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

"No...no..."

Lin Fan uttered two sounds of doubt.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this stone sculpture?" Wang Qingqing asked hurriedly. She saw Lin Fan staring blankly at the stone sculpture and thought he had discovered something.

"Something does seem off. Judging from its size, this gray worm is probably close to Tier III in strength. In terms of power, it doesn't seem to match the strength of this safe zone."

Assam also carefully examined the stone carving and explained.

"That's not what I meant," Lin Fan said in a deep voice. "Didn't you notice?"

"That eternal one called out my and Assam's identities, but he specifically called you, the woman, instead of the gambler."

"Don't you think that's a little strange?"

"That does seem a bit strange." Wang Qingqing frowned slightly, thought carefully for a moment, and then seemed to realize something: "It could be that he's sexist!"

"Just like my grandfather!"

"Um... okay." Lin Fan didn't know how to answer for a moment, so he simply skipped the topic.

"I was too nervous and under too much pressure before, so I was just wondering and didn't think much of it. But the other side's petrification attack and our state at the time gave me an idea."

"How so?"

Assam seemed quite curious, with a look of detached curiosity.

"First, Eternal launches a petrification attack using its eyes, an ability very similar to the 'Petrifying Demon Eye,' ranked fourth among the pseudo-human's strongest talents."

Lin Fan had told the two of them about this ranking after they had gone through life-and-death ordeals together, and they had both memorized it.

"Secondly, do you remember how the other party appeared when they saw us?"

"state?"

Assam isn't stupid. Although his head was buzzing on the battlefield and he was slower than usual at calculating two-digit addition and subtraction, now that he's calmed down, his thinking ability has improved again.

He quickly guessed what it was:

"You mean your [Great Void Rhythm] and my [Treasure Hunting Mouse]?"

"I see." Wang Qingqing immediately realized, "So that guy determined your identities based on this feature."

To everyone's surprise, Lin Fan shook his head: "That's not right!"

"When there is no danger, my [Great Sky Rhythm] is in a standby state, hanging on you. In this case, not only is the color very light, but the features are also very indistinct, so there is no reason for him to recognize it at a glance."

"But he seems very familiar with the emperor's identity, so it's not surprising that he recognized him at a glance, right?" Wang Qingqing retorted. After calming down, she realized that she was also a top student with a very active mind and strong independent thinking ability.

Upon hearing this, Lin Fan suddenly smiled, a smile that seemed somewhat inexplicable: "I thought the same thing before."

"But there's one detail you might have overlooked."

"Perhaps you didn't hear it because of the distance, but the moment I entered the third level, my five senses were restored."

"That guy, sitting on the stone sculpture, said this: 'You've directly jumped from 70% of Tier II to Tier III. It seems you truly are the Son of Heaven.'"

"Regarding the 'Petrifying Eyes' I mentioned at the beginning, this Eternal, just like the False Man, actually has a pair of eyes that can see the progress!"

"hiss!"

Upon hearing this, Assam and Wang Qingqing exchanged a glance and simultaneously gasped.

"So this eternity is fake? It's not a symbol, but a false person?"

"Indeed, a fake human can transform!"

As they talked back and forth, the confusion in their eyes gradually turned into determination.

"To be honest, based on the feeling he gave me, and the strength and charisma he displayed, I think this 'eternity' is genuine."

Lin Fan concluded, "But I have an even bolder idea."

"What are your thoughts?"

Assam and his companion asked the same question with expressions of curiosity.

"You say that a fake person can seize the identity of a superhuman, so is it possible for them to also seize the 'identity' of the symbol?"

Lin Fan's guess caused the room to fall silent.

A moment later, Wang Qingqing broke the silence:

"That woman who can't remember faces didn't say that a fake person can't take away a symbol, but just because she didn't say that doesn't mean she can."

"Yes, Lin Fan, Qingqing is right," Assam chimed in. "The power of the symbol is undeniable, and it is the number one symbol, symbolizing eternity."

"Even if a fake could seize the symbol's 'identity,' it could never be taken away!"

Assam rallied behind it like a fan.

"In our current understanding, no one can truly defeat the symbol," Lin Fan said, ignoring the two's response and instead proposing a new perspective, "What if he is the legendary ultimate imposter?"

"Is that possible?"

"Just because no one has done it before doesn't mean no one will do it in the future."

"Lin Fan, you're being a bit wishful thinking; you're essentially making assumptions based on a predetermined answer."

Wang Qingqing remained unconvinced.

"Maybe." Lin Fan didn't discuss it with them because he knew it would be pointless.

He couldn't guarantee he was right; he was just offering a possible guess.

"Should we continue looking?"

Assam pointed to the treasure-hunting rat on the ground and asked.

"Find it!" Lin Fan said firmly. I don't know why Eternal appeared here, but it seems he doesn't know that there is a so-called great treasure here.

"And we don't know Wang Qingqing's identity as a gambler, so it's always good to have more chips in hand."

"That's what I think too, so let's keep going!"

Assam responded, and the three of them continued to form a triangle formation. Before setting off, Lin Fan hesitated for a moment, then destroyed the large gray worm stone sculpture with a punch.

That kind of eternal loneliness was too miserable, so Lin Fan chose to kill the gray worm directly.

And so, the three men and the mouse continued toward their original goal!

......

......

"Brother Liang!"

"We've finally found you!"

Yang Weihao said confidently.

"You've finally arrived, that's great." Yan Mingliang said with a sigh of relief. "I've encountered many sneak attacks from those insect monsters, but thankfully my current Tier II strength is enough to handle them."

"Otherwise, we'll have to trouble Chen Xi again."

"Boss, why aren't you saying anything?"

"We searched 13 different locations before we finally found Brother Liang."

"1!" Chen Xi suddenly spoke up, "Quickly, give us the number!"

"Huh? Oh, okay! 2!"

Yang Wei immediately followed. The author didn't understand why they needed to count after everyone had been found. Perhaps it was for a neat ending, so he cooperated and read out "3!"

And then, that was it.

The number "4" that should have belonged to Tyson Bolt has yet to be announced.

"Do I want... to say a 4?"

Yan Mingliang asked tentatively, as he had just been found by Chen Xi and the others and did not know what had happened.

"No need," Chen Xi said in a deep voice, "Tyson Bolt is lost!"

"No way!" Yang Wei exclaimed, then quickly realized something. "Is it that teleportation portal behind us?"

After all, the counting had been going on non-stop until now.

They discovered that Yan Mingliang's location happened to be near a portal, meaning that Tyson Bolt accidentally entered it at the same time they found Yan Mingliang.

"Yes." Chen Xi nodded.

Yang Wei breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "That's easy, let's go in together now, shall we?"

"Boss, you've already tested it. No matter how many people there are, the location where they appear is always the same. Let's go back right now and find him/her in no time."

"It's a pity that these portals are all one-way, otherwise she could have come back on her own."

"I'm sorry, Yang Wei, we can't go through that portal!" Chen Xi interrupted Yang Wei just as he was about to turn back.