《Monster Among Monsters》 Chapter 1: A Monster ¡°Alright everyone, we''re here. I know everyone is excited about this Ancient Ruin but I want all of you to focus and pay attention. It wasn''t easy coming here so let''s make sure that we all leave this place alive and wealth filling up our pockets, got it?¡± ¡°Got it!¡± ¡°Now, Lloyd, the stage is yours. Quickly find the entrance and let''s get rich! After this job, I''m gonna take a long vacation with my wife and kids.¡± A group of cloaked figures chatted cautiously with one another as they hid in the darkness of the night. They stood on the thick branches of a tall tree white facing an enormous mountain. Apart from looking majestic, there wasn''t anything special about this mountain. The cloaked figure called Lloyd jumped off the tree and landed on the hard ground. He then studied the mountain with great attention and after about an hour, he found something. He was already very far from his comrades since the mountain was so big. ¡°Guys, I seem to have found the entrance. It''s approximately ten kilometers east. Come quickly, over!¡± ¡°Roger! Just give us a few minutes, we''ll be with you shortly, over!¡± The group of cloaked figures then disappeared from the tall tree and travelled at amazing speed towards Lloyd''s direction. ¡­ In just ten minutes, they reached their destination where Lloyd was waiting for them. ¡°Lloyd, did you really find the entrance in such a short amount of time? It''s way faster than usual.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, it was unexpectedly easy. Come check it out.¡± Lloyd then proceeded to lead them to the entrance that they were talking about. At the said entrance was a huge boulder that seemed to be blocking something behind it. A few plants and weeds had been removed from the vicinity, probably by Lloyd and the entrance was neatly cleaned up. On the boulder, there were words written but due to nature or the passage of time, these words were on the verge of fading away, some even incomplete. ¡°Lily, your turn. Quickly translate these words and see if we can enter the cave without triggering any traps or causing a commotion. And remember to take your time, the owners of this backyard are not people we can afford to offend so be as overt as you possibly can.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, I got this.¡± The cloaked figure called Lily stood in front of the boulder and took out something that looked like a magnifying glass. A green light was then released by this object and scanned the words on the boulder. A few minutes later, the object spoke. [Ding! This is the Ancient Language of Earth used hundreds of years ago called English. After a careful translation, completion of missing words and grammar, these words have been perfectly translated!] ¡®English!¡¯ ¡°Captain, we''ve really struck gold this time! This might be a tomb of those important figures of Earth. I heard that Earthlings aren''t afraid to pay good money for such information!¡± ¡°Don''t get too excited, let''s first here what these words mean before we proceed. You know what the Earthlings say, don''t count your chickens before they hatch.¡± ¡°Quickly show me the translation of these words!¡± [Ding! To the descendants of the Zodiacs, the world and everyone living in it. DO NOT, WE REPEAT, DO NOT¡­ by any means, TRY TO ENTER THIS PLACE! AN EXISTENTIAL DANGER LIES WITHIN! A MONSTER UNLIKE NO OTHER IS SEALED INSIDE! ONCE RELEASED, WHEREVER THIS MONSTER GOES, DEATH FOLLOWS SO DO NOT OPEN AND DEFINITELY DO NOT ENTER! WE HOPE THAT BY THE TIME THIS PLACE IS DISCOVERED, THE MONSTER WOULD BE LONG DEAD OR WE''VE BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO ERADICATE IT! AGAIN, DO NOT RELEASE THIS MONSTER INTO THE WORLD!!!] ¡°What the FUCK?! Does this mean that we came here for nothing?!¡± ¡°Captain, what do we do now? This was obviously written by the ancestors of the Zodiac Clans. Entities more terrifying than the Zodiac Patriarchs!¡± ¡°Yeah, but I''m unwilling to leave this place with empty pockets. We''ve already used up all of our wealth in order to sneak into this place, we can''t just leave right?!¡± Everyone became restless after seeing the clear warning from the ones who created this ruin. There weren''t any treasures inside but instead a terrifying creature that even the Zodiacs Ancestors couldn''t kill it but only managed to seal it here. They began to argue whether to enter the ruin or not and these people were divided into two sides. Five agreed to simply leave the place and not provoke whatever was inside while the other half chose to enter the ruins. Only their leader hadn''t made a choice. ¡°Alright everyone calm down. Those who don''t want to enter the ruins can just wait here and check the coast while the rest of us will explore the ruin. But those who choose not to enter will only get ten percent of whatever we make. How does that sound?¡± ¡°We agree, Captain!¡± ¡°We also agree, Captain!¡± And just like that, their leader had quickly solved the problem without either side resorting to violence or betrayal. The boulder was then moved away but halfway through, it disintegrated and turned into dust that was blown away by the wind. It seemed the boulder couldn''t resist the test of time and just needed a catalyst for its demise. The group then carefully entered the pitch black cave. Surprisingly, those that initially didn''t want to enter the ruins actually changed their minds at the last moment and the group entered together. ¡­ The path was narrow at first but the deeper they walked into the cave, the more spacious it started to become. And unlike walking forward like they were seeing, it felt like they were going down under, walking deeper and deeper into the underground. The group travelled for about three hours, and in these three hours, they''d recorded many Array Formations/ Magic Circles, Inscriptions and even a few Runes. All of these were valuable information to those who were interested in them. What shocked the group was that no matter how they tried, anything that released even the faintest bit of light had stopped working. It was as though this place didn''t allow light to exist in it. ¡­ Thirty days had passed since they''d entered the cave and not once had they encountered danger to traps. The group didn''t feel like they were exploring a Ruin but felt like they were taking a stroll in the garden. This was their first ever Ruin to not have any obstructions either by using booby traps or answering riddles, the journey was very smooth. After a month of travelling, they finally reached their destination, the heart of this cave. They would have arrived here sooner if they hadn''t spent their time recording ancient information. At the core of the cave, they were actually standing high above, very close to the sealing where a massive Magic Circle had been drawn. Below them, about a hundred meters below them, a pool with black liquid was created. There was a person inside the pool but only his head could be seen as the rest of his body was submerged into the pool. A thick chain was wrapped around the man''s neck and many Runes were drawn on it. The man didn''t look old, about twenty five years of age, light skinned with dreadlocks that were very long. ¡°Is that¡­ the ¡®monster¡¯ we were warned about? He seems harmless to me¡­ and very handsome.¡± ¡°Be careful, the more ordinary something is, the more dangerous it might be. We''ve seen everything we had to see, let''s quickly leave this place before we provoke something we shouldn''t.¡± ¡°Alright, guys, let''s rest for a little bit before we leave. I haven''t slept in days and I''m a bit tired.¡± The group set up camp right then and there, everyone took out their tents and went to sleep. They wanted to make a bonfire but couldn''t so they could only give up. The only person who didn''t go to sleep was the female cloaked figure who thought that the man in the pool was very handsome. She sat alone while gazing at the man. She wondered why he could be seen so clearly in this darkness while everything else was so difficult to see. While deep in her thoughts, something crawled behind her, slowly approaching without making a sound and when it was about to strike, it was blocked. ¡°So you finally decided to show yourself. I''ve been waiting patiently for a while now and you finally took the bait.¡± Holding in her hand was a sixty centimeter black centipede with a width of about five centimetres. The centipede had been stalking this group ever since they entered the cave and had been waiting for an opportunity to hunt them down but the opportunity never represented itself until today. Today when it found a victim that it could target without worrying about the others. ¡°Guys, I finally caught it!¡± Everyone walked out of their tents to study the unknown enemy that had been stalking them this whole time. But seeing that it was just a mutated centipede with the ability to blend into the darkness, everyone quickly lost interest. The cloaked lady played with it for a while but also got bored. ¡°Alright guys, we''ve had enough rest. Time to leave this place.¡± ¡°I never thought I''d say this but I miss the sunlight. Being in the dark for too long is not healthy.¡± Everyone then packed their things and prepared to leave, the cloaked lady with the centipede also packed her stuff with the others. When everyone was ready, she killed the centipede and threw it into the black pool of water and they left. She didn''t see that when the centipede fell into the pool, some of its blood splashed onto the man''s face. ¡­ Fifteen minutes later, the group was happily leaving the cave and they had truly gained a lot from this trip. Some were chatting about taking a vacation, some chatting about buying an island while others were just thinking about how much money they were going to make. Suddenly¡­ Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! The sound of chains clashing reverberated in their ears. The sound was very faint but they heard it clearly. Instead of stopping, everyone increased their pace, walking faster and taking large strides. Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! The sound of chains clashing reverberated in ears again, this time a bit louder than before. The group started jogging in an orderly manner without pushing each other. Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! When the chains reverberated for the third time, the group simply ran for their lives but even then, they did it in an orderly and calm manner. Not pushing someone back in order to survive, it seemed like they were experienced in this kind of thing. One of the cloaked figures looked back to see if anything was chasing behind them but there was nothing except for the two glowing red rubies. ¡®Wait a minute¡­¡¯ The person remembered that no light was allowed in this place but he was actually seeing two rubies that glowed while in the air. He then turned around and ran faster than everyone. The others were shocked by this, looked back only for their eyes to widen in shock and run even faster. Their backs were drenched in cold sweat and they wished they could run even faster. They ran at full speed for an hour before slowly decreasing their speed. Unfortunately even after running for such a long time, they hadn''t exited the cave yet which showed just how massive the place actually was. ¡°Alright everyone, we''ll take a ten minute break before running at full speed again. Hopefully we''ll make it out before that thing catches up to us.¡± ¡°Yes, Capta¡­¡± Whoosh! Puchi! Ba dum! Ba dum! Ba dum! Ba dum! They were about to reply to their leaders when they were interrupted by something passing by them at incredible speed. In a blink of an eye, a skinny naked man stood in front of them while holding a beating heart. There was a gaping wound on Captain''s chest where his heart was supposed to be. The man holding the beating heart was skinny, very skinny like a walking skeleton with a little bit of flesh to cover the bones. Only his face was unaffected for some reason. The man wasn''t very tall, about 5¡¯8 with his penis dangling in the wind. Pubic hair had overgrown. He was handsome, very handsome, especially now when he was smiling. The man then proceeded to eat the Captain''s heart right in front of them. The sound of chewing and swallowing scared them shitless. Seeing his heart being devoured right in front of him, Captain collapsed on the ground and died. Apart from the man with dreadlocks eating, there wasn''t any other sound. Some had tried to run away but their bodies just wouldn''t follow their commands. ¡°Delicious! Simply delicious! How long has it been since I''ve tasted human flesh! It seems that over the years, the taste has improved by leaps and bounds, how unexpected.¡± said the man. Hearing what he said, everyone involuntarily shivered, some wet themselves while others shat themselves. This was how terrified they were. Some tried to plead for mercy but the words wouldn''t come out of their mouths. The man ignored the group and picked up the dead Captain''s body. He then carefully removed his clothes until the Captain was fully naked. He had a muscular body which had obviously undergone vigorous training. It was also full of energy and vitality that surprised the man. Even though he was surprised, this didn''t stop him from continuing with his actions. He ripped off the legs and arms off the torso, leaving only the penis and the head. He then ate the man''s limbs like they were the most delicious thing in the world and in no time had finished eating. Then removed the penis and the balls and threw them away, used his nails to cut open the man''s stomach where he ate the intestines like he was eating noodles, chewed on the liver but threw away the gizzard and finally cracked his skull open, ate his brain like he was eating a delicacy. Once all the meat was eaten, he targeted the ribs and bones that were left. Ten minutes later, Captain''s corpse had disappeared, even his blood wasn''t spared and was drunk by the man. The group had watched the entire process, and with each bite, the more horrified they became. It was only now that they understood the warning that was written on the boulder that blocked the entrance of this cave. ¡®Zodiac Ancestors! Fuck you! Fuck you and your entire families! Why the fuck didn''t you tell us that this guy eats people! Fuck you!¡¯ they all cursed inwardly. ¡°Ah! What a sumptuous meal¡­ and I''m glad there''s more from where that came from. Don''t worry, it will all be over soon.¡± said the man while smiling. His mouth,neck and chest were dyed red with blood with pieces of flesh stuck between his teeth, making him look very scary. And just like that, the slaughter began. ¡°AHHHH!!!¡± Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°DON''T KILL ME! PLEASE DON''T KILL ME!!!¡± ¡°STAY BACK! I SAID STAY BACK!!!¡± ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! PLEASE JUST KILL ME! PLEASE KILL¡­ AHH¡­ AHH¡­ AHH¡­¡± The women were raped before being killed and eaten while the men were killed instantly and eaten. The ancients truly weren''t lying when they said that a monster was sealed inside the mountain. And now that it had finally regained its freedom, only god knows what it was gonna do but Death, Death would definitely follow this guy. Chapter 2: Goblins A day later, someone made it out of the mountain cave. He was wearing a white vest made from very strong silk that couldn''t be easily torn through but the vest now had a hole on it as well as blood stains around the chest area. He also wore a black leather jacket, brown trousers and boots made from animal skin, similar to the vest, the pants and boots weren''t made from ordinary materials but very strong and durable material. The leather jacket was made from the skin of a crocodile so it had the highest defense. On his pinkie finger was a ring crafted to perfection by a true expert. This ring had wave patterns around it and a big black diamond was used as the centrepiece. ¡°Finally out! How great the smell of fresh air actually is!¡± It was the man who had been sealed inside the mountain for hundreds of years. He now had some meat in his body and wasn''t as skinny as he was previously, his crimson eyes had returned to their normal colour which was ocean blue. ¡°I guess I''m in the territory of the hypocritical geezers. It''s great that I saved a little bit of my power to help me escape or else I''d just be recaptured or maybe even killed. Now, which way should I go, damn it, I should have spared one person to be my guide but I was starving so it couldn''t be helped!¡± The man then began to walk, he didn''t walk forward but instead upwards. Yes, the man was walking on air like it was actually solid ground. Once he was hundreds of meters high up in the air, he could see the beautiful greenery spanning for tens of thousands of kilometers without end. ¡®Was this place always so big?¡¯ he thought to himself. He didn''t dwell much on it and focussed on leaving this place. Crimson energy enveloped his whole body, especially his legs. [Movement Art: Shooting Star!] Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His entire figure released a blinding crimson light that emitted massive amounts of energy. It was like he had become a star shining brightly in the night sky and with a single step, he became a mote of light that flew at incredible speed and in a few seconds, he''d disappeared from sight. This spectacle had of course alerted powerful figures who then came to investigate. ¡­ Inside a luxurious and spacious hall, beautifully decorated with golden pillars, silk curtains and marbled floor. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say this was a place fit for a king. Inside this hall, a muscular man sat on his throne lazily. He was so big that one could mistake him for a giant, standing at a whopping five meters, big but perfectly sculpted muscles like a work of art, goatee beard and long black hair. He was handsome, dignified and majestic, especially with his pale green eyes. He wore simple robes that allowed for freedom, comfort and flexibility while also maintaining the man''s image. ¡°Reporting to My Lord, it seems that someone has infiltrated the forbidden zone of the Zodiacs. We''ve confirmed the identity of the perpetrators using the blood and hair we found there. It''s the Natural Explorers, an exploration group that hasn''t existed for long. We''ve also deduced that they were somehow eliminated and their corpses disposed off but we''re¡­¡± ¡°Eaten.¡± said the man on the throne. ¡°Pardon me My Lord but I don''t underst¡­¡± ¡°You won''t find the corpses because they were eaten. Inside that cave, a monster was sealed by the Zodiac Ancestors and rumour has it that person ate people. I had completely forgotten about this information because I read it a long time ago and didn''t believe it was actually true¡± ¡°So what should we do My Lord, someone whom the ancestors had to act personally to get rid of must surely be strong, if¡­¡± ¡°Don''t worry about it. With the changes Earth has undergone, Nolan probably won''t even bother to come back since much more interesting things now exist here, at least he won''t bother us in the short term.¡± ¡°My Lord, who is Nolan?¡± ¡°The monster that was sealed inside the mountain cave. His name is Nolan, Nolan Cooper, son of George Cooper or at least he used to be.¡± ¡°Cooper? Then doesn''t that mean he''s from ¡®that¡¯ family? My Lord, this is greater than¡­¡± ¡°Don''t worry. He''s not part of the Cooper Family nor will he ever be. After what he became, how could the Coopers actually take him back, they''ll probably kill him on the spot if he dares to go there. And even if he comes after us, I''m sure I can easily take care of him. I''ve said enough, contact the other families and find out what the others have decided on and report directly to me.¡± ¡°Yes My Lord, I shall complete the job perfectly My Lord.¡± The muscular man then watched his subordinate leave. Immediately after he left the throne room, a shadowy figure appeared behind the muscular man without leaving a trace. [You know that you have to report this incident to the higher ups right. We were strictly instructed to report everything that has happens in that place, aren''t you afraid angering the ancestor?] ¡°Relax. I have everything under control. If that Nolan bastard Nolan wants revenge for what happened in the past then I welcome him to come and try, I''ll make sure to teach him a valuable lesson he''ll never forget for as long as he lives.¡±said 5man on the throne confidently with his pale green eyes now glowing brightly. ¡­ The man or rather Nolan who''d flown far away from the Zodiacs territories found himself inside a primitive forest. There was tall glass and trees everywhere. The small animals living there were very loud, insects sang while birds chirpped. Nolan didn''t dislike such an environments and even liked it, afterall, it was much better than being in that isolated cave. ¡°Earth has become much bigger than I remember, I wonder what happened. Also, there are also new species or at least new to me. How long was I asleep for exactly? Plus, I''ve lost all my power now and no different from a normal huma¡­ maybe a bit stronger than a normal human hehe.¡± he thought. As he walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the more silent it became and the more sparse the trees were. Nolan didn''t notice any of this because he was deep in thoughts and didn''t care about his surroundings and by the time he realised this, it was already too late. [Krrrrrrrrr!] He was now surrounded by s group of creatures that were quite unfamiliar to him but read about them a lot. The creatures were short, about a meter tall, very skinny with bald heads. These creatures had very long noses, a few sharp teeth with a two centimeter gap between them, horizontal shaped pupils similar to those of goats but filled with craziness and ferocity. These creatures also had very long and sharp ears, green skin and sharp fingernails. Yes, Nolan was surrounds by a horde of goblins that numbered at least a hundred and more were still rushing over. They were holding wooden spears, rock axes and iron swords, some that were on the trees had their bows and arrows ready to launch. Surprisingly, the goblins didn''t attack upon contact but warily looked at Nolan. ¡°Wow, goblins! I never thought this day would come. I read about you in novels, it''s said that you''re very weak but have a very high reproductive rate, I guess they were telling the truth. Just when I was thinking about my next step, you guys showed up at such a perfect time. From today onwards, you are my slaves and shall do as I say, now take me to your precious leader!¡± Chapter 3: Goblin King Nolan was currently sitting on the throne of bones that was reserved for the goblin king. Currently, the goblin king and his personal army were nowhere to be seen and since Nolan couldn''t understand a word said by the goblins, he didn''t bother to ask them. He just sat comfortably inside the goblin king''s chambers while looking at everything happening below. Apart from the watchtowers, the goblin king''s chambers were actually built on the tallest tree that was at the centre of the village, the tree was very tall. He could see everything from within his village and slightly beyond. And because of such a perfect location, the goblin never experienced an ambush since sneaking in was impossible unless the enemy came from above. With this, the goblin village was able to thrive, develop and grow to what it was today. The current number of goblins was in the tens of thousands and the number was still growing. [Krrrrrrrr!] One of the goblins from the watchtowers roared loudly and communicated with the other goblins which then rushed towards the village entrance to welcome the goblin king and his troops. Nolan followed behind the goblins while riding a black wolf that was as big as a fully grown cow. He had found this wolf inside the village out in the open, thick chains were used to tie it up in a manner that it could only remain in place. Nolan immediately fell in love with it and ordered the goblins to untie it, feed it and treat its injuries. Although it took quite some time and a bit of effort, his hard work bore fruits and the goblins did as told. Now, Nolan was curiously sizing up the goblin king and his troops while the latter was also doing the same. ¡°Krrrrrr¡­Grrrrr¡­ Gigigi¡­¡± One of the goblins made these weird noises and communicated with the goblin king, probably explaining the situation to its former king. After it was done explaining, the goblin king nodded a few times in understanding. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°You! Yes you! Come! Come here! Come!¡± said Nolan while pointing at the goblin that was talking to the goblin king. There was no animosity in Nolan''s eyes nor did he show signs of anger so the goblin slowly approach. Puchi! A hand stabbed through the goblin¡¯s neck, green blood splashed everywhere and it instantly died. Nolan didn''t throw away the corpse after killing the goblin, instead, he pulled it up with his hand, ripped its head off and started munching on it. ¡°Let me make myself clear! I will not tolerate any form of insubordination from my slaves and servants! Since I''m your king as well as your master, you only have to listen to orders given by me! UNDERSTOOD!!!¡± Although the goblins didn''t speak human, they completely understood what Nolan was saying through his flimsy gestures. ¡°And you¡­ SUBMIT OR DIE!!!¡± said Nolan while gazing at the goblin king and his troops with glowing crimson red eyes. He also released a terrifying Bloodthirsty Aura that caused the goblins to involuntarily shudder and prostrate themselves in front of their new king. This included some of the goblin king''s troops who were shook by such a terrifying aura. Only the goblin king and his trusted aides were left standing but their knees had become soft, constantly shaking. These few goblins had the same height as a human adult with the goblin king being taller. It stood at a whopping two and a half meters, wore bronze plated armour and held a massive battleaxe. [Zaza greets the new king!] said the goblin king in a hoarse voice while kneeling on one knee. [Riri greets the new king!] [Bibi, Bobo, Buba greets the new king!] [Gege, Guga, Gigi, Gaga greets the new king!] ¡°Good! I didn''t expect you to be able to speak the human language. For pledging fealty to me, I shall make you one of the fearsome races in the world!¡± ¡­ Zaza and Riri watched as Nolan retreated back to his chambers and heaved a sigh of relief when Nolan disappeared from sight. [Zaza, you felt it too didn''t you? Is it why you chose to bend the knee without even fighting?] asked Riri the female goblin. [Of course I felt it, the most important ability for us goblins is Danger Sense so how could I not sense it. That hu¡­ His Majesty seems special. I''ve never seen someone like him.] answered Zaza. [Especially his gaze! That wasn''t a gaze a normal human should have, even those crazy humans don''t have such a gaze. The way he looked at us¡­ like we''re high quality food just waiting to be eaten, that scared me!] said Riri. [Me too. That''s why I didn''t dare to fight him. And the way he ate Dira, how can someone have such a complete disregard for the living. Whatever you do, don''t end up on his plate, His Majesty won''t hesitate to eat you!] [And that Bloodthirsty Aura, just how many lives did he take in order to exude such a thick and terrifying Bloodthirsty Aura?!] [I don''t know¡­ but it''s probably more than a million lives¡­] ¡­ Back in his treehouse, Nolan was resting on his bone throne with his eyes closed. He had just arrived here and had already made himself at home, this was somethings was capable of since they''d always be wary of sudden ambushes but Nolan acted as if he was in the safest place. Knock! Knock! Knock! ¡°Come in.¡± [Your Majesty, I''ve brought the people you wanted to meet, should I bring them inside or leave them out?] said Gege. Before he left, Nolan had tasked Gege with the job of bringing the human captives to his chambers. ¡°Bring them inside.¡± [Yes, Your Majesty!] A crowd of women entered the chambers through the main door. They wore rags, their skin dirty and they stank, like really stank. Their eyes were lifeless like their souls had left their bodies. Gege then peeked at Nolan to see his reaction when he saw the condition these women were in. Usually, the humans who had come here before would show expressions of disgust, empathy and care for the women while showing contempt and deep hatred for the goblins, a clear indication that they were arch enemies. When Gege looked at Nolan, he was shocked to see that Nolan didn''t react to the women''s condition. He didn''t stare coldly at him or try to speak up for the treatment of these women. His eyes were as tranquil and peaceful as that of Buddha''s. ¡°Greetings everyone, I''m the new owner of the Goblin Village. The reason I brought you here is because I Iack information about the current world and its workings. Anyone who can provide me with this information will be given a swift and painless death, so, who wants to die, please come forward.