Chapter 2: A New Threat

A day passed in the blink of an eye. Li Mingxing brought Zheng back to the mysterious bar once again. This time, Raymond was not sitting quietly in some secluded corner waiting for them to arrive, but was instead seated directly in front of the bar counter. Judging from his expression, the current situation was exceptionally grave.

The moment he saw Li Mingxing and Zheng arrive, Raymond hurried over to greet them. "This situation is immensely troublesome. You had better prepare yourself for the worst."

"What has happened? Have those two deities fully recovered their powers?" Upon hearing Raymond's words, Li Mingxing's immediate reaction was that the two divine beings had already regained their might. If that were truly the case, there would be no need for him to rush over; going there would simply be tantamount to a suicide mission.

Fortunately, Raymond did not bring entirely catastrophic news. He shook his head and replied, "Not quite. According to the intelligence we've gathered, the God of Shadows is in a slightly better position—he requires half a month to reconstitute his physical vessel and six months to recover his divine power. Apollo is much less fortunate; he needs at least three months to rebuild his flesh and a year and a half to regain his divinity."

"Then why do you say things are so troublesome?" Li Mingxing asked, puzzled.

"Because the Inner World where they are currently located is designated as War Zone 03. It is a relatively early strategic-tier Inner World. This particular Inner World is of the archipelago type; half of its entire expanse consists of the open ocean, while the remainder is scattered with islands of varying sizes, with no continent to speak of. Consequently, this Inner World possesses a considerable number of portals, many of which lead directly to Inner Worlds of other planes. Because of this, it has become a focal point of contention between our two alliances. We already have three probationary heroes who have managed to establish a foothold there, while the Light Alliance also has four individuals operating in the region. If you go there now and fail to handle the situation properly, it could spark a full-scale war between the Dark Alliance and the Light Alliance."

"Is there really anything to worry about? The members of the Light Alliance aren't that formidable after all." Li Mingxing was not overly concerned about the probationary heroes of the Light Alliance, especially considering that the number of such heroes who had already perished at his hands had reached a total of four.

Seeing Li Mingxing's nonchalant attitude, Raymond grew quite angry. "Don't you understand yet? This Inner World is unlike the ones you usually visit; it has already become a major theater of war between the two alliances. Both sides have poured massive amounts of troops into this region. The probationary heroes stationed there are essentially just leading armies. With the pitiful handful of troops you have in your hands right now, going over there is purely throwing your life away."

"What are we supposed to do then? If I don't go, those two deities will eventually come looking for trouble with me anyway. Furthermore, they both know that I am the one who ruined their plans. Can you guarantee that once they recover, they won't target the forces of the Dark Alliance?"

Hearing Li Mingxing's words, Raymond hesitated as well. After a long moment of silence, he finally revealed the previous decision made by the Dark Alliance. As it turned out, the Dark Alliance had no intention of forbidding Li Mingxing from going; instead, they strongly demanded that he bring troops and enter the world, intending to use him as bait to draw out the two deities and, under that pretext, forcibly unify the Inner World.

Seated before the bar counter and listening to this plan, Li Mingxing's expression remained unchanged. He simply listened in silence until Raymond finished laying out all the details. Only then did Li Mingxing ask a single question: "Who will be in command of this operation?"

This question struck at the absolute crux of the matter. Because internal news within the Dark Alliance spread very rapidly, the mentors of the three probationary heroes who had already established themselves in War Zone 03 were all vying to become the masterminds behind this mission. They knew that successfully completing this task was equivalent to unifying an entire Inner World. Moreover, they could seize this opportunity to quietly eliminate Li Mingxing, who possessed the fastest urban construction speed. Naturally, they would fight fiercely for such a lucrative opportunity.

However, would Li Mingxing ever place his life in the hands of others? Absolutely not. Given his temperament, he might not even fully trust his own subordinates, let alone place his safety in the hands of three potential rivals who would certainly not prioritize his survival.

Therefore, the moment Raymond finished explaining everything, Li Mingxing raised this crucial question. Furthermore, he subtly implied that if the Dark Alliance could not guarantee his safety, he would secure it entirely in his own way.

Faced with Li Mingxing's response, Raymond felt rather helpless. Yet, he did not want to see Li Mingxing forced out of the picture over this issue. Finally, Raymond gently patted Li Mingxing on the shoulder and said, "Tell me, if you truly encounter an attack from members of your own alliance, what will you do?"

"Whoever dares to make a move against me, I will ensure they die a thoroughly irreversible death," Li Mingxing replied with utmost gravity.

