CHAPTER 741: 607

A large hole had been dug out in the bar.

But there were no tunnels.

The man who harbored "love, dreams, and world peace" had just vanished.

"What a pity..."

Emperor Bai sighed.

Wu Xiaode agreed, "Right, if we could have killed him—"

"Once ’love, dreams, and world peace’ disappear, we could break free from the shackles of our human forms and use our true selves without any restraint," Emperor Bai continued.

"Exactly." Wu Xiaode shrugged and continued swinging his shovel.

Emperor Bai, however, was not willing to stay any longer.

After all, the other party had already fled, and it was pointless to keep guarding this place.

He stretched out his hand irritably.

Behind the bar, a bottle of liquor flew into his hand.

He opened the cap, took a sip, then smashed the bottle on the ground and yelled:

"Activate the transmission array, let’s go!"

Several dozen guards chanted spells.

Rune after rune glowed as they fluttered back and forth in the Void, all converging around Emperor Bai and forming a giant rune net.

The Void fluctuated for a moment.

"Hold on, where are you going?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"To gather more comrades, to pioneer an era for the ’Sage,’ " Emperor Bai casually replied.

In a flash,

All the runes burst forth with intense light.

The Void collapsed inward, and Emperor Bai and the people around him vanished.

Only Wu Xiaode was left in the ruined bar.

Wu Xiaode made a praying gesture toward the sky, muttering:

"Oh great ’Fisher,’ thank you for your gift, things have just become very interesting."

He set down the Holy Shovel, wiped the sweat from his forehead, climbed out of the hole, and crouched where the bottle had shattered.

Looking at the pool of crimson liquor and glass fragments on the ground, a strange smile appeared on Wu Xiaode’s face.

"When annoyed, one may think of drinking..."

"Perhaps you still don’t realize what you’re doing, but everything is subtly changing."

He went behind the bar, took out a bottle of mineral water, and slowly began to drink it.

—Having given out complete information on a mysterious life form, this made the ’Fishing’ sequence’s boss very happy.

It paid him back with a superb hidden skill.

Indeed, this was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

But such transactions based on interest could not be seen as trust.

Speaking of trust—

His master had always been watching over him from the Holy Realm.

Wu Xiaode walked to the window to check the outside sky.

The sky was enveloped in reddish-brown flames, obscuring day and night.

The clock on the wall showed it was 11:32.

minutes to a new day.

He decided to wait.

He kept waiting until the clock chimed the hour.

A new day had begun!

The Book of the Dead gently flipped to the page with the wish wall.

Indeed, there was a note on the wall:

"Your master’s true self is still very weak, currently in some form of concealment."

"As I said, the mysterious life forms were suppressed by your ’love, dreams, and world peace,’ so they are eager to kill you."

"Emperor Bai was closest to you, yet it did not come to kill you immediately."

"Otherwise, during the ’Rain of Calamity,’ if your bar had been destroyed by it, you would most likely have faced catastrophe."

"—Go find out why."

"If you can find the reason, it will surely be a reward worth the commission."

Wu Xiaode quickly read through the note and couldn’t help wondering.

Master.

You’re really stingy.

Not willing to offer a reward, you still want me to find the reason myself.

But compared to that "Fisher," my master is the one who deserves trust.

This commission must have some deeper meaning.

Wu Xiaode took the note, closed his eyes, and carefully recalled everything that had happened.

Indeed.

The mysterious life forms couldn’t wait to kill him sooner.

Emperor Bai might be the strongest mysterious life form closest to him.

—Yet, according to his master, the first thing it did upon entering the "Pangu World" was not to kill him.

What had it gone to do?

Hmm.

Remembered it.

It said—

"Before I came here, I slaughtered another village three hundred miles away, all humans died."

Damn it.

It first went to annihilate another village three hundred miles away.

But it didn’t specify the directions!

In the newly awakened Pangu World, a conglomeration of countless worlds, who knows where three hundred miles away is!

A smug expression appeared on Wu Xiaode’s face.

—Fortunately, he had absorbed the memories of that guard who died for Emperor Bai.

Even though he was killed by a Fire Giant—

After all, he died because of his own "Divine Enthronement."

"Let me recall..."

"Got it, northeast direction, three hundred miles."

Wu Xiaode pushed open the bar door, glanced towards the northeast, and his figure flashed as he began to speed off.

At this moment, he was adorned with the title "Seated Alone in the Deep Pond."

All beings did not recognize him, ignored him, or regarded him as one of their own.

Even the Fire Giants slowly moving through the sky did not spare him a glance.

Wu Xiaode, however, looked up at those Fire Giants.

