Chaos Knight

Sometimes, I really admire Lu Xiaobei's way of thinking; she's truly not an ordinary woman.

He tore off a tissue and handed it to Lu Xiaobei, who wiped his eyes and said, "Am I such a crybaby that I'm annoying?"

"I don't dislike it at all."

I turned my head and said something.

"Hey-hey..."

Her mood shifted from cloudy to sunny, and she let out a laugh that was both cute and lewd.

As expected of her.

A short while later, Zhao Yihang returned, his face ashen. He said, "I asked around with Sister Xiaoman, and sure enough, apart from the drunk security guard, almost everyone in the store dreamed about that evil spirit with the bell hanging from its waist last night."

He asked with some concern, "Ding Han, is the end of the world really coming? To be honest, I'm quite worried."

Don't panic.

I comforted them, saying, "You're so insignificant. Those in power and influence should be more panicked. After all, when the world ends, you'll only lose one life, but they'll lose much more."

"Holy crap..."

Zhao Yihang was stunned for a moment. "Ding Han, now that you mention it, I really feel much better. Your logic is pretty impressive..."

Lu Xiaobei rolled her eyes.

" With Stream City No. 1 doing so well these days, how high are the profits?" Lu Xiaobei asked.

"Currently, our daily turnover averages around 60,000 yuan, and it doubles when someone books the entire banquet hall."

I quickly did a mental calculation and said, "Stream City No. 1's net profit accounts for about 40%, which means the daily net profit is around 24,000. After deducting daily expenses and employee salaries, the daily income is around 15,000."

"So much?"

Zhao Yihang was shocked. "Ding Han, so now you're just lying there making money?"

"What else did you think?"

Lu Xiaobei glanced at him. "Then it's reasonable for you to treat us to lunch, right?"

"Yes, that makes sense. We should invite you, especially Xiao Bei, you've been a great help to Stream City No. 1."

"Then I want to eat at that private kitchen restaurant we had last time; their food was pretty good."

"Okay, when do we leave?"

"It's almost 11:30, time to get there."

So, I called Chen Xiaoman and Xiao Hui, and the whole group squeezed into my S680, swaying and bumping our way to the private restaurant we went to last time.

"Xiao Bei."

I glanced at the three people huddled together behind me and said, "The Feiyang Esports Hotel is fully booked every day, and its daily profits are no less than those of Stream City No. 1. Shouldn't you buy a company car? That way, you'll have a vehicle when you come to Huaining City."

"Let's wait a bit longer; we don't have enough money right now."

Lu Xiaobei said, "I still want to buy another white Cayenne."

She's too nostalgic; even the company vehicles have to be the same as before.

After lunch, we returned to the e-sports hotel. Chen Xiaoman and Zhao Yihang got busy again, while I, with a glass of juice, lay with Lu Xiaobei on the deck chair on the terrace, enjoying the leisurely afternoon.

To be honest, this kind of life is too lazy and can easily erode ambition. After a while, you might really not want to go out to kill monsters and level up anymore.

Just then, Gun Like a Dragon Rulong formed a small group of three, including the two of us and the Guide Zhou Jihuan.

"Ding Han."

Gun Like a Dragon said, "The matter of Nightmare Devourers invading ordinary people's dreams has caused a great uproar. People are in a state of panic, and it's basically all over the news headlines. You've heard about it, haven't you?"

I've heard about it.

I frowned. "Old Zhou, what do we do about the Nightmare Eaters invading ordinary people's dreams? Do we have any countermeasures?"

"No."

Zhou Jihuan said, "This is the first time anyone has dealt with a powerful chaotic energy entity like the Nightmare Eater. We only have a vague understanding of Invade Dream and have no idea how to deal with it. It's not just you guys; the GM team is completely clueless as well."

That is indeed a bit troublesome.

I calmly said, "Ordinary people's resistance is far inferior to ours as players. If the Nightmare really attacks ordinary people, many of the people around us will disappear, right?"

"Yes..."

The Gun Like a Dragon resonated deeply with me.

"This isn't about Invade Dream."

Zhou Jihuan said, "Another troublesome matter has arisen; something has happened in the southwest of the Lost Land!"

"What happened?"

"The chaotic aura is spreading through the Lost Land. Not long ago, our people detected that the Chaos Power had spread to a map called the Scoria Basin in the southwest of the Lost Land. The original inhabitants of this map were a group of goblins, who should now be wiped out. Therefore, I plan to issue a quest to send players to explore this map and see if we can find a way to stop the spread of the chaotic aura."

"There's no need to ask us about this; just release it directly."

"Ding Han, you'll go, right?"

"Go!"

"OK."

The next second, a bell rang in my ear--

[Attention all players! The Region Task "Scoria Basin" (S-rank) is now officially released! Issued by: The Guide. Quest details: Evil psionic energy from the warp has begun to spread wildly, corrupting the human world. A catastrophe is unfolding in the Scoria Basin. Please travel to the Scoria Basin to stop the warp invasion. A very generous reward will be given upon completion!]

With the mission complete, I immediately exited the chat and opened the party chat. "S-rank mission is online! All Player Black Market and prepare to head to the Scoria Basin!"

"Clear!"