Hearing this, Raymond could only let out a sigh before answering with equal seriousness, "I understand. I will notify the higher-ups in the alliance to pay closer attention. After all, as your mentor, I cannot allow you to be taken advantage of."

With that unspoken understanding, the two of them tacitly dropped the subject and began preparing the provisions Li Mingxing would need for his journey into the Inner World.

Due to the supplementary rewards Li Mingxing had earned—aside from the standard prizes—during his venture into the mythological-tier Inner World, combined with the fact that most of the rewards from the forest-tier Inner World had yet to be collected, his total haul for this endeavor was exceptionally generous.

These included troop reinforcements, several rare artifacts, and a massive stockpile of resources—all of which were the most practical assets for development in a strategic-tier plane.

However, in order to cope with this arduous mission, Li Mingxing had no choice but to cash out all of these rewards; otherwise, he would never survive the trials ahead.

After consulting with Raymond and Midaling, Li Mingxing assembled a fairly formidable military force for his upcoming campaign.

Since half of the target Inner World's surface area consisted of the ocean, a naval force was paramount for Li Mingxing. He first inquired about the types of naval forces the Dark Alliance possessed in that Inner World and subsequently selected his first batch of naval troops: Sea Monsters.

These were creatures resembling giant-headed fish capable of surviving only in the ocean. However, they possessed the lower-tier 4 strength right upon birth. They typically preferred to linger near mermaid schools, secreting a special fluid from their bodies that, when consumed by mermaids, enhanced the latter's allure.

In turn, these monsters would ambush and devour the creatures lured in by the mermaids. Thus, alongside formidable combat capabilities, they possessed a terrifying devouring ability; each Sea Monster could forcibly swallow one enemy of lower-tier 5 strength or below every single day.

It was precisely because of this terrifying devouring capacity that Li Mingxing traded half of his troop requisition in one go to acquire a squad of ten Sea Monsters.

For the remaining half of his troops, Li Mingxing chose not to pair the Sea Monsters with mermaid units, opting instead for an aerial detachment composed of twenty-two upper-tier 3 griffins.

Of course, these were not the griffins utilized by the human forces of the Light Alliance. Those standard griffins would eventually advance into Royal Griffins, possessing abilities like continuous counterattacks and high-altitude dive-bombing.

The griffins Li Mingxing obtained were corrupted by the Dark Alliance. Upon advancing to lower-tier 4, they would transform into Bloody Griffins, possessing abilities centered around berserk attacks and the consumption of flesh and blood.

Naturally, these griffins could currently serve only as a standard aerial unit. What Li Mingxing valued was not their future advancement path, but the natural habits of griffins themselves, which typically inhabited waterfronts and favored a diet of fish. With them at his disposal, Li Mingxing could maintain formidable combat effectiveness whether operating on the open sea or on dry land.

In addition to these two units, Li Mingxing also requisitioned a batch of water elementals from his own city projection. Naturally, because the number of water elementals in his Dark Lamp City was rather limited, Li Mingxing received only seven lower-tier 3 water elementals. To compensate, he retrieved an Elemental Belt from Midaling, intending to forcibly summon a detachment of water elementals to aid in combat whenever necessary.

Alongside these military units, Li Mingxing also brought along a considerable number of zombies, dwarves, harpies, and centaurs from his existing inventory.

To transport this entire force, Li Mingxing traded with Raymond for a vessel artifact capable of holding three hundred individuals. According to Raymond, this vessel required no wind or current for propulsion and could freely transform from a miniature artifact held in the palm of one's hand back into a full-sized ship, and vice versa with effortless ease. It was the absolute finest artifact for warfare in island-dominated regions.

Among the three probationary heroes of the Dark Alliance, only one possessed a similar artifact—an item he had spent a vast amount of time acquiring within that very Inner World. The remaining two had to construct their own ships locally, which required not only massive amounts of timber and currency, but also a dedicated crew of sailors.

Thus, armed with this artifact, Li Mingxing immediately secured a position where he could advance to attack or retreat to defend. Even if the forces of the Dark Alliance attempted to scheme against him, Li Mingxing possessed ample certainty of escape. Once he fled to a safe haven, those schemers would have to brace themselves for Li Mingxing's unreserved retaliatory counterstrike.

As for his three artifact selections, Li Mingxing pondered for a long time before finally choosing the Horn of the Sea God, which could ward off maritime tempests and whirlpools, followed by the Harvest Ocean, capable of automatically generating fresh water and a portion of provisions at sea.

For his third artifact choice, Li Mingxing opted to utilize it to repair the Dragon Communion Device obtained from the divine little female dragon. This would serve as Li Mingxing's ultimate trump card within the new Inner World.