Long Yuqiong raised his hand, sensing the energy trajectory in the air, and said calmly:

"We can eat our fill and sleep, wake up and play games. Even if we accomplish nothing, we can live our lives quietly under the shelter of civilization, working only two hours a day—but for these Ascenders who have leapt step by step from mortals, their desires are ever-growing and hard to satisfy."

"The most crucial things are still life and strength, right?"

"Yes, there is no absolute safety in Border Abyss. Above, the three major Narrative powers are watching like tigers; below, the Zhou Yuan Void is filled with strong adversaries. There's no sense of security. Even if forming a Narrative Union, it only just manages to protect one's own safety."

Long Yuqiong paused for a moment.

At that moment, he suddenly understood the past insistence of Leoz, the reason for almost exterminating those Earthlings, was not some excuse of hatred or usurpation.

"Sense of security..."

He murmured:

"Those who lack a sense of security from a young age will, as they grow up, continuously pursue power, status, authority, and wealth to compensate for the anxiety in their hearts."

"The Ascenders should be the same. In their understanding, becoming a Deity or a God Embracer is the only outcome that can get rid of the anxiety brought by long-term vicious competition."

"As long as they become a Deity, even a Narrative Civilization would regard them highly, not daring to act rashly."

"Safety... that's such a subjective reason." Yutianxiao shrugged. "Let's go, we're preparing to enter."

As he spoke, Yutianxiao took out a floating light sphere from his bag and tossed it into the cave.

Tap... tap... tap...

The light sphere illuminated the path as it rolled, shattering along the way, leaving behind a dazzling trail, allowing one to easily determine the terrain's direction and the environment of the space.

But soon, Yutianxiao revealed a surprised expression.

"Hmm? Are there footprints here?"

Hearing this, Long Yuqiong and Night Fighting Sword immediately became alert.

"What's the situation? Has someone been here ahead of us?"

"Were we beaten to it?"

"No, the footprints are already old, only going in, not coming out."

Yutianxiao opened the map, glanced at it, and said:

"This tomb only has an entrance at the main gate, no exit."

"Is that so, then it seems that uninvited guest should still be inside."

Night Fighting Sword slid a short dagger from his belt, which he used to mark the ground before leaping forward, quickly traversing the tomb passage, sidestepping along the walls like a specter, disappearing instantly.

"The mobility of the Wolf School is still impressive," Long Yuqiong commented.

"He's lucky, being the one among us from the Wolf School, he's the least affected. Even without much equipment, his combat power wouldn't be too lacking."

Yutianxiao said:

"Let him go inside first to scout and investigate. Even if there's danger, he can transmit back through the dagger in time."

"This kind of task should be done by the [Mysterious] class," Long Yuqiong sighed. "… I kind of miss our previous team."

"Indeed, if Yueyue were here, scouting the road would be risk-free. Severston's various tools were crucial, very supportive indeed, and Invincible True General and Caramel Snail were excellent teammates, reliable in battle."

"Speaking of True General..." Long Yuqiong said, "I always felt he wasn't an ordinary person."

"He certainly isn't ordinary. He's a top-tier game streamer with millions of fans; you can't underestimate him."

"No, that's not what I meant. Although True General runs an impressive stream, being able to attract a large audience to any stream just by mentioning his name, I don't think that's the issue here..."

Long Yuqiong thought for a bit and said:

"Don't you think True General is a little too strong?"

"How so?"

"When he collaborates with us professional players, he never doubts us; he knows all of our professions not to mention and understands how to synergize with our tactics. As a casual player, albeit a technically skilled streamer, he's very aware of professional esports thinking, which is quite extraordinary... It either means his understanding of the game is profound or that he too is a professional player."

But there's more to it than just that.

"He really understands the game core, being deeply familiar with 'Starry Abyss' environment and settings. If the ID were covered, I might think he's an NPC native. Even Teacher Xia's understanding of the game's settings may not be as deep as True General's, especially since Teacher Xia is a non-combatant, whereas True General is wholly a War God..."

Due to the presence of Cognition Filter, Long Yuqiong couldn't fully articulate his thoughts, but fortunately, having worked with Yutianxiao for years and built great rapport, Yutianxiao generally understood his sentiments.

"Are you saying True General, like you, has an internal background with the Qiqiao Network?"

"… More or less."

Long Yuqiong gestured with his hand, not really intending that way, but the other put forth a plausible enough theory.

"He's extremely calm in response to the Qiqiao Network, and remember? During the battles on Azure Star and Red Mist Star, he showed a [Society] stance."

"But didn't he explain? By absorbing [Secret Society]'s power with Arcane Energy, besides, we use society's institutions as weaponry and equipment, using what we take from the enemy back against them, isn't that normal?"

"That's not what I mean... How can I explain to you?"

Long Yuqiong felt a headache.

Communicating through a cognition filter was really inconvenient; he even thought of exiting 'Starry Abyss' to discuss it face-to-face with Yutianxiao offline.

The explosion back then that blasted them to the Border Abyss, upon reflection now, feels somewhat suspicious.

After contact with Lai Anding, Long Yuqiong began to suspect True General's identity but did not want to use Lai Anding's help to investigate, and Qiqiao Network didn't possess that capability either.

After all, the essence of Qiqiao is the tireless updating and operating by [Players] in the background, supported and sheltered by Lai Anding.

Currently, Lai Anding is mentally unstable, even while personally taking the field, ironically, nothing is more meaningful than when he was outside.

Presumably, when Lai Anding promoted Gio Zieou, he already exhausted the backup bodies, only for Gio Zieou to fail the task, resulting in the loss of Xides, a valuable seed to Starry Abyss.

Now, with Land Loyd missing, Lai Anding is almost going berserk, laying crazy groundwork in Border Abyss.

In these three months alone, the three of them have been busier than ever, with players soon set to flood into Border Abyss en masse. Should Lai Anding form a personal power, it would prevent mobilizing more players to find Land Loyd.

Even for the players—considering the safety of Divine Clan Warriors, making Lai Anding calm down and return to support the 'Medical Pact' is essential.

Yet, where Land Loyd is remains a mystery...

Just as Long Yuqiong pondered this, Night Fighting Sword's voice suddenly came through on comms with an exclamation:

"Gosh, Ori..."

"What happened?!"

"Ori..." Night Fighting Sword took a deep breath, gazing at the sight before him, said in shock: "So it's you."

Drip…

The water dripped from the stalactite into the clear pool below, reflecting two silhouetted figures of different sizes.

"It's you indeed."

The tall man slowly turned around, looking at Night Fighting Sword, his entire being exuding an indescribable robust aura.

As fierce as the rising sun, as massive as a mountain.

Night Fighting Sword tugged at the corner of his mouth, incredulous as he said:

"... True General?"

"It's me."

As Leoz's consciousness descended onto Invincible True General's body, he spoke:

"Night, it's been a while. You seem to be doing well."

"Let's not talk about that."

Night Fighting Sword's conscripted body trembled continuously, overwhelmed by the aura emanating from the other, obliterating all resistance.

This sense of oppression... you must be kidding?

How can a player feel like a BOSS!

He had to ask:

"True, what level are you exactly?"

"Level 280."

Leoz stated lightly:

"Cauchy Rank (14)"

After speaking, he revealed his identity panel, the horrifying stats causing Night Fighting Sword's jaw to nearly drop to the ground.

However, there was one thing Leoz had misstated.

He wasn't level 280, but rather level 289.

Not much more, just exactly 60 levels above the highest level for players in the current version.

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