The sudden appearance of the giant conch startled Bai Qi, and his dragon's breath instinctively surged towards it.
But in the next moment, Bai Qi found that he could no longer breathe dragon's breath. The flames stopped at his lips, unable to be expelled.
"What are you doing with your mouth open?"
The giant conch, seeing the slightly comical Bai Qi, scratched its little head in confusion.
Dong Ji's words revealed the reason: "Here, all violence is forbidden."
"Alright, little conch, quickly go back to your seat."
Dong Ji's words were fine, but as soon as he spoke, the little conch, which had been focused on Bai Qi, suddenly noticed Dong Ji's presence and, in three steps, pounced on him.
"Ah, Dong Ji, you're finally here, little conch missed you so much."
Looking at the little conch clinging to Dong Ji, Bai Qi surveyed it and asked, "This isn't...?"
"That's right," Dong Ji said, finally managing to calm the excited little conch. "This is Gatanothor."
Bai Qi was truly bewildered. Was this really the giant conch that lived in the sea and devoured human despair? It looked more like a husky.
"Host, what brings you here this time?" Old Belial asked from his seat, his weapon beside him.
"Yes, Lord Dong Ji, it's been a long time since you last visited," Naraku's tone was significantly more humble than Belial's.
He had no choice but to be humble.
Although Naraku might be a top-tier existence in his own world, upon arriving here, he was faced with the overlords of their respective worlds, all of them ancient and monstrous beings who had lived for hundreds or even thousands of years. Naraku instantly transformed from the strongest to the weakest.
Even the new dragon-human, Naraku felt that three of him wouldn't be enough to fight.
Dong Ji cleared his throat and said, "As you've all seen, we have welcomed a new member today, the Primordial Demon from the Mixed World, Sheng Zhu. Let's give a warm round of applause to welcome our new member."
Hearing the sparse applause, Dong Ji felt a sense of helplessness.
Even though they had been together for so long, he still felt a sense of incongruity whenever he looked at these individuals.
After a while, Dong Ji raised his hand and said, "My purpose in coming this time is very simple. Firstly, to congratulate the new member, and secondly, to announce something to everyone. For the next period of time, I will disappear for a while. When I..."
Before Dong Ji could finish speaking, Gatanothor, sitting beside him, immediately pounced into Dong Ji's arms and said aggrievedly, "Why are you leaving, Dong Ji? Did someone make you unhappy? Little conch will beat them for you."
"No, no," Dong Ji waved his hand. "I just have some personal matters to attend to, so I need to leave for a while. I'll be back when I'm done."
After placing Gatanothor back in his seat, Dong Ji continued, "While I'm away, Sheng Zhu and Belial will temporarily take over my position. Belial, Sheng Zhu is new, you need to help him out."
"No problem."
After giving his instructions, Dong Ji vanished from his seat, leaving Sheng Zhu and the other four sitting there, exchanging bewildered glances.
A moment later, Belial broke the silence and said, "Sheng, Sheng Zhu, right? Can you tell me what level world you're from?"
"What level world? Are worlds classified by levels?"
"Oh, right, I forgot. You're new and don't understand yet. Karl, this is your theory, explain it to him."
"Understood," Karl nodded calmly and said, "To facilitate the classification of worlds, I have developed a specific framework for world levels. Worlds without intelligent life are defined as Level Zero. When intelligent life emerges, the level begins to increase. When the intelligent life in a world is capable of leaving its planet and operating in space, it becomes Level One. Contact with the multiverse is Level Two. Breaking through the world barrier to enter the void is Level Three. Being able to traverse the void with a physical body is Level Four."
Gatanothor raised a tentacle and said, "My world has just made contact with the existence of the multiverse, so it's around 1.7."
Belial said, "My world is around 3.3."
Naraku sighed helplessly, "My world is only 0.4."
There was nothing he could do. Naraku's world was still in the cold weapon era. Let alone leaving the planet, they hadn't even fully explored their own planet.
Finally, Karl said, "My world is around 2.9."
Bai Qi recalled his own world's situation and said, "If that's the case, my world should be around 2.6, right?"
It wasn't that Bai Qi was boasting; it was the truth.
Even if the modified world would have been ruined without Bai Qi's appearance, both Marvel and DC had already made contact with the existence of the multiverse. Especially DC, where Supermen from other universes had come to help and where their universe had been invaded by other multiverses. Therefore, this classification was fair.
However, a higher world level did not necessarily mean that the beings within were stronger, nor did it represent the strength of those present.
For example, the great demons from Naraku's world might not be weaker in combat power than the superheroes from Bai Qi's world; this classification could only be a rough distinction, not absolute.
Not to mention, with the blessings of the Tarot cards, all five of them could already move freely in the void.
"Then, if you're not in your own worlds, won't there be any problems?"
Regarding Bai Qi's concern, Belial provided an answer.
"In this small cabin, time is infinitely slowed down. A day here is equal to a minute or even less outside. Moreover, Gatanothor and I have transcended our original worlds and become unique existences among countless universes. The rest are merely avatars."
Transcendence, in this context, meant no longer being bound by fate.
Take DC as an example. In countless multiverses, each universe has a Superman. Most of them follow the path dictated by fate. However, among so many, there will always be a few who are unwilling to follow the destined path. For instance, Injustice Superman from the Injustice universe, who used iron-fisted politics to end all wars on Earth and establish a Superman regime. Or in a certain universe where Superman was inherently evil, like Overlord from the Crime Syndicate that invaded the main world, who was also Superman, but a complete villain.
Similarly, the Ultraman universe also has many different multiverses. In most universes, Belial's fate is failure. However, in one universe, Belial succeeds.
The Belial present is one who has successfully escaped fate's arrangement and transcended.
Gatanothor is also similar. In his world, Shining Tiga never appeared, and he succeeded in plunging the entire world into darkness. However, later, under extreme despair, his world was destroyed, and he also transcended fate, receiving a Tarot card from the host and coming here.