Alone and Infinite

So all we know is that we need to reach the third order to receive a signal, but we don't know the specifics of how to do it.

Li Xia nodded to indicate that she understood.

I glanced at the horde of monsters in the plaza one last time. What a pity. There were just too many of them. Otherwise, I really wanted to try and get the item in the middle.

Just as I was about to leave, a low buzzing sound suddenly came from afar.

A black dot quickly streaked across the low sky and flew to Li Xia's front.

A drone? Or a telekinetic control version?

"Friends here, I mean no harm. Would you be interested in joining forces?"

A hearty voice came from the drone; just listening to it, you could imagine a bold and magnanimous man smiling and extending an invitation.

"joint?"

"Yes, United! My friend, you should have noticed the treasure in the center of the square by now, right?"

Li Xia's expression remained unchanged:

"Hmm, it seems like there's something there."

"But there are too many monsters, so we want to team up and see what that thing is, so we need manpower."

The voice from the drone spoke very sincerely:

"Friend, the first phase ends in six days. The original boss in the square is gone, leaving only these cannon fodder."

We have plenty of time, and we're not far from the barren plains; enough time for us to try.

"What's the general plan?"

A sound rang out from the drone:

"Slice the sausage, lure the monster out little by little, and eliminate it in batches. We'll definitely have a chance!"

Furthermore, as long as you come and sign the agreement, you'll receive a free 'crystal core' to guarantee you'll complete the mission!

Are you interested? We already have over thirty apostles willing to join.

A glint suddenly flashed in Li Xia's eyes.

More than thirty apostles, which means more than thirty 'crystal cores'?

Where did they get so many crystal cores?!

Aowu and Heitan waited quietly for Li Xia to make a decision.

After a long while, a meaningful smile appeared on Li Xia's face:

"Okay, I'll join!"

"Great!"

The drone immediately started shaking, and the voice said:

"Our meeting point is on the edge of the square, where there's a very conspicuous ruin that looks like a pair of shorts."

"it is good!"

The drone shook its wings once more before flying off in the next direction, presumably to contact the next group of people.

Li Xia looked around and sure enough, he saw a building ruin that looked like a pair of shorts not far away.

Perhaps it was once a pair of trousers, but after being folded in the middle, it became shorts.

"This team has a problem!"

Li Xia said in the team channel that he felt like he had returned to the days when he used to write strategy guides on the forum.

They keenly sensed the opportunities for manipulation within the situation.

The original world does not reset the timeline and has been part of the Apostles.

Although the Temple of Light prohibits the buying and selling of information about Ascension Battles and has blocked all important information related to Ascension Battles, including keywords, it is still prohibited.

But there will absolutely be some loopholes!

For example, the apostles who came in the past encountered far more skeletons than they do now, so wouldn't they have been able to easily accumulate more crystal cores?

If they hide the crystal cores, they might casually mention something like, "Watch your shorts," or something similar when chatting with their guild members.

Could those who enter later re-extract these 'sealed' crystal cores?

And there were many decaying tree golem corpses lying on the streets outside.

And most importantly...

Ascended Amodrich, according to his own guess, was originally supposed to be in this square.

When Li Xia discovered it, it was already more than 20 kilometers away from the square!

Even if an apostle accidentally used a probe on him, it would never have taken him this far!

In other words, it is very likely that after discovering the characteristics of the 'Ascended Ones', someone deliberately lured the monsters away little by little!

Li Xia's eyes flickered

Someone is playing a game of chess, a game that has spanned a considerable period of time, and even involved several waves of apostles coming and going!

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Full of resentment, I went to work as a laborer again today. I really did work as a laborer, carrying solid wood flooring all day.

It's baffling! Why did they make me do this kind of work that should be done by the floor installer?!

Chapter 212 Joint Suppression!

As I said before, it's precisely because at higher levels you start competing on raw strength that it becomes difficult to take shortcuts.

This makes the struggles and forbearance of the apostles at the lower levels even more fascinating.

Just thinking about it, the apostles used the short seven days to accumulate crystal cores little by little, leaving clues in a subtle way through various means.

There is more than one assessment world in the Hall of Light, and it is very likely that various clues are hidden in each assessment world.

Each wave of apostles involved in this scheme contributes to its development.

Until the player in control of the game feels the time is ripe to reap the sweetest reward.

After hearing Li Xia's conjecture, even Ao Wu couldn't help but be amazed.

It can't remember much, and even the occasional fragments it recalls are definitely silhouettes of the eighth or ninth order.

