[Countdown five… four…]

“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!”

Everyone outside the square shouted in unison, erupting into a deafening cheer the moment the countdown ended.

All the virtual screens flashed white, and a middle-aged beta man, dressed in a suit with slicked-back hair, appeared on the broadcast.

“Family of N2781, good evening!”
“Tonight is once again our quarterly carnival. The old rules still apply—once the game starts, you can kill anyone on the streets!”
“The rules are very simple: everyone carries a score tracker. Killing one person earns you one point. For every hundred points accumulated, you enter the next zone, and so on. Once your score reaches one thousand, you enter the final zone to carve up tonight’s grand prize!”

As he spoke, the virtual screen projected a certain square in the center of the city, piled high with countless gold bars—a literal mountain of gold.

This scene made everyone restless and agitated.

In the crowded backstage changing room, a burly male beta put on a lion dance costume.

“I heard Admiral Meng is going to take over the Tianjiang Constellation next month?”
“Yeah, it’s time for the transition. I wonder who will take over here.”
“Who knows, this might be our last carnival.”

Another beta, sitting in front of a vanity mirror adjusting his hair and makeup, chimed in: “Anyway, it has nothing to do with small fries like us. If we can’t find work here, we’ll just go somewhere else to take jobs.”

Li Xiao sat to the left of the beta, listening to their disjointed discussion while imitating the beta’s actions, sticking flashy decorations onto his clothes.

The Admiral Meng they were talking about was Meng Jian, born into a major aristocratic family of the Danse Empire. He was one of the five admirals in the military holding actual power, currently in charge of the Nanming Constellation.
According to the rule that the admiral in charge rotates every eight years, barring any accidents, Meng Jian would switch to the Tianjiang Constellation next month—the heart of the Danse Empire, and the constellation where the imperial capital was located.

In his previous life, shortly after taking over the Tianjiang Constellation, Meng Jian started causing trouble, secretly intensifying racial conflicts and sparking endless wars everywhere.
In just half a year, a full-scale civil war broke out.
Legions, local garrisons, civilian rebel organizations, illegal military groups, and other factions plunged into chaotic, indiscriminate slaughter. A massive number of inhabited planets suffered devastating bombardments.
After that, members of the royal family were successively assassinated by so-called “reactionaries,” and even the King was not spared.

When Li Xiao received the news and risked his life to rush back to the palace, he was only in time to see the King for the last time.
He spent six years quelling the war, taking over a riddle-ridden, broken mess.
His relatives had all passed away, and his important comrades had died in battle one by one. By the time he came back to his senses, he was all alone, and the truth behind many events had sunk into the ocean with the deaths of key figures.

A rapid knocking on the door interrupted Li Xiao’s train of thought.
A masked guard in black roughly pushed the door open, holding a rifle barrel: “Hurry up! The grand ceremony is about to begin, don’t dawdle!”

Without waiting for everyone to reply, he had already rushed to the next changing room.
The few of them didn’t dare to chat idly anymore, hurriedly grabbing their performance props and preparing to set out.

The beta who had finished his makeup did a final check in the mirror. Seeing the alpha sitting on his right stand up, he couldn’t help but look up and take a second glance: “Young man, you look really handsome. I haven’t seen you before, are you new here?”

Li Xiao followed them out: “Yeah, a temp worker, here to make some quick money.”
Seeing that Li Xiao was tall and sturdy, only about seventeen or eighteen years old, and didn’t act like a child from a poor family, the beta asked tentatively: “Earning pocket money?”
Li Xiao: “Tuition fees.”

Running to a place like this at such a young age to earn tuition fees—there must have been a major incident in his family.
Overflowing with fatherly love, the beta took the initiative to instruct Li Xiao on performance details and things to look out for.

The corridor was packed with people, all performers waiting to do the lion dance at the grand ceremony’s opening. The various colors of the costumes were dazzling.
Masked guards in black on both sides of the corridor were shouting at the top of their lungs, urging them to speed up.

