At that very instant, the attitude displayed by everyone completely exceeded D's expectations.
Obviously, every single person present at the scene had already seen through D's true identity.
Yet what was unexpected was that not only did they fail to show even the slightest bit of fear toward him, they actually attempted to oppose him with their own utterly insignificant strength.
Witnessing such a scene, a surge of uncontrollable disgust instantly welled up deep within D's heart.
At this moment, he wished he could immediately wipe out these irritating, ant-like crawling creatures in one fell swoop.
However, in the end, he forcibly suppressed that impulsive thought and did not put it into action.
After all, D's purpose in coming here was very simple, to capture every living being connected in any way to Xu Yuan.
Based on D's understanding of Xu Yuan, these living beings were without a doubt Xu Yuan's, and even the true HIM's, fatal weakness.
Although D could not be said to have a deep or comprehensive understanding of Xu Yuan, he knew the true HIM inside and out.
He knew very clearly that, to the true HIM, nothing was more precious or more worthy of attention than the countless individual living beings dwelling within the game world.
Precisely because he cared about and cherished every single life, he would lead them to rise up and resist.
Since Xu Yuan had been fortunate enough to be favored and chosen by the true HIM, then naturally he would share the same beliefs and values as the true HIM.
Moreover, ever since the Wither Slime appeared, the many followers under Xu Yuan had all, without prior agreement, taken the initiative to act, doing everything they could to protect these fragile living beings.
This alone was enough to explain the situation, Xu Yuan and the true HIM treated these living beings in exactly the same way, regarding their lives as supremely important.
And this was precisely the root reason why D's organization decided to carry out large-scale captures of living beings.
In fact, at the very beginning, D's plan had been to capture those people under Xu Yuan's command.
But unfortunately, those people seemed to have suddenly vanished from the world without a trace, and D could not detect their presence at all.
Left with no other choice, D had to change his strategy and shift his target to those living beings instead.
D could not be certain that he could completely erase Xu Yuan, so the safest and most reliable method was to force Xu Yuan to end his own life.
As for the bargaining chip in his hands, there was no doubt it was the pitiful group of living beings right before him.
As long as Xu Yuan still cared about their safety and longed to save them from suffering, he would inevitably be trapped in a dilemma.
Either choose to sacrifice himself in exchange for the safety of the living beings.
Or watch helplessly as the living beings were tormented or even killed.
———
D's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the noisy clamor rising from below.
He looked down and saw that the people were still tightly united, each one using all their strength to cling to the back of the companion beside them, desperately lowering their bodies as they stubbornly resisted that powerful and mysterious pulling force.
What was surprising was that their strength had actually formed a strange and fragile balance with that pulling force.
Although they still had not managed to pull those about to be dragged away back to the ground, at the very least they had temporarily left those pitiful ones hanging in midair, sparing them from the immediate fate of being sucked into the teleportation gate.
Seeing this, D let out a disdainful snort. "Hmph, a waste of effort."
As soon as the words fell, he casually waved his hand, as if casting some kind of miraculous spell. In the blink of an eye, the entire area seemed to suddenly lose the constraint of gravity, and everyone who had been standing on the ground was lifted into the air.
At the same time, the pulling force that had been gripping everyone suddenly intensified severalfold.
In that instant, everyone became like a human-shaped long dragon, rushing toward the teleportation gate hanging in midair at an astonishing speed.
"It's over…"
"Moo… moo moo…"
"Roar…"
Just as this "human-shaped long dragon" made contact with the teleportation gate, something strange happened.
The teleportation gate seemed to have certain restrictions set on it. The native living beings within the "human-shaped long dragon" vanished the instant they touched the gate, but the players were flung away the moment they came into contact with it, falling to the ground and dying immediately afterward.
As this human-shaped giant dragon completely disappeared from sight, the entire area finally returned to calm.
———
Accompanied by an intense wave of dizziness, everyone felt as if they had been swept into a chaotic vortex.
When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves inside a completely enclosed space.
There was no doubt that this mysterious place was the interior space of the teleportation gate.
Although the entire enclosed space was shrouded in endless darkness, for these native living beings, their exceptional vision meant they were not hindered too much.
As soon as everyone regained consciousness, opened their eyes, and quickly surveyed their surroundings, they almost instantly gathered together.
"This place… doesn't seem to be dangerous for the moment…"
"Could it be that he wants to trap us here?!"
"Salusirilu?!! (What exactly does he want to do?!!)"
For a time, all kinds of guesses and discussions rose and fell, filling this narrow and oppressive space.
At this moment, after confirming that the area was temporarily safe, everyone was finally able to let out a small sigh of relief.
However, the lingering unease in their hearts only grew stronger.
After all, up to this point, they still had no idea what the Void's true intentions were, and the fear brought about by this unknown weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like a massive stone.
While everyone was speculating, the Villager King seemed to notice something. After turning his head and scanning the surroundings, the expression on his face instantly became uneasy.
After thinking for a moment, he took a deep breath and finally spoke.
"It seems the players didn't come in…"
The pulling force earlier had been far too strong, and everyone had been dragged along at incredible speed, so the Villager King had not seen clearly what happened at the time.
Only after entering did the Villager King realize that the players did not seem to be here.
Upon hearing the Villager King's words, one of the disaster villagers spoke up.
"I think I saw the players in front get flung away when they touched the teleportation gate…"
"So it wasn't just my imagination…"
Hearing the disaster villager's words, the Villager King frowned and muttered to himself.
"Excluding the players, not taking our lives, but instead locking us up…"
"What exactly does he want to do?…"