With his final target locked on World 57, Zhang Yue began to act… cautiously.
By "cautiously," it meant that before reaching World 57, in every world he conquered, he would stay strictly within the national Territory, and absolutely never step into the Death Territory.
Because the Ten Ferocious Beasts only operated within the Death Territory.
As long as Zhang Yue didn't enter it, he could avoid clashing with them.
Sure enough, back in the Death Territory of World 46, Zhang Yue had been targeted twice by the Emperor in barely over ten minutes.
But after entering World 47, staying within the national Territory, he wasn't disturbed by the Emperor at all.
Moreover, there was another Ferocious Beast residing in World 47.
It had taken over the body of a legendary-class professional from the Karlmann Empire, codename: Ash.
Ash had clearly sensed Zhang Yue's arrival in World 47, but it didn't pursue him into the National Territory. It simply waited quietly in the Death Territory, biding its time for Zhang Yue to appear.
Little did it know, Zhang Yue already understood its movements perfectly.
Because according to real-time world news reports, just ten minutes ago, the Ferocious Beast codenamed Ash had still been rampaging within the Death Territory of World 47, slaughtering professionals from both the Barton and Moant Empires.
According to the survivors of those two nations: they had already been trapped with no way out, but suddenly, Ash stopped attacking them and vanished.
And for the next ten minutes, it made no moves at all.
As one of the super Ferocious Beasts capable of shaking entire worlds, every step of the Ten Ferocious Beasts was under constant global surveillance. Their every movement was watched by world leaders.
So for Ash to suddenly disappear without any trace of activity, it was obvious it was hiding.
Lying in wait for something.
And based on where Batan and Cold's professionals last saw it vanish, Ash had gone in the direction of the border between the Dragon Nation's national Territory and the Death Territory.
Its goal was clear as day.
It was lying in ambush for Zhang Yue.
Unfortunately for it, even after waiting for ages, Zhang Yue never showed up.
Because Zhang Yue had no intention whatsoever of entering the Death Territory.
Remaining within the national Territory meant fewer resources for professionals, slower growth, and slower mission progress.
But as long as it was safe, that was fine.
Besides, Zhang Yue didn't need to gather resources in these worlds for now.
His goal was simple: complete the world missions within the national territories, and that was it.
The efficiency was lower, yes, but acceptable.
Normally, Zhang Yue's pattern was to, upon entering a new world, complete the easier of the two world missions within the national Territory first.
Then he'd head into the Death Territory to quickly finish the harder one.
On average, in worlds with simpler setups, Zhang Yue could clear them in half an hour.
Even for worlds with complex layouts or difficult missions, if he focused purely on clearing them, it rarely took more than three hours.
But in World 47, Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin spent half a day just to complete both missions and finally clear the world.
When they finally finished, Chen Zijin couldn't help sighing, "The Death Territory really is twice the results for half the effort."
"If we'd done the second mission in there, we could've finished this world two hours earlier."
Zhang Yue glanced at her, "Then it's not too late for you to go now."
"Starting from the next world, you handle the Death Territory, I'll stay in the national Territory. They're after me, not you, so it's fine if you go."
Chen Zijin crossed her arms and smiled at him, "Don't worry. I'm not leaving you behind!"
Zhang Yue: "…"
After swiftly taking down the world BOSS, the two moved on to World 48.
Even though not entering the Death Territory greatly slowed down their progress,
half a day per world was still fast enough to make ordinary people doubt reality.
For most people, it would take two to three months to clear one.
At noon, they logged out to eat lunch, and even took a nap.
By two in the afternoon, they leisurely logged back in.
Using the whole afternoon, Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin cleared World 48.
That night, they advanced straight into World 49.
In other words, in one single day, they cleared three entire worlds.
And through it all, Zhang Yue never set foot into the Death Territory. Not even once.
This, of course, made the Ferocious Beasts lurking inside the Death Territory grow restless.
———
At ten o'clock that night, Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin were mid-way through conquering World 49.
In the Dragon Nation's national Territory—
Within a dense forest, Zhang Yue's Death Legion spread everywhere.
Five thousand Death Servants were rampaging through the woods, cutting down monsters en masse.
Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin didn't even have to lift a finger, they sat atop a dragon among the trees, eating sunflower seeds and admiring the moon.
Bored, Chen Zijin opened the interworld forum for a look.
And sure enough, she found a flood of juicy gossip.
She burst out laughing, "Hahaha! Zhang Yue, people are cursing you, quite a few of them, actually!"
Zhang Yue frowned slightly, "Cursing me? Don't they have anything better to do?"
He glanced at the page Chen Zijin sent him.
And there it was, in the forum, countless anonymous users were spamming posts like:
["Zero chickened out? Why doesn't he dare enter the Death Territory anymore? Just hiding at home, what's that supposed to be?"]
["Wasn't the Necromancer supposed to be brave? What, now he's hiding in the national Territory to save his skin? Scared the Ten Ferocious Beasts will come for him? Hahaha what a coward!"]
["This is the so-called strongest in the world? What trash!"]
Reading those posts, Zhang Yue didn't even need to think hard to know who was behind them.
"They're using provocation tactics to bait you into the Death Territory," Chen Zijin saw right through their intent immediately, "I'll ask Ouyang to trace their IPs, with her skills, she can crack them in no time."
Zhang Yue waved his hand dismissively, "No need. It's obviously the work of the Easterners, what's there to check?"
Right now, the Eastern Nation still hadn't given up its ambitions.
They wanted Zhang Yue, and even the entire Dragon Nation, dead.
Though they didn't dare act openly, they'd never stopped scheming in secret.
Now that they'd seen the Ten Ferocious Beasts could restrain Zhang Yue, of course they wouldn't miss this chance.
They wanted to use the Ferocious Beasts' hands to kill Zhang Yue.
Unfortunately for them, that kind of provocation was useless on him.
Just as Zhang Yue closed the forum, he suddenly sensed it.
A sharp, icy gust swept past nearby.