The figure in black

The five-star hotel was one of Blue Dragon City's landmarks.

The towering hotel symbolized safety and an ample supply of food.

When the evolution wave first struck, many people fled into the hotel for shelter. They had no idea how long it would last, so more and more citizens gathered there.

Now, in Flower Eagle's eyes, Blue Dragon City had become its hunting ground.

For its first hunt, it naturally flew toward a crowded place.

Tall, massive, conspicuous, and packed with people, the hotel looked to it like a blazing lightbulb-or a platter piled high with meat.

Without a second thought, it flew into Blue Dragon City and headed straight for the hotel.

The people inside were so frightened their legs went weak, yet none dared step outside. Some even wanted one last bit of pleasure before they died, driven out of their minds by fear. Fortunately, the others restrained them and tied them to chairs.

The camera followed Flower Eagle's flight and soon caught a figure walking along the street beside the hotel.

The figure wore a black trench coat that reached his knees. A black hood covered his head, hiding his face, and black combat boots planted steady footsteps on the concrete. Broken branches littered both sides of the street, along with blood and monster slime.

Everywhere the eye fell, there was devastation.

Comments immediately flooded the livestream.

"At a time like this, he's still out there showing off?"

"Does he have a death wish?"

"Doesn't he know how dangerous it is outside?"

"Wait, don't you think he looks like an expert? He doesn't seem afraid of that Flower Eagle at all!"

"Could he be some hidden expert?!"

"He has to be a big shot! He has to be, right?!"

"Please, save us!"

Flower Eagle's eight- or nine-meter body whipped up fierce winds as it flew. The plants and trees along the street swayed precariously, but the gusts had no effect whatsoever on Xiao Hao, who possessed the [Undying Body] skill.

The wind seemed to confirm the livestream's talk of a "hidden expert." It was strong enough to snap a tree trunk behind the figure, yet all it could do to him was flutter the hem of his coat.

"He really is an expert!"

"He'll definitely be able to stop Flower Eagle!"

Seeing someone from the Dragon Kingdom interfere, the foreign leaders fumed. The aircraft carrier had been almost within their grasp, only for this unexpected complication to appear!

They hurriedly contacted hackers and paid trolls to pressure the Dragon Kingdom into agreeing to the deal before anything else went wrong.

"So what if they have another top player?"

"Exactly. Even top players have to work together to defeat a special boss like this."

"They should hurry up and request support. The sooner they ask, the sooner our country's players can reach the battlefield."

Now that a new variable had appeared, the Dragon Kingdom's leaders naturally weren't foolish enough to agree.

The Dragon Kingdom's publicly known forces were powerful, but its leaders knew that hidden talents lived among ordinary people, too!

Flower Eagle hurtled toward the hotel at a terrifying speed that even the aircraft carrier couldn't match.

Just as it was about to crash into the hotel, the figure gave a light leap. Like Superman taking flight in a DC movie, he shot hundreds of meters into the air!

With a bang, a vast web of cracks spread across the hotel rooftop. At its center stood the figure in black!

Even the entire skyscraper shuddered, shaking loose some dust and stunning everyone inside.

Question marks filled the livestream screen.

"???"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you sure this is a player and not Superman?"

"I'm in the hotel. The whole building just shook a little, but for some reason, I suddenly feel really safe."

Xiao Hao looked at the cracked rooftop, but his thoughts were elsewhere...

I won't have to pay for this, will I?

I did save all those people, after all...

Hmm...

Maybe, probably, surely... I won't, right?!

These Bouncing Martin Boots really pack a punch. Compensation aside, that badass jump looked incredible!

As Flower Eagle drew closer, Xiao Hao activated his Ghost Scythe Ring, and his ten fingers faintly began to transform into scythe blades.

What he hadn't expected was that the Ghost Scythe Ring was even more absurdly powerful than he'd imagined!

