Overwhelming alarms blared throughout the command center as real-time satellite surveillance footage appeared on the main screen.

A black dahlia spreading death in silence; a dark tide of shadows submerging half the city; a four-winged, three-headed Demon Dragon roaring at the heavens amidst crackling lightning; a hundred-eyed starfish conjuring a monstrous tsunami...

The moment they descended through the Gate of Heaven, the four Tier Four Corrupters initiated their own Advancement ceremonies, unleashing calamities as terrifying as the end of the world.

At the same time, an Any Door opened, and Uncrowned from the Star Association and the Salvation Army stepped through. Without a single wasted word, they launched their attacks against their enemies.

A figure wreathed in emerald flames stood high in the sky, looking down upon the black dahlia that had turned a skyscraper into its nursery. The raging fire engulfing him bathed the entire world in a verdant green light, and all corruption and decay rapidly receded in its warmth and tranquility.

He clapped his hands together, and when he pulled them apart, a metallic glint appeared. Steel self-replicated and assembled, instantly extending into an outrageously large and extravagantly designed beam cannon. He gripped the handles on its sides as the muzzle began to glow with emerald fire.

Aim.

Fire!

·

A Knight in Holy Silver Armor, wielding a Blazing Light Sword, walked with steady steps into the sweeping tide of shadows.

Immediately, a light shone from within the darkness, followed by a shrill, piercing wail.

Amidst the flickering between light and shadow, one could vaguely see a Knight battling a gaunt, ferocious Demon.

·

Ten thousand meters in the air, Bruce, wearing the Lucky Necklace, leaped out of an Any Door.

He tightened his grip on the Twenty-sided Dice Hammer in his hand and charged into a storm of frenzied crimson lightning, swinging with all his might at the four-winged, three-headed Demon Dragon.

On the dice hammer, the number "15" lit up.

Fifteen times the Power!

The impossibly heavy hammer crashed down.

In that instant, a cataclysmic roar erupted. Unparalleled Power was brutally transferred, and one of the Demon Dragon’s heads burst apart cleanly. A waterfall of blood, carried on shockwave after shockwave, rained down upon the Mortal World.

·

Amidst the towering waves, the hundred-eyed starfish advanced slowly.

Louis stood atop a building on the shore and pointed a finger toward the sky.

The hundred-eyed starfish snapped its gaze upward.

A majestic river of stars descended from the heavens, crashing down with unstoppable force. The hundred-eyed starfish had nowhere to run. The dense cluster of eyeballs on its body burst one after another from the celestial cascade’s impact. A viscous, greenish-yellow fluid splattered out, polluting the surrounding river water into a foul-smelling, yellow-green sludge.

The moment he appeared, Louis had seized control of the entire river basin. The water around the starfish began to spin rapidly, forming a massive whirlpool. The thirty-meter-plus creature was locked in place by the vortex’s terrifying suction. Its body was torn open by the turbulent currents, and its countless eyes popped like bubbles with a series of CRACKLES.

·

「Government Army, Command Room.」

There were only two people in the room, but the atmosphere was terribly oppressive.

Iron-blooded Colonel Jason stared silently at the emergency deployment order from the Star Association in his hand.

"What are you thinking?" asked the old man beside him, who was leaning on a cane.

"...If I accept this deployment, it’s the same as surrendering," Jason said.

"Is that so bad? Do you really intend to resist the Star Association?" The old man gave a self-deprecating smile. "I’m not trying to undermine morale, Colonel, but do we have even a sliver of a chance of winning right now?"

"The president has opened the Ascension Ladder. He is our last hope."

"No. It is precisely because of his actions that we’ve been pushed into an inescapable Abyss."

The old man was a former member of North Carolina’s royal family and a staunch supporter of the North Carolina Government, but he had seen the situation clearly from the very beginning.

’There’s only one reason we will fail. Culling the bloated lower-class population? Fine.

