At this moment, Apachi felt worse than if he'd swallowed a fly!
He was now at the peak of rage!
"These Blood Demon Clan people, compared to those vampires, are all trash with shit for brains!"
"They can't even handle such a simple task!"
"Looks like once I'm back I'll ship them to the front lines as cannon fodder; keeping them in the rear… they're utterly useless!"
Apachi's eyes flickered as he mentally stamped every member of the Blood Demon Clan with the label "unreliable."
"Apachi, why have you gone quiet?"
Aleria asked with a smile as she looked at the silent Apachi. "What was your condition just now? Two units of Primal Force? From what I see… these Blood Puppets don't seem worth that price, do they?"
"Hmph."
Apachi snorted coldly, cursing inwardly.
Still, he said indifferently, "Don't get careless. These Blood Puppets may be brainless, but in this Low-Tier Survival World you oversee they're quite strong."
"And they can devour one another, fusing into a Blood-Puppet King whose Combat Power can exceed ten million!"
"The island your sister is on… is still not safe."
Apachi added flatly, "However… you still have a chance. If you're willing to pay one unit of Primal Force, I can turn a blind eye."
Hearing that, Aleria's smile deepened.
She asked with a grin, "Apachi, why are you bargaining yourself? Aren't two units of Primal Force nice?"
"…I'm simply being realistic."
Apachi forced down his fury and said in a low voice, "And… this is my bottom line."
"You need to understand, that's your own sister!"
"One unit of Primal Force is no loss to you at all!"
"Aleria, don't push me too far!"
"Mutual destruction benefits neither of us!"
Aleria's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. "Mutual destruction? Is that really how it is?"
As she spoke, she pointed at the screen where the frenzied Blood Puppet warriors were devouring and merging with one another.
The next second, a streak of light slashed across the sky; in an instant all the Blood Puppet warriors exploded into a crimson waterfall that poured into the sea.
"Th-that's impossible! One move wiped out hundreds of Blood Puppet warriors?! Who? Who did it?!"
Apachi shot to his feet, disbelief filling his voice.
"Ding-ling-ling—"
Just then, Aleria's pink wristband chimed a string of alerts.
She glanced at the caller, then at Apachi—whose ears were already pricked up to eavesdrop—smiled faintly, and ended the call.
"Apachi, the matter here is settled; your worries were unnecessary."
…
Apachi stayed silent.
The next second the wristband chimed again.
"Not going to answer? Sounds urgent."
Apachi said with a sinister undertone.
His gut told him this sudden change was linked to whoever was calling right now!
"Heh, that's none of Inspector Apachi's concern."
Aleria gave a cold smile. "I'm going to rest. You've wasted most of the day here—time to leave."
"As an Inspector, you should be inspecting the world, not lingering on my tiny patch of land, don't you think?"
"Your behavior today… has violated regulations."
"And I've recorded everything. If you still insist—"
"Hmph!"
Before she finished, Apachi's face under his mask changed; he could only snort and leave in a huff.
"Take care~"
Aleria waved at Apachi's retreating back, calling out playfully.
Apachi's mouth twitched and he unconsciously quickened his steps.
This time, he had lost!
Yet even he had been shaken by that final strike.
"Who was it?"
"Daring to ruin my plans! Don't let me find out who you are!"
Or I'll make you wish you were dead!
Apachi seethed with rage.
He'd been on the verge of success!
First a bunch of idiot teammates lost the initiative, then a terrifying attack had appeared out of nowhere and shattered his entire scheme!
"That call to Aleria… it must have been from the one who attacked!"
"Unfortunately, I have no proof!"
So… I can only swallow this bitter pill!
"However…"
Apachi's gaze turned gloomy as he glanced back at the glorious golden palace deep within the dark space. "Don't celebrate too soon; no matter what… you Lucky Faction people have no chance of turning the tables!"
"This time the frontline battlefield has been planned by every faction for a long, long while!"
"You… have no chance at all!"
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort his figure dissolved into the darkness… "Hey, what did you need?"
Inside the golden palace, Aleria activated every barrier, confirmed Apachi had truly left, then accepted the call.
"What's going on? I called a dozen times—why pick up only now?"
On the island, Lin Bei—who had just wiped out every Blood Puppet warrior with a casual wave—checked his stats and looked at the screen projected by his wristband.
"An Order Faction punk just tried to milk me for resources, but I sent him packing."
Aleria's eyes sparkled as she stared at Lin Bei, a trace of shock flashing through them. "What level are you now? That strike… even I was stunned!"
"I'm Epic Five-Star already."
Lin Bei answered straight-out. "That's why I'm calling—how do I break through to the Legendary Realm after Epic Five-Star?"
"What?! Say that again—what rank? Epic Five-Star?! Impossible!"
The moment she heard "Epic Five-Star," Aleria blanked out completely and missed everything that followed.
She shook her head, uncertain. "Um… if I remember right, just a few days ago you… you were only Transcendent, right?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
Lin Bei nodded matter-of-factly.
Not counting Underworld time, today was only the fifth day of the Ice and Snow Season; a few days earlier his Combat Power had indeed been merely Transcendent Four-Star—no problem there.
"What's wrong? Bloody hell—everything's wrong!"
Aleria's mouth twitched, her voice shooting up. "A few days, and you—a low-tier-world Survivor—tell me your Combat Power has broken past a trillion?!"
"Stop yanking my chain!!! Be serious, will you???"
"Oh, you've misunderstood something."
"My Combat Power isn't one trillion."
Lin Bei shrugged helplessly.
"That's more like it! Even a gifted Survivor can't in just a few days—"
"It's already above ten trillion."
Before Aleria could finish her sigh of relief, Lin Bei's next sentence petrified her on the spot:
"That's why I'm in a rush to ask: with ten trillion Combat Power I should have reached the threshold for the Legendary Realm long ago."
"So why… am I still only Epic Five-Star?"
Aleria: (ｷ｀ﾟДﾟ´)!!