The Professional Rankings, in twelve volumes, each bearing the name of my lord.

"puff!!"

In the Allied Forces' official building in Beijing, far away in the Huaxia region, Zhang Erhe, who was making decisions on many matters such as the Third Army, the Yingtian Army, and the new recruits' camp, suddenly vomited blood.

Some of the officials around him were startled when they saw this.

"Commander, are you alright?"

Zhang Erhe raised his hand, signaling the others not to approach.

A gentle warmth emanated from his body as he picked up a tissue from the table and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"That's all. Continue reporting on the results of the military training."

The others dared not be negligent and acted as if nothing had happened.

Zhang Erhe, however, was slightly distracted.

No matter how far apart his avatars are, he can hear and see them, using all his senses.

Therefore, everything that just happened was no different from what he had personally experienced.

Zhang Erhe's avatar is different from Song Gua's clone. It was created by him using his divine transformation talent, along with many other materials.

If the incarnation dies unprepared and its senses are severed prematurely, it will suffer some internal injuries.

Even if the avatar didn't have any divine treasures and its attributes were slightly worse than the original body, how could it be instantly defeated by bandits like that?

Zhang Erhe was rendered speechless.

Why does someone who has only completed three transformations possess such immense power?

I didn't think they used any dark artifacts. Where did this kind of power, which is not in line with the game's balance, come from?

It can't be that he's already a Phantomist and is using his own Dao, can it?

This feeling of not knowing what the enemy is really like is very unpleasant for an army commander.

Just then, the landline phone on Zhang Erhe's desk rang.

It was Zhang Beihai calling.

"Second Uncle, could you please come to the district chief's office for a meeting?"

"understood."

At this moment, Zhang Erhe knew without even guessing what the meeting was about to discuss from this phone call.

In Du Minghui's office, all the core high-ranking officials of the G8 and G9 levels from the entire Huaxia administrative region were gathered.

The overall direction of district management and the various major policies affecting all professionals in the district are decided by these people.

Cao Xuan, Commander-in-Chief of the Huaxia District City Defense Army; Zhang Beihai, Chief of Staff of the Huaxia District Strategic Staff Department; Qian Lingfeng, Director of the Huaxia District Special Bureau; Qian Chongxue, Chief Investigator of the Huaxia District Special Bureau; Chairman of the Huaxia District Professionals Association…

The top leaders and deputy leaders of all major official agencies, organizations, and departments were standing around Du Minghui's desk, watching a video being projected on the office screen.

This video shows Dongfeng, the "Cannon King" from the bandits, destroying the top combat class leaders from the 91st to the 99th floors of the Divine Might Pyramid.

After watching it, everyone present was shocked.

Cao Xuan was surprised.

"How did you do that? How could a level 60 player defeat a top-tier player who had perfected every aspect of their character?"

Qian Lingfeng and Cao Xuan were about the same age, and both of them had an expression that said they had never seen such a scene before.

"I tried climbing those stairs myself. The combination challenges after the 70th floor are just too insane. How could anyone possibly make it to the top?"

Qian Chongxue, dressed in purple ancient costume and with a female knight-errant hairstyle, crossed her arms and glanced at him with a slanted brow.

"Since it's a game with pre-designed levels, what's so surprising about players being able to beat them?"

Qian Lingfeng waved his hand dismissively.

"Chongxue, that's not how it works. Many things, after being integrated with reality, have become 'theoretically' valid. As for climbing this staircase, I can assure you, no one has ever cleared it since ancient times. How could someone at level 60 possibly defeat a peak third-tier cultivator?"

"Aren't there those blessings? They must have specific effects and items to help with them. Of course, the bandits themselves are not weak either."

Du Minghui spoke.

"No, the people at the scene reported that after the 20th floor, no one could climb at the same speed as the bandits, so they didn't receive any blessings in the second half."

Qian Chongxue remained silent.

Du Minghui's phone rang once. He operated it for a while, and the image on the projector switched to another video.

"Look at this one too."

Just then, Zhang Erhe walked in.

The image projected on the screen was his avatar being stabbed to pieces by a bandit.

Among the dozens of people in the office, some who were unfamiliar with Zhang Erhe's abilities couldn't help but look back and forth between the video footage and Zhang Erhe himself.

It seemed as if it was wondering, "Isn't he dead?"

Was the video photoshopped?

Zhang Erhe said calmly, "The one who went to Siberia was my avatar. Today, my avatar happened to arrest a phantom in the north."

Du Minghui spoke up, easing the awkward atmosphere.

"After reading these two paragraphs, I believe everyone has a better understanding of the bandits' current strength."

"I asked, puzzled."

"Are the bandits always the same group of people, or are they constantly recruiting stronger individuals?"

If it's the former, according to the information I have, they have only been around for two years, and they have risen from level 10 to level 60.

If it were an individual, one could assume that they achieved it by consuming experience books.

But the number of bandits was clearly more than a single digit.

Du Minghui sighed.

"Unfortunately, after combining various clues and discussing the matter multiple times, the think tank of the General Staff believes that it is probably the former."

They have always been the same group of people, at least part of them, while another part is constantly absorbing new members.

Strangely enough, as long as you join the bandits, your leveling speed will increase.

What's truly terrifying is not their upgrade speed, but their rate of combat power increase.

Now that they've reached the third stage of transformation, they can even defeat those at the Divine Transformation level.

Zhang Erhe couldn't help but offer an explanation.

"The strength of the avatar is not the same as my own, and in the battle just now, the avatar was somewhat overconfident."

Clearly, this explanation is somewhat weak and unconvincing.

Even if he underestimated his opponent, it was still a trick he pulled off by a mere Divine Transformation user. He was easily defeated by a single sword strike from someone at the third level, or even someone who had just reached the third level.

Even if you personally went in, you might not get much benefit.

As if sensing the atmosphere, and feeling awkward because of what she had said.

Zhang Erhe had no choice but to change the subject.

"What is the purpose of this rushed meeting?"

Du Ming avoided the question.

"We in the Huaxia District hope that we will stop issuing warrants for the bandits, try to coexist peacefully with them as much as possible, and report to the federal government, preferably to have the bandits removed from the wanted list."

Commander Zhang, I know that you are the most insistent on the matter of apprehending the bandits, and you have your own reasons.

I understand you, but I hope you'll look at the current situation...

"What's the current situation?"

Zhang Erhe's tone was not without anger, and he directly interrupted Du Minghui.

"The current situation is that you see the bandits have become stronger, so you're cowering and afraid to fight them?"

Zhang Beihai said solemnly.

Are bandits the enemy?

"Helping the Celestials, using the Dark Star People's power, and disregarding the law in Blue Star society—what else could they be but enemies?"

Are the celestial beings enemies?

Are the Dark Star People the enemy?

The true identities and ultimate goals of the bandits remain unclear to this day, and the Federation's control over them is even less than that over the resistance!

Seeing that they were colluding with foreign enemies, how could we possibly coexist peacefully with them?

Where is peace?

How should we get along?