On the edge of the Abyss Sea, a crowd of on-looking Survivors stared in dumbstruck silence, then burst into cries of shock.
"Damn! What did I just see? That World BOSS… was actually one-shot by that kid who appeared out of nowhere?!"
"What's going on? I didn't even see him make a move! How did the Blade Cutter end up diced into a heap of meat—who's the real cutter here, him or the kid?"
"Look at that guy's name! He's called Beiming—the monster who swept every double leaderboard across all Thirty-Six Main Cities!"
"No way! He's that strong? Even if the World BOSS had been worn down by Blood God Hall, it shouldn't have gone down in one hit, right?"
"Wow! Big Brother Beiming is so cool—he's my husband from now on!"
The surrounding throng erupted in noisy chatter.
On the Altar, the Blood God Hall members slowly came back to their senses, turning their eyes toward the special space.
Inside, Lin Bei stood with hands clasped behind his back, expression calm.
Not far ahead of him, the hulking Blade Cutter Salka had been reduced to countless black chunks of flesh strewn across the ground, utterly lifeless.
Amid the gory remains, a wisp of black light flickered incessantly.
The onlookers' breath caught in their throats.
"That's… a world fragment?!"
Blood War's eyes flashed with excitement when he saw it.
But he quickly realized something and glared at the still-dazed Blood Spirit beside him, growling, "Look what you've done!"
"It's your fault for letting that kid in—now the World BOSS fragment will probably be handed to someone else on a platter!"
"We paid a huge price to grind the BOSS down! And now he reaps the reward! Whatever it takes, we have to get that world fragment back from him!"
"Damn it, who knew the Blade Cutter was already at death's door? If I'd known, I'd have finished it myself!"
Blood War's gaze was gloomy, voice full of regret.
Hearing him, Blood Spirit gave a faint sigh. "You don't seriously think the Blade Cutter was in bad shape, do you? You really believe we could've killed it in our condition?"
"Hmph, why not? If that kid could do it solo, why couldn't we—with numbers and the Blood-Slaughter Array as our trump card?"
Blood War snorted coldly, his stare at Blood Spirit now openly hostile.
She could have sacrificed those Blood God Hall scrubs to buy him time, yet she'd saved them instead.
Then she'd opposed his plan and let the kid waltz in and claim the prize—
from any angle, her actions reeked of betrayal.
"Blood War, don't you know that numbers mean nothing before absolute strength?"
"Stop fooling yourself! When we left the battlefield, we both knew how much power the Blade Cutter still had left."
"If we could've won, we'd have done it already."
"That man named Beiming is very strong."
"We're no match for him."
Blood Spirit gazed at the tall figure inside the special space and shook her head helplessly. "As for the world fragment… ten to one we won't get it back."
"Hmph! This mess is your doing! If we lose the fragment, I'll report the truth—and you'll face the consequences!"
Blood War's eyes glinted. "Everyone saw it—you were the one who let him in. You'll take responsibility."
With that, he swept a threatening look across the surrounding Blood God Hall members.
They all lowered their heads, none daring to meet his gaze.
Blood Spirit said nothing.
She offered no defense.
In her mind, anyone who could one-shot the Blade Cutter was far beyond their combined might.
If such a person insisted on entering the special space to slay the BOSS, what good would their objections do?
Yet she knew nothing she said would sway Blood War.
This mission had come as a mandatory order from above.
Failure meant someone would be held accountable.
Clearly, she was now the perfect scapegoat in everyone's eyes.
"Forget it—I was planning to leave the blood clan anyway."
"This will be the last time."
Blood Spirit sighed inwardly.
But at that moment, a voice rang directly in her mind.
"Looks like you're being squeezed out by the others?"
"Who are you?"
"Thanks for the talisman you slipped me earlier. In return, I'm willing to give you the world fragment I just got from the BOSS."
"You're Beiming?"
"Exactly. I can see you've lost all attachment to the blood clan. Why not join my side from now on? Help me gather some intel. Rest assured, I'll pay you well."
"You want me to be a traitor?"
"Not at all. I just need someone with blood clan access to obtain information. I won't harm your people—on the contrary, if conflict breaks out in the future, I could spare the blood clan for your sake."
"The blood clan destroyed? Nonsense—that's impossible!"
"Really? You vampires are nothing more than pawns of the Order Faction—you know that better than anyone! When the hounds are no longer needed, they're boiled and eaten; surely you understand that principle. The days ahead for the blood clan… will be anything but pleasant!"
