Seeing this prompt out of nowhere left Li Ke completely dumbfounded. But after giving it some thought, it actually made perfect sense.
Those two were basically walking, talking human artillery pieces. Their monster-killing speed went without saying. Leaving everything else aside, just one of Rias's fireballs was enough to reduce dozens of zombie birds to ash.
Lux was even crazier. She specialized in literal magic laser beams!
Do you have any idea how powerful a giant laser beam is?
Blasting into a horde of monsters packed that densely, grinding levels was as easy as breathing. It was only natural that they would surpass him.
"Good thing I never had any real interest in this garbage world anyway."
Li Ke glanced down at his tattered clothes, let out a self-deprecating smirk, and finally addressed Rias.
"I already told you this world is terrifying and bizarre. You were way too careless."
Shaking his head, Li Ke decided to drop the matter.
"But let's not dwell on that since the damage is already done. You've probably noticed by now that as your levels went up, your physical stats and other attributes started recovering too, right?"
Rias nodded.
"That is true. However, even though I've already reached level 70, I still can't fully access my peak strength. It's the same for Lux. I imagine it's a similar situation for all of you."
Kiri nodded along but didn't really care. Her own combat effectiveness had long since returned to normal thanks to her stat allocations, so she wasn't worried about that at all.
Li Ke, on the other hand, just twitched his lips.
Well, excuse me for not having my strength suppressed at all.
Yes, Li Ke hadn't felt a single ounce of his power being restricted by the world!
"That being said, if you give me about another hour to rest, I'll be able to resolve this crisis," Rias said, gently pressing a hand to her chest as she estimated her recovery time. At the same time, she locked her gaze onto Li Ke. "But... if Mr. Li Ke, Miss Kiri, or Miss Tsunade are willing to let me absorb some more vital essence, I can recover instantly."
A massive question mark practically popped up over Li Ke's head. He looked at Rias, then glanced at Lux standing off to the side, and couldn't help but ask, "Hold on. Why didn't you just absorb Lux's essence back then?"
Earlier, because the situation was incredibly urgent—and admittedly, because Rias was exceptionally well-endowed—Li Ke hadn't thought about it. But now, Rias was implying that girls could also serve as a source...
What was that supposed to mean?
"Because Lux is still a young maiden, and her magic power was already heavily depleted at the time. Draining her would have caused severe harm to her body. Since you came to rescue us, Mr. Li Ke, there was no reason to hurt Lux. As for right now... well, Lux's first kiss is still intact. I believe a young girl should save her first kiss for the person she truly loves."
"?"
Kiri snapped her head around instantly.
"What's that supposed to mean?! Big sis here still has her first kiss intact too, you know!"
An expression of genuine shock flashed across Rias's face, and she immediately offered a deadly serious apology.
"I am incredibly sorry. Seeing how intimately the two of you interact, I naturally assumed you were a couple."
Li Ke remained silent, merely shooting a deadpan look at Rias, then at Lux, who was currently standing beside them, completely speechless with shock.
"Um, Rias... what exactly do you mean by that?"
Lux stared at Rias in utter disbelief. Rias, however, just smiled and wrapped her arms around Lux in a warm embrace.
"Well, I still want to recruit you into my peerage, so naturally, I have to protect you as much as possible."
What Rias failed to notice, however, was that the moment she hugged her, a visible flash of fear crossed Lux's face. Lux forced herself to suppress it, doing her best not to let it show.
Meanwhile, Li Ke let out a heavy sigh.
"Forget it. Experiencing that terrifying sensation once was more than enough."
While having his vital essence drained felt incredibly euphoric in the moment, the aftermath was a completely different story. The overwhelming sense of emptiness left him with a lingering, visceral urge to let Rias drain him all over again.
There was no question about it—this was the handiwork of a devil. Even if Rias herself had no malicious intent, the spell, or rather, the biological trait of a devil, naturally produced this exact effect.
Right now, even looking at her massive chest, Li Ke found himself completely unable to summon any enthusiasm!
So, he was definitely passing on a repeat performance.
"This fortress can easily hold out for another hour. You should just focus on recovering normally."
Having said his piece, Li Ke grabbed his gun and walked over to the shooting hatch, joining Kiri in clearing out the zombie birds. He had no intention of chatting with Rias and Lux any further.
