Chapter 156: Plea for Assistance from the Xiangxi Safe Zone (Part 1)

"I never told you I wasn't Luffy. You're the one who assumed I wasn't. What nonsense are you talking about?" Luffy rolled his eyes at Ximen Yu and continued eating.

"Alright, alright, it was my own mistake. I thought you were someone else named Luffy, thought your surname was Lu, and never imagined you were the hero who saved the Safe Zone. I was truly blind. But how did you get so strong? Outside the Safe Zone earlier, you weren't nearly this powerful. You're a monster—no, a freak among monsters."

Ximen Yu walked back to the dining table full of curiosity, completely forgetting about his injuries. He just wanted to know how Luffy had become so formidable and overnight transformed into the great hero of the Safe Zone.

"I've always been this strong, okay? It has nothing to do with coming to the Safe Zone," Luffy said, looking speechlessly at Ximen Yu. "Where are you planning to go next?"

"I plan to follow you and learn your secret to strength," Ximen Yu said earnestly. "Let's have a toast, hero!"

"Sure, let's have a toast, though I don't really have any secret to strength."

Luffy raised his hand. "Boss, bring two bottles of beer."

"Coming right up!" The owner brought two bottles of beer, placed them on the table, popped the caps off, and turned to leave. He looked at Luffy with immense respect; after all, this teenager was terrifying. He had witnessed those people being sent flying like ragdolls. The boy was just too powerful, and rumor had it he was the very hero who saved the Safe Zone. The owner walked over holding a glass of wine. "Thank you, hero, for saving us. We originally thought it was the Li family who saved us, but later we found out it was a young man. Without seeing your magnificent demeanor with my own eyes, I truly wouldn't have believed someone could be this powerful."

"You're too kind. Cheers."

Luffy raised his glass of beer high. Ximen Yu happily joined in, raising his glass as well. The three of them clinked glasses,

took a large gulp,

and then the owner turned and left. Ximen Yu continued drinking beer with Luffy, while Qin Bailing chimed into the conversation from time to time.

After finishing the meal,

Luffy took Chen Yuxuan back to the hotel where Zeng Hongsen and the others were staying, handing her over to Zeng Shuana. "Find a kind-hearted person to adopt her tomorrow. Give these crystal cores to that person."

Luffy handed ten thousand crystal cores to Zeng Shuana.

"Got it, Boss." Zeng Shuana nodded, taking the little girl and the crystal cores.

"Boss! The Li family's assets have mostly been cleared out, but there's one place run jointly by the Li family and the Chen family guarded by a Tier 7 expert. We didn't make a move on that one yet," Zeng Hongsen smiled and reported.

"It's fine. I'll go take a look tomorrow. Everyone, go get some rest."

Luffy said this, turned around, and left with Qin Bailing.

Arriving at his doorstep, Luffy bid farewell to Qin Bailing and they each went into their respective homes.

It was already past ten in the evening. His parents were asleep, but the living room light was still on, left on specifically for Luffy.

Luffy returned home, took a shower, dried his hair, and went to bed.

The night was hazy, and life felt like a dream.

Just as Luffy lay down on the bed and prepared to sleep, he received a phone call from Gong Juechen. "Hey, hello! Do you still remember me?"

"Oh, I do. What's up?"

Luffy was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Gong Juechen to call at this hour.

"Well, it's like this. Our Xiangxi Safe Zone was attacked by zombies and fierce beasts. We lost a fifth of our personnel and suffered heavy losses. Can you come and help us out? I heard your side already beat back the zombie and fierce beast horde, and they don't dare attack anymore?"

Hearing Gong Juechen's words, Luffy was genuinely surprised. The Xiangxi Safe Zone was actually in danger; that caught him off guard.

"So, is Su Ningxue alright?"

Luffy asked with a shrug.

"She's fine for now, of course, but she won't be during the next zombie attack because our Xiangxi Safe Zone might get completely wiped out next time. After all, we don't have someone as powerful as you," Gong Juechen said anxiously. "We considered moving to the Jiuzhou Safe Zone, but that might be even more dangerous, so we have no choice but to hold out to the death."

"Helping isn't out of the question, but what's in it for me?" Luffy wasn't one to do things without benefits. Going empty-handed and returning empty-handed would be rather dull.

"Don't you worry about that. There is definitely a reward for you. We can give you crystal cores—however many you want."

Gong Juechen told Luffy in earnest.

"Really? I won't ask for a hundred million; I'll just take twenty million crystal cores." Luffy didn't want to make things too difficult for them and asked for a modest amount.

"That's easy. We can afford that number. Come on over. The zombies will launch their attack tomorrow night," Gong Juechen told Luffy happily.

"Alright, that's settled."

With that, Luffy hung up the phone, then pulled out the pill capable of raising one's tier by a whole level—the Universe Pill.

Effective up to Tier 10,

Luffy naturally took it out immediately and popped it into his mouth.

A wave of heat surged from his stomach through his meridians to every corner of his body. It felt intensely comfortable, completely painless. The bottleneck of Tier 7 was shattered as easily as paper, pushing him into Tier 8, continuing forward to the mid-stage of Tier 8, and finally surging all the way to the peak of Tier 8.

He had reached the legendary Tier 8 level.

Fifty thousand times human strength.

Luffy felt ecstatic seeing this number. This was the rhythm of invincibility! Who could possibly stand against him now? Could someone at Tier 8 beat a Tier 9? Tier 10? Tier 11? Or even realms beyond?

Anyway, for now, Luffy only knew of up to Tier 10; what lay beyond Tier 10 remained a mystery.

Luffy felt his body brimming with strength—something he had never anticipated. He thought reaching the early stage of Tier 8 would already be fantastic, but he had leaped through several minor realms all at once to reach the legendary Tier 8 level, pushing the feeling of bliss straight to paradise.

Luffy was smiling in his sleep.

He rolled over in bed toward the side, pressing against something soft and catching a whiff of fragrance. Pulling back the blanket, he saw it was none other than the Little Dragon Girl. Why was this creature here again? It was truly speechless.

"Master, you found a woman and now you don't want me anymore? You're breaking Little Dragon Girl's heart. Look at my chest, my figure, my hips—which of these is worse than Qin Bailing's? I am the most beautiful, the prettiest, and the absolute, most gentle one."

The Little Dragon Girl spoke to Luffy with a bewitching charm, then lunged forward, hugging him and planting a kiss on his lips.

Her tongue swirled around,

leaving Luffy momentarily dazed. How could this girl pull this stunt again? She was way too fierce—simply a ferocious creature!

Luffy's heart was already occupied by Qin Bailing; how could he do such a thing with the Little Dragon Girl? It would give him a sense of guilt and make him feel like he was betraying Qin Bailing. Of course, he could talk to Qin Bailing about the concept of a concubine later; if she accepted, then he could sleep with the Little Dragon Girl. It was as simple as that.

Therefore, he still tried to push the Little Dragon Girl away. After being pushed off, the girl even pounced her lips, looking quite smug because she noticed the tent pitched in Luffy's pants.

"Tsk, whatever. Goodbye, I'm going to sleep." Luffy rolled his eyes at the Little Dragon Girl, who simply hugged Luffy to sleep right beside him.