Terrible news! My deskmate's first chapter is gone!

Sheung Shui City.

Under the overhead light, the blinds of the café cast dappled light and shadows on the table.

The bitter taste of the iced Americano filled the air. He Yiwei tapped his fingertips on the table, his eyes full of confusion, and asked Zhou Xiaogu across from him again, "You're really not going?"

Zhou Xiaogu ran his fingertips along the half-empty coffee cup, his expression indifferent, as if listening to a trivial matter that had nothing to do with him.

"Zhou Xiaogu, haven't you been searching for anomalous life forms?"

He Yiwei's voice carried a hint of urgency, after all, he was an indirect beneficiary.

"We finally found a clue to a symbol before, and tracked it all the way to Xia City, but we didn't find it in the end. But this time we found another clue, right in Shangjing City. Don't you want to give it a try?"

"I'm not going."

Zhou Xiaogu raised his hand and took a sip of his iced Americano. The icy liquid slid down his throat, suppressing a hint of seriousness, but his tone remained casual. "Can't beat them."

He suddenly sat bolt upright, his eyes filled with disbelief: "Can't beat you? You're Zhou Xiaogu!"

"Besides, there's no task that can't be completed. Your defeat at Chen Xi's hands last time was just an accident. If we could fight again now, you would definitely win!"

"Indeed." Zhou Xiaogu nodded, her fingertips lightly tapping the rim of the cup; she did not deny the conclusion.

Then, perhaps not wanting to discuss the issue further, Zhou Xiaogu did not continue the conversation.

"Last time, although I didn't see the symbol directly, we found traces of a battle between the symbol and someone."

"I can roughly tell from the traces that the symbol is much stronger than me, but that makes sense, since it is a monster with an infinite lifespan. It is normal that I cannot defeat it at the moment."

Zhou Xiaogu knew very well that the more exaggerated the body size and lifespan, the stronger the body was.

"Isn't even using 'regression' enough?"

He pressed on, his tone tinged with a hint of schadenfreude.

"In your reverted state, you will revert to your most primal self."

"Although your current progress is only at Stage II 0%, your combat power in Transmigrator form will be infinitely close to Stage III."

"Is this level of strength not enough?"

"not enough."

Zhou Xiaogu's voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable certainty, as if he had confirmed it countless times before:

"You should know that I have a very keen intuition, especially when it comes to judging strength and weakness."

"I was lucky this time while searching for the symbol; I found the bald fake man who had escaped from me before."

"Although he managed to get a good upgrade to Tier II, he's still no match for me."

At this point, Zhou Xiaogu gave a soft "humph": "That Chen Xi was really talking nonsense, saying he would deal with that bald fake man later."

"I wonder what his stance is. Was it a mistake, or did he deliberately let that imposter go?"

Zhou Xiaogu paused here, then continued:

"On the way, I happened to shed my identity as a 'student,' thus fulfilling the two prerequisites for unlocking my return."

"However, even if I master the exclusive ability to return to the ranks of the overlords, it doesn't mean I'm invincible; it just adds another means of unleashing my power."

"If we measure it by the combat strength of a fake human, the return is equivalent to a fake human who has seized four and a half identity cards. There may be some error, but that's roughly the case."

After saying that, Zhou Xiaogu sipped the last bite of his iced Americano, the cool bitterness spreading across his taste buds.

After getting used to this taste, you can't really feel the bitterness anymore, which lays a solid foundation for drinking traditional Chinese medicine in the future.

With a casual toss, the empty cup was precisely tossed into a nearby "recyclable" trash can, making a crisp sound like a basketball hitting the hoop.

"Since this is the situation, then..." Zhou Xiaogu stood up, straightened his clothes, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes:

"I'm thinking of changing my approach and moving a whole major stage forward—we'll enter the Black Tower now!"

"Just like you said, there are no unachievable tasks. There must be targets among them that meet my requirements and have an abnormal lifeline index!"

He Yisi looked at Zhou Xiaogu's resolute back, opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't utter a rebuttal.

He knew Zhou Xiaogu's personality; once he made a decision, he wouldn't easily change it.

Entering the Black Tower with his second-stage strength is dangerous, but he has no choice!

......

Day three.

Chen Xi and his three friends rode Conan's skateboard at high speed across the dark and desolate land, the wheels of the skateboard making a soft "sizzling" sound as they rubbed against the ground.

The previous sword flight had long been replaced by ground travel. It wasn't that flying swords consumed more mental energy, nor was it to keep a low profile, but rather that Chen Xi always harbored a sense of apprehension towards the black mist in the sky.

The black fog, especially near the Black Tower area, always gave him an indescribable eeriness, so he decisively chose the safer ground route.

The painter had already envisioned the blanking process, but Chen Xi was unsure whether the progress of blanking would be uniform.

Even if the outside world is completely cleared out first, it will only be considered completely cleared out after Fujian Province is completely cleared out. Therefore, the maximum time is still 13 days.

Before long, a dense sound of footsteps came from afar, like muffled thunder rolling, growing louder as it approached.

A dark mass of ghouls surged in like a rising tide, their numbers stretching as far as the eye could see. They roared and brandished crude weapons, attempting to overwhelm the four with sheer numbers.

"Tanu's advantage lies in their sheer numbers, and a single bar is the least valuable asset. They're planning to use quantity to create quality!"

The author squinted, watching the approaching Tanu army, his tone tinged with seriousness.

He couldn't handle that number on his own.

"Don't panic!" Chen Xi said in a deep voice, without the slightest hint of panic on his face.

He had seen this kind of scene before and was already familiar with it.

He casually tossed it aside, and a flash of white light appeared.

A handsome man with long, flowing white hair, a crescent moon mark on his forehead, and a slender katana appeared out of thin air.

The man stood steadily at the very front of the four, dressed in a magnificent white robe. His handsome face was like that of a noble young master who had stepped out of a painting, and he exuded a cool yet powerful aura.

"Sesshomaru!"

As a seasoned anime otaku, the author recognized the character at a glance, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

Sesshomaru, known as a noble young master, wielded his exclusive divine weapon, the Bakusaiga, and coldly swept his gaze over the surging tide of ghouls.

With a slight flick of his wrist, the katana traced a graceful arc in the air.

A slash carrying sparks and lightning suddenly erupted, like a nimble whip, lashing fiercely at the foremost Tanu.

The power of this strike lies not in its destructive force, but in its bizarre chain reaction.

When the distance is close enough, a strong electric current instantly bursts out from the body of the hit Tanu.

Like dominoes, one after another, all the nearby Tanu were struck by the ever-spreading chain of lightning!