The sudden appearance of the bizarre space did not startle Bai Ye.
It was just the Wish Stone space, wasn't it? He had entered it in his previous life!
Unlike wish tasks generated directly, wish tasks using a Wish Stone required random selection of the task content, participants, and rewards.
Therefore, after the Wish Stone shattered, he would first enter the Wish Stone space to make his selections.
As expected, the white space soon displayed screens of light, revolving around Bai Ye's body.
"Please randomly select the wish task content."
After Bai Ye chose to stop, the surrounding screens of light gradually halted, finally settling on one screen, which depicted a vast expanse of tall buildings.
"Wish task content – Full-Scale Pursuit!"
"Please randomly select the basis for participants."
"Participants for this wish task: The eight individuals with the highest hunting count, excluding the initiator of the wish task."
Bai Ye pouted at the idea of a nine-person battle. The number of participants was acceptable, as wish tasks usually involved seven to twelve individuals.
Of course, there were occasional instances with fewer than seven or more than twelve participants, but they were rare.
"Please randomly select the winner's reward content. You may specify a general category for your wish, but not a specific item or a sub-category."
This was a minor benefit for the wish task initiator. Not being able to specify an item was understandable. The meaning of "sub-category" was that Bai Ye could wish for a weapon, but not a specific type of weapon.
For example, Bai Ye could not wish for a sword.
This rule seemed simple, merely requiring the fulfillment of conditions, but it actually held its own subtleties. Just like how Bai Ye obtained the Phoenix ability, it was an item that surpassed the rules within the reasonable framework.
Bai Ye's original intention was still to strengthen himself. The reason he sought wish tasks was to further enhance his own power, and wishes within wish tasks had a high probability of granting him what he desired.
However, Gao Ming had not yet delivered the cell gene modification fluid...
And due to the sudden emergence of the Mechanical Reconstruction ability, Bai Ye decided to temporarily change his approach.
"I wish to enhance my existing ability items."
"Wish successful."
Bai Ye's wish encompassed all categories of items, though not specific sub-categories. It was not a traditional broad category, and most importantly, Bai Ye's wish did not explicitly state what he wanted to obtain.
Therefore, the wish met the rules and could take effect.
But in reality?
Bai Ye wasn't sure about others, but he presumed some would find this reward very disappointing, perhaps thinking the person making the wish had water in their head while taking a bath.
Because, without items that needed their abilities upgraded, it meant this reward would yield no prize.
For Bai Ye, the only abilities that could be enhanced were the Phoenix and Mechanical Reconstruction. The Iron Slime and King's Treasury were items, not abilities.
Therefore, Bai Ye could only receive one of two things.
Either the Phoenix Feather or the Mechanical Heart.
The Phoenix Feather would be excellent; upon its acquisition, the Phoenix would evolve into its complete, golden-quality form. As for the Mechanical Heart, although he couldn't use it yet, it represented that as long as Bai Ye increased his proficiency in Mechanical Reconstruction...
The former "One-Man Army" Bai Ye would return to the world.
The "god" from that futuristic technological region would reappear!
And after completing the wish reward...
"The city-wide manhunt is for Nine Heavens. Each participant will receive a number. Number 1 pursues Number 9, Number 9 pursues Number 8, Number 8 pursues Number 7, and so on, forming a cycle."
"Upon completing a pursuit, the ranking will advance to the next individual. If Number 1 successfully pursues Number 9, they can then pursue Number 8. If Number 8 has already been pursued, they will move on to Number 7, and so forth."
"It is forbidden to kill non-pursuit targets. If a target is killed, the participant will be directly eliminated, ending the wish task."
"In addition to the pursuits between participants, the indigenous residents within the designated area will hold a 'Villain Hunt' event, pursuing all participants. This event will not be restricted by numbers."
"Method One for Winning the City-Wide Manhunt: When the other eight participants have all been successfully pursued, the last remaining individual automatically wins."
"Method Two for Winning the City-Wide Manhunt: The city-wide manhunt will automatically end after nine days. If multiple participants survive, the winner will be determined by the number of successful pursuits. If the number of pursuits is the same, the winner will be decided by the number of hunters killed while being pursued. If the number of hunters killed is still the same, a duel will ensue, and the winner will receive the reward."
"You have used a Wish Stone and can assign numbers to other individuals."
After a simple explanation of the rules and background, came the second minor benefit for the wish task initiator.
As the initiator of a wish task, it was normal to have some advantage over others.
Just like in the Holy Grail War, the initiator could obtain the Grail in advance, while others could only passively compete for it.
However, this advantage was usually not significant. Speaking of the Holy Grail War, was obtaining it early useful? It certainly had some utility, but when the time came, the Grail's location would be revealed.
This way, although he could make arrangements in advance, he would still have to face the siege of all other participants, and it might even lead to him singing a mournful song of regret...
The benefit Bai Ye had now was the ability to know the participants' names in advance and assign them numbers.
But, was it useful?
It wasn't particularly useful. What use was knowing just a name?
But the problem was...
Because it was Bai Ye, this benefit became useful.
With the memories from his previous life, Bai Ye could infer the opponent's strength just by seeing their name.
If Bai Ye didn't recognize any of the names, it would mean he was likely to encounter a bunch of weaklings.
A moment later, a screen of light displayed nine names, along with nine number plates.
Bai Ye glanced at the names. Excluding his own, among the remaining eight, Bai Ye recognized four.
The most familiar one...
Li Jia Yi!
Bai Ye was speechless. Was this destiny? A fated romance he couldn't escape or refuse, and could only surrender to?
How many times had this happened? Why did he encounter this person no matter what he did?
Was this the legendary destined pair, the person fated by the heavens?
However, regardless of anything else, with Li Jia Yi's name appearing, Bai Ye automatically listed him as the primary threat, his greatest enemy in this wish task.
The second recognizable name was Hammel Rexas.
This guy was also a formidable individual in Bai Ye's previous life.
Back then, in the later stages of the World Battlefield, among the top experts in the four regions (East, South, West, North), the ruler of the West was Huang Quan. His undead army had clashed with Bai Ye's mechanical army numerous times, resulting in no clear winner each time.
And before Huang Quan conquered the West, the ruler of the West was Hammel Rexas.
The vampire prince, Hammel!
...