"They've been here all along?"
Hearing what Zhang Yue said, Chen Zijin looked utterly surprised, "When did they get here? How come I didn't know?"
Zhang Yue smiled faintly and said, "If you knew, then wouldn't Ash know too? If it knew, do you think it would've come out?"
Chen Zijin stared at Zhang Yue in disbelief, "So you mean, you already knew Elder Wolong, Elder Yinlong, and the Ice Emperor were all here?"
"Mm. Ever since we left the Death Territory, they've been around," Zhang Yue said, "They just didn't tell me."
Chen Zijin asked, astonished, "Then how did you know? Did you figure it out yourself?"
"Why do you think the Ten Ferocious Beasts only dare to stay inside the Death Territory, but not step into the national Territory?", Zhang Yue looked down at the corpse of Ash and said, "Because inside the national Territory, they're suppressed by high-level professionals from advanced worlds."
"We stayed in the national Territory not just to avoid them, but to lure them out."
"To be precise, the Death Territory isn't their killing ground. It's their safe zone."
Hearing Zhang Yue's words, Chen Zijin was stunned.
For a moment, she couldn't even process it.
But the fact was clear: a level 500 Tier 9 legendary professional killing a BOSS barely over level 200 really was something that could be done in the blink of an eye.
Even if Ash was a Emperor-class BOSS, it stood no chance of resisting a Tier 9 professional's power.
After all, there was more than a 200-level gap between them.
Ever since Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin left World 46, Wolong, Ice Emperor, and the others had been silently guarding nearby, protecting them from sudden attacks by the Ten Ferocious Beasts.
Still reeling, Chen Zijin couldn't help asking doubtfully, "Since you already knew Wolong and the others were here, why did you say earlier that our only outcome was death? You're such a liar!"
"It was the only outcome," Zhang Yue said calmly, "But I meant its death, not ours."
As he spoke, Wolong, Ice Emperor, and the others approached.
Seeing Zhang Yue, Yinlong immediately lit up like an excited child, rushing to brag, "So, Master! How was that arrow strike from the sky just now? Pretty cool, huh?"
"Cool as hell."
Getting Zhang Yue's praise made Yinlong grin from ear to ear.
Wolong, meanwhile, glanced at the kneeling corpse of Ash and said, "In the end, it just couldn't hold back."
"The main thing is, it didn't expect our reinforcements to arrive so quickly," Ice Emperor added.
Indeed, Ash must have known that the moment it appeared in the national Territory, it would be attacked by high-level professionals.
That's why in the previous two worlds, World 47 and 48, it hadn't dared to act recklessly.
It waited until World 49 to launch a surprise assault.
Because at that point, it assumed the high-level professionals would have let their guard down.
As long as it was fast enough, it could kill Zhang Yue and retreat back into the Death Territory before those high-level humans could react.
By the time they realized what had happened and came to help, it would already be too late.
What Ash hadn't expected was that these people had been waiting for it here the whole time.
So instead, it was caught off guard, without even the chance to flee, instantly killed on the spot.
The group gathered around Ash's corpse, pointing and talking.
"Dragon-bro, you hit too hard," Yinlong complained, "You should've just crippled it and left the final blow for Master. Such a fat prize wasted! That was a Emperor-class BOSS, man!"
Wolong replied, "You do know it's a Emperor-class BOSS, right? You know how fast their reflexes are. If I'd held back even a little, it could've taken a 0.1-second window and escaped, you believe it or not?"
"But it's only level two hundred something! No matter how fast it reacts, could it really get away from a bunch of old geezers like us?"
In the Otherworld, when a professional kills a monster far below their level, the drop rate decreases drastically.
The greater the level gap, the lower the drop rate.
So you can imagine, Wolong, at level 500, killing a mere level 260-something Ash, the drop rate must've been miserable.
Yinlong crouched down and picked up a single gold coin and a pair of tattered boots beside Ash's body, cursing, "What the hell, this was a Emperor-class BOSS and it dropped one gold coin and a pair of broken shoes??"
"Dragon-bro, look what you did! You turned a Emperor BOSS into garbage loot!"
Before Wolong could respond, Zhang Yue spoke up, "This BOSS wasn't worth much anyway."
"It was revived using a Resurrection God Stone. The first-kill reward was already gone, the valuable stuff dropped the first time it died. Even if you'd let me finish it off, it wouldn't have dropped anything worth much."
At that, Ice Emperor said, "Now that Ash is dead, the remaining eight BOSSes will definitely realize that stepping out of the Death Territory means walking into our trap. They won't come out again so easily."
In truth, Emperor-class BOSSes were very intelligent.
They'd only sent out Ash as a test.
By now, there were already three Ferocious Beasts gathered in the Death Territory of World 49.
They could have all come out together, it would've been much easier to kill Zhang Yue that way.
But they only sent Ash alone, just in case humanity had a plan waiting.
And the facts proved: it was a trap.
So as Ice Emperor said, the remaining eight BOSSes clearly wouldn't dare step into the national Territory again anytime soon.
As soon as Ice Emperor finished speaking, Xuanlan said, "Still, better safe than sorry. Whether they come out or not, we need to stay by Ah Yue's side to guard against a sudden ambush."
"Agreed. We must ensure Master's safety," Yinlong raised both hands, "Whoever dares to hurt my Master, I'll beat them to death!"
Then Seraph spoke up, "Before, we stayed hidden to keep our protection plan from being discovered by the Ferocious Beasts."
"But now, there's no point hiding anymore, they definitely know we're here," Seraph turned to Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin and continued, "So from now on, we'll help you complete your world missions directly."
"That's great," Zhang Yue said, without a shred of politeness, "I've been waiting for you guys to help me for a long time."
And so, six level-500 Tier 9 powerhouses personally escorted Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin, two "rookies" barely above level 200, to conquer World 49.