According to the logic of the rankings, these were roughly the ten strongest people in the human world right now.
Yet even Han Qingyu and the others—despite not recognizing several names on the list—could immediately tell that speculation made up the lion's share of these rankings.
No one could truly test the actual combat strength of those individuals, especially their prowess when they chose to fight with their lives on the line.
The relative rankings lacked actual battles to substantiate them.
Some on the list hadn't fought in so long that there was a total lack of recent combat data on them.
Furthermore, the people who compiled the leaderboard had no way of guaranteeing they had unearthed every hidden master in the world.
"After reading through it twice, it feels like only first place is beyond question." Wen Jifei laughed, a proud look in his eyes. "You really don't realize how badass the Legion Commander is until you step out into the wider world."
This was the honest truth. Perhaps because they had interacted with him so much back then, their impression of their own Legion Commander had mostly centered on him being an amusing, shameless old man.
It was only during these past two months in the City of Iniquity that the awe-inspiring, towering stature behind the name Chen Buer was truly brought home to them.
When people who had no ties to Azure subconsciously avoided uttering his name and called him "the Legion Commander," the resulting pride welled from the depths of their hearts.
"Yeah, Old Chen really is badass." By the dining table, Han Qingyu looked up with a smile, washing down the dry, sticky yolk in his mouth with a gulp of water. "Still, anyone who can make it onto that list has to be terrifyingly strong."
Among the names on this list, there were three people they had personally interacted with: Chen Buer, Ye Jian, and Jiang Longchi. Of those three, they had clashed directly with one.
Last time, Han Qingyu had sheared off Ye Jian's paired blades.
Yet without a doubt, he had taken advantage of a surprise attack with the blue starlight column sword back then. Besides, before Jiang Longchi appeared that day, Ye Jian had clearly treated the whole thing as a playful romp.
Even when Jiang Longchi showed up later, Ye Jian hadn't chosen to risk his life in a fight to the death.
He was an enigma they couldn't see through—and to this day, the only person against whom Han Qingyu had actually taken a net loss in a fight. On top of that, He Tangtang's greatsword was still in his hands...
*Skrrrt!*
The fingertip of an iron gauntlet suddenly slashed across Alphonse's name.
This was an enemy they would eventually have to face head-on. According to the rankings, they were going to kill number five in the world.
"How come Qingzi doesn't seem to be on here at all?" He Tangtang asked, suddenly looking up. "Is he? Or did I miss it?"
He had already searched from top to bottom twice.
The rankings were in English, but He Tangtang at least knew pinyin. The lower half looked like a list for newcomers, yet Qingzi didn't seem to be on it either.
"There really isn't!" Rusty Sister checked as well, then looked at Han Qingyu.
"Yeah, they say I'm dead." Han Qingyu smiled. Thinking it over, he felt too embarrassed to mention that there had actually been girls crying over him here, and more than just one or two.
In the past, he hadn't fully grasped the legendary aura surrounding his own story. It wasn't until coming to the City of Iniquity, working at the bar, and meeting people like Lynne that he realized how he was perceived in the outside world.
Knowing this made him feel slightly smug, but at the same time, thoroughly embarrassed.
"Huh? Then what about the bounty?! Who gets the bounty?!" Wen Jifei asked anxiously from the side.
"By their logic, it should go to General Jiang."
Han Qingyu reasoned in earnest. Since the City of Iniquity now considered him dead, it meant they accepted the explanation previously given by Huaxia—that Jiang Longchi had killed him by mistake.
"Aiya, what a waste then. The old man took half of you and tossed it into the sea," Wen Jifei said.
"Yeah, sigh," Han Qingyu sighed.
"Feels a lot like a conspiracy. Since they figure there's basically no way General Jiang would come collect the bounty, they're probably planning to pocket it," Wen Jifei remarked.
"Eh? That actually sounds quite possible," Han Qingyu said after a moment's thought.
In any case, he was dead now.
When last year's third-quarter rankings were released, he had been at the peak of his combat record and ranked number one without dispute. By the fourth quarter, he had faded from public view, slipping to number two. And this time, he had vanished from the leaderboard entirely.
Along with him, Wu Xu had also disappeared.
When he returned this morning, Han Qingyu had probed Ao Yong and found out that Wu Xu had been ranked seventh last year.
He had two confirmed kills against top-tiers under his belt.
Rusty Sister didn't have any, which was why she had never made the list.
"If that's how it is, this whole list is bullshit," He Tangtang said disdainfully, tossing the sheet aside.
Zhe Qiuhong reached out, picked it up, and said, "Not quite. Actually, the lower leaderboard is far more credible than the Dome section above. Combat data on these people is much easier for them to gather."
According to Zhe Qiuhong, the City of Iniquity even knew that Han Qingyu's sky-piercing sword strike atop Xilang Peak had not reflected his true baseline power, but had been an outburst achieved by drawing upon the mothership's source energy field.
"Had they not verified that, they would have placed you directly onto the Dome Leaderboard back then," Zhe Qiuhong said.
"At least the people on this list are the real deal, backed by verified combat achievements. Besides..." As she spoke, she looked up, glancing at Han Qingyu and Wu Xu. "Among these ten, from what I can deduce alone, at least four are of the same kind as you two."
"So, do you want to dissect them?" Rusty Sister asked.
"Then what kind of things are they?" He Tangtang asked.
"Are none of the ones on the upper list like us?" Han Qingyu asked.
"Hey, are there any women? Does this differentiate between male and female?" Wen Jifei asked.
"Doesn't matter what they are; dragons are the strongest anyway," the Little Prince stated, not asking a question.
"I do. I haven't clearly pinpointed their traits, so I can't be sure. I have no way of investigating the previous generation. I don't know if gender makes a difference. And it shouldn't be dragons." Zhe Qiuhong concluded her answers in one breath.
Right now, the person ranked first on this leaderboard was named Pegmont, hailing from Azure.
The annotations on the leaderboard stated that he was a super-genius with a degree of fusion exceeding S-grade, twenty-two years old. His greatest feats included traveling alone to challenge Amugulang—though beaten half to death, he successfully survived; coming to the City of Iniquity to challenge Shu You—though beaten half to death, he successfully survived; and commenting that Christine's ass wasn't perky enough—though beaten half to death, he successfully survived...
The second person was named Wolf, currently unaffiliated with any organization.
The annotations noted that he had no recorded degree of fusion test results, was seventeen years old, lived alone with a pack of wolves on the grasslands, and single-handedly guarded his homeland plains. Day in and day out, he detected and slaughtered Great Spikes, without a single slip-up in three years, possessing astonishing speed. At least three people on the Dome Leaderboard had personally visited and guided him in combat.
After breakfast, Zhe Qiuhong stood up as usual of her own accord, rolling up her sleeves to clear the bowls and chopsticks.
Perhaps because those hands of hers were now very capable of making money, even the food she cooked seemed to have tasted much more delicious lately.
She then gathered the clothes to wash, and Rusty Sister went to help carry water.
Han Qingyu and the other four went to catch up on sleep.
Tonight, they would lead the newly consolidated Boss Dao gang out for the first time to compete for a wild ship.
Chapter 456