My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 237 Blue Arc and Mu Long, The Day of Revenge (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

August 2nd, 9:30 AM, in the square in the center of Lijing City.

Gu Wenyu opened his eyes inside the enormous, pitch-black pupa.

A fierce wind swept over the city. He was hanging upside down on the surface of a skyscraper, but the glass curtain wall did not reflect his figure because the restraints binding his body were in a chameleon-like state.

One minute from now, the annual Outcast Awards ceremony will officially begin.

The event was held in the heart of the bustling city center, where a large temporary stage was set up in the square. Media seating and an audience area were arranged below the stage.

The central city area was packed with people. Looking around, even the nearby streets were completely crowded.

To prevent the scene from becoming too chaotic and causing uncivilized behavior such as stampedes, traffic police were blowing whistles and loudly directing traffic, their faces flushed. The honking of car horns and the clamor of the crowd were deafening and never stopped.

The stage in the center of the square was still empty, but the special guest seats were already full of people. Invited media from all sides carried cameras and microphones and sat in their seats with expectant looks on their faces.

A light drizzle had just passed through Lijing, leaving the sky a melancholy, cool hue, and the city's asphalt roads covered in a damp, blue sheen. The cumulonimbus clouds hadn't yet dispersed, and the wind blowing from them carried a damp, salty scent.

Despite the less-than-ideal weather today, it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the onlookers in the slightest; the cacophony of conversations drowned out the world.

This is a once-in-a-decade moment of glory. The association did not officially announce this year's "Outlier of the Year," but everyone present knew perfectly well which Outlier would win the "Outlier of the Year" medal at this 20th anniversary celebration.

So Blue Arc's fans flocked to the scene early in the morning with cameras and support signs, and probably six, seven, or eight out of ten of the onlookers were Blue Arc's fans.

One of them was holding a drawing board with a painting on it, which was clearly the painting that Black Chrysalis had given away for free in the center of the square a few days ago: a silver-swallowing hamster bravely attacking with a blue arc battery in its mouth, its body crackling with silver electricity.

"Brother's influence is as terrifying as ever," Black Chrysalis sighed. "No wonder he's a national idol who appeals to all ages. He's cut off the path for all those new-age stars."

He turned his head and silently watched the scene reflected in the glass curtain wall. The crowds on the street were as dense as migrating ants.

At this moment, thanks to Black Chrysalis's reminder at the hospital, the four members of the Ghost Train group are rushing towards the venue;

Just now, after controlling the black pupa to arrive at the scene first, Ji Minghuan casually found a place to hang, then closed his eyes and took some time to accompany Ayase Origami on a cable car ride in the mountains of Bergen.

Unit 2 and the young lady fell asleep in the cable car, allowing him to focus on Unit 1's affairs.

"Why am I so busy?" Ji Minghuan calculated with his fingers. "The Little Garden incident is over, Unit 2 and Unit 3 are on vacation, but Unit 1 is busy again; I'm the only one who hasn't had a vacation from beginning to end."

At that moment, he suddenly felt like the most caring boss in the world, arranging a full vacation for every machine, only to find out in the end that he was the one who died suddenly in the office.

Shaking its head, Black Chrysalis sadly dismissed its chaotic thoughts and closed its eyes. The restraints activated all its senses, like a giant net covering the city center, revealing the brightly lit squares in their entirety, even the birds darting between the cables couldn't escape.

Shortly after, with a "snap," dozens of spotlights shone down.

The stage, which had taken a day and a night to set up, finally lit up. Thousands of LED billboards embedded in skyscrapers also lit up simultaneously, broadcasting the scene on stage.

In the stillness of the night, the mayor, dressed in a formal suit, stepped onto the stage.

He stopped on the podium, coughed twice, spread out his speech notes, and began to deliver some formulaic, perfunctory remarks that made everyone drowsy.

Then, she mentioned that everyone should pay more attention to the recent rising stars of the metamorphosis, such as the Zodiac and the Beluga...

At this point in the introduction, information about these rising stars appeared on the large screen behind them. Focusing on supporting newcomers is now a development strategy for the Chinese branch.

After all, in recent years, people's attention has mostly been focused on the top figures in the association, and few people have paid attention to the newcomers who are just starting out.

Furthermore, a large portion of the salaries of those who follow the outsider's path within the association comes from sales revenue sharing of fan-oriented products, which results in some newcomers earning pitifully low wages.