Two lines of text suddenly jumped out:

"’Fishing’ sequence release reminder:"

"If you can obtain detailed information on the Fire Giants, allowing ’Fisher’ (the owner is very pleased with this nickname) Your Excellency the chance to fish a Fire Giant, ’Fisher’ Your Excellency would be very pleased."

Wu Xiaode quickly averted his gaze.

What a joke!

Under the gaze of a Fire Giant, even Emperor Bai could only send another to die for him.

How could he possibly obtain information about the Fire Giant?

He lowered his head and hurried along without stopping.

A moment later.

Wu Xiaode fell from mid-air.

He stood atop the fountain in the middle of the crossroads of the small town, scanning the entire place.

...Strange.

Why did he feel a sense of familiarity with this town?

He seemed to sense something—

Wu Xiaode looked up and saw that the health bar above his head had turned golden.

Golden...

He remembered.

He had once promised the World Will of the Virtual World to serve as the neutral zone’s caretaker for the competition.

He had also teamed up with Satan to earn a good deal of money for the World Will.

When Babylon reached for the sky and Eternal Ascension was being reversed, the competition in the Virtual World was in full swing.

So this was the Virtual World!

Wu Xiaode vaguely felt that he was about to uncover some vital secret.

And this safe zone had always been managed by Jiang Shanglan.

—Then ask her!

Wu Xiaode opened the Book of the Dead without a second thought and flipped to the last page.

There, he saw a card tucked away in a corner; it was Shen Feixue.

In the center of the page,

Two cards were tangled together.

Jiang Shanglan, disheveled, was forcefully pulling Gjestastav’s hair.

The Ancient Dragon King Gjestastav, with hair disarrayed, clutched firmly at Jiang Shanglan’s collar.

"Wench, let go," Jiang Shanglan coldly said.

"Slut, you let go first," Gjestastav scoffed disdainfully.

From a distance, Shen Feixue whispered,

"Stop fighting, come on Little Lan!"

Wu Xiaode only glanced once and immediately, with a reaction honed by years of brushing against life and death, snapped the Book of the Dead shut as swiftly as lightning.

"Bang!"

The thick Book of the Dead emitted a muffled sound.

Silence.

A streak of cold sweat slowly ran down Wu Xiaode’s forehead.

I’m such a fool, really.

Why look for Jiang Shanglan!

He himself was the legitimate person in charge of the competition’s safe zone.

For the sake of his life, he better investigate himself!

He let go of the Book of the Dead, allowing it to fade into the Void, and began to explore the entire town.

First—

His health bar had turned golden as soon as he entered this place.

This proved that although the "Virtual World" had become part of Pangu, it still retained its own characteristics and power.

This was—

Unimaginable.

His world and Jiang Shanglan’s world had both completely merged into Pangu and no longer belonged to themselves.

Yet the "Virtual World" still possessed such power.

It was said to have once been a prison?

So,

Why was Emperor Bai so desperate to destroy this prison?

—This matter took priority even over killing him!

Wu Xiaode walked slowly along the streets.

By the side of the road lay a dense mass of corpses.

All were competitors in the competition.

Suddenly,

Wu Xiaode saw a familiar face among the many bodies.

Maresa.

This competitor had been the first to seek him out to purchase the health bar service, so he remembered him.

Wu Xiaode crouched down in front of the body.

Suddenly, a row of golden letters appeared next to the body:

"Competition entrant seed player, deceased."

—This was the competition mechanism of the Virtual World giving him feedback.

"Why would someone die in a safe zone?" Wu Xiaode asked.

Another row of golden letters appeared:

"An exceedingly powerful force disrupted the competition, killing all competitors until it was confirmed that everyone was dead; only then did that force leave."

"What about the master of the competition? Is the World Will still around?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"The World Will has been utterly destroyed," the golden letters stated.

Wu Xiaode fell silent.

All the competitors had been killed by Emperor Bai.

The World Will was dead as well.

Only the competition’s mechanism was still operational.

But without competitors, what was the purpose of the mechanism’s existence?

That was why Emperor Bai had left this place with peace of mind, going to Sare Town to trouble him.

Wu Xiaode sighed and slowly stood up.

What a mess.

Not a single living person, let alone a spirit.

Where should he start looking for clues?

Wu Xiaode furrowed his brow, attempting to sort out his thoughts, when suddenly several rows of golden letters appeared in the Void:

"All competitors dead."

"The competition will soon conclusively end."

"During the final retrieval, one service personnel found: safe zone caretaker."

"Initiating replacement."

"One personnel replaced: safe zone caretaker."

"Current number of competitors +1."

"The competition begins anew."

"..."

"Congratulations!"

"You are the last survivor in the competition."

"You have won the championship!"