Chapter 728 - 453: Mandatory Mission 3

Every single one of his blood relatives had died at the exact same moment.

This turn of events...

Instantly terrified those who were still entertaining thoughts of defiance.

An existence like this...

They understood that resisting it was simply impossible.

The only good news, it seemed, was that the entity would not take the initiative to attack humanity.

As long as no one provoked it.

For this reason...

The higher-ups of Kapu Star completely suspended all plans for aerospace development.

After all...

Any spacecraft that flew out of the atmosphere and into outer space would malfunction. Not only that, but any astronaut who laid eyes on the World Serpent’s true form would die instantly.

Worse, if their actions provoked the entity, they feared it would bring apocalyptic disaster upon all of human civilization.

But now...

At this very moment, the data curves on every monitoring device had suddenly flatlined.

This could only mean one thing: the colossal monster that had perpetually loomed over the planet had vanished without a trace.

Command centers around the world erupted into an uproar.

Security ministers repeatedly cross-referenced the data on holographic projections, urgently pulling up satellite imagery, while research personnel frantically inspected their instruments.

After three rounds of cross-verification, they were forced to accept an unbelievable fact.

The unknown entity, which had hung over their heads like the Sword of Damocles, was truly gone.

Although no one knew why this World Serpent had suddenly departed or where it had gone, the crisis was, at least for the moment, averted.

However, what these survivors didn’t know was that just as they breathed a collective sigh of relief, the entire Kepp Star System, including Kapu Star itself, had been silently absorbed by Hu Qi into his Pocket World.

...

Within a pocket of space.

Beneath a vast, boundless starry sky.

At a glance, the exterior of the Reincarnation Bookstore resembled a magnificent pyramid. A mysterious halo flowed across its surface as it stood proudly at the core of this Star Realm.

The structure tapered from the bottom up, with its base as vast as a continent, gradually narrowing as it climbed in height.

And atop this pyramid existed a separate, independent space.

Within it, four islands floated, one in each of the four cardinal directions.

One of the islands was a paradise, where a vast, turquoise ocean met a stretch of golden sand.

Fine white sand glittered in the sunlight, and the gentle sound of waves lapped against the shore.

A Young Man lay lazily on a sun lounger, allowing two graceful young women to massage him.

Their slender fingers roamed his shoulders and neck, sometimes light, sometimes firm, their movements skilled and the pressure just right.

A sea breeze drifted by, bringing a refreshing coolness.

Suddenly.

The Young Man, Hu Qi, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open.

He raised a hand, stopping the two women—constructs made from enchanted dolls—at his side.

At the same time, a mechanical voice rang in his ear.

[DING! In fifteen days, you will be transported to the novel world ’Sealed Origin Realm’ to execute a mission.]

The next second.

A line of purple text materialized before his eyes.

[Mission Information]

[Novel World Level: Ten-Star]

[Participants: 4 Managers (Forcefully locked, cannot be changed with any items)]

[Countdown: 14 days, 24 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds]

[Note: This is a mandatory mission and cannot be refused.]

The text didn’t linger for long before fading away.

Seeing this, Hu Qi’s expression flickered.

He was a bit surprised.

While his main body had been hunting the White King, he had completed two more missions in a row.

However, their difficulty was only average.

After that, he stopped accepting missions.

This was because Managers, to a certain extent, were immune to the penalties for mission failure and could even refuse mission assignments.

This time, however, was clearly different.

It was a mandatory mission, one that not even a Manager could refuse.

Furthermore, this mission was in a Ten-Star World.

Its difficulty would be absolutely unprecedented.

Based on what he’d learned about the rules of the Reincarnation Bookstore’s novel worlds, a Ten-Star World would most likely involve power on the Daoist Lord Level.

Even a True God could perish inside one.

And...

Previously, he had used his Manager authority to investigate.

He knew that the Reincarnation Bookstore had apparently issued missions to Ten-star Novel Worlds several times in the past.

And without a single exception, every reader who went to undertake them had died. Not one had ever returned alive.

The danger index, needless to say, was off the charts.

The Reincarnation Bookstore referred to these as "novel worlds."

But that didn’t mean these worlds were fictional.

The Mecha World he’d visited before—the one trapped in a cycle of Reincarnation after its sun died—had already proven that.

The world Hu Qi had entered via the Bottomless Realm was, in fact, a novel world within the Reincarnation Bookstore.

Its plotline was presented in the form of a novel for readers to observe.

The Reincarnation Bookstore’s methods were truly inconceivable.

They were even clearer than the outcomes Hu Qi could deduce using the Celestial Destiny Core.

’It’s just that this Ten-star Novel World only has a name this time, and no plot summary at all!’

Hu Qi’s eyes glinted.

’And all the participants are Managers. Logically speaking, for a world this difficult, sending in a large number of readers would surely be more effective.

’After all, a quantitative change can lead to a qualitative one.

’But the Reincarnation Bookstore is only sending four Managers.

’Are they deliberately trying to make us kill each other?’

These thoughts flashed through his mind.

He raised his head, his gaze drifting toward the three other islands in the distance.

His expression was inscrutable.

During this time...

The masters of two of those islands had come to visit him.

But he had refused to see them.

The malice from those two was almost completely undisguised.

Their intentions were obvious.

They wanted to seize his authority.

Fortunately, the Reincarnation Bookstore prohibited readers from killing one another.

Not even Managers like them could circumvent that rule.

Otherwise, they would have likely made a move on him long ago.

After all, while this Clone of his wasn’t weak, it was no match for two True God Level powerhouses.

’Perfect. I’ll deal with them all at once this time...’

Hu Qi’s eyes glinted.

It was unclear what he was thinking, but a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.