Starting with 10,000 times the experience, and you're calling me a terrible player?

Lin Mo turned off the panel.

The moment the light screen dissipated, he noticed his fingers being clenched even tighter.

I looked down.

Su Xiaoli opened her eyes.

Her two eyes were big and round, staring straight at him, blinking.

Just like stars.

She stared at him without moving.

It looks like it's trying to identify something.

"woke up?"

Lin Mo reached out and touched her forehead.

"How are you feeling? Is there anything that's bothering you?"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Su Xiaoli loosened her grip on his fingers and instead grabbed the small carp pendant on his collar.

She held the dark gold pendant, turning it over and over to examine it several times.

I confirmed that the tiny scratch was still there.

She accidentally bumped into it while sealing her power.

Su Xiaoli's lips moved slightly.

"You're real."

His voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

Lin Mo didn't say anything, but simply sat back down on the edge of the bed, letting her hold onto the pendant.

There was a silence of about ten seconds.

Su Xiaoli suddenly sat up, the blanket slipped off, revealing her wrinkled nightgown.

She lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around Lin Mo's waist and burying her face in his chest.

Don't cry or make a fuss.

He didn't say anything.

It means to hug tightly.

That force was ridiculously strong.

If it were someone else, without basic attributes at level 5, they probably wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Lin Mo remained completely still.

With a physical constitution panel of 434 billion, being held by her felt roughly like being stepped on by a kitten.

You've lost weight.

Lin Mo looked down at her.

Su Xiaoli didn't say anything, but rubbed her face against his chest again.

"And dark circles under the eyes."

Su Xiaoli's body stiffened for a moment.

She suddenly looked up, covering the area below her eyes with one hand.

"Don't look!"

Su Xiaoli, the killing god who dragged the Overlord Halberd on the battlefield, wore heavy black and red armor, and shattered three fifth-level Law True Bodies with a single blow.

At this moment, he was covering his dark circles with one hand and clutching Lin Mo's clothes tightly with the other, his expression both fierce and guilty.

I don't have dark circles under my eyes.

"have."

"No!"

"The area under my left eye is quite dark."

Su Xiaoli immediately reached out and covered his eyes.

"It's gone now."

Lin Mo couldn't help but chuckle.

Su Xiaoli's hand covering his eyes trembled slightly, then she slowly withdrew it.

She lowered her head and spoke very softly.

"...You smiled."

"Um."

"Eight months and twelve days."

She counted on her fingers, muttering to herself.

"Two hundred and fifty-four days, six thousand and ninety-six hours."

"I counted them."

The room was silent for two seconds.

Su Xiaoli raised her head again.

Her eyes were red, but she didn't shed a tear.

She stared at Lin Mo's face, speaking slowly and deliberately.

"Try disappearing for this long again next time?"

The tone was both threatening and coquettish.

They were so serious it was almost frightening.

Lin Mo reached out and tucked her messy hair behind her ear.

"No more."

Su Xiaoli pursed her lips.

"That's a lie."

"I'm not lying to you."

"Then swear it."

"Okay, I'll send it—"

"No, an oath doesn't count."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow.

"So what do you want?"

Su Xiaoli moved to the side, patted the bed, and said matter-of-factly.

"You're sleeping here tonight, and you're not allowed to leave."

"You've been holding me the whole time, so I can't leave even if I want to."

She loosened her grip quickly.

Then they quickly took it back.

"...Anyway, you're not allowed to leave."

Lin Mo didn't say anything more.

He took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair, then lay down on his side on the edge of the bed.

Su Xiaoli pressed her face against his shoulder, her breathing gradually becoming steady.

The sound grew fainter and fainter.

"Lin Mo".

"Um."

"I had a very long dream."

"What kind of dream?"

I dreamt that you died, you died many times.

Her fingers tightened unconsciously.

"After that, I stopped trusting anyone."

"...But then someone came over and patted my head."

"I knew it was you."

The sound became completely indistinct.

Su Xiaoli's breathing became long and even again.

She fell asleep again.

Lin Mo looked down at her.

The faint, dark golden glow on the surface of her skin was slowly flowing.

Suddenly, the light switched to a very faint dark red, then quickly returned to normal.

Lin Mo reached out and placed his hand on her back.

The dark red light trembled slightly when it touched his palm.

It's as if it's responding to something.

Lin Mo didn't make a fuss, but silently noted down this detail.

Outside the window, the moonlight quietly spilled onto the roof of the manor.

The night was very quiet.

……

the next day.

6:17 a.m.

The core city trembled.

Not particularly intense.

