Miko and Shi Jia

The tremors in the virtual world attracted the attention of many players. Some truly powerful individuals, however, turned their gaze towards the source of the tremors. They not only felt the tremors themselves but also sensed a powerful, unsettling aura. That aura was fleeting, but even so, it stirred a sense of unease within some of these powerful players.

"Sea Emperor, can you find out whose aura that was?" Liliath frowned slightly. Her soul perception was powerful, and although her detection range was suppressed, her sensitivity to auras remained largely unchanged. That aura just now was too terrifying, forcing her to be on high alert.

"It's Gu Ding." The Sea Emperor's answer surprised Liliath.

"What happened? Why did his aura suddenly erupt? Did he encounter Futu?" Liliath asked, opening the Ranking List. She glanced at the Ranking List; Gu Ding's points had skyrocketed from over 100 million to over 118 million, propelling him to fourth place, while Futu remained in third place with over 120 million points, unchanged. "Not Futu?"

"No, it was a guy named La Bi Ci. That guy got rid of Fa Te." The Sea Emperor then recounted the whole story. Liliath remembered that the last time she saw that Demon Face was almost half a year ago, when Gu Ding was completely unconscious.

"He's fine, not even seriously injured. That Demon Face didn't launch a real attack and has already dissipated on its own." The Sea Emperor's words finally put Liliath's mind at ease.

In the Flame Zone, Dokter couldn't help but ask about it, and Sea Emperor explained it again.

"That terrifying aura just now was emitted by Gu Ding? And it even traveled from the Boulder Zone to the Flame Zone?!" Dokter was so surprised that he couldn't stop talking.

"To be precise, the tremor spread throughout the entire virtual world," Sea Emperor added.

"I was initially worried he wouldn't be a match for Futu, but now it seems there was no need for that." Dokter smiled wryly. He had thought he had become much stronger. Even if his strength wasn't as good as Gu Ding's, it shouldn't be too far off. But he hadn't expected Gu Ding to be so much stronger than he imagined. He thought of Futu, whom he had encountered before. Like Gu Ding, Futu was like a mountain that one could look up to. "It seems my cultivation is still far from enough..." "You've observed Futu, haven't you? Who do you think is stronger, him or Gu Ding?" Dokter asked, voicing a question that had been bothering him.

"There's no way to compare them. Futu gives me a very strange feeling, and I can't quite put my finger on it. But if the two of them were to fight, I can only say that Gu Ding probably wouldn't lose, but whether he would win or lose is anyone's guess," the Sea Emperor said, expressing his opinion.

"You mean, a draw is more likely?" Dokter nodded. He also thought Sea Emperor's guess was quite plausible.

"Judging from Futu's attitude towards you, he probably won't kill Gu Ding if he encounters him. Similarly, Gu Ding probably won't use the same move as before if he encounters him. If the two of them fight, it will at most be a friendly exchange, so the chances of a draw are relatively high." The Sea Emperor gave his prediction.

While the two were discussing the pagoda...

In the Purple Lightning Zone, Futu's figure rose from the ground, hovering high in the void, his gaze fixed on a certain direction in the Boulder Zone. He clearly saw a young man standing proudly in that direction.

At almost the same time, Gu Ding sensed a gaze upon him. He turned to look at the source of the gaze. Although he couldn't see anything, he could feel it. The gaze was coming from that direction, very, very far away.

Realizing he'd been caught red-handed spying, Futu was somewhat surprised. A slight smile played on his lips beneath his hat brim. "This young man is rather interesting..."

His gaze then shifted to a top expert hundreds of kilometers away, and he slowly descended, chasing after that direction.

Once he noticed the prying gaze had disappeared, Gu Ding withdrew his gaze. "Sea Emperor, who was spying on me just now?"

"It's Futu... I originally thought he used some special ability to circumvent the rules of this world, allowing him to regain some of his detection abilities. Now it seems that he didn't just regain some of his detection abilities, but was completely unaffected by the rules of this world." As the Sea Emperor spoke, he ejected the video of Futu that had just been played.

When Guding saw the tall man hovering in mid-air in the video, his eyes, hidden by the brim of his hat, looking at him, Gu Ding was somewhat surprised. "How did he do that? Each area is no less than the surface area of a planet, yet he can see directly from the Flame Zone to the Boulder Zone, and he can precisely lock onto my position with his line of sight?"

