Chapter 97: King-Level (Two-in-One)

Chapter 97: King-Level (Two-in-One)

In the end, neither the worker nor Yue Feng could secure their place as Chen Sijin's sole dedication—the world, being overly generous, kicked them both out simultaneously.

Perhaps the collapsing world simply couldn't accommodate two almost-king-level deities, so when Yue Feng and Yao Yan turned their heads towards Chen Sijin and extended their hands, both vanished in a flash.

Chen Sijin was immensely pleased at that moment.

After all, as someone very adept at seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, having either an all-capable worker or a powerful Yue Feng was an immensely profitable assistant.

Why make a choice between two such extraordinary options?

As an adult, can't one have it all?

The world itself seemed to be aiding him, clearly indicating everything was set to work out somehow.

After all, working and seeking pleasure don't necessarily conflict, do they?

After Lezi and Yaozi left, Chen Zijin saw the bald, braided young man excitedly holding a [Shortcut] copy card, looking at him.

Chen Zijin smiled at him from a distance: "Welcome to the Eternal Heart."

Then, the braided young man also vanished.

Such a person, who insists on finding a glimmer of hope in a desperate situation, will surely survive well in the Eternal Heart.

Afterwards, the world's energy began to converge, and Chen Zijin obtained the only trophy in this world—

It wasn't the kind of virus that could make people sick, nor a skill card that could invoke despair in the human heart that Chen Zijin had imagined.

It turned out to be a star-shaped pebble that radiated light.

[Star of Hope: Look up at the sky; as long as the stars are there, hope exists.

If you are in despair, do not fear, look up at the stars shining alone in the endless darkness. You will calm down and continue moving forward.

The stars have walked through the darkness for millions of years without fear. Thus, neither should you and I.]

Chen Sijin, looking at the star in his palm, couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

Who would have thought that what remained of this world of despair and pain would be such a "Star of Hope"?

This is probably the "star" those tormented souls, who could not find peace or liberation, longed for the most in this world.

This star is likely the most useless of all the spoils of war Chen Sijin has acquired.

Because it doesn't possess any practical offensive or defensive capabilities.

But Chen Sijin cherishes this spoil of war the most.

He hopes that one day, in the exiled land's pitch-black sky, countless stars like this one will appear.

By then, the exiled land might take on a different form.

Chen Sijin did not acquire the core power of this world; all of its strength should have been obtained by Yao Yan.

Before entering this world hundreds of years ago, Yao Yan was already at the brink of king-level power. After devouring the core power of this world named "Despair," Chen Sijin believes he will soon advance from "near-king level" to "king level."

Thinking of this, Chen Sijin smiled; among the human exiles, a third "king" would emerge.

Such a scene... is probably very much anticipated.

Suddenly, the earth trembled, and this world of despair finally ceased to exist.

When Chen Sijin reappeared in the Exiled Lands, he hadn't even steadied himself before he saw Yao Yan standing in the air above White Moon City and Yue Feng, who for the first time didn't vanish immediately but instead stood to the side with arms crossed, wearing a schadenfreude expression as he watched the festivities.

Both of them noticed Chen Sijin's arrival right away.

Yao Yan nodded at him from a distance as a greeting, while Yue Feng instantly appeared beside Chen Sijin with a swift movement.

He was still dressed in that lavish and domineering uniform and cloak, so conspicuous that half the people present turned their gaze to Chen Sijin following him.

Chen Sijin hadn't even had the chance to ask Yue Feng what had happened.

Then, a somewhat gloomy and more decayed old voice came from Yao Yan's direction.

"Another one arrives."

"I'll ask again, which one of you dared to blatantly disrupt White Moon City and kill a distinguished guest of White Moon City?!"

Chen Sijin, hearing this, didn't immediately grasp the accusation and responded, his voice spreading throughout White Moon City.

"You must be mistaken. How could we have killed a distinguished guest of White Moon City? We don’t even know who your guest is, how could we possibly—"

Chen Sijin stopped mid-sentence.

His eyebrows shot up, and his phoenix eyes sharpened. The volume of his voice also increased several times over, like thunderclap in the sky.

