The segment is beach volleyball, and the location isn’t the living room but an indoor sports field piled with fine sand.
The rules of beach volleyball are the same as those in the real world: teams of two, best two out of three sets.
After Irfan and Harley were eliminated, there were three men and three women left in the villa. As the match was about to start, Li Cheng was nowhere to be found.
Will, wearing beach shorts and shirtless with a frown, asked this question. After emergency treatment, his chest still bore scars from electric shocks, and he utterly distrusted Annie, adamantly refusing to team up with her; therefore, standing beside him was Jin Huixing.
On the other side of the volleyball net were Annie and Leonardo.
"I don’t know either..." Little Red Riding Hood, sitting in the corner of the volleyball court, shook her head and frequently glanced towards the living room.
An inexplicable sense of urgency, reminiscent of when as a child after shopping, standing in line to check out, and your mother went back to pick up an item while your turn at the cashier approached but she hasn’t returned yet.
Having one less competitor was surely no loss, Leonardo took a deep breath and also took off his shirt, revealing his bronze skin and muscular physique in front of the camera.
In Europe and America, Caucasians are keen on tanning, achieving a suntanned look. Even if they can’t sunbathe, they go to beauty centers to use tanning machines.
This trend, besides the healthy skin color movements and class perceptions (tan implies frequent vacations indirectly indicating wealth), is also because some Caucasians are pale-skinned, which looks particularly unattractive without a tan.
Like Donald Trump, his face has a bronze tint from tanning products, while the skin around his eyes and hairline, which aren’t tanned, appear pale.
As an elite agent of European Heavy Industry, Leonardo’s daily diet, routine, and exercise are scientifically managed by a team of nutritionists, trainers, and physicians. He has long developed a well-defined eight-pack abs.
At that moment, displaying it in front of the camera immediately attracted a flood of comments.
Standing next to him, Annie also untied her dress, revealing the strapped swimsuit underneath. Her voluptuous figure completely overshadowed Jin Huixing, who attempted a cute style across the net.
I bought a very sexy swimsuit.jpg
The match officially began, and the Mechanical Arm took out a blue, white, and yellow volleyball and tossed it into the air.
Leonardo leaped up, his palm forcefully striking the volleyball, sending it over the net and smashing towards the ground.
Will crossed his fingers, lifting the volleyball with his arms, skillfully balancing and hitting the ball.
Both sides engaged in a give-and-take, displaying their physiques and skills in front of the camera, steadily increasing the score until...
A blast of vigorous music played, with Li Cheng arriving belatedly, dressed in a suit and tie, dragging a suitcase in each hand. One suitcase even had a speaker attached.
This attire clearly had nothing to do with beach volleyball; the players competing involuntarily slowed their actions and looked towards Li Cheng.
Just like reality shows in the real world, the wasteland love variety show also used multi-camera shooting. The program director (possibly an AI operating) would decide which camera footage to set as the official live broadcast view based on each camera’s effectiveness.
Li Cheng’s face appeared on the television screen in close-up. He sat down beside Little Red Riding Hood, stone-faced, and stared at the camera for a few seconds before suddenly shouting loudly: "Do you want financial freedom? Do you want a beautiful life? Vote for us, let us help power your dreams."
Even though Li Cheng had previously shown a way of thinking unlike ordinary people, the sudden turn of events baffled everyone including Little Red Riding Hood. Chapters first released on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
Li Cheng didn’t care about the others’ opinions and shouted at the camera, "Integrating prosperity, upholding trust and reaching far. The business sea is vast; the broad-minded prevail. Connecting the world, enriching thousands of families. Vote for us, grasp future opportunities, and achieve financial freedom."
I announce to all viewers in front of the screen, if you vote for me and Little Red Riding Hood and send your phone number to the screen via a banner, I will randomly pick 50 lucky viewers to send a significant cash gift."
All players gaped in astonishment, with banners of confusion and questioning floating across the screen.
[Wait, isn’t this openly buying votes? Does the production team allow this?]
[The rules probably don’t explicitly forbid live-streaming vote buying... The production team must not have foreseen this]
Facing skepticism, Li Cheng lifted two heavy suitcases onto the table, unlocked the combination locks, and opened the lids.
A wave of gold light immediately reflected on the faces of Little Red Riding Hood and Li Cheng, who then rotated the suitcases allowing the camera lens to capture the contents.
Several hefty gold ingots neatly stacked inside the suitcases, emitting an aura called money.
This impactful scene cleared the television screen for a moment before a flood of banners appeared.
[Gold gold gold money money money!]
[Press 1 to get gold? 111111 Is big brother really giving it away?]
[Big brother give it to me, don’t force me to kneel and beg.]
Leonardo and others stopped their basketball game, staring intensely at the gold in the suitcases and instinctively lowering their voice, "This can’t be possible!"
Since many script tasks occur in worlds like Modern Earth, players generally carry some generally equivalent items, such as gold, silver, jewels, diamonds, and even various currencies to facilitate dealings with the indigenous NPCs of the script world.
Leonardo and others had also carried a substantial amount of precious metals and jewels.
The problem was that the amount of gold Li Cheng brought out was too much. When the two suitcases were combined, it could be about 100 kilograms. Calculating based on the current world gold prices, it was almost equivalent to 55 million cash!
Ant was merely a lone wolf player; how could he possess the financial means to purchase so much gold? Even if he was a member of some guild, it was unnecessary to store so much inconvenient-to-carry precious metal.
Little Red Riding Hood was equally astounded and perplexed, as the last round ended with Li Cheng asking her if she carried any items like gold ingots. She had truthfully handed over all the gold bars she had, worth 800,000 US dollars.
Li Cheng gave a slight smile and spoke loudly, "To ensure fairness, I will randomly note down 50 phone numbers on paper, hide the middle four digits, and show it to all viewers. After leaving here, I will contact all the winners and ship the gold to the specified location."
Currency is naturally not gold and silver; gold and silver are naturally currency. Gold, with its unique physical and chemical properties and industrial uses, could also serve as a generally equivalent item even during war-torn times. Unlike diamonds which are just chunks of old carbon.
"What are you doing? Wasn’t it agreed that each would rely on their own ability?"
Leonardo yelled quietly, "The mechanical arm has already descended!"
The mechanical arm, hanging from the ceiling, aimed at Li Cheng and wavered slightly as if conflicted about whether his actions were against the rules and whether it should take action against him.
Li Cheng stared directly at the mechanical arm, unflinching and calm, "Trust me. If I’m not mistaken, with this task moving forward, no one needs to die."