If in the research institute, using data to speculate about Jiang Kai's strength only made Lu Jun curious about him, then seeing Jiang Kai's style in action truly piqued Lu Jun's interest in this newcomer.

When Lu Jun looked at Jiang Kai again, there was a hint of admiration in his eyes.

This guy is indeed a bit reckless, but he has the blood of a soldier!

However, if today's events were reported in detail to the Commander, who knows what the boss would think of him.

Huang Wei had already been killed offline, and although Huang Da was furious, he hadn't completely lost his reason and didn't make a move against Jiang Kai.

The strength Jiang Kai displayed during the kill finally dispelled some people's doubts. Regardless of how he got his strength, he indeed possessed formidable power.

"Old Xia, the awards!" Lu Jun reminded, snapping Xia Tao out of his daze, and he began to present the rewards to the top five.

The award ceremony at the eighteenth Login Gate became somewhat awkward.

When awarding Huang Wei, Huang Da accepted it on his behalf.

No one expected that during the award presentation, the first place would directly kill the fourth place...

"Come on, everyone, let's take a group photo. This picture needs to be preserved in the history museum," Xia Tao organized the final process.

"Huang Da, smile more naturally, and move a bit closer."

Xia Tao raised his watch and completed the shot.

Then he projected the photo.

In the photo, Jiang Kai stood in the center, with Su Nuannuan and Yuan Zhu close to him, while Huang Da and Ji Lixing stood on the far sides.

Everyone else wore slightly shy, genuine smiles... except for Huang Da, whose smile was stiff. His eyes weren't looking at the camera; instead, they were glaring at Jiang Kai beside him, almost shooting flames.

With a stiff smile and a gloomy gaze, Huang Da looked very unphotogenic in the picture.

...

According to the rules, after the Newcomer Trial ends, one must report to their designated area on the same day.

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Jiang Kai and his group completed the trial on the last day, leaving no time to wander around the main city of China City. They had to hastily follow Xia Tao to District Eighteen.

Looking back at the towering city, Yuan Zhu sighed and said, "It's said that there was no China City here before; it was the territory of beasts. It was the continuous efforts of our predecessors that drove the beasts away and built China City brick by brick."

Jiang Kai couldn't help but look at China City as well.

In the Calling, only by building a city can the area be free from beasts.

But the beasts won't allow humans to seize their territory, launching wave after wave of fierce attacks during the city's construction.

After many failures, people finally learned the method of city building.

Building a city requires completing three steps.

First, control the number of beasts around the city site to avoid being overwhelmed during an attack.

Second, preemptively kill all level bosses in the area. If a leader leads the beast tide, the defense difficulty increases significantly. Boss-level beasts don't respawn, so they must be killed in advance.

Third, withstand the beast tide's attack and complete the city construction.

There might be a fourth point: after the city is built, continue to clear out the beasts. But as long as the first three points are completed, the fourth is not difficult.

China City is the largest main city of China on Ghost Star, with an area of 1.2 million square meters, housing the most elite players, top forces, and core strength of China City!

After experiencing the Newcomer Trial, Jiang Kai gained further understanding of the game's difficulty in the Calling.

Imagine when the Login Gate to Ghost Star first opened, how many challenges those soldiers faced to build such a city in the unknown.

How many times did they have to experience death, identical to reality!

Unconsciously, Jiang Kai felt a genuine sense of respect for the city gradually fading from view.

Of course, Jiang Kai's primary goal now is still to make money.

The so-called reporting is actually identity binding, allowing future direct login to the bound main city through the Login Gate.

District Eighteen is the territory of River City, located southwest of the main city of China. Since the newcomers hadn't completed the reporting, they couldn't teleport directly and had to take a horse-drawn flatbed from the station, traveling for several hours.

The horses used at the station are a third larger than Earth's horses, similar in appearance, but covered in fur, referred to as "long-haired horses" by the Calling players.

Six carriages, carrying over thirty newcomers, sped along the rugged road.

Along the way, they passed through dense forests, valleys, lakes, swamps, and ashlands... From afar, they could see cities of various sizes.

Though not as majestic as China City, they stood tall between heaven and earth.

Xia Tao, riding with Jiang Kai and the others, saw them looking around and smiled slightly, "This is an occupied area, thoroughly swept several times, with almost no beasts. No need to worry."

A newcomer asked, "Brother Xia, how do the beasts here compare to those in the Newcomer Trial area?"

"Trial area? Hahaha, you'll find out soon enough how adorable those little guys in the trial area are."

Thinking his answer might hurt the newcomers' confidence, Xia Tao added, "But the beasts in the trial area don't drop items, unlike those outside."

"The stronger the beast, the better equipment can be made from their corpses, and there's Nuclear Soil, the first choice for civilian players to get rich."

"There are countless hidden places, strange lands, and secrets waiting for you to explore here! Even though the Calling has been open for fifty years, the total area occupied worldwide is less than one ten-thousandth of Ghost Star's area."

"I'm no longer involved in pioneering. The task of exploring and occupying Ghost Star falls on you young people."

Sure enough, after Xia Tao's introduction, excitement appeared in the newcomers' eyes.

The Calling, changing fate! They were now part of the army of millions of players.

The journey was long, and in the boredom, Xia Tao looked at Jiang Kai and the others, "Aren't you going to check your rewards?"

This also piqued the curiosity of those in the same carriage.

"Yeah, Jiang Kai, show us what the attributes of a Grade One, Five-Rank equipment are. It's said the reward attributes for the Newcomer Trial are carefully selected."

"Yeah, let us see, your reward is specially approved."

"Yuan Zhu and Nuannuan, you should check yours too. I've never seen a Grade A reward."

Jiang Kai glanced at Yuan Zhu and Nuannuan, who were looking at their "reward cards."

"Let's take a look then, I want to see too," Yuan Zhu said, opening his reward card.

Upon activation, a box appeared in front of him, made of some kind of redwood, dark red throughout, about 30 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide, with a meticulously carved Nine Dragons pattern on the surface.

In the center of the Nine Dragons was carved "Newcomer Trial Special Reward."

Taking a deep breath, Yuan Zhu opened the box.