¡± After speaking, Nolan waited patiently for someone to respond but no one seemed interested. Their eyes remained blank and lifeless. After ten minutes of silence, Nolan repeated what he said but the response was the same, no one said anything. ¡°Gege, take them back where you found them. These goods are broken goods, they died a long time. By the way, these are all the humans we have left right?¡± [Ye¡­ well¡­uhm¡­] ¡°Speak!¡± [Only two humans aren''t here Your Majesty. They are just kids so I didn''t think I needed to bring them, please forgive Your Majesty ¡°What are their names?] asked Nolan. [Hedge¡­ Hedge and Edge! They are twins that Zazu found while travelling outside.] ¡°Bring them to me. Call Zaza too.¡± [Yes¡­ Your Majesty!] Chapter 4: Twins Five minutes passed before Gege came back. He was carrying two children while Zaza walked shoulder to shoulder with him. [I greet His Majesty!] ¡°No need for pleasantries.¡± said Nolan with his attention fully focused on the two babies Gege was carrying. He didn''t care about the kneeling Zaza, at least not at the moment. ¡°Give them to me.¡± Gege then gave Nolan the children. It was two boys of about thirteen years of age. Both boys looked identical to one another, like looking at one''s reflection. The boys had dark chocolate skin, black hair and black eyes. There wasn''t anything extraordinary about these two black kids but Nolan was extremely interested in them. ¡°Introduce yourselves,¡± he said. ¡°My name is Hedge, I am thirteen years old and I was born without Mana Affinity.¡± analysed Hedge. ¡°My name is Edge, I am thirteen years old and I was born with Clogged Mana Veins.¡± answered Edge. The two boys answered honestly without hiding anything from Nolan. Nolan nodded in appreciation at their honesty and simple thinking. ¡°What about your surname, you haven''t told me that. Also, your Elemental Affinity, tell me that too.¡± ¡°We don''t have surnames because our father doesn''t believe that we are his children so he didn''t share his surname with us. Our mother also couldn''t give us her surname because if she did then it would be admitting that she had a relationship outside of marriage so we grew up without one. As for Elemental Affinity, I also don''t have it, Edge has Earth Affinity.¡± ¡°No surname? I guess you can give yourselves surnames once you grow up and start your own families. As for Hedge, your Talent is straight out trash, it shouldn''t even be called Talent, no wonder your father denied you at birth. If I were him, I''d have killed you the minute you were born. Your brother at least is not half bad.¡± said Nolan. ¡°Would you really do that if your child was born without Talent? Why do you treat us like this just because we don''t have Talent?!Ain''t I still your child?! Ain''t I still a living being with hopes and dreams?! I also have things I want to accomplish in life! I am human too! Why treat me like an animal when I''m clearly not?! Why judge me based on my Talent alone and overlook everything else?!¡±vented Hedge as tears ran down his face. He''d clearly suffered a lot while growing up and had a lot of pent up rage that was on the eve of exploding. For a child to experience such hardships at such an early age showed just how society could fuck someone''s entire life up. ¡°Okay then tell me, without Talent, what can you achieve? Can you fight? Can you protect that which you love? Can you take what you want? Wake up to reality! This is a dog eat dog world! This is an environment where only the strong thrive, weaklings have no place here! This is a place where only Strength can give you what you want, nothing else! Why do you think I''m here while you were kept captive somewhere? Why do you think he''s so respectful towards me?! Weaklings shouldn''t be allowed to dream, they shouldn''t be allowed to breathe, shouldn''t even exist!¡± said Nolan. Hedge wanted to retort but no words came out of his mouth. Every single word Nolan said was the truth and nothing but the truth. Hedge remembered when his mother begged to not be thrown out of their home. She was spared due to her previous contributions but the two brothers weren''t spared and were immediately given to the goblin king as a gift. Their mother was too weak to save them. He also remembered what their father used to tell them while they were living together; ¡°If you want to make it out of his hell hole then become strong. Become strong enough to be able to control your fate or strong enough to stop others from trying to control your fate.¡± ¡°But don''t worry, since you''re now under my wing, I''ll make sure that you reach the peak of your potential matter how small. You and your brother shall become my generals, killing whoever stands in my way. You shall pave my blood with the blood and corpses of my enemies! Your names shall resound far and wide, bringing fear to those who hear it.¡± said Nolan with excitement. His eyes glowed crazily in excitement for the near future. ¡­ The two kids were taken away by Gege to their new rooms since they were now under Nolan''s protection, their status had changed and were now being treated like VIP''s. Now, only Nolan and Zaza were left in the king''s chambers and Zaza was still kneeling in front of Nolan, who now sat on his throne which was much bigger than Nolan. ¡°Do you know about the geography of Earth currently? If so then provide me with all the information that you have and don''t leave anything out. Also, explain to me the current situation of the world regarding the powerhouses, their territories, their source of power and everything in between.¡± said Nolan. ¡­ A few hours later, Zaza finally finished explaining what he knew about Earth and its current situation. ¡°You''re dismissed!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty¡± Nolan was now left alone in his room so he could now digest the information he obtained. The information he obtained shocked him to the core. Currently, there were five continents that made up Earth Five Continents, Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and Ice Continents. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. These continents were extremely massive, so massive that they were bigger than actual planets and the previous Earth could be compared to a small country or island that are around the coasts of every continent. There also existed floating islands, Dungeons, Towers, Gates and other kinds of phenomena. Countless Races now lived in Earth, some lived in isolation while others acted in the open, created kingdoms and empires that withstood the test of time and existed even today. And the place they were currently in was actually a small island along the coast of the Earth Continent. Half of this continent was owned by humans and majority of the land was in the hands of the Zodiac Families since they were leading figures of humanity and held immense power. ¡°Hahaha! Hahaha! Ah hahaha! You old geezers thought that I''d run out of lifespan and actually die in that mountain cave! Unfortunately for you, luck is on my side! Earth has become exciting¡­ very exciting, hahaha! I wonder if the flesh of Elves is more delicious than that of Dragons! The Power System Limit has also increased, now, there are realms that far surpass the Celestial Realm! This is truly a good time to live!¡± Chapter 5: Boys Improvement ¡°Zaza, is His Majesty still not out of close door training?¡± asked Gege. ¡°Yes, why do you ask?¡± answered Zaza. ¡°I''ve heard from the humans that the Recruitments Event is about to begin so I wanted to pass on this information to His Majesty.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, I''ll pass on your message to His Majesty once his seclusion has come to an end.¡± ¡°You''ve been saying that for the past three years, at least come up with something new!¡± said Gege angrily. If it was before, Gege wouldn''t dare speak to Zaza like this but now that they were both of the same status he spoke freely. Zaza didn''t lash out at Gege but remained calm. It was as if showing emotions, especially anger, was beneath him. ¡°If there''s nothing else then you may lea¡­¡± suddenly the door behind Zaza showed signs of opening. Then it fully opened and Nolan came out with a smile on his face. ¡°Mhmm. How I missed the taste of fresh air. The feeling of sunlight making contact with my skin. I think I won''t enter seclusion for a while, oh Gege, you''re also here, I didn''t see you there.¡± said Nolan. ¡°Greetings to His Majesty, congratulations on your fruitful close door training!¡± ¡°Greetings to His Majesty, congratulations on your fruitful close door training!¡± Both Gege and Zaza knelt down and greeted Nolan with utmost respect, more respectful than three years ago. They weren''t so respectful because they suddenly had a change of heart. No! They were respectful because of what they were currently feeling, they were respectful because of what their instincts and senses were telling. ¡®Absolutely do not antagonise this monster!!!¡¯ is what their feelings, senses and instincts were telling them. If previously, Nolan was just a murderous tiger, now, he was a murderous tiger with wings and no one was safe. The power he was currently releasing was unlike anything they''d ever felt before, it was heavy, overwhelming and oppressive. And it wasn''t just these two that felt Nolan''s terrifying strength, everyone living in the Goblin Village felt it and they all knelt down and greeted. [KRRRRRRRR] [KRRRRRRRR] [KRRRRRRRR] Since many goblins weren''t capable of human speech, they just spoke in their native languages. Seeing this scene, Nolan''s smile became even brighter as he quite loved this feeling of being revered as a god. ¡­ ¡°Speak.¡± After the commotion he caused, Nolan decided to return to his chambers and have Zaza rebrief him on the current situation. The person he was speaking to now was Gege who''d initially come here to report something important to Nolan. ¡°My Lord, what I came here to report today is about the upcoming Recruitments Event that''s about to take place. It usually occurs every ten years and¡­¡± Gege began to explain what exactly the Recruitments Event was and how significant of an opportunity this was for the masses. Basically, the Recruitments Event is an event that takes place once every ten years. It was created a long time ago by the big organisations that rule Earth. Once every ten years, these organisations will host a joint event where everyone below a certain age or someone of certain qualities will be recruited by an interested organisation. This organisation will then use its resources to nurture the chosen participant in exchange for joining their organisation. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After the chosen participant has grown to a certain level, they then help their organisation to obtain more territory, fame, status or power, anything that can help the organisation grow stronger. Sort of like an investment. These organisations could either be Sects, Guilds, Clans, Families and other hidden organisations. Some were in the open while others operated in the dark. ¡°Mhmm.¡± Nolan nodded. ¡°Reporting to My Lord, nothing major has happened in the course of three years that you were in seclusion. There were a few problems that needed¡­¡± Zaza also gave his report to Nolan but it wasn''t as important as Gege''s. ¡°Where are the twins? Tell them to meet me at the village gates. We''re going to visit our neighbours.¡± ¡­ Two extremely tall teenage boys stood in front of Nolan, they had the exact same appearance and if not for their physical conditions, it would be extremely difficult to set them apart. One of the teen boys, who was wearing a beast skin that only covered his private parts stood calmly in the open. His height at three and a half meters which was astounding for a pureblooded human He had perfectly developed muscles that made him look like a golden age bodybuilder champion. Next to this viking of a boy was his brother who wasn''t as tall as him, he also wasn''t bulky but rather had a lean body. This boy''s hair was dirty and filled with sand, his feet dug deep into the sand on the ground. These two boys were obviously Hedge and Edge, the bulky one being Hedge and the dirty haired being Edge. These two had improved by leaps and the course of three years that they''d been living here. Before entering his own seclusion, Nolan had designed a custom made Meditation Art for Edge and a Training Art for Hedge who couldn''t use Mana in the atmosphere. The reason why he could do this wasn''t just because he was a genius but also that the amount of knowledge he had of the human anatomy was as vast and expansive as experienced surgeons. This was also why the goblins were tasked with guarding the village, Nolan hadn''t made Meditation Arts for them because his knowledge of the goblin anatomy is still insignificant. Whoosh! Bang! Nolan out of nowhere struck Hedge with a powerful punch, since it was so sudden and unexpected, Hedge barely managed to raise his hand and block the punch. The palm and punch collided and released an explosion like sound, the force of the collision created a dust cloud. Using the dust as camouflage, Nolan moved at incredible speed and attacked Edge who was standing beside Hedge. Edge though didn''t even move a muscle, the ground rose to create an earth wall that blocked Nolan''s punch. Nolan though didn''t give up, he increased his speed to create afterimages and attacked Edge from all directions but every single attack of his was blocked by Edge¡¯s earth wall. It was like he was the favourite son of earth and it wouldn''t allow even a single attack to pass through it. ¡°Hihihi, hahaha! Nolan, you''ve really done it this time! Hahaha, this is gonna be fun! This is definitely gonna be fun, hahaha!¡± laughed Nolan like a madman who had just been given toys to play with. He then looked at Zaza, Riri, Gege and the others with great anticipation for the future. He was wondering what kind of monsters these goblins would become once they had obtained custom made Meditation Arts. ¡®I''ll have to look out for all sorts of Meditation Arts on this trip but mostly importantly¡­ I must get me some delicious food, jijiji!¡¯ Chapter 6: Small Town The neighbour that Nolan was actually talking about was the neighbouring island called Small Town that was occupied by humans. This island also wasn''t exactly an island since it had a part of it still connected to the Earthen Continent. And rather than calling it a country, it was rather called an island because of how small it actually was as compared to the countries, even those considered small were actually bigger than it. The architect of this place was no different from that of the high class residents from 2024. Only a few things had changed here and there but the infrastructure hadn''t changed much. Beautiful houses with swimming pools, beautiful gardens and lawns, vast land and big mansions, luxurious cars that could now fly, robots that now did all the household chores. It had some futuristic taste to it but wasn''t too futuristic. There was only one skyscraper in Small Town and it also acted as a watch tower to guard enemies coming from the sea. Also, the most influential people lived here and so did the City Lord. Of course the most influential in Small Town, not the most influential people on the continent. Currently, the City Lord was having a sumptuous meal that only people like him could afford. There was a large piece of salmon fish cooked to perfection, full chicken, full turkey, pork, juicy ribs, lobster, etc. Just looking at this food would make even a monk want to quit Buddhism. Just behind the City Lord who was happily enjoying his meal, a butler with a bald head and moustache stood calmly behind the man. He wore his uniform and stood there with a stern expression while hanging a white cloth on his forearm. Knock! Knock! Knock! The City Lord ignored the knocking on the golden door and continued eating, the butler was the one who went to check what was going on. Five minutes later the butler came back and whispered something in the City Lord''s ear. The City Lord just nodded and continued eating. ¡°Give me five minutes.¡± After saying that, his eating speed suddenly increased. The full chicken was devoured in just two bites. The lobster shell wasn''t even removed before it was also devoured and in just five minutes, he''d finished eating all the food on the table. He then drank an entire wine bottle before taking the cloth on the butler''s arm and wiped his mouth clean. Burrrrp~ ¡°Let''s go.¡± ¡­ Although Small Town didn''t have a humongous wall to protect the residents, it did have a massive barrier that was invisible most of the time. Only when attacked would the barrier show itself, it was also due to this reason that City Lord didn''t panic after he received the news. Small Town had two gates that were used for entry, West Gate and East Gate. West Gate was for those coming from the sea and East Gate for those coming from the continent and in most cases, it was his superiors who showed up once in a while. Now, the City Lord, his butler and a few guards approached the West Gate to welcome their unexpected visitors coming from afar. ¡°James my friend, it seems you still haven''t lost weight after a few years of not seeing each other. If you don''t start exercising now, I''m afraid you won''t be able to sire an heir since any woman would be crushed under your weight, hahaha!¡± said the person on the other side of the barrier. ¡°Zaza, still with that vile mouth of yours I see. Just who the fuck taught you the human language?!¡± answers James aka the City Lord. ¡°You know how much of a genius I am so I taught myself the language, hehe. Pretty oppressive right?¡± Although it sounded like an exchange from old friends who hadn''t seen each other in a while, their words were filled with hostility and hatred for one another. Nolan who was standing in front studied the man called James. He was very tall, about two meters tall, bald head, scar on the right side of his eye and fat, extremely fat. He wore a red suit that together with his appearance, made him look like a mafia boss rather than a City Lord with paperwork. James on the other hand ignored Nolan and instead looked at the extremely tall teenage boys who were even taller than him. One muscular and the other lean, one with an imposing aura and the other with a reserved aura. ¡®These boys¡­ why do they look so familiar as though I''ve seen them somewhere?¡¯ thought James to himself as he finally stood a few meters from the barrier. ¡°Gentlemen, what brings you here?¡± asked James. ¡°We want a pass into the continent and you''re the only person I know with such capabilities. It won''t be for free of course, just name your price.¡± Zaza didn''t beat around the bush and went straight to the point. It wasn''t uncommon for nonhuman creatures to want to enter the continent and it also wasn''t prohibited. It would usually take a week after screening and filling out paperwork before being approved but it costed quite a sum of money and only those who could afford to pay the price would be accepted. James knew that Zaza was rich like him so there was no way he would come to him instead of doing things legally. Of course the process would be faster with his help but still, he felt that something wasn''t quite right. ¡°You know that this might cost you an arm and leg right, are you still willing to pay such a price?¡± asked James with a sharp gaze. ¡°Cut the nonsense and get on with it already. I came here prepared for the cost but I also have additional conditions. Instead of Guest QRC, I want Residential QRC''s¡± ¡°Fine, just as long you''re willing to pay the price.¡± These so called Guest QRC''s and Residential QRC''s were actually like visas for immigrants. QRC was short for QR code which was carved on one''s wrist and all of your information that you filled in would be inside this QR code, together with your bank accounts and other relevant information. Now, the difference between a Guest QRC and a Residential QRC was that the former had a time limit for how much time you could stay inside the continent, of course in an owned territory with rules and policies. As for the Residential QRC, it was like having a citizenship of that place you are visiting and it came with other percs. ¡°Follow me then, I''ll show you where you''ll be staying these few days and Zaza, don''t you dare cause me trouble or else¡­ don''t blame me for being ruthless.¡± said James. ¡°Relax, I didn''t come here for your lazy ass. I''m preparing for the Recruitments Event.¡± S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°But you''ve already surpassed the age limit so how do you plan on participating?¡± ¡°It''s not me who''s participating but them. I found out that the kids you gave me three years ago actually have a lot of potential. Fortunately I didn''t eat them the moment I obtained them or else I''d regret this decision for the rest of my life, hahaha!¡± ¡°WHAT?! IT''S THEM?! NO WONDER THEY LOOK SO FAMILIAR! IF THE SOILDATI WERE TO SEE THEM NOW, I WONDER HOW THEY''D REACT!¡± James exclaimed with a shocked expression. ¡°Hehe, who knew that the rocks you gave me would actually turn out to be hidden gems that just needed a little bit of polishing.¡± ¡°Lucky bastard! How can an ugly thing like you have so much luck! I''m certain that lady luck is actually blind!¡± ¡°Fuck you!¡± Chapter 7: Age? Three uneventful days with Nolan and his group cooped up in their villa. Not once did they leave the villa to check out what kind of place it actually was. And it wasn''t like City Lord James told them to not leave the villa, and the man and his butler came a few times to check up on them. Nolan just waited patiently to complete his QRC as it was most important for his future plans. Finally, after three days it was finally time to complete the QRC process. City Lord James came into their villa carrying with him a tablet that looked extremely advanced. It was as thin as a booklet, had a clear and bright screen and could change colours with but a simple command. ¡°Greetings everyone, I hope you''re all fine. After a few days of waiting, it''s finally time to complete the QRC process. I''m gonna need everyone to answer a few questions and after that, it''s done. Who''s first, come forward.¡± said Lord James. Gege was the first to complete the QRC process. Lord James asked him general questions like his name, surname, birthday, hobbies, interests, skills, race, gender and realm of power which he answered but a few questions were left unanswered and Lord James said it was fine. After the first step was complete, Lord James continued to type something on the tablet and two minutes later, the tablet floated by itself. It then changed from a tablet into a small black square shaped card with a QR code on display. This card then attached itself to Gege''s wrist but it wasn''t anything threatening. Gege felt a slight burn on his wrist but before he could react, the card had already changed back into its tablet form. The group was intrigued by the entire process. ¡°Next!¡± said Lord James. ¡­ In about ten minutes, all the goblins that had accompanied Nolan had QRC''s on their wrists. Some had their QRC on their left wrist while others had them on their right wrist. ¡°Next.¡± James didn''t care about their reactions and called the next person over. It seemed like he wanted to complete the QRC process as soon as possible and it seemed to be a tiring process because his forehead was covered in sweat, it was the same for Alfred the butler. ¡°My name is Hedge, sixteen years old, born 18 September 2134, my hobbies and interests are training, I''m a human and I''m a Nine Star Warrior.¡± ¡°Your name is Hedge? No wonder you looked so familiar, so it''s the twins! Wow, I didn''t expect you to actually find a way to grow stronger. Your family will definitely be shocked by this news. I assume this is your brother Edge, just tell me how strong he is and I''ll complete his QRC process too.¡± ¡°He''s also a Nine Star Warrior like me.¡± answered Hedge. James was shocked but didn''t continue to speak and just focused on his work. The two boys had their QRC¡¯s and it was finally Nolan''s turn. ¡°Name is Nolan, just Nolan. My hobby is eating delicious food. I''m most interested in rare ingredients with unique flavours. I also love having sex so yeah, that''s me. Oh and I''m a Nine Star Warrior.¡± ¡®How can all of you fucking not have last names! Are you fucking kidding me!¡¯ said Lord James internally. ¡°Age?¡± he asked. ¡°Age? Oh, my age but counting from the day I was sealed till now, I''d say I''m a thousand and something years old, I don''t know. Just say I''m a thousand and ten years old, that''ll do.¡± answered Nolan. Lord James quickly finished Nolan''s QRC process and wiped away his sweat using the white cloth Alfred gave him. He was internally shocked that Nolan who looked so young and acted his age was actually so old. ¡®A thousand years¡­ doesn''t that mean that he''s in the¡­¡± Lord James quickly stopped himself from thinking too much. After he was done, Zaza didn''t try to negotiate the cost price with him and just gave him a ring. Lord James took the ring and closed his eyes, a few seconds later, he widened his eyes in surprise and confusion. ¡°This¡­ this is too much¡­¡± he said while gulping hard. ¡°Take what I owe you and as for what''s left, just give me some money for it and it''s all yours. Transfer the money to my master''s account.¡± said Zaza calmly as though he was dealing with a trivial matter. ¡°Are you sure because some of these things are worth more than mon¡­¡± ¡°Are you buying or not? Cut the crap and give me a number, we don''t have all day!¡± ¡°It seems like you''re not playing jokes on me. Buying everything here at market price, I''ll give you a hundred million Mana Crystals, what do you think?¡± ¡°I''ll take it. Quickly make the transfer and we''re out of here.¡± Mana Crystals or MC as they call it is the current currency used on Earth. MC can be used for many things like powering up machines, activating Magic Circles/ Arrays, weapons, etc. But what made MC really valuable was the fact that it could be used as a Meditation Resource as MC were crystallised forms of Mana and using one was better than absorbing Mana from the atmosphere. And Mana was the Energy that allowed one to grow stronger and improve in their realm. It was this Energy that made it possible for planet Earth to become what it is today. ¡­ City Lord James and his butler Alfred watched as the group left Small Town and headed deeper into the continent. The two who had been sweating for a few days now had happy expressions. ¡°Alfred, do you think I made the correct decision this time? After all, I allowed that monster into the Earthen Continent, I can''t help but worry.¡± asked James. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Sire, I believe you made the correct decision. There''s nothing more important than preserving one''s life. If Sire chose violence then I''m absolutely certain that we''d already be in that monster''s stomach! Just how can someone have a gaze like that?! It''s not something humanly possible.¡± said Alfred in an old voice. ¡°Hahaha, there''s a lot of things that exist in this world that one may find impossible but you''re right. That gaze¡­ that''s not a gaze a human should possess. And to think we''ve had to endure it for three whole days, I couldn''t even sleep well.¡± said James. ¡°How fortunate you are Sire, I couldn''t even sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt like something was looking at me and I had to open them again. Fortunately that guy is finally gone, phew!¡± ¡°Alfred, do not speak of this matter to anyone and if your tongue does slip up, kill yourself immediately. That would be better than falling into the hands of that guy. Nolan¡­ just who are you?¡± ¡­ ¡°Master, what''s our first move now that all the preparations have been completed?¡± ¡°Wait a sec, let me check the map. Mhmm, we''re currently here and this trip will take us here, I got it. Our first move is information collecting so our first destination is here, buckle up, we''re going to B.I.N.C in Freed City!