The beta reminded Li Xiao in a low voice: “Little bro, remember, once we enter, you must stick close to the main group. If you get separated, you’ll lose your life!”
Li Xiao casually agreed, looking out of the building through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Night had fallen over the entire city. Countless virtual screens, large and small, floated between the buildings. Various AI broadcasters with exaggerated, twisted expressions were excitedly saying something.
Under the colorful lights and shadows, dilapidated buildings stood at uneven heights. The rusted iron frames next to the streetlamps were tangled with messy wires, and the streets were narrow and dirty. All sorts of people stood by the road, looking at the virtual screens and shouting with excitement.

This was going to be a carnival themed around a massacre.

This was N2781, a planet in the Nanming Constellation, located at the border between the Danse Empire and the Holy Ya Empire, an area that had historically been subject to sovereignty disputes.
But the natural resources of this small planet were depleted, so both countries were passive in fighting for sovereignty. Later, some illegal gangs exploited the loophole, building nests and taking root here.

There was no law on N2781, only rules made by the major gangs.
The largest gang, Ghost Dragon, controlled the most prosperous District 3 and was the organizer of this grand ceremony. Having amassed huge assets through illegal industrial chains over the years, they were the undisputed local tyrants of N2781.

No one could have imagined that this District 3 was simultaneously a secret outpost established by Meng Jian on the border.

The massive lion dance troupe passed through the inspection area in sequence, orderly entering the square to wait.
Li Xiao was at the back of the line. Not long after, a burly alpha carrying a black lion head walked up to him and stopped. He looked to be in his thirties, and the messy greasepaint all over his face couldn’t hide his blade-like gaze.

Li Xiao asked in a low voice: “Where are your people?”
Jiang Chi: “They’re all in.”

Li Xiao heard some young new members in the lion dance troupe whispering.
“Is the killing real or fake? What kind of grand ceremony is this, it’s too terrifying!”
“Kill anyone on the street? Then what about us?!”
“Don’t worry, it only starts after the lion dance troupe leaves. They won’t lock us in here.”

On the giant screen, the middle-aged beta said playfully, “This time, we are also offering the VIPs watching the carnival a chance to place bets. The betting channel will close after the lion dance performance ends, so be sure to hurry up.”

Li Xiao’s gaze swept across a few tall buildings nearby and in the distance. Those were the viewing towers; the so-called VIPs would watch the entire massacre from those places.
According to the rules of the game, VIPs were also within the scope of being massacred, but the buildings would have a certain level of restrictions set up. Players without firearms had almost no possibility of breaking in.
For VIPs seeking thrills, this immersive experience was filled with deadly temptation.

“VIPs who bet on the winner will also receive an extra mystery grand prize!” The middle-aged beta took out a vial of dark red reagent from a box. “Last time, we prepared the phalanx bone of the Dale tribe’s patriarch. This time, it’s the blood of the Bique tribe’s shaman!”
“Legend has it that drinking the blood of the Bique tribe’s shaman can drastically increase one’s pheromone level, and can even extend one’s lifespan…”

Hearing “Bique tribe,” Li Xiao looked back at the giant screen, somewhat astonished.
Even a tribe as small as the Bique tribe had been targeted by them.
The omega who gave birth to him was from the Bique tribe. A coincidence?

Standing next to Li Xiao, Jiang Chi noticed the change in his expression. Feeling somewhat uncertain, he lowered his voice and asked: “Ghost Dragon has deployed many stealth drones, the surveillance network is airtight. We don’t have any tools on us, how are we going to operate right under their noses? Can you actually do this?”
Passing through the inspection area before entering, they couldn’t bring anything in except for necessary communication tools.

Listening to the middle-aged beta on the giant screen boasting about the blood’s unique value, Li Xiao scanned the sky above: “Stealth? I see them perfectly clearly.”

Jiang Chi looked up and around, unable to help but doubt his life choices.
Keep bragging, why haven’t I seen a single one!

