Chapter 116: Why Don’t You Call Yourself Saint Cas?

Chapter 116: Why Won’t They Call Themselves Saint Cas?

After being momentarily dazed by the shock, they quickly regained their composure.

Even so, this kind of thing was still far too dangerous.

Most people would steer clear of getting involved in such matters—but these guys were different.

And they seemed completely different from the rest.

Yu Ye gripped the comms device linked to the territory, still doubtful—where had they come from? Who the hell were these people?

It was too dangerous—if they wanted to understand the Survival Contest, they could just watch the livestream. No need to throw themselves into danger.

Yu Ye wanted to say more, but he was interrupted by a gruff voice coming through the communicator.

"Yu Ye, are these the people you mentioned who want to replace some of our Saint Cas members in the Survival Contest’s warm-up round?"

On the other end of the communicator was Lai Qing, the current Speaker of Saint Cas.

His youngest son, Lai Te, was currently missing in action in the Survival Contest’s warm-up round.

"Yes."

At the moment, Lai Qing’s face showed no trace of a grieving father. He simply wore a grim expression, holding it together by sheer will.

Lai Qing observed the three people over there.

Yu Ye, along with Xi Yi and the others, had quickly spilled the whole story of what had just happened.

Individuals strong enough to take out a Vine Beast bare-handed—did such people truly exist?

Lai Qing still found it hard to believe.

Especially now, when the entire Saint Cas was drowning in despair, dead silent.

They were stuck in a merciless system. They wanted to resist, to break free—but they didn’t have the power to pull it off.

Over there, a baby-faced man was hovering around a young boy, trying to snatch the notebook from his hands.

He grabbed, the kid ducked—several attempts, all unsuccessful.

Finally, the man growled and roughly mussed up the young boy’s curly hair, looking somewhat exasperated.

The boy’s clear voice whined in protest, "Uncle, stop messing with my hair! I’m still growing!"

Zao Zao was still growing, after all.

Their way too chill attitude made Lai Qing momentarily uncertain whether they truly understood the brutality of the Survival Contest.

Lai Qing let out a heavy sigh, his expression growing even more severe.

He recalled the Eastern Alliance’s warning to them—the Eastern Alliance, which maintained relatively close ties with Saint Cas. The Eastern Alliance was a small, fragile coalition of various ethnic groups, scraping by thanks to sharp leadership.

The most tragic part was that this tiny region was, aside from Saint Cas, the last holdout with any fight left.

The rest were scattered, minor factions, any of which could be wiped out by the next wave of rampaging beasts.

So the final stance of the Eastern Alliance was—to yield, not to be so stubborn, to delay and at least preserve their combat-ready forces, so they wouldn’t be directly driven into the hunting zone. Once in the hunting zone, it would be difficult to return—they’d essentially be hunted down there, ultimately falling into ruin with no room for development.

Lai Qing had also pondered this issue carefully. Some children in the clan with weaker mental strength and mecha skills were hoping to replace exceptional mecha pilots like Yu Ye, so not everyone would perish in the Survival Contest warm-up. At least when the Survival Contest officially began a week later, there would still be some fighting chance left for them.

Unexpectedly, Yu Ye had encountered odd strangers who wanted to see the Survival Contest for themselves.

"Yu Ye, the starship for the Survival Contest warm-up is heading toward your coordinates and will arrive in about ten minutes. Once you reach the preliminary arena, there will likely be under half a day remaining—"

"Yes, Speaker, we understand. Could you also resend us the coordinates of the last known whereabouts of Lai Te and the others?"

At the mention of his youngest son, Lai Qing seemed to visibly age in an instant. He fell silent for a moment, as if wanting to say something more.

But Yu Ye looked at Lai Qing earnestly, his boyish face burning with anger and determination: "The Sacred Territory never abandons anyone. This is a law handed down by our forebears. Even if it’s just their bodies, we will bring them back."

Finally, Lai Qing raised his head: "Fine, the coordinates will be sent to your mechas. Also, please let those three speak with me."

By the time Yu Ye stiffly handed over the communicator, Chu Zao had already stowed his notebook.

Xiao Chuzao patted his uncle’s back, his expression innocent and harmless, comforting Finn: "It’s okay, it’s okay, Uncle. It’ll pass quickly."

Dad will just take a look at those records—it won’t take long!

Finn: ...Not "pass quickly," but "gone for good."

You little devil.

Getting worse by the day.

Chu Zao then looked up, meeting Lai Qing’s gaze through the communicator.

His amber-clear eyes blinked twice.