¡± Chapter 8: B.I.N.C Nolan and his group took a train to travel to their destination. The train didn''t look futuristic on the outside but was definitely futuristic on the inside. It looked small on the outside but once one entered, the space inside was huge. The seats were comfortable and the best leather was used on them. These seats could also move by themselves, and one didn''t need to walk around as these seats would take them where they wanted to go. There was also a mini restaurant, a sleeping area, a gaming area, gym area and all kinds of facilities. The train even had an isolation barrier in case someone wanted to talk about private stuff. This trip was also uneventful as other than going to the restaurant to eat, the group didn''t do anything else. Nolan and the group also saw many beautiful landscapes along the way, unfortunately Nolan didn''t get to see other races inside the train. ¡­ Two days later, the train finally arrived at their destiny but it was already dark outside. The group unboarded the train and followed the map that Lord James had gifted them. They were inside Freed City which was big and everything there was big. The buildings were big, the houses were big, the hovercrafts were also big. Along the way, Nolan saw people being accompanied by androids that looked no different from normal humans. The reason he could tell that they were actually machines was the fact that their bodies didn''t have any vitality. Surprisingly, the place wasn''t crowded at all, maybe it was because it was already dark. He also saw humans with animal ears like catgirls, dogmen, lizardmen and other types of mixed humans. These humans were called Demi-humans and weren''t ostracised by society and actually accepted and treated equally. The only people treated unequally all over the world were weak untalented people, no one wanted to mingle with them. ¡­ Nolan and his group travelled for about thirty minutes before they reached B.I.N.C. On the big building made entirely of glass but inside couldn''t be seen, the name of this place was written in bold letters that had a certain effect on people. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡®BEST INFORMATION NETWORK COMPANY!¡¯ In short, it was called B.I.N.C, there were people coming in and people going out. Some wore cloaks and disguises to hide their faces while others walked in the open without hiding themselves, Nolan and his entourage were one of those. They entered the building and upon entry, a small holographic screen with a young man appeared in front of them. ¡°Where do I pay, I want to be a Two Star VIP Member.¡± interrupted Nolan. Two minutes later, a person wearing a formal suit and a mask approached Nolan and invited him into his office. This was the agent that he was waiting for. Nolan followed the agent as they entered the elevator and went to the second floor. It was very quiet on the second floor and not as crowded as the ground floor. There was a long hallway with many offices and the masked man led Nolan into one of the offices. Inside the office, there was only a tablet and chairs. ¡°Greetings, I''m Masked Man 0034. I''ll be assisting you with becoming a VIP Member here and B.I.N.C, if you have a question, please feel free to ask.¡± ¡­ ¡°Congratulations Mr Nolan, you are now a Two Star VIP Member of our company. As a Two Star VIP you''re entitled to a twenty percent discount when purchasing information. You can now also access classified information. Your personal information will only be accessed by staff of the same or higher level and nobody else.¡± It took about ten minutes for Nolan to complete his subscription and Masked Man 0034 was now telling him about the perks of having such a status. ¡°I don''t necessarily care about that. I want information about the current world, its powers and influences, its enemies and owners. Everything about the world.¡± said Nolan. ¡°Since you''re a Two Star VIP Member, this information will be for free since it isn''t that valuable. So the world is¡­blah¡­ blah¡­blah¡­¡± The agent began to give Nolan all the information he needed. The information that he''d obtained from Zaza wasn''t completely accurate. The Zodiacs didn''t have complete ownership of over half of the Earthen Continent, instead, they were one of the peak powers of this continent. There were kingdoms, families, clans, guilds and sects who also ruled parts of not just the Earthen Continent but the world itself. Nolan also asked about the Recruitments Event and obtained more information than what Gege had given him. If one was over a hundred years old they couldn''t participate in this event. And only extremely talented people would be selected. After asking a few more important stuff, Nolan left the office with the agent accompanying him all the way to the exit. At the ground floor, Nolan saw a young man about eighteen years of age quickly rushing out of the building with his bodyguards. Nolan was intrigued by this young man and couldn''t help but ask the agent who he was. ¡°I''m sorry Mr Nolan but I cannot disclose the young man''s information since he''s a VIP Member far above me. All I know is that he''s Loid of the Roan Kingdom.¡± ¡°That''s all I needed to know.¡± said Nolan with a smile. He then left the building with his subordinates who had been patiently waiting for him and once out. They took a taxi to the best restaurant in town since Nolan was now hungry. ¡­ ¡°Master, did you get what you wanted?¡± asked Zaza. ¡°Hehe, I got more than I was expecting. Now, I can finally start planning my moves perfectly but we''ll talk about that after dinner.¡± Twenty minutes later, they reached their destination. It was a five star restaurant with only positive reviews. It was a restaurant called Ben''s Restaurant. Inside the restaurant, the air was fresh, the place was sparkling clean and all the tables and chairs were made from ashwood, a very high quality and expensive wood. This place had five floors and to reach these floors, one simply had to be rich. One simply had to show the bouncers their bank balance and they''d be allowed up. Nolan of course didn''t know about this but he did see the young man going up the stairs and decided to follow him. The bouncers were about to block his path when his blue eyes changed colour and became crimson red. ¡°Move!¡± Chapter 9: Love Triangle The two bouncers were scared that they complied immediately and involuntarily moved to the sides. It couldn''t be helped though, they were just ordinary Nine Star Warriors who were there only for show. Such a situation had never before occurred since those who came here loved saving face so they''d never forced their way up. Also, everyone knew just how powerful the owner of this place was and no one dared to offend him. If Nolan knew that one simply had to show off their wealth to go up, he wouldn''t have done this as he didn''t like unnecessary trouble but he didn''t. They rushed up the stairs, following behind the young man with bodyguards. The young man didn''t stay on the first floor and continued up, Nolan also did the same. The young man walked all the way to the fifth and last floor. There, it was very quiet and peaceful, the tables were arranged neatly and this time, golden wood was used for furniture. Although there were diners there, they all kept quiet and just enjoyed their food. Soft music was being played and only if one focussed on it would they hear it and truly relax and enjoy hemselves. Nolan saw the young man sit at an empty table while his bodyguards stood behind him. Nolan also found a place to sit, Hedge, Edge, Zaza and Riri sat with him while the rest remained standing. There was a menu and small bell on the table. Nolan took the menu and looked at it but as soon as he opened it, his eyes widened in shock and awe. The cheapest dish here costed around Eleven million MC and the most expensive priced at Twenty million MC. Nolan didn''t throw a fit when he saw the prices but rang the bell and ordered something to eat. He ordered a meal called Smoked Warthog that costed Thirteen million MC. The one to take his order was a young man with an unassuming appearance. After he placed the order, he carefully studied the young man whom he followed here. This young man had extremely huge asymmetrical pitch black eyes, a small nose, mouth and ears. Grey skin and skinny body. He wore a huge black robe with long collars that covered most of his body and showed only his head. The young man kept looking or rather peeking at someone from time to time. ¡®Loid Roan is it?¡¯ thought Nolan to himself. He then gazed at the person whom Loid kept peeking at and it was a young lady. A beautiful young lady with long black hair, black eyes, pinkish white smooth skin. Her body similar to that of female athletes, not too big and not too small, just big enough where it needed to be. She wore a beautiful red dress with long sleeves and showed off her cleavage. ¡®Ah, I see, a femme fatale¡¯ While studying the young lady, he realised that this girl was actually peeking at someone else and her face would turn red everytime she looked at that person. ¡®A love triangle? Let me see who is it that''s making you blush so much.¡¯ Nolan suddenly found his vision blocked by someone. It was the waiter who had brought him his food. ¡®So quick!¡¯ The warthog took up all the space of the silver platter. Its meat had been cut into slices and placed around the platter in a creative way and only the head with an apple in its mouth hadn''t been touched. The food looked and smelled delicious that Nolan began dedicating. ¡°Boys and girl, let''s dig in!¡± he said. Gege and the others stood around the table and also began to eat with everyone. After one bite, the group couldn''t help take another, then another. They just kept biting, chewing and swallowing, even when they were full, they kept stuffing themselves with food. They only stopped when their stomachs bulged. Only Nolan who''s stomach was like a blackhole kept eating. He only felt full when he''d finished eating the warthog''s head which was super delicious. His stomach also had a little bulge which he rubbed in satisfaction. Now full, all the goblins fell asleep while Hedge and Edge sat in meditation position. Truth was that this food contained energy inside it, energy that was beneficial to the body after being digested. Since the goblins didn''t have Mediation Arts, they fell asleep. Mediation Arts were the keys one needed to grow stronger. They were like formulas that the body used to solve the problem of energy absorbed into the body. Once Mana was absorbed into the body, the Meditation Art would guide and direct the energy to where it needed to go without hurting the body. Depending on the quality of the Meditation Art, the pace of growing stronger would either be slow or fast. And the less flaws the Meditation Art had, the firmer the foundation one would have and the higher they''d be able to go in the future. For example, Nolan''s previous Meditation Art, it allowed him to devour other people''s Mana and help him grow stronger at a fast pace. But because it had many flaws, the energy that Nolan absorbed wasn''t pure and his Meditation Art also didn''t purify it unlike other Meditation Arts. This made him have a flawed foundation. Once he reached the Constellation Realm, Nolan felt that he''d never improve in strength ever again unless he started over. This was how important a flawless Meditation Art was. This was also why he wanted custom made Meditation Arts for the goblins. ¡®What was I doing again? Oh right, the mysterious third person of this love triangle.¡¯ Nolan then turned again to look at whom the girl was secretly peeking at but there was no one there. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡®Where did he go?!¡¯ Then, Nolan realised that someone had joined the girl at her table. The person was wearing a robe that hid his appearance and only his eyes could be seen through the hoody. Nolan was very annoyed by this but the annoyance didn''t last long because the person removed the hoodie and showed their face. He had glistening golden hair, hair that seemed to be made up of the cosmos, extremely beautiful hair. Just looking at it made one feel like they were standing in a star system and appreciating its beauty. His black eyes were shaped like a star compass, deep and profound. His skin was fair and smooth with an indescribable glow to it. And between his eyebrows was a small star compass tattoo that gave the illusion that it was spinning. This man wasn''t handsome. This man was simply beautiful, he was the most beautiful person everyone here had ever seen. His aura was gentle but as vast as the galaxy. While everyone admired and even complimented the man''s beauty, Nolan was looking at something else. Nolan was even drooling as he looked at this man, his eyes glowed so brightly in their crimson red colour that the goblins woke up in fright. Hedge and Edge also stopped their meditation and looked at their master fearfully. ¡°Oh my god¡­ he looks so delicious¡­ I want to eat his head¡­no! His heart first¡­ what does his blood taste like¡­ gulp¡­ slurp¡­¡± said Nolan with hungry eyes and drooling mouth. If not for the food he just ate, he probably couldn''t have stopped himself from making a move. ¡°Everyone listen up, our plans have temporarily changed. What we''re going to do¡­ is hunt Him down!¡± Chapter 10: A Deal The beautiful man felt a fervent gaze directed at him but when he checked who it was that was looking, he didn''t see the person as the intense gaze only lasted for an instant. The beautiful man wondered just who it was who had such a gaze that made him feel uneasy because he hadn''t felt this feeling in a long time. On the other hand, Nolan quickly subdued his impulses and quickly looked away. He didn''t do this because he was afraid of the beautiful man, rather, he was afraid of the beautiful man running away before the hunt even began. Now that Nolan had calmed down, he stood up and walked towards Loid''s direction. The young man was currently fuming with anger and jealousy. His fists and teeth were clenched, his eyes were like that of a crazed person. ¡°Excuse me but can I join you.¡± said Nolan from afar. The reason he did this was so that the Loid''s bodyguards didn''t suddenly jump on him. Loid was about to refuse but Nolan continued speaking. ¡°I can help you get her and not just that, I can even create an opportunity for you to fuck her for a night.¡± Seeing Loid not responding, one of the guards was about to chase Nolan away when Loid made a gesture to the man. The man then returned to his position and acted as if nothing happened. Nolan then took a seat and calmly faced Loid. ¡°Who are you and what''s in it for you?¡± asked Loid. Nolan was surprised not by Loid''s question but by the fact that the young man spoke directly to this mind. ¡°Telepathy? Interesting. Let''s just say I''m the type of guy who loves the heat but can''t handle too much of it if you know what I mean.¡± answered Nolan. ¡°No. No I don''t know what you mean so speak in a language I can understand otherwise leave!¡± said Loid coldly. He was already in a bad mood and Nolan''s roundabout way of speaking annoyed him even more. ¡°I want to kill that guy but I''m afraid of whatever power is behind him. To kill him, I''m gonna need you to be my shield after the job is done. I don''t want to lay my head low and live like a rat. I want my freedom even after I''ve killed him.¡± ¡°Hahaha, you have quite useful eyes. As you''ve deduced, I''m from the Roan Kingdom and I can definitely protect you after the job is done but I have one condition, I want that man''s corpse after the job is done.¡± ¡°No can do! Absolutely no can do! You can take whatever is on his body or in his storage artifact but the body''s mine and I won''t trade it for anything.¡± shouted Nolan. ¡°Fine, you can keep the corpse but I want proof of the man''s death, physical proof! And I also want to know what exactly you plan to do with his corpse.¡± ¡°Deal. As for corpse, of course I''m going to eat it, what else do you think I''m gonna do with it?¡± ¡°Eat it?!¡± ¡°Yes. I don''t know if you''ve realised but that man looks very tasty and delicious.¡± Nolan''s eyes gleaned as he also drooled just thinking about him. Looking at Nolan''s eyes, Loid felt like he was in a sea of blood and within this sea, something was swimming around in circles but he couldn''t see what exactly it was and the moment he let his guard down, a massive mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth devoured him whole and he came back to reality. ¡°Aargh!!!¡± he screamed. His entire body was drenched in sweat and his face was pale. His eyes were full of dread as he looked at Nolan. ¡°You¡­ you¡­ what are you?!¡± asked Loid. ¡°A carnivore. A carnivore on the road to becoming an apex predator.¡± said Nolan nonchalantly. ¡°Let me give you a piece of advice, don''t probe into my mind or you might just go crazy, this is a friendly warning. The last time someone did that, their head exploded.¡± Loid suddenly felt that the person he was working with was far more dangerous than any person he''d met in his life. More dangerous than even his parents. He knew that if he wanted to work with Nolan, he had to calculate every step he took. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°And the girl. How do you plan on convincing her to sleep with me because she clearly has no interest in me. Are you going to drug her or something, if so then that won''t work, she can detect all kinds of poisons, even colourless, tasteless and ordourless one''s.¡± ¡°Oh her. Its quite simple actually. We''re going to kidnap her and then you''ll just fuck her, nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°What?! But what if she doesn''t want to sleep with me?¡± ¡°Are you an idiot? If she doesn''t want to then you''ll obviously fuck her by force. Haven''t you done that before?¡± said Nolan while looking at Loid like he was an idiot. ¡°You mean¡­ rape her?!¡± ¡°Yes. If you can''t have her heart, at least you''ll have her body, it''s better than nothing. Plus, courting girls is just too troublesome, especially those who don''t like you but lead you along. I''ve raped women plenty of times before and the experience¡­ out of this world.¡± ¡®What the fuck have I gotten myself into? This dude is crazy!¡¯ thought Loid to himself. After a few minutes of thinking, Loid finally agreed but said that him and Nolan had to sign a Blood Contract. He took out an old parchment from his space ring and filled in the content of the deal then dropped some blood of his blood on it. Nolan had never seen this method before and was quite intrigued, he read the contract and saw that nothing was amiss and also dropped some of his blood on it. The parchment was then engulfed in flames and turned to ashes. ¡°I truly hope that we can have a long term cooperation and not stab each other in the back. Also, that punishment for anyone who breaches the contract is quite severe but I like that.¡± said Nolan. ¡°How do I contact you?¡± asked Loid. ¡°Give me your Star Watch Account, after I buy one for myself, I''ll contact you then.¡± answered Nolan. ¡°That might take a while. Here, use this one, I usually keep a spare just jn case something happens to the one I''m using. After you''ve created an account. Give me a holla.¡± said Loid as he gave Nolan a transparent watch as thin as a booklet. It looked similar to the tablet Lord James used to create their QRC''s. Nolan took it and pressed it on his left wrist where his QRC was and as soon as he did that, the watch released a green light that scanned his QRC and filled itself with necessary information. Nolan then answered some questions and in a few minutes, he was done. He then greeted Loid using the messaging app on the watch that had turned completely invisible. ¡°We shall meet again when I''ve completed my part of the promise.¡± Nolan then stood up and left. Loid looked at his back for a long time before he also chose to leave. ¡°Let''s go¡­ home!¡± Chapter 11: Probing Nolan watched as Loid left the place but he chose not to. He ordered a few drinks which costed a few hundred thousand MC but for what he was about to do, it was totally worth it. The goblins had already gone to sleep again and the twins were meditating in silence. Nolan enjoyed the drinks, he quite liked the feeling of intoxication, his thoughts becoming incoherent and his mind blurry. The reason why he loved getting drunk was because of how clear his thoughts would be and he would better understand himself. It''s often said that a drunk person tells no lies which to some extent was true. When drunk, whatever you saw or heard either about you or someone else, you''d approach the person who spoke about you or the subject of topic and confront them. This is why people with secrets, especially those who keep to themselves don''t like alcohol since it makes them vulnerable. As Nolan introspected himself, time flew by and after a few hours, the restaurant was almost empty. Only Nolan and his group and the beautiful man and the girl he was sitting with were left. Another hour passed and it was very late now. ¡°Greeting customer. I''m sorry to interrupt everyone''s good time but it''s already time for us to close the restaurant, please kindly vacate the premises. We''ll open again at eight o''clock in the morning.¡± said the ordinary waiter after appearing from nowhere. The beautiful man and the girl didn''t make things difficult for the young waiter and left peacefully. Nolan also woke up the goblins and the group left. Nolan was smiling the entire time and would sometimes giggle or laugh out loud. The group found this side of Nolan extremely comedic, especially when he reprimanded or slapped himself. Once everyone had left the restaurant, the doors were locked behind them and the lights turned off. ¡°Riri, which way?¡± asked Nolan. ¡°That way.¡± she answered. The group then increased their pace until they saw two people walking while holding hands not far from them. It was the beautiful man and the girl. ¡°Hey¡­ hey you¡­ wait up¡­ wait for me¡­ I just want to talk to you about something¡­ Hey!¡± said Nolan drunkenly as he ran after the couple. When he was close, he reached out his hand to grab the man''s shoulder. ¡°Wait up bro¡­¡± he said. When he was about to grab the man''s shoulder, the beautiful man grabbed him first without even looking back. He then turned around still holding Nolan''s wrist and sent a punch aimed at his face. Nolan tilted his neck to the side and the punch only grazed his cheek. Now,one would think that the beautiful man was overreacting for attacking someone who just wanted to chat but if one looked at Nolan''s hand that the beautiful man grabbed, they''d be able to see sharp nails that resembled claws. ¡°Hehe¡­ I guess my sneak attack failed.¡± said Nolan as he also grabbed the man''s hand that just missed his face. Nolan attacked again, this time executing a knee kick which landed squarely on the man''s stomach but he didn''t even flinch. Nolan expression also changed because the force of his attack was absorbed and dispersed once it came into contact with the beautiful man or rather his clothes. The beautiful man then flung away Nolan''s hand that he''d grabbed hold of to create an opening. He then struck Nolan''s chest with a powerful punch. Dong! Nolan though wasn''t sent flying by this punch since he had held onto the other man''s arm and he quickly made a move, before the beautiful man could react. He held the other beautiful man''s arm and unleashed a brokick, aiming to rip the man''s arms off his body. [Skill: Mana Outburst!] The beautiful man used a skill to help him escape the danger. This skill compressed one''s Mana within their body and released it from all directions throughout the body. Nolan was sent flying a few meters back but he instantly appeared in front of the beautiful man. [Skill: Joints Severing!] Nolan aimed his sharp claws at the beautiful man''s joints and in a swift motion, had attacked all body joints. But Nolan wasn''t happy because there was no blood on his claws and no blood coming out from the man''s joints. Nolan''s attack that penetrated through the beautiful man''s defensive clothes but failed to penetrate through his skin, all that was help was white lines that quickly disappeared. ¡®Such a strong body!¡¯ But Nolan wasn''t one to give up that easily, unfortunately the split second that he was distracted, the beautiful man acted quickly. A powerful punch landed squarely on Nolan''s face and sent him flying, he crashed into a building but didn''t even leave cracks on it. The beautiful man didn''t continue to attack but stared at his fist with surprise. Nolan was feeling extremely dizzy and great pain on his face and back that he stopped attacking. Seeing an opportunity, the beautiful man quickly ran away with the girl and in just seconds, they''d already disappeared from sight. Nolan took a about a minute to recover and once he did, he only said one word. ¡°Riri.¡± ¡°I can''t track them. They''re already fled very far away so I can''t track them in a short period of time.¡± said Riri behind Nolan. ¡°Don''t worry, you''ve done enough. Let''s find a place to sleep. I didn''t expect such a beautiful man to know how to punch¡­ almost dislocated my jaw.¡± said Nolan while trying to stand up. ¡°Master, why did you suddenly attack that man. Didn''t you say that we had to be patient and careful in order not to scare him away.¡± asked Guga. ¡°What do you know?! Y''all don''t know anything! In order to successfully hunt your prey, you should first find out what they are capable of. What I did is called¡­ Probing.¡± ¡°Probing?¡± repeated Gege. ¡°No, prancing.¡± said Nolan sarcastically. Gege just kept quiet knowing that he''d said something stupid. ¡°And from this Probing, I obtained a lot of crucial information. Hunting that guy might not be so difficult afterall.¡± said Nolan while rubbing his cheek. ¡­ While Nolan and his group were looking for a place to stay, the beautiful man and the girl had run quite far. The beautiful man and the girl were standing atop a building. ¡°Who are you? Why did you send those guys after me?¡± said the beautiful man while choking the girl. ¡°I¡­ don''t¡­ know¡­ what¡­ your¡­ talking¡­ about¡­!¡± she said in great difficulty. ¡°Don''t lie to me! Why did he only attack me and leave you, plus, why didn''t you help me if you were not on his side.¡± he said. ¡°I''m¡­ innocent¡­ I don''t¡­ even¡­ know¡­ who¡­ he¡­ is¡­ I¡­ promise¡­ Please¡­ let¡­ go¡­ of¡­ me¡­ and¡­ let''s¡­ talk¡­ about¡­ this¡­¡± the girl''s face was turning blue from the lack of air. The beautiful man looked at the girl coldly for a while before finally letting go of her. The girl coughed hysterically while gasping for air but the man didn''t care in the slightest. He just gazed at the stars in the night sky. ¡°Crouching dragons and hidden tigers¡­ but grandpa, you didn''t tell me about vicious snakes and bloodthirsty demons. Listen here you bitch, I don''t want to see you ever again, if I do, I''ll kill you!¡± said the man as his body began to glow in starlight and disappeared right then and there. ¡°Wait¡­ don''t go!¡± shouted the girl with tears in her eyes. A small white snake coiled around her neck and hissed. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Shut up! If not for your warning, I would have helped me! Stupid snake and your instincts! What do your instincts say, now that my future husband is gone?!¡± ~Hisssss~ Chapter 12: Combat Zone Loid who had also returned home was currently kneeling inside a massive room. There were no windows there, just tall metallic black walls and continually changed in shape. Loid didn''t know what kind of metal it was but it was very strong. A long black carpet with massive rune patterns was laid on the ground. The air was fresh and the Mana very dense and a tall throne made from the same black metal was erected there. On that throne was a person or rather an alien. He had huge big black eyes, taking up almost all the space of his face, two holes and a small mouth. He had a big triangular head, grey skin and the rest of his body couldn''t be seen. If Nolan were here, he''d recognise this person as the typical alien from old Earth sci-fi and fiction movies and series. He was wearing a shiny black coat with very long collars. Loid wasn''t alone here but with his bodyguards and all of them were kneeling. ¡°Greetings Lord Father, your son has returned home and seeks an audience.¡± said Loid respectfully. He could feel his father''s heavy gaze on him, the gaze of the King of the Roan Kingdom, Ro Roan. [Ah. So my most useless son has returned. I wonder what you came here for this time around. Money, toys or another chance as a Crown Prince Candidate perhaps?] spoke the man telepathically but unlike Loid''s, his was imbued with Force and power, making Loid almost lose consciousness. In fact, that was what he was aiming for but unexpectedly, this useless son of his hadn''t lost consciousness like he usually did. It obviously wasn''t the first time Loid had come here judging by his father''s words but the man always spoke telepathically with Loid and he''d faint every time. Loid knew the reason why his father did this, he simply didn''t like talking to him specifically. After enduring the mental stress without fainting, Loid smiled and even raised his head and looked up without his father''s permission. ¡°You misunderstand father. I didn''t come here for all those things, I only came here to prove a thought that''s been bugging my mind on my way here.¡± he said. [And what is your conclusion?] Ro asked. Loid was then enveloped by an invisible power and rose high up in the air until he was face to face with his father. ¡®Father''s Psychic Abilities?!¡¯ Loid was internally shocked because this was the first time something like this happened. It was also his first time in a long while seeing his father so up close. Loid directly made eye contact with his father and became dazed. Ro was unfazed by Loid''s actions and even seemed to enjoy them because for a split second, he actually smiled. Loid returned to his senses a few seconds later with his entire body drenched in sweat and his face pale. ¡°My conclusion is that my hypothesis was correct. That guy is indeed much more terrifying than you and mother!