Chapter 1041: "The Invincible Gauss

Gauss fell into a brief silence.

This was truly awkward.

If he brought it up himself, it might seem like he was showing off. But if he didn’t correct Monroe, the truth was that he had indeed already completed his breakthrough.

Alright, he had come to share his joy, but he didn’t want to be too blunt about it; he hoped Monroe would figure it out on his own.

The two of them stared at each other for a long while.

Seeing that Gauss didn’t respond, Monroe initially waited patiently, thinking the young man was just too embarrassed to speak. However, as time passed, an unbelievable thought suddenly popped into his head.

“Gauss, my boy, don’t tell me you… you’ve already completed your breakthrough?”

Monroe’s tone was filled with sheer uncertainty as he spoke. Even though the words came from his own mouth, he found the idea completely absurd.

Hearing Monroe’s cautious inquiry, Gauss nodded.

“GASP!”

A clear sound of a sharp intake of breath immediately followed. Monroe stared at Gauss as if looking at a monster, already beginning to doubt whether his young friend was even human anymore. Given his understanding of Gauss, he didn’t think the young man was joking with him.

So, he really completed a level breakthrough in just a single day? That timeframe even included flying back and forth, choosing a location, and other preparations. The actual time spent on the breakthrough itself had to be even shorter.

“Gauss, my boy, you’re truly terrifying…” Monroe remained silent for a long time before finally squeezing out that sentence.

It was mainly because Gauss’s breakthrough speed was simply too fast. A level breakthrough was a crucial milestone that could affect an Adventurer’s entire life—especially breaking through to level 10, the final stage before the Extraordinary realm. Yet, he made it seem as simple as taking a stroll to buy groceries. To anyone else, it was genuinely mind-boggling.

He couldn’t help but recall his own experience with the same level breakthrough a long, long time ago. He vaguely remembered that the breakthrough had gone smoothly, but it still took him over two full weeks to complete the entire process.

That was why he had originally mentally prepared himself for Gauss to be away for at least a week or two, if not longer. Fortunately, the massive battle from two days ago had just ended. The Green Dragon Army had lost a general and numerous Demon troops. Coupled with the fact that support forces from Farlim and other cities were gradually arriving, he had felt at ease letting Gauss leave.

But he never expected that before the reinforcements from other cities could even fully assemble, Gauss would just take a quick stroll outside and come back to tell him the breakthrough was complete. This made the secret arrangements he had made over the past two days for Gauss’s absence look like a complete joke.

“Maybe it’s just the result of quiet accumulation,” Gauss said with a faint smile.

Monroe fell even more silent after hearing this. Was this some kind of bad joke?

It would make sense if someone else claimed they had quietly accumulated strength, but Gauss had no business using that phrase. Truthfully, it was chilling to think that the time it took others to level up just once from start to finish was probably longer than Gauss’s entire lifespan.

He finally understood. His young friend had specifically come over just to show off.

Monroe shook his head. He had no intention of teasing Gauss for this rare display of childishness. Who didn’t like to show off? Compared to those Professionals who hosted lavish banquets for their successful breakthroughs and wished everyone in the world knew about it, Gauss’s behavior was already incredibly understated.

However, out of his responsibility as a senior and the president of the Adventurer’s Guild, he couldn’t help but offer a reminder.

“Gauss, my boy, it’s best you don’t mention your level breakthrough to anyone else, lest it bring you trouble.”

“I understand.” Gauss nodded. Catching the look of sheer shock on Monroe’s face earlier had already satisfied his small desire to share the news.

It was only because he was relatively familiar with Monroe. Plus, since Aaliyah and the others had all gone into Cultivation, ordinary people wouldn’t even get the chance to hear him share this if they wanted to. Although he had spent quite some time on the front lines, he didn’t actually have many acquaintances; most were just nodding acquaintances.

Besides, any information regarding his level was currently highly classified. The Adventurer’s Guild had already utilized its massive organizational machinery to completely lock down his level information. Much of his past intelligence was being destroyed, and any future level breakthroughs would not be registered or updated. Only a select few high-ranking officials knew the specific details.

As for his current Adventurer’s Badge, it had long since been swapped for a Silver Badge, which was typically only worn by Extraordinary Professionals. This arrangement was a form of protection for Gauss.

Although others—especially the Demons—could already sense that he was fighting above his level, there was a big difference in exactly how many levels he was bridging. Bridging a gap of one or two levels was vastly different from bridging five or six.

Certain higher races and special individuals among humans possessed the ability to fight above their levels, but someone in Gauss’s situation had to be exceedingly rare.

With the Magic Envoy breaking through to level 10, his strength had grown significantly. Now that he was only a hair’s breadth away from the true Extraordinary realm, Gauss’s demeanor had become much more relaxed.

He sat on the battlements of the city wall, watching the repair work on a nearby breach alongside Monroe, while inquiring about the specific post-war situation.

“According to intelligence from the spies we planted within the Green Dragon Army, this defeat has dealt a massive blow to their ranks.

“Amidst the wavering morale, there have already been dozens of large-scale tribal defections.

“However, they were all quickly annihilated by the Green Dragon Army’s main legion. Because they acted so swiftly, this wave of defections didn’t spread further. Even so, the seeds of panic have already taken root within the Green Dragon Army.”

Monroe expressed quite a bit of regret when discussing this matter.