"That's hilarious, are you referring to the devourer of the [disease]?"

At this moment, many in the Exiled Lands instinctively looked up, searching for the source of the voice.

The Lord of Meteor City, Wu Qingyu, heard this gossip immediately and commanded to casually head towards White Moon City.

Meanwhile, in the underground Dragon Fortress and the exiles within the Eternal Heart, they had already activated their spy screens for White Moon City—

At this moment, the total number of exiles in the Eternal Heart had exceeded 80,000 people. Thanks to the existence of the Fight-Together Marketplace, everyone's strength was rapidly increasing, not just through exchanging various items to upgrade equipment, but the marketplace also offered group deals for fighting devourers, making everyone particularly proactive in going out for counter-attacks.

Due to well-coordinated teams, the death rate among exiles who were not good at fighting significantly decreased, and they were able to save their lives and level up even when weak. Thus, there are many exiles in the Eternal Heart now who are not good at fighting but have strong supportive abilities.

One of them is capable of placing a disguised peeping stone to gather information and imagery from the area where the stone is placed.

An excellent surveillance ability.

And the grandma with this ability initially thought she couldn't survive. Now, she feels she can live to see her grandchildren back home!

"Oh my God, the boss is back! The person who just appeared is the boss! Every time the boss speaks, it's so thrilling."

"Haha, of course, didn’t you see who his cousin is?"

"So, our group leader, the boss, just dealt with a super powerful devourer world, right? But who are the guy in the tailcoat and the one with the wolf pelt cloak? Both these guys seem pretty awesome."

"Ha! No matter how awesome, they're not as cool as my cousin! Those two are definitely my cousin's underlings!!"

“……”

In the large meeting hall of Dragon Fortress, the core members couldn't help but roll their eyes in unison. Who let this damn green tea b**** in?! Can we not have every other word be 'cousin'? It's so annoying!

They're just lacking some blood relation, aren’t they?

"Alright, quiet down, our group leader, the boss, has already started the fight."

Chen Sijin's voice echoed across the Exiled Lands.

"I'll ask again, was the 'distinguished guest' you mentioned just now that high-level devourer ruler [Disease] who indiscriminately snatches people in White Moon City, where hardly anyone has survived for hundreds of years?"

"No way, no way, right? White Moon City's Lord, are you not human? How could you consider a devourer as a distinguished guest if you are human? And if you're not human, why then are you serving as the lord of a human city like Baiyue City?"

"Ah!" Chen Sijin's voice suddenly increased dramatically, and he even clapped his hands exaggeratedly.

"Could it be, Lord of White Moon City, that you have an unspeakable special identity, being able to be both human and devourer... a hybrid?!"

All exiles who heard this: Hiss—

"Impudent!!!"

The voice of White Moon City's Lord thundered like a clap of thunder.

At the same time, three giant ice spears appeared out of nowhere in White Moon City, targeting Chen Sijin's head, heart, and abdomen.

The mere appearance of these giant ice spears brought frost and snow to the entire White Moon City, dropping the temperature by at least twenty degrees, making some ordinary onlooking exiles shiver suddenly, even struggling to flee.

But Chen Sijin remained motionless, suspended in mid-air.

Suddenly, one of the giant ice spears was grasped and then crushed into powder by a hand wearing white gloves.

Yao Yan appeared three steps in front of Chen Sijin, his expression slightly cold. "Lord, did you not hear what I just said due to deafness? The one who killed [Disease] was me. Why are you attempting to ambush my master?"

All the onlooking exiles: What master?!!

Then the second giant ice spear was casually crushed underfoot by Yue Feng.

The man's domineering presence was as if he viewed the entire world as nothing but trash.

"Trash, if you want a fight, go after that worker. Who gave you permission to touch my Sweet Gold?"

All the onlooking exiles: What's this about a sweetheart?!!!

The last giant ice spear suddenly stopped in its tracks just as it was about to pierce Chen Sijin's forehead, as if an invisible force had blocked it. Then, with a slight blink from the young man, "Return."

That largest ice spear then vibrated for a moment before stabbing back towards its origin with even greater speed and ferocity.