Lai Qing stilled momentarily but quickly regained his composure: "You want to enter the Survival Contest warm-up zone without mecha support? That place is dangerous. As the Speaker of the Sacred Territory, I am accountable for the children of our territory. I must warn you—if you insist on this reckless course and encounter danger, do not expect help from us. They are just green recruits who have only recently begun to grow. You’ll bear the consequences alone."

"Speaker!"

Hearing Lai Qing’s words, Yu Ye immediately cut in, bristling.

"Yu Ye, quiet."

Lai Qing knew his words were harsh, but he shut Yu Ye down.

His stern expression softened slightly after a few seconds of staring at Xiao Chuzao.

His earlier pause seemed to stem from surprise—he hadn’t expected the person Yu Ye described to look so soft-featured and baby-faced, even younger than Yu Ye and the others.

"So, I advise you not to join out of mere curiosity or because of anything Yu Ye and his group said. They’re young and impulsive, but this is a meat grinder."

And the Sacred Territory no longer had the capacity to protect others.

The last gasp of resilience they’d been holding was about to fade.

"No need to worry. We’re already aware."

Chu Zao spoke softly, his gaze gentle—as if soothing a soul already battered by fate.

That calm and steadiness were things the Sacred Territory had never known in their fight for survival here.

"Don’t worry. We’re here on our own terms and won’t be your burden."

"No, it's not about holding you back—"

Oddly, Speaker Lai Qing, who was usually not this talkative, opened his mouth as if trying to explain something.

Finn laughed from his side.

For all Finn’s antics, this guy had lived for centuries, maybe millennia.

He just was terrible at socializing—his temperament was a bit eccentric, putting on a hyper act all day, but in reality, aside from Amos, he was Saint Cas’s unrivaled slaughter weapon.

Those crimson eyes glowed softly.

"This actually serves your domain’s needs. There’s no need to worry about our safety."

He only wanted to ensure the safety of his cub.

When it came to protecting his own child and waiting for Amos to arrive, Finn was still confident.

But—

A legendary Longlived species being worried about danger by a bunch of ephemerals, encountering problems and troubles—how was this still a thing here?

"Stick to your beliefs, harden your resolve. You won’t have to wait too long—our real monster hasn’t even shown up yet. Hang tight—with him here, everything will be fine."

As long as Amos was here, everything would be fine.

Finn refused to believe that Amos wouldn’t panic if their little one went missing.

Just as Finn expected, at the edge of the barrier, a rift was slowly tearing open. The force of pollution surged in, but Ebinino—who had finally learned to cooperate after being "disciplined" by Amos’s mental force—held the line. Several warships were also ready for deployment.

In the command room, a member of the Crown Clan stood with an icy expression, as if at the eye of a storm, the atmosphere thick with tension.

The long black military coat seemed to stir faintly under the oppressive aura, and the leaders of the major Group Armies kept their distance.

The most formidable and terrifying tyrant of the Saint Cas Empire was quietly staring at a flickering dot on the map—an unmapped zone, distant, with intermittent signals, deep within the unexplored pollution.

But that tiny, blinking dot meant his young one was still safe somewhere.

This brought a shred of calm to the already anxious and emotionally unstable patriarch.

Meanwhile, on Chu Zao’s side, Chao Huangmu watched their concern for the Crown Clan and thought of His Majesty, shrugging slightly—well, if His Majesty were here, nothing would be a problem.

Xiao Chuzao gazed at them, his beautiful eyes devoid of even a trace of fear, wholeheartedly believed.

His father was just that powerful.

Lai Qing observed them for a long time, as if still wanting to offer a warning—confidence was good, but overconfidence here would come at a terrible cost. Yet in the end, he bit back his warning—

"Fine."

Just as he spoke—

Lai Qing, standing before the communication device in the sacred territory, looked up at the distant sky.

"The drone starship from the Survival Contest’s warm-up matches has arrived."

*

At the same time, all participating regions and nations, including the Monster Commanders, received the same information—the third batch of members from the sacred territory were about to be deployed into the warm-up matches.

The mech engineers of the Gesen Empire accelerated their search for the previous missing members of the sacred territory.

They wanted to weaken them as much as possible before the Survival Contest.

Meanwhile, the Monster Commanders, still smiling, continued to scrutinize their prey from a hunter's perspective.

The Eastern Alliance, which had already attempted to contact the Sacred Territory to persuade them further, sighed.

"Actually, if they just delay a little longer, it would be fine—there's no need to rush to their deaths."

