Start from the God of Death and break through the world.

Chapter 1070 The Sudden World War
"Lift!"

Lu Li made a gesture, and the End Space began to operate.

Soon, the familiar process began. After a while, Lu Li returned to his room, feeling the increased power within him, which was very comfortable.

He took a shower, mainly to relax, and then started checking his new attributes.

[Pioneer 008, your base stats are as follows (including equipment and title bonuses):]

Constitution: 289 points (+3)

Strength: 289 points (+3)

Agility: 289 points (+3)

Spirit: 290 points (+3)

Charisma: -61 points (-31)

Lucky: 8 o'clock

Well, what made Lu Li 'ecstatic' was that after his final battle with the Grand Priest Omni-King, his charm attribute reached a new high.

This is mostly because he released a large amount of dark and eerie substances into the river of time and space. These substances made him look less friendly. Even though he eventually recovered them all, they were actually absorbed and integrated into his body, which may have had some impact on his elegant and handsome demeanor.

But that's alright. The characteristic of the Evil God Mask is that the lower his charm, the higher the damage increase. On the bright side, a decrease of 31 points in charm is a 310% increase in damage!

After the initial surge of power and the feeling of intoxication subsided, Lu Li couldn't help but feel a little wistful, as he was now experiencing a rollercoaster of fortunes, with periods of wealth followed by periods of poverty.

Having just conquered a ninth-tier world, he thought he possessed a fortune, but after only strengthening his bloodline once, he was completely drained, leaving him with only 5 complete inheritance crystals. In terms of End Coins, he was utterly penniless.

However, Lu Li was unaware that the truly moving thing was yet to come.

After washing up, he changed into clean underwear and walked out of his house feeling refreshed, intending to stroll around the shopping street on the ground floor, mainly because he was craving something delicious.

After a hard-working period, people need to relax and enjoy themselves to truly appreciate the meaning of their efforts.

Lu Li called out to Aizen, but Aizen said he was going to check out the market first and told Lu Li to go eat by himself. So Lu Li didn't wait for Aizen.

When Lu Li arrived at the commercial street, he noticed some differences. He found that the street layout he remembered had changed, many of the large stores had disappeared, and some new stores had taken over the prime locations.

After being confused for a while, Lu Li suddenly realized that twenty years had passed in the space, which was a long time for most explorers.

After all, most explorers don't stay in the space for very long. The time is calculated based on the mission worlds they have experienced. Ordinary low-level explorers usually have to perform 24 missions a year, so the vast majority of explorers don't survive more than a year after entering the space.

The mortality rate of low-level explorers in the End Space is not high now, but even if the average mortality rate of a single mission world is only 20%, in reality, less than five per thousand explorers can survive 24 missions in a year.

Thinking of this, Lu Li nervously opened his friend list. He breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that some of the profile pictures had not yet been marked with an "X".

But then he sighed, because he had added quite a few people as friends in the End Space. For example, some of them were people he had traded with, and he thought there was a possibility of further trade back then. He added them as friends so that he could contact them to ship goods in the future.

For example, Titan, whom he knew in his early years and who sold him the Barbarian King Bow and introduced him to someone, and Yukikaze, who adventured with him in the One Piece world, all have their portraits turned black and marked with an X.

This illustrates the cruelty of time in space. Even after ascending to higher places, elites always learn various survival techniques to greatly increase their chances of survival. However, even if the average survival rate in the world is as high as 99%, statistically speaking, after twenty years, the survival rate of those individuals might only be 1%.
Of course, there are also some people who seem to be unaffected by these theories. For example, the world's strong always get stronger, and some of the powerful people that Lu Li knows are still alive and well.

For example, the first member of the botanical garden he met, Black Lily, had her avatar not marked with an X, but it was currently grayed out, which meant she was probably in the mission world. Moreover, the rank marked below her avatar was eight, indicating that Black Lily had long since become an eighth-rank powerhouse after many years.

However, not everyone survived smoothly. For example, Mandala's portrait was X'd off. Lu Li remembered that she was a very powerful assassin. When he first met her in the arena, he was quite amazed. But time is merciless, and the Heavenly Missions are even more cruel.

The friend's information indicated that Mandala had perished in the mission world seven years ago.