In order to survive, they either become people who rely on extreme images to attract attention, with only traffic and popularity in their eyes, and before each fight with criminals, they have to pick up a selfie stick to start a live broadcast and strike a standard finishing move in front of the camera to finish.

Or, over time, they lose confidence in themselves and choose to resign voluntarily, never to step into the world of outcasts again.

Therefore, in response to the abnormal ecosystem of a lack of successors within the association, the association's senior management applied for several salary subsidies for newcomers and outliers, while reducing resource allocation to top-level outliers.

They were all worried that once the popular veterans like Blue Arc and Silver Swallow retired, the association's financial situation would plummet. Therefore, creating a new generation of heroic figures became a top priority.

Even at an awards ceremony aimed at seniors, the mayor has to cater to the association's demands, find an opportunity to specifically mention the newcomers, and take advantage of the awards ceremony's popularity to increase their exposure to various media outlets as much as possible.

However, even under such circumstances, Blue Arc's popularity has continued to rise and remain high, which is the most surprising thing. The title of "national hero" is well-deserved.

Black Pupa yawned, untied the restraints covering his right hand, pulled out his phone, and started playing Minesweeper while still inside the giant cocoon, head bowed. A moment later, just as he accidentally popped the minefield, the mayor finally got to the crucial point:
"Based on the influence and comprehensive achievements of the Outcasts in various fields, the Association has determined the 'Outcast of the Year' for this 20th Anniversary Celebration..."

As the mayor finished speaking, the crowd below held their breath, no one uttered a sound, but their expressions grew increasingly excited and fervent. Some held up support signs with blue mice drawn on them, while others widened their eyes and covered their mouths.

In the dead silence, they were all waiting for the mayor to utter a name that seemed to be on the tip of his tongue.

The former mayor, feigning mystery, adjusted his reading glasses, glanced at the audience, then looked down at his speech, a smile appearing on his face. Despite his age, he was forced to perform, raising his hoarse voice to shout:
"Without a doubt, this year's outlier is—'Blue Arc'!"

Before the crowd could erupt in cheers, a deafening roar suddenly rang out, drawing everyone's attention.

"Oh..."

Black Chrysalis finally perked up a bit. Looking down, she saw a deep blue bolt of lightning shooting wildly from outside the city center, cutting through the streets and crowds like a whirlwind, and finally reaching the venue.

"My god, that's so tacky, twice as tacky as the tough guy Ghost Bell... Dude, can you stop using your superpowers to show off and come in a more down-to-earth way? If you accidentally run over and kill someone in the audience, today's good day will turn into a damn car crash."

Watching this scene, the black chrysalis muttered to itself, then sighed and rubbed its forehead.

In fact, from the moment he saw the path deliberately left in the middle of the audience area leading directly to the podium, he knew that Blue Arc would definitely make its appearance in this form.

Although he knew in his heart that this kind of entrance was definitely arranged by the official to create hype, Gu Wenyu would sigh for his brother every time, thinking to himself that no matter how famous an outsider is, he is still just a working person, and commercialization is inevitable.

In an era where value is measured by traffic, Blue Arc, a figure with both strength and popularity, naturally cannot escape a lot of business-like behaviors.

Gu Qiye wasn't actually against it. Ever since his father left home, he'd been thinking about earning more money to prepare for the future. Otherwise, if Gu Zhuoan suddenly stopped sending money back, the family wouldn't even have enough money for his younger brother and sister's university tuition. So, for the first two or three years after his debut, he worked incredibly hard on advertising and marketing activities, achieving a win-win situation with the Alien Association. Only this year did he tone it down, mainly to comply with the official strategy of cultivating new talent.

However, according to official data, various peripheral figurines from Blue Arc account for a large portion of the revenue of the Chinese branch of the Outcasts.

In recent years, the marketing team of the Outcasts Association has only needed to send orders to various manufacturers, let them stock up on Blue Arc fan merchandise in their warehouses, and then sit on the sofa in their office and wait to collect the money.

If Blue Arc were to accidentally die in battle one day, they would probably have to make money off his body by holding a Blue Arc memorial event regularly and selling related fan merchandise.

The roar faded away. Like a whirlwind, the damp air was torn apart by a lingering dark blue arc of electricity, replaced by a faint smell of burning, as if the morning breeze itself had been burned by the terrifying electric light.

The black pupa observed carefully and saw a barely visible black glint hidden within the deep blue arcs of electricity.

As he had predicted, the color of Blue Arc's lightning underwent a slight change after the auction incident.

