Wang Yi felt a sense of urgency.

The entrance to the Chaos Secret Realm had already been open for over an hour. This meant that the faster Players might have already been exploring inside for 365 hours. That was half a month! Who knew how many benefits they had already reaped.

But he was still waiting for the troops from Mengbai Island to assemble, and he had no idea when the small train would return.

Just then, Hai Zhongxian hurried over and reported to Wang Yi in a low voice, "This old servant has scouted the area. Three miles to the north, on the west side of North Mountain, there is a purple light portal. It is one hundred feet high, the largest this old servant has ever seen."

"One hundred feet high! So its diameter is one hundred feet, then? A shame the Floating Mountain can’t fly in... But the small train should be able to drive right in! Damn it, I’m taking the train in!"

Wang Yi’s heart raced with excitement. He added, "Assemble the Eastern Depot’s forces! Prepare to march!"

"Yes!"

Hai Zhongxian moved quickly. Soon, the four Fire Fire Evil Gods and the four pairs of Heaven and Earth Defects also arrived at Eggshell Square.

Wang Yi gave each of them a Jade Jiaolong as well.

"A head start means you stay ahead. I’ve already fallen too far behind!"

Wang Yi muttered aloud, then got busy himself. First, he went to the Chaos Warehouse to organize his Storage Items, then he retrieved two Bubble Guns from the Floating Mountain.

When he returned, he saw the Heaven and Earth Defects trying to ride side-by-side so they could carry that huge zither that looked like a coffin lid, but they couldn’t get on the mounts.

"You morons! You don’t deserve to use the Jade Jiaolongs! Just be infantry!"

Wang Yi roared, immediately striding forward to reclaim their Jade Jiaolongs, which drew a wave of laughter from the onlookers.

The wrinkles at the corners of Hai Zhongxian’s eyes twitched. His expression turned grim as he glanced at the four pairs of Heaven and Earth Defects and snorted, ’Useless trash.’ His right hand, clasped behind his back, tightened into a fist, as if he might strike at any moment to clean up his own house.

An hour later, the small train rushed over. Man Datou was driving. He and Nangong Jin disembarked and cupped their fists to Wang Yi. "My Lord, we have brought back all the troops from Mengbai Island!"

"Good!"

’They’re finally here,’ Wang Yi thought. He immediately gave the order, "All non-essential personnel, disembark immediately! All combat personnel, gather your supplies and board the train now!"

"Yes!"

Everyone immediately got busy, quickly loading the supplies that had been prepared at the edge of the square, along with the Jade Jiaolongs and other items, onto the small train.

Soon, the train’s whistle blew. With a CHUGGA-CHUGGA, the small train started moving. Under Hai Zhongxian’s guidance, it headed straight north, racing toward the one-hundred-foot-diameter entrance to the Chaos Secret Realm.

Wang Yi stood at the front of the train, his brow slightly furrowed.

’Compared to the Players who entered the Chaos Secret Realm right away, I’m about two hours late. Two hours... that’s a whole month inside the Secret Realm!’

A month of exploration time lost. Wang Yi felt he had suffered a huge loss. He took a moment to review the forces he had brought with him.

All 400 Soldiers recruited from the Octagonal Cage were present.

In addition, there were Hai Zhongxian, Fish-Transformed Dragon, Qin Mo, Man Datou, Hai Pei, Zhang Lengzi, and Yang Qingniu. Including himself, that made a total of 408 people.

As for supplies, they had over a dozen vats of Spiritual Spring Water, 512 Jade Jiaolongs, Bone Arrows, General Armor sets, Iron-Clad Bows, the leftover Bamboo Section Arrows from before, some cloth and clothing, grain and oil, Potatoes, a large amount of Vegetable Soup, two tons of Crispy Fried Small Fish, and spicy crab sticks...

The Crossbow Machine Carriage had also been driven onto the train.

Inside Wang Yi’s Storage Waistband were 10 Spiritual Artifact rice cookers, two Bubble Guns, over seven thousand Fasting Pills, another two tons of Crispy Fried Small Fish, and more.

It was quite a haul of items.

After all, this was an expedition, and one must be well-prepared when on the road. Wang Yi couldn’t afford to short-change himself.

