Chapter 303: The Revived King

"Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You~"

Hong Shang Guangsheng was standing in the office, humming birthday songs in various tones; in fact, he bakes cakes every day.

But today his hands felt especially deft, the baking steps went off without a hitch, just like a true pastry chef; unfortunately, his only taster was his secretary.

Li Zhong sat on her own dedicated sofa, her hand painted with bright red nail polish holding a tiny mirror; in the mirror she was drawing elegant eyeliner, her light pink lips glistening.

Having a boss obsessed with baking, she shouldn't touch up her makeup when she knows the cake is about to finish, because when she eats the cake she would inevitably swallow the lip gloss.

However, it depends on the exact situation—whether it's morning or afternoon; she would certainly not choose to reapply makeup right after finishing a cake, but today was a bit different.

Li Zhong lifted her head; directly opposite, the minute hand of the wall clock was steadily devouring the blank squares.

Just one more minute and I can clock out; let the President enjoy the cake he made himself—outside work hours I won't eat any cake, even if it's given to me, Li Zhong thought wildly in her mind.

Workers always find vague complaints about the work environment; this job is fine in every way except the cake is a bit too much to handle.

"President, I'm at quitting time, see you tomorrow."

Li Zhong put away her cosmetics, then stood, lifted her bag, and smiled at Hong Shang Guangsheng; it seemed today was another day without needing to take cake home.

"What a pity, Li Zhong, my cake has just been finished."

Hong Shang Guangsheng regretfully took the freshly baked cake out of the oven.

"Yes, yes, it really is a pity."

Li Zhong echoed while preparing to leave, to start her own nightlife.

But as Li Zhong spoke, she vaguely heard the sound of a coin dropping.

So familiar, and hidden right within sight.

It couldn't be Greed Gan, because only the one called Anku knows that this is the President's location.

Li Zhong's complexion instantly grew solemn; the sound of the coin dropping made her body involuntarily tense, and the clinking grew louder.

She looked toward the source of the sound; the instant she saw it, her pupils snapped shut, her gaze fixed on the cell coins floating outside the tempered glass window, hovering like living beings, her eyes filled with cold murderous intent.

It wasn't only Li Zhong; Hong Shang Guangsheng also heard the flow of cell coins.

It was a sensation transmitted from deep within his bloodline, a trembling and terror from his core; he didn't know why he felt it, but it was clearly very dangerous.

Something is coming.

The feeling rooted deep in his bloodline raced through every cell of Hong Shang Guangsheng's body, causing him to shiver as a fierce unease from his core permeated him.

Even when facing Kara he never felt such fear; the royal bloodline he inherited would never bow to any desire or apostle, yet now…

Hong Shang Guangsheng suddenly recalled something, snapped awake, and shouted at Li Zhong like a madman:

"Run, give the thing I mentioned before to Jiang Xia, quickly, tell them the king has revived…"

Opposite Hong Shang Guangsheng, Li Zhong covered her mouth, staring in disbelief at the scene before her.

Countless cell coins gathered into a humanoid shape, directly denting the tempered glass.

After reaching the glass's limit, the incredibly sturdy tempered glass shattered, and a flood of cell coins poured into Hong Shang Guangsheng's body.

Amid the booming explosion, an unusually dazzling light burst from Hong Shang Guangsheng's body, and some things in the office disintegrated into fragments under the force.

"I didn't expect the inheritor of my bloodline to be so... young; this vibrant body lets me break the seal completely. I will make the world submit to my feet again!"

Tidal cell coins surged from every corner of the office toward the resurrected Gu Dai Ouz, an incomparable aura instantly enveloping the place.

After an 800-year gap, having defeated all the Greed, the king who petrified from runaway desire reappeared in the world; this time he intends to fuse all Core Coins to become the ultimate being.

"Just a little bug ran away, never mind, it's irrelevant."

A hint of disdain flashed in