¡± said Loid with a smile so bright and genuine that Ro subconsciously pulled out his hand from under his shiny coat and stroked Loid''s cheek. ¡°My son¡­¡± this time Ro spoke with his mouth. A soft voice sounded in Loid''s ears, making him dazed once again as tears poured from his eyes. Loid seemed to be taken back to the past by this soft voice, unveiling old memories hidden deep in his mind. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Father¡­¡± ¡­ Nolan woke up feeling fresh, the pain on his cheek long gone after a night''s rest. Yesterday night, they actually didn''t have to travel far to find a place to sleep. Apart from the expensive hotels, there were also guest houses around the area and Nolan rented two rooms for a night. He slept on the bed while everyone else slept on the floor. Riri got her own room and slept peacefully. Actually, Riri and Zaza were actually a married couple but since Nolan didn''t ask, they never brought it up. Also, unlike humans who enjoy each other''s company and love having sex, goblins didn''t do any of that. The only time Zaza could fuck Riri was when she was in heat and it is also the only time that her current flat chest and ass would grow bigger and gain a more feminine body and appearance. Currently, she looked no different from the other goblins. Nolan could tell her apart from the others only because she wore accessories made from bones, like her necklaces, bracelets, ankle laces and earrings. This was the same for the other female goblins. This was why goblins kidnapped human females and raped them. It was to quickly grow the goblin population since humans didn''t need to go into heat in order to reproduce. And once goblins could speak, their sexual desires were replaced with a great desire for strength and power unlike the weak goblins who could easily succumb to their sexual desires. After the group took quick showers, they were ready to welcome the new day with open arms. ¡°Hey Meghan, request a ride to the Combat Zone for me. Don''t forget to pay.¡± said Nolan to his Star Watch. He''d named his A.I after a famous female celebrity crush who was absolutely gorgeous, Meghan Gud. ¡­ A hovercar came to pick them up. The trip to Combat Zone took around two hours to get there which Nolan hadn''t expected. Not just that, Combat Zone was in the middle of the desert. A huge colosseum was built in the middle of the desert. Hovercrafts of all kinds were parked outside. The group ignored the fancy hovercrafts and just went inside the colosseum where it was like a battle arena. There was an audience that was going crazy while watching the fights from below. Hundreds and thousands of people filled the fighting stage, giving it their all. There was a huge gate blocking the participants from leaving the arena once they entered. As soon as they entered the colosseum, a holographic screen appeared in front of them and provided all relevant information about the Combat Zone. As its name suggested, this was a place for one to hone their combat skills and combat experience. It didn''t matter if you had neither because once you join, obtaining both combat skills and combat experience was only a matter of time. This place got only positive reviews by those who''d joined before and it was run by two people, brothers in fact, Kriss and Kross. ¡°Hegde, Edge. This is the place I''ve chosen for you to continue improving, don''t let me down. As you are currently, you''re completely useless to me since you absolutely don''t know how to fight or how to use your strength efficiently. Become number one in this place and only then will you be my sword and shield. But for now, stay here. Also, you only have two more years to improve, after that, you''ll spend most of your time fighting so don''t waste this opportunity or my money!¡± ¡°We won''t disappoint you!¡± ¡°I really hope you don''t because in two years, I want to do something big and I''m gonna need the two of you as my right and left hand! Now go and show them who''s boss!¡± Chapter 13: Blazing Forge Guild Nolan and his group stood in the middle of the street, awed by what they were seeing. An absolutely enormous snake that had coiled itself was currently looking at them with its mouth open. It was so massive that it could even topple mountains and overflow rivers. It exuded a powerful pressure to those who stopped and stared at it. Its entire body was made from blue garnet gems that exuded the absolute peak of luxury. Its eyes made from the largest to ever exist blood diamonds, its forked tongue that was laid on the marble floor was made from mulberry silk and acted as carpet. Inside the snake''s mouth were transparent doors made from tempered glass. The doors were sensory type to ensure that no one touched them and left stains on them. This was Serpent Mall, one of the twelve largest malls built by humans. The interior design of this mall was even more gorgeous. Designed like a coiled snake''s spine with escalators, more tempered glass and just gold. Everything that wasn''t a shop was painted gold. The snake''s spine and its escalators, elevators, balcony bars, and chandeliers, etc. Only the floors weren''t golden in colour but silver. With how massive this mall was, Nolan didn''t even know where to go but fortunately, with the Star Watch, one could download the map of the mall and not get lost. Following the map, the group began walking, sometimes taking escalators, sometimes walking, other times using the elevator. It definitely took time, effort and patience and finally they reached their destination. The group stood outside the shop looking at the items on display. The design, layout and display of this store was absolutely beautiful. Behind the tempered glass, a red battleaxe, sword and spear were displayed on the left hand side of the shop entrance. A bow, two short swords and a black dagger were displayed on the right hand side of the shop''s entrance. The shop''s location, the placement of the items and the weapons themselves created the best form of attraction both to weapon and non-weapon lovers. ¡®BLAZING FORGE GUILD¡¯ This was the shop''s name and just looking at it pulled one into a world of extreme heat where burly men sang while hammering smelted iron to create their crafts. ¡°We''re finally here. Let''s go in.¡± Nolan and his group entered the seemingly empty shop. This shop was huge, at least 200 000 square meters. All kinds of weapons were placed on the walls of the shop, some in corners and some in random places. All of these weapons were protected by glass and one could only look and not touch. A staff of the shop wearing formal attire quickly approaches the group. He seemed to suddenly appear from thin air. His shirt had an emblem of a burly man''s arms holding two hammers facing each other. ¡°Welcome to Blazing Forge Guild customers. You can address me as Staff #9999. Would you like an intro and background of the shop while you peruse the weapons we sell?¡± asked Staff #9999. It was only now that Nolan realised that the holographic screen hadn''t appeared after entering this shop which made him feel more welcomed here. No matter how convenient the holograms were, some customers preferred to be welcomed in person which showed the shop''s sincerity in doing business. ¡°Sure, but don''t make it too long,¡± said Nolan. The employee then nodded in excitement as he introduced the shop and the history of the Blazing Forge Guild. Turns out the Blazing Forge Guild was one of the oldest guilds to exist and one of the most powerful guilds in the world. It was founded back when humans were at war with the invaders and it was founded with the sole purpose of providing weapons to the heroes of Earth fighting valiantly on the frontlines. Later, when the war ended, the smithy was supposed to close down but the founders who were friends decided to not only continue forging but to grow the forge. They started recruiting anyone with forging talent, no matter how long and it was through this decision that the forge grew to what it was today. Over the centuries, they''d produced many talents who contributed to the growth of the forge, some whose names are etched in history books as the greatest blacksmiths to ever exist. Some become myths and legends. Talent was supported in the Blazing Forge Guild so no one recruited was treated badly or shunned but everyone supported each other. This support created the strongest bond between the blacksmiths. As for the shops, they had branches all over the world and the scope of their influence was hard to grasp. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Does it really only take forging talent in order to be a part of the Blazing Forge Guild?¡± asked Nolan. He after all wasn''t a fool and could identify an opportunity when he saw one. Joining the Blazing Forge Guild would give him massive benefits and help him push forward plans he had previously put on the back of his mind. As for whether the information was true or not, only time would tell. ¡°Well, we''ll also start recruiting young blood for the guild once the Recruitments Event starts, there are no exceptions. But I did hear from my supervisor that people who can provide different and unique services can be hired under the right circumstances.¡± said Staff #9999 ¡°Different and unique services¡­ do I have that¡­¡± softly muttered Nolan. ¡°Don''t fret too much over it. You can think about what you''re good at while looking for the weapon you want to buy. By the way, what type of weapon is your choice, I don''t think you''ll find the weapon you want if you just look, this place is massive after all. Just tell me which weapon you prefer and I''ll take you there.¡± ¡°Spear. My preferred weapon is a spear. Do you have them?¡± said Nolan. Staff #9999 just laughed after hearing what Nolan asked. He must have forgotten where he was for him to ask such a stupid question. ¡°Please follow me. Don''t resist or there might be unforeseen dangers.¡± said Staff #9999 as he activated the teleportation formation on the floor. ¡­ Nolan was taken to another section of the shop, this section had the words ¡®Spear¡¯ written on the wall right above the locked doors. Staff #9999 took out a set of keys and chose a specific one which he used to open the locked door. ¡°Welcome to the Spear Hall. All kinds of spears can be found here, long, thin, sharp, heavy, light. You name it, we have it.¡± he said as he pushed the door wide open for the group to enter. ¡°My goodness¡­ this must be heaven!¡± exclaimed Nolan while looking at the nigh endless spears placed inside this room. They truly had all kinds of spears. Nolan didn''t look around as he''d done previously, instead, he closed his eyes and listened to his senses. If he was indecisive about something, he''d always let his senses lead him and this had become a habit. After a minute or so, he opened his eyes and started walking towards a certain place within the room. When he reached his location, it wasn''t the garbage bin where MC''s would pick up treasures on a pile of trash. He took the weapon off its shelf and studied carefully. ¡°Excellent choice dear customer. This is a spear that one of higher-ups forged. It''s said that the feathers of the Angel race were used to craft this masterpiece. Featherless Night is this spear''s name, valued at a hundred billion MC. Dear Customer, would you like to buy it?¡± Chapter 14: Death Space ¡°It truly is a masterpiece and I do have the intention of purchasing it but I''m currently low on funds. How long has it been here?¡± said Nolan with great longing for the Fatherless Night Spear. ¡°I can''t recall the exact date but I think it''s been more than ten years now. Many customers have shown great interest in this spear but it''s just too expensive. This is why it hasn''t been purchased for all these years.¡± ¡°Great! I''ll definitely come back for this spear, make sure to keep it in good condition for me.¡± ¡°No problem dear customer.¡± answered Staff #9999. ¡°I heard you talking about the Blazing Forge Guild being interested in young entrepreneurs and I happen to be one of those young and aspiring businessmen but with my background, it might be a little difficult.¡± ¡°Don''t worry dear customer. If your business proposal is able to satisfy the higher ups, all of your troubles will disappear. No matter which group it is, the Blazing Forge Guild fears no one.¡±said Staff #9999. ¡°Then let me ask you this, can the Blazing Forge Guild take on the Zodiacs?¡± asked Nolan. ¡°Although the Zodiacs have created a name for themselves and are quite prominent, I think our Blazing Forge Guild can handle them.¡± said Staff #9999 in a nonchalant tone. ¡°I don''t think you understand what I''m saying so let me make it clear. Can the Blazing Forge Guild handle all twelve Zodiac Families working together as a team? Can the Blazing Forge Guild handle the Twelve Zodiac Families who are willing to stake it all just to achieve their goal of killing me?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ I actually don''t know. What kind of crime did you even commit to come to such a conclusion?¡± S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Don''t worry about the details, just save this spear for me because I''m coming for it. By the way, do you know where the Second Profession Association is?¡± ¡°Noble Association¡­ Just take your left once outside the store, walk for about¡­¡± Staff #9999 gave Nolan the directions he needed and watched them. While looking, he couldn''t help but wonder if Nolan was telling the truth about being wanted by the Zodiacs at all costs. ¡­ Standing in front of the Noble Association store, Nolan looked at the seemingly ordinary name written above the glass door and smiled. This store didn''t have any items or goods on display but it was completely crowded inside. There were many workers and receptionists standing behind their small offices which consisted of only two chairs, a desk, a computer and flowers. In one glance, Nolan could tell immediately that this store was anything but ordinary. It had a very aromatic and medicinal fragrance that blended perfectly with the environment. Behind the receptionists were closed doors made from strong metal. The receptionists had their desks placed parallel to each other with a great amount of space in between where a huge lobby was created for the customers to rest while waiting for their turns. Nolan and his group were welcomed by s young female staff member wearing green robes with an emblem of a tree with different coloured branches. ¡°Welcome to Noble Association. A place where all Second Profession Talents wish to be a part of.¡± she said with a sweet smile but her voice and words were filled with arrogance. As she''d just said, Noble Association was an organisation of Second Profession Talents or SPT for short. This organisation was created for people with Alchemy, Blacksmith, Runesmith, Healers, Engineers and the like, basically those with the ability to create something using materials. This organisation was created for SPT who were being bullied for not being passionate about growing stronger but rather were passionate about their creations. At first this organisation was suppressed and had almost disbanded but with perseverance and luck, one of their founding members created an unprecedented weapon which caught everyone''s attention. An auction was then held and the person who obtained the weapon was so happy that he took this group under his wing for ten years. This group became stronger and stronger the more time passed until it became powerful enough to rival the Blazing Forge Guild. Im fact, in some areas, it was even more powerful than the Blazing Forge Guild and other organisation at the same level as it because all kinds of second professions existed on Earth and they were extremely respected due to how helpful they were to society. This caused those part of the Noble Association to behave extremely arrogantly since no one dared mess with them. ¡°Hello, how are you? I came here looking for an item that can seal space for a period of time no matter what. It should be capable of ignoring one''s realm or talents and seal them no matter what escape methods they have.¡± ¡°I''m good Sir, thank you for asking. So you want something that has to do with space¡­ then Sir, please go to the twentieth floor,you''ll find what you want there. Here it is only for pills and potions.¡± explained the lady. Nolan thanked her and took the elevator to the twentieth floor. The twentieth floor was surprisingly empty, there wasn''t a huge lobby or reception desks, just an old man sitting on a rocking chair with his eyes closed. When Nolan appeared, the old man opened his eyes which were very. Everything about the old man was normal. He had grey long hair and grey long beard, looking like an ancient martial arts master. ¡°Greetings dear customer, what can I help you with today?¡± said the old man. Nolan greeted back then explained the kind of item he was looking for. The old man kept muttering to himself, Nolan tried to listen but couldn''t hear what he was saying. Snap! The old man then snapped his fingers and all types of colourful spheres appeared in thin air, each sphere holding a treasure inside of it. ¡°This is the Space Lock Talisman, it can''t seal the space around you but once placed on your opponent''s forehead, they can''t teleport no matter what they do.¡± ¡°This is the Small World Ring, with it you can forcibly teleport both you and your opponent into the world inside the ring where you can then use the Space Lock function but you have to grab your opponent to teleport them.¡± ¡°This is the Space Rune Token, it can create a small domain where if someone has teleportation abilities, they''d still appear inside the domain until the token runs out of time.¡± ¡°This is the Death Space, a unique item that traps both you and your opponent in a domain and the only way to leave is when either one of you is dead.¡± The old man began introducing all kinds of treasures with the capability to lock space to Nolan. These were the types of treasures that Nolan was hearing about for the first time. In fact, he wasn''t even sure if they''d existed but to think they actually did quite literally shocked Nolan. ¡°Death Space, I want that, how much is it?¡± ¡°You have sharp eyes dear customer, this treasure only costs a measly One Trillion MC. The reason why it''s so cheap is because it can only work on Celestial Realm experts and below but I''m sure it''ll be very helpful to you.¡± ¡°Then please keep it safe for me because I''m going to buy it, just give me a week. After a week, you can sell it to whomever.¡± said Nolan as he walked back to the elevator. The old didn''t say anything until Nolan had completely disappeared from sight. He then sat on his rocking chair and mumbled to himself. ¡°... Broke customers are the worst¡­!¡± Chapter 15: Troy Nolan and his group directly left the store. The goblins just kept following Nolan without asking any questions or talk with anyone along the way, everything was handled by Nolan himself. Even now, they didn''t know where they were going but they didn''t ask and just followed behind him. This time, Nolan didn''t go to another store but instead stood on the glass balcony and looked at everyone below with focussed eyes. The goblins didn''t know who or what he was looking for but kept looking with him. This went on for hours and Nolan hadn''t moved a single inch from where he was standing. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. One of the goblins, Gege, finally couldn''t take it anymore and decided to speak out. ¡°My Lord, what exactly is it that you''re looking for here? We''ve been standing like this for hours now and I''m hungry.¡± ¡°Hahaha. I was wondering how long your silent game was going to last and it hasn''t been that long.¡± ¡°What game?¡± ¡°As for what I''m looking for, it''s actually a person and I seem to have found him. Let''s go and say hi, who knows, he might just go ahead and take us to where the money is.¡± said Nolan as he took the elevator. ¡­ On the first floor, a middle aged man sat lazily on the wooden bench while chewing on wild grass. He was holding flyers and his job seemed to be giving them out but no one seemed interested. At least all the people he''d approached so far had all rejected his requests and he''d been here since morning. ¡®At this rate, I''m going to leave empty handed yet again. The boss will not like this one bit. How the fuck do the others find them?!¡¯ The middle aged man was so deep in his thoughts that he didn''t even realise when someone sat beside him. ¡°Yo, you looking for someone¡­ special?¡± said the person sitting beside him. The middle aged man who was under stress was immediately enraged and was about to berate whoever it was that interrupted his thoughts but as soon as he saw the person, his words were stuck in his throat. ¡®Perfectly compressed muscles, neither too big nor too small, perfect posture, well hidden aura, a fearless gaze and finally, the desire to win. This is the person I''ve been looking for.¡¯ thought the middle aged man to himself. ¡°Your eyes are very sharp. You''re right, I am looking for someone special. Do you want to be that special person?¡± The middle aged man had the most welcoming smile as he chatted with the person beside him. ¡°I think you already know the answer to your question. Give me what I want and you''ll get what you want. Who knows, your boss might even be impressed by my performance and give you a promotion.¡± said the person sitting beside him. ¡°How did you find me?¡± asked the middle aged man. ¡°That''s not important. What''s important is that we leave immediately and stop wasting time. Your time might not be worth anything but mine is worth money, loads of money so let''s go.¡± said the person as he stood up, the middle aged man stood up with him. The duo then began to walk not outside but towards the elevator. The duo was being followed by a small group of goblins. ¡°Hey, you haven''t even introduced yourself yet and what''s with the goblins? Your guards or something.¡± ¡°Something like that. As for my identity, you don''t have to worry about that. All you need to know is that we''re about to become famous and filthy rich.¡± said the person as they entered the elevator. The middle aged man then took out a small black key, revealed a hidden keyhole inside the elevator and inserted the black key in it. The elevator then began to descend at a fast speed. And not just that, it felt like they¡¯d just passed many floors. Only when the elevator reached the lowest floor did it stop and its doors opened automatically. When they stepped out, they were standing on tempered glass and below them was what looked like a fighting arena. There were many people around the arena who seemed to be spectating with unhinged excitement and adrenaline. Their body language spoke for itself and even though it was quiet outside the dome, the person could still read the mood. The glass was obviously sound proof. On the other side was another elevator but this time, two men stood guard in front of it. These two bouncers had savage looks that could easily intimidate a lot of people without even trying. The middle aged man walked in large and confident strides while the person followed behind him. ¡°Boys, I''ve finally found my lucky star, please quickly inform the boss about my return.¡± said the middle aged man. ¡°Troy, the boss is already waiting for you. She said to take you to her office as soon as you came back, now follow me.¡± said one of the bouncers as he led them inside the elevator. He then pressed one and the elevator descended. They were already deep underground but they were still going deeper. Tiing! The elevator doors opened and there was a small hallway with surveillance cameras. At the end of the hallway was a metallic door that had the same design as that the doors used for Safe''s. ¡°It''s me.¡± spoke the bouncer through the voice recognition and sound transmission device. The wheel on the door spun by itself and the metallic door slowly opened. The group then entered and the door closed behind them. Once inside, everything seemed to change. Everyone suddenly felt refreshed, relaxed and in a good mood. All their worries and problems seemed to vanish with the wind and all that was left was a sense of unhappiness welling from deep within themselves. ¡®Did we enter Buddha''s chambers or what? Why does my body feel so light and my mind clear of all distracting thoughts?¡± mumbled Zaza. Not far from them was a desk with all kinds of flowers placed on it as decorations, at the corners of this office were incense sticks that were burning, releasing a feint but fine fragrance. There was also a fan on the roof that blew a gentle on everyone. Behind the desk was a chair with someone sitting on it but the person had their back facing the group that just entered. ¡°Boss, I''ve brought Troy to you as instructed.¡± said the bouncer. ¡°Good. Now leave.¡± sounded a feminine voice. The bouncer bowed to the person then left. Chapter 16: Old Title The seat spun and revealed the figure sitting on it. It was a middle aged woman with slightly above average looks but her breasts were especially abundant and full. She looked very similar to Troy, a clear indication that the two were somehow blood related. Her eyes were sharp and full of intelligence. ¡°Didn''t I tell you to not wander outside? You''ve been gone for two days without a word, do you know how worried I was?!¡± roared the lady angrily, causing Troy to shrink his neck. ¡°I''m sorry for not calling you and I''m sorry for leaving without your permission. I promise it won''t happen again.¡± said Troy softly. ¡°Damn right it won''t happen again because you''re now on house arrest. If you dare set foot out of your room, I''ll chop off your legs!¡± said the woman. ¡°That''s not fair! I''m a fucking grown man, you can''t treat me like a baby and you can''t fucking keep me cooped up in this boring place! You taught me how to scout but you won''t allow me to use it!¡± shouted Troy. ¡°You better watch your tone when talking to me, young man or else¡­¡± ¡°Or else what?! What will you do? Scold me to death?¡± ¡­ This argument went on for an hour and whatever was used before to calm and relax everyone down didn''t seem to work on these two. They kept throwing insults and cusses on each other and everything seemed to calm down after an hour. It was then that the two remembered that they weren''t alone in the office but had guests. The woman whose name was Angy was extremely embarrassed by her actions in front of strangers. Troy on the other hand laughed awkwardly and introduced Nolan to his sister. ¡°Angy, allow me to introduce you to the person I personally scouted, I promise you won''t be disappointed. This is uhm¡­ uhh¡­¡± ¡°I''m Nolan, nice to meet you Angy.¡± ¡°So your name is Nolan, it doesn''t sound like anything special so why did you insist on not telling me?¡± said Troy with an annoyed look. Nolan ignored him and focused his eyes on Angy who was currently assessing him from top to bottom. ¡°Not bad. Not bad at all. So Troy, how did you find him?¡± asked Angy curiously. ¡°Well he didn''t find me, I found him. And I''m glad I did because it looks like I hit the jackpot. Are you by any chance the decision maker of this place?¡± asked Nolan. ¡°If you''re asking if I''m the Freed Underground Arena¡¯s boss then no but if you''re asking if I have enough power to negotiate on behalf of this establishment then yes. So, what kind of business proposal do you have for me?¡± answered Angy. This was the exact reason why Angy was given complete control over Freed Underground Arena. She was sharp, able to recognise a business opportunity at a single glance. She was smart, and could identify if the business was profitable or not. And finally, she was decisive in whatever she did which had netted her many clients and money over the years. ¡­ ¡°Don''t get too excited, I''m not an investor, nor am I a business and I don''t know anything about running a business. What I want to talk to you about is my percentage share of my earnings. 0.5% of the total bet earnings if I obtain 50 wins and zero losses. This is a great number but it''s not enough for me. I want 10% of the earnings from all streaming platforms that include my fights. In exchange, I''ll make you the most famous Underground Arena in the entire continent.¡± said Nolan calmly. ¡°Bwahahaha! Ahahahahaha, you''re funny! Hahaha!¡± Angy burst in laughter as though she''d heard the most hilarious in her life. Nolan on the other hand wasn''t laughing and remained stoic. Troy, who was sitting on the corner of the office, had to hold his breath to stop himself from laughing since it would be seen as rude to his sister''s guest. If he dared to laugh, Angy would surely skin him alive. ¡°Mr Nolan, it''s not that I''m trying to disrespect or demean you in any way, shape or form but your proposal is a complete joke. You have to understand that I''m running a business here, I have a quarter to reach and superiors to please. And let''s say I do put my faith in your¡­ proposal, how do I guarantee that you''ll deliver?