"…"
Hearing this, a trace of resentment flashed in Blood Spirit's eyes. She wanted to retort, but… scene after scene from the past flickered through her mind. The Order Faction's methods truly were ruthless, and for years the vampires had been in steady decline.
If things continued like this, the blood clan would inevitably fall!
That was exactly why she wanted to break away from them.
Only then could she throw off those shackles and do everything possible to find a bright future for her race.
That was the deepest desire of her heart.
"Serve under me, and I'll help you fulfill that wish!"
Seeing her hesitation, Lin Bei curled his lips slightly and continued to speak telepathically.
"Why should I believe you?"
Blood Spirit replied coldly inside her mind.
"Hmm… wait a moment."
Lin Bei grinned and, through his Survival Bracelet, sent her a friend request.
Almost at once she received the prompt.
After a moment's hesitation, she gritted her silver teeth and accepted.
At the same time, in Lin Bei's talent interface, the Super Bond column now displayed the name "Blood Spirit."
He then activated his talent, temporarily gifting her 1% of his Combat Power.
Boom—!!!
In an instant, the aura around Blood Spirit on the Altar exploded, her strength skyrocketing.
"W-what is happening?!"
Blood Spirit stared in disbelief, feeling the surge of Blood-Qi and Spirit energy within her, utterly stunned.
In just a few breaths, her Combat Power had risen by over eight hundred million points.
Her Blood-Qi attribute alone had increased by more than a billion points!
Around her, the members of Blood God Hall were aghast, looking at her as if they couldn't believe their eyes.
Blood War's gaze turned gloomy, a flicker of jealousy deep within his eyes.
"How is this possible?! Her Combat Power was clearly a bit weaker than mine before—why is her aura now far surpassing me?!"
"Has she been hiding her strength all along?! Damn it—I won't accept this!"
Jealousy in Blood War's eyes slowly turned venomous. "She must have stumbled upon some incredible opportunity—there's no other way she could outstrip me by so much!"
"Damn it—why do all the good things happen to her? Why wasn't I the one to receive such a huge stroke of luck?"
"If… I could seize whatever fortune she's obtained, wouldn't I…?"
At that thought, Blood War's gaze grew even deeper and darker.
"Well? How does it feel?"
Seeing her astonished expression, Lin Bei laughed telepathically. "As long as you work for me in the future, I can easily help you raise your strength—it's mutually beneficial, the best of both worlds."
"…All right, I accept your terms. But let's be clear: you're not allowed to do anything detrimental to my race's development."
Collecting herself, Blood Spirit agreed while stating her bottom line.
"That's a bit absolute. If the vampires don't provoke me, I won't cause trouble for you—but if you court death yourselves, I won't show mercy."
"Of course, if your race ever faces extinction, I can hold back and help preserve a spark so the vampires don't vanish completely. After all, that's what we agreed on from the start."
"Good—then it's settled."
Blood Spirit drew a deep breath and replied in her mind.
"Haha, then here's to a pleasant cooperation!"
Lin Bei smiled upon hearing her response.
He then stepped forward and picked up the black fragment in front of him.
[world fragment: Contains a dense world will and is a rule fragment; it is the source of a god's power. Other uses unknown.]
One glance, and Lin Bei was disappointed.
This "world fragment" wasn't what he wanted.
What he needed wasn't a "world fragment" but a "world origin fragment."
Only two words differed, yet the gap… was like heaven and earth.
"I thought Aleria might have misspoken earlier."
"Looks like world fragment and world origin fragment really are two different things."
"While world fragments are precious, for the Lucky Faction the world origin fragment is what's truly needed."
"And… world origin fragments can extract Primal Force, but world fragments can't."
"There seems to be a whole grade between them."
Lin Bei mused inwardly.
At the same time, he looked at the several notifications that had popped up after the World BOSS kill and curled his lips slightly.
"Didn't expect killing a World BOSS would give so many rewards!"
"If I don't go kill a few more, it'd really be a waste."
Lin Bei opened the trading interface and tossed the world fragment to Blood Spirit.
He still needed her help later; a common world fragment was nothing to him—he could farm plenty more by killing BOSSes—so he didn't care in the least.
Compared with that, the other loot from killing Blade Cutter excited him far more!
"As expected of a World BOSS—the loot it drops… is amazing!"