There's a saying that even the best swimmers die in the water. Perhaps even the strongest person can't guarantee they can survive in space forever. On the contrary, the supporters are much better at surviving.

After all, the space doesn't specifically assign dangerous missions that its supporters can't complete. Even if they have to enter the world, they usually mine and collect resources in a relatively safe way. If there are hostile forces, they will send people like Lu Li to act as their bodyguards.

Perhaps Dao Yan is right. If one doesn't have a competitive and determined heart, advancing to the ninth rank isn't necessarily a good thing. It would be better to become a supporter after multiple failures and live in the space under a different identity.

In fact, with Lu Li's current eyesight, he could see that the commercial street at the bottom was truly full of hidden talents. He saw that the owners of several shops had the attributes of the peak of the eighth rank, which showed that they had once been powerful figures in the mission world.

After walking for a while, Lu Li found the seemingly inconspicuous little shop at the back of the alley. When he opened the door, he saw a young cook wearing a white apron bending over to wipe the table.

Warm natural sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the girl's profile. Seemingly unaware of anyone entering, she was focused on wiping the table. Her long hair partially obscured her face, so she gently tucked it behind her ear, revealing her fair and slender neck.

While wiping the table, the girl muttered, "We need to improve the menu again today..."

Shrimp.

Lu Li called out from behind, pulling the girl out of her mental meal plan.

"what!"

The shrimp was startled when it was suddenly awakened. It jumped up like a frightened deer and almost fell onto the table in front of it because it lost its balance.

Lu Li reacted quickly, grabbing Xia Ren's arm and helping her to her feet.

"Boss Lu... Boss Lu?"

When the shrimp saw the newcomer, it was stunned for a moment, thinking it was dreaming, so it reached out and pinched its slightly chubby cheek.

Seeing that Xia Ren was pinching and fiddling with her cheek without saying anything for a while, Lu Li thought that there was something wrong with Xia Ren, so he reached out and pinched Xia Ren's other cheek as well. "What's wrong with you? Your face is fine."

Shrimp's face flushed red instantly, her forehead practically steaming. She broke free from Lu Li's hand and retreated rapidly, her breathing quickening. She placed her hands on her chest anxiously, "Lu... Boss Lu, you're back."

"Don't you want me to come back?"

Lu Li sometimes found the shrimp's behavior amusing, and said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Xia Ren waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, of course not, I just... I haven't seen Boss Lu for so many years, I've actually been... I've been very worried..."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but lower her head, her fingers clattering together, becoming increasingly awkward, and the blush on her face couldn't be wiped away. "I... I saw that Boss Lu's profile picture was always gray, and I was afraid that you wouldn't come back."

"How could that be? As long as there's no cross, it means I'm still alive. If I'm alive, I'll come back."

Lu Li casually found a seat and sat down. "Even if it's just for this, I have to come back."

He chuckled. "Have you updated the menu over the years? I'm starving."

Shrimp was flustered, her face flushed, but after hearing Lu Li's last words, she immediately nodded, "Yes, I've developed a lot of new dishes over the years, I'll go prepare them right away!"

After saying that, Xia Ren ran into the kitchen. He seemed to be in such a hurry that Lu Li even heard him fall and cry out in pain.

Before long, a large table of dishes was laid out in front of Lu Li. His speed in preparing shrimp dishes had become increasingly proficient over the years. Moreover, perhaps because he had made a lot of money running a restaurant over the years, Lu Li also saw some non-food delicacies on the table, all of very high quality, including one dish that was even a chaotic dish.

"This is delicious! When it comes to cooking, shrimp is definitely the best!"

Lu Li ate with great relish, wolfing down his food without even speaking. His eating manners were far from elegant, lacking any semblance of the demeanor of a ninth-tier expert.

Meanwhile, Xia Ren sat opposite Lu Li, watching him eat with a faint smile on his face.

"You've gone to so much trouble."

After Lu Li finished eating, he took out a piece of the inheritance crystal. It was intact.

"No, no, no, how could I accept money from Boss Lu?"

Shrimp waved his hands repeatedly in refusal, saying, "I've made a lot of money over the years thanks to the delicious food that Boss Lu has given me."

"You've made so much money, why are you still renting a shop here?"

