Unexpectedly, HIM was still alive!
And not only that, he had become even stronger than he was during the last encounter with the Triumph Guild.
This was even without him controlling any monsters.
Tianheng naturally worried that HIM might come knocking because of 007.
On the other side, Yonghui had just received news that HIM was still alive.
Always composed, he now found himself a little rattled.
He immediately messaged Canglong.
"How's it going?!"
Canglong's reply brought a glimmer of hope to Yonghui.
"We've made progress!"
"The TNT attacks deal much higher damage than regular player attacks. With time, we should be able to wear it down…"
"But it'll take some effort."
After Yonghui issued his command earlier, Canglong had been trying to follow the proposed strategy to take down the dragon.
To their surprise, it actually made headway.
The TNT explosions indeed caused significant damage to the Ender Dragon.
But executing this plan was no walk in the park.
Players had to approach the Ender Dragon as it descended, dodge its dragon breath, plant the TNT, and then ignite it.
In most cases, only one in a thousand players could pull this off successfully.
Still, the damage caused by explosions far outstripped what they could do with swords.
Once they got the timing down, defeating the Ender Dragon became a matter of persistence.
Hearing Canglong's report, Yonghui finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good! Take it down as quickly as possible!"
The reason he prioritized contacting Canglong instead of replying to Tianheng was simple: the Ender Dragon was an extremely rare entity.
It appeared that only one existed in the game world.
Unlike HIM, the Ender Dragon was just a boss—sealed in the End realm, reigning over it.
Having played countless games, Yonghui knew one thing for sure—bosses of the dragon species always dropped valuable loot.
Moreover, many dragon bosses dropped dragon eggs.
If this one did the same, it could potentially be hatched as a pet.
Since this game had taming and pet systems in place, there was a high likelihood they could tame an Ender Dragon if they obtained its egg.
Sure, HIM was strong.
But Yonghui had seen the Ender Dragon's power in videos—it was on par with HIM.
With this power in their hands, even if HIM came for them, Yonghui and his allies would have a fighting chance.
This was Yonghui's contingency plan, his ace in the hole.
Of course, everything hinged on slaying the Ender Dragon first.
Once his thoughts were clear, Yonghui responded to Tianheng.
"How's the progress on taming the Diamond Zombie?"
Tianheng was a bit taken aback by the sudden question.
"Huh? No progress yet…"
"Should we even bother? If HIM shows up…"
Seeing Tianheng's timid response, Yonghui let out a long sigh.
"Do you really want me to tell you to let the Diamond Zombie go?!"
"You think releasing it will stop HIM from coming after you?"
"You killed that wolf pup, didn't you? What did the Zombie do when it saw the wolf get killed?"
"Even if HIM doesn't seek you out, do you think the Zombie won't?!"
"When that time comes, he'll show up with HIM, and you'll have zero chance."
Yonghui's barrage of messages jolted Tianheng awake.
Yonghui made sense—Tianheng was already stuck.
If he released the Diamond Zombie, it would certainly seek revenge, possibly alongside HIM.
After all, the Diamond Zombie knew the location of the Eternal Guild's base.
If that happened, Tianheng would be utterly defenseless.
And the Eternal Glory faction wouldn't lend any support.
Keeping the Zombie captive was the safer option, offering at least a sliver of hope.
Realizing this, Tianheng replied again.
"So… keep trying to tame the Diamond Zombie?"
Seeing that Tianheng finally understood, Yonghui shared his plan.
"Of course! Speed up the taming!"
"I have a backup plan. Don't worry."
"If you can manage to control this Zombie, combined with my contingency…"
"Even if HIM does show up, it won't be a total loss."
"And worst-case scenario? We use the Diamond Zombie as a hostage."
Yonghui's idea was simple—if Canglong succeeded in killing the Ender Dragon and obtaining its egg, they'd have a powerful pet.
Plus, he suspected 007 and HIM needed to kill players to grow stronger.
If they could turn 007 to their side, Yonghui could feed it players.
With over 20,000 members in the Eternal Guild, providing daily sacrifices to 007 would ensure rapid growth.
It might even surpass HIM in strength!
If Tianheng managed to turn 007, and with time to nurture it, combining its power with that of the Ender Dragon, they'd stand a fighting chance against HIM.
Of course, this was only if HIM actively sought them out.
If HIM didn't come, all the better for Yonghui.
Comforted by Yonghui's words, Tianheng felt slightly more at ease.
He promptly headed to the obsidian prison holding 007.
A player approached and dumped a bucket of lava into the enclosure.
The molten rock poured over 007's head, igniting his body.
Although he felt no pain, he could sense his life draining away.
"ROARRR!!!!"
The player watched as 007 burned and taunted him.
"You really want the hard way, huh? I told you—your master is dead!"
"Serve us, and you'll be free! Eat, kill, raise wolves—anything you want!"
When 007's health was nearly depleted, another player doused the flames with a bucket of water, halting the damage.
Then they patiently waited for his health to recover.
And repeated the cycle.
Their actions were practiced—they must have been tormenting 007 like this for a long time.
By now, the Diamond Armor had long since disappeared, likely destroyed by continuous exposure to lava.
His skin had charred black, but oddly, it hadn't disintegrated. Even stranger was the black collar on his wrist, which remained untouched by the flames.
Watching the torture, Tianheng shook his head.
Simple physical torment was ineffective—007 was a zombie, after all, devoid of pain.
After studying 007's wrist for a moment, Tianheng had an idea.
He turned to the players.
"Capture some wolf pups and dye their collars black."
"Throw them in there. Have them attack him."
Tianheng understood 007's mind.
The little bug was precious to 007.
To break him, they'd have to exploit that.
By using wolves with identical collars, they'd provoke 007. If he refused to fight back, the wolves would kill him.
If he wanted to live, he'd have to kill the wolves.
But seeing the wolves, so much like the little bug, would only remind him of its death—over and over.
Eventually, his spirit would break.
And that was the perfect moment for brainwashing.
---
Tianheng definitely understood the art of brainwashing.
Break them mentally, then mold their thoughts once their minds blur.
Under such confusion, success was possible.
Of course, this method only worked on sentient creatures.
If 007 were just a mindless zombie, nothing Tianheng did would have mattered.
Except, perhaps, rewriting the code itself.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥰 Support the translation and help me grow.🤓
Read upto 20 Extra chapter in Patreon