Qin Feng was undoubtedly blessed with exceptional luck.

In the Lord World he inhabited, the vast majority of players understood the value of cooperation and mutual benefit. Few would engage in vicious, life-or-death struggles over trivial gains. The overall atmosphere leaned more toward mutual aid and symbiosis.

But the situation in other Lord Worlds was completely different.

Over there, it wasn’t uncommon to find ruthless individuals who would kill for a mere 10 Dragon Crystals.

Traitors who would betray a friend of over a decade for a treasure that increased their Attributes by 100 points were a common sight.

People willing to betray their partners to climb the social ladder—even those who would grovel and beg to serve the powerful as a "Star Fury and dog"—were everywhere.

Under such cruel laws of survival, the darker side of human nature was magnified, forming a stark contrast with the peace in Qin Feng’s own Lord World.

Therefore, Qin Feng took Shelter from the Wind and Rain’s warning to heart.

He knew very well that once the third phase of the world officially opened, a high-profile player like himself, bearing the title of "Heaven’s Chosen Ruler," would become a public enemy, facing countless overt and covert attacks.

At that time, all the monsters and demons lurking in other Lord Planes, who had yet to show themselves, would emerge from the woodwork and fix their gazes on him.

More importantly, for a Divine Level treasure like the "Divine Stone Fragment," which was powerful enough to change the entire landscape, even forces that were normally hostile to one another would surely set aside their differences and form a cross-Plane Player Alliance.

Their primary objective would undoubtedly be to eliminate him, their greatest threat, before turning on each other to slowly fight over the Divine Stone Fragment.

"Hoo..." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

’Let’s take it one step at a time.’

’Who knows what kind of monster I’ll have become by then.’

After bidding farewell to Shelter from the Wind and Rain, Qin Feng didn’t linger in the Real World. He turned and returned to the Lord World, dedicating himself completely to his preparations for the second phase.

Meanwhile, acting on the critical clues provided by Qin Feng, the Freljord Alliance made a decisive move. They quickly dispatched their law enforcement teams to search the city for members of the "Magic Squad."

However, the operation didn’t go nearly as well as expected. After capturing only a few low-level, insignificant members of the squad, the law enforcement teams completely lost the trail of the others. Subsequent searches hit a dead end, yielding no further results.

Only then did the members of the Freljord Alliance belatedly realize that this "Magic Squad" was far from what it seemed.

As the interrogation of the captured Magic Squad members deepened, a more shocking truth came to light: they were indeed Evil God Players who fanatically worshipped the Void Evil God.

It seemed that Tingfeng had been telling the truth.

The Evil God Players’ methods of concealment and their potential for growth had already surpassed the wildest imaginations of the other major Player Alliances.

They could now blend perfectly into their daily surroundings, like a drop of water in the ocean, leaving no trace to follow and no leverage to be used against them.

’If that’s really the case... how are we supposed to fight these terrifying, well-hidden enemies?’

’What’s more worrying is if they secretly grow large enough and are no longer content to lie dormant. What if they decide to drop their disguises, declare open war, and turn their blades on the defenseless ordinary people of the Real World!’

’At that point, the ultimate catastrophe that once swept over everything would likely return, resurging with even greater force!’

"Damn it!"

"Isn’t there any way to see through their identities in the Real World?!"

...

After Qin Feng returned to the Lord World, Amilia was the first to bring bad news. The Dragon Realm had closed all its entry points to the outside world and was refusing all visitors. Even its vassal Sub-dragon Race and Lizardman Tribes had rejected the envoys from the Holy Empire. Their stance was firm and left no room for negotiation.

Hearing this, Qin Feng couldn’t help but hesitate. Should he shelve his attempts to win over the Dragon Realm and temporarily exclude it from his plans?

After all, according to information previously revealed by the Lord System, the Ancient Giant Dragons of the Dragon Realm had no attachment to the "Heaven’s Chosen Ruler" title in the first place.

Even if Qin Feng ultimately failed to bring them under his command, it would neither affect his legitimate status as the "Heaven’s Chosen Ruler" nor disrupt the normal functioning of the current Lord World. From the perspective of his core objectives, it didn’t seem to be a major problem.

In the future, these Ancient Giant Dragons wouldn’t go so far as to launch a "rebellion" to try and reclaim the status of Heaven’s Chosen Ruler.

But everything came with a trade-off.

If he truly gave up on trying to gain the Dragon Realm’s support, then in the event of a major crisis like a Plane war, the Ancient Giant Dragons of the Dragon Realm would most likely not choose to fight side by side with the Holy Empire. The Holy Empire would, in turn, lose an incredibly powerful and intimidating ally.

At the same time, Qin Feng would also completely lose the opportunity to acquire the Dragon Realm’s exclusive Extraordinary Soldier Type, which would undoubtedly be another major loss for the Holy Empire’s combat power reserves.

"Diablo."

"What do you think?"

Diablo, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, had undergone a complete transformation in his demeanor. Only the outline of his figure retained the unique mark of the Ratman race.

He was dressed in a noble’s attire, hand-stitched by the top tailors of the Gulad Empire. The ink-black velvet fabric was embroidered with subtle scrolling patterns in silver thread, the collar and cuffs were lined with snow-white fox fur, and a gilded belt inlaid with rubies was fastened at his waist. Every detail exuded sophistication and refinement, making his once-stooped figure appear a bit more upright.