It was better to seize the moment and farm some experience points.
While running into these zombie vultures out in the open was a massive pain, inside a secure fortress like this, the monsters practically turned into the perfect tool for power-leveling.
As long as they left a tiny gap open, the zombie birds would desperately try to wedge themselves inside. All they had to do was keep pulling the trigger, and the creatures would drop to the ground like flies.
Li Ke was killing them with relish. Watching his experience bar continuously tick upward put him in a much better mood.
Yet, the moment his mind wandered back to the notification from his cheat ability, a sudden thought involuntarily flashed through his mind.
If I could just Repatriate Rias and Lux back to their own worlds... wouldn't I become the top candidate to be the Lord of the 7 Days to Die Dimension again?
The moment this idea surfaced, it completely consumed his thoughts, forcing him to analyze whether such a plan was actually feasible.
However, the more he thought about it, the deeper Li Ke frowned. Because...
Because he didn't give a single damn about who actually owned this garbage world!
If he were given the chance to escape this wretched place right this second, he would leave without a moment's hesitation. Why on earth would he fight tooth and nail over a title like Lord of the Dimension when he didn't even know what it actually did?
Li Ke sensed that something was deeply wrong.
He was familiar with the title "Lord of the Dimension." He understood it quite well, thanks to Marvel and DC movies. It basically referred to the single most powerful entity within their respective dimension or world.
As long as the dimension itself didn't perish, a Lord of the Dimension would exist forever.
The problem was that every dimension had its own fundamental rules. Take Dormammu's Dark Dimension, for example—it was a realm entirely consumed by darkness and corruption. Even Dormammu, as its Lord, had no power to change that reality. Those were simply the baseline laws of that specific universe.
As for this 7 Days to Die dimension...
How should he even put it?
Forcing him to live forever in a world entirely overrun by zombies, where the only residents were a few completely brainless NPCs?
He would literally rather die.
That kind of immortality was nothing short of a curse.
It might be fine if he could travel to other worlds. But what if every other universe had someone like the Ancient One standing guard, actively blocking him from crossing over? He would be trapped in this godforsaken hellhole for the rest of eternity. Even if he wanted company, what if no one else ever got summoned here again?
"Something's wrong."
Li Ke monitored his experience points as the bar steadily crawled toward his next level. The exact instant he leveled up, he felt that intrusive thought—the urge to kick everyone else out so he could claim the title of Lord of the Dimension—subtly intensify.
He was absolutely certain that his emotional state hadn't changed on its own during that period. Yet, the very second he leveled up, his possessiveness over this world undeniably surged.
"...This world really is messing with our heads. It wants us to slaughter each other."
Li Ke cast a brief glance at the 7 Days to Die system interface. This broken, incomplete "game system" just sat there, freezing cold and utterly indifferent, as if it were a bleak foreshadowing of things to come.
"Tch. Bastard world."
Li Ke narrowed his eyes. He had foolishly assumed that once a few superhumans got summoned, survival would become a walk in the park. He had thought that no matter how ridiculous this world was, the path to becoming the Lord of the Dimension wouldn't be overly complicated.
But looking at it now, he had definitely been overthinking it.
The seat of a Lord of the Dimension was clearly not that easy to claim.
"Whatever. None of my business anyway... Me, a regular guy, trying to compete with a bunch of absurdly overpowered entities? That's a literal joke."
Adjusting his mindset, Li Ke went back to firing his weapon. By the time he had managed to grind out another half-level of experience points, Rias finally spoke up from behind him.
"Alright, Mr. Li Ke. I'm fully recovered. Next, it's time for my performance."
Rias confidently flipped her vibrant red hair. Without waiting for a response from either Li Ke or Kiri, she cast a powerful barrier that completely enveloped the reinforced iron cabin.
In the next moment, she threw the front door wide open. Outside, a dense, suffocating black wave of zombie birds was still aggressively pressing against the structure. However, thanks to her barrier, the monsters couldn't breach the perimeter even with the door wide open.
Rias snapped her fingers, and countless magic circles instantly manifested all around her.
"You wretched monsters... Witness firsthand why they call me the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess!"