Colluding with Fallen Paradise? Not fine.

The moment he secretly colluded with Fallen Paradise, our destruction was sealed.

Even if he has opened the Ascension Ladder, do you think the Star Association doesn’t have a way to deal with it? He’ll die sooner or later.

Colonel, give up."

"Give up? Don’t be ridiculous. You want me to be a deserter?"

Jason said sternly, "I am a soldier. A soldier’s best end is to die on the battlefield. I’d rather have a good death than live a shameful life."

"If that’s the case, I have nothing more to say. What do you plan to do?"

"Forcefully initiate my Advancement ceremony and attempt to reach Tier Five."

Jason retrieved a smooth, metallic sphere from a Storage Artifact. Sealed within was the Advanced Secret Ceremony custom-made for him. Unfortunately, after all these years, he had still failed to complete the final few steps of the ceremony. Activating it now would mean forcing his Advancement, an extremely dangerous gamble.

But he was 15% confident he could succeed.

"These old bones of mine don’t have many days left anyway. Let me help you one last time. Before I die, I’ll do my best to stop anyone from interrupting your Advancement," the old man said calmly.

Jason nodded and crushed the metallic sphere in his hand.

The radiance of the Advanced Secret Ceremony erupted, flooding the entire camp. Immediately after, gravity failed. It was as if they were in the cosmos; everything became weightless. Countless pieces of debris floated in the air, and the Government Army’s soldiers fell into a panic, grabbing onto anything they could to keep from floating away.

Jason shot toward the sky. The chaotic gravity swirled around him, pulling in countless bits of trash and gradually forming a spectacular sight like a planetary ring. The light of the Secret Ceremony’s Matrix flickered as he began to force his Advancement.

"I knew you wouldn’t surrender without a fight."

Xing Wu stepped out of the void and swung his longsword at Jason, but the sharp blade’s light was deflected by an old man wielding a cane.

"You old fossil, in such a hurry to die?" Xing Wu’s figure flickered, reappearing in front of the old man. In an instant, countless glints of sword light wove into a dangerous, cutting web.

The old man, already resolved to die, squeezed out the last of his Life Force. His stooped back gradually straightened, and his Essence Fluctuation grew stronger. He swung his cane rapidly to block the sword light, but several gashes were still cut into his body, bleeding profusely.

Suddenly, the Black-robed Man, clad in a loose black robe, appeared in the air. He held up the Wish Box and made a malicious wish:

"—Jason’s Advancement ceremony will not succeed."

The old man’s expression changed slightly. Immediately after, as if the wish had been granted, a treacherous, low laugh echoed.

A portly figure had silently appeared behind Jason. He wore an expensive suit, a gold-rimmed monocle over his right eye, a silk half top hat on his head, and a thick, curled mustache on his lip.

—The Merchant!

"Colonel Jason, I’ve finally been waiting for your Advancement."

The Merchant twirled his mustache and chuckled slyly. "I’ve come to collect my payment."

’Payment...’ Jason was shocked. ’I’ve never made a deal with the Merchant!’

The next second, a memory that had been artificially erased surfaced in his mind.

It was from eighteen years ago, when Havier launched the rebellion.

After a brutal battle with the Rebel Army, he had woken up in a scorched trench. Embers still burned, and the entire trench was filled with the bodies of Government Army soldiers. He himself had been critically wounded in an explosion and was on the brink of death.

It was then that the Merchant had appeared. He made a deal with the dying Jason, and after the transaction was complete, he erased his memory and used some unknown method to conceal his identity as a Trader. It had remained undiscovered to this day.

And so, he had survived. He awakened as an Ascender, distinguished himself multiple times in the subsequent wars, and was promoted all the way to Colonel, eventually becoming an indispensable, spiritual leader of the Government Army.

But all of it was a gift from the Merchant.

Every gift from fate has its price marked in the dark. One day, no matter where you are, the Merchant will appear to collect the steep cost.

