A day later.

"Worthless, worthless, all of you are worthless!"

Chen Luo pointed at a group of sea creatures and cursed.

"So many of you, and you can't even find one sea snake. Tell me, what good are you?"

The group of sea creatures groveled, trembling in fear. The Sea King was angry.

The Sea Dragon didn't dare to raise his head. "Sea King, please give us some more time. We will definitely find it."

They had locked down the area, but the giant sea snake had mysteriously disappeared. Even with the mobilization of the low-level sea creatures, they couldn't find the snake.

It was as if it had vanished into thin air.

Chen Luo took a deep breath. "Keep searching. I want to see the snake alive or dead. Don't stop until you find it."

The sea creatures breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes."

Chen Luo cursed inwardly. *It really knows how to hide. I wonder where it's holed up.*

*I refuse to believe I can't find you.*

Chen Luo couldn't waste all his time on the sea snake. He instructed the sea creatures to search with all their might.

Not only had they not found the sea snake, but they still hadn't found the lower body armor.

Who knew where it was buried.

Chen Luo didn't go back directly. He decided to check on the progress of each continent.

First, he went to Meizhou Continent.

Each continent had several people in charge, including a large number of free agents brought from Dragon Country, as well as many of Chen Luo's members.

Conflicts with the natives were, of course, inevitable.

The big kangaroo, Little Cami, had been sent out by Chen Luo as a fighter.

After Shu Yun and Su Dazhu advanced to the King level, Chen Luo also sent them out to hold down the fort.

With a King-level expert present, the natives couldn't stir up much trouble.

*The natives shouldn't have any King-level experts, right?*

The sooner the better.

Chen Luo arrived at Kuang Lei's location. To Chen Luo's surprise, Kuang Lei had actually reached Level 10.

*This little rascal has reached Level 10. If he has a stroke of luck, he might reach the King level, the same level as me.*

Fortunately, I'm almost at the Emperor level.

Chen Luo teased, "Not bad, you've reached Level 10."

Kuang Lei grinned. "Isn't that because I'm following you, Boss? If my strength is too low, it would be a disgrace to you."

"Everything I have today is thanks to you, Boss."

Blah, blah, blah, Kuang Lei began to lick his boots like crazy.

Chen Luo looked at Kuang Lei strangely. *How did you, Kuang Lei, become a bootlicker too?*

*That's not your personality.*

*I still prefer your arrogant demeanor back when you first entered the base and demanded to be a deputy leader.*

*Could it be that the Fa Wang's beatings have smoothed out your rough edges?*

Kuang Lei had also heard that Shu Yun and Su Dazhu had advanced to the King level, and he was very envious.

Having reached Level 10, Kuang Lei felt like he had encountered a bottleneck. It was difficult to improve his strength any further.

Level 9 and Level 10 crystals had some effect, but it was difficult to use them to advance to the King level unless he had a large quantity.

Level 10 crystals weren't abundant either. Kuang Lei had quite a few Level 9 and Level 10 crystals in his possession, but these were collected by everyone, and he didn't dare to use them.

It seemed that the relatives and close associates around Chen Luo had all advanced to the King level.

Mi Li, Mi Ling, Fa Wang, Su Dazhu, Shu Yun, and others.

Relying on his own efforts, it was too difficult for Kuang Lei to advance to the King level, so he could only lick up to Boss.

If he made Boss happy, maybe the next King level would be him.

For the sake of strength, there was nothing to be ashamed of.

Kuang Lei said with a sincere face, "Boss, you've become even more handsome. How are you going to let us live? If I were a woman, I would definitely marry you."

Chen Luo scolded with a smile, "Get lost. Looking at your bald head, aren't you giving me goosebumps by saying that?"

Kuang Lei was depressed. *I'm not a professional at flattery.*

Kuang Lei took out a pile of crystals, mostly Level 9 and Level 10, totaling more than forty.

These were all collected by the free agents and members, mostly by the free agents.

Level 7 crystals were considered abundant, after all, there were many Level 7 zombies. The members collected these for their own use.

The mutations of Level 7 zombies were all Level 9 at the minimum, and some of the faster-evolving zombies had reached Level 8.

Free agents would sacrifice a little every day, and it would be good if half of them survived after half a year.

This was something Chen Luo hadn't considered. He had forgotten that free agents would constantly die in highly dangerous situations.

Chen Luo pondered for a moment. "From now on, let's provide two pounds of food per day, and half a pound of meat per person per week."

Meng Yin's planting had made great breakthroughs. Even without stockpiled meat, they could eat delicious meat with black leaves.

The free agents were a great help, and Chen Luo would also give back in return.

Chen Luo patted Kuang Lei on the shoulder. "I know what you're thinking. I'll help you advance to the King level in three months at most."

Kuang Lei's eyes lit up, and he touched his bald head with a silly smile.

Although Kuang Lei was wild, he was a bit simple-minded and easily impulsive. He would go to Fa Wang's place to make trouble if someone provoked him.

People like that had relatively simple minds.

In addition, Kuang Lei had good talent, the "number one" among lightning-type ability users.

He still had to help such a promising seed advance.

But not now, he had to make sure he advanced to the Emperor level first.

After leaving behind a pile of supplies, Chen Luo went to other continents to take a look.

He obtained 135 crystals that had been turned in.

95 Level 9 crystals and 40 Level 10 crystals.

Chen Luo had collected crystals twice before, adding up to more than four hundred.

There would be more and more in the future.

These crystals would be distributed according to the performance and talent of the members.

As long as they joined Dawn City and didn't have malicious intentions, Chen Luo would value them.

In reality, many people were just trying to make a living. When the real war came, it was unknown how many people would actually dare to risk their lives.

Chen Luo needed to further screen them out.

The sea creatures also needed to be screened. Those who didn't dare to risk their lives, those who didn't listen in critical moments, would be killed.

Back at the base, Chen Luo began his boring life of absorbing crystals and accelerating time.

When he finished eating the fruit, he began to absorb the crystals.

There wasn't even one space-type King-level crystal.

When there were only three King-level crystals left in his hand, Chen Luo was finally about to usher in the moment of advancing to the Emperor level.

Chen Luo was very nervous. Advancing to the King level was very painful, but advancing to the Emperor level would be worse than death.

He had experienced it in his previous life, and now that this moment was about to come, Chen Luo was very nervous.

No wonder Mi Fan was afraid. It really hurt.

But what was coming was coming, and he couldn't not advance just because he was afraid of the pain.

Sensing that he was only one step away, Chen Luo gritted his teeth and began to absorb the crystals.

Afraid of making others worry, Chen Luo was alone in the cave.

"Ah, hiss."

Chen Luo hugged his head and rolled around on the ground.

His head felt like it was about to explode, and a series of low, muffled groans came from Chen Luo's throat.

It was a bit like the way Steel Claw had died before.

It seemed that the pain Steel Claw had endured at that time was even greater than Chen Luo's.

Chen Luo's face was full of pain, and he gasped for breath.

A little over a minute passed, but it felt like a year to Chen Luo.

Slowly, Chen Luo sat up straight, covered in sweat, breathing heavily.

Chen Luo wiped the sweat from his face and thought of how Ning Shuang had advanced without any pain.

Was such a painful advancement really the right way to advance?

Even so, the pain of this advancement was a little less than Chen Luo had expected, a little easier than in his previous life.

Was it because he was advancing and not all of what he was absorbing were crystals, but partly because of the fruit?

Chen Luo took a deep breath. Fortunately, he was finally at the Emperor level.