightly and said coldly, "But those three reserved spots aren't something a guild like Zero Wing will get their hands on!"
"Huo Tian, why don't I just go after them directly when the time comes?" A woman standing nearby — her arm bearing the mark of the Flower of the Seven Sins, her hair wild and unkempt — suddenly looked at the handsome young man, her eyes filled with excitement.
When this petite, delicate-looking woman spoke, everyone in the bar shuddered, as though the most dreaded memories they had buried had resurfaced before their eyes.
"Chi Lan, you need to follow the rules this time, or I won't bring you along next time." The handsome young man regarded this seemingly harmless woman with visible wariness.
Even though he had earned the title of one of the Seven Sins, he dared not let his guard down around this woman in the slightest.
Because in front of this seemingly harmless woman, death was the best escape. Even the mysterious leader of their Flower of the Seven Sins found her to be a headache. If she wasn't watched carefully, she could cause an enormous catastrophe.
"Don't worry, I'll follow your orders on this mission. I won't just go attacking people randomly." Chi Lan nodded obediently, grinning cheerfully.
"Good." Huo Tian let out a sigh of relief and continued slowly, "There's no rush on this. Since Zero Wing's data has been exposed, when they encounter the other auxiliary groups, those groups will definitely prioritize targeting them. We don't need to lift a finger — we just watch the show. And while the other auxiliary groups are focused on Zero Wing, we can use that opportunity to shake them off and search for the War God Tokens."
The preliminary selection for the auxiliary forces was very straightforward.
All auxiliary forces who came to the Fire Dragon Empire would be teleported to a special space, where they would search for scattered War God Tokens. The time limit was five hours. When time was up, anyone holding a War God Token would pass the preliminary selection.
However, the number of War God Tokens was limited.
There were only one hundred in total, meaning at most one hundred people could pass the preliminary selection.
One hundred — that number was far too small compared to the auxiliary forces from all the major superpowers who had come to the Fire Dragon Empire.
According to their intelligence alone, six superpowers had registered for the Fire Dragon Empire, and three of those were super guilds, with a total of nine hundred people. That meant only one in nine could become official auxiliary forces, and everyone else's Seven Luminaries Crystals would go to waste.
Zero Wing had only seventeen members. Trying to compete for War God Tokens among the auxiliary groups teeming with top-tier experts was nothing short of a pipe dream.
While Huo Tian and the others plotted how to use Zero Wing, Han Guang Shiying — who was waiting in the War God Temple's lounge for the competition to begin — received news about Zero Wing and wore a satisfied smile on her face.
"Vice Leader, what's making you so happy?" asked Yu Bai, the female knight beside her, in surprise.
"Great news!" Han Guang Shiying said with a faint smile. "I don't know which idiot guild invited Zero Wing, but this time Zero Wing is done for! Not a single one of them will pass the preliminary selection!"
"Vice Leader, Zero Wing's seventeen members are quite capable. Maybe they can't all pass, but two or three should still have a chance, right?" Yu Bai shook her head, disagreeing.
"That might have been possible before, but I'm afraid not anymore." Han Guang Shiying said with a hint of amusement, "According to our inside sources, the two super guilds — Heavenly Dragon Mansion and Proud World Empire — have stepped forward and joined forces with the two superpowers Demon Emperor Hall and Divine Miracle. The four auxiliary groups are teaming up to eliminate Zero Wing first!"
"How is that possible!" Yu Bai was stunned into silence.
With twelve alternate seats up for grabs and competition this fierce, every faction was a mortal enemy. An alliance between two would have been hard enough to believe, but now four were joining forces... What on earth had Zero Wing done to provoke such universal outrage?
"Nothing is impossible." Han Guang Shiying smiled and said, "Don't forget who Zero Wing has provoked before."
"Could it be the Hand of the Sacred Heart behind this?" The first thing that came to Yu Bai's mind was that utterly mysterious Hand of the Sacred Heart.