The end of the world is approaching, I'm handing myself over to the country.

Xinmi and Tia ran wildly through the darkness, not daring to stop for even a moment.

The terrifying aura behind them was rapidly receding, and the hope of survival rose in their hearts.

Although the price was heavy, Xin Mi lost a limb and suffered damage to his very essence.

Tia's mental strength was exhausted, and her foundation was shaken.

But as long as I can survive and bring this news back, it will all be worth it!

Sending back such important intelligence, the Queen's blessing can make up for all the losses.

Just when they thought they had successfully escaped.

An indescribable feeling suddenly descended upon me.

The surrounding darkness seemed to suddenly become viscous.

The air stopped moving.

The light was frozen.

Time... seemed to have stood still.

An aura, far more powerful, profound, and ancient than the violent and primal death power of the Pan Gu, had somehow completely enveloped this world.

It is everywhere.

Like the waters of the deep sea, they gently enveloped them, yet carried an absolute pressure that could not be resisted.

Xinmi and Tia's frantic running figures froze in mid-air, maintaining their forward-rushing posture, but unable to move forward even an inch.

Their minds could still function, but their bodies had completely lost control.

A fear ten thousand times stronger than when facing the Bodies arose uncontrollably from the deepest part of their souls, spreading and instantly engulfing all their consciousness.

If the power of the Rock Bone is a sharp blade that cuts through everything.

So what enveloped them at that moment was an entire world made of knives!

Xinmi and Tia used all their strength, with great difficulty, inch by inch, to turn their eyes toward the source of that aura.

In the direction they came from, in that deep darkness.

A figure had been standing there quietly, unnoticed.

It was a white jade skeleton inlaid with dark gold runes, draped in a tattered scholar's robe, with a calm, deep blue soul fire burning in its eye sockets, as dark as the starry sky.

He simply stood there, and became the center of the entire world.

Everything came to a standstill.

Death submits to it.

With a swift movement, he swept past the two women and appeared in front of them.

The moment Xinmi and Tia saw that figure, all their compound eyes and cat-like pupils suddenly shrank to the most dangerous pinpoints!

One name alone sends shivers down their spines, the other a code name representing the supreme existence of the undead race—it all exploded in their minds like a thunderclap!

Their lips opened and closed silently, but they couldn't utter a single complete syllable.

"bone......"

"Abomination!"

......

The real world.

Chi Zhengyang's office.

The heavy curtains blocked out the last bit of natural light, leaving only a lonely halo of light cast by the table lamp inside.

Chi Zhengyang took off his reading glasses and wearily pinched the bridge of his nose.

He had just finished his work and leaned back in his chair, trying to find a moment of peace, when there was a knock on the closed office door.

Boom, boom, boom.

The pace is steady, neither hurried nor slow.

"Come in."

Chi Zhengyang sat up straight again, his voice revealing little emotion.

A young secretary in a crisp uniform pushed open the door and entered, standing ramrod straight.

"Elder Chi, Zhou Jian has arrived. He says he has urgent business to attend to and must see you."

Zhou Jian?

Chi Zhengyang's thoughts paused for a moment.

At this point in time, he should be in Wasteland Era.

Why did he come to find me?

After a brief moment of thought, Chi Zhengyang's face remained calm and expressionless.

"Let him in."

"Yes."

The secretary left without asking a single question.

Soon, a tall, imposing figure appeared at the door: "Report."

"Come in."

"Close the door behind you."

Chi Zhengyang tapped his finger lightly on the table.

Zhou Jian did as instructed and closed the heavy soundproof door behind him.

The office fell into absolute silence.

Chi Zhengyang didn't speak; he simply observed the young man before him in silence.

This guy seems carefree, but he's actually quite cunning.

I've always disliked being alone, especially by myself.

The fact that he would go to such lengths to report to his team leader, Chen Feng, in person means that it must be something extremely important.

"If you had nothing to do, you wouldn't have come to me at this time," Chi Zhengyang finally spoke, breaking the silence. "What exactly happened?"

Zhou Jian's posture remained unchanged; he stood like a statue.

She slightly turned her eyes to glance at Chi Zhengyang, then immediately straightened her expression.

Although he didn't say anything, Zhou Jian had actually been simulating a whole drama in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Jian said, "Elder Chi, I need to confirm something with you."

"explain."

"Before the public release of 2,000 beta test slots for Wasteland Era, was there a person named 'Zhang Heng' among the first batch of slots released?"

Zhou Jian got straight to the point.

Chi Zhengyang's movements stopped.

The first batch of slots, apart from the twenty people who were given out to the public, were all top secret.

Each recipient has gone through layers of selection; they are the deepest and most important seeds that the Dragon Kingdom has planted in that unknown world.

Even those ten ordinary people, going back three generations, had never made any mistakes.

The existence of this list was known only to him and the other four elders.

Zhou Jian does not have this permission.

"If you're just curious about this, then please put away your curiosity." Chi Zhengyang's reply was three degrees colder: "This is not something you should care about."

"Do your own job well."

This is both a warning and a protection.

However, Zhou Jian did not back down.

"No, Elder Chi, I'm not just curious."

Zhou Jian leaned forward slightly: "I recently met someone in the game. At first, I thought he was a teammate from another war zone, so I didn't think much of it."

"But now, I suspect he... is a monster in disguise."

He spoke the last few words very slowly.

Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.

The temperature in the office suddenly dropped.

Chi Zhengyang immediately straightened his back, forgetting all his previous fatigue.

He was like a fully drawn bow, exuding an imposing aura.

"A monster disguised as a human?"

"Do you have any evidence for what you're saying?"

Zhou Jian shook his head.

"There is no concrete evidence."

This answer eased the tense atmosphere slightly.

Chi Zhengyang remained calm, but he knew exactly what kind of person Zhou Jian was, and patiently waited for him to continue.

Zhou Jian would never dare to present a suspicion without any evidence to himself.

"But I saw him again today," Zhou Jian continued, "and he acted very much like a real human being."

"His speech, behavior, lifestyle, and even his taste in food and his complaints about the environment are all flawless."

Zhou Jian's narration was calm, as if he were repeating a report.

"We talked a lot, and he showed himself to be an ordinary young man who is somewhat greedy and a little clever, but not a bad person at heart."

"You can find tons of people like that everywhere."

"We even talked about many things happening in society today, and he was able to answer them perfectly."

Chi Zhengyang listened quietly without interrupting.

Zhou Jian's fist clenched silently at his side: "But about half an hour after I left, my intuition and experience led me back."