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

At that moment, Zhang Heng's heart suddenly stopped beating.

This face...

He would never mistake that gentle yet masculine face.

My mother treasures it in the old photo album deep inside her bedside table.

That man has a face like that.

Ainz Ooal Gown remained silent.

He simply stood there quietly, maintaining that perfectly timed smile, his gaze fixed intently on Zhang Heng.

It was as if they wanted to etch every subtle expression of Zhang Heng at this moment into the depths of their souls.

He knew Zhang Heng's personality better than anyone else.

This guy always wraps himself in a cold and indifferent shell, keeping people at arm's length.

But beneath that hard shell lies a heart more sensitive and delicate than anyone else's.

at this time.

Talking too much or pushing him too hard will only provoke his strongest vigilance and rebellion.

That's not the outcome Ainz Ooal Gown wanted.

He had already waited for over fifty years without any hope, so he didn't mind having a little more patience.

Once it's confirmed that Zhang Heng is back, that's enough.

We'll use the same method we used to get to know Zhang Heng last time; we just need to plant a seed of doubt in his mind.

He doesn't mind taking it slow.

"I'm right here."

The Bone King spoke gently, his voice not loud, but it clearly reached Zhang Heng's ears.

"I'll be there whenever you need me."

After saying that, he didn't linger.

The man slowly turned around, his deep black eyes lifting to gaze at the rooftop of a tall building in the distance.

He took a step.

......

On the rooftop.

The moment Ainz Ooal Gown's gaze fell upon him, Lin Mo's blood seemed to freeze instantly.

A chill ran up his spine from his tailbone to the top of his head.

run!

Only this one word remained in my mind, a wildly screaming thought.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Mo pushed the spatial authority to its limit.

However, just as his figure was about to become blurred...

Om-! !

The whole world seemed to have been put on pause.

An indescribable, terrifying pressure pressed in from all directions, squeezing through every crevice of space.

The surrounding air instantly became viscous and heavy, like liquid mercury.

The entire space transformed into an indestructible, absolutely still piece of amber.

And he was the tiny insect sealed in the very center of this piece of amber, unable to even tremble his wings.

Lin Mo felt that his body was so heavy that it didn't belong to him.

He used all his strength, mobilizing every last bit of power in his body, in an attempt to complete the escape.

The muscle fibers in his legs were stretched to the point of tearing, emitting painful groans, and the veins bulged and sprang under his skin.

But he couldn't move even a millimeter.

He was stuck in place, stuck in a pathetic and futile starting position.

This was even after he used his spatial authority!

In the distance, a cold, mocking smile appeared on Ainz Ooal Gown's gentle face.

"Stop struggling."

His voice was calm, yet it traveled hundreds of meters, ringing directly in Lin Mo's ear, as clear as a whisper.

"You should be grateful that you've escaped my grasp once with your superficial understanding of power."

Lin Mo gave a helpless, bitter smile.

really.

The suppression he displayed at the beginning of the end-of-month assessment was nothing more than a performance put on by the undead lord.

The other party probably never took me seriously.

The thought had barely crossed my mind when...

The scene before Lin Mo's eyes suddenly distorted violently without warning.

One second ago, Ainz Ooal Gown was hundreds of meters away, and the next second, he was standing right in front of him.

Silently.

The distance between the two was less than half a meter.

So close...

Lin Mo could even smell the cold, dry scent emanating from the other person, a mixture of dust and death.

His body's instincts made every muscle tense to the extreme, putting him into the highest level of alert.

However, Ainz Ooal Gown did not make a move.

A hand gently landed on Lin Mo's shoulder.

"Please take good care of him for me."

Ainz Ooal Gown's words were soft, yet carried an unyielding, commanding tone.

"If something happens to him..."

He paused here.

That gentle face suddenly drew closer.

Her cold lips almost touched Lin Mo's ear.

A bone-chilling coldness seeped into Lin Mo's ears and rushed straight to his cerebral cortex, making his very soul tremble.

"Believe me, if I wanted to, I could make you wish you were dead."

The moment the words left his mouth, Ainz Ooal Gown vanished from his spot.

Along with it disappeared the terrifying pressure that had suppressed the entire world and brought everything to a standstill.

Whoosh—!

Lin Mo's body suddenly relaxed, and he staggered back two large steps.

He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently, and cold sweat had completely soaked through his clothes.

He subconsciously looked up.

Ainz Ooal Gown's figure appeared in the highest point of the battlefield.

Ainz Ooal Gown did nothing.

He simply looked down calmly, with his indifferent eyes, at the still roaring and surging black tide below, composed of monsters from the end-of-month assessment.

Just one glance.

boom--!!!

Those monsters that made the official warriors fight bloody battles and suffer heavy casualties at the end of the month exploded on the spot at the same moment!

It wasn't just one, nor was it a group.

It's all of them!

In that instant, the million-strong monster army was transformed into countless flying fragments of flesh and blood and black mist.

There were no screams, no wails.

The whole world fell silent.

Om-! !

A distant and gentle melody came from the edge of the city.

The pale blue safety zone light curtain, like an inverted bowl, rose rapidly from the horizon and finally closed at the highest point of the sky.

Wherever the light curtain passed, it purified and repelled all the remaining bloodstains and alien auras that did not belong to this world.

The dilapidated city has once again regained absolute safety.

Immediately afterwards, an ethereal voice rang in the ears of all the survivors at the same time.

[The invading monsters have all been defeated; the end-of-month assessment is complete.]

The end-of-month assessment is finally over.

This should have been a joyous occasion, a time of relief and celebration for everyone.

But Lin Mo couldn't manage a smile.

He slowly turned around and looked down.

It finally landed in front of the grocery store.

The undead lord, whose body was as massive as a mountain rock, was bowing his head at that moment.

All the monsters were cleared from the safe zone, but he remained in the same spot.

In his enormous, bone-like hand, large enough to crush steel, he was carefully holding a small vial of potion that emitted a soft red glow.

He seemed to still be reeling from the series of mind-blowing events that had just transpired.

Lin Mo's Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed hard, his dry throat burning with pain.

"perhaps......"

He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and unlike his own.

"Only in him can I find the answers I'm looking for."

It was as if she had noticed his gaze.

In their line of sight, Zhang Heng's enormous head slightly lifted, as if sensing something, and looked in the direction where Lin Mo was.