"Captain, you must be joking. As a team mber, it's my duty to follow orders. I'll prepare right away and join you imdiately."
"There's no need to prepare; we're leaving now. Besides, you have nothing to prepare."
As an original mber of the Pioneer Squad, Yuta was undoubtedly the weakest among them.
Leaving aside Exiled Immortal and Qing, who ranked among the top in combat strength across all players, even Lawrence was far from weak. His knight class paired with his talent could only be bested head-on by soone as formidable as Qing.
Yuta alone had neither exceptional talent nor ambition. If not for joining early, his own strength would have long seen him drop out of the top tier.
Seeing Helena's resolute attitude, Yuta swallowed hard, his anxiety growing.
He was only following Lawrence's orders, and now, with Lawrence absent, he found himself at a loss.
At that mont, John and Exiled Immortal finally arrived at the Pioneer Squad's base. Exiled Immortal pushed open the conference room door, only to be t with Helena's intense gaze, which startled him.
"B-Big Sister, what are you..."
"Lawrence has gone to take on a roaming BOSS alone. How can he manage by himself? As the captain, it's my duty to help him. Since you're here, shall we team up?"
Helena glanced at John, who remained silent, tacitly agreeing.
Things had co to this point, and Helena's sense of belonging to the Pioneer Squad had all but vanished.
She could accept being sidelined, challenged, even giving up her position as captain, as long as Lawrence faced her openly and told her he wanted to be captain. Helena would hand over the position without hesitation.
But she could not accept this way of doing things, especially when it had led to soone's death!
"Exiled Immortal, Yuta, we're leaving."
"Got it, Big Sister."
...
anwhile, in the Real World
In the heart of Riverside City, at the rift.
In just two days, the rift had grown from barely accommodating a few fingers to being wide enough to surpass the width of an adult male's waist, an expansion speed that was nothing short of extraordinary.
More importantly, so people had accidentally fallen into the rift and never managed to climb back up.
Despite this, countless people remained fascinated by the rift.
On this day, the man who first discovered the rift arrived as usual, clutching a handful of stones. He sat down by the rift and casually dropped a stone into it, waiting a long ti without hearing the sound of it hitting the bottom.
"This is eerie. How deep can this be? Could it have pierced right through the planet?"
To figure out what this rift really was, the man had already spent three days in the real world.
It should be known that in the post-apocalyptic era, with food so scarce, staying in the real world required daily caloric intake to sustain normal bodily functions.
In the ga world, with enhanced physical abilities, one usually only needed to log out every ten days or so to replenish their strength.
Aside from marveling at the man's persistence, people couldn't help but wonder how incredibly bored he must be.
"So, what exactly is down there?"
Having thrown all the stones he had, the man couldn't be bothered to collect more. Instead, he lay down on the edge of the rift to peer into its depths.
And then, a pair of deep, dark, yet exceedingly shrewd eyes t his gaze.
In that instant, the man's heart raced. He instinctively wanted to scream, but no matter how hard he tried, his throat couldn't produce any sound. All that ca out were incoherent, stamring noises.
Moreover, the man suddenly realized he had lost not only his ability to speak but also control over his entire body.
"Hmm... this feeling. After twenty-one days, I have finally returned to this world."
A deep voice echoed from the rift, sounding like an exceptionally elegant middle-aged man. Just hearing his voice would instinctively make one want to trust him.
"So, who has managed to deceive ti? Reversing more than two years in one go... I am growing more and more curious!
Speaking of which, that parallel rift seems to be nearby. Perhaps... I can play a little trick and sneak past those foolish, self-righteous [Gods]."
...
John suddenly felt a sense of unease.
It was as if he had been targeted by a hidden viper, making him feel on edge.
The last ti he had felt this way was when he encountered that [Corrupted] item.
But he had checked carefully; there was no sign of the [Abyss], nor any indication of its presence...
"Maybe I'm just overthinking it."
John rubbed his temples and then looked at Helena.
Unlike her usual fiery self, Helena seed like a different person now.
But perhaps this was the real Helena—a natural leader with imnse charisma.
Qing's death had completely shattered Helena's utopian ideals, making her calm down and consider things from a practical standpoint.
"We're almost there, Big Sister. Do you need to scout ahead?"
Exiled Immortal pointed to the dense forest ahead and continued, "I don't think Lawrence is really out to hunt the monster. This might just be a trap to lure us in."
"Exiled Immortal. Could you please..."
"Co on, there's no need for formalities between us."
Exiled Immortal waved his hand, and with just a thought, a gust of green wind lifted him into the air, quickly transforming him into a small black dot in the sky.
In less than five minutes, Exiled Immortal returned with a definitive answer.
"Lawrence is indeed battling the outdoor BOSS, and he's alone. However, he seems to be seriously injured."
"As long as he's there, that's enough."
With Lawrence's identity confird, there was no reason to hesitate.
Leading John and the others into the dense forest, Helena soon encountered the gathered players. Many had noticed the situation—a top-tier player fighting a dungeon BOSS solo was a spectacle no one wanted to miss.
Normally, Helena would be thrilled, genuinely happy for Lawrence's growth. But now, his actions only deepened her suspicions.
The faster Lawrence grew, the more Helena believed Qing's death was linked to him.
Reaching the outskirts of the BOSS area, Helena imdiately recognized Lawrence, barely holding his ground before the giant wolf, his body covered in wounds, almost a bloody ss. And there, embedded in his back, was Qing's great halberd.
"That's... Brother Qing's weapon! So, it was him after all!"
"Lawrence, use a teleport scroll to return to town. In your current state, you can't defeat the giant wolf."
"He-Helena, Exiled Immortal, what are you doing here?"
"This has nothing to do with you. Exit the dungeon, Lawrence."
"No! This damned beast killed Qing. Even if it ans my death, I must avenge Qing!"
Inside the area, Lawrence gritted his teeth, using cloth strips to bind the fragnts of his shattered shield to his arm. His broken armor and nurous wounds only added to the tragic heroism of his last stand.
"You, the perpetrator, dare to speak so righteously!"
Faced with Lawrence's explanation, Exiled Immortal chose to ignore him.
After all, this was just a level 28 outdoor BOSS, comparable in strength to the Basilisk. If Qing could solo the Basilisk dungeon, how could he possibly die to a giant wolf?
Such a flimsy excuse instantly made Helena lose patience.
"If you won't co out, then I'll have to go in and drag you out!"
As a mber of the sa squad, Helena had the authority to enter the dungeon that a fellow mber was challenging. Bringing her group into the dungeon area was a simple task.
"Helena, this matter started because of . How can I drag you all down with ?"
"Lawrence, I'm genuinely curious, how can you lie so effortlessly without changing your expression?"
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