"The people of the Sacred Territory seem inherently stubborn. In such a crisis, they are bound to be rejected by those with weaker resolve. They simply refuse to bow their heads—and then there's their so-called homeland. I mean, come on. What homeland? Is it more important than staying alive?"

"Right, isn’t this also why many people dislike the Eastern Alliance? Everyone is in the same situation, yet you claim to have a homeland, setting yourself apart, longing to return to their roots. Naturally, you become an easy target."

"Sigh, we’ve said and advised all we can. There’s nothing more we can do to help. Let’s just hope the Sacred Territory doesn’t end up in a situation where they can’t back down."

The Eastern Alliance was not far from the Sacred Territory. They admired the Sacred Territory’s stance, but as a people with weaker psychic abilities, they had no choice but to navigate flexibly within the rules, playing both sides to survive.

So, as they watched the monsters and the imperial alliances turn their blades on the Sacred Territory, which had suffered severe losses over the years, they couldn’t help feeling conflicted.

*

Survival Contest preliminary zone.

Countless live-streaming drones buzzed back and forth across the venue.

Recording everything, fueling the frenzy of the crowd.

"Found anything?"

Ji Yuan, the Gesen Empire’s chief mecha pilot, piloted his mecha while inquiring over the comms.

"Nothing yet. We’re still expanding the search radius. If those guys are alive, they must have disabled the broadcasting equipment too, so we haven’t found them yet."

"Just received the latest update—the third batch of members from the Sacred Territory has entered. This should be the last group they're allowed to send in, right?"

"Most likely. We should be able to catch a glimpse of them on nearby teams' live streams soon."

"Boss, should we keep searching?"

"Of course we keep searching. His Majesty is right—eliminating them quickly will reduce our pressure. Even though the Sacred Territory has been losing members and their ranking keeps dropping, they’re still a species known for their psychic prowess. Who knows if they’ll suddenly produce a dark horse if we let them grow unchecked."

Ji Yuan joked as he spoke.

"That’s unlikely. The Sacred Territory seems about to crash and burn to me."

"That much is true, but we still can’t say such things openly. Are you sure all the broadcast drones around us have been driven away?"

"Yes, we’ve made damn sure."

"Good. Let’s roll. Start the search again from this side."

"Understood!"

*

Meanwhile, at the starship’s drop point.

Some were waiting to see the Sacred Territory’s implosion—the prelims weren’t too different from the actual Survival Contest.

Participants were deployed, elimination targets had to be met, rankings were determined based on performance, and decisions were made about where they’d live afterward—including how many would be fed to the beasts.

A maximum of three batches could be sent in, and this was the last one. The Sacred Territory’s mission remained incomplete, meaning their elimination in the upcoming Survival Contest was pretty much a done deal.

After all, their strongest mecha pilots had already gone missing, and their ranking was in the gutter. Their starting hand in the main event would be screwed.

Some teams that had friction with the Sacred Territory came to rubberneck.

The Sacred Territory no longer had any live-feed drones following them, with only a handful of interested viewers catching nearby feeds to observe their situation.

However, the members of the Sacred Territory moved swiftly upon landing, not looking the least bit rattled, which pissed off some spectators—and one thing was particularly unexpected.

The livestream chat blew up.

‘Wait, what gives? Didn’t they deploy six people? Why are there only three mechs?’

‘You kidding me? No freaking way... Has the Sacred Territory weakened to the point where they can’t even scrape together more mechs?’

‘Hahaha, seems like it. I just took a look—one of them looks like some baby-faced rookie, right? Are they feeding him to the wolves?’

‘Looks like the Sacred Territory has no choice but to adapt. If they sent all their top mech pilots to die, the Survival Contest would really be no contest at all.’

‘You’re right, but honestly, the Survival Contest already has no suspense. Ji Yuan, the chief mech pilot of the Gesen Empire, hasn’t retired yet. This time, it’s a lock that the Gesen Empire will take first place.’

‘Well, put your money where your mouth is. It’s really not that certain.’

‘But they’re too far away—I couldn’t make them out, the Sacred Territory members rushing off. Though from a distance, that kid looks pretty handsome. Has he never competed before? I have no memory of him—’

‘The Sacred Territory is down to the dregs. It’s already impressive they can send anyone at all. Didn’t you notice the streams barely bother covering them? There’s basically no suspense, so nobody gives a damn anymore. After watching them eat crow year after year despite their usual arrogance, even we’re getting tired of it. Aside from a few of us, hardly anyone’s paying attention to them anymore.’

‘That’s true.’

With the haters going wild,

Chu Zao simply stood atop Yu Ye’s mech, coolly scanning the live-streaming drones flitting about in the distance, as well as those who had initially intended to charge at them.

