Chen Zijin looked at Zhang Yue with pitiful eyes and said, "Zhang Yue, I'm really hungry."
"I'm so hungry, let's log off and eat first, then discuss after we're done, okay?"
At this moment, Hidden Dragon, Ice Emperor, Moon Mark, and the others all remained silent, quietly watching Zhang Yue.
From their expressions alone, it was clear they were waiting for Zhang Yue's decision.
They wanted to see whether Zhang Yue would prioritize the greater situation of the World 55, or pay more attention to Chen Zijin's wishes.
And the result was—
"Mm, I happen to be a little hungry too. Let's log off and eat first."
As he said this, Zhang Yue smoothly turned to Hidden Dragon, Ice Emperor, and the others, "Come on, my treat."
Once he finished speaking, Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin crushed their Return Scrolls together.
Only after the two of them turned into white light and vanished before everyone's eyes did the tense hearts of those remaining finally calm down.
"Ah, in the end, Master has changed," Hidden Dragon couldn't help sighing, "He's not the same as before. I clearly remember that Master never cared for women, never let women be his focus, and was always rational. How has he become so sentimental now?"
Wolong patted Hidden Dragon on the shoulder, "That's a good thing. Otherwise, do you want Master to end up like you, a lifelong single dog?"
Hidden Dragon: "You make it sound like you're not a single dog yourself! Why should a single dog make things harder for another single dog?"
Ice Emperor burst out laughing, "Enough, enough, my wife's calling me home for lunch. I'm logging off first."
Moon Mark said, "My daughter said she wants me to eat barbecue with her today at noon, and my wife already booked a private room. I'll take my leave too."
Watching Ice Emperor and Moon Mark depart, Hidden Dragon's face turned red, "Eat, eat, eat! Eat yourselves to death!"
Then he looked at Seraph, who hadn't followed the crowd, and sighed, "You're still the best. You're definitely one of us, right?"
"No," Seraph checked the time and said, "My wife said her piano class will be over soon. I'll log off later."
Hidden Dragon: "Let the world burn! Just destroy everything already!"
"I'm tired!"
One by one, everyone logged off.
The World 55 fell into sudden silence.
Whoosh!
Not far from where Zhang Yue and the others had vanished, in a forest, a figure that had been invisible the whole time suddenly appeared.
Draped in a black cloak, wearing a bamboo hat, and with a blade hanging at his waist, that figure was none other than the Emperor.
Under the hat, a pair of eyes glowing red with killing intent fixed coldly on the spot where Zhang Yue had disappeared.
The next second, the Emperor vanished from the spot once more.
The wind stirred.
An unseen gust swept toward the Dragon Nation's safe zone in the World 55…
———
After logging off and eating lunch, at twelve-thirty, Zhang Yue, Chen Zijin, Moon Mark, Ice Emperor, Seraph, Wolong, and the others all logged back in.
[World 55, Ocean City]
A group of eight people emerged from the city gates.
At that time, Wolong said to Zhang Yue and Chen Zijin, "Your world mission's already done, right?"
Chen Zijin nodded, "Didn't we finish it this morning? Only the world boss is left, then we can advance to the World 56."
"World 56?", Hidden Dragon said, "So we're not going to fight for the Gate of Immortality anymore?"
As soon as he spoke, Ice Emperor said, "Those eight great beasts are guarding the Death Territory. We can't follow inside. How could Zero possibly fight in there?"
"Let's just give it up. There's nothing we can do. Better to let the Gate of Immortality fall into the Demon Emperor's hands than risk Zero's life."
"As for whether to fight or not, I think that decision should be left to Ayue himself," Xuanlan looked at Zhang Yue and asked, "So, what do you decide? Fight, or not?"
"After all, if you fight, only you and Zijin can go in. We can't help you. In the Death Territory, you'll have to watch out for the eight beasts at all times."
"If you don't fight, we lose one Gate of Immortality to the Demon Emperor. But we can focus on helping you clear the World 56, reach the Fifty-Seventh World faster, and once our strength is higher, we can deal with the eight beasts then."
As they spoke, everyone's gaze turned to Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue didn't say anything. He simply waved his hand and opened the World 55's Boss Challenge Portal.
Immediately after, he stepped straight into the Boss Challenge Area.
Seeing this, Chen Zijin followed closely behind, stepping into the Boss Challenge Space together.
Once the two of them vanished, the remaining veterans began whispering among themselves.
"Didn't we already agree before? We absolutely can't let the Demon Emperor take control of the Gate of Immortality in the World 55. Once he gets more Resurrection Godstones and revives more Emperor-level bosses, humanity will be doomed! So how come after just one meal, they suddenly decided to give up?"
As soon as Hidden Dragon finished speaking—
Wolong said, "It's too risky."
"If it were just the Demon Emperor and the God of Malevolence Motan, that wouldn't be a big concern. With Master's current power, dealing with both inside the Death Territory shouldn't be a problem."
"But if the eight great beasts target him, then it's certain death!"
Ice Emperor added, "Those eight beasts always guard the entrance of the Death Territory. As soon as Zero enters, they'll attack him. At that point, he probably won't even get close to the Gate of Immortality, let alone stop the Demon Emperor."
"This can't be stopped. Let things run their course. What matters most now is letting Zero grow stronger quickly. As long as he reaches level 500 and completes the ninth advancement, even if a level 500 Emperor Boss appears, a necromancer like him could handle it easily."
While they spoke, Moon Mark said, "They're fast at taking down world bosses. I bet it won't be long before they reach the World 56. Let's go wait for them there."
"Alright."
Saying that, the six of them opened the world-switching interface simultaneously, logging out of the World 55 and into the Fifty-Sixth.
But little did they know, in the dark regions, several pairs of eyes had been watching them all along.
After Zhang Yue and Wolong's group disappeared from the outskirts of Ocean City, not far away, in a black forest, several figures began appearing one after another from stealth.
These figures were not human, but monstrous, terrifying super beasts of bizarre shapes.
They were the remaining eight of the Ten Ferocious Beasts, codenamed by humans as: Emperor, Death, Gluttony, Toad, Extinction, Firmament, Shadow, Black Angel.
So it turned out, the eight beasts had never once left Zhang Yue and his group's sight.
From the World 49 onward, they had always stayed within the National Territory, activating deep concealment fields that completely hid all of their forms, even their very presence.