It's time to become an evil god.

Ah, that feels so good.

I felt more at peace and happy than ever before. The pain and pressure of working overtime and paying off the mortgage vanished, as if all the misfortunes and hardships of my life had been swept away.

Everyone on the street remained motionless, staring at the blood moon with a smile on their lips.

The whole world seemed to be frozen in time.

Zhang Jiao, now integrated with the Demon Lotus, continued to grow—ten meters, fifteen meters, twenty meters. A bizarrely shaped giant plant rose from the ground, standing out prominently among the low-rise buildings of the old town.

……

When Nishizawa Ryo encountered the abbot who had just returned to the temple on his motorcycle, he was about to ask him what had happened when he saw Bai Ze's avatar flashing wildly in his friends list.

When I clicked on it, the screen was full of exclamation marks.

"Something terrible has happened!!!!!!!!! Xushi Old Town, quickly bring out all the players you can and know!"

"The plants have rebelled!"

After saying that, she posted a screenshot of a selfie, in which she was being chased by a middle-aged man with a serious expression while holding up her phone to take the picture, with a huge, eerie, towering plant behind her.

Nishizawa Ryo's eyes widened.

Damn! Isn't this just an ordinary citizen of Xushi who did the survey at the temple today?

If even their true colors have been revealed, it means the situation has become extremely urgent and on the verge of crisis. He quickly took out his phone and dialed the contact number inside.

Blood Demon was at home helping his nephew with his homework when the phone in his pocket, which was used to contact the Special Affairs Bureau, rang. He answered the call, immediately stood up, glanced out the window, his eyes widening in surprise. He grabbed his clothes and rushed out the door. Before leaving, he reminded him not to prepare dinner for him that night.

While her mother was making soup, she said irritably, "What's going on? Did R'lyeh send you a household registration book again? What are you trying to do all day without going to work? We never heard back from the Innsmouth acceptance letter, and they even said Arkham Sanatorium gave you a premium VIP membership card, but I've never seen you use it."

The Blood Demon chuckled awkwardly, immediately turned and went out, even setting up an impregnable array at his doorstep before running towards the direction where the demon had appeared.

……

Streaks of sword energy flew past Bai Ge without causing any serious injury, leaving shocking scratches on the ground.

"Why are you running away!"

An angry voice came from behind, "Stop right there!"

Do I look like an idiot to you?

Using the splitting ability of the Death Fishline, he dodged most of the sword energy; however, even in the overwhelming light barrier, one or two sharp blades would always slip through and injure him. His entire body was already covered in numerous wounds, and Bai Ge's strategy was all about stalling.

Drag it out until the opponent runs out of cards.

Xu Junfang dared not stray too far from the demon, so he clasped his hands together in a hand seal and shouted loudly.

"Sword, come!"

Two simple and unadorned longswords coiled around the area like two dragons, their sword sounds like dragon roars.

[Item: Gan Jiang and Mo Xie]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Special Feature: Cuts iron like mud, capable of slaying even Yamamoto the Sage!]

[Postscript: I possess two swords, capable of moving mountains, severing rivers, overturning seas, subduing demons, suppressing monsters, commanding gods, plucking stars, destroying cities, and splitting the heavens!]

The sharp longsword pierced through the air, heading straight for Bai Ge's heart and head.

Gan Jiang pierced through the heart, Mo Xie's head fell to the ground, and Bai Ge, who was still running, collapsed to the ground with a thud, motionless.

"Did it succeed?"

A sense of crisis flashed through his mind, and in the next instant, Xu Junfang vanished on the spot. A terrifying tentacle emerged directly from the ground where he was standing, nearly strangling him to death.

Xu Junfang suddenly appeared a dozen meters away, his heart pounding wildly. If he hadn't sensed something was wrong with his keen sixth sense and used the [Flash Scroll], he would probably be dead by now.

That tentacle contained a terrifying power that he could not comprehend.

Xu Junfang looked at the corpse again, but it had already disappeared.

"It's a stand-in?"

Xu Junfang released his mental detection skill, but he sensed a thought rapidly approaching the budding demonic lotus.

"No, we absolutely cannot let him interfere with the blooming of the Demon Lotus!"

In that moment of confusion, Xu Junfang tasted a metallic flavor in his mouth and his teeth began to fall out. He quickly covered his mouth and then realized that the skin on his hands was starting to ulcerate.

Even Xu Junfang looked surprised and bewildered. Wait, when was he injured?

"Excuse me, I secretly slipped a piece of radioactive uranium into your pocket just now."

Bai Ge, the instigator, stood not far away, raised his watch and glanced at the time, "The cat-and-mouse game just now lasted for four minutes and twenty-five seconds. The people from the Special Affairs Bureau should be arriving soon."

Xu Junfang discarded the piece of radioactive uranium, and his body quickly recovered. "Did you think I was afraid?"

The next instant, heavy footsteps echoed in the alley, as if someone was approaching in this direction, slowly but surely. Bai Ge subconsciously turned around and saw a guy carrying a large gourd on his back walking out from the depths of the dark alley.

