Chapter 44: Breaking Free, A Message from the World

On the third day, thanks to Jeremy attracting many monsters to the commercial district, Howard's subsequent cleaning operation went very smoothly.

He has now taken his army, starting from the commercial district, and begun to push towards other directions in Moonlight City.

Benjamin and Howard brought many people to express their special thanks.

But Jeremy still hadn't woken up.

The light in Emma's eyes dimmed significantly.

Despite a strong unwillingness to accept it, she understood that reality might truly be irreversible.

Claire now often found herself lost in thought, unsure of what to think.

On the fourth day, the special forces team from the capital arrived.

Benjamin personally went to receive them.

When they learned that Jeremy had become a living dead, the flamboyant woman with fiery red lips immediately slammed the table and rose up.

She laughed angrily and said, "Benjamin, because of your message, we wasted a lot of precious time traveling thousands of miles from the capital to Moonlight City. Now you tell me that the boy has become a living dead? Are you making fun of us?!"

Except for the leading woman with silver hair, who was expressionless, the faces of the other three were also not very pleasant.

Anyone who had wasted a great deal of valuable time only to come for nothing would not be in a good mood.

The leading woman with silver hair said calmly, "I will personally report this matter to the chief. I hope you can behave yourself."

After speaking, she gestured, and the group stood up, ready to turn around and leave, unwilling to waste any more time here.

Benjamin helplessly said, "Please rest a bit before you go. When General Howard was clearing monsters in the city, he discovered a low-level dungeon about to open in an abandoned factory to the south of the city. They plan to explore it tomorrow. This dungeon should be of some help to you. Consider it as my apology to you."

Hearing this, the woman with silver hair and the other four stopped in their tracks, surprised, and turned back to look at Benjamin.

After the daily activities began, many magical dungeons appeared all over the world.

These dungeons varied, including forests, oceans, deserts, and more.

Without exception, each dungeon contained incredibly rich resources, and each had a BOSS.

Defeating these Bosses for the first time would yield a lot of experience and rewards.

These things were fatally attractive to players.

The woman with silver hair glanced at her teammates' expressions and nodded, "Fine, we accepted it."

...

Meanwhile, in the spirit world.

"Crack!" "Crack!"

Suddenly, cracks appeared on the white cocoon.

Then, the cocoon burst open, transforming into countless points of light.

Several miniature purple vortexes appeared on Jeremy's body, absorbing all the light points.

At this moment, his body emitted a faint white light, and even his pupils had strands of white luminance flowing in them, making him look extraordinarily remarkable.

Jeremy felt a surge within him and realized that, in just a short moment, his mental strength had increased manifold!

Moreover, there seemed to be some bizarre change within him.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly what the change was, but it felt as if his soul had undergone some kind of elevation.

"What in the world is this?" Jeremy wondered, looking at the purple vortex in his hand, puzzled.

After merging with the light points from the Devouring Tyrant, Jeremy felt he had gained some sort of ability.

But in the darkness, no voice came through for a long time, only the incessant, grating sound of chewing echoed.

It wasn't until the last moment before returning to his body that Jeremy faintly heard a response.

"You can call me 'the World'. All the answers you seek are in the game. Defilers are not bound by rules and are the only variables. I hope you can end the fool's game and return the myriad worlds back to their rightful path..." The voice was somewhat ethereal, as if it traveled across the cosmic shore and endless star rivers into Jeremy's mind.

The next moment, Jeremy felt the world spin, and his consciousness plunged into darkness.

...

When Jeremy woke up again, the darkness before his eyes had vanished.

In its place was a white ceiling and the glaring light of incandescent bulbs.

"Why am I in a hospital room?" Jeremy surveyed his surroundings, finding himself lying on a hospital bed, his body hooked up with IV tubes and a dense network of monitoring wires.

The room was equipped with various complex monitoring instruments displaying his vital data.

If it weren't for everything being normal in his body, Jeremy might have thought he was being dissected for research.

Outside the window, it was pitch black, the silence of deep night evident.

Emma sat beside the bed, already asleep, her beautiful face more haggard than usual.

"It seems a lot has happened while I was in a frenzy." Jeremy muttered to himself, trying to move his body. He found no serious harm, just a bit of muscle soreness from lying down too long.

He sat up, not wanting to disturb Emma's rest, and decided to go outside to see what was happening.

Despite Jeremy's careful movements, the noise still woke Emma.

"Do you need help..." She rubbed her eyes, looking tired, thinking it was the doctor coming to change the medication.

But when she saw Jeremy, her words stopped short.

Emma was stunned, rubbed her eyes again, thinking she was dreaming.

"Sorry for worrying you." Jeremy said, feeling guilty as he looked at Emma's worn-out appearance.

Without thinking, he knew that Emma must have been living in fear and exhaustion since he fell into a coma. Otherwise, she wouldn't be sleeping so restlessly.

Hearing Jeremy's voice and realizing it wasn't an illusion, Emma's tears instantly started to flow.

She rushed to hug Jeremy, crying tears of joy, "I knew you would be fine... The doctor said there was nothing wrong with your body, but that there was a problem with your mind, even said you had become a vegetative person..."

Her words became intermittent, eventually reduced to crying and sobbing.

After the doctors diagnosed Jeremy as vegetative, Emma felt as if the sky had fallen.

Now seeing Jeremy waking up again was like a dream come true for her.

Because such dreams, she had been having every day for the past few days, but each time they were just illusions.

Emma hugged Jeremy, crying like a child, her tears falling freely and wetting Jeremy's chest, cold as ice.

"Rest assured, I'm alright now." Jeremy pulled Emma into his embrace, gently patting her back, soothing her emotions.

This incident was a lesson for Jeremy. He knew he could not afford to recklessly put himself in danger anymore.

He was no longer the lone mercenary of his past life but now had friends, family, and loved ones. Although he was lucky to survive this time, he might not be so fortunate next time.

If he had truly died this time...

Not to mention anything else, Emma probably would have found it very hard to go on.

Outside the hospital room.

Claire, holding a cup of hot water, slowly withdrew her hand from the doorknob.

With a complex expression, she glanced at the hospital room but chose not to disturb them at this moment.