I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 228: Chapter 196: Requesting a Slot, Reward Obtained

After dinner, Su Ze returned to his room to plan for the upcoming period.

The main things he had to look forward to were the rewards from his school and the Sovereign Country.

The reward from the Sovereign Country was especially noteworthy, as it included a Tier 4 wondrous object that would significantly boost his combat strength.

’Tomorrow, I need to go see Mr. Zhou and talk to him about the Divine Dice slots.’

Su Ze hadn’t brought this up before because he hadn’t yet won the team championship. Now that the title was his—and won single-handedly at that—he felt more confident asking for one of the slots. After all, he had earned three of them for the Dongli Kingdom.

’Once I secure a slot, the next step is to absorb the extractions in my body as quickly as possible and then push for the Butterfly Stage!’

He had to reach the Butterfly Stage to even qualify for the Divine Dice. Otherwise, the slot would be useless.

’After completing my third evolution, if there’s still time, I need to make a trip to the Royal Hunting Ground and get a Tier 4 S-rank extraction.’

Competing in the Divine Dice against seasoned Butterfly Stage experts right after his own breakthrough would be incredibly stressful. If he could absorb a Tier 4 S-rank extraction and gain a powerful new skill beforehand, Su Ze’s chances would be much higher.

With that, his plan for the near future was crystal clear.

First, secure a Divine Dice slot. Second, break through to the Butterfly Stage. Third, go to the Royal Hunting Ground to acquire a Tier 4 S-rank extraction.

His mind clear, Su Ze drifted into a deep sleep.

...

While Su Ze was coveting a slot for the Divine Dice, the upper echelons of the Dongli Kingdom were agonizing over how to allocate them.

The four Guardian Gods of Dongli launched an emergency video conference that very night to discuss the allocation of the Divine Dice slots.

”Everything’s happening too fast! We’re completely unprepared for this!” Gu Chengguang said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

They had previously assumed the Divine Dice wouldn’t activate until the end of the year. By then, both Gu Yue’Er and Li Yongguan would have likely completed their third evolution, and they had planned to choose one of them to enter.

Between the two, they were leaning toward Gu Yue’er, whose aptitude was actually superior to Li Yongguan’s.

The Divine Dice was a mystical place. Only evolvers at the Butterfly Stage could enter, but greater strength didn’t necessarily guarantee a greater advantage inside.

Strength was certainly useful, but it wasn’t the deciding factor.

Talent was equally important.

Once the Divine Dice activated, it would roll six times—one for each of its faces. Those inside would have to face six trials.

Some of these trials tested strength, while others focused on different aspects like talent, skill, or combat experience.

Based on past experience, the people of the Lin Hua Continent had concluded that the Divine Dice tended to favor younger evolvers.

Take Mrs. Yun, for example. Despite being at the Peak of Butterfly Transformation, she was too old. If she entered the Divine Dice, there was no telling if she would even make it out alive.

Of course, sending someone young but too weak was also a bad idea. Setting aside the risk of dying in the trials themselves, there was also inevitable conflict among the participants.

The weak were likely to be killed by other contestants.

They didn’t need to be overwhelmingly powerful, but they at least needed the ability to protect themselves.

That was why, when considering candidates for the Divine Dice, every country prioritized young, exceptionally talented geniuses with respectable strength.

This was, of course, due to the scarcity of slots. The Dongli Kingdom originally had only one, leaving them to choose between geniuses like Gu Yue’Er or Li Yongguan.

Certain factions in the Sovereign Country, as well as the Ancient An Country, always had at least two slots. They could afford to select one young genius and one expert at the Peak of Butterfly Transformation who was as young as possible.

Such a combination was a safer bet.

In the ”Dongli Guardian Gods” group chat, Gu Chengguang spoke during the video conference. ”I originally planned to give the slot to Yue’er. Then Su Ze appeared out of nowhere. His talent is even more incredible than hers, making him an even better candidate. But now the Divine Dice is activating ahead of schedule, completely ruining my plans...”

It was already late April, and the Divine Dice would likely activate in May. But both Su Ze and Gu Yue’Er were still in the Cocoon Stage.

Time was too short. It seemed neither Su Ze nor Gu Yue’Er would be ready for the Divine Dice.

Gu Chengguang had already started considering other candidates, but then Su Ze gave him a huge surprise by winning three more slots for Dongli!

Choosing a candidate for a single slot had already been a headache. Now, with four slots, Gu Chengguang was experiencing four times the headache.

On one hand, he was thrilled that Dongli had so many slots for the first time. On the other, he was worried they didn’t have enough suitable candidates.

Ning Yushen said nonchalantly, ”What’s the headache? More slots is a good thing. Are you telling me we can’t find four qualified Butterfly Stage evolvers in all of Dongli? Mr. Gu, just pull up a list of all our Butterfly Stage evolvers. The four of us can each pick one, and we’ll be done with it.”

Gu Chengguang gave a wry smile. ”You make it sound so simple. The Divine Dice is activating early and with more slots—this is clearly an unusual situation. With greater opportunity comes greater risk. If we choose our candidates poorly, they could all end up dead inside.”

Zhou Wenshan nodded. ”In the past, the death rate for evolvers entering the Divine Dice was around thirty percent. Now that more slots have been opened, it’s highly likely even more people will die!”

Li Fa stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression stern. ”The sons and daughters of Dongli have never feared sacrifice!”

Zhou Wenshan’s eyes widened. ’What a brute!’ he cursed internally, but he continued his analysis. ”Haven’t you all noticed? With these extra slots, the Sovereign Country increased the allocation ratio for the six kingdoms. That alone should tell you something.”