CHAPTER 331: CHAPTER 284 UNEDITED VERSION, CHECK AGAIN AFTER 12 O’CLOCK ONCE REVISIONS ARE COMPLETE.

The loss of players can only be described as outrageous.

Some channels lost as many as a hundred people!

The number of players who died in ten minutes was almost as many as the entire first day in the Matrix!

The best-case scenario belonged to channel 879.

With Li Zheng’s advance warning, they didn’t rashly participate in the event and instead waited quietly.

Only a few stubborn ones disappeared without a trace.

Seeing the world channel filled with tragedies, those who heeded Li Zheng’s warning were relieved and deeply grateful to him.

Wang Chaoran looked at the world channel and privately messaged his buddy: "Li Zheng is truly kind-hearted, saving most of our channel’s lives once again."

His buddy, still in shock, replied: "It’s also lucky you, as a die-hard fan, took his words as gospel, saving us a life."

They had been carried by Li Zheng through a dungeon once, gaining most of the rewards, boosting their ranking on the power list to over 80, which filled them with confidence.

So after the terminal announcement, they immediately prepared to gather a team to participate in the event.

But seeing Xiao Siyuan forward Li Zheng’s warning, Wang Chaoran made a quick decision to hold off on forming a team, delaying their actions by ten minutes, during which they saw intel being exposed in the world channel.

Even teams formed by players in the top fifty power rankings suffered over fifty percent losses, let alone players like them ranked only in the seventies or eighties.

Wang Chaoran messaged: "Let’s pretend we never saw this event, explore safely, and wait for the big shots’ performance. I have a feeling that the final reward will definitely go to Li Zheng."

His buddy teased back: "Is that a feeling? That’s your blind confidence in your idol’s strength as a die-hard fan!"

"We both know the big shot’s strength. What’s wrong with being confident? Never mind, I just detected another door at Black Light level. Let’s see what treasure it might hold." Wang Chaoran put away the black-glowing pocket watch and pulled out his Identity Card to read by the door.

The last time it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to open a Black Light level metal door that triggered the dungeon, freeing him from the habit of only entering safe rooms, and encouraging him to challenge higher difficulties.

"I hope we hit another jackpot, the dungeon rewards are really sweet." His buddy was also eager for the loot from dungeons.

One dungeon run instantly boosted their rank by nearly a hundred places, the thrill of such rapid progression was addictive.

"Let’s hope so..."

Wang Chaoran swiped his card and froze for a moment, then cheered: "It’s really a dungeon!"

After sharing the good news with his buddy, the two began to worry.

Because the last dungeon’s boss was entirely handled by Li Zheng solo, they didn’t experience it and had no idea how strong this boss might be.

If they recklessly challenged it, they might crash and burn.

"The big shot is surely busy exploring the event now, no time to run dungeons, so we’ll have to rely on ourselves." Wang Chaoran hesitated for a while before rallying teammates in the regional channel.

Ye Yuan and Chu Xiao, who were idly gathering intel, saw the recruitment message and thought it was better than doing nothing, deciding to join the dungeon.

Three minutes later, Wang Chaoran and his buddy were bewildered as three high-ranking figures led them into the dungeon.

...

Li Zheng used the event feature to bind himself with four confirmed players, forming a five-person team, with himself as the leader.

Once the team was set up, a "Team" chat portal appeared in the chat interface, where they coordinated before Li Zheng activated the special teleportation device issued for the event.

Once activated, a panel appeared before Li Zheng with forty-three neatly arranged numbers.

The top three numbers were: One, Two, Three.

The top three numbers were noticeably larger and distinct, suggesting their special nature.

"Looks like the terminal has set the difficulty for the top three numbers independently, probably stronger, so should we start with number forty-three?" Li Zheng selected the last number, confirming the challenge target.

Simultaneously, a teleportation prompt appeared to the other four, and once confirmed by all, the teleportation began.

The colors before Li Zheng’s eyes blurred, and after some time, they exploded into countless pixels.

Once the teleportation ended, Li Zheng had arrived at the event’s challenge location.

Turning around, he saw Zhan Zhouzhou and others already by his side. The familiar Phoenix Surnamed Man seemed to glow with a virtual aura of luck, still as annoyingly impressive as ever.

Li Zheng observed the attributes of Feng Shan and the others, noting only Yan Guang’s left arm had been upgraded, significantly enhancing her power, while Feng Shan remained unchanged, except for the new black spike-studded Platinum-level knuckle dusters that replaced his old waist-holstered gloves.

"Long time no see." Yan Guang greeted Li Zheng. Since she formally partnered with Feng Shan, this was their first time assembling their dungeon configuration in ages.

"Indeed, long time no see." Li Zheng gave her an annoyed look, which puzzled Yan Guang, unaware of what had provoked him.

Yan Guang checked herself, wondering if something was inappropriate, puzzled: "I don’t recall offending you, why the face as soon as we met?"

"Heh." Feng Shan jibed from the side: "You’re a crazy woman, who knows when you’ll say something wrong, they would hardly be kind to you!"

"Hey... you..." Yan Guang glared, ready to vent her anger on Feng Shan.

"Shh, silence!"

Li Zheng’s ears twitched as he suddenly turned towards a darker direction, almost devoid of light, making it impossible to see what lay hidden within.

But he was unwaveringly certain he heard something just now.

"Something’s coming." Drawing out the Mysterious Declaration and Sheathed Sword, Li Zheng signaled everyone to be on guard, positioning himself front and center to extend the lantern’s light forward.

The light peeled away the darkness, revealing a slender figure that vanished, retreating into the deeper shadows.

"It seemed... like a child?" Yan Guang hesitantly noted seeing the figure.

Li Zheng’s countenance was serious: "It was indeed a child."

He considered the data captured by Old P, confirming his conjecture.

(The following content will be modified after twelve o’clock, insiders know.)

With his head lowered, Li Zheng continued moving, familiarizing himself with his situation, becoming more adept at maneuvering in his insect body.

The sky grew darker until visibility was practically zero, the dense canopy overhead obscured any view of the sky, ruling out any moonlight.

It was only when the last sliver of light vanished that Li Zheng sensed something amiss.

"So quiet..."

Li Zheng laid on a protruding stone covered in dry leaves, his antennae twirling in the air.

"Such a large jungle, yet not a single sound of insects or birds, it’s too eerie!"

Originally, when visibility was better, he concentrated on adapting to his present insect form.

When the path was no longer visible, he realized that so far, he seemed to be the only living thing in the entire jungle?

The silent environment carried an eerie atmosphere, leaving Li Zheng with an inexplicable sense of unease.

It was as if something terrifying in the unseen darkness was watching him.

Pure blackness offered no comfort.

Especially being alone in this enormous forest, his sense of security plunged into the negatives, forming an infinity sign!

This feeling was akin to timidly walking through an impenetrable alley at night, always sensing something following behind, making one shiver.

"Noth... nothing to fear, I’ve turned into a bug, what else is there to fear? It’s just dark, maybe there are no nocturnal creatures nearby, stop scaring myself." Li Zheng tried to reassure himself.

No matter what, he couldn’t just find a place to hide for the night.

Because,

He felt a bit hungry.

Since waking, about two hours had passed without any food, the hunger pangs thrashing against his consciousness like tidal waves, urging him to seek sustenance.

Faintly, Li Zheng could even hear a voice from deep within: I’m so hungry I’m so hungry I’m so hungry... I need to eat!

"Damn, I want to find food too, but I was never a bug before, how am I supposed to know what to eat!" Li Zheng was annoyed, his antennae flailing wildly in the darkness, seemingly a bit mad.