However, they had never experienced the lower levels, and they never expected that His Highness could guess so much from just a single exchange.

"With such a massive scale, there must be more than just this one world involved, right?"

Aowu followed Li Xia towards the agreed-upon location:

"guild?"

Li Xia nodded: "Yeah, only guilds are left, but even guilds are a bit scary."

No wonder I heard there was once a guild that dominated the scene; it was the result of countless waves of apostles' accumulated efforts that finally blossomed.

How terrifying!

However, it's not certain, Li Xia suddenly became interested.

Only what you actually eat counts. How many of those people who gathered there were actually thinking of stealing it?

"Meow?"

Black Charcoal followed behind. Little Meow was beginning to grow up; Teacher Ao's teaching hadn't been in vain.

Li Xia shook his head: "The possibility of them luring us there to kill us is very low. Double-crossing is not impossible, but the profit is too low."

Before long, the ruins that resembled 'shorts' were right in front of us.

The ruins cover a considerable area and are covered by a faint semi-circular membrane.

The interior had been completely set up, with several tents erected in the middle, and apostles coming and going from one tent to another.

Li Xia glanced at it a few times and called out:

"Let's go."

It felt like walking through a layer of not-so-strong plastic wrap.

The moment I stepped inside, the previously silent ruins suddenly came alive, creating a bustling atmosphere.

That was the silent barrier just now?

"Welcome, welcome, my friend!"

A short-haired man wearing a military green vest, camouflage pants, and combat boots walked over with a hearty smile on his face.

"I am Gu Ge, and also the initiator of this joint effort. May I ask your name, friend?"

Li Xia smiled and said, "Just call me 'X'."

Actually, giving your real name is fine too, as the vibrations in the arena only spread within a small area, and even then, they only blurred faces.

People who aren't very familiar with you would never recognize you, and as for those who are familiar with you, there are very few in the Hall of Light.

But if you give your real name and the other party happens to know it, then things will get a bit complicated.

After all, I still have some expectations for the development below, and being closely monitored is a bit uncomfortable.

"X?"

Guge quickly racked his brain, but had never heard of it.

He didn't care, just like how almost none of the apostles who came this time gave their real names; everyone had their own ulterior motives.

Furthermore, those who can participate in the advancement battles generally meet the minimum strength requirement.

"Please come in. We've almost finished recruiting our staff."

Guge led the way, heading straight into the largest tent, from which the loudest noises were coming from.

As soon as Li Xia stepped inside, he felt dozens of pairs of eyes, almost tangible, focused on him.

After a quick scan, what lay before me was a chaotic gathering of figures, like a herd of demons dancing wildly.

Ancient and modern, revealing and abstract, different styles of clothing can be gathered in one tent, something that can only be seen in a palace.

"Tch, boring—another one of these pretty faces. Guge, can't you find some strong-looking, muscular men who give you a sense of security?"

A man with extremely effeminate features and smoky makeup sat on a wooden box, absentmindedly picking at his fingernails with a dagger.

The gleaming dagger faintly emitted a purple light, clearly indicating that it was a purple dagger.

Guge sighed: "Demon man, those who can come here are all very strong apostles. As for the muscular men you mentioned, I really can't satisfy them."

"Alright, there are 40 people now, right? Don't waste time, hurry up and say it."

Another female apostle impatiently interrupted the demon man before he could speak, and a bewitching purple light suddenly shot up from her palm.

He seems to have a very bad temper.

Not only her, but others also urged Guge to speak quickly, either with words or with their eyes.

"Everyone, please be quiet. Now that we have enough people, I'll keep it short."

The sounds inside the tent gradually subsided, and Li Xia casually found a place to sit down, ready to listen with great interest to Guge's plan.

"There are 10 teams here, 3 of whom are lone wolves, and each team has at least 3 members."

Guge tapped the screen, and a holographic projection appeared in the air in front of him, showing an aerial view of the square:

"There are 14 entrances in the square. The team members will take 10 entrances, the three lone wolf brothers will take one entrance, and we will use the remaining two entrances as emergency passages, so that we can have a buffer zone if too many monsters are attracted."

A man wearing a mask, his face covered, said in a low voice:

“I don’t want to be with anyone else, give me—a private—entrance.”

Li Xia's gaze lingered for a moment on the two crossed swords behind him; this must be Lone Wolf.

"Me too, I don't need to team up, just give me a separate entrance."

Another voice rang out, this time from a young man behind them dressed in uniforms similar to those of the Titan Survey Corps.