¡± said Angy. ¡°I really do love working with smart people like you.¡± said Nolan with a slight smile on his face. ¡°I''m willing to give you my head as collateral damage.¡± offered Nolan. Angy didn''t answer immediately but instead gave Nolan a second and third look. Long dreadlocks, blue eyes, light skinned, handsome young man with full red lips. ¡°Out of all the black families I know of, I''ve never heard about you so why would I be interested in your head?¡± asked Angy. ¡°You don''t know about me because I''m mixed race. My father was white and my mother was black so I''d obviously use my father''s last name but that''s not important. What''s important is this and I hope it will remain between the two of us.¡± said Nolan as he passed a piece of paper to Angy. ¡°What''s this?¡± asked Angy as she took the piece of paper and checked what was written. ¡°My worth. Scan it with your Star Watch.¡± replied Nolan. Angy, although hesitant, did as Nolan had said and scanned whatever was written on the piece of paper. After a scan, she pressed the search button on the holographic keyboard. A few seconds later, there were results. She was nonchalant about what Nolan wanted to show her but once she saw it with her own eyes, her jaw dropped. Her eyes widened as her pupils constricted, her breath quickened seemingly from agitation. ¡°This¡­ this¡­ this can''t be real right?!¡± She said as her body was slightly shaking. Her pupils moved from left to right, an indication that she was reading something. She would sometimes steal a few glances at Nolan before continuing to read the information provided. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Is this really true?! Did you really do all these things described here?!¡± ¡°Hahaha, it''s been so long that I barely remember my past deeds but I can assure you that everything written there is 99% true.¡± answered Nolan. Hearing his words of confirmation, Angy was shaken even more, she even started to sweat bullets. Her white face slowly turned pale. ¡°Don''t worry, I like smart people like you, plus, even if I wanted to do something to you, I''m too weak so relax. But I do want to give you a piece of advice that I think would be very useful to you; ¡®Looks can be deceiving.¡¯ never forget that.¡± ¡­ An hour later, only Angy and Troy remained in the office, Nolan had gone out to prepare for his first match and debut in Freed Underground Arena. ¡°Big Sis, what exactly did he show you that got you so agitated and afraid?¡± asked Troy curiously. ¡°I''m not allowed to say but I will give you one of the titles he once went by once upon a time.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Hostis¡­ humani¡­. generis¡­¡± Chapter 17: Elimination Chamber [LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, GAMBLERS, TRADERS, MONEY SPENDERS, IT''S ABOUT THAT TIME! NO MORE CHALLENGES, IT''S NOW TIME FOOOOORRRRR¡­ THE ELIMINATION CHAMBERRRR!!!] [HOOOOO!!!] [YEAHHHHH!!!!] [LET''S GOOO!!!] The crowd went wild as they listened to the man in suit standing alone in the middle of the arena. Freed Underground Arena was built to house tens of millions of people and it was always overcrowded. Some people even slept here while others conducted their illegal businesses here like selling drugs, prostitution and even human trafficking. This was also one of the most famous gambling dens where only the best gambling game existed. Underground fights! [NOW, IT''S TIME FOR THE RULES AND I''LL START WITH THE AUDIENCE. FOR THOSE WHO DON''T KNOW, EVERYONE IS GIVEN EXACTLY THIRTY SECONDS TO PLACE THEIR BETS BEFORE THE MATCH COMMENCES! FIGHTS ARE NOT ALLOWED OUTSIDE THE RING! NO REFUNDS AND DEFINITELY NO ROBBERIES! NOW, FOR THE PARTICIPANTS, RULE IS¡­ THERE ARE NO RULES!!!] [HOOOOO!!!] Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [YEAHHHHH!!!!] [LET''S GOOO!!!] [A minute ladies and gentlemen, I just received news that there''s been a change in the rules. Only the last man standing will be given a chance to directly challenge the first Floor Master. There won''t be other battles other than this one!] said the host. The crowd didn''t quite understand why the upper echelon had made this rule but they were excited for the Elimination Chamber since that''s where most deaths occur. The host stood in the middle of the arena and watched as it separated into three sections. Two of these sections floated in the air and became two more battle stages. The ground floor was the battle stage for Warrior Realm fighters, the second battle stage was a fighting arena for Constellation Realm fighters and the last stage was the battle arena for Constellation Realm fighters. [LET THE GAMES¡­.. BEGIIIIIIIN!!!!] ¡­ The prison chamber doors where participants were on standby slowly opened, making the underground fighting arena boil in excitement. As soon as the doors opened, the participants rushed to their respective stages. And as soon as they entered the battle stage, they immediately attacked whoever was on sight. For each stage, there were at least a thousand participants, mixed between humans, demi-humans and non-human. Once everyone had entered their respective battle stage, massive magic formation appeared on each stage with a glow as a transparent barrier engulfed each stage. This ensured that the participants wouldn''t escape and also protected the spectators from the shockwaves of the fights as well as outside interferences. Three live broadcasts then appeared on three big screens that were extremely clear and audible. Many of the audience were interested in the fight between Celestial Realm experts, some were interested in the Constellation Realm fighters but none were interested in the fight between Star Warriors. Hidden among the Star Warriors was a man wearing a pteruges black skirt, bare chested and wore an oni mask. He held two short swords as he navigated his way through the battle stage. His eyes moved around until they seemed to land on his target. It was a two metres tall, pointed ears, green skinned muscular monster, his tusks protruding from his mouth like canine teeth and its long brown hair braided neatly, showing its ugly appearance to the world. This monster destroyed everything that dared to approach it with its equally massive battle hammer. ¡®An orc? You shall be my first target!¡¯ The oni masked man then rushed in the direction of the orc and quickly closed the distance between them. Whoosh! The battle hammer released a ¡®whoosh¡¯ sound as it barely missed the masked man who had dodged in time. The masked man then jumped towards the orc''s face with his short swords aiming for the orc¡¯s eyes. The orc was about to dodge when something unexpected happened. The masked man said one word and the orc froze in place. ¡°Boo!¡± Puchi! The two short swords pierced the orc''s eyes all the way to its brain and it died instantly but the man wasn''t finished with the orc. He severed its head and bathed in the green orc''s blood spraying from its neck. He enjoyed the bloodbath for about ten seconds before shifting his eyes to another target. ¡®There!¡¯ This time his target was a two and a half meters tall fatty with muscular arms. He wore a balaclava that hid his appearance, two aprons tied in such a way that they hid his private parts. His enormous stomach danced around as he moved. This man was holding two battle axes that cut through all his opponents. Rushing to the big bellied fatty, he dodged and ducked other people''s attacks. Feeling a gaze fast approaching, the fatty turned around only to see an ant rushing towards him with a crazed eyes. Yes, in the eyes of the fatty, the oni masked man was as ant due to his size. The fatty not wanting to waste time on such a weak opponent, threw one of his battle axes at the masked man. The battle axe as though teleported, appeared right in the masked man''s face. The masked man tilted his body to the side and in slow motion, watched the battle axe spin past him. Before it could fly off into the distance, the masked man moved at extreme speed and grabbed at the axe''s handle. Then, his muscles contracted as he spun with the battle axe like a propeller and even rose up in the air. He rose to a height so great that he was close to the second battle stage. He was holding the gigantic battle axe that was almost twice his size as though it weighed only a few grams. The attention of the crowd was forcefully pulled towards him since he was literally floating just below the second battle stage. Looking coldly at the fatty, the masked man began to descend. Since the only force acting on him now was the force of gravity, his velocity increased by leaps and bounds that in just a second or two, he had covered half the distance. [Hurricane Axe Slash!] The fatty placed his other battle axe above his head to block the attack but upon contacted with the attack, his battle axe shattered to pieces and the attack from the masked continued towards him. ¡°No¡­!!!¡± BOOOOM!!!! The axe cut through him like a hot knight cutting through butter. The battle axe even collided with the floor which released the explosive sound. The masked man stood in front of the fatty and waited. The fatty stood for a few seconds before he slowly split into two equal halves that then fell to the floor with a bang. Blood then splashed from his sliced corpse and landed on the masked man who stared at it without any emotions. The crowd immediately went crazy by what they had just seen. It was beautiful, it was exciting, it was¡­ everything they wanted to see. ¡°Holy shit! Who''s that masked man!¡± ¡°Wow, did you sse how high he jumped? Amazing!¡± ¡°Yeah, especially that pose of him looking down on The Butcher while aiming the axe at him!¡± Chapter 18: Bloodbath ¡°Holy Shit! He not only killed The Butcher but also Hammer Head!¡± ¡°What?! Are you serious?!¡± ¡°Hammer Head was taken out in one strike! A few seconds and one strike! Who the fuck is this guy?!¡± ¡°Bloodbath¡­ he calls himself Bloodbath!¡± Looking at the masked man easily take out The Butcher, the spectators became so interested in Bloodbath that they went to check his previous battles and his identity. They were shocked to see only his name and his current star rank which was a Ninth Star Warrior. ¡°How does he take out opponents on the same level as him as if they are chickens?!¡± ¡°And why do his opponents freeze every time he says ¡®Boo¡¯?¡± ¡°I don''t know but let''s keep on watching, maybe he''ll show us something interesting again.¡± ¡­ The crowd was going crazy over the masked man called Bloodbath, at least those who wanted to see something new went crazy. On the other hand, Bloodbath was looking for another target to eliminate and it didn''t take long to do so. It was a troll, a long and skinny creature, big mouth with razor sharp teeth, big nose but extremely small eyes, so small they were almost nonexistent like a mole''s eyes. The troll was holding a club while facing off against a fearsome opponent. It was a man with a bald head with tattoos drawn on it, a braided ginger coloured beard, not tall but very muscular. This man was a Viking and he was using a silver sword as his weapon. The troll and the viking were exchanging blows when suddenly a figure appeared above the and stabbed his eyes. KRAAAAA!!! It screamed in pain and agony of having its eyes stabbed and shook its face to try and shake off the one inflicting this pain but to avail. It then decided to grab whatever was stabbing it, it was then that Bloodbath pulled out his short swords and retreated. The viking was about to rebuke Bloodbath for stealing his opponent but once he made eye contact with the masked man, he chose to keep his mouth shut and disappeared into the crowd. Bloodbath didn''t waste much of his attention on the viking as the troll attacked him with its club. ¡®I stabbed its eyes so how can it pinpoint my location?¡¯ thought Bloodbath as he dodged the continuous attacks from the troll. As the troll attacked, he noticed that its eyes were regenerating and almost completely healed. ¡®What the¡­¡± Bloodbath was shocked by such a powerful regenerative ability that he was jealous of it. ¡®If I had such an ability¡­¡¯ thought Bloody but he didn''t dwell on those thoughts since he had to kill this monster. He moved at such an incredible speed that the moment he moved, the troll lost sight of him. The troll then felt its achilles tendons being severed, causing it so much pain it fell on its. Bloodbath then jumped its back and severed its spinal cord joints, completely paralyzing it before finishing off the job by separating its head from its body. All of this happened in under a minute. ¡°Wow, this Bloodbath guy has rich combat experience! He''s probably from the Combat Zone, only someone like them can pull off something like this!¡± S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°You''re wrong, he''s not from the Combat Zone. Although those who graduate from the Combat Zone have great combat experience, they lack the sharpness, decisiveness and viciousness that Bloodbath has. Seeing the troll''s regenerative capabilities, he immediately went for its spinal cord which, once damaged, would completely immobilise the opponent before going for the death blow. This man is completely on a different level.¡± spoke an old man who had been watching Bloodbath from start to finish. ¡°Amazing! Old man, Bloodbath is amazing right?!¡± ¡°Yes, but that''s not enough to take out the troll. There''s a reason why these guys are so hard to deal with.¡± said the old man. ¡­ Bloodbath who was standing between the neck and severed head of the troll was waiting for blood to bathe in but nothing happened. Instead, he felt danger approaching from above and knew he couldn''t dodge in time so he blocked whatever attack coming for him with his short swords. Clang! A heavy club collided with his short swords, causing sparks to fly and one of his knees to touch the floor due to how heavy the club actually was. Using all his strength, he flung the club upwards, making the user lose their grip of their weapon as it flew away. Bloodbath then turned around to see exactly who it was that had attacked him and his eyes opened wide seeing the headless troll body moving on its own. A head slowly growing from its severed neck. ¡®How fucking broken this thing is!¡¯ he thought to himself. Since its weapon flew away, the troll used his hands to attack Bloodbath. It sent palm strikes after palm strikes like it was killing a cockroach. What Bloodbath didn''t get was how the troll was able to pinpoint his location without a head. While dodging, Bloodbath was also inflicting wounds on it which were quickly healing but he didn''t give up and kept on attacking while dodging. Fortunately the troll was lacking in speed and intelligence otherwise this battle could have been more difficult for Bloodbath. This went on for about three minutes until Bloodbath realised something. ¡®If external injuries DON''T work on it, what about internal ones?!¡¯ when he had this thought, he immediately executed it. He attacked the troll head on, closing the distance between the two, by this time, the troll had completely grown a new head but Bloodbath didn''t care. With the distance between them closing, Bloodbath cleanly cut open the troll''s belly and entered it as quickly as he could. Since it was a clean cut, the wound only took a few seconds to heal. The troll panicked when Bloodbath entered its body and the wound healed behind him. It scratched and clawed at its stomach to try and pull out Bloodbath but it didn''t have the resolve to cut open its own stomach even though it knew the wound wasn''t fatal. It was like how one can''t hurt themselves when intentionally biting their tongue. Inside the troll''s stomach, Bloodbath cut everything in sight as he navigated his way to its heart which wasn''t very far. Once he located the heart, Bloodbath was speechless to see the troll''s heart which looked like a brain. He had never seen something like this before but it didn''t stop him from chopping it to pieces and storing them away. With its heart destroyed, the troll immediately stopped moving and fell heavily on the floor and everything became calm. The troll was dead but there was no sight of Bloodbath. The spectators watching waited in anticipation for Bloodbath to appear. The troll''s stomach moved as if there was a parasite moving around its stomach and was now ready to leave the host. A short sword cut a long line through the troll''s stomach and Bloodbath appeared. He didn''t just make an entrance, he made an entrance in style. Body covered in sticky fluids, arms that were holding the short swords were wide open and he was roaring as he appeared. ¡°HAAAHHH!!!¡± The crowd that had been paying close attention to Bloodbath went crazy at the sight of Bloodbath appearing like a well oiled killing machine. The crowd shouted his name in joy and happiness. ¡°BLOODBATH!¡± ¡°BLOODBATH!¡± ¡°BLOODBATH!¡± ¡°BLOODBATH!¡± Chapter 19: Carnage With the defeat of the troll, the audience went crazy to a point where they even forgot about watching the other fights. All their focus was on Bloodbath and his fascinating fighting style. ¡­ ¡°Grandpa, grandpa, look. Look how cool this guy is. He''s trending on all social media platforms.¡± a young girl said as she showed her grandpa a video of Bloodbath using her Star Watch. Her grandpa sat on his wheelchair with his eyes closed but with the pestering of her granddaughter, he opened her eyes to see what she was so enthusiastic about. ¡°Okay, okay, let grandpa see what''s gotten you so excited.¡± said the old man as he watched the three minute video. The video was already edited to only show Bloodbath''s fight scenes. The grandpa at first was uninterested but the more he watched, the more engrossed he became. ¡°Such reaction speed¡­ such battle IQ¡­ is he skilled in both axes and short swords¡­ such decisiveness¡­¡± commented the old man. ¡°Who is this person?¡± asked the grandpa after he finished watching the video. ¡°He calls himself Bloodbath and it''s his first time appearing in underground fights. Apart from this, there''s no other information about him.¡± answered his granddaughter. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Such an interesting man. Come, let''s continue watching, maybe he''ll show us more interesting stuff.¡± ¡­ ¡°Ey yo bro, did you see that trending dude on Instragram and Fritter?¡± ¡°Bro, that guy''s cold! If he hadn''t already called himself Bloodbath, I would''ve called him Giant Slayer since he''s taken out big guys!¡± ¡°Me too. I wonder what expression Leo would make if we showed him this video, he''s a battle freak after all.¡± ¡°Bro, that''s a fucking good idea! Let''s show it to him, remember to turn on the recording function on your Star Watch hehe.¡± ¡­ ¡°AAAHHH!!!¡± ¡°Cindy, what''s wrong?!¡± said a person as he came crashing into the screaming girl''s room. ¡°OMG! Jason, check this guy out. He''s so ruthless and cool, look!¡± said the girl named Cindy as she showed Jason Bloodbath''s video. ¡°He''s alright.¡± ¡°He''s amazing! I think I''m in love! I wonder what he looks like under that mask. Does he have a girlfriend? Does he love me? What kind of person is he?¡± ¡°I think you''re getting a little carried away. If you want a boyfriend, shouldn''t I be your first option, plus, I can do better than him.¡± ¡°Hahaha, you''re just jealous. And Jason, I know you love me and I love you too.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°Of course I love you, you''re my best friend after all. Besties forever!¡± ¡­ In just a few minutes after his appearance, Bloodbath became an Intanet sensation and was trending everywhere. Everyone was glued to their holographic screens as they watched Bloodbath kill his opponents. What they loved most about him was him bathing in blood after killing his opponents which was exciting and thrilling to watch. ¡­ Although he was currently a hot topic on the Intanet, Bloodbath didn''t know about that and even if he did, he wouldn''t be surprised because his performance was just so eye-catching. What he was focussing on right now was the participants who had stopped fighting and were all looking at him warily. Usually, the participants didn''t kill each other but instead severely wounded one another but this Bloodbath wasn''t going according to the script and was actually butchering them without a moment''s hesitation. Bloodbath could see it in their eyes that many were considering forfeiting the match and coming to fight tomorrow but Bloodbath didn''t want that. He hadn''t had enough of bathing in the blood of his opponents which was exhilarating to him so the show had to go on. The participants slowly retreated from him in a cautious and careful manner and once they turned around, dashed towards the barrier to escape but unfortunately it was already too late. With crimson red eyes that were filled with excitement and bloodlust, Bloodbath did something the participants as well as some spectators had never seen before. [Killing Aura!] A crimson energy in a form of gas burst out from his body like an explosion and almost instantly engulfed the battle stage he was in. The crimson energy was thick and heavy but also spread really fast. Because the barrier was spherical, when the crimson fog energy engulfed the arena, the barrier contained this energy within it which caused it to look like a red marble from an outside view. What was happening inside the barrier couldn''t be seen by the audience. Fortunately, the crimson fog energy only lasted for about a minute before it was absorbed back into Bloodbath''s body but he still left some to permeate the air. Within the barrier, a strong stench of blood filled the air and all the participants remained motionless without moving a muscle. Bloodbath walked towards the centre of the stage. This was another cool scene captured on camera, while everyone remained frozen, only he was moving around the stage as if it was his playground. When he reached the centre of the stage, he raised his hands above his head and spoke while letting go of his two short swords. [LET THERE BE¡­ CARNAGE!!!] he said. As soon as he said that, his two short swords landed on the floor with a clanking sound and it was also at that moment the participants regained their locomotion. Surprisingly, they didn''t move towards the barrier but towards each other. Their pupils were crimson red without a hint of intelligence inside them, like they''d gone berserk. Blood vessels inside the eyes coloured the sclera completely blood red like their entire being was being fueled by fury. Injured participants weren''t taken out of the arena but remained inside even though some had fainted due to severe injuries and even they weren''t spared from the red fog''s effects. They opened their eyes which were completely coloured in blood red. All the participants then began fighting again but this time, they were more ruthless with their attacks, not caring a bit about their lives and were only driven by the urge to kill¡­ and kill they did. The participants killed each other in the most gruesome ways possible! Pulling out one''s intestines, stabbing continuously, decapitation, mutilation, etc. Blood painted the floor red as corpses lay there. [HAHAHA! KILL! KILL! KILLLL!!!] laughed Bloodbath evilly as he lay face up on the bloodied floor and did sweeping motions with arms and legs, exactly the same as when children play in the snow to make snow angels. In this scenario, he was trying to make a blood angel. This time, the audience didn''t go crazy in excitement but remained silent. This was their first time seeing such a blood cuddling scene. Hundreds of corpses were littered on the floor and the number was still growing because not all participants had died. Some were complete, some incomplete. The sound of laughter resounded in their ears, the laughter of genuine joy and happiness like a child having fun. The audience had the same question in their minds. [What''s Bloodbath''s real identity?!] Chapter 20: Intent Concept While everyone was wondering who exactly Bloodbath was, a few individuals were stumped by a completely different question, like the old man in a wheelchair and his granddaughter. ¡°Grandpa, what was that?¡± asked the granddaughter. ¡°I don''t know¡­ but if I were to take a guess, I think it was Killing Aura but¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± ¡°It''s impossible or rather I''ve never seen someone release Killing Aura like that. The way Killing Aura works is that once one releases it, it envelops the body as a form of deterrence, a danger signal or anything to ward off pests. Then comes Killing Intent, it''s where the Killing Aura is condensed into a liquid and can be imbued onto a physical object like weapons. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Some people imbue it on their eyes to inflict Soul Damage to those who make eye contact with them. After Killing Intent comes Killing Energy, it''s the crystallisation of Killing Intent and it''s fused with either the heart or the Soul, it depends on the user. With Killing Energy, you can make a person go crazy with but a mere gaze, in its extreme, people can die by simply making eye contact with you. And finally there is the Killing Concept, I don''t know much about it but it''s the fusion of Killing Aura, Killing Intent and Killing Energy. With Killing Concept, it''s rumoured that you can suppress Souls or even enslave them, some say you can cause someone Meditation Deviation and others say most mental attacks like Soul/ Mind Reading, illusions and Body Possessions don''t work. Once someone tries to invade your Soul, their head will explode. All of these things combined are called the Four Phases of Intent Concept and it doesn''t only apply to killing but also other concepts like burning, freezing, weapons, etc.¡± ¡°Grandpa, you''ve spoken so much but still didn''t answer the question. Why is Bloodbath''s Killing Aura different? And what exactly did he do?¡± said the granddaughter. ¡°Oh that. The reason why I said I don''t know is because Bloodbath''s Killing Aura is too thick like a cloud, not just that. He can also release it to his surroundings which doesn''t make sense and he even used it to make everyone around him mindless killing machines that follow his orders. This should have been something possible only if he was using Killing Energy or Killing Concept. It''s either the information gathered is wrong or there''s more to Bloodbath than meets the eye.¡± ¡°Amazing!¡± ¡­ The few people who were stumped by the same question came to a similar conclusion, Bloodbath used Killing Aura but in a more diverse and broken manner. They even wondered how many lives Bloodbath took to even accumulate such thick Killing Aura and they came to the conclusion that he killed people because there were only two methods to obtain Killing Aura and accumulate. The first method which was simple and direct was the killing method. The more people you kill, the stronger and thicker your Killing Aura. The second method needed one to obtain Killing Aura and accumulate it was to comprehend it which was extremely difficult and those who could do it were few and in between. These two methods although reaching the same path had competent different benefits. For the first method, it emphasised on quantity while the second one emphasised on quality. A purer Killing Aura was much more powerful and more potent than an impure Killing Aura. At the same time, the more Killing Aura one had, the faster they could improve in the Four Phases of Intent Concept so quantity gave faster improvements. ¡­ Angy and Troy watched from within Angy''s office which had a hidden window that could camouflage itself as part of the wall. They''d watched Bloodbath''s matches from start to finish. Seeing Bloodbath''s performance, Troy didn''t know whether to be happy or else because he knew Bloodbath''s real identity. Angy was in the same boat as him. Her underground arena was trending on all platforms as Nolan had promised. They''d also had a massive increase in views which in turn increased the money the place was making but she was neither happy nor sad. Just then, she received a call from the Star Watch and quickly answered it. ¡°Greetings boss, I hope you''re doing well today.¡± said Angy with an extremely respectful expression as she looked at the person on the holographic screen. He couldn''t be seen clearly not because of the camera quality but because he was in a dark space so his features were hidden by the darkness. [Fret not, I''m in a good mood today. Firstly, I''m very impressed by how you''ve been handling Freed Underground Arena over the years. And this Bloodbath that you recruited, good job. Tell me about him.] said the man on the holographic screen with a deep voice. Angy then told the man about the deal she made with Nolan but didn''t disclose the information that Nolan had written on paper but did tell the man about Nolan''s real name and how he found them. [Very good. For your hard work, I''m gonna give you three options. First option is a promotion for you and a job for your brother. Second option is that your brother receives full training from headquarters and third option, assistance in advancing to the next Star Realm. After choosing, you can redeem your reward anytime you want.] Hearing her boss''s words, Angy breath quickened, not just hers but Troy''s too. Any one of these rewards was a great opportunity for Angy. Angy was so overwhelmed by this generosity that she didn''t know what to choose so she forcefully calmed herself down. ¡°I''d like to have a few days to think about my reward carefully. Thank you boss for your generosity.