At the Qi family villa in Jidu,
Qi Yuan's writing hand paused slightly. He raised his hand to press his temples. The experience of being repeatedly eaten by monsters was a bit too intense.
He reasonably suspected this was his avatar's retaliation against him.
The issue could have been easily resolved by creating an illusion, yet he had to be eaten by monsters.
Being eaten was one thing, but each avatar kept chanting in their mind that this was to prevent any slip-ups. With several avatars stacked together, they possessed about one-tenth of Tang Sanzang's persistence.
Fortunately, things were progressing smoothly, offering some comfort to Qi Yuan, whose avatars had begun to rebel.
The villain avatar used the excuse of slowing progress by one percent for each person eaten, and switching to a different monster if leveling up was too slow, to frighten the Kuman Thong and reduce personnel losses.
Then, using amplification and other special abilities, they made the Kuman Thong limit its infection range to the extent of its abilities, covering one-fifth of Duoheluo Country. This would slow down the speed of individual infections.
Faced with the Kuman Thong's confusion about the inconsistency, the avatar's answer was that if it couldn't handle such a small task, what use was it?
After various manipulations, the Kuman Thong was left dizzy and confused, but it dared not speak up.
Although it appeared easy to deceive, the immense power gap was apparent. Its survival depended entirely on the masked man's mercy, so naturally, it wouldn't delve too deeply into anything that might displease him.
Next, they just needed to wait for the arranged hero to come seeking help with news from Duoheluo Country.
The phone on the desk vibrated timely, the caller ID showing Director Yu...
Surely it couldn't be this quick?
Qi Yuan was a bit puzzled as he answered the call.
Yu Anhe's anxious voice came through the receiver, "Something big has happened. We can't handle it. You need to come over."
"I understand."
After saying this, Qi Yuan hung up and headed straight for the Duty Bureau.
As soon as he walked into the office, Yu Anhe came to greet him. The director, no longer wearing his usual smile, got straight to the point: "Something's happened in Duoheluo Country."
Qi Yuan was slightly stunned. It really was that fast. Was this the speed ordinary humans should have?
Yu Anhe thought he didn't know about the situation in Duoheluo Country, so he cleared his throat and explained, "The first A-rank Monster discovered in the world was the Kuman Thong from Duoheluo Country. It's also the monster that leveled up to S-level and SS-level the fastest."
"Although its monitoring importance has decreased due to the appearance of the San Zhu monsters, it's still one of our monitoring targets."
So that's how it was. The memory of the victorious avatar returned timely.
Qi Yuan had thought this person had also cheated and rushed to Dragon Country at lightning speed, which couldn't be explained by mere determination.
He had taken things for granted. Successfully bypassing San Zhu and creating a major incident was possible because San Zhu's regime hadn't completely collapsed, and the Five Major Countries couldn't openly intervene.
If even they, as role models, were to attack a certain country without reason, the principle of prioritizing monster elimination would fall into a crisis of trust.
Duoheluo Country was different. Under monster rule, the Five Major Countries didn't need to consider surface-level rules.
Therefore, as soon as the victor of this game left Duoheluo Country, the Five Major Countries received the news.
Qi Yuan maintained his composure and asked, pretending not to know: "And then?"
"It's about to level up, and the range isn't small," Yu Anhe pulled out a map and circled an area: "We still need people to investigate the exact range, but assuming that person's residence is at the boundary, it's still the largest ever."
"That person?"
Yu Anhe's anxious expression froze, and he smacked his forehead: "Look at me, I forgot..."
The victor had entered Dragon Country's monitored area, and changes within Duoheluo Country were immediately relayed back to the Duty Bureau.
Dragon Country naturally wouldn't keep this troublesome issue to themselves and quickly passed the information to the other four countries.
"...The biggest problem is this," Yu Anhe pulled out some intelligence, pointing at a certain spot, "This man named Apu described that during the trial, he obtained a mask artifact. Based on his description, we've recreated it, and it looks like this..."
Yu Anhe took out a piece of paper from the side, on which was drawn a mask extremely similar to the masked man's.
"We suspect the masked man has also intervened in the trial."
Qi Yuan calmly scanned the paper. Whether or not the intelligence personnel had discovered it, his avatar would make him discover it. It was all part of the plan.
Yu Anhe continued, "If our speculation is correct, we can only trouble you this time."
Even all Five Major Countries together weren't enough to defeat the masked man single-handedly. The only two hopes were the old small group combination whose whereabouts were unknown, and Qi Yuan standing before them.
Although Qi Yuan didn't have a record of directly defeating an SSS-Level Monster, he also hadn't said he couldn't.
Yu Anhe understood Qi Yuan to some extent; not saying meant it wasn't certain.
Qi Yuan put the documents back on the desk. "This matter isn't urgent."
The San Zhu incident had occurred quietly, and the Five Major Countries naturally couldn't contain it in time. The news from Duoheluo Country hadn't spread yet, so things weren't over.
Yu Anhe leaned over the desk, his upper body tilting towards him.
"Do you have a solution?"
Qi Yuan leaned back tactically, raising his hand to gesture for the director to stay calm.
Yu Anhe had to sit down and wait for Qi Yuan to give an answer.
"Don't you want to find the masked man and the mysterious organization?"
Qi Yuan calmly flipped through the documents on the desk, turning the page with the mask towards Yu Anhe, adopting the demeanor of a scornful boss.
If there were really members of a mysterious organization, they would probably be infuriated to the point of coughing blood.
They were hiding well in the shadows, yet when the organization's leader sold them out, there wasn't even a shred of guilt.
However, he alone was an organization, so swindling himself didn't count as swindling at all.
"You mean?"
Yu Anhe looked at him suspiciously. During their last chat, Qi Yuan had clearly known something. The director even boldly guessed that Qi Yuan might know these two people.
But then he thought, if it were someone else, he'd have to ponder the underlying reasons, but with Qi Yuan...
Heh...
On a whim, wanting to trick others, it was quite normal.
Qi Yuan leaned back in his chair, "Just as you're thinking, spread the news widely, and wait for the mysterious organization to solve it."
Yu Anhe's expression instantly became as rich and varied as spilled paint. He really did say he'd trick them and then did it.
Maybe his guess was wrong, and Qi Yuan only knew about them but didn't actually know them personally.
Hmm... Young Qi liked to use illusions to peek around, so it wasn't impossible.
Wait!
His browsing history!
An unprecedented sense of panic rose in his mind, and Yu Anhe felt his scalp tingle.
But he dared not ask. What if he received a meaningful smile in return? His dignity in front of his junior...