Meanwhile, Jeremy''s teammates had already caught wind of his sessful mission, and they were on their way over to his ce!


    At 2:30 p.m., Jeremy had pretty much finished tidying up the furniture in his home. In the living room, Ritchie was still sound asleep, snoring away. Just then, there was another knock at Jeremy''s door. This time, the person knocking was Bonnie.


    After hearing that Jeremy and the others had returned safely, Bonnie had left her own home as quickly as possible and headed straight for Jeremy''s ce. When Jeremy opened the door and saw Bonnie, they both broke into smiles.


    "As expected, you''re the one who cares about me the most. Aside from Liam, you''re the first to arrive," Jeremy said to Bonnie with a grin.


    Bonnie nodded in response. "I heard the news from Liam. General Howard is probably aware too, but he won''te by directly. He''s worried about disturbing you."


    As Bonnie spoke, she walked into Jeremy''s house. It was only then that she noticed Ritchie still fast asleep on the couch.


    "Is he okay? Did the mission leave him with some kind of hypersomnia? If Liam wasn''t lying, you guys definitely rested right aftering backst night. So why is he still asleep? Is he nning to sleep for an entire day? Are you sure there''s nothing wrong with him?"


    Jeremy nced back at Ritchie, catching a glimpse of him from the corner of his eye. "Don''t worry, he''s fine. In half an hour, I''m going to wake him up whether he likes it or not. Besides, I think Emma and ire will be here around then too. Once we''re all gathered, we can go over our next steps. After what happened at the Tower of Exile, I think our approach needs to change."


    Jeremy''s words made Bonnie feel a bit uneasy. She had a feeling that whatever Jeremy was about to say next would put a lot of pressure on her. But to her surprise, Jeremy didn''t say anything overwhelming.


    Instead, he just asked Bonnie to take a seat in the living room while he continued tidying up the furniture.


    Half an hourter, just as expected, ire and Emma arrived at Jeremy''s door. At that point, Jeremy promptly woke Ritchie up.


    Once everyone had arrived, Jeremy decided it was time to share his thoughts with the group. Although Ritchie had been woken up, he still needed to ssh some water on his face to fully wake himself up. While he was doing that, Emma and ire organized the food they had brought.


    "Why don''t we discuss things over lunch?" ire suggested with a smile. "I''m guessing none of you have eaten yet?"


    "We haven''t, actually. I haven''t eaten anything all day," Jeremy admitted, suddenly realizing just how hungry he was.


    Bonnie nodded slowly. "I didn''t have time to eat, either. Thank you so much for bringing the food."


    "No need to thank me. If you''re going to thank someone, it should be Emma. She''s the one who reminded me to bring lunch," ire said, drawing Jeremy and Bonnie''s attention to Emma.


    Emma''s demeanor had noticeably changed since thest time they saw her. It seemed like she had be much stronger, exuding a vitality that was significantly more intense than before.


    "Did youplete your first ss change already? I can sense that your life force is much more powerful than before," Jeremy asked Emma directly.


    Emma shook her head. "I didn''t do the ss change yet because you told me the timing wasn''t right. I just found a new piece of equipment while you were away on the mission."


    With that, she took out a gemstone radiating a green glow. The moment Jeremy and Bonnie saw the gem, they could feel the immense life energy it emitted.


    "It seems you really haven''t forgotten what I told you. You''ve handled everything exceptionally well," Jeremy said, genuinely impressed. He hadn''t expected Emma to obtain such a powerful item on her own.


    Bonnie also smiled and added, "You did a fantastic job. Even I wouldn''t be able to acquire such a strong weapon on my own."


    Emma blushed slightly at their praise, clearly a bit shy about the attention.


    Just then, Ritchie finally emerged from the bathroom.


    "I''m awake now. We can start discussing the next n of action," Ritchie said as he sat down next to the dining table, his eyes fixed on the food alreadyid out.


    Jeremy didn''tin about Ritchie''s approach. He knew that Ritchie had given it his all during the mission. Considering Ritchie''s level wasn''t particrly high, the fact that he had managed to stick with Jeremy until the end of the Tower of Exile mission was already a remarkable achievement.


    "Alright then, let''s eat and talk," Jeremy instructed.


    Everyone gathered around the table and began having lunch. After eating for a while, Jeremy turned to ire and Emma.


    "Do you think you''re ready for a ss change?" Jeremy asked. "I believe it''s time for you both to go through with it. Three days from now, you can perform the ss change ritual. I''ll be there to help you during the process."


    Naturally, ire and Emma didn''t hesitate to agree. They both wanted toplete the ss change as soon as possible to further enhance their strength.


    "We''re fully prepared. We''ll definitely be ready in three days," they responded in unison.


    Jeremy nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to Bonnie.


    "What''s your current level? You must have leveled up a bit while I was away on the mission, right?"


    Bonnie nodded. "I''ve reached level 40. I feel much stronger than before, but I think my leveling speed is going to slow down now that I''m at level 40."


    There was a hint of discouragement in her tone. Bonnie was beginning to feel the gap between her level and Jeremy''s growing wider. It seemed like no matter what she did, she would never be able to catch up to Jeremy''s level.


    Jeremy spoke with a casual tone, "That''spletely normal. After reaching level 40, everyone''s leveling speed starts to slow down. And keep in mind that once you hit level 50, you''ll need to undergo an awakening."


    "The awakening ritual is extremely dangerous, which is why the phase between level 40 and 50 takes such a long time. The longer you take to prepare, the less risk you''ll face during the awakening ritual," Jeremy exined. He was quite satisfied with Bonnie''s progress.


    Among his fourpanions, ire and Emma were about to undergo their ss change, meaning they would soon be able to apany him on future missions. Although their levels weren''t high enough for directbat, they could still provide valuable support.


    Bonnie, having reached level 40, was just capable enough to follow Jeremy in level 55 instances. This meant that her leveling speed wouldn''t be too slow in the near future, as Jeremy nned to bring her along for missions.


    As for Ritchie, he didn''t need much exnation. He was already at level 43. The Tower of Exile had been a challenging ordeal, but the experience points Ritchie gained frompleting the mission were substantial.


    After understanding hispanions'' current status, Jeremy cleared his throat. "I''m satisfied with the speed at which you''re leveling up. So, the new n is to wrap up some less important tasks over the next three days. Then, three days from now, we''ll focus on protecting ire and Emma during their first ss change.


    Once they''vepleted the ss change, we can start clearing the instances around Moonlight City."


    Jeremy continued, "During the instance clearing, all of you will level up quickly. I want you to stay focused and work with me closely, because it won''t be long before we may face Kean''s threat again. Kean won''t give up on the idea of eliminating us."


    Jeremy''s n was thorough and took into ount all potential contingencies. Hispanions had no objections, and each of them began to think about how they could best contribute to the sess of the n.


    While Jeremy and hispanions discussed their uing strategy, in the heart of Moonlight City, General Howard and Liam were meeting. The two of them were going over the recent events, exchanging information on what had transpired.


    Among the recent events, the most prominent were undoubtedly Jeremy''s mission at the Tower of Exile and the chaos Kean stirred up in the capital.


    While Jeremy was upied with the Tower of Exile, Kean wasn''t idle. He coordinated with The Person in the Mirror and The Son of the Sun to sessfully eliminate arge number of elite yers from the apocalypse game. This action directly resulted in a rapid decrease in the defensive strength around the capital, forcing the authorities to pull elite forces from other cities to reinforce it.


    As a consequence, the cities outside the capital were plunged into a state of crisis, struggling to cope with the sudden weakening of their defenses.