Chen Nian was leveling up in the wilderness.
A day passed in the blink of an eye, and he finally reached level 50.
His leveling speed was not the fastest. Many mages who killed monsters in large numbers were even faster, but Chen Nian did not care. He could kill monsters above his level.
He went home and slept, restoring his body to peak condition.
Early the next morning.
"It's time to set off."
Tonight would be the guild's first offline meetup.
Chen Nian changed into a low-key outfit, put on a face mask, and boarded a plane bound for Lu City.
The plane had just taken off from the airport when a notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Announcement: The highest-level player in this region has surpassed level 70. A world boss has spawned. Defeat the world boss to unlock the Calamity Summoning feature.] [Time limit: 1 day]
The world boss had appeared!
Chen Nian was slightly surprised. He had not expected the fastest-leveling player in the Linhai City region to have already surpassed level 70!
It seemed he had been slacking off for too long.
If the world boss was not killed within the allotted time, the Calamity Summoning feature would remain locked. This would be a huge setback for Linhai City's players, leaving them with one fewer way to grow stronger.
More importantly, failing to kill the world boss on time would trigger the Blood Moon Calamity ahead of schedule!
That was the truly deadly part-deadly enough to destroy Linhai City and kill millions...
Chen Nian looked through the plane window at the city growing ever more distant below and murmured.
"You leveled up so fast. Hopefully, you can take care of the world boss before I get back."
If they could not handle it, Chen Nian would have to return and deal with it himself. That would be quite a hassle.
"The world boss has appeared!"
"Holy shit, it really is a world boss... So that's how it gets triggered!"
"The top players are already level 70? That's fucking fast! I'm only level 10!"
"Don't even mention it. I haven't even gotten a talent card yet!"
Everyone in Linhai City received the message at the same time, and an uproar immediately erupted.
Especially among the official law enforcement forces!
"Quick, deploy every available drone and find the world boss!"
"Issue a recruitment notice! Gather high-level players and prepare to take down the world boss. We must kill it within one day!"
The players who had actually played Calamity all panicked.
Li Yunwei was one of them.
"What's wrong, Captain Li? Why do you look so worried?" a colleague asked.
"If we can't kill the world boss within a day, the Blood Moon Calamity will come early..."
"What?!"
Li Yunwei's expression was extremely grave. "If the Blood Moon Calamity arrives early, players at their current levels and with their current equipment won't be able to withstand it at all! The final outcome could very well be our destruction."
"How could this happen...?"
After hearing this, her colleague staggered back two steps, his face deathly pale.
He had never imagined the consequences would be so serious!
"We can only hope those top-level players step up. The safety of the entire city rests on them..."
In less than half an hour, the world boss had been located.
"It's in the wilderness south of Linhai City! A huge pitch-black sphere has appeared in the space there. We can't see anything inside."
"The footage?!"
When the footage was projected, everyone was stunned.
Sure enough, a gigantic black sphere stood in the wilderness!
"That's the world boss's barrier. Only those who enter it can challenge the world boss," Li Yunwei said gravely.
"Quick, transport the volunteers we've gathered to the target location. Begin the assault immediately!"
"Everyone, move out!"
Chen Nian did not get to see Linhai City's emergency mobilization.
By that afternoon, he had already arrived in Lu City.
His phone, however, had been ringing off the hook, with calls from all sorts of people, including Li Yunwei.
Chen Nian called her back.
"Chen Nian, where are you? A world boss has appeared, and we're urgently gathering volunteers to take it down!" Li Yunwei sounded anxious. In her eyes, Chen Nian was a strong contender too.
"Sorry, Sister Li. I just happened to leave the city. I can't get back."
-Beep, beep, beep.
Li Yunwei hung up immediately without wasting any more time.
Chen Nian shrugged and muttered to himself, "It's just one world boss. Surely I don't need to step in, unless those people are useless idiots who only know how to level up."
Soon, night fell over Lu City.
The streets glowed with colorful lights, bustling with prosperity.
Wearing a black hoodie, jeans, and a face mask, Chen Nian boarded a gigantic cruise ship.
The luxurious, three-deck ocean liner had been chartered for the night!
The person who had chartered it was none other than Xiao Qi.
The reception hall aboard the ship was the venue for the offline meetup.
"Hello, please show your exclusive QR code."
As he stepped onto the deck, an attendant asked Chen Nian to show his QR code to verify his identity. Only members of the group had one; no one else could get in.
"Verification successful. Please come in!"
Chen Nian pulled up his hood and entered the cruise ship.
He was still rather nervous about their first offline meeting. Although these people were all his subordinates, every one of them was a big shot.
In the resplendent central hall, crystal chandeliers shone brightly overhead, while the gold-threaded carpet on the floor exuded luxury.
People entered the hall one after another.
Among them were businessmen in suits and leather shoes, young scions in fashionable, luxurious clothes, young students, and older men.
Chen Nian knew very well that any one of the people gathered here could shake the entire world with a mere stamp of their foot!
They held prestigious, illustrious positions: billionaires, business tycoons, sons and daughters of powerful families...
Even more frighteningly, every one of them possessed extraordinary strength.
Yet after boarding the ship, these people seemed to become entirely different, putting on no airs whatsoever.
"Holy shit, you're Big Goose? Hahaha, I never thought you'd actually look like a goose!"
"You're saying you're Mengmeng? Fucking hell, wasn't Keke a cute girl?"
"My daughter's called Mengmeng."
"And you, Nan Mo! Didn't you say you were eighteen? Your fucking belly's as big as a ball!"
"A man stays a boy until the day he dies, got it?"
"Moli, you looked like a high school girl in your photos. Ma'am, did you speed through twenty years of growth?"
"You actually trusted those fake photos? I even dated Yun'er online. Who knew he was some old geezer tricking people with a voice changer!"
"Brother Zhan Yun, you're not just old enough to be my brother. You could probably be my dad... A fifty-year-old berserker, holy shit!"
Fake photos... men posing as women... women posing as men...
Voice changers... online romances falling apart at the first meeting...
All sorts of situations that arose when online friends met in person played out here one after another.
Just as everyone was laughing and joking, the speakers suddenly came on, and a soft, sweet voice rang out.
"Welcome, everyone, to Lu City."
"Quiet... quiet... all of you, shut the hell up!"
Everyone immediately fell silent and turned toward the central stage.
A young girl walked out.