¡± [You deserve it. By the way, if you can manage to make this Bloodbath sign a lifetime contract with us then you can even receive all three rewards at the same time. Work hard, I see great potential in you.] said the man as he ended the call. Hearing the man''s words, Angy almost fainted from the shock of what she just heard. Any one of these opportunities would allow anyone to literally ascend to the peak in a single step, even a pig could become a powerhouse with these opportunities. Troy was also ecstatic about this news but he still gave his sister words of caution because greed¡­ sometimes fucked things up. ¡°Big Sis, don''t be rash to choose. Although the benefits are enticing to a point of drooling, don''t forget who we''re dealing with here.¡± he said. Looking down from her window, Angy could see a man with a mask playing in blood as though it was a swimming pool with corpses all around him. Just this sight alone was enough to calm her greed and pull her back to reality. ¡°Thank you.¡± she said. ¡°Don''t worry about it, I''m just looking out for you, you''re the only family I have after all.¡± ¡°I never expected that even HQ would be interested in him. Do you think that he''d want to work with us long term?¡± she asked. ¡°I don''t know. He seems like the type who values freedom¡­¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°But he also seems like someone who wouldn''t mind being under someone else as long as it aligns with his goals and is beneficial to his future. Just give him an offer he can''t refuse and let''s see how he responds. The real question here is, do you want to work with him? Surely you can tell that even among monsters¡­ he''s on a whole different level.¡± Chapter 21: Black Fog Bloodbath didn''t know that his actions had caused a huge commotion in the world as he was in his own fantasy world. With the strong stench of blood, Bloodbath slowly became intoxicated and lost himself in the feeling of the world slowing down. He lay down on the cold snow and decided to create snow angels. What Bloodbath didn''t know was that he was actually hallucinating from the intoxication. ¡°It''s been so long since I''ve eaten snow and I''ve forgotten what it tastes like. Let me have a few mouthfuls of it.¡± said Bloodbath to himself as he removed his mask. What he didn''t know though was that he had actually just removed the mask that kept his identity hidden. Long dreadlocks unfurled themselves after he took off his mask. The audience watched with wide open eyes, they wanted to see what Bloodbath looked like without his mask but they were disappointed to see a face covered in coagulated blood. With this, Bloodbath''s identity was safe for now. The audience, especially Angy, heaved a sigh of relief when Bloodbath''s identity wasn''t uncovered but she knew that she had to do something before anything bad happened. The audience wondered what Bloodbath was planning to do but were shocked to see him suddenly scoop up a handful of blood and drink it. Some who couldn''t stand this sight threw up immediately. They were disgusted by Bloodbath''s actions that those watching it live quickly turned off all social media platforms. ¡°I love snow¡­¡± said Bloodbath softly but everyone heard him loud and clear. ¡°Did he perhaps¡­ take drugs or anything like that could mess up his mind? I don''t think a grown man would ever say such words when sober.¡± After taking the first sip, he took another sip, then another one, and another until he just buried his head into the blood pool and drank the blood in mouthfuls. As he did so, his eyes glowed brighter and brighter in a crimson light. His Killing Aura burst forth like a tsunami and engulfed the entire spherical barrier and blocked everyone''s sight of what was happening inside the barrier. The red fog was so concentrated that it was slowly turning black. This process was completed in about ten minutes, the red fog was so concentrated it now looked black. The matches of Constellation Realm fighters and Celestial Realm experts hadn''t ended but no one seemed to care about them. Those watching using their Star Watches and those watching from their seats inside the underground arena had their eyes glued on the first stage. Even though they didn''t see anything, they waited patiently. Everyone had a feeling that something interesting was about to happen. ¡°Mhm¡­?¡± sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The first to hear it were those with an acute sense of hearing, the sound then grew louder and louder until everyone could hear it. It was the sound a running stream made, the sound of flowing water and it sounded from within the barrier enveloped in darkness. Amidst the running stream sound, another sound emerged but it was completely different from the stream sound that could help one relax. This one sounded like a bellow of a crocodile or alligator but when it was about to end, it sounded like the howling wind. The audience didn''t feel it but fear, very slowly, started to creep into their hearts. After a few minutes, the bellowing sound disappeared but was replaced by another sound. This sound was like that of a bear, the sound of a bear weeping like a human but with a much deeper voice. Few minutes after that, another sound emerged and replaced that of a weeping bear. It was the sound of whispers, like a group of children discussing how to escape after being trapped in an unknown place. The sounds just kept changing, each creepier than the sound of a crying woman, a moaning man sound, the sound of hurried breathing through a water pipe and many times. The arena had become quiet because even participants from the two other stages could hear these creepy noises. If that was not enough, a bloodied hand suddenly appeared from within the barrier and touched it. ¡®Is someone there?¡¯ everyone thought. The fog made it difficult for everyone to see clearly what was happening inside the barrier but they could at least tell that there was someone standing close to the barrier and touching it. Except for the bloodied hand, nothing else could be seen. [Hey¡­ can you¡­ hear me¡­] a little girl''s voice sounded in everyone''s ears including viewers wherever they were. [Yes you¡­ you''re looking at me right now¡­ can you hear me¡­] said the voice as it even waved at the audience. Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! [Come here¡­ I want to¡­ tell you a¡­ secret¡­ I¡­ won''t¡­ hurt you¡­] Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! [Please¡­ please come play with me¡­ I want¡­ mommy¡­ don''t ignore me¡­ please¡­ I just¡­ want to play¡­] said the person as they placed their head on the barrier. Even though seeing through the barrier, not one person doubted their eyes because in front of them was something they''d never seen before. It was an empty face. No eyes, ears, nose, mouth or even hair. A faceless face had shown itself. [I''m¡­ not a bad¡­ pers¡­] before this thing could even finish speaking, it was yanked back by something, something powerful. BOOOOOM!!! A loud explosion sounded as the shockwaves collided with the barrier causing multiple cracks to appear. BOOOOOM!!! Another explosion occurred and even more cracks appeared on the barrier but no one seemed to want to run away. No one wanted to miss out on the action. BOOOOOM!!! The third explosion occurred and the barrier was completely covered in cracks but fortunately it didn''t collapse. The sound of footsteps sounded from within the barrier and in just seconds, a finger slightly poked the barrier and the entire thing collapsed. WHOOOSH!!! The black fog spread out in all directions and engulfed everything in its path. It seemed endless and spread out in all directions. If the spectators wanted to escape, it was already too late because the fog enveloped them in a blink of an eye. Freed Underground Arena was huge and built like a cylindrical tall building. Although it wasn''t as tall as the mall above it, it was still massive but the fog managed to completely engulf it in mere seconds. The fog moved at insane speed and was continuing to spread, spilling out into the Freed Mall, enveloping each floor in complete darkness. The magic formations the shops had seemed incapable of stopping this strange phenomenon from entering. The fog continued upwards until it pierced through the last floor of Freed Mall and continued upwards into the sky. If one were to look at the black fog from afar, it would appear as a black pillar of darkness piercing through the sky, creating cyclonic storm clouds. In the centre or the eye of the cyclone, a red star shone brightly, dying the black clouds with a red light. As though provoked, countless stars appeared in the clouded sky to form twelve creatures. The dark clouds were forcefully dispersed by the mere appearance of the twelve star formed creatures. These twelve creatures attacked the crimson star at the same time, causing its light to dim considerably. ROOOAAARRR!!! [DAMN ZODIACS! THE DAY I SURPASS YOU, YOUR CONSTELLATION LIGHT SHALL BRIGHTEN MINE! YOUR STARS, YOUR DESCENDANTS, YOUR BLOODLINE¡­ WILL NOURISH MINE! THAT I PROMISE YOU!!!] Chapter 22: Mystery Solved ¡°Thank you all for coming at such a short notice, I''m sure it caused you a lot of inconveniences to come all the way here.¡± ¡°Taurus, no need to beat around the bush. I''ve already lost my position as patriarch and I''m sure all of you are in similar situations so get straight to the point.¡± said the man with a deep voice. The others nodded in agreement. There were exactly thirteen people sitting around a long table. Each of them representing their Zodiac Family. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. A total of six women and seven men, each wearing clothes that hid their appearances since they were too embarrassed to appear in public after what happened to them. Taurus, with the biggest stature also nodded in agreement. Only he didn''t hide his appearance because one, this meeting was being held at his home and two, with how big he was, anyone could easily recognise him so he didn''t bother to do so. ¡°You''re right, my apologies. It seems that the matter of Nolan is much bigger than we anticipated. A person who is able to awaken the Red Star isn''t much of a big deal but if it needs the ancestors to personally act in suppressing it, that''s a completely different story. Which is why I propose we use all our resources to try and eliminate this threat before he becomes stronger. Even if it means throwing away our pride and jumping him.¡± said Taurus. Everyone turned their heads to look at the man who had spoken for them just now, even Taurus was looking at him. ¡°Why are you looki¡­ fine. When it''s time to kill that brat, I''ll swallow my pride and work with y''all.¡± he said in resignation. ¡°Now, we can say with 100% certainty that this Bloodbath is actually our target Nolan. From the videos circulating around, we''ve found out that he''s proficient in the Killing Concept to a point where even we, are stumped by it, it just doesn''t make sense. He''s also skilled in using short swords and according to the books, his also skilled in using a spear so we can safely assume that he''s proficient in all kinds of weapons. Also, his combat experience is unlike anything we''ve ever seen before, able to adapt and strive in any crisis,identify one''s weaknesses in mere seconds, this information is substantiated by the records. What else do we know about him?¡± ¡°We know that he eats people to grow stronger, we have evidence of this from what was shown in the trending videos.¡± ¡°Then we can conclude that he''s still using the same Meditation Art he created a thousand years ago. He might have improved it in the course of three years that he was hiding but the method still provides a weak foundation.¡± The group discussed Nolan''s strengths and weaknesses, used reliable information to back up their claims and assumptions to ensure that they neither overestimated or underestimated their opponent because either one could prove fatal in a matter of life and death. ¡­ ¡°Now, for the million dollar question. Why didn''t the ancestors directly kill him after they managed to capture him? No matter how wounded they were, killing him wouldn''t have taken much effort, especially when he was sealed.¡± ¡°I''ve been asking myself the same question since I heard about Nolan''s escape. Killing him really should have been easy unless¡­¡± sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°Unless what?¡± ¡°I have three speculations regarding this matter. The first one is that he made a deal with the ancestors to ensure his survival which is highly unlikely due to how dangerous he is according to the records. Second speculation is that Nolan had something the ancestors wanted but that''s also unlikely since they simply had to kill and obtain whatever they wanted. If it was information then a Soul Search would have done the trick. And lastly, it''s possible that after being captured, Nolan made it so that they literally couldn''t kill him.¡± one of the ladies spoke. When she said the last sentence, she seemed to realise something. ¡°I remember there being a photo obtained after hacking all the Star Watches of the Natural Explorers group. It was a photo of a dreadlocks man submerged in a black liquid but the report said that they found nothing inside that cave except for hair and blood stains. There was no mention of the black liquid¡­¡± ¡°You mean¡­¡± ¡°Yes. I believe that the black liquid on the other is the key to solving the mystery of why Nolan wasn''t killed. And I have a hunch that it''s related to the weirdness of his Intent Concept.¡± ¡­ A few hours ago, Bloodbath who had just awoken his Red Star cursed the Zodiacs for suppressing it as soon as it appeared. As angry and unwilling as he was, with his current strength, there was nothing he could do about it so he quickly accepted his current circumstances. It was then that he also noticed that his Killing Aura had engulfed the entire Freed Underground Arena and everyone in it as well as in Freed/Serpent Mall. ¡°Nightmare Illusion¡­¡± muttered Nolan after seeing everyone''s expression. He didn''t immediately retract his Killing Aura and instead used it to his advantage. Manoeuvring his way through the arena, he found his way back to Angy''s office. Nolan could also use his Killing Aura as another form of sight where he had no blind spots but it consumed too much energy. ¡°Wake up.¡± he said after seeing that even Angy hadn''t escaped from his Nightmare Illusion. Angy was jolted awake after the fog stopped working on her. She then tried to wake Troy up but no matter what she did, Troy remained dazed. ¡°Hey, I don''t have much time. Open up.¡± said Nolan on the other side of the metallic door. Angy then opened the door for him without doubting the voice because she had known Nolan''s identity as Bloodbath from the very beginning. ¡°It''s time for you to complete your end of the deal.¡± said Nolan while holding himself back from drooling. ¡°It was a pleasure working with you MrNolan.¡± said Angy as she scanned Nolan''s QRC with her own and received a message that Angy had transferred a certain amount of money to him. The number had so many zeros that Nolan didn''t even bother to count. He was about to leave when Angy stopped him with her words. ¡°Mr Nolan, can you please spare me two minutes of your time. I promise I won''t be long.¡± she said. ¡°Go ahead,¡± he answered. ¡°Are you interested in a long term contract with the Underground Arena Company as a whole, the benefits are quite good. We''ll fully invest in you and provide you with all the resources you need and everything else which includes Meditation Arts, Capital, Weapons, Medicine, knowledge, Dungeons and Gates, etc. You just have to sign here and all of the things I mentioned will be yours, the only cost is that you''ll be bound to the company.¡± ¡°I don''t mind losing my freedom in exchange for resources and your offer is quite enticing that I''m tempted to accept. Let me ask you this, can the Underground Arena Company survive under the attack of the Zodiac Families?¡± ¡°One Zodiac Family is not a threat to¡­¡± ¡°Not one but all twelve Zodiac Families. Can Underground Arena Company protect me if all twelve of them are willing to go to a life and death battle to make sure that they leave with my head?¡± ¡°All twelve?! This¡­¡± ¡°Talk to your superiors and tell them exactly how I said it. In the meantime, I''m gonna need you to do me a favour. I want you to help my goblins obtain a Meditation Art custom made for goblins, doesn''t matter the grade but it has to be specifically for goblins. Another thing, I want you to help take care of them for a short while. I''ll owe you one.¡± ¡°S-Sure! I''ll take good care of them.¡± ¡°Thanks and don''t tell any outsiders about our interaction. The less people who know that I come into contact with you, the better.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± [Good. Riri! Wake the fuck up and let''s get the hell out of here!] Chapter 23: Identity Exposed Before making a run for it, Nolan first went to the Noble Association store. The shop was enveloped in his black fog but once he entered, he was surprised to see that the staff was conscious and doing their own stuff on their desks. They all had a look of boredom but that changed the moment they saw Nolan looking at them. All of them left their desks and quickly approached Nolan. Seeing that whatever was about to happen would waste his time, Nolan quickly ran to the elevator and entered it. The elevator took him straight to his destination. The old man from before was still there, there wasn''t any black fog in this area. Sensing someone''s presence, the old man turned around and saw that it was Nolan whom he had secretly mocked. ¡°Welcome dear customer, what¡­¡± ¡°Give me the Death Space item and its instruction manual,¡± said Nolan. ¡°Don''t worry dear customer, it''s quite eas¡­¡± ¡°I''m on a time crunch so add the instruction manual of the item, One Trillion MC is a lot of money so you better give me the instruction manual. And where do I pay?¡± The old man no longer spoke and wasn''t enraged by how Nolan had cut him off when he was talking. Instead, he gave Nolan a very friendly smile as a black marble floated on the old man''s hand. ¡°Please scan here to complete your payment and the item is yours. When you pour Mana into it, all the relevant information shall appear directly on your mind.¡± Nolan quickly paid for the Death Space item, put it on his storage ring and left the shop. Next, he went to the Blazing Forge Guild shop which took slightly more time than expected but he still obtained the Featherless Night Spear. He also bought himself two extremely sharp daggers, a bow and arrows, shurikens and other stuff. ¡­ Nolan was currently standing outside the mall''s entrance, standing not from far from the snake-head design. [Come!] As if the black fog was alive, it heeded the command it was given and poured out from the mall entrance and absorbed into Nolan''s body. If one were to look at this scene from a different angle, it would look like a massive snake breathing out black fog that engulfed the tiny human''s figure. The absorption of the black fog took about five minutes and everything returned to normal. ¡°Let''s go.¡± he said to Riri who was wearing a black scales cloak. Nolan had bought it for her to hide her identity and not draw unwanted attention since he was sure that his fame was about to hit the roof. ¡°Meghan, contact Loid and tell him I''m ready to hunt down the rabbit, I only need to know where it is burrowing.¡± ¡­ Seconds after Nolan had absorbed all the black fog into his body, the first person to wake up was the old man who had spoken up for Nolan when he was being compared to Combat Zone graduates. He looked at the arena and only saw a pile of white dust and no trace of Nolan. ¡°Boy, I''ve been on the run for as long as I can remember but because of you, I''m willing to return to my roots and take on my responsibilities so you better not disappoint me, hehe.¡± mumbled the old man to himself before disappearing without a trace. He reappeared outside the mall. If Nolan could see this scene, he would be scared shitless because the moment the old man appeared, he was standing exactly where Nolan had stood while absorbing the black fog. The old man then looked around before disappearing without a trace yet again. ¡­ For those who had been watching everything live, their eyes had stayed glued to their Star Watches. Since they were not affected by the black fog, they wanted to see if they could spot any hidden details and they had indeed seen Nolan leave the arena but not anything beyond that. ¡°Grandpa, what exactly happened there? My heart was pounding so fast it felt like it was going to explode. What exactly was that horrific monster capable of mimicking a baby''s voice?¡± asked the granddaughter while sighing in relief. That talking monster had almost caused her a heart attack, just thinking about it scared her and it wasn''t just her in this situation. Many people who had been watching the live fight had similar reactions. Some had even died or fell unconscious, it was that scary. ¡°I believe that what we just witnessed is the ruptured Killing Concept but I''m not completely certain. The reason I''m saying it''s the Killing Concept is because the Killing Concept is rumoured to affect the Soul on a much grander scale. If Souls can be enslaved or suppressed, why can''t realistic illusions that affect the Soul be conjured? What we witnessed was definitely the Killing Concept. This Bloodbath person sure is talented, I wonder what his true identity is.¡± said the wheelchair grandpa. ¡°He''s really amazing!¡± said the granddaughter. ¡­ Although nothing was happening, the live feed viewers watched the screen with bated eyes. Even though nothing was happening, they continued to watch. Just like that, an hour went by and by this point, everyone had woken and escorted out of the underground arena. Mysterious figures came to investigate Bloodbath''s identity and everything related to him. After the investigation was concluded, it was found out that Bloodbath was actually Nolan and his bounty was released to the public by the Zodiac Families. Everyman wondered why the Zodiacs were so invested in this case but after reading Nolan''s crime, they completely understood why. -Murdered his own father. -Singlehandedly killed over 20% of the human population that was slightly above 8 billion at the time. -Kidnapped infants at the hospital and cooked them in a huge pot for days before eating them. -Annihilated cities with tens of millions of people living there in order to impress a girl who later became his wife. -Sneaked into an all girls party and raped all the girls there before eating them. The list went on and on and on, everything written was something only an inhumane person would do. If one wanted to defend Nolan by saying that he was mentally ill, his medicine report was also attached to the bounty. It was clearly written that Nolan was not crazy but just evil, not the kind where you''re born physically different or born inherently evil. This guy just chose to be, he chose to be evil, he didn''t have cannibalistic thoughts or edges, just chose to eat people for no reason. ¡­. He also went by many titles as written on his bounty poster. -Hostis Humani Generis -Heartless Monster -Abomination -Human Devourer -King of Rapists -Infant Cooker -Evil in Human Form ¡­ ¡°Cindy, I know what you''re thinking right now but don''t do it.¡± ¡°Jason, you know what kind of person I am. I absolutely won''t allow such a vile creature to roam this world. I won''t allow this ¡®thing¡¯ to continue to live. I''d rather die than to breathe the same air as this cancer of a human who cooks and eats infants.¡± ¡°I understand okay, I also want to kill him, but you have to be rational about this. That guy is crazy strong if even the Zodiacs couldn''t do a thing to him. As you are now, you''ll only be sending yourself to your own death. I''m not saying to spare his life, all I''m saying is that have the ability to kill him matter what tricks he uses.¡± said Jason. ¡°Fine then. Call my mother and tell her we''re coming home.¡± ¡°Thanks for understanding.¡± ¡­ ¡°Now it makes sense why he has such a powerful Killing Aura! He actually killed so many people and even ate them, yuck!¡± said the granddaughter. The grandpa didn''t say anything and just read the information written on the bounty. He didn''t show any reaction but his granddaughter knew that he was fuming inside. This was because the old man''s eyes were glowing in a dangerous glint. ¡®Infant Cooker¡­¡± ¡­ sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The person in question was currently travelling at fast speed within the tall, grassy mountains. He didn''t know that not only was his bounty made public, the bounty money had also been increased from 50 Trillion MC to 150 Trillion MC. He''d been travelling in this place for about a week now. "We''re here," he said. In front of Nolan and Riri was a portal that was a mix of red and blue. ¡®My delicious prey, it''s time to meet your maker, hehehe.¡¯ Chapter 24: Beautiful What Nolan and Riri were looking at now was something called a Gate. A small world that gives a reward to those who clear it. The red and blue colours indicated that the Gate was almost cleared and the people inside would come out soon. Fortunately Nolan didn''t have to wait for too long, after just a few hours of scouting, a person came out of the portal. Immediately after the person came out, the portal turned blue for a few seconds before closing up and disappearing. The blue colour indicated that the Gate had been successfully cleared and if it had turned red after the person came out, it would mean that the Gate wasn''t cleared successfully. The person who came out was half naked. He was wearing only torn pants, a clear indication that he''d been in many battles inside the Gate. The man''s aura was completely contained within him, making himself appear ordinary. That would have been the case if his body wasn''t built like a piece of art. His chiselled muscles, milky white glistening skin, handsome appearance and otherworldly hair spoke volumes about the man. Nothing about the man''s appearance indicated being ordinary. This man was the same person that Nolan had seen in Ben''s Restaurant and even exchanged a few blows with him. Nolan had found out through Loid that this guy''s name was Tyler Egac. Tyler, who had just appeared sensed danger and his body moved on its own, dodging the shurikens that suddenly appeared from nowhere. The shurikens were followed by dozens of arrows laced with poison. In Tyler''s eyes, these arrows were too slow for his eyes because he could even follow their direction with his eyes after they missed him. Tyler''s eyes followed the last arrow that barely missed his cheek, his expression was calm the whole time but something unexpected happened. After the last arrow missed him, a man had suddenly appeared in front of him holding a black marble. The marble then expanded in size and covered a large area in a short period of time. Everything happened so fast that Tyler didn''t have time to react and was trapped inside the marble''s space. Tyler looked at the person standing not far from him and recognised him immediately. It could even be said that the man had had such a great impact on Tyler that Tyler could recognise him at a glance. ¡°It''s you!¡± exclaimed Tyler. ¡°We meet again, Tyler Egac.¡± ¡°You, how do you¡­¡± Two sharp daggers were thrown at him before he could even finish speaking. Tyler twisted his body to the side, the two daggers barely missing Tyler''s head. But before Tyler could sigh in relief, Nolan appeared a few centimetres from him, grabbed hold of one of the daggers in reverse grip and tried to pierce the back of Tyler''s head. Tyler did a 90 degrees forward lean and successfully dodged the attack but he wasn''t out of danger just yet. Since his body bent forward by 90 degrees, he executed a heel kick. The heel kick landed on Nolan''s chin but it wasn''t powerful enough to do any serious damage but did push Nolan back. Tyler then raised his other leg and was now standing upside down and finally, even though upside down, he had his eyes on his enemy. A dagger was already aiming for his waist so he rolled back his legs, another dagger aimed for his head again and he executed a kick up. Spinning mid air like a cat when preparing to land on its feet, took out two crescent blades and blocked another dagger attack aimed at the back of his head. The reason for so many dagger attacks was because Nolan had attached thin threads on the daggers in order to not be unarmed when he threw them. These threads helped him to pull them back and use them continuously. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Daggers and blades collided again and again as the two guys exchanged dozens of moves in mere seconds. They also moved at such a fast speed that without the sparks, pinpointing their location as a Star Warrior would have been extremely difficult. Tyler knew that his body was very strong but his instincts told him to be wary of the daggers and he didn''t ignore them. If it was a fist fight, Tyler was sure that Nolan would have lost because he was physically stronger than him. Tyler retreated a great distance after successfully blocking all attacks from Nolan. He then tried to escape this place using special means but nothing happened. Tyler then sensed danger from Nolan again and when he looked at him, the guy had taken out a bow and arrows. ¡°Fuck..!¡± Swoosh! The first arrow was released from the bowstring and flew towards its target but Tyler easily dodged the arrow. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Nolan kept releasing arrows and Tyler kept dodging. Many times he''d thought that Nolan was out of arrows only for the guy to take out more from his storage ring and continue aiming for him. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Tyler realised that he had no choice but to engage in close combat since this running around was depleting his stamina. ¡®Motherfucker! Pushing me to a corner! I''ll show you that rats also bite when cornered!¡¯ he thought. He continued to dodge Nolan''s arrows while closing the distance between them. Nolan had perfectly planned all of this. If someone wasn''t proficient enough in close combat they''d naturally keep their distance from their opponents. So Nolan came up with a solution for that too, ranged attacks were the best when distance was involved. With this, he gained a greater advantage over his opponents because he was constantly on the offensive, leaving his opponents no room but to try and end the fight quickly. Tyler was doing the exact same thing, he wanted to end things quickly and was about to go all out. Nolan thought that he had everything under control until he saw and experienced Tyler''s trump card. Tyler''s body turned red from the heat coming from within him. His golden hair turned yellow and his eyes glowed brightly like two suns in the sky. The temperature in the surroundings rose rapidly, heating up even the air. Nolan felt like he''d been thrown in the pool of molten lava, when he breathed in, the hot air damaged his lungs. His skin was slowly being cooked and he couldn''t open his eyes or else he''d lose them. Nolan also realised that he''d miscalculated but all hope was not lost. [Killing Aura Release!] He released his Killing Aura which looked like a cloud of black gas, no longer crimson red like before. Nolan didn''t use his Killing Aura to attack Tyler''s Soul because his senses told him that that would be useless so he used the Killing Aura as his eyes. Nolan also found out that Tyler''s heat, whatever it was, was suppressing his Killing Aura greatly. ¡®Shit! I have to finish this quickly! Just what fucking kind of star did he awaken! It''s so fucking domineering!¡¯ thought Nolan as he prepared himself. Tyler sent a punch that he blocked with his hand but still got burned. Nolan though didn''t care and moved his hand like a snake and grabbed Tyler''s wrist. This time, he didn''t aim the dagger at Tyler''s hand but it melted before it even touched him. Tyler then sent a second punch, then a third, a fourth and soon, Nolan was being bombarded by Tyler''s extremely hot punches. If it was an ordinary Constellation Warrior then they would have turned to ashes a long time ago. Even though Nolan wasn''t dead, his situation wasn''t good. His arms which blocked most of Tyler''s punches were now nothing but bones, most of his face was also burned, showing his teeth and parts of his skull. He was completely naked but still spared enough energy to protect his penis. ¡°Tyler Egac, let''s finish this in one final attack. Inside my Death Space, all forms of spatial travel don''t work here and only the last man standing can leave this place! With my next attack, I''ll be sure to take your goddamn life!¡± said Nolan as massive amounts of Killing Aura was released by him. Seeing that Nolan was preparing for his last attack, Tyler also did the same. His fist was coated in orange energy with such a high temperature it caused space to tremble. He put everything in this next attack and was very confident in himself. ¡°COME!!!¡± shouted Nolan. Whoosh! Whoosh! BOOOOOM!!!!! A powerful explosion occurred that even collided with the Death Space barrier, causing it to tremble. Dust had risen but as time went by, the dust settled down and the outcome of the battle was shown. Nolan had a gaping hole on his chest, his heart completely destroyed. Tyler was standing in front of him while missing an arm and was exhausted. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ haa¡­ I¡­ win¡­¡± said Tyler with a triumphant look. Nolan didn''t respond to Tyler and just fell face first to the ground. His body without signs of vitality. Tyler wanted to take Nolan''s storage ring as his spoils of war but he couldn''t find it and naturally came to the conclusion that it was burned to ashes during the battle. He turned around and walked away slowly while limping. He kept on thinking about the battle and how to approach similar situations in the future. He also thought about how lucky he was to actually advance to the Constellation Realm when he was still inside the Gate. As he thought about all of this, he thought about the endless arrows that Nolan had constantly taken out from his storage ring to exhaust him. ¡®Wait a minute. Since when did destroyed storage artefacts not release everything inside them? Unless¡­¡¯ as he reached the last thought, Puchi! Pfft! Puchi! Swoosh! A white spear pierced through his heart and he vomited blood, the spear was then pulled out and sliced through Tyler''s neck and beheaded him. While his head was flying in the air, Tyler was astounded by Nolan''s current appearance that he forgot about what he wanted to ask, he did manage to utter a single word before he died though. ¡°Beautiful¡­¡± Chapter 25: Unreasonable Strength Nolan sat beside the headless body of Tyler, his wounds were completely healed, even the gaping hole on his chest had completely closed up. Nolan didn''t immediately start eating Tyler but instead kept his Death Space marble, then he took Tyler''s head and started masterfully removing the hair from his scalp. He treated each strand of hair like a treasure that he didn''t want to damage. After all the hair was removed from Tyler''s head, he called Riri over and handed her the man''s head and told her that it was his gift to her. Riri didn''t know what to do with the head but Nolan told her to take extra care of it because this head contained in it a once in a lifetime opportunity for her. Nolan then sent Loid a message that the job was done and Loid told him to wait for a few minutes because the person he sent was on the way. Five minutes later, Loid''s bodyguard that Nolan had previously seen inside Ben''s Restaurant arrived. Nolan then showed the man Tyler''s corpse and even gave him the glistening hair that he''d just removed from Tyler''s head. It was only after the bodyguard had left that Nolan set his eyes on the corpse again. His mouth drooled as he looked at it and without further ado, Nolan dug in. ¡°Delicious!¡± exclaimed Nolan in glee. Nolan''s taste buds were stimulated by the delicious taste of meat that Nolan was eating. Every bite Nolan took was full of flavours and energy, making him almost go crazy from the deliciousness. Riri also wanted to taste Tyler''s flesh but judging from his expression, she didn''t dare to ask for even a drop of blood. While eating, Nolan''s veins squirmed around his body like he was suffering from varicose veins. Suddenly the veins just disappeared, Nolan spat out a mouthful of blood before continuing with his meal. Riri wasn''t exactly sure about what just happened but she was 70% certain that what Nolan just did was rupture his veins. The veins were then healed before being ruptured again. This process continued for a few more times, only when Nolan finished eating Tyler''s corpse did the self harm stopped. Nolan''s strength also rose from a One Star Constellation Realm to a Three Star Constellation Realm. The duo was about to leave when someone appeared beside Nolan and grabbed his shoulder. At that moment, Nolan''s body tensed up and completely froze. His instincts were telling him to not be foolish because a single mistake could cost him his life. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Nolan felt a powerful yet gentle energy invade his body, it moved as quickly as lightning, travelling throughout his body in an instant. ¡°What an interesting Mana Meditation method you have there. Able to strengthen bones and internal organs as well as purify your blood in the First Volume. The Second Volume allows you to strengthen your Mana Veins and also expand them, I''m guessing it will also include a creating a second Mana Heart or expanding the one you already have, not only that but also help you condense a Mana Soul. Boy, just where did you obtain this Meditation Art?¡± spoke an elderly man''s voice. ¡°I created it. I call it the Nolan Meditation Art or the Hellish Evolution Art for public appearances¡± answered Nolan truthfully. He didn''t even think about spouting nonsense like asking who the person was, what he wanted from him, where he came from or other stupid questions. This person was strong, so strong that Nolan thought it didn''t make sense. ¡°You created it..?!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How?!¡± ¡°I have extensive knowledge about the human body, I know the ins and outs of it, especially my own body. In fact, I''d thought of this method a long time ago but at that time, the Mana in the air was extremely thin so using it to become stronger would take me a very long time so I didn''t cultivate it but saved it in memory.¡± ¡°When Mana was thin? Then how old are you?¡± ¡°I don''t know, a thousand and something years old but my mind is that of a twenty five year old like my actual looks. I don''t count the one thousand years because I didn''t experience living one thousand years because I spent that time in slumber.¡± The elderly voice was silent for a while before it spoke again. ¡°A thousand years, you''re still young. Boy, I have an opportunity for you, join my sect. Your talent is wasted on this world, only in my sect will you be able to take off and unleash your full potential.¡± ¡°Okay, I agree.¡± ¡°Don''t rush to reje¡­ wait what? Did you just agree so quickly. Don''t you even want to consider it first before you make a decision?¡± ¡°No. You''re strong and I want to become as strong as you so why would I reject such an offer. And I assume you already know about my old enemy right but you''re still not deterred by them which means that your sect is a force to be reckoned with. Old man, we live in reality, rejecting your offer wouldn''t just be stupid of me, it also wouldn''t make sense.¡± ¡°You''re right. Then we''re gonna leave in¡­¡± ¡°Guys, I think I found him! So you''ve been hiding here all this time. Good thing we''re able to trace your star since it just got stronger.¡± spoke a deep voice. A person then appeared, it was a giant of a man, standing at a whopping five meters, muscles everywhere and holding a massive axe. He was the ex-patriarch of the Taurus Family. Twelve more people appeared and every one of them was as powerful as the tall and muscular man. ¡°Young ones, this boy is already part of my sect so you can forget about laying a hand on him. Now leave before things get ugly.¡± said the elderly person. ¡°We don''t give a shit about your sect. We are from the Zodiac Families, and received orders directly from our ancestors to kill this guy. So old man, you either leave or die trying to protect him, your choice.¡± answered Taurus. ¡°Are you sure you don''t give a shit about my sect? I haven''t even told you its name yet.¡± ¡°Okay then tell us the name and see if we care.¡± ¡°Demonic Sect.¡± Silent reigned in the area after the old man introduced his sect, Taurus who had been arrogant this whole time became silent. Not just him but also his companions were silent. ¡°I think we should contact the ancestors first before we take drastic measures.¡± advised someone in the group. ¡°You''re right. Since we can''t make a decision on our own, we shall take our leave but remember Nolan, the whole world knows about you and your deeds. If you dare set foot on Earth again, you''ll die without a complete corpse.¡± ¡°Okay, I won''t set foot on Earth again but when I''m strong enough, I''ll just destroy it if it doesn''t accept me.¡± answered Nolan calmly. The group gave him cold glances before leaving. The girls whispered among themselves as they left, Nolan still heard a bit about what they were whispering about. ¡°...Did you see his dick¡­¡± ¡°...So big even when it''s limp¡­¡± ¡°...I wonder what it would feel like, inside of me¡­¡± Nolan couldn''t help but chuckle at their remarks. He wondered how they''d react if they knew that it wasn''t always this big.¡± ¡®Lamarck''s Law huh¡­¡± he thought. ¡°Boy, it looks like there''s a change in plans. We must leave as soon as possible, is there anything still left for you to do here, people to talk to one last time?¡± asked the old man. ¡°No, everything is taken care of. We can leave anytime you want.¡± ¡°Okay, let''s leave now.¡± [Seal Release!] A powerful aura erupted from the old man and spread out in all directions, suppressing everything in its path. The Zodiac group that were flying away fell heavily to the ground and couldn''t move a single muscle. It wasn''t just them but everyone in the city, then the countries, the continent, continents and finally the world. The Current Earth was massive, like super massive, it was a hundred times bigger than Jupiter of the past, about one hundred and thirty thousand times bigger. And the old man''s aura had completely engulfed Earth and not just Earth but the Star System and even the Solar System. This old man had reached the realm called the Black Dwarf Star Realm, capable of freezing an entire nebula with a wave of a hand. {Hold on tight boy. Oh, I almost forgot about your pet, hehe.} Chapter 26: Questions And Answers Nolan blinked and the next thing he knee, he was already in outer space. The question that immediately came to Nolan''s mind was how was he able to breathe in space and it turned out that he actually couldn''t. There was an invisible barrier around the three of them, providing air and protection. {I have created a barrier that will protect the two of you, you can''t survive in space yet. Our journey will take a while before we reach our destination so you can ask me any question along the way.} said the old man. Nolan nodded and the old man started to move. A wormhole appeared and the trio seemed to travel through it. In fact, the appearance of a wormhole while travelling wasn''t a natural occurrence but artificial. A wormhole was in simple terms space friction that acted against those travelling extremely fast in space. Since the old man moved at speeds faster than light, he was colliding with space forces. It was very similar to the sonic booms created when travelling faster than sound but one couldn''t travel faster than space since space was everywhere. Inside the barrier, Nolan didn''t experience the speed at which they were travelling in but was instead thinking about what questions to ask. ¡°Elder, who are you exactly and why did you choose me to become a member of your Demonic Sect.¡± {I''m the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect, my Title Name is Lalabu so you can just call me Elder Lalabu. I hold a very high position in the Demonic Sect, even higher than that of a Sect Leader. The reason I chose you is because of your Killing Concept that was even able to affect me. You have great potential and talent but also the way you think falls in line with how the Demonic Sect does things.} ¡°Oh right, Elder Lalabu, you''re so strong so why was my Nightmare Illusion able to affect you? It doesn''t make sense.¡± {Nightmare Illusion, so that''s what it''s called. Why did it affect me, well that''s easy. People at my Realm have to completely seal off all their powers to live in a weak world without it rejecting us. So after sealing all my powers, I became a somewhat above average person so obviously your Nightmare Illusion would affect me.} ¡°So Elder Lalabu, can you manipulate time, like turn it back or freeze it, things like that.¡± {I personally cannot do that but I''ve heard of something like that but it''s much more complicated than that. Firstly, even those who control time can''t reverse it and also can''t accelerate it. The only thing they are able to do is Stop Time within a limited area.} ¡°Why can''t they travel back in time or into the future? Time Stop only is kinda boring.¡± {Time Reverse can''t exist because once you''re dead, your Soul goes to a place you humans call Hell but it goes by other names in other places. Now, if Time Reverse existed then it would be like an ordinary person opening a tiger''s mouth and taking out food it has already swallowed which would be absolute nonsense. As for travelling to the past and future, that''s also unrealistic. Think about it, if we could truly travel back to the past then we wouldn''t grow as living and intelligences species. The mistakes we make, the choices we make, the actions we take, whether right or wrong are what makes us grow, what makes us different and what defines us as individuals. For example, let''s say you impregnated a girl by mistake and after finding out, you ran away to a faraway country. Years go by and you later find out that the girl committed suicide shortly after you ran away because the burden was just too much for her to carry. Only then will you learn how to take responsibly for your actions and also make better decisions. But if you could go back to the past and just undo what you did, you wouldn''t be learning anything right, you wouldn''t grow as a person. Things that come easy also perish easily but things that take time, effort and hard work are hard to erase. A person who inherits a company would have a different mindset from a person who created it from scratch. When it comes to travelling to the future, that would also be nonsense because how could you travel to a place you don''t even know if you exist in. Let''s say tomorrow is the day you die, how then can you travel to a future where you''re already dead. We can only look back to the past to see how far we''ve gone and we can only look forward to the future because it''s unknown and we can only enjoy the present because it''s all we''re gonna get.} The elders'' words were very profound and full of knowledge which Nolan couldn''t fully comprehend yet but would be very useful in the future if he managed to understand what the elder just told him. ¡°Elder Lalabu, is the universe infinite and ever expanding like humans think?¡± {The universe isn''t infinite but it''s comfortably exploding but not in the way you think. How many species do you think exist in the universe? Don''t ask me because I also don''t know but it''s countless species. This question, I think it''s best you figure it out on your own.} S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡­ While Nolan was asking Elder Lalabu all kinds of questions, Earth had regained its peace after they left and the suppressive aura didn''t cause a big commotion because those weaker only felt bodies become heavy and that was it, only strong people felt fear from the bottom of their hearts but didn''t say anything. Inside the throne room of the Roan Kingdom, Loid and his siblings were kneeling in front of their father. This time, the throne wasn''t high up but actually down to the flour. The king wasn''t sitting alone this time but with his first wife and also the queen who actually looked like him and wore the same overcoat as his. In fact, looking at the two of them was like looking at the clones of each other, they looked ¡®that¡¯ alike. They continued their discussion until Loid''s bodyguard requested an audience with his master, which was Loid himself. The king allowed him to enter the throne room and the bodyguard came in carrying a scalp with hair. Everyone''s eyes focused on the hair because of how beautiful it was, the glistening hair fluttered with every step the bodyguard took. The bodyguard eventually reached Loid and gave him the hair as well as the recording of Tyler''s corpse. The contract between Loid and Nolan was considered complete. Loid asked the bodyguard through telepathy why he didn''t store the hair in a storage artefact and the bodyguard answered that he couldn''t, no matter how many times he tried, the hair couldn''t be stored in any kind of storage artefact. [Loid my son, if you borrow your father that wig for a while, I''ll take you back to the Roan Empire and ask the Emperor to recommend you to the Roan Royal Academy. I''ll also cover all the costs of your tuition while there.] said the king. Not just Loid but also Loid''s siblings were shocked by the way the king just addressed Loid. In private, the king did address some of them as his son''s and daughters but in public, that was a big no no. Not just that, Loid was also offered a chance to enter the Roan Royal Academy which was a great opportunity. But what happened next was unbelievable. [Loid my beautiful boy, after you''ve borrowed your father the wig, please lend it to me too. I''ll not only make you my favourite baby, incomparable to even your eldest brother who''s in the Empire right now, I''ll also allow your mother to be my secretary, is that okay with you my boy?] ¡®WHAT THE FUCK..!!!¡¯ Chapter 27: Grandeur ¡°So Elder Lalabu, how strong are you and how strong is the Demonic Sect?¡± {Boy, I think you''re asking the wrong question. Your question should instead be how strong do you have to be to travel in outer space without fear and what is that you need to reach that level. Before we start, what exactly do you know about the Star Realm Path?} ¡°I don''t know much about the Star Realm System since I only just woke up but what I do know for a fact is it''s a Power System that follows the path of stars.¡± answered Nolan. {Well¡­ you''re not wrong but your answer is lacking, a lot lacking. Firstly, three Star Realm Paths exist; Soul Star Path, Element Star Path and Body Star Path. One can only choose a path to grow stronger from these three but the other two are very rare, especially in humans as a whole. The most important thing isn''t the Star Path but the method to grow stronger.} ¡°Meditation Arts.¡± {Bingo. Meditation Arts are the most important for one to reach higher heights in their journey. The more advanced the Meditation Art is, the better but there exist even more valuable Meditation Arts which are custom made Meditation Arts. No Meditation Art of the same grade could compare to a custom made Meditation Art, it''s like the difference between night and day. Meditation Arts are classified into six grades; Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unique Epic and Legendary and each grade corresponds to the Star Realm System. Common Grade Meditation Art means that the best it could take is from the Star Warrior Realm to the Constellation Realm. Uncommon Grade will take you through the Celestial and Nova Realm. Rare Grade all the way through the Supernova and Nebula Realm. The Unique Grade through the Propostar and Red Giant. Epic will take you through the White Dwarf and Black Dwarf Realm and finally the Legendary Grade will take you through the Proton Decay and Blackhole Realms.} ¡°Star Warrior, Constellation, Celestial, Nova, Supernova, Nebula, Propostar, Red Giant, White Dwarf, Black Dwarf, Proton Decay and Blackhole Realms. A total of twelve realms in total. That''s a long way to go but I''m willing to do the time.¡± {You have a good mentality. Most people are overwhelmed by this information, some even despair after obtaining this information. I didn''t want to tell you at first but figured out you''d find out one way or another. Tell me, why do you want to grow stronger? To accomplish your goals, make your dreams a reality, to protect someone, for freedom? What drives you forward?} ¡°Why do I want to become stronger? That''s a very stupid question, Elder Lalabu. I of course want to grow stronger because I don''t want to be weak or remain weak. Weak people receive sympathy, encouragement, contempt, bullying and pain. Weak people can''t protect shit, can''t even protect their hopes and dreams. Weak people are so weak, they can''t even push anyone forward so why would I be weak. I once came across someone who called himself a hero. And I asked him why he chose to become a hero and he told me that when he was young, he dreamed of becoming a hero. He dreamed of protecting and fighting for those weaker than him and was content with only receiving a ¡®Thank you¡¯ from the people he helped. So before I killed, I recorded the whole thing live and told the viewers that anyone, young or old, if they want to swap places with the hero, I''d kill them and spare the hero''s life. No one. Not one person came out to exchange their lives for that of the hero''s. And it wasn''t that all of them weren''t willing to do so but because they were with weak people. Weak people who''d only drag you down, tell you that it''s not worth it, ask you what''s the point, don''t be a hero, don''t go, you''ll die, you have a great future ahead of you so don''t do anything foolish. Weak people are just like that, they absorb your strength till you''re weak like them, till you have no pride or backbone. That day, I broke the hero''s spirit and have to admit it felt good. The look of pain and disappointment in his eyes, the look of betrayal and absolute despair, I enjoyed every moment of it. Even though he didn''t expect anything from the people he saved, he at least hoped that a single seed he planted would sprout¡­ but those weaklings made sure it didn''t, hahaha! sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There''s nothing more painful to a hero than letting him watch their legacy crumble in front of their eyes ,watching a bright future being consumed by darkness. Weak people love the most, people who fail in life. They love watching backbones slowly curve and perish, and they absolutely love watching heroes fall.¡± said Nolan while laughing in glee and excitement. ¡°I simply want to grow stronger so that no weak person can pull me down. I want to grow stronger so that no weak person can tell me I can''t do this or I can''t do that. I want to grow stronger so that I can make the impossible possible, achieve the unachievable, reach unreachable heights. And finally, I want to grow stronger to prove them wrong, prove to them that we''re all born strong, we''re all born strong but they choose to be weak.¡± {Is this why you chose the evil path? To not be weak? To not be burdened by the weak? To not be burdened by the expectations of the weak? That''s quite a good mindset you have there. Not living by other people''s expectations is good.} said Elder Lalabu. ¡°Hahaha! Ah hahaha. Elder, you''re wrong. I didn''t choose the evil path because of those weaklings! I chose the evil path because it looked fun. Don''t mistake my drive for my interest.¡± said Nolan proudly. Elder Lalabu was internally surprised by Nolan''s statement because it said a lot about him. Like how confident Nolan was in himself and secondly, the fact that Nolan became evil for no other reason than that it interested him. That was like intentionally making bad decisions simply because you could. It was then that the old man realised just how evil Nolan actually was. {I remember you asking about the Demonic Sect. We''re humans born from this universe and very few can match our power. Only the likes of Dragons, Giants, Elves and Werewolf can match our strength but this isn''t what truly shows how strong we are. The last time I remember, we owned close to a million superclusters, mind you, a single supercluster consists of about a hundred thousand galaxies. And we''re currently at war with all the powerful forces in the universe.} ¡°WHAT?!¡± How could Nolan not be shocked. The Demonic Sect owned hundreds of millions of galaxies! These weren''t worlds or solar systems but fucking galaxies! Fucking galaxies! Nolan didn''t know how strong one had to be to achieve such a feat but he knew that they were unimaginably strong. {Don''t worry though, you''re too weak to join the war so once we reach the sect, just do your best to grow stronger hehe.} Chapter 28: Entity ¡°Elder Lalabu, just how big is a galaxy?¡± asked Nolan. {How big is a galaxy? Well, it depends on the size of the galaxy. The tiniest galaxy is made up of approximately a thousand stars, planets, clouds of gases and dust while the largest galaxies have hundreds of trillions of stars, planets, clouds of gases and dust so it''s hard to give a clear estimate. I do know though that your Milky Way Galaxy has about six hundred billion stars, planets, clouds of gases and dust. See for yourself and make your own judgement but I assure you, galaxies are very big from what people imagine. Here, have a look for yourself.