"I don't know either. Some ancient races with extraordinary vision can indeed see their targets across star systems, but under the suppression of the rules of this world, no race could possibly do what he just did." The Sea Emperor also couldn't understand how the other party had done it. "The only explanation is that he is not affected by the rules that restrict the detection of this world."

"Forget it, let's not worry about him. With you here, his detection abilities aren't much of an advantage." Gu Ding wasn't too concerned about the matter. "How are the others?"

"Lily and Dokter just asked about you; they noticed a change in your aura. One of them is in the Frost Zone, and the other in the Flame Zone. Elsa also noticed, but she's rather oblivious and didn't pay much attention; she's currently in the Gale Zone. And Miko is in the Purple Lightning Zone, the same area as Futu."

"Also, Karrot is in the Flame Zone, Scarlet is in the Frost Zone. Miniana and Na Luo are in the Gale Zone. There's also a swordsman named Si Kao Er, ranked eighth on the Demigod Prodigy Ranking, second only to Karrot. He's in the Boulder Zone, just like you. These are all top ten powerhouses on the leaderboard. And that little monk Shi Jia is in the same area as Miko and Futu. Although his strength is no weaker than his senior brother's, his points are not high, less than 20 million, barely making it into the top eighty."

The Sea Emperor gave a general overview of the other members' situations, as well as the regions of the top ten strongest members on the leaderboard.

"It's a bit unexpected that Miko has managed to hold on until now." Gu Ding was indeed somewhat surprised by this.

"Because I made him avoid those top experts and challenge those who were slightly stronger than him. And he was also quite lucky. He encountered Karrot, Scarlet, and that Miniana several times. I didn't deliberately arrange this. Every time those guys met Miko, they would take him with them until they teleported away. Another time, he met Futu. That guy seemed to really like children. He not only protected Miko for a day, but also taught Miko an ancient cultivation technique, the grade of which was no lower than your Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body."

"Such a thing exists? I've never heard you mention it." Gu Ding only knew about the battle between Dokter and the Buddha from the Sea Emperor.

"This just happened yesterday," the Sea Emperor explained. "And now, that little monk named Shi Jia is speeding towards Miko's location. He Miko's less than twenty kilometers away. If nothing unexpected happens, Miko make it through today. However, you don't need to worry. His points are unlikely to increase much, because according to my scan results, his overall strength is the weakest among the remaining 1,500-plus people. His current ranking is over 1,100, but that ranking will only drop, not rise. If he can't get into the top 1,000, he won't get a spot to enter the ruins."

"You should keep an eye on his situation and let me know as soon as there's any news," Gu Ding, somewhat exasperated. It wasn't that he wanted Miko out, but he was worried that Miko get a spot to enter the ruins. Knowing the temperament of those people in the Federal Government, once they got the spot, it would be difficult for them to refuse entry later.

Just as the Sea Emperor had predicted, in the Purple Lightning Zone, the young monk Shi Jia appeared before Miko a minute later. Seeing Miko, who was about his age, Shi Jia seemed very pleased. He glanced back to make sure the fierce-looking man from before hadn't followed, then stepped forward.

"Who is it?" Miko felt a little strange. He had not received a warning from the Sea Emperor, but he heard someone approaching.

"Hello, my name is Shi Jia, and I am eight years old." Shi Jia carefully observed Miko, who was slightly taller than him by half a head, and then realized that the other person seemed to be blind. He couldn't help but feel a little sad for Miko.

"My name is Miko, I'm ten years old." Miko felt relieved when he heard that the other person's voice was that of a child. He also understood why the Sea Emperor hadn't given him a warning. He was a little shy when he met someone his own age in this kind of place.

"You're Miko? I've heard of you before," Shi Jia said, somewhat surprised. "You're Uncle Dokter's partner, right?"

"Dokter... Uncle?" Miko was taken aback. He knew Dokter was only sixteen, but he had also heard that Dokter looked older than his age, like he was in his twenties, and that he liked to grow a beard, so he would look about ten years older than his actual age. Being called "uncle" by an eight-year-old child wasn't that strange.

"Don't you recognize them? But aren't you all members of the Gu Ding Pirate Crew?" Shi Jia was a little confused about Miko's reaction.

"I know him, but I've never called him 'uncle,' so..." Miko explained.

Why?

"Because he is only sixteen years old..."

"No way, he looks older than my master."

"Maybe he just looks older than his age..."

The conversation between the two boys took a rather bizarre turn, starting with Dokter's age. Dokter, far away in the Flame Zone, sneezed. "Is someone talking bad about me?"