As a result, not one of the three ice spears could harm Chen Sijin, and the demise of each ice spear seemed like a harsh slap on the face of White Moon City's Lord.

Besides this slap, it seemed to carry a certain bizarrely splendid conflict.

Then, something even more thrilling happened.

Chen Sijin spoke again.

"Ah, you're getting agitated."

"Too bad you couldn't kill and silence."

"Are you upset because I called you a hybrid, or because a hidden devourer died in your city and now you can't report back?"

The young man's face was all smiles.

"Lord of the City, at this point, still not showing yourself? Are you too ashamed to face anyone?"

Finally, under the continuous provocation from Chen Sijin, the Lord of White Moon City who had not yet appeared slowly materialized in front of the three of them.

He appeared to be a very young man, probably only in his thirties.

He was dressed in a splendid moon-white robe and wore a white cape on his back. He even held a scepter in his hand and wore a crown on his head. At first glance, he truly looked like a "king."

However, Chen Sijin frowned the moment he saw him.

Even though the Lord of White Moon City appeared quite young on the outside, the decay emanating from him was so intense it was nauseating.

Chen Sijin even began to wonder for a moment if beneath that splendid robe lay a rotting corpse, or if that was no longer a human shell but a different state of being.

Unfortunately, it seemed most people couldn't see his true form or feel that decay. When he appeared, almost all the citizens of White Moon City knelt down, showing their submission.

"Chen Sijin."

The Lord of White Moon City precisely called out Chen Sijin's name, his voice cold yet grand, mimicking a divine summoning.

"I know you."

"You are a new shining meteor among the exiles, many believe you to be the new savior.

"In less than a year since arriving in the Exiled Lands, you've approached the level of a king among ruling exiles. Every time you enter a devouring world, you manage to counter-kill its core, turning devourers into your prey."

"You've even constructed a highly concealed underground city. Your city is expanding rapidly, and the number of exiles within it is increasing swiftly."

With each word spoken by the Lord of White Moon City, the smile on Chen Sijin's face faded a bit more.

Until the Lord of White Moon City spoke his last words, only coldness remained on Chen Sijin's face.

"You seem to be chosen by destiny. Unfortunately, do you know how many people who seemed to be 'chosen by destiny' I've seen?"

The Lord of White Moon City slowly raised his scepter.

The temperature in White Moon City began to drop frantically.

"I've seen at least three 'chosen by destiny' saviors, no less than ten rapidly rising 'meteors.'"

White frost began to spread at the feet of Chen Sijin, Yao Yan, and Yue Feng.

"But the saviors, rather than rescuing the world, died in the dark corners of the Exiled Lands, and those strong exiles, once as dazzling as meteors, were just as fleeting, ultimately all perishing."

"Only I!"

The scepter in the hands of the Lord of White Moon City suddenly erupted with light, and the ice crystals at the feet of Chen Sijin and the others instantly coalesced and engulfed them, freezing them into three ice statues.

"Only I! Know how to advance step by step! Know when to advance and when to retreat! Fools may fight for temporary glory but can never become the ultimate victor! What do you ignorant children know?! When you die, your followers will scatter! You are saviors, but who can you really save?!"

The voice of the Lord of White Moon City echoed throughout the Exiled Lands, sounding like both a declaration and a warning:

"Only I!! Only I am the true savior! The true king and god! Only I will truly shelter the exiles!"

"And under this protection, what is wrong with a little sacrifice and compromise?"

"Without me. The dead would number not in the hundreds of thousands but in the millions."

He elevated himself to the skies above White Moon City, arms raised high as if to demonstrate his unique status under the heavens.

What of Chen Sijin?

What of Yue Feng and Yao Yan, exiles at the brink of king-level?

Compared to him, who has existed and accumulated power for a thousand years, they are all insignificant!

Even though this was his full force.

Yet, those foolish, impulsive young people still died by his hand. They will never understand the vast gap between "below the king" and the "king" itself.

It is, a chasm!

The Lord of White Moon City slowly curled his lips, savoring his victory once again.

Although [Disease] was counter-devoured, Chen Sijin, Yue Feng, and another near-king level exile all died.

