For team members, Waldo already had some candidates in mind.

For instance, Little Rabbit.

To be honest, Waldo had a good impression of Little Rabbit.

Moreover, the latter’s strength was quite commendable, potentially a valuable asset.

Now that the Dawn team had one more slot, it wouldn’t hurt to invite them.

...

"One is Little Rabbit, the other..."

Waldo thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered someone.

"Let’s go with him! This one named Kongming!"

Kongming.

Waldo had heard this name several times.

This guy was a unique presence in the chessboard world.

Incredibly lucky.

It was said that he had never killed anyone but accidentally entered a special swamp land.

For every trialist killed in that swamp, the credit went to him.

Thus, Kongming inadvertently climbed up the black list.

And he was ranked fourth.

If he hadn’t been so sneaky, always hiding in the swamp, who knows how many times he would have died.

"This guy seems to have good luck and decent strength, you’re the one!"

Without much thought, Waldo sent a team invitation. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

A moment later, he received a reply.

"I accept, I am willing to join the Dawn team!"

The other side, Kongming, seemed a bit excited.

Waldo smiled slightly.

"Good, from now on, you’re a member of our team."

"It shouldn’t be long before the system teleports our team members together, so get ready."

"Okay, okay, okay!!!"

Kongming nodded hurriedly, nervous and excited.

"I will follow the captain’s orders."

Kongming glanced at his personal information.

Underneath his personal info, a new section appeared.

Member of Dawn Team.

He couldn’t help feeling a surge of excitement.

The Dawn Team!

...

After ending the call with Kongming, Waldo thought for a moment and immediately contacted Little Rabbit.

As soon as they connected, Little Rabbit’s voice came through, chattering away.

"Well, Waldo, oh Waldo, you’ve been up to so much behind my back! You were so strict when you traded weapons and equipment with me, and now you’re so generous!"

"Also, how did you manage to increase your combat power by a whopping 150 points? Tell me about it!"

"We agreed to share our fortunes! You can’t forget about me!"

"And, you’ve become the captain of the number one seeded team, and even found the rulers’ palace and the rulers’ legacy treasure, impressive, really impressive! Unfortunately, you forgot about our friendship. Not only did you not contact me proactively, but you also didn’t accept me into your team, wuu wuu wuu..."

"My heart is broken, Waldo, do you know what a broken heart feels like? Wuu wuu wuu!"

Hearing the aggrieved voice from the other end, Waldo looked embarrassed.

His team was too conspicuous, and to avoid too many people applying and causing trouble,

Waldo set it to automatically reject all applications.

He hadn’t expected Little Rabbit to apply.

As a result...

From Little Rabbit’s tone, Waldo could feel the resentment in her voice.

Waldo stuttered, "I’m contacting you now, aren’t I?"

It would have been better if he hadn’t said anything, as his words only led to more complaints from Little Rabbit.

It was unclear whether she had been holding back from talking to someone for too long or if she really had a lot of grievances against Waldo.

In any case, she kept talking.

Waldo quickly interrupted her.

"I just have one question for you, will you join my Dawn team?"

"Join! Of course, I’ll join!!!"

In the dark cave, a pair of eyes shone brightly and beautifully.

The howling wind outside had no effect whatsoever.

Seeing Waldo’s message, Little Rabbit’s lips curved into a smile, and she quickly replied.

Hmph!

Good for you, Waldo, finally being sensible for once and inviting me to join the team.

Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have let you off easily.

Little Rabbit thought to herself.

Waldo’s actions had truly surprised her.

However, beyond the surprise, there was more dissatisfaction.

After all, in the chessboard world, her relationship with Waldo was quite good.

They met through trading.

Gradually, they became more familiar with each other.

They would not only share information.

But also chat to relieve boredom when there was nothing to do.

Over time, their relationship grew beyond just acquaintances.

They could be considered very good friends.

Yet, even so, Waldo had been keeping many things from her.

What was more infuriating was that her attempt to join Waldo’s Dawn team was outright rejected.

Honestly, Little Rabbit was almost infuriated to the point of spitting blood.

Fortunately, Waldo finally came to his senses.

"Fine, I’ll let it pass this time. I’m not the kind of person who holds grudges over small matters," Little Rabbit decided to be magnanimous and forgive Waldo this once.

Waldo, looking baffled, cut off the contact.

"How strange, why does it feel like I owe her something?"

Shaking his head, he decided not to dwell on it.

...

Meanwhile, various teams of trialists were rapidly forming.

"Brother, would you like to join our team? Our captain is in the top twenty of the combat power list. Joining us will definitely be worthwhile!"

"Hello, brother, is your team still looking for members? My personal combat power is 190, and I have a level-two weapon that boosts combat power by nearly a hundred. If you recruit me, I’ll be a great asset to your team!"

"Ice Battle team needs one more member, one more! Come on, trialists! We have no special requirements, as long as you’re alive, that’s enough!"

"Ice Battle team recruiting! We only recruit sisters, so sisters, come join us in the Ice Battle team. Let’s stick together for warmth! Even if we can’t get the final reward, it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to make friends, help each other, and avoid mishaps."

"Is there anyone who wants me? Although my combat power is low, I’m hardworking and resilient! I can take a hit and won’t hold you back!"

One message after another refreshed on the screen.

At the same time, various teams were successfully created.

The process was very fast.

This was normal.

After all, the trialists didn’t really know each other.

Plus, the system didn’t give much time for team formation.

Those who didn’t form a team within three hours would completely lose the chance to form a team.

This also meant losing the opportunity to compete for the rulers’ treasure.

Missing such a tremendous opportunity would be an enormous loss.

Falling behind now could mean falling behind forever.

Catching up later?

That would be impossible.

...

Time slowly passed.

Finally, the three-hour mark was reached.

Most trialists had already formed their teams by this time.

"But now, how do we gather together when we trialists are scattered all over the chessboard world?"

"Yeah, even though we are in the same team, we are quite dispersed and many of us don’t even know each other. What do we do now?"

"Let’s see what the system does next!"