Gradually, the participants started finding various excuses to quit the tournament, then the legion commanders each found reasons to leave too. There was no particular reason, but they couldn't afford to lose face!

"General, our contestant isn't feeling well. I'll take him for a check-up, and we'll drop out of the remaining matches."

"General, my wife's suddenly gone into labor. I need to return to my civilization to see her. I'll leave for a few days and come back after sorting things out."

"General, my father just passed away. I'm going back to handle the funeral."

...

With the fighting power Zhang Menglong's subordinates were displaying, who the hell could beat them? Surviving was already pretty good; they were bound to lose anyway, so there was no point in staying here.

Who knows if they even have wives, and their fathers might have been dead for god knows how many years? Anyway, finding a reason to slip away was the right thing to do!

"Huh? Why is everyone leaving?" Zhang Menglong turned around to find more than half the people were gone. "The tournament isn't over yet!"

Do you not have a clue why everyone is leaving in your heart?

The legion commanders felt a bit embarrassed. If they didn't leave, should they stay here and face social suicide? Did they really have to watch as their legion contestants were one by one defeated by Zhang Menglong's team?

This was a tournament astonishing enough to leave even Level Six Life Forms slack-jawed. In the end, Oberon won by a narrow margin, successfully maintaining the third-from-last spot for Legion IPX-001.

"Hahaha, I lost!"

Unexpectedly, Olenia, who lost the match, bore a smile as if he had won the match.

"Oberon, by the end of the tournament, the third-from-last spot in the legion will be mine!"

Hearing Olenia's words, Oberon immediately pulled a frustrated face. He didn't doubt Olenia's words. Training in Zhang Menglong's legion for a day was equivalent to millions, or even thousands of years. This tournament would last one or two more days, and by then Olenia would likely surpass him.

"Too hasty, should've gone easy!" Oberon clenched his fists silently.

There were originally more than 3000 contestants, but this one battle scared off almost half, and ninety percent of the remaining ones chose to forfeit. This unexpectedly became the quickest-ending tournament in the history of the Universe Seven Legion competition!

What was supposed to be an intense competition turned into a sweep by Legion IPX-001. Since their strength had been exposed, there was no need to hide anymore. Two contestants from Legion IPX-001 met directly in the finals in a sweeping posture.

Who would have thought that the finals of the Legion Tournament would be a battle between the third-last and last-place teams!

Even so, their battle was incredibly spectacular.

"If I ended up in their legion, I might accidentally get killed," was the thought in each contestant's mind.

...

"I announce, the final champion of this tournament is Oberon from Legion IPX-001!"

Oberon, who claimed the champion title, showed no signs of joy on his face, but rather looked as if he'd lost his parents, since he knew full well that back in the legion, he might be only the second-to-last.

"Oberon, you've done well!" As General, Luo Ze naturally had to say some pleasantries. He awarded medals to Zhang Menglong and Oberon, making other legion commanders and contestants extremely envious. This time, their Legion IPX-001 had shone brightly.

From now on, no one would dare to mock them as cannon fodder among the cannon fodder.

"Oberon, as this champion, do you have any future goals?" Luo Ze asked.

"General, my goal is to maintain the third-from-last position in our legion, and try for the fourth-from-last!" Oberon said seriously.

The whole martial arts arena was petrified. What kind of grandiose Versailles moment is this? The new recruits' tournament champion says his goal is to maintain third-from-last, aiming for fourth-from-last?

The whole Legion IPX-001 has about a billion warriors, right? If the third-from-last is this strong, how outrageous must the others be?

Previous battles were all recorded and analyzed. Oberon's strength score exceeded 5000, and his speed over 3800. He could hold his own even among squad leader levels in various legions.

In other words, was everyone in Legion IPX-001 this strong?

A legion composed of a billion warriors comparable to Level Six Life Forms, once on the battlefield, would undoubtedly be a terrifying force.

"Menglong, the soldiers you've mentored are excellent." Luo Ze had known that Zhang Menglong could surprise him, but didn't expect to be shocked instead.

"Congratulations, Commander Zhang, we've had our eyes opened today."

"Commander Zhang, we would like to visit your legion, if it's possible?"

Witnessing such formidable subordinates, they were even more curious about Zhang Menglong's legion—what kind of legion could cultivate such powerful warriors.

"Menglong, I'm also very interested in your legion," said Luo Ze.

"Sure, you can visit tomorrow, I will guide everyone through our Legion IPX-001!"

...

Although there was no day-night change on the extramundane battlefield, there was a fixed time. During the troop's morning training on the next day, Luo Ze took over a dozen legion commanders to visit the IPX-001 legion's base.

The whole legion was wrapped in high-grade optical camouflage from the outside, making it impossible to see inside. Only by entering the legion could one see what it actually was.

"Welcome, everyone, to our Legion IPX-001," Zhang Menglong was already waiting for them outside the camp.

"Menglong, we're ready to be amazed today," Luo Ze said with a smile.

"Rest assured, I definitely won't let you down."

As they passed through the optical camouflage, everyone's pupils instantly enlarged several times.

This was a neatly sectioned camp split into four zones: living area, entertainment area, training area, and education area.

What they saw first was the life zone full of design aesthetic, built to the highest standards of a Level Five Peak civilization's affluent district. The lavish design, the extravagant materials made it hard to believe it was a military camp!

Actually, the accommodations for soldiers in other legions were also quite decent, all built under the full-auto intelligent standard over 200 square meters per person, but compared to the IPX-001 legion, the difference was stark.

The entertainment area featured all kinds of entertainment facilities: arcades, restaurants, snack streets...

"Is this really your legion?" This place looks more like the center of a civilization's city!

"Commander Zhang, our troop's resources are short to begin with. Using so many resources to build such living conditions is wasteful."

"One can't say that," Zhang Menglong said, "As the saying goes, 'To do something well, one must first sharpen their tools.' If the basic living conditions for warriors aren't assured, how to fight? Moreover, none of these were requisitioned from our Universe Seven; I didn't take a dime from us."

"Then how did you build all this?"

"It's simple," Zhang Menglong said, "Built with resources we plundered!"

"Plundered? How so?"

It was just then that a small team of a few thousand people, grumbling, returned from outside.

The leader was Liu Yi, and the rest should be new recruits.

"Damn it, Universe 98 is so ungrateful. We're doing them a favor by taking their supplies, just taking a hundred years' worth. Annoy me and I'll wipe out their entire Base City!"