“Understood…” Ye Chong, the white-gloved man, said slowly. “Simply put — to avoid elimination, you must ensure you don’t die, don’t fall into a trap, and don’t get touched by an upper-tier animal’s Predation Key.”

“That’s right!” The wooden ball was delighted. Several more sprouting branches burst from its surface, lush and flourishing. “Exactly so!”

The three elimination rules were:

One, death.

Two, falling into a trap.

Three, being touched by a Predation Key.

“Besides the elimination rules, there are a few more points of procedure that need to be explained to you.” The ball continued. “First, regarding food: drones will drop food and water every day at noon sharp. The drop zone is where you are all standing right now.

Second, every animal in the park has its own habitat — that is to say, a safe house! When an animal is located within its own safe house, no other animal may launch an attack. Not even an animal higher in the food chain!

And lastly, this game has a time limit of 30 days. If a winner cannot be determined after 30 days, both teams will be eliminated simultaneously~”

The ball rolled a circle between the two groups, its voice clear and crisp:

“The battle officially begins at dawn tomorrow morning. You have ample time to familiarize yourselves with the terrain and practice the various functions on your wristbands. If there are any remaining questions, feel free to raise them now~”

“During predation, may items be used?” Ye Chong asked.

Although the question was directed at the supervisor, his dark, deep-set eyes were fixed on Bai Youwei and Shen Mo, carrying within them a hint of anticipation — or perhaps the excitement of a hunter before the chase.

The ball replied with a grin: “Of course you may~ There are no restrictions whatsoever on the method of predation — provided your food chain rank is higher than the target you’re hunting.”

On the other side, Bai Youwei asked: “How many players can a single trap hold at maximum?”

The wooden ball swayed its branches and leaves, laughing: “For you to have noticed that detail — one would almost say you’re not unworthy of being…”

Its words cut off. It remembered that supervisors were supposed to treat all players equally — at least in outward appearance, there could be no favoritism.

The ball adjusted its tone: “Ahem~ One would say that you’re not unworthy of being… not unworthy of having the proper mindset to begin the game. All of you — are you starting to feel the tension right now?”

Bai Youwei: “…”

The ball continued: “Each trap can hold one player at maximum — so if all the traps are full, the remaining animals need not worry about falling into a trap~! Alright, any more questions? Anyone?”

No one spoke.

The ball chuckled: “Then everyone may collect their food and prepare for tomorrow’s battle game~”

It rolled away, wobbling and spinning.

It rolled seven or eight meters, then rolled back two meters and said: “Oh right — although it seems like it should go without saying, just to be safe… I should still remind certain parties: before the battle officially begins, any violent, attacking, or harmful behavior is not permitted and will result in immediate elimination from the game.”

With those words said, the ball finally rolled off.

The 16 players were left standing where they were.

After a brief silence, everyone began spontaneously gathering up the food from the ground.

The food was packed in neat square black boxes, dropped from above by the drones. Inside were bread, crackers, milk, water, and one small apple.

The variety looked plentiful, but the portions were extremely meager.

For example, the milk was only 150ml, the crackers only three pieces, the bread merely a palm-sized little lump. The water, however, was quite sufficient — 850ml.

These provisions were just enough to sustain an adult’s energy for one day — carbohydrates, sugars, fats, proteins, and so on, all basically accounted for.

There were exactly 16 black boxes in total — one per person.

If you didn’t want to go hungry, you had to arrive at noon every day to collect your food. Otherwise, once food was seized by the opposing side, you’d be going hungry while having to deal with them.

Bai Youwei naturally had no need to worry about food — but she also had no intention of watching the other side eat their fill. So the food that was hers to take, she still intended to take.

—