Now, the time had come.

"Colonel Jason, thank you," the Merchant said with a pleasant smile.

The sound of Gold Coins dropping into a coin purse rang out. As the payment was collected, Jason disintegrated into flying ash in utter shock. The Merchant took his place, perfectly usurping his Advancement. With that, the final ritual was complete.

The Advancement began.

At this moment, the existence of countless "Traders" throughout North Carolina was erased bit by bit. Innumerable sparkling Gold Coins transformed into a torrent of gold, converging from all directions and pouring into the Merchant’s body.

Amidst triumphant laughter, the Merchant began to understand everything, rapidly ascending toward the rank of Crowned King.

An irrepressible joy surged in the Merchant’s heart. ’Finally! Finally!’

’After all these years, he had finally found his chance to become a Crowned King! His lifelong wish was fulfilled.’ An intense wave of ecstasy rose in his Soul, battering his mind and causing his "ascent" to falter for a moment!

On the ground, Marvin—his flesh torn open and his body dyed crimson by his own blood—cracked a smile.

As a detective who had been studying the Merchant since he was a child, he had guessed correctly: the Merchant needed to usurp someone else’s qualification for Advancement during their ceremony to complete his own.

Not only had he guessed correctly, but he had also made the right call. In his analysis, among the Tier Fours in North Carolina, Jason, Bruce, and Louis were the three most likely candidates to be a Trader. After considering multiple factors, he had gambled everything and chosen to lie in wait for Jason.

And so, he had become the winner.

The Essence Fluctuation radiating from Marvin was clearly that of a Tier Four. Within his pupils flickered a strange, intricate, and complex Matrix, allowing him to perfectly use the "Endless Joy" of the "Joyous Sanctuary"!

Although he had only recently advanced and couldn’t make the Merchant fall into eternal joy, the price of his own grievous injuries was enough to affect him for a split second.

On a Tier Four battlefield, a split second is enough for many, many things to happen.

The Black-robed Man had made the wish that "the Merchant’s Advancement ceremony will not succeed" and threw out an Alchemy Talisman, attempting to disrupt the Merchant’s Advanced Secret Ceremony.

At the same time, the Authority Secret Power within the Merchant’s body fell into chaos without warning. A sudden burst of Power from an unknown source went on a rampage, churning and exploding within his Essence and Soul. The Merchant violently spat out a mouthful of blood, and his Advancement ceremony came to an abrupt halt.

Then, an Any Door swung open, and the Godslaying Weapon in silvery-white Steel Armor shot out from within. The engines on her back spewed fire, and she streaked across the sky like a silver comet of doom.

[Adaptive Evolution Array 2.0 activated.]

[Extraordinary Ability detected: Unequal Trade.]

[Adapting to Ability... Adaptation complete.]

The Adaptive Evolution Array allowed Tang Ling to become immune to the Merchant’s own Extraordinary Abilities, making it impossible for him to use "Seize" on her.

[Extraordinary Ability detected: Gravity.]

[Adapting to Ability... Adaptation complete.]

Tang Ling instantly evolved a Gravity Module, and an invisible gravitational field materialized around her, neutralizing the chaotic gravity.

[Detecting Extraordinary Ability...]

At this moment, the long-premeditated battle plan began.

·

’Nice! It worked perfectly!’

On a hillside outside the command center, Zhou Chen watched the battlefield through a pair of binoculars. When he saw that detonating the "spiked Gold Coins" had actually made the Merchant cough up blood, he almost couldn’t stop himself from shouting out loud.

’All that wish value wasn’t spent in vain!’

But just then, Zhou Chen, along with many other Ascenders, suddenly whipped their heads around to look toward the North Carolina Capital.

A dark, cold, and ominous fluctuation spread from the distance, imprinting itself clearly on everyone’s mind.

Zhou Chen was all too familiar with this kind of Power.

—The Abyss!