For some reason, at this moment, a sense of foreboding arose in everyone’s hearts. Could it be that the Lord Mayor had suffered irreparable injuries during his battle with the Lord Gods? Was the Lord Mayor about to leave them?

"Waldo, you wouldn’t..." Helen raised her voice, as if she wanted to say something. However, Waldo interrupted her with a smile.

"It’s not what you think. I’m perfectly fine; I just received some information that you don’t know yet. Do you know what our world is called? Do you know why we came from Earth to this world? Have you ever wondered?"

Seeing the puzzled shakes of their heads, Waldo continued, "Our world has a name, the Land of Trials!"

"The Land of Trials?" The people were surprised, followed by even more confusion. But at this point, Waldo proactively explained.

"The so-called Land of Trials, you can probably guess what it means. Countless survivors like us have been brought to this world from Earth, and there’s a hidden hand behind it all. The main purpose of bringing us to this world is to select exceptional survivors."

"I speculate that there are many such ’Land of Trials’ out there. I know all this because I passed the assessment and gained the qualification to leave the Land of Trials and go to the world where the hidden hand is."

Upon hearing this, all the survivors stared wide-eyed at Waldo, their faces filled with disbelief. They had always known that their arrival in this world from Earth couldn’t be so simple. However, they had never dared to think too deeply or investigate further.

Until now, they suddenly had a chilling feeling. Was it really someone behind the scenes who transported billions of people from Earth to this world? Just how powerful was this "hidden hand"?

So, the epochs they had experienced, like the Oceanic Era and the Ice Age, were all driven by this hidden hand?

"This...this is...unbelievable!" Even though the people present were among the most exceptional survivors in the entire group and had stronger mental fortitude than most, they were still profoundly shaken at this news.

They couldn’t recover their senses for a long time. As for why Waldo knew this information, they didn’t dwell on it too much.

Waldo is the most powerful, surpassing everyone globally, so it’s natural that he would know some secrets. Especially when they learned it from Waldo himself. It appeared that Waldo was the only survivor who had gained the qualification to leave the Land of Trials.

For a moment, the faces of everyone present were filled with various expressions, and their thoughts were unclear. In any case, most of them wore grim expressions.

Not long after, the system issued an announcement:

"All survivors, please take note. With the death of the underwater Lord God, the trial mission is now concluded. Survivor Waldo has become the designated challenger in today’s world and is the sole challenger. The rest of the survivors will remain in this world to continue surviving. Challenger Waldo will proceed to the Eternal Realm."

"The challenger will undergo assessments by the Supreme Rulers of the Eternal Realm. After each successful assessment, the challenger will receive substantial rewards."

"Challenger Waldo, please prepare yourself. Three days from now, the portal to the Eternal Realm will be opened."

As soon as this announcement appeared, all the survivors were in shock. Challenger? Eternal Realm? Supreme Rulers? Each of these terms was completely unfamiliar to the survivors. Yet, they could faintly sense the extraordinariness of it all.

The fact that there was only one challenger among a million survivors worldwide, Waldo, and the enigmatic nature of the Eternal Realm and Supreme Rulers, left them full of questions.

From the words of the system, it seemed even the system itself showed great respect towards these Supreme Rulers. Could it be that the Supreme Rulers were the creators of the system, or perhaps the hidden hand behind their arrival in this strange world?

The news created a huge commotion among the survivors. Was the Lord Mayor truly going to this mysterious Eternal Realm as the designated challenger?

It certainly seemed so, and no one knew what the Supreme Rulers were. Fortunately, with the crisis in the underwater world resolved, even if the Lord Mayor left, Dawn City wouldn’t face any immediate danger.

"Indeed. We have to admit that the Lord Mayor’s previous actions were correct. He eliminated forces that were incompatible with Dawn City in advance, averting potential future crises."

Amidst the shock, the survivors discussed the situation. When they heard that Waldo was becoming the challenger and would be leaving, many of them had complex emotions.

Among them, Alanna and Helen were undoubtedly the ones with the most complex feelings. In the brief three days, Waldo spent day and night with the two women, almost reluctant to part even for a moment.

"Waldo, I truly can’t bear to see you go. I think of all the things we’ve been through—the zombie crisis in City 25, the super fleet of the Oceanic Era, the Snow Beasts attacking the city, and the invasion of the underwater giants—all of it appears before my eyes," said Helen, her spirits low. "Just thinking about how soon we’ll be separated and not knowing how long it will be until we can see each other again makes me feel terrible." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Alanna was equally downcast, her eyes red. "Waldo, you absolutely mustn’t get into any trouble, promise me!"

Waldo nodded confidently, "Don’t worry, can’t you trust me? What does it matter if I go to the Eternal Realm? I will eventually reach the peak and suppress everything!"

The two women’s tears turned to smiles. "Alright, we trust you."

The next day arrived quickly. The weather was clear, with not a cloud in the sky. The sun rose high in the sky, illuminating the vast snowy landscape. It was a rare and beautiful day.

On this day, Waldo bid farewell to the survivors of Dawn City. Since repelling the underwater giants, almost all the survivors had chosen to stay in Dawn City. There were several reasons for this.

Firstly, Dawn City had good environmental conditions and its infrastructure was far better than most other cities.

Secondly, their original cities had been mostly destroyed by the giant army, making it unrealistic to rebuild them.

The last reason was that the underwater giants had not been completely eliminated, and there were still many regular giants present.

Nobody knew if the underwater giants would invade again once Waldo left. Only in Dawn City was it the safest place.

In summary, the vast majority of survivors decided to stay in Dawn City.

Rumble!

A crimson lightning bolt streaked across the sky, momentarily tearing through the firmament, flashing across millions of miles of empty space, and inspiring intense fear. Even Waldo felt a palpable, heart-pounding sensation.

Then he looked up and saw the sky darkening completely. Even the sun had disappeared. The entire world seemed to be plunged into darkness, despite it being broad daylight.

However, there was a massive vortex in the sky right now. Within the vortex, a majestic and ancient path slowly appeared, leading to an unknown destination.