Half a month ago, this noble kid claiming to hold a grudge against Ghost Dragon came knocking, asking for cooperation. He said he had a way to crush Ghost Dragon and let their Snow Leopard gang take over District 3, becoming the number one gang on N2781.
At the time, he didn’t know if the temptation was too great or if his brain was stuffed with shit, but after being duped by this kid, he foolishly nodded his head. Thinking about it now, he only felt regret.
Running bare-handed into the rival’s territory to cause trouble—wasn’t this just thinking he’d lived too long?

Seeing Jiang Chi looking somewhat uneasy, Li Xiao took the lion head from his hand: “No rush, let’s do the lion dance first, and wait for the wind to come.”
Jiang Chi: “…”
Acting so calm, making it sound like the wind will definitely come.

During the performance, the lion dance troupe would pass right in front of the tallest viewing tower. Ghost Dragon’s top executives and the control center for all electronic equipment were located there.
Li Xiao slacked off while mingling with the main group, observing the defensive situation around the tall building through the lion head’s open mouth.
The stealth drones that would obstruct their operation were located at the three o’clock, seven o’clock, and eleven o’clock positions respectively, leaving quite a few blind spots in surveillance.
There were eight guards on the first floor and two ten-person patrol squads, but these people would all enter the tall building once things officially started.

While observing, Li Xiao rapidly simulated the invasion route in his mind.

Just as he was about to lift his left foot, someone suddenly stepped on it. Li Xiao reacted in time, which prevented him from falling over, but Jiang Chi, acting as the lion’s tail, had limited vision and crashed headfirst into Li Xiao’s back.
Hearing Jiang Chi cursing, Li Xiao shot a sidelong glance to the left. In the blink of an eye, his foot was stepped on two more times.

The originally steady big red lion had disappeared, replaced by a rippling golden lion with extremely exaggerated movements. The lion’s head and tail were shaking rapidly; the small space was completely insufficient for it to show off.
This attention-seeker was clearly not a professional.
His stepped-on foot was burning with pain. If this continued, Li Xiao could easily get distracted, and a moment of inattention would lead to a messy fall.

When the golden lion lifted that overly energetic foot again, he stepped on the other party’s foot first, leaving the other party with no foot to step on.
The golden lion stumbled and violently lowered its head to look at the stepped-on foot.

Li Xiao didn’t know if the two people controlling the golden lion were Jiang Chi’s subordinates. He kicked them again, hinting for them to behave.

There were only the last five minutes of the lion dance performance left; after it ended, everyone would have to leave the venue.
Li Xiao slowed his pace and paid attention to the movements nearby. Inadvertently, he saw the golden lion behind him aggressively shove through the pack of lions, charging over furiously.

Li Xiao: “…”
He even held a grudge.

Jiang Chi was already feeling very unconfident about the upcoming operation, and now someone had come over to cause trouble. He was so angry he kicked the golden lion’s butt askew.
Dropping the ball at the critical moment—I’ve usually been too nice to these little brats!

He hadn’t expected the golden lion to counterattack with a merciless kick, almost sending Jiang Chi tumbling to the ground.
Alright, you even dare to hit the boss!

The golden lion and the black lion completely devolved into a brawl. Li Xiao took the opportunity to stall the performance time, kicking several surrounding lions amidst the chaos to drag them down with him.
Jiang Chi’s subordinates couldn’t figure out the situation. Thinking this was the boss’s order, they also joined the fray.
The battle circle continuously expanded, turning into a chaotic mess, even livelier than a normal performance.

The agreed-upon time had arrived, but the lion dance troupe still hadn’t reached the designated position.
The guards stationed at the exit blew their whistles, urging the lion dance troupe to speed up.

“Where’s the wind?” Jiang Chi asked in a low voice.
Li Xiao followed at the very back of the procession, watching the lions ahead exit one by one. He planned to take advantage of the chaos to dive into the low buildings by the road and lie in ambush, waiting for the right moment.
Once the game started, restrictions would be activated at all exits; it would be difficult to sneak back in after leaving.

A faint vibration in the air suddenly reached his ears. Li Xiao violently looked up at the night sky.
Under the pitch-black night, the outline of a spaceship emerged.

“It’s here.”