The deaths of these three will thoroughly silence those restless, disobedient exiles who have been stirring up lately.

It will also elevate White Moon City to the pinnacle of being the foremost city.

*

Meteor City.

"Damn it, that rotten, old mongrel." Wu Qingyu irritably scratched his messy long hair, "Using sacred ice crystals against a twenty-something ruling class brother, shameless!"

"Big sister! Will our golden brother be alright? Should we go to rescue him? Those were sacred ice crystals, almost impossible to break from the inside!"

Wu Qingyu frowned deeply: "Wait and see, I don't believe that kid's life is so short. He's not just a meteor."

Tch, disobedient kid, wouldn't it be good to quietly become a king over a hundred years?

*

Dragon Fortress.

"Damn it! That shameless old dog! Acting all high and mighty, daring to freeze my cousin into an ice sculpture! Where are the people? Where's my Green Tea Crazy Squad? Grab your gear, we're heading to White Moon City to save my cousin!"

"Damn, you green tea, always rushing to be first! Where's the Beast Squad? Quick, quick, quick! Get your equipment ready, sharpen your claws, we're going to wipe out White Moon City!"

"Don't get too excited, guys. I don't think our group leader would be helpless just because he's frozen in a block of ice. Where's the Flame Squad, Flame Squad! Our leader's frozen, and we're the fire users, obviously the best rescue team. Get the energy stones ready, we'll use the shortcut card to blaze our way there!"

Rational members like Yunxia and the domineering Chu Tiankuo watched the meeting's core members, who were howling to flatten White Moon City, with expressionless faces and weary hearts.

All these team leaders were fervent warmongers, not to mention the quirky green teas and white lotuses, and the only one who could really rein them in, the Vice-Lord Feng Tianhuo, was already ready to teleport with a giant fireball.

Help, can't we get a more reliable and steady steward? It's really hard to manage this bunch now!

Just as Feng Tianhuo had decided to teleport the entire Dragon Fortress to White Moon City, Daoist Luo Bo, who had been staring at the big screen in the meeting room, suddenly shouted:

"Everyone shut up and calm down! I knew our group leader couldn't be trapped by some ice lump! The first thing I do every day is divinate for our leader, and today is a great day, destined to triumph in the battlefield!"

Everyone: "…What?"

At that moment, everyone saw one of the three ice crystals on the screen start to shake violently.

Then, under the incredulous look of the Lord of White Moon City, the leftmost ice crystal burst into blinding white light, and numerous cracks appeared before it exploded with a loud bang.

The curly-haired man in a black tailcoat suit gently brushed off the ice crystal fragments from his body with a frown.

"What a pity. The ice crystal almost had me. But I've got work to do for my master; can't afford to skip on the first day."

The Lord of White Moon City's voice became sharp and piercing: "Impossible! No ruler can break through my sacred ice crystals!!"

Yao Yan bowed slightly to him, a perfect worker's polite smile on his face.

"Ah. Sorry."

"Just now, I happened to level up to king-level."

The moment he finished speaking, the ice crystal on the right disintegrated into countless particles without even shaking.

Yue Feng disdainfully brushed off his wolf fur cloak under the horrified gaze of the Lord of White Moon City and grinned: "Trash, you dirtied my fur. I'll kill you, you know."

"No, no, how, how could you too!"

The only remaining white ice crystal in the middle also started to tremble slightly, and the Lord of White Moon City nearly passed out, clutching his chest, just staring at the sacred ice crystal enclosing Chen Sijin, absolutely unable and unwilling to believe or withstand a third king emerging before him!!!

If this is the case, if this is the case…

"Hey! Yue Feng, Yao Yan!"

The sacred ice crystal didn't shatter, but the person who should have been frozen solid, utterly unable to move and slowly awaiting death inside the ice, shifted from standing to sitting, one leg crossed over the other, hand supporting his chin, and said:

"Whoever kills him first will be my exclusive joy or exclusive steward."

Yue Feng instantly grinned.

Yao Yan started to adjust his gloves.

The next instant, they suddenly appeared on either side of the Lord of White Moon City, radiating murderous intent.