The duration was less than two seconds.

But it was enough to make the cups on the second-floor bookshelves of the Shen family manor clink and clang.

Su Xiaoli frowned slightly from the tremors, turned over, and went back to sleep.

Then the breathing returned to normal.

Lin Mo stared at Su Xiaoli's peaceful sleeping face, his brows furrowing slightly.

Lin Mo did not wake her up.

He gently withdrew his hand, which had been held all night, tucked her in, and got up to leave the bedroom.

Shen Yuntang was already standing in the living room.

Her expression was very serious.

The communicator in her hand was still lit up.

Several battle reports were piled on the table, the top one marked with several glaring red dots.

"What happened?"

Lin Mo leaned against the door frame and asked.

"Magnitude 4.7 earthquake."

Shen Yuntang turned off the communicator, her face grim.

The epicenter is unknown.

She paused.

"The Alliance Leader said that this is a law-related vibration generated when the Dragon King fragments converged into the Dragon Heart."

"What about frequency?"

"Over the past three days, the depths of the Great Wilderness have been shaken eleven times, each time signifying that the Dragon King's resurrection is drawing ever closer."

Shen Yuntang let out a soft breath.

"The Alliance Leader has calculated that after 99 attempts, the Dragon King will be successfully resurrected."

She walked to the window and drew back the curtains.

The morning sunlight streamed in.

The skyline of the core city remains neat and orderly.

High-rise buildings stand tall, yet the area is orderly.

But Shen Yuntang's gaze passed over the city and looked toward the northern horizon.

At the bottom of the clouds there, a very faint dark red hue was pressed down.

It's almost impossible to notice unless you look closely.

"Perhaps the Dragon King is about to be resurrected."

"The people from the Dragon Palace have been very active lately."

"The powerful families are starting to get restless too."

Shen Yuntang picked up the battle report on the table and handed it to Lin Mo.

"Three powerful families have declared their willingness to surrender to the alliance."

"But those who remained not only didn't stop, but instead took advantage of the chaos to escalate their attacks."

Lin Mo took the battle report.

The first page.

Weiguang City.

Red marker.

Page 2.

Morning Light City.

Red marker.

Behind them are Blackwater City, Yanghuo City, and several small and medium-sized satellite cities.

At the bottom of each page, the threat from powerful families is attached.

The Shangguan family claims to have planted a bomb in Weiguang City.

The Liu and Ling families blocked several main roads outside Chenguang City.

Both Blackwater City and Sunfire City have experienced varying degrees of civilian hostage situations.

"They said they would kill him if the league didn't agree to their terms."

Shen Yuntang's voice turned cold.

"What are the conditions?"

Lin Mo turned to the last page.

The lines above were circled in red.

Stop the purge of the aristocratic families.

Return the southern strongholds.

The warrants for arresting some high-ranking members of powerful families have been lifted.

as well as--

Restrict Lin Mo and Su Xiaoli from taking action.

Lin Mo finished reading but didn't say anything.

Shen Yuntang has barely slept these past few days, and her communicator is so hot from all the vibrations.

A series of requests for assistance were piled on the table.

Behind each of these cases lies at least thousands, or even tens of thousands, of lives.

In the past, no matter how much infighting there was, powerful families would at least maintain a semblance of dignity.

On the surface, they won't hold a knife to an ordinary person's neck.

But it's different now.

The aristocratic families knew they were standing on the edge of a precipice.

The Dragon King is about to be resurrected.

The alliance is about to be liquidated.

Lin Mo had just come out of the Trial Tower.

They were truly out of options.

So they simply slammed their last bad card onto the table.

Isn't your alliance supposed to be people-oriented?

Then I'll threaten you with my life.

I can disregard my civilians and let you kill them as you please.

Can you let me kill whomever I want?

That's their source of confidence.

It was also their last act of madness.

Lin Mo turned the pages of the battle reports one by one.

Weiguang City, Chenguang City, Heishui City, Yanghuo City.

Every red dot lit up in his mind.

"They haven't made a move yet?"

Lin Mo asked.

"Not at the moment."

Shen Yuntang shook her head.

"They're probably waiting for your reaction too."

She paused for a moment at this point.

"But it won't last long."

"These people have gone mad."

Lin Mo closed the battle report.

"Alright."

His tone was calm.

It was as calm as if they were discussing what to have for breakfast.

Give me ten minutes.

Shen Yuntang was taken aback.

"What, ten minutes?"

Lin Mo raised his head.

"Ten minutes."

"Enough for me to wipe out all the powerful families that threaten the alliance."