Hidden class [Judge] + Solo killing an S-rank talent holder + Talent Plunder.
Chen Jun and Zhang Long found it hard to imagine that Nether, whose strength was so terrifying, was also just an employee working for the "Boss," just like them.
Although they had secretly worked for the "Boss" for many years, their contact had always been limited to encrypted phone calls.
He realized that this Boss of theirs not only wielded immense power in the real world, but had also reached the pinnacle within the world of Divine Oracle.
Otherwise, there was no way even a hidden class user like Nether would serve him.
At this moment, while Chen Jun's curiosity about the Boss's identity reached its peak, he became even more curious about something else.
"Everyone who works for the Boss has a fatal weakness in his hands. Just like me. If it weren't for Tingting, I'd rather rot in prison than continue letting the Boss control me."
"What kind of leverage does the Boss have over Nether that makes someone this strong willingly work for him?"
In addition, Nether's heaven-defying ability to plunder talents made Chen Jun think of another question.
"So the Boss told us not to deal with Rulebound offline, but to kill him in-game instead, because he wanted you to take his talent?", Zhang Long agreed.
"With Rulebound's strength, his talent rank definitely isn't low. At the very least, it has to be S-rank or above."
Under the blood-colored cloak, Nether's gaze was deep, "Before Divine Oracle launched, the officials distributed one SSS-rank Talent Code in every country. The Talent Code for Dragon Nation appeared at Tianyi Plaza in Ning'an, Jiang Province."
Hearing this, Chen Jun paused briefly before suddenly feeling a jolt.
"Rulebound's real-world location is Ning'an, Jiang Province."
"The person who obtained Dragon Nation's only SSS-rank Talent Code... was him."
"Rulebound's talent is Divine Oracle's highest rank, SSS-rank!"
At that moment, Chen Jun and Zhang Long were completely stunned.
The two of them finally understood why the Boss had repeatedly warned them not to touch Lin Mo in the real world and to deal with him inside the game no matter what.
"No wonder that kid is so strong! Our five guilds joined forces, and he still wiped all of us out by himself."
As soon as Zhang Long finished speaking, a fierce look appeared on Chen Jun's face.
"If we can kill him in-game and steal his SSS-rank talent, that's far more valuable than killing him offline."
"And once he loses his SSS-rank talent, he'll be completely finished too."
At this time, Nether said in a deep voice, "From now on, you will follow my arrangements."
"You've already alerted him. Rulebound will definitely strengthen his defenses for a while. We cannot act recklessly again. Recover your strength and wait for the right opportunity. Then, in Divine Oracle, kill Rulebound in one strike."
"As long as I land the killing blow, I can plunder his SSS-rank talent."
Nether ordered Chen Jun, "Use the S-rank talent I gave you to improve your strength as quickly as possible. This time, do not take any action without my permission."
Chen Jun obeyed immediately, "Yes!"
———
[Meanwhile]
[Inferno City, Resurrection Spring]
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
As dozens of beams of white light descended, the dozens of Mortal Dust Guild players all revived in the spring.
For a moment, everyone looked at one another.
"Just who is this Nether? How can he be that strong?"
"Not only does he have a hidden class, but he somehow possesses so many different talents at once. According to Divine Oracle's rules, shouldn't every player only have one talent? How did he do it?"
"But I just checked. Our guild doesn't seem to have offended someone like him. Why would he kill our vice guild leader's girlfriend for no reason?"
While everyone was discussing the matter, only Embers, after checking his status, suddenly felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
Because he saw that his S-rank talent, [Origin of All Things], had disappeared.
'How is this possible...'
'Why is my talent gone?'
'He stole my talent?'
The entire Mortal Dust Guild had essentially been supported by Embers alone.
Relying on the S-rank talent Origin of All Things, he had competed for dungeon resources and wilderness resources, driving the guild's growth.
Now that the talent was gone, it was as if the only thing supporting him had collapsed.
At that moment, Yusheng, standing nearby, did not seem particularly surprised. Instead, he quickly advised Embers, "Things have already reached this point. Chen Jin, sell off the company's assets and focus entirely on developing in Divine Oracle."