Lu Li forcefully placed the inheritance crystal on the table, revoking his ownership. "Take it. You need it for your livelihood and profession, right? I like being able to eat more delicious food."

"No...no...no...no..."

Xia Ren hesitated, as if she wanted to say something, and a blush appeared on her pretty face.

"What do you mean it isn't?"

Lu Li was somewhat puzzled by the shrimp's behavior.

"No...it's nothing. Well, I'll accept it. I'll make even better food for Boss Lu next time."

In a moment of panic, Xia Ren carefully put away the inherited treasure.

She actually wanted to say that she had become very wealthy over the years and could certainly afford to rent a shop in a better location, but she was afraid that if she moved, Lu Li wouldn't be able to find this place when he came back.

"Then it's settled."

Lu Li smiled and said, "Also, could you please prepare some bento boxes for me? They don't need to be fancy; I just want to have some food to eat when I'm bored in the mission world."

After saying that, he got up, stretched, and prepared to go to Chu Chu's place to order some new equipment.

He doesn't have many End Coins left now, but once Aizen sells all their stuff, he'll have a lot more End Coins, enough to order new Chaos-level equipment.

The only thing he wasn't sure about was whether Chu Chu currently had the ability to forge Chaos-level equipment.

"Boss Lu, are you going to find Chu Chu?"

Seeing Lu Li walk to the door, preparing to leave, Xia Ren asked.

"I made a small fortune and I'm planning to upgrade my equipment. What's up?"

Lu Li said.

"No, I just wanted to tell Boss Lu that Chu Chu's shop has moved. You're going in the opposite direction if you follow this road."

Shrimp reminded me.

"That reminds me."

Lu Li slapped his forehead, then made a voice call from his friends list, wanting to ask Chu Chu where the store had been moved to.

The beeping notification sound went on for a long time, but Chu Chu didn't answer the phone, which surprised Lu Li. He was certain that Chu Chu was in the space, since her avatar was lit up, and if the call went through, it meant that she hadn't set up a do-not-disturb mode.

Seeing that Chu Chu didn't answer the phone for a long time, Lu Li was quite helpless. It was Xia Ren who saw Lu Li's predicament and took the initiative to say, "How about I take you there?"

"Is your shop closed today?"

Lu Li asked.

"It's usually by appointment only, and we didn't have many customers today."

Shrimp waved her hand and explained that she used to cook cheap meals for passing customers, but after focusing on improving her culinary skills, her time became limited. So now she only cooks for high-level explorers by appointment, earning more End Coins per meal.

Seeing that Xia Ren wasn't busy, Lu Li asked Xia Ren to take him to find Chu Chu's new store. However, after only a few steps, Lu Li suddenly received a notification from the End Space.

The battle for the eighth-tier world is about to begin. According to the rules of the End, pioneers will be forcibly conscripted to participate in this war.

[Based on their privileges, Pioneers can learn in advance about the target world and the areas in which this battle will take place.]

The target world is: Original World No. 81790.

[Number of participants in this End Space battle: 1]

[Number of participants in this Ancient Space battle: 57]

[Number of participants in this HarmonyOS Space campaign: 49]

[Number of participants in this Fairy Realm battle: 53]

[The war will begin in 24 hours. Pioneers, please prepare yourselves. For detailed information on the native world, please check the menu.]

Upon hearing the conscription order, Lu Li's expression immediately turned strange, because he knew that his Pioneer Mark was level 80, which was the peak of the eighth rank.

Strictly speaking, he is not yet a ninth-tier explorer, at least not within the system. Therefore, he is qualified to participate in the eighth-tier world competition.

But he still wondered, with the End Space assigning missions like this, would he really be able to encounter interesting opponents in the world war?
"What's wrong, Boss Lu?"

Seeing Lu Li stop and look at him strangely, Xia Ren assumed that Lu Li was feeling unwell after returning to his body.

"It's nothing, I just find the tasks the space gave me a bit too difficult."

Lu Li waved his hand.

Meanwhile, explorers from various dimensions who were about to participate in the world war fell into deep thought as they looked at the number of participants from the End Space in the message board.

Meanwhile, within the Hongmeng Space, a refined-looking man couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, I knew Tianhuang was a jinx!"

(End of this chapter)