"Xu Junfang,"

"You are not... "

As the other's silhouette slowly emerged, a look of sudden realization crossed his face. "Huluwa?"

The other person paused slightly, then said sharply, "Why don't you just say I'm Gaara?"

The other person's silhouette gradually emerged from the darkness, and Bai Ge finally saw his face clearly. He froze on the spot, his pupils contracted, and he clenched his fists. "Alai?"

Upon seeing Bai Ge, the other person fell silent, as if deep in thought, before suddenly laughing, "So you didn't die, Bai Ge."

"Thanks to games."

Bai Ge's eyes slowly turned cold, and he quickly connected all the suspicious points: "I killed that puppet."

Alai waved his hand dismissively, looking completely unconcerned.

"Is that so? It was just a failed experiment to divert attention."

Xu Junfang paused for a moment, as if he had anticipated something, and his lips twitched slightly. "Does our previous agreement still stand?"

"Xu Junfang, you've gone too far."

Alai turned his head and said angrily, word by word, "Do you know that the guy you're trying to kill is a close friend, like a brother to you?"

Xu Junfang adopted a wary posture and asked in a cold voice, "So what do you want?"

Alai shrugged and said, "Of course, it's more money."

Alai unloaded the large gourd from his back, stretched his shoulders, and gave Bai Ge an apologetic smile.

"Excuse me, my friend, I need to borrow your head to collect my salary."

Then Alai opened the gourd, pointed it at Bai Ge, and gave him a mysterious smile, his lips moving up and down.

"Kagutsuchi-no-mikoto".

A blinding flame shot out from the gourd's mouth, melting the ground and cracking the walls.

The blazing flames, stretching for hundreds of meters, illuminated the dimly lit street like torches. Everything in their path melted and crumbled like hot wax. Bai Ge leaped and dodged the flames with the agility of a swallow.

A terrifying heat emanated from the ground, the asphalt melted into liquid, and even the concrete walls turned into bubbling, scorching fluid.

Bai Ge glanced back and saw that the pit was covered with charred marks and still flickered with orange-red flames, burning on its own regardless of the wind.

"You handle this guy."

Xu Junfang, holding two swords, looked towards the end of the road and narrowed his eyes. "Other players are coming."

Upon receiving the information, Nishizawa Ryo immediately rushed towards the urban village. The scene there made all the supporting players gasp in shock.

Both Nishizawa Ryo and the witch were stunned.

The people of the old town seemed frozen in time, like a photograph. Countless green leaves and budding flowers sprouted from beneath their skin.

"That monster must be eradicated!"

The witch seemed to understand something and was about to summon a magic circle when a flying sword suddenly thrust towards her, only to be blocked by her staff. However, the powerful impact of the sword's strike stirred up dust, forcing the witch to take a step back.

Holding Moye, Xu Junfang approached step by step. With a gentle wave of his left hand, Gan Jiang, who was suspended in mid-air, used his sword energy to draw a clearly visible crack on the ground.

Xu Junfang's face was no longer gentle as he said, word by word, "Take another step forward, and you will be killed without mercy."

"You bastard, you're pretty arrogant."

The witch rolled up her sleeves, ready to get to work, when a hand reached out and stopped her.

"He's in my hands. You guys figure out how to get rid of that monster."

Wen Liang stood beside him, drawing the knife from his hand. "I have a bad feeling."

She raised her hand, a leaf already growing on her wrist. "Hurry up and get started, I don't want to turn into a puddle of orange juice."

"Aren't you an assassin?"

The witch said, "This player is very strong."

Wen Liang got into a fighting stance and said, "Yes, these days, you can't call yourself an assassin if you haven't chopped off a thousand heads in a head-on confrontation."

"wrong."

The witch wanted to retort, "Wait, what kind of assassin are you?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Wen Liang charged straight at the man opposite him, “An assassin blessed by Khorne.”

……

"Actually, I'm a little curious that you've gotten involved with the apocryphal school of thought."

While trying to smooth things over, Bai Ge probed Alai's intentions, "Why?"

"Strictly speaking, these two madmen can no longer be considered members of the apocryphal school of thought."

Alai pulled a long whip made of the spines of several people from his inventory and said, "This is the Nightmare Bone. Each one was made by pulling out the spines of more than a dozen children with extraordinary bones while they were still alive. Now, when I close my eyes, I can almost hear the screams of agony echoing from the dark dungeon. Can you believe that the monsters summoned by a bunch of madmen who are obsessed with making these things can grant all of humanity a painless death?"

"what do you mean?"

A greedy glint appeared on Alai's face as he chuckled, "As a player, who wouldn't want to have as many trump cards as possible? At least before the Demon Lotus blooms, I can't let you destroy it. If you haven't seen the bamboo slips left by the Prophecy School, you'll have no idea how terrifying the dungeons and enemies you'll face in the later stages are. The more legendary items you have, the greater your chances of surviving in the dungeons."

"I understand."

Bai Ge nodded slightly, clenched his fist, and said, "Then don't blame me for being impolite."

"What? You think you can defeat me in an instant?"