Ruolin, Cai Cai, Kou Mei, Fatty, and others responded in unison.

Everyone was very well-mannered. Once a mission came up, no matter how important the things they were doing were, they had to put them down and immediately throw themselves into the wave of leveling up and fighting monsters!

I got up, patted Lu Xiaobei's shoulder who was almost asleep beside me, and said, "Xiao Bei, I have to go now, I have something to do."

"Ah?"

She was surprised. "What's the rush? I was planning to take you out for a nice meal tonight."

"Next time. The chaotic energy of the warp is spreading. I need to take some men to intercept it, otherwise those bastards in the warp will really think our world is so weak."

"Good..."

She immediately stood up, looking at me with pleading eyes. "Promise me you'll come back safe and sound."

"Yes, he'll definitely be safe, even safer than Chen Ping'an!"

She didn't get the joke, but just nodded repeatedly.

He walked outside, took out his phone to inform Lin Qingying, and then drove straight to the Player Black Market.

Soon after, all eight members of Ding Han Squad arrived.

"Aji, go activate the Fearless One, then teleport directly there."

OK!

A few minutes later, I stepped into the Teleportation Array first. Behind me, Ruolin, Cai Cai, and Fatty carried Explosive Gun. Kou Mei summoned her Chaos Beast Mount and entered the Teleportation Array with Faye and Bingzi. Aji brought up the rear in his Fearless.

"Whoosh~~"

A streak of white light dissipated, and the figure appeared on the southern edge of the Lost Land. The temperature suddenly dropped significantly. With a leap, he landed on the shoulder of the Dauntless One and called out, "Everyone, get on! Aji, Dauntless One, full speed ahead!"

"Okay!"

A few seconds later, under the envious gazes of a group of players from Huaining City, the Fearless One carried the entire Ding Han Squad and sped off towards the Scoria Basin!

As evening falls, the sun sets in the west.

The fearless raced across the wasteland, kicking up a cloud of dust. Hundreds of meters away, a great river shimmered, reflecting the silhouette of the setting sun.

A lone plume of smoke rises straight from the vast desert, the setting sun hangs round over the long river!

The ancients were so romantic.

More than an hour later, the Dauntless drove the group into the Scoria Basin map.

A strong smell of burning filled the air, and the terrain ahead had changed dramatically. Here sat a cluster of volcanoes, and they seemed to be active, with several of them violently spewing fiery red lava.

The basin is filled with mountains of garbage, some of which are even radioactive, but players are completely immune to them. At most, they will lose some health points, but the radiation will not leave any marks on the players.

Look over there!

Cai Cai pointed into the distance. "So many hellhounds!"

Sure enough, behind a mountain of garbage, a dark mass of hellhounds was howling madly. They had smelled our scent from afar and surged toward us like a tide.

"No, it's not just hellhounds."

Ruolin, being observant, glanced through the scope of her Explosive Gun and said, "There's a knight behind that pack of hellhounds. Ding Han, look, it seems like he's the one herding these hellhounds."

"Is that so?"

I was surprised; I had only ever heard of sheepdogs, but never of dog herders.

He took out the Conqueror and looked through the scope. Sure enough, behind a pack of hellhounds, a knight riding a Chaos steed held a long spear, his body wreathed in the unique blue flames of Chaos Power.

A few seconds later, a name appeared.

Chaos Knight, Level 75, Gold BOSS.

Be careful, everyone.

I frowned. "Same old tactics, rely on the Dauntless to counterattack. There are too many Hellhounds. We don't need to engage them in close combat on the ground. Just shoot them directly. It's just a waste of a few bullets."

"Clear!"

The group nodded in unison, while the hellhound had already charged very close.

Cai Cai, Fatty, and I opened fire simultaneously, our bullets forming a barrage that swept through the hellhound pack. Kou Mei, on the other hand, was even more arrogant. She sat in the Chaos Beast, which stood on the shoulders of the Fearless One. With her short staff raised, she unleashed an area-of-effect attack, causing the hellhounds to howl in agony as their health bars plummeted.

Not far away, while we were slaughtering the hellhounds, the Chaos Knight stood motionless, holding his spear, dozens of meters away, his sinister eyes staring straight at us.

Only after the hellhounds were almost wiped out did the Chaos Knight finally let out a roar that didn't sound human. He charged forward with his lance, his warhorse letting out a long neigh. The warhorse was just a skeleton, its entire body enveloped in blue flames, making it look quite impressive.

How awesome would it be to get a mount like that?

Riding a chaotic warhorse, wielding Power Sword, charging through thousands of troops—the image is too beautiful to even imagine!

Unfortunately, the player settings in <Star Abyss> always adhere to "reality" and such mounts do not exist. Even Kou Mei's mount, Gem, is a modified Chaos Beast.

The Fearless One roared, unleashing a massive barrage of attacks that forced the Chaos Knight and his horse to retreat continuously.

"Aji, save some ammunition for the base!"

Ruolin and I jumped off the Fearless and began close combat, wielding our Power Sword!

Half a minute later, the Chaos Knight and a pack of hellhounds collapsed to the ground. Their bodies rapidly corroded and melted, and strands of warp energy gathered in the air, transforming into a hideous Spirit of Chaos!