} said Elder Lalabu as he tapped Nolan''s glabella. Vast amounts of information appeared directly in Nolan''s mind, completely overwhelming him. When he finally took control over his thoughts, Nolan found himself in outer space, facing against the familiar blue planet, Earth. Compared to Earth, Nolan might as well have been microscopic. The scene then shifted, now, he wasn''t close to the Earth but a little further away from it, around him but from a distance were stars shining brightly. The scene shifted again and now, it wasn''t just a scene of stars but stars mixed with other planets, Nolan was currently looking at the solar system. The whole time, Nolan felt small and insignificant. The scene shifted again and now he was observing a huge orange cloud in space from outside, the cloud grew bigger and bigger until Nolan couldn''t even see where it started or where it ended. This was the nebula. Then the scene shifted again, now showing countless stars, planets, vast clouds of gases and dust and it was growing bigger by the second. Nolan estimated that he was currently looking at at least millions of stars and the number just kept growing by the minute. Even when Nolan thought it was about to end, it continued to grow. Since this place didn''t have a sense of time, all Nolan could do was continue to watch as the small galaxy became bigger and bigger and bigger without end. Nolan had realised a long time ago that compared to even the Solar System, he was nothing, compared to the nebula, he was less than nothing and compared to the growing Milky Way Galaxy, he was completely non-existent. He could in no way, shape or form affect it. He even thought back to the people who always said that they were the centre of the universe. He couldn''t even say they were delusional because like him, they were non-existent, less than non-existent even. Information for Nolan, even after he identified his identity in the galaxy, the galaxy continued to expand. And as it expanded, it even started to consume Nolan''s sense of self and just when Nolan was about to completely lose himself and become a soulless body, an empty shell, he was brought back to reality. ¡°Argh¡­ cough¡­ cough¡­ cough¡­ haaa¡­haaa¡­.haaa¡­haaa¡­¡± As soon as he was brought out of his thoughts, Nolan whizzed, coughed and took deep breaths of air. His body was completely drenched in sweat. ¡°Elder, what was that..?¡± {Nothing much. That was simply the grandeur of the Milky Way Galaxy. You see, not just any Tom, Dick and Harry can gaze at the workings of the universe and get away with it, even a glimpse at it might cause the unqualified to perish without even knowing how they died.} ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡­ The journey continued for a while and since inside Elder Lalabu''s barrier, there was no sense of time, Nolan could only rely on his Star Watch to check it and it seems they''d been travelling for months now. And finally, they reached their destination after about a year of travelling according to Earth''s time. {We''re here.} said the elder as his speed started to decrease. When the elder finally came to a stop, Nolan looked from above at the red swirling spiral galaxies. For as far as his eyes could see, countless red galaxies occupied every available space here. The elder didn''t descend into the red galaxy but instead took out a token written in words Nolan couldn''t read. Nolan didn''t know what was written on the token but seeing the elder''s serious expression, he knew that something big was about to happen. The token then emitted a red glow of exactly the same colour as that of the red galaxy. And right in front of Nolan, an absolutely colossal hand appeared from deep within the superclusters and grabbed at them. The hand looked illusory like it wasn''t a real hand but countless stars coming together to create it. Seeing the elder not running away from the palm grabbing at them, Nolan could only remain in place. After the huge palm enveloped them, it retracted back to the deepest parts of the superclusters. The hand was so fast that an outside viewer would think that they only saw an illusion of the hand. After a white, the palm unfurled like a blooming flower. Nolan saw the most majestic castle he''d ever seen in his life. It looked like it was made from mud or wet sand. The castle looked very steady and strong like it could survive any disaster that befell it. It exuded a very ancient aura like it had survived the test of time again and again. {Come. Let''s go see the Master.} said the elder as he flew into the castle with Nolan. The castle was completely pitch black but Elder Lalabu seemed to know his way around it and went deeper and deeper into the castle until he reached a dead end. Well, Elder Lalabu stopped walking forward so Nolan assumed they had reached a dead end but that was far from the truth. In front of Elder Lalabu was a massive door with a small keyhole the shape of the token. Putting the token inside the keyhole, the mechanism inside the door seemed to be triggered as the sound of gears and levers operating sounded out. A minute later, the massive door slowly opened and the elder entered with Nolan. On the other side of the massive door was a throne room but it didn''t feel like a throne room but rather felt like they were walking in space. The only thing glowing was a star path but after careful consideration, Nolan thought that it was a carpet. It couldn''t be helped that he thought it was a star path because the carpet was literally made from stars. They continued to walk for a while until they finally reached their end point, Nolan knew this because Elder Lalabu fell to his knees and prostrated himself. {Lalabu greets the Grand Supreme Elder. I have finally retired home after a long trip outside.} Nolan didn''t know what was going on but still followed the elder''s actions and prostrated himself. The entire dark space lit up in a cloudy blood red glow that spread out in all directions. A powerful gaze then landed on the two prostrating figures. |Raise Your Heads.| The two raised their heads but only Nolan was shocked by what he saw. ¡®Is this¡­ is this a¡­ God¡­?¡¯ All that Nolan could see were two eyes. Two enormous eyes the size of Earth''s moon in close proximity. Being looked at by those eyes, Nolan felt like even if he had secrets, in front of these eyes, all secrets could be easily exposed. Not just that, the feeling that this entity was giving was much greater than that of the Milky Way Galaxy. It felt like the entity was literally holding the universe together, like the galaxies were nothing but his subordinates to command any time he wished. |Lalabu, you''re back after¡­| sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡°AHHH!!! #$$#@@%, DIEEE!!!¡± |Haa¡­ still so mischievous I see¡­ but it''s all futile. Just accept your fate and I''ll put in a good for you to ^&$$&@#.| Chapter 29: Killing Scripture And Improvements Nolan woke up groggy with a splitting headache. It took him a while to come to his senses and once he did, he realised that he was in a dark space and when he looked at the carpet, he remembered just where he was. |You''re finally awake, I thought it would take longer. How do you feel?| sounded a hoarse man''s voice. Nolan looked up and saw what he could only describe as gigantic if it could even be called that. The giant of a man was sitting cross legged in front of him. He had reddish black exoskeleton skin and wore an old robe. Compared to this man, Nolan was literally the size of an ant and this man the size of an adult man. Nolan suddenly floated in the air and landed on one of the man''s palm that was absolutely massive. While Nolan looked at the man, the man was looking back with his planet sized crimson eyes. Nolan would have thought that the man was human if not for the antennae on his forehead and pincer-like mandibles for a mouth. He looked like a hybrid between a human and an ant and not just any ant but the bullet ant back on Earth. |Not bad. It''s rare for a human to have such a thick Killing Aura and not be affected mentally by it. But your method of utilising it is flawed, since this is considered our first meeting, I''ll impart to you the knowledge of the Killing Scripture, it will depend on you how many volumes you comprehend.| Said the man as he started speaking in a language Nolan didn''t know but could understand. Information went directly into his mind and his splitting headache disappeared. Nolan quickly sat cross legged and absorbed the information. As Nolan lost himself in the Killing Scripture, something was happening to him or rather his Killing Aura. Half of his Killing Aura had already turned into a liquid form but Nolan had so much Killing Aura that the conversion wasn''t balanced. And now, as the Killing Scripture filled his mind, the Killing Aura was turning into a liquid at a faster rate than before. This went on until all the Killing Aura had turned into a liquid which meant that it had turned into Killing Intent. Nolan''s Killing Intent was like a massive black ocean, causing big waves within his consciousness. The black ocean of Killing Intent churned, creating tsunamis and big waves. The black ocean began to shrink as it solidified. BOOM! Black energy burst out from Nolan''s body and spread outwards but an external force seemed to trap it in place, refusing to allow outside a radius of a hundred meters. The Killing Intent continued to coalesce until it formed a small reddish black crystal. This crystal continued to solidify until it became a big crystal and with this, Nolan had achieved the Killing Energy Phase. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But even with this, it still wasn''t over. It seemed Nolan''s years of accumulating Killing Aura was about to reveal its rewards with interest. His understanding of Killing Aura, Killing Intent and Killing Energy fused into a single small bubble that entered the crystallised Killing Energy. When the small bubble entered the crystallised Killing Energy, the crystal then vibrated incessantly as it shrunk like something was devouring it from inside. Currently, the crystal was as big as a small mountain, hundreds of metres big but whatever that was deciding it from inside was doing a good job because it was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye. It didn''t take long for whatever was devouring the crystallised Killing Energy to finish the job and reveal itself. It was the small bubble that was now completely pitch black and looked quite beautiful. After that, the black bubble grew larger and larger until Nolan''s consciousness couldn''t handle it. When the consciousness had reached its limit, the black bubble popped. BOOOOOOM!!! A loud explosion rang out in Nolan''s mind and in the same instant that the bubble exploded, he floated a few meters above ground and opened his mouth and eyes which had turned completely black. His eyes were like the void, completely empty of light and his mouth was like the opening of the abyss. A silhouette then formed slowly behind Nolan, the silhouette was vague but slowly taking shape. |...Mhm..?| The ant-man who had his eyes closed this entire time and reciting the Killing Scripture was interrupted by the silhouette behind Nolan, although vague, it seemed clear in his eyes. |Kun¡­ no, it''s different. This fish and those wings¡­ hahaha! Boy, you truly are mischievous! Hahaha!| thought the ant-man as he continued to recite the Killing Scripture. The silhouette continued to outline itself until a clear picture was formed. It was the silhouette of a flying fish with six wings. When it opened its mouth, rows of sharp teeth made their appearance. The flying fish silhouette circled around Nolan for a few times before it entered his body. Nolan''s figure then descended and landed on the ant-man''s arm. Inside Nolan''s consciousness, everything was completely different. Instead of being called a consciousness, it should now be called the Soul Sea, the core of a person''s Soul. The flying fish silhouette was much clearer inside the Soul Sea than outside. The flying fish silhouette was devouring the black Soul Sea greedily but Nolan didn''t seem alarmed by this as if everything was under control. Time went by quickly and the flying fish had devoured all the black Soul Sea. It then grew larger and larger until the Soul couldn''t hold it inside so it released the flying fish. Once outside the Soul Sea, the flying fish continued to grow larger and larger until the Soul could fit into its mouth. The flying fish silhouette then swallowed the humanoid Soul in one fell swoop. Then the flying fish took over the job as Nolan''s new Soul. What had just happened was that Nolan awakened his Soul when he reached the Killing Consciousness State which corresponded to the Fifth Volume of the Killing Scripture. And after that was the Sixth Volume of the Killing Scripture, the Killing Embodiment State. Killing Concept State was the Fourth Volume of the Killing Scripture. The Killing Consciousness State allowed for Soul Awakening because it had to integrate itself into the Soul Sea then the Killing Embodiment State allowed for the fusion of Killing Consciousness to fuse with the Soul and become one. Now, Nolan''s Soul was the very Embodiment of Killing. The Flying Fish Soul still wasn''t done, after it became Nolan''s new Soul, it opened its mouth and vomited out litres of black liquid. This liquid then floated up and slowly enveloped the Flying Fish Soul. This process continued until the Flying Fish Soul was completely enveloped by the black liquid in a spherical ball of about a hundred metre radius. Now, only a black sphere could be seen if someone probed Nolan''s Soul. When this was done, finally, everything seemed to calm down and no more changes occurred. Nolan remained seated cross legged and absorbed the ant-man''s information on the Killing Scripture. |Killing Domain, how unexpected. It seems you''re more talented than I thought. Your status shouldn''t be low within my Demonic Sect since you''re a very valuable piece in this chessboard. A status of a Demonic Child should suffice.| thought the ant-man. Chapter 30: What The Fuck Nolan didn''t know how much time had passed when he finally ended his meditation session. The ant-man had long ago finished reciting the Killing Scripture and was still lost in thoughts even after the scripture was no longer being recited. When he woke up this time, he felt something different about himself but couldn''t yet describe. He felt his body was very light, he felt that he could think faster and analyse information faster without burdening his mind. |You''re finally awake. Here, take this. It''ll activate once you register yourself in the sect. I expected that your realm would advance by a few stages after your Enlightenment but it didn''t budge an inch.| said the ant-man. ¡°Oh, that''s because my Meditation Art doesn''t depend on Enlightenment to improve but on hard work, pain and a glimpse into the netherworld.¡± said Nolan. The ant-man didn''t believe a word Nolan said because what he said made no sense. The first few Star Realm Stages only need one to accumulate energy to grow stronger but the later realms require comprehension in order to advance through the stages, energy alone is no longer enough. And for Nolan to say that his Meditation Art didn''t require comprehension was absolute bogus. |Anyway, there''s something I want to ask you before you leave. It''s not a compulsory question so it''s fine if you don''t want to answer.| ¡°Please ask.¡± |To you, what do you think is most important in a cooperation between two or more people? Especially a leader and follower, boss and subordinate type of relationship or cooperation.| ¡°Simple. Trust and loyalty. As long both people have and get this, we''re gonna get along just fine.¡± |Trust and loyalty. I''m satisfied with that answer, you can keep the storage artefact with your pet inside.| Nolan looked down and saw a ring on the ant-man''s palm and took it. He was holding a storage ring in his left hand and a token in his right hand. |You may leave now.| Nolan wanted to say something but in a blink of an eye, he found himself in an unfamiliar area. The sun was out and the sky was red, the clouds in the sky white. In front of him was a massive wall and a plaque written ¡®Demonic Sect¡¯ at the entrance gate. Two guards wearing armour stood on the sides of the gate. Nolan approached them with the token in hand, the ring was already on his finger. ¡°Hey guys, I''m the new recruit in the sect, does one of you mind giving me a tour of the place?¡± said Nolan. The guards wanted nothing more than to kick this naked pervert away but the way he appeared here made them tread carefully. The Star Watches on their wrists translated Nolan''s words so they could understand. Nolan was surprised by this and also activated his translator. ¡°Who are you and where do you come from?¡± asked one of the guards. ¡°As I''ve said before, I''m the new recruit, personally scouted by Elder Lalabu. Here''s my token.¡± answered Nolan. The guards were just that, guards, they didn''t know anyone by the name of Lalabu, their status was too low to know upper echelon people. They were about to kick Nolan away but stopped when they saw the token or rather the words written on it. Since they were written in a different language, Nolan didn''t know what they meant but just because he didn''t didn''t mean that it was the same for others. Plop! ¡°We apologise for our transgression Sire, please find it in your heart to forgive us.¡± ¡°Sire, please give us a chance to redeem ourselves. We truly didn''t mean to waste your time.¡± The two guards fell on their knees after seeing the token and started begging Nolan for mercy and forgiveness. ¡°Enough. Just take me inside and be my guide on the way.¡± ¡°Thank you Sire for your magnanimity, we shall guide you to the best of our abilities. Right this way Sire.¡± ¡­ Inside the Demonic Sect, it was quite different from what Nolan had imagined. The place was clean firstly, there were no hawkers or anything like that, along the way, he saw many pagodas, houses, altars. In short, the architectural style of this place was the same as that of mediaeval China. The guards led Nolan to a place with the tallest pagoda built parallel to one another and in the middle of that was a building that looked like the imperial house and was as tall as the two pagodas. Nolan saw the long flight of stairs and felt slightly uncomfortable. ¡°Sire, this is a far as we can take you. We''reforbidden from going any further.¡± said the guards. ¡°Good. You can leave now.¡± ¡°Thank you Sire.¡± The two guards then ran off at their greatest speed, afraid that Nolan might change his mind and make things difficult for him. Nolan wanted to enter the pagodas but the guards had led him all the way to the staircase which meant that what he wanted was here. Without a choice, Nolan started to climb up the stairs but he couldn''t but feel that something wasn''t quite right with these stairs but he didn''t know what exactly. After thinking for a while and not finding an answer, Nolan continued walking up the stairs that seemed to reach the heavens. ¡­ In one of the pagodas, there was a group of young fellas standing on the balcony and chatting happily. They wore dark red robes with a bull ant''s emblem on the chest, they carried swords on their waists. One of the guys from this group who was lost in thoughts suddenly noticed someone climbing up the tall stairs. ¡°Hey guys, come check this out. A pervert guy is climbing up the Steps Of Despair!¡± The youngsters rushed over when they heard what he said. ¡°Shit, it''s true! There really is a pervert climbing the Steps Of Despair!¡± ¡°Who is he?¡± ¡°I know him. It''s the guy we''re seeing for the first time whom we actually know nothing about.¡± answered someone sarcastically. These guys were on the lower floors on the left pagoda and they weren''t the only ones who''d been on the balcony to enjoy the view. Others who also saw the naked guy climbing up the stairs called their friends over to watch this spectacle. In no time, the left pagoda was filled with disciples wearing different coloured robes. Those on the lower floors wore dark red robes, those on the middle floors wore scarlet red robes and those on the higher floors wore blood red robes. The commotion the disciples on the left pagoda caused caught the attention of those on those in the right pagoda. A few middle aged men and geezers came out of their rooms. All of them wore black robes and exuded mistrust auras, incomparable to the disciples. These were the elders of the Demonic Sect. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡®Who''s that pervert and who let him in?¡¯ Those were their first thoughts when they saw the person climbing up the stairs. Nolan on the other hand was focused on climbing up the stairs that he didn''t notice the audience he had attracted. ¡®At this rate, it''ll probably take hours before I reach the top. It''s best if I increase my speed.¡¯ thought Nolan as he started running at full speed up the stairs. Seeing the naked guy running up the stairs, the spectators on both pagodas were shocked by this. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!¡± Chapter 44: The Slaughter Begins ¡°What brings you here?¡± asked Nolan. ¡°We''ve found the location of Earth''s World Spirit and also the way to obtain it but it might prove troublesome to obtain it.¡± Centura began to explain to Nolan everything that happened while outside the tower, of course he didn''t include the useless information like his family matters. Nolan was unpleasantly surprised by this information because he would no longer have to waste his time idling in the tower and could just go out and fight for what he wanted. Nolan had thought that he''d have to wait for years before his plans came to partial fruition but now, everything had become easy. ¡°Let''s go! Take me to that place this instant!¡± said Nolan excitedly. His gown turned into a black tuxedo, it was like he was going on a business trip. A magician''s hat adorned his head and a diamond walking stick with a dragon head handle appeared on his right hand while his left hand held a smoking pipe that released a somewhat colourless smoke. With a snap of his fingers, the group of five appeared outside the Redhand Tower. Nolan then turned around to look at the tower and with another snap of his fingers, the Redhand Tower shrank at a terrifying speed and in just a few seconds, it shrank to the size of an adult''s finger. The reason why Nolan was able to leave the Redhand Tower and even collect it like it was a toy was because firstly, he was an Earthling so the restrictions that applied to other Tower Bosses didn''t apply to him, secondly, he had modelled the Redhand Tower to also become a storage artefact that could be put away at any time. Immediately after he was done, the group immediately left for the World Spirit location. Of course the sudden disappearance of the Redhand caused a huge commotion and the journalists had caught everything on camera. Yes, Nolan was caught on camera and immediately became a hot topic and internet sensation. ¡­ While all of this was happening, Nolan and the others travelled at their fastest speed to reach their destination and they reached the place in just two hours since Centura had to rest along the way. When they entered the barrier to the core of Earth, they found that Brigadier General Chad hadn''t yet left and was watching the battle with a solemn expression. In fact, General Chad always watched the battle with a solemn expression because he could see just how overwhelmingly powerful the alien races were, humans were absolutely no match for them so how could he not be worried. When the five arrived, he approached them with quick steps but someone was even faster than him. He only felt a soft breeze and the fifth person had disappeared. ¡°Who was that?!¡± he asked but the four people just ignored him and instead looked at the sky. It wasn''t just them who looked at the sky, the few figures who were sitting cross legged on stage yet no one attacked them also looked at the sky. At some point, someone appeared in the sky and looked down from above. He wore a black tuxedo, a magician''s hat, held a diamond walking stick and was smoking a pipe. The young man puffed his smoking pipe a few times before putting it away. The young man had a mischievous smile on his face and eyes full of excitement. [Here goes nothing. Let''s see how my first experiment turns out.] Everyone on stage then felt the air become fresher and purer, some couldn''t help but take deep breaths because of how comfortable it was to breathe in fresh air. The air just continued being purified, becoming fresher and easier to breathe by the second. You see, Earth has a gas that all living things rely on to breathe, a gas that can be found everywhere as long as you''re on planet Earth. Although this gas is essential to life, too much of it can cause problems. On the battle stage, many races there started to experience vision problems and could only see stuff near them, their muscles twitched and mild throat irritation. To the weaker ones, the effects were greater to the weaker ones. Breathing became difficult, lung damage, constantly coughing, nausea and even seizures. Everyone on stage had been poisoned with an unknown poison, even those nonchalant figures could feel their vision slowly being blurred and not breathing normally. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Wind Manipulation: Oxygen Poison.] One by one, the challengers dropped dead on the ground, be it humans or the alien races, Nolan was impartial with his lethal attack. Of the millions, about five hundred thousand were killed by the attack. Although there were many survivors, Nolan wasn''t done with his attack. The survivors would have normally sensed the danger but with their state of confusion, they didn''t and that was a big mistake. The fresh air although invisible, the ones on stage could feel it being compressed to dangerous levels but it was already too late to react. [Wind Manipulation: Oxygen Explosion!] BOOOOMMMMM!!! A cloud of blue flames spread out in all directions as an explosion occurred, the flames incinerated everything in sight and those who tried to escape were engulfed by the heat wave produced by the blue flames. [HAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! NOW THIS¡­ IS WHAT I CALL A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT!] exclaimed Nolan as if he was playing a very fun game. He watched as everyone was slowly or quickly burning to death by the blue flames. Even from afar, he could feel the terrifying heat of the blue flames and kept adding more oxygen to make the flames even stronger. The temperature had reached terrifying degrees of about 5000 degrees Celsius, as hot as Earth''s Core thousands of years ago. After everyone was burned to ashes, Nolan didn''t waste time and called the three elders to come and protect him because what he was about to do didn''t allow for any interference. Nolan''s blue eyes became crimson red as his Soul was stirred. A malevolent energy full of killing and bloodthirstiness was released by his Soul. This cloud of malevolent energy was exactly two hundred meters in size. The cloud then began to take shape, slowly taking on a humanoid form. Nolan''s two halves of his Demonic Child token flew out of his body by themselves and entered the malevolent cloud with a half formed humanoid figure. A powerful aura unlike no other emanated from the figure behind him. Even though it was half formed, it released a powerful aura that caused everyone in the Milky Way Galaxy to shudder in fear. The cloud quickly completed its formation and resembled the ant-like man Nolan had seen before he joined the Demonic Sect. The ant-like man released a breath of crimson air that fused with the countless portals in this place and only eight portals were left alone. [I Nolan, the last Demonic Child, seeks full support from the sect. I seek for complete eradication of the chosen worlds. And I deem the Milky Way Galaxy as my own base after I''ve conquered it!] said Nolan with a determined expression. {Granted.} A single yet absolutely powerful word resounded throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, causing every living being to momentarily become absent minded. The ant-like man behind Nolan then grabbed at the air in front of Nolan and forcefully opened it, creating a space crack. On the other side of the space crack were figures who seemed to be in deep slumber but woke up after feeling the spatial fluctuations. The ant-like man didn''t just open up one space crack but many and these space cracks moved and fused with the portals that were marked red by the ant-like man''s breath earlier. Once the many space cracks fused with portals, one one space crack remained before it changed into a portal. The ant-like man then turned back into a malevolent cloud before the cloud was returned back into Nolan''s body. Immediately after, Nolan left a few words before falling unconscious. [And the Slaughter begins¡­]