Published: February 12, 2025
Even though Great America had just been tricked by Ye Zhongming, the combat power they currently possessed was still enough to handle challenges of not too high intensity.
The Guardian Beasts of the Ogre Chain were not of high level and had not really leveled up much, but once the battle began, the solid foundation of Great America was evident.
After their victory, Black Spade reselected the Guardian Beasts here, and one could easily guess that he would choose the strongest ones available, and they would level up, possibly even to the highest level!
Once Cloud Summit arrived here, whether for challenges or to pay tolls, the difficulty would dramatically increase, maximizing the effectiveness of the difficulty spike.
Following Great America came Jannadrah.
Currently, everyone was not paying much attention to the latter. This saint from West Asia had the least Bright Stars and had pushed to the front, essentially exiting the competition. In the eyes of the others, he was just waiting for a safe exit.
However, in reality, no force that had come this far wanted to or was willing to withdraw.
Jannadrah, who had traveled all the way from distant West Asia to this point, was even more so.
"Everyone is so enthusiastic, I should join in as well," Jannadrah said with a smile before striking, causing everyone's hearts to sink.
Sometimes, the people you least regard can become pivotal figures at certain moments.
Everyone had experienced this in the six years of the apocalypse, so when Jannadrah spoke, all their gazes focused on him.
The saint from West Asia took out a card.
"Jannadrah uses the Commission Card!"
"The designated area is from the Tenth to the Nineteenth Bright Star."
"For the teams passing through this area, the equivalent resource requirement increases by one-fifth, belonging to the user of the Commission Card."
As soon as this card appeared, many people sighed, feeling that it was incredibly coincidental, perfectly complementing the increased difficulty of the Little King Card from Great America.
Imagine Ye Zhongming within the nebula, constantly walking on other people's Bright Stars, with the costs doubling, and now it would increase by one-fifth again; this was simply lethal.
Great America was walking ahead and would certainly spare no effort to increase the difficulty, purchasing powerful Guardian Beasts. If Cloud Summit did not want to lose personnel, they would have to pay, but that would be astronomical sums of money, enough to drain any force dry!
"You old man, once we get out, we'll take you down!"
Many from Cloud Summit, especially the Youth Army, shouted this, regardless of whether they would be heard or not, showing their determination to take down Jannadrah.
Previously, if they encountered such a situation, they would not want to or dare to shout like this, but now as members of Cloud Summit, many youths felt a strong confidence that perhaps a year later, they could take down this saint from West Asia with just a few people.
Before, they hadn’t thought much of the challenge methods at Mountain King Plateau, and most even found it to be "quite fun."
But now, they felt a deep sense of crisis.
They had no doubt about the boss's financial strength, but they were also acutely aware of how much had been spent along the way. In their view, the boss's money was running low. If they kept coughing up money during this journey through the ten Bright Stars, it would not be enough.
If they didn’t pay, they would have to fight, fight continuously, and that would definitely lead to casualties!
But who would die? Most likely, it would be them from the Youth Army, as well as the sisters from the Red Dress Guard. Whether it was their own deaths or those of their companions, it was something they were unwilling to accept.
Jannadrah's actions fueled the anger and hatred of these youths.
But… it was useless.
The facts were as they were, and they could not change them. They could only watch as Jannadrah struck the Soaring Crystal, reaching the Twenty-Fourth Bright Star.