Chu Zao gave a slow blink.

“Live-streaming, huh? That’s—”

He glanced around before looking down at Yu Ye.

“Are we heading to where your people disappeared now?”

“Yes. Many teams lurk at the LZs to scavenge or target others—it’s how you score in the Survival Contest.”

Yu Ye’s voice came from within the mech, none of that earlier edge to it now.

Strangely enough, whether it was because they were too strong or because Chu Zao had some weird mojo, being around him had a way of chilling people out, as if everything had stabilized.

Thus, even during the most intense moments of their escape, they didn’t screw up once.

Chu Zao nodded.

So that’s how it was.

Their understanding of the Survival Contest had only been superficial.

Now that they were experiencing it firsthand—Chu Zao thought—it was pretty whatever.

Just like their own pro circuit.

“Do you guys have any special comms setup?”

"Not this time."

Yu Ye replied once more.

"However, before they went missing, they sent another set of coordinates to the territory—different from the previously announced location of their disappearance. We’re heading there first—but it’s been too long already."

Yu Ye operated the mech swiftly and precisely, but his heart pounded anxiously—hoping they were still alive.

Meanwhile, in the hideout of the previous batch of Sacred Territory members.

Squad leader Lai Te glanced at the time.

"Captain, what’s the situation?"

"Under half a day left, but the third batch has already been deployed."

They’d been hunted before, hiding here specifically to recover some stamina in the final moments. So even with the third batch entering now, they’d expected as much.

But the time they had planned to act was still a bit early.

The squad exhaled heavily.

Hold out a bit longer.

For the survival of Sacred Territory, for their chance to finally find their homeland—

Hold out a bit longer—

Suddenly, a deep rumble shook the cave.

Something was battering the sealed rocks of their cave.

"What’s going on?!"

Lai Te shot upright, eyes darting around before hissing.

Even more terrifying, after the impact against the rocks, amidst the cascading debris, came the harrowing shrieks of mutated beasts.

The squad went rigid.

"No damn way, impossible. We scouted this area—it’s far from any aberrant beasts. We chose this spot only after finding the first team."

Why were mutants attacking now?

This was the Survival Contest’s brutal warm-up.

At the same time, a breach was torn open in the mountain crevice, and the comms fizzed with static before sharpening.

Then, a voice gradually became distinct.

"So this is where you were hiding."

That voice—Gesen Empire troops.

The Gesen Empire’s mechs stood in the distance. They’d dumped loads of mineral dust laced with mutant bait nearby, and the smell-driven lizard mutants were now smashing the rubble in frenzy.

Blood in the air sent them into overdrive.

"Lucky for us, the Empire hijacked those coordinates midway—or we’d never have sniffed out this rat hole."

"But it doesn't matter. Everyone already thinks you're dead. Dying now would still be on schedule—and next, it'll be your third team."

Ji Yuan of the Gesen Empire cut into Lai Te's comms, laughing mockingly.

"Weren’t you always going on about being 'Saint-something'? Why still go by 'Sacred Territory'? Weird—but whatever, not my problem."

After speaking,

Ji Yuan glanced at his teammates around him.

"These monsters will finish them off. Let's go."

Meanwhile, the Sacred Territory squad was immediately overwhelmed.

"Captain! What do we do?"

"Captain—"

They were dead—trapped by this many beasts in this stone cave, they would truly die—unless by a miracle.

But—

Lai Te gritted his teeth.

"Battle stations—we fight for our land, for Saint Cas, for the crown we’ve never seen—"

A name that lived only in Sacred Territory’s people’s hearts.

Why didn’t they call themselves Saint Cas, instead naming themselves Sacred Territory?

Lai Te had once heard the elders tell such stories—they hailed from Saint Cas, a glorious empire, their homeland. For generations, they’d yearned for it. Above their heads hung the Sacred Crown, a place they would defend with their lives, a place worth dying to return to—passed down even to their generation.

But they were weak—how could they shame Saint Cas?

Meanwhile, the Sacred Territory's third squad, still halfway on their journey, pushed onward. They had already searched one coordinate point and were now searching frantically.

Finn suddenly looked up.

Chao Huangmu, sitting beside Chu Zao, reached for his weapon.

Chu Zao, who had been digging through Chao Huangmu’s pack for food, also jerked his head up, his curls quivering.

The Longlived race’s sharp senses drew a sneer from Finn: "Feels like a whole pack of beasts out there."

Too far away to sense anything, the Sacred Territory trio stared blankly at their mech readouts.

"Huh?"