Actually, Wang Yi had really wanted to bring Governor Wadu. He could fly, had powerful reconnaissance abilities, and possessed an ultra-long-range attack called Radium Light Radio.

Unfortunately, the guy had a bizarre design: his loyalty dropped if his energy wasn’t full, and he’d just stop trying if his energy fell below 50%.

There would be no way to replenish his energy in the Chaos Secret Realm. After weighing all the factors, Wang Yi decided to leave him behind in the territory.

’Back in my territory, the main muscle is Gegeda, Jelena, and a fully-charged Wadu. The militia, like Hu Fenqiu, are also there. Then there’s Yang Wanli, that Necromancer who I’m not sure I can rely on, plus the Rock Giant Scorpion and the Hardworking Turtle. Nangong Jin can also keep recruiting Octagonal Cage Soldiers. Add to that the 21 Shanhai Pass small towers... The defenses are decent. It should be impossible for anyone to raid my base, right?’

Wang Yi sighed, wondering about the situation with the other Players. He was certain, however, that many had already entered the Chaos Secret Realm.

「Huashan County, East Victory King’s Supervisor Camp」

The place was now completely empty.

King Dongsheng claimed to command 300,000 elite soldiers. That number was inflated, and he didn’t actually have that many, but he did have at least 100,000.

Now, not a single one of those 100,000 troops remained. They had all vanished, having already entered the Chaos Secret Realm.

Turning back the clock: the moment the entrance to the Chaos Secret Realm appeared, Xue Shentian and Li Mingli had sprung into action. After identifying a twenty-meter-diameter void entrance, they sent their provisions and baggage train in first, followed by the main army. A massive train of horse-drawn carriages rumbled forward, and within an hour, all of them had entered the Chaos Secret Realm.

Even Lu Aqi and his Red Tiger Camp had been conscripted into the 100,000-strong army, as if they’d been forcibly drafted, and were now also inside the Chaos Secret Realm.

Now, besides some 2,000 guards, King Dongsheng’s Prince Mansion had no other forces.

And so, while countless Players had yet to even react, inside the Chaos Secret Realm, upon a vast, desolate scarlet wilderness, an army of 100,000 had already made camp, and large contingents of troops had been out exploring for a long time.

「Eggshell Village, North Mountain」

Wang Yi saw the Secret Realm entrance Hai Zhongxian had mentioned. It was huge, like a glowing bowl standing on its side, or a vortex of light and mist. It looked incredibly mysterious!

"Faster! Charge straight in!"

Wang Yi shouted. The small train immediately picked up speed, and after a slight jolt, it plunged directly into the Secret Realm entrance.

Instantly, Wang Yi’s vision was filled with a blinding white light. A few seconds later, the light faded. As Wang Yi looked ahead again, it felt as if the small train had driven into the cosmos. Before them were endless, brilliant stars against a vast, curtain-like blackness.

"Ding! You are en route to the Chaos Secret Realm..."

"Ding! This world seems to be sick. Incurably, terminally so. It is wailing. It is struggling with all Its might. But the pain is like cancer cells that can never be eradicated, multiplying and driving It to greater madness. So when the pain finally ends, will it be the ultimate release of annihilation into nothingness, or the beginning of another cycle of rebirth?

"Ding! You are about to enter this world. It is as if you can already hear the voices of its last surviving inhabitants—prayers, pleas, roars, and shouts, but most of all, the groans of agony. Your arrival may bring a flicker of change to this world, or it may bring no change at all. Perhaps you, too, will become one of the suffering, swept up and assimilated by this world’s diseased ecosystem, until you can no longer feel any pain at all."

"Ding! We hope you are prepared. Now opening for you: the Painful Origin Realm!"

The system prompts ended. A blinding white light once again filled Wang Yi’s vision. His mind felt hazy. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he abruptly came to his senses. Looking around, he saw that the small train had come to a stop on a scarlet grassland.

And all around them, outside the train, scarlet, desiccated corpses were clawing their way out of the ground. They were rail-thin with disheveled hair and long necks that snaked forward. On their faces, their eyeballs bulged, lidless. They let out low moans, their arms outstretched, their fingernails long and sharp.

"What are these monsters? Is it going to be this intense right from the start?"