Before the scythe fingers had even fully formed, Flower Eagle sensed them from midair and slammed on the brakes in terror. Even Ghost Infant, who had been sprawled asleep aboard the flying carrier, jolted awake and hid trembling in Qing Feng's arms!

Flower Eagle's abrupt stop stirred up a gust. Xiao Hao stood firm as a pine, while his long trench coat billowed around him, its hems dancing in the wind.

For a moment, even time seemed to slow. With his head slightly bowed, the figure in black looked like an undefeated master seeking a worthy opponent-a martial arts expert about to enter battle in a blockbuster film.

Everyone watching the livestream was dumbfounded. They'd known this man was no ordinary person, but wasn't being this powerful a little ridiculous?!

The camera happened to turn toward Ghost Infant, and only then did everyone realize just how terrifying the figure on the rooftop was!

Ghost Infant was the being that had killed the giant tree!

Yet even a creature like that was trembling in its master's arms!

Its skyscraper-sized form was still seared into their memories!

They could scarcely imagine that the terrifying Ghost Infant, capable of crushing them with a single finger, would now behave like an ordinary baby, too frightened even to face the figure on the rooftop!

All the figure had done was step forward. A special boss that would normally require several top players working together to kill had slammed on the brakes in fear. It could only hover in place, beating its wings, not daring to advance another inch!

Who on earth was he?!

How could a player be this strong at the current stage?!

As questions kept rising in everyone's minds, Xiao Hao stood on the rooftop feeling a little bewildered himself.

Comments from viewers in another world popped up on his game panel, finally explaining what was happening.

[You look so cool, streamer!]

[Streamer, I want to have your babies!]

[Equipment dropped by an early-game major boss is practically divine gear. It utterly suppresses lower-tier monsters.]

[Deep-Sea Ghost was nearly level 20, so naturally, its equipment belongs to that tier, too. Against monsters at level 10 or below, it can basically kill them in one swipe, unless they're an outlier like Mantis Shrimp.]

[Of course these monsters are frightened when they sense the aura of a higher being from a tier above their own.]

[The scythe fingers formed by the Ghost Scythe Ring are every bit as powerful as Deep-Sea Ghost in "person" when you swing them, okay?]

Reading the comments on his game panel, Xiao Hao finally realized that this game holiday really was a holiday for him!

I can do whatever I want!

Merely by standing on the rooftop and revealing the Ghost Scythe Ring's aura, he had terrified even the monsters elsewhere in the city that hadn't yet been cleared out. They all prostrated themselves as though worshipping their king!

It wasn't just top player Wu Ting's Guardian, Tyrannosaurus Rex. Almost all the Guardians paced restlessly, as though the being on the hotel rooftop was an enemy they could never defeat!

The players' Guardians frantically warned their masters: danger! Stay away!

Even inside the Survival Game, their Guardians had never shown such an urgent desire to flee! Never!

The livestream camera faithfully recorded the scene, and the normally dense flood of comments briefly fell silent.

Everyone seemed so stunned that, for a moment, none of them could even type.

Now that he knew he could do whatever he pleased in the real world, Xiao Hao felt invigorated.

His resonant voice was slightly husky and low, his teasing tone relaxed and languid as he voiced his thoughts. "You want the aircraft carrier?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Xiao Hao was a little startled by his own voice.

This Shadow Mask even comes with a voice changer?

Listen to that. I sound just like the final boss in a blockbuster!

That emboldened Xiao Hao. He let himself go, his words ringing out with force and conviction. "Aren't you afraid it'll burn your hands?!"

With that, he raised his head beneath the black hood. Everyone thought they would finally see his face, only to find nothing but a mass of shadow!

That shadow faced Flower Eagle, but it also faced the livestream camera-and all the petty scoundrels coveting the Dragon Kingdom!

His voice boomed like a great bell, striking straight into their hearts. His uncanny, shadowed face seemed to burrow into the depths of their souls. Anger lurked beneath his commanding tone, and the shifting darkness of his face brimmed with killing intent!