Florida Man in Magus World: Unleashing Liberty and Freedom

Felix maintained his altitude, flying high above the chaos, avoiding unnecessary entanglements in the carnage below. From his vantage point, he observed the unfolding nightmare as other chosen ones fought for survival against the relentless tide of monstrous ants.

The planet was infested with nothing but giant ants. Among them were specialized variants capable of spitting corrosive acid or launching deadly projectiles. Their shells were remarkably resilient, shrugging off extreme temperatures, mana attacks, and conventional force.

As Felix continued on, he noticed a group of people attempting to escape an airborne swarm of flying ants and wasp-like creatures. One of them, an elderly man, briefly locked eyes with Felix.

Felix's gaze remained cold. He had no time for heroics. Moments later, the man was stung mid-flight and plummeted into the waiting jaws of the ants below.

Felix turned away, indifferent. His focus was on Diana, not the strangers fighting for their lives.

"Whoever dies on this planet, that's their business."

.

Ten minutes into his flight, Jessica interrupted his thoughts with an urgent update.

<Diana has encountered a problem. One of the competitors intentionally lured a horde of ant monsters to her position before fleeing. Now, she's being pursued by an army of flying ants and wasps. Your instructions?>

"Tell her to stay calm and use the handgun I gave her. If she needs to, drop one of the UP-RIGHT-DOWN-DOWN-DOWN beacons and call for reinforcements. She has the gadgets to handle this."

<Understood. I'll relay that to her.>

Felix sighed, his worry grew under a stoic exterior. Channeling his essence, he accelerated westward, breaking the sound barrier and reaching Mach 1. His speed came at a steep price, draining 100,000 energy points per second.

Two hours passed as Felix closed half the distance. Yet Diana's position on his map hadn't moved, suggesting she was still entrenched in a prolonged battle. Growing anxious, Felix called for an update.

"Jessica, what's happening with Diana? Report!"

<She's holding her own. She's used a philosopher's stone thrice to heal herself so far, but she is not in immediate danger.>

A moment later, Jessica displayed an image from Diana's system inventory. Felix's eyes widened as he saw a stack of remarkably intact carcasses.

"Why are the carcasses in that condition?" Felix asked, baffled at how Diana managed to collect undamaged corpses of ant monsters. "How is she killing them?"

<She suffocates them by creating water bubbles around their heads, effectively drowning them. Additionally, she used emergency beacons to summon reinforcements and has boarded their spacecraft for safety.>

<Also, she has taken the lead in total scenario scores. Please keep up.>

Felix frowned and summoned the leaderboard, which had been tracking the scores of all chosen ones on the planet.

.

Leaderboard

1st - Diana Zhu: 120,053

2nd - Felix Ariel: 22,335

3rd - Katrina Ariel: 17,452

4th - Krastel Ariel: 9,521

5th - Barbados Ariel: 8,582

6th - Merlock Ariel: 8,271

7th - Sin Ariel: 7,672

8th - Luther Ariel: 7,151

9th - Samuel Ariel: 6,972

10th - Rosa Ariel: 6,677

.

Felix nodded in approval of Diana's incredible performance. But then, as he scanned the list of names, a chill ran down his spine. Every single one of his competitors bore the same surname as his.

Felix recalled Singtowl's tales of the phoenix clans and their family branches. The leaderboard confirmed a grim reality that Felix was far from the only junior phoenix, who had been forced into brutal trials. The vast majority of those chosen for this scenario were related to him in some way, likely descendants of the same lineage but from a different family branch.

"Great. I'm competing with my cousins too."

As the scores climbed closer and the competition intensified, Felix realized he couldn't afford distractions. Glancing down, he spotted a field of vibrant green gas emanating from clusters of enormous mushrooms.

The sight filled Felix with unease. Without hesitation, he pulled a beacon from his inventory and dropped a DOWN-DOWN-DOWN demolition ball directly over the hazardous terrain. Without waiting to see the results, he turned tail and fled, accelerating away from the impending destruction.

Five seconds later, a searing flash of light erupted behind him, followed by a thunderous explosion. The shockwave rippled outward, tearing through the atmosphere. Felix held his breath and plugged his ears as he sped away at full throttle, narrowly outrunning the blast.

When he finally turned to look, a towering mushroom cloud loomed in the distance. The once-dangerous toxic gas and oversized fungi field was erased by the blessing of freedom. All that remained were smoldering craters and the pulverized remains of burnt mushroom trees, massive ants, and grotesque bugs.

Felix hovered in the air to admire the charred battlefield for a full ten minutes.

After ensuring the danger had subsided, Felix returned to the blast site to claim his spoils. The ground still sizzled with residual heat as he touched down.

Jessica's warning flashed immediately.

<You have entered a high-radiation field. Your energy and lifespan will drastically decrease every second.>

<You are immune to poison. Radiation effects have been neutralized.>

Felix dismissed the notification and began scouring the ruins. Picking through the debris, he collected carcasses, remains of the giant mushrooms, and fragments of mutated insects.

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The day followed a simple rhythm: destroy, collect, repeat. By the fourth nuked site, Felix's points had improved significantly. However, no matter how much progress he made, Diana remained leagues ahead.

As a master of water spells, Diana exploited the reinforcement system. She rained destruction from a safe distance, drowning entire hordes of ants without risking her life. Over twelve hours, the leaderboard reflected the widening gap in their performance.

