Yuto talks to the system, Yuqi's friend's whereabouts

Floating Island

In the kitchen on the first floor of the villa, Yun Yun and Orange were busy preparing lunch for everyone, the aroma of their cooking filling the air. Yuto Saito lounged on the sofa, watching the girls with a thoughtful gaze.

Nako's beauty score had recently soared to 92 points. Her natural features had always been lovely, but a few quirks in her demeanor, combined with a slight weight gain, had previously dulled her appeal. However, ever since joining the team, Nako had transformed into a fierce goddess of war, radiating confidence and strength. Yuto couldn't help but notice the significant change in her presence and image over the past few days.

Feeling Yuto's gaze upon her, Nako beamed with happiness. He also noticed that everyone in the team had reached level 6 in their character levels. Just moments ago, Yuto had been lost in pampering Yun Yun and had yet to upgrade his own level.

Curious about his own progress, Yuto opened his properties panel:

Name: Yuto Saito

Level: 5 (0/1 million)

Combat Strength: 1916

Strength Evaluation: 19 stars

Talent: Teleport LV5...

Experience: 12.3206 million

Earlier, he had copied Tiger Tuan'er's Teleportation LV5, adding 200 combat power. After consuming an inner pill, his combat power had increased by an additional 2 points.

Realizing the need to level up, Yuto decided to spend 1 million experience points to elevate his character level to 6.

Ding! Congratulations on upgrading the host character to level 6 and activating the inheritance attribute. You have received 6 copy cards, bringing the total number of copy cards to 12.

It would take 10 million experience points to advance from level 6 to level 7, and Yuto began to ponder.

"System, why does each level require an exponentially greater amount of experience? This seems excessively challenging," he inquired.

Host, upgrading from level 6 to 7 requires 10 million experience. From 7 to 8, it jumps to 100 million. Then from 8 to 9, it's 500 million, and finally, 1 billion from level 9 to 10. Each subsequent level after 10 will require an additional 100 million experience points.

Yuto was taken aback. "Are the numbers of locusts in the Three Kingdoms really that staggering?"

Indeed. Within the Three Kingdoms, there are an estimated 400 billion locusts alone. However, not all of them will transform into monsters; only about 10% will evolve, and some will become high-level creatures.

The enormity of the situation weighed on him. With the Three Kingdoms largely overrun by zombies and monsters, Yuto mused, "If each locust grants just 10 experience points... that's quite a haul."

After absorbing this information, Yuto concluded that a billion experience points wasn't so unattainable, especially with the added benefit of experience-enhancing items. Rather than immediately upgrading to level 7, he chose to enhance his talent level.

This decision would allow him to invest the remaining experience into his talents, ultimately adding 1650 attribute points.

Upon upgrading, he checked his properties panel once more:

Name: Yuto Saito

Level: 6 (0/10 million)

Combat Strength: 3626

Strength Evaluation: 36 stars

Talents: Psychic LV6 (0/10 million), Strength LV6, Thunder LV6, Ice LV6, Charm LV6, Powerful Recovery LV6, Flight LV6, Hearing Talent LV6, Charged Strike LV6, Golden Bell Cover LV6, Teleportation LV5 (0/100,000), Visual Talent LV5, Beast Mastery LV4 (0/100,000)

Experience: 97,600

Items: 2 green spar, 3 red spar, 6823 white spar, 12 replica cards, 8 first-grade rings, 73 ordinary rings, 9 10x EXP pills, 29 5x EXP pills, and 50 3x EXP pills.

A grin spread across Yuto's face as he marveled at the significant boost to his attributes from this round of upgrades. If he had just a little more experience, he could elevate his Beast Mastery to level 5. Though the Beast Master talent wouldn't contribute additional attribute points, it would certainly improve his overall status.

Noticing Yuto's smile, Ruoruo chimed in, "Brother Su, have you significantly boosted your combat power?"

Yuto nodded, "Absolutely! There's been a considerable improvement."

Mina, curious, ventured, "You must have gained at least 20 star power, right?"

What Mina didn't realize was that Yuto had the advantage of the tenfold experience boost, causing her estimation of his power to fall short.

Changing the topic, Yuto turned to Yuqi. "Yuqi, didn't you mention wanting to contact your friends yesterday? Were you able to reach them?"

Yuqi nodded, her expression serious. "I got in touch with Yang Xiaozi and Chen Xinyu after last night's gathering. Yang Xiaozi is currently safe with her parents and won't be joining us for a while. I'm worried about Chen Xinyu, though—she hasn't replied to me yet."

Yuqi's brow furrowed in concern, revealing her deep worry for her friend's safety. During their time filming Xin Yitian, Chen Xinyu had been the only one to approach Yuqi for a chat, and their shared moments had forged a close bond.

Yuto tried to comfort her, "Don't worry. She might just have a dead phone battery. I'm sure she'll get in touch soon."

"Let's hope so," Yuqi replied, her voice filled with a blend of concern and hope.

Yuqi felt a mix of anxiety about her friend's safety and a sense of helplessness for not being able to contribute more to the team.

Unbeknownst to her, Chen Xinyu had encountered three zombies the previous night. To evade them, she had cleverly played music on her phone to draw the creatures away, throwing the phone far from her to keep herself hidden. Currently, she was safely tucked away in a secluded room, hoping for the danger to pass.

At that moment, Orange emerged from the kitchen, calling out, "Lunch is ready, everyone! Come help set the table!"

"Yay! Let's eat!" Ruoruo cheered.

The team gathered to assist, and soon they were seated around the dining table, enjoying a delicious and hearty lunch together.