Many people on the internet have noticed this anomaly, but most of them are enthusiastic fans who zoom in frame by frame, and only a minority of people care.

"Here's the question: is this a sign of an upcoming power upgrade?" Black Chrysalis thought to herself. "Sometimes I really hate that I'm a cheat code user, with no bottlenecks, and I can't empathize with Comrade Blue Arc."

In the deathly silence, the thousands of LED screens in the square focused on the stage. At this moment, the figure wearing blue armor slowly stopped, raised his head, nodded to the mayor, took the microphone from his hand, turned his head, curled his lips, and faced the camera with his usual confident smile.

At this moment, the audience erupted in cheers and applause that once again engulfed the world.

However, just as Lan Hu took the microphone and was about to say something, a gasp suddenly came from the crowd: "What is that—?!"

Blue Arc was slightly taken aback, then looked up and saw a figure wearing a gray cloak and a medieval knight's helmet appear on the top of a tall building at the back of the venue.

Above the city, the relentless, fierce wind whipped at his figure.

“Mu...Taki?” Blue Arc murmured.

In an instant, Mu Long leaped down from the high-altitude work platform, his gray cloak fluttering in the air. He was like a giant black eagle descending from the sky, finally crashing onto the top of the venue. At the same time, the screen behind him suddenly went dark.

"Makaki?"

The mayor frowned. The script he received didn't mention any other Outcasts appearing, and Mutaki looked like he had ill intentions.

"Mayor...you should go and rest for a while." Blue Arc suddenly remembered Black Chrysalis's warning a few days ago, so he became wary and whispered in the mayor's ear.

The mayor nodded, took a few steps back, and voluntarily left the stage, leaving only Lan Hu and Mu Long on stage, their blue and iron-gray figures standing opposite each other.

Mu Long raised his head, staring blankly at Lan Hu. His gray cloak trailed on the ground like a raven's tail feathers, and the tip of his medieval helmet resembled a bird's beak, making him look extremely aggressive at that moment.

The scene was incredibly tense, with the spiderweb-like pit in the hall serving as a constant reminder to the onlookers that something unexpected had happened at the awards ceremony.

Immediately, the crowd began to discuss the matter.

"Is this a program from the Heretics Association?"

"Didn't the official statement say that only those selected as 'Outliers of the Year' would appear at the celebration?"

"It was probably added at the last minute, just to generate buzz."

"I thought this was Blue Arc's home ground, but I didn't expect to see other Outcasts here!"

"The mayor just came down without saying a word. Don't you find that a little strange?"

"It is a bit strange..."

Under the spotlight, Blue Arc paused for a moment, then stepped forward to greet them, saying:

"Brother Mulong's way of making an entrance is even more imaginative than mine. If I had known, I should have discussed it with the association and run down the wall directly from the top of the building. However... it might have worn out the glass a bit."

These teasing words were met with a burst of laughter from the audience. Mu Long remained silent, standing there like a statue. But the next moment, the huge screen on the stage suddenly lit up, and then played a blurry, flickering surveillance video.

"It took me a long time to find it..." Mu Long finally spoke, his voice slightly hoarse.

Lan Hu frowned and looked up at the surveillance video on the monitor.

The screen shows a corridor in a residential building. The ceiling has collapsed, trapping a boy's feet underneath. The father is yelling and pulling at him with all his might.

It was a massive earthquake; the whole world seemed to tremble. A short while later, the two seemed to hear a noise, so they turned their heads and called for help from the figures outside the window.
"Blue Arc! Help us!"

Lan Hu froze. The surveillance footage clearly showed the father and son calling out his name. The building was still shaking, tiles were falling from the ceiling, and exhaust pipes were cracking floor by floor; they were screaming for help hysterically.

But in the next instant, the screen suddenly went dark, and a bolt of deep blue lightning shot through the wall and swept past the father who was pulling his son like a deadly gale.

Immediately afterwards, the tall figure in the corridor instantly transformed into a bloody wind and rain, splashing onto a corner of the stairwell entrance. The child trapped under the rubble was stunned, and then let out a belated scream.

The hysterical screams broke the momentary silence, and the crowd in the square began to stir.

Blue Arc's pupils contracted, and he froze completely, his lips beneath the helmet moving slightly.

"……How can it be?"

Mu Long remained standing motionless in front of the screen, his head bowed, staring at Blue Arc like a black crow in flight. After a long while, he finally spoke:

"Blue Arc, the Outcast, this is... the crime you committed years ago."

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(End of this chapter)