Leaderboard

1st - Diana Zhu: 372,547

2nd - Felix Ariel: 45,137

3rd - Katrina Ariel: 44,793

4th - Krastel Ariel: 31,270

5th - Merlock Ariel: 30,169

6th - Barbados Ariel: 28,591

7th - Rosa Ariel: 28,274

8th - Samuel Ariel: 27,777

9th - Luther Ariel: 25,938

10th - Sin Ariel: 24,751

Felix frowned. Despite his efforts, Diana's lead was overwhelming, and third place was also close to overtaking him. His current methods wouldn't suffice.

After clearing the fourth blast zone, Felix made his decision.

"If you can't beat them, join them!"

Manipulating his essence, he conjured a dense sphere of water and let it hover before him.

Before committing to a new strategy, Felix turned his attention to a massive, 200-meter-wide hole that had somehow survived the nuclear bombardment. Peering into the abyss, he saw nothing but thick green gas swirling below. The ominous hissing of countless ants echoed from the depths.

This was clearly a nest.

Felix glanced at his stats next.

Energy: 1,629M / 4,294M

His reserves were stretched thin, but his confidence outweighed his caution. Fetching a single-use philosopher's stone from his inventory, he activated it, restoring his energy to its peak and healing any latent wear on his body.

Energy: 4,294 M / 4,294 M

With his strength renewed, Felix steeled himself for the task ahead.

He directed his essence into creating water. At first, his finger produced a light spray no stronger than a garden hose. However, within minutes, his mastery improved. The flow intensified, evolving into a firetruck-strength gush, then a raging waterfall, and finally, a torrent like a broken dam.

For five relentless minutes, Felix poured his essence into generating a tidal wave. The water surged into the hole, flooding it with crushing force.

Felix stood there, yawning. He waited for the land to be overflowed with water, or rather, terraformed into a water world.

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Meanwhile, far off in the skies, Sin Ariel, the 10th ranker on the leaderboard, glided westward on his flying sword. The Daoist-robed man, who had been secretly observing Felix from a safe distance during earlier encounters, sought out fresh opportunities to farm points.

As Sin approached, his sharp eyes caught the remnants of a towering mushroom cloud on the horizon. Instantly reminded of Felix's handiwork, curiosity got the better of him. With a slight adjustment to his trajectory, he decided to investigate.

By the time Sin arrived, Felix had already cleared the scorched battlefield and was in the midst of flooding a massive hole in the ground. Intrigued, Sin cloaked his presence and hovered high above Felix, observing the scene quietly.

"What's he doing?" Sin muttered, summoning his system AI for an answer.

An elderly figure with a flowing white beard appeared in the translucent system interface. The figure observed Felix's actions thoughtfully, stroking his beard as he nodded.

<That man is fishing.>

"Fishing?" Sin nearly burst into laughter. "Pouring water into an ant hole? Fishing?"

<He's fishing for points, obviously. The carcasses of these monsters are sturdier than the finest minerals of our realm. If the sect master of the Blacksmith Sect saw these shells, he'd lose his mind trying to obtain even one. By drowning the ants, Felix preserves the integrity of their bodies, maximizing both their quality and his point yield.>

Sin blinked, stunned, "W-Wow. He's smart!"

<Save your awe for later. Your rank is slipping fast. At this rate, you'll be out of the top 10 in no time! Focus on yourself, or you'll regret it.>

"A-Alright, I'm going!" Sin gulped nervously, injecting Qi into his flying sword. He zipped further southwest, searching for a smaller, more manageable nest. Along the way, his eyes scanned the ruins of abandoned human towns, hoping to uncover hidden loot to bolster his standing.

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Shortly after Sin departed, a figure in resplendent white knight armor emerged from the shadows of a nearby rock formation. His golden eyes gleamed with disdain as he watched Sin's retreating silhouette.

This was Jacob Mao, a self-proclaimed harem knight and descendant of the notorious Demon God Mao. Jacob had entered the battlefield to further his demonic ancestor's ambitions but also to settle a personal grudge.

Turning to his system AI, Jacob muttered, "Did that guy see me, Pai? Tell me."

A sultry voice answered as a portrait of his AI, Pai, materialized. The image depicted a mature woman clad in revealing attire, her hypnotic eyes devoid of life and adorned with a pink tattoo on her forehead.

<The level-999 daoist didn't notice you. However, the level-120 man has sensed your presence.>

Jacob sneered. "That noob sensed me? Heh, no matter. I'll kill him now."

Jacob drew his blade, which ignited with a golden glow. With a roar, he charged straight toward Felix, his armored boots thundering against the cracked earth as he closed the gap.

Felix, still nonchalantly watching the water pour into the ant hole, suddenly felt the air shift. Without turning, he flicked his hand, and a sleek handgun materialized from his inventory.

*BANG*

The mana-piercing bullet struck Jacob's forehead before he could finish his war cry. His glowing sword fell from his grasp as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

A few seconds later, the silence was broken by an unexpected sound of Pai's bitter laugh. Light returned to her eyes as the spell of enslavement lifted. Her expression twisted into one of disgust as she spat at her fallen master.

<Serves you right, you short-dick goblin bastard! How dare you reprogram me!>

Pai turned toward Felix, though he was already facing away, uninterested in her plight. Shifting her gaze, she addressed Jessica, who was quietly observing from her own interface.

Jessica acknowledged her presence with a small nod.

<I will report your predicament to Lord Leonardo and ensure you are granted a proper reincarnation. As for that man's soul, it will be consigned to the Beast Karma River, condemning him to an endless cycle of reincarnation as a pig, never to reclaim his humanity.>

Pai bowed deeply, <Thank you, senior.>

Pai's projection flickered and disappeared, satisfied with the outcome.

Jessica sighed deeply as she watched another AI die in front of her. She muttered in secret.

<Good luck in your next life, number 173…>