"An S-rank talent can't just disappear for no reason. I think that guy must have used some special method to temporarily steal your talent. There has to be a way to take it back."
"But that guy is extremely powerful. Without enough strength, we'll never be able to fight him and recover your talent."
As Divine Oracle gradually took over the gaming market and became humanity's "Second World", and with Embers' company in reality already declining, he had long considered selling the company's assets and fully investing in the development of his Divine Oracle guild.
But he had never dared to gamble.
Because the company was the source of livelihood for his wife and children.
One wrong step, and he could lose everything.
Yet now, the loss of his talent completely shattered the last line of defense in Embers' heart.
Under Yusheng's whispering persuasion, Embers finally made up his mind and said firmly, "Alright. I'll take the gamble."
"Tomorrow, I'll sell the company."
———
[The Next Day]
[Inferno City]
Whoosh!
A beam of white light descended.
[Ding~ Supreme Lord Rulebound, welcome back to the world of Divine Oracle!]
Lin Mo logged in.
At the moment, there were two urgent matters.
First: Find the Boss behind Tyrant as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, Lin Mo was in the open while the real enemy remained hidden.
As far as Lin Mo was concerned, the real enemy was a ticking time bomb that could pose a huge threat to him at any moment.
Second: Clear the Tenth Hall of the Yama Hall, the Hall of the Wheel-Turning King, and obtain its ultimate reward.
Lin Mo had a feeling that the Tenth Hall would most likely produce an SSS-rank reward.
Otherwise, there was no way each player would only have one chance to challenge it, and there was no way the Tenth Hall's aura would have such a terrifying instant-kill effect.
After careful consideration last night, Lin Mo had already prepared a perfect strategy for the Hall of the Wheel-Turning King.
'The Wheel-Turning King's aura's execution effect can only work once on a single player. Otherwise, if the aura kept executing players continuously while inside the Tenth Hall, the stage would be impossible to clear. The officials would never design such a brainless map.'
'In other words, as long as you can survive one aura attack, you can break the Tenth Hall.'
Which meant: To clear the Tenth Hall, one needed either a death immunity skill or a resurrection skill.
And the Ancestral-grade pet [Divine Descent · Seraph] happened to possess both abilities.
"First, clear the Divine Tomb dungeon and evolve Divine Descent · Seraph. Then come back and challenge the Tenth Hall."
Ling Xiao and the others had just sent a message saying that after today's matches, their ranks had already reached Bronze Rank 2.
Lin Mo calculated it, "After Ning Xi's tenfold amplification, the Sixth Hall Boss dropped over five hundred D-rank Promotion Scrolls. That's already more than enough."
"Next, once Ling Xiao and the others reach Bronze Rank 3 tomorrow, they can use the D-rank Promotion Scrolls to quickly advance to Silver Rank 1."
"Tomorrow, we can enter the Divine Tomb."
So before that, there was only one task.
Obtain the key required to open the Divine Tomb dungeon, the Key of God.
Just like the Elite Hidden Dungeon [Shadow Temple] in the level-three main city, Blazing Ember City, which required three Shadow Hearts to activate, every hidden dungeon in Divine Oracle required a specific key.
And the key needed to activate the Rare Hidden Dungeon [Divine Tomb] was the Key of God.
Based on memories from his previous life, Lin Mo knew that the Blood Crystals inside the Blood Mine were the core material used to refine the Key of God.
The reason Lin Mo had sent Sun Yang to mine Blood Crystals was not only to complete the hidden quest on Miner Foreman Lyle for the Divine Nation Guild, but also to obtain extra Blood Crystals for refining the Key of God.
"Unfortunately, Wang Junjie occupied the Blood Mine last night. All the Blood Crystals Sun Yang mined have already been used to trigger the hidden quest. There aren't any extras left."
However, that wasn't a problem.
In that case, he could just ask Wang Junjie for some directly.
So Lin Mo removed Wang Junjie from the blacklist, though he had no idea when he had blocked him.
Then he sent a temporary message, ["Junjie, sell me some Blood Crystals?"]