Several clarifications from the Huaxia military have to a certain extent curbed the online accusations against Jiang Kai.
Yet a portion of people still attribute Huaxia's current performance in the Endless Abyss to Jiang Kai.
The forums had nearly become a battlefield for debates between two factions. The official repeated deletion of posts was to no avail, and the topic remained heated.
Jiang Kai's "fatal" effect had already disappeared, and he had finally become a normal person.
At this time, he still knew nothing of the outside world.
"Why hasn't the National Soul effect activated yet?" Jiang Kai checked the Revelation Necklace, which showed no reaction. "Could it be that not a single person passed?"
"That shouldn't be the case. A secret realm of 100,000 square kilometers—even if it's at the Tribulation level—should be passable if they send in a War God, right?"
"Should I go back and check…"
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Kai decided not to go back yet.
Speaking of which, in the past few days, Jiang Kai hadn't been in the mood to kill ordinary beasts. Even when he encountered them, he tried to avoid them if he could.
The rewards from ordinary beasts were too low. Especially after grinding through a bug nest, an ordinary beast only gave a few dozen experience points, maybe a corpse or something—far worse than hunting elites or commander-class beasts.
Most importantly—he needed to find Night Patrollers!
The treasure info dropped by Night Patrollers was extremely valuable. If he could farm a few more, he might be able to collect enough fourth-stage Destiny materials.
In the following days, Jiang Kai continuously ventured deeper into the map.
He hadn't encountered any beasts like the Gold-Eating Worm Beast again, and most of the beasts could be easily avoided.
One evening, while Jiang Kai was resting on a tree branch, he suddenly heard the sound of battle from afar.
He quickly got up and moved toward the source of the noise.
Turned out, not far from his resting spot, a military squad of over 100 people was under siege by a group of beasts.
"Military exploration squad?" Jiang Kai observed from the shadows.
The beasts resembled white lions, each with a thick, sharp horn on its forehead. Their bodies were about four to five meters long, burly and strong, with extremely agile movements.
There were about a dozen white lions, attempting to break through the front-line defenses of the military squad to attack the support professions in the rear.
However, the military side was quite strong and currently held the upper hand.
"They should be able to win." Jiang Kai thought, confirming they wouldn't be wiped out, and prepared to leave.
However, just as the two sides were locked in fierce combat, a shadow suddenly flashed out from behind the lion group!
That shadow was extremely fast, instantly dashing in front of a shield-bearing soldier king.
The soldier king didn't react slowly and immediately raised his shield to defend.
With a loud boom, after a powerful collision, the soldier king was sent flying. As he was knocked back, the shadow caught up to him even faster.
It raised a longsword and pierced through the soldier king's shield. The sword instantly penetrated the armor, pinning him to the ground.
Jiang Kai's eyes widened. The one who attacked that soldier king—was a human?
Why would a person be working with a group of white lions to attack a military squad?!
Judging by that person's movements, he was at least at the Transcendent profession level!
"What… what is going on?"
Just then, a hand suddenly patted Jiang Kai on the shoulder.
Jiang Kai was startled and quickly turned around.
Upon turning his head, he saw a stunningly beautiful face. Her eyes, under the night sky, were as deep and bright as stars reflected in a lake.
Both of them lowered their voices and exclaimed in surprise.
"It's you?!"
This woman was the one Jiang Kai had scared off—the woman who liked to call herself "Laozi"!
The woman also widened her eyes at Jiang Kai. She had personally seen Jiang Kai's soul dragged away by a Night Patroller, but now—this person standing in front of her was clearly alive.
Just as Jiang Kai was about to speak, the woman hurriedly gestured for silence. "If you don't want to die again, don't speak."
"Come with me!"
Jiang Kai glanced back at the battlefield.
That black-robed figure had already killed several members of the military squad and was now slaughtering deep into their formation.
"Stop looking—you can't help them. Come with me first!"
Jiang Kai hesitated for a moment. Even though he didn't have a high-grade watch, his rich combat experience told him that person's attributes were far higher than his!
Thinking of this, Jiang Kai immediately followed the woman, disappearing into the forest.
The two fled all the way from the battlefield, finally stopping by a lakeside.
"There's a lake demon in the lake. At night, other beasts don't dare to approach. We just have to watch out for the lake demon and can rest here for a bit."
Right after she finished speaking, the woman suddenly drew her longsword and held it sharply to Jiang Kai's neck. Her previous panic was gone, replaced by a cold, intense stare. "You actually pretended to be a ghost to scare Laozi!"
Seeing Jiang Kai remain silent, the woman narrowed her eyes slightly. "You think I don't dare kill you? I'm telling you—if I kill you here, no one will know!"
Jiang Kai was wondering whether to fight back but noticed she didn't really seem intent on killing him.
After thinking, Jiang Kai said, "Miss, you're holding a sword to my neck—how can I explain myself?"
"You first tell me what happened with that guy just now, then I'll tell you what happened before."
"We're both Huaxia citizens, no need to be so hostile, right?" Jiang Kai said. "If we really fight, what if that guy gets attracted over?"
The woman looked Jiang Kai over, snorted coldly, then put her sword back in its sheath.
"That guy just now wasn't human." She turned and sat on a dry tree stump. "That was a Night Patroller. It probably ate a Drifter and took on his appearance!"
Jiang Kai quickly leaned over. "How did you tell?"
"My eyes can see things you can't." The woman gave a vague answer. "That guy's agility is over 13,000, and his attack is extremely high, with a very high crit rate."
"Also, the weapon in his hand is of very high quality. It can even pierce through a defense shield!"
"That military squad doesn't have a Transcendent guarding it. They won't escape."
Night Patroller? Jiang Kai's eyes lit up at those three words.
But over 13,000 agility—that really shocked him.
He only had 4000 agility himself.
The woman sighed softly, her expression gloomy. "You think Laozi wants to watch people die and not help? But if you want to play the hero, you have to know your limits. We Drifters have our own missions."
Jiang Kai felt both regretful and amused.
This woman was clearly so delicate-looking, yet she kept calling herself "Laozi." Definitely a bit off-putting.
The woman suddenly looked up, glaring at Jiang Kai. "I've said my part. Now you—what exactly are you? Human or ghost?!"
"Hiss… well, it's a long story. In short, while fighting a Night Patroller, I entered a soul-returning state." Jiang Kai naturally couldn't reveal the truth about the Destiny Wheel.
"But don't worry—I've recovered now. I'm alive!"
The woman frowned at Jiang Kai, calculating in her mind.
She had personally seen this guy fighting a Night Patroller. And the second time, he had indeed appeared in ghost form.
Her Star Spirit Eyes wouldn't deceive her.
Could it be… that Night Patroller had some kind of "soul banishment" skill?
"Then how did you escape from that Night Patroller?"
"I… I have an escape skill." Jiang Kai stammered.
The woman snorted. "You sure are good at running."
Jiang Kai didn't take her contempt to heart and asked, "Why was that squad roaming outside at night?"
"They were probably looking for Drifters," the woman said. "Huaxia City recently discovered a new secret realm. A guy named Jiang Kai found some ruins, activated the secret realm, and even picked the Tribulation difficulty."
"Right now, no one in Huaxia can pass the first layer of the Endless Abyss. The military hopes the Drifters can break this awkward deadlock."
"That Jiang Kai really—if he knew his luck was bad, why not wait before choosing? Now look, Huaxia found the secret realm first and ended up with a zero score. Just thinking about it pisses Laozi off!"
Jiang Kai's expression turned a little awkward…
"Uh… how could no one pass the first level? Just send in a Transcendent expert and it should be fine." Jiang Kai said weakly.
"Transcendents can't enter right now. Mortal professions must clear Stage 10 before the Endless Abyss opens to Transcendents."
The woman got angrier as she spoke. "That Jiang Kai—next time I see him, I'm definitely going to teach him a lesson!"
"Uh… that doesn't really seem like his fault though."
"How is it not his fault?!" The woman stood up angrily. "Even if it's a matter of luck—you should know the feeling. So many people in Huaxia still don't know what's going on, and our fate was decided by one guy. Who wouldn't be pissed?"
"I don't care if he drew it or chose it. Getting my fate decided so recklessly—of course Laozi is mad! If it weren't for him, those soldiers wouldn't have gone out at night to search for Drifters, and they wouldn't have died!"
"Not to mention others are fanning the flames—makes it even worse!"
Her rant did explain some people's mindset.
"Ahem… maybe he didn't know what was happening either," Jiang Kai tried to defend "him."
The woman immediately glared at Jiang Kai. "Why are you defending him? Do you know him? Are you his friend?!"
Jiang Kai suddenly realized—it might be best not to provoke this hot-tempered woman.
"No… I don't know him. How could I know someone with such bad luck?" Jiang Kai quickly denied.
Suddenly, the woman looked at Jiang Kai. "Hey, since you're fine, come with me back to Huaxia City. We're going to break through the Endless Abyss!"
Jiang Kai frowned. "Who said I'm fine?"
"Can't you have a bit of backbone? Do you know how badly people from other countries are mocking us? Did you see that squad? If they weren't looking for Drifters, they wouldn't have died."
Jiang Kai didn't really refuse—but he was feeling a bit guilty.
As the man everyone was condemning, if he went back, he might get beaten on the spot.
However, this mess was caused by him. Perhaps it should end with him… at least, no more military squads should die.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Kai exhaled hard. "Alright. I'll go back with you."
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