Chapter 33: The Beginning
Sky City · Top City, Ancient Sacrificial Grounds.
The full moon hung high above. At the center of the sacrificial grounds, the pitch-black chains grew increasingly solid, having transformed from mere phantom shadows a few days ago into semi-physical entities. Black mist slowly drifted along the coiled chains. A king who had slumbered here was about to awaken.
Meanwhile, in a dark alley in the Bottom City, a young man dressed in fine clothes but stained with mud on his clothes and face walked as if lost. Even when fierce, predatory eyes from the shadows fixed on him, he remained completely unaware.
This young man, in his twenties, was named Ageye. He was born into a wealthy merchant family that dealt in luxury furs. Sky City was located west of the Dark Swamp Great Forest, less than fifty kilometers from the largest forest on the Wizard Continent. Three towns with populations exceeding one hundred thousand lay along the route, making Sky City a convenient gateway to the natural resource treasure trove of the Dark Swamp Great Forest.
Ageye's family was responsible for purchasing and processing high-quality furs, then transporting them over three hundred kilometers to the Eternal Winter City · Longlu, where they were sold to the nobles and royalty of the Ice Descendants.
Generations of accumulated trust and quality surpassing that of competitors made Ageye's family's luxury furs highly sought after by the Ice Descendant nobles and royalty. At sixteen, Ageye began accompanying his father, traveling between Sky City and Eternal Winter City.
At that age, Ageye naturally had no interest in the family business. The reason he was willing to make the trips was that in Eternal Winter City, he could see his Ice Descendant fiancée, Mo · Stacy.
What began as a family alliance turned into genuine affection between the two young people. The elders of both families naturally did their best to encourage the match.
Eight years passed in the blink of an eye. According to this life trajectory, Ageye would marry Mo · Stacy, have a child, and run the family business with his elder brother. He would handle dealings with the Ice Descendant nobles and royalty, while his brother would liaise with the fur merchants of the Dark Swamp Great Forest. Everything was perfect.
Unfortunately, a strange antique changed Ageye's fate. It was an ancient crown. Ageye's father had a hobby of collecting antiques. After purchasing it, he recognized it as the crown used by the first Ice Descendant royal family when they ascended the throne. Overjoyed, Ageye's father immediately contacted the closely related Ice Descendant royal family to return this crown of the Winter King's ancestors to the Northern King.
What Ageye's father didn't expect was that the Winter King seemed uninterested in this ancestral heirloom, not even willing to meet him. Disappointed, Ageye's father felt he had spent the money without even seeing the man himself, let alone having a chance to curry favor.
That evening, the Winter King changed his attitude and sent a trusted minister. Ageye's father was both surprised and secretly uneasy.
That night, the Winter King arrived with over a dozen personal guards. Ageye's father was terrified. The Winter King personally visiting Sky City was no small matter. Although it was the Middle City, not the Top City, it was still astonishing.
The reception at the family estate that night was grand. When everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the Winter King brought out the ancient crown he had received that afternoon, examining it with delight. Casually, he asked where it had been obtained.
Learning that Ageye's father had bought it at a high price from someone else, the Winter King nodded with a smile. He was far too "surprised" by this "great gift" that had come to him. Originally, through cooperation with the Law Destroyers, he had barely managed to imbue himself with some fate power. After the ancient crown devoured it, little remained.
The dozen or so personal guards of the Winter King slaughtered every living thing in the estate. Strangely, Ageye, who was hiding in a wardrobe, scared out of his wits, managed to survive. This couldn't be explained by coincidence or luck. Under the perception of over a dozen guards and the Winter King himself, Ageye, whose strength didn't even reach the Third Rank, went completely undetected.
The next morning, Ageye stared at the charred remains of his family home. After standing dumbfounded for nearly an hour, he remembered one thing: he had lost all his family. He couldn't lose his fiancée, Mo · Stacy, too.
Sky City indeed prohibited spatial teleportation. The Top City, high above the clouds, had strict controls. Teleporting into Sky City was impossible, but teleporting out from the Middle City was possible, provided one spent a great deal of money.
When Ageye arrived at the main gate of his fiancée's family estate in Eternal Winter City, he saw his future father-in-law's head hanging at the entrance. Various treasures and rare items were piled in boxes in the courtyard. Headless bodies lay on the snow. Some servants and distant relatives were being guarded by soldiers, all wearing expressions of despair.
What made Ageye's eyes nearly burst with rage was seeing his fiancée being led away by a sharp-eyed man in silver armor. This was none other than the Winter King's second son, the Sword of Fierce Winter · Ermu.
Although Ageye's fiancée wasn't shackled or harmed, her eyes were dull, as if she had become a puppet on strings. But when her peripheral vision caught sight of Ageye and she looked at him in disbelief, a spark of life returned to Mo · Stacy's eyes.
Helplessness and grievance made her tears overflow. But as the descendant of nobles and royalty, her upbringing forced her to look away, not to look at her fiancé again, lest she bring disaster to the one she loved.
At that moment, Ageye wanted to rush forward recklessly. Only his remaining sanity stopped him. He knew his fiancée's mother was Ice Descendant royalty. Even if his fiancée had committed a grave crime, the trial would go through a tedious and lengthy process.
Ageye turned and melted into the crowd of onlookers, vowing in his heart that no matter what, he would rescue his fiancée. For that, he needed power and influence. Considering his enemy was the Winter King, gaining enough influence to suppress him was a fool's dream. That left only power. Though the hope was slim, there was at least a chance.
Ageye would never know that, according to the normal course of fate, his destiny was not simple. At thirty, he would have experienced the pain of losing all his family and would have become as close as brothers with the Sword of Fierce Winter · Ermu, the man he now hated. To a great extent, he would have shouldered the future of Eternal Winter City · Longlu. Unfortunately, all of this was forcibly changed.
Yes, Ageye was one of the three pseudo World Children of this era in this world. The Witch Realm would never have a true World Child, but each era would have about three pseudo World Children. Don't underestimate their fate power; it was stronger than that of the genuine World Children of a Ninth Rank world.
In the dark alley of the Bottom City, Ageye walked with vacant eyes. He was looking for a black market shop that specialized in fencing stolen goods. He had heard of this shop at a banquet once, thinking it was just an interesting story. But now, with almost no money left, he had to take great risks to gain power at a low price.
Following his memory and guesses, Ageye actually found the black market shop. With some trepidation, he knocked on the thick wooden door. After two knocks, the door creaked open.
The shop was small, about thirty square meters. Shelves lined the walls, even blocking the windows. Strange objects hung at various heights. The dim environment made one's heart race.
Ageye ducked to avoid a hanging glass bottle filled with slimy eyeballs that made his skin crawl. Just then, candlelight flickered to life behind an old wooden counter. An old man with a wrinkled face and hands like dried tree bark looked at Ageye with murky, yellowed eyes.
"Young man, you've come seeking power."
The strange old man spoke, revealing a few remaining teeth as he smiled.
"How… do you know?"
"Hehehe, with that pathetic look on your face, like your whole family died. What else would you come here for but power?"
The strange old man picked up a list of goods and began to tally.
"So, what do I have to pay? Money?"
Hearing this, the old man sneered mercilessly. "With your rotten luck, do you still have money?"
"No."
Ageye's eyes dimmed. Then, thinking of something, he said, "I can sacrifice my soul to you, or something similar…"
"Hahaha!"
The old man laughed with his mouth wide open, a bit exaggeratedly. With a mocking tone, he said, "Why does everyone think their soul is so valuable? Even the lowest corruptors don't want to sign soul contracts with living beings anymore. What's truly precious are Soul Stones. Those are the world's natural resources, nothing to do with living souls."
"Then… I have nothing."
Ageye lowered his head, his expression numb.
"No, no, no. You actually have something even more valuable."
The old man's smile was meaningful.
"What?!"
Ageye clung to this last lifeline.
"Your… fate. Take a look at this fate contract. If you sign it, power will be right before you."
The old man pressed a contract forward with his left hand, then pushed a thumb-sized sealed bottle forward with his right. Inside was thick darkness.
A moment later, only an empty bottle and a fate contract signed with Ageye's name remained on the table. The old man picked up the contract, rolled it up, and tossed it into the darkness beside him. A hand caught it.
"Priest, keep this for now. I've been busy watching the leader · Po · Yeen lately. This kid Ageye is yours from now on."
As the old man spoke, he grabbed the skin under his ears on both sides and pulled off the human skin mask on his head. In the process, his voice gradually shifted from old to ethereal, a mix of multiple tones. This man was the Platinum Apostle.
……
A luxury cruise ship sailed under the night sky. It was late into the night, and most passengers were asleep. In a carpeted corridor, a muscular man stopped before a guest room and knocked. A large dog opened the door, poked its head out to check the corridor, and then let the man in.
The Violator · God Speed had just entered the room when he saw Su Xiao and Kaisa already waiting. Seeing these two, God Speed felt uncomfortable all over. But with the situation being what it was, he could only sit down.
"God Speed, you've been with the Dark God Cult for a while now, haven't you?"
Baha spoke. God Speed shrugged indifferently. In his view, asking this was just a prelude to wanting information about the Dark God Cult or stealing some important items. He had no problem with that.
"I've accumulated some faction reputation. If you need it, I don't mind."
Having signed the contract Su Xiao drafted, God Speed had no leverage in this world progress. Conversely, after leaving this world, these contracts would become void. At least, that's what God Speed thought, and that's what the contract said.
"That's not needed."
Baha said this and then started to smile mischievously. He continued, "God Speed, we're all on the same boat now. We're on the same side, right?"
"Uh… I guess so."
God Speed gave a perfunctory smile.
Baha didn't mind God Speed's attitude. Still smiling, he said, "Since we're on the same side, we should help you profit too. Take your reputation in the Dark God Cult, for example. After all these days, you've only gotten a little over ten thousand points. Too slow."
Baha's words made God Speed a bit indignant. His dead-fish eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "The reputation in the Witch Realm is very valuable. That's already a lot."
"No, it's too little. Way too little. As your comrades, we should help you gain more Dark God Cult faction reputation."
Baha's tone was firm, making God Speed feel a sense of impending doom. He was about to refuse when he found Su Xiao staring at him expressionlessly. He swallowed the words that were about to come out. He had no doubt that this Law Destroyer would cut off his head.
"Since you've willingly agreed, let's begin."
Baha smiled and turned to Kaisa, winking his right eye at him. Kaisa finished eating the remaining fruit core, used the stem between his fingers to pick his teeth, then chewed on the stem for a while to taste it before spitting it out.
Kaisa put on a hood, pulled it over his head, and began chanting in an incomprehensible language. Just then, God Speed received a flood of notifications.
[Notification (Void Tree): Due to your outstanding performance, you have been promoted to direct subordinate by this faction's Material Manager, Nicholas Kaisa.]
[Nicholas Kaisa has activated his exclusive ability: Plunder and Seize (L).]
[You have lost ring-type equipment.]
[You have lost your main weapon.]
[You have lost detection-type equipment.]
[You have lost all equipment. All lost equipment has been seized by Nicholas Kaisa.]
[You have reported this behavior to the Void Tree.]
[Nicholas Kaisa's exclusive ability: Shameless (L) has been triggered.]
[Nicholas Kaisa has expressed his apologies to you and promises to return all your equipment within 999,999 natural days, with a daily penalty of 0.1% (0.1% of total equipment value).]
[Due to Kaisa's unique ability 'Processing Fee (L)' being triggered, you will bear 3% of the transaction fee for this exchange.]
[Kaisa will pay you a daily penalty of -2.9% (total equipment value), meaning you must pay Kaisa 2.9% (total equipment value) as a daily processing fee.]
……
Seeing these notifications, God Speed's eyes widened. He instinctively leaned forward, as if to confirm he hadn't misread the text. After confirming it was correct, he put on a pained expression, his features twisting. Just then, more notifications appeared.
[Due to Nicholas Kaisa reporting Nicholas Kaisa to the Void Tree, this action will be punished.]
[Nicholas Kaisa has decided to compensate you. You receive the following benefits.]
[Your Dark God Cult faction reputation increases by 1.5%.]
[Due to triggering Kaisa's ??? ability, the next compensation reward increases by ???.]
[Your Dark God Cult faction reputation increases by 386%.]
[Your Dark God Cult faction reputation increases by 1.6%.]
[Due to triggering Kaisa's ??? ability…]
[Your Dark God Cult faction reputation increases by 526%.]
……
This series of notifications left God Speed feeling mentally exhausted. He pressed his hand to his head, fingers running through his hair. The expression on his face could only be described as "WTF." However, he didn't know this was just the appetizer.
[You have triggered multiple faction missions. Summary as follows:]
[You have completed the faction mission: Capture the enemy Overlord unit, Kukulin Bai Ye!]
[You gain 125,000 reputation points.]
[You have completed the faction mission: Obtain important intelligence through the Overlord unit, Kukulin Bai Ye, and relay it to your superior ?5??9*??-?.]
[You gain 83,560 reputation points.]
[You have completed the faction mission: Attempt to seize the Overlord unit, Kukulin Bai Ye's unique item, the Book of Original Sin.]
[You gain 580,000 reputation points.]
[Your superior, Nicholas Kaisa, has decided to secure greater benefits for you by secretly selling the Book of Original Sin to the Dark God Cult faction shop on your behalf.]
[Warning: The faction shop will absolutely not accept this item!]
[Warning: You may no longer sell this item to any Void Tree-certified faction shop.]
[Verification confirms that this item was indeed your spoils during the execution of the faction mission. Compensation of 1,285,000 Dark God Cult reputation points has been granted.]
[Due to being in extreme danger, you have chosen to immediately return the Book of Original Sin to the Overlord unit, Kukulin Bai Ye, and you request the Void Tree to certify this action.]
[Certification complete. As you have not truly touched the Book of Original Sin and have not materially obtained it, it was merely a temporary seizure without ownership. You have no causal connection to the Book of Original Sin.]
[You have gained a "Massive" amount of Dark God Cult reputation points. You are deeply grateful to your superior, Nicholas Kaisa, for his guidance and promotion. To repay Commander Kaisa's regard and promotion, you voluntarily pay 1,900 Soul Coins as a token of gratitude.]
[You will pay 1,900 Soul Coins.]
[You attempt to terminate this payment.]
[Due to your treacherous behavior, Nicholas Kaisa's Faction Bully (L) ability has been triggered.]
[You have paid Kaisa 9,100 Soul Coins. You receive a "Receipt."]
[If you have any objections to this transaction, you may bring this "Receipt" to the Reincarnation Paradise for appeal and reporting.]
……
God Speed stared at these notifications in disbelief. He suddenly felt that being a Violator was really pathetic. Compared to the scumbag in front of him, his methods as a Violator were nothing.
Soon, a thought occurred to God Speed. With all this Dark God Cult faction reputation, he should go to the faction shop and exchange for some good stuff. Unfortunately, all his equipment was now held by Kaisa, which made him dare not touch even a single reputation point.
"God Speed, you should know what to do next. You get ten percent."
Hearing Baha's words, God Speed's expression improved a bit. But he didn't know that the reason they were giving him ten percent wasn't to buy him off, but because they needed a scapegoat.
"Coordinates confirmed?"
Su Xiao spoke. Although his Law-Destroying Teleportation Array could go anywhere, it was too flashy. Kaisa's teleportation array was more suitable for a discreet arrival.
Putting on the Abyssal Jar, Kaisa, now one with the jar, began setting up the array diagram. Moments later, Su Xiao, Kaisa, God Speed, Bubu Wang, and Baha all stood on it. Amu stayed behind in case the array malfunctioned on the return trip.
When the spatial fluctuations subsided, Su Xiao found himself in a storage room. Kaisa peeked out furtively, saw that the material exchange area was temporarily empty, and made a quiet gesture. He slowly walked behind the wooden counter, activated his Dark God Cult Material Manager authority, and God Speed immediately received various notifications.
[Due to being a direct subordinate of Material Manager Nicholas Kaisa, and in recognition of your outstanding performance, he has applied for temporary access to the Dark God Cult faction shop for you.]
[The judging parties for this exchange/transaction include: You, Nicholas Kaisa, Kukulin Bai Ye.]
[Warning: Both Nicholas Kaisa and Kukulin Bai Ye are targets with extremely low Void Tree Reputation. Exercise extra caution in this cooperative exchange/transaction.]
……
Seeing this warning, God Speed's usually fierce gaze gradually became clear. As a Violator, this was the first time he had received a warning telling him to be careful. He felt very uncomfortable.
Before God Speed could figure out what was happening, more notifications appeared.
[Due to insufficient reputation level, over 60% of items in the faction shop are unavailable for exchange.]
Seeing this, God Speed felt disappointed. He had a ten percent share, so the more they got, the happier he would be. However, his disappointment was premature. Su Xiao and Kaisa had encountered this "stocking up" problem several times before. They began to deal with it, and God Speed immediately received subsequent notifications.
[Notification: In recognition of your consistently outstanding performance, Kaisa has decided to bequeath the Material Manager identity to you. This action has been approved by Material Manager Nicholas Kaisa's superior, the Fraudster Nicholas Kaisa.]
[You have become the Dark God Cult Material Manager. You gain the Lv.10 exchange authority (highest exchange authority) associated with this identity.]
[You may exchange items from the following list using your current reputation.]
[Automatic exchange has been enabled. Items you exchange will be distributed as follows: Nicholas Kaisa receives 45%, Hunter Bai Ye receives 45%, and you receive 10%.]
[Verification of the above action. Void Tree Reputation will be deducted from you and the other two parties.]
[Your Void Tree Reputation is deducted by 4,150 points.]
[Nicholas Kaisa's Void Tree Reputation is deducted by 8,650 points (Due to this unit's Void Tree Reputation being too low, actual deduction is 0 points).]
[Hunter Bai Ye's Void Tree Reputation is deducted by 9,553 points (Due to this unit's Void Tree Reputation being too low, actual deduction is 0 points).]
……
After seeing these notifications, God Speed made a decision in his heart: he wouldn't be a Violator anymore. He had to find a way to turn over a new leaf. It wasn't that he suddenly had a change of heart, but after experiencing these mind-shattering operations, he felt that being a Violator was just too miserable.
God Speed's heart was bleeding. Compared to the ten percent share he hadn't even gotten yet, he cared more about the 4,000-plus Void Tree Reputation points. He was a Violator, sure, but his Void Tree Reputation had always been decent, staying above 120 points. Now it was all gone, and he was in the negative by 4,000 points. What made his blood pressure spike even more was that his two accomplices in this crime hadn't lost a single point of Void Tree Reputation.
Su Xiao ignored God Speed, who was having a mental breakdown. He walked over to the teleportation array in the storage room. Just as he was about to check his current gains, he received a message certified by the Void Tree, with the sender paying 500 Soul Coins to send it. Seeing that the sender was Molei, he wasn't surprised by the extravagant behavior.
After reading the message, Su Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly. Molei, Yueshitu, and Hao Mei had been attacked by a five-person team from Death Paradise. A large box of "Moonstone," one of the top-tier ores that could only be certified and stored in the storage space after this world progress ended, had been completely looted.
According to their prior agreement, Su Xiao was entitled to thirty percent of the top-tier Moonstone ore from this batch, while Molei, Hao Mei, and Yueshitu split the remaining seventy percent. In other words, this five-person team from Death Paradise had robbed Su Xiao.
In Molei's words, "It's fine that they beat us up, but they stole your Moonstone. Can you let that slide?"
Usually, it was Su Xiao using the Law Annihilation formula to rob enemies… ahem, to fairly redistribute enemy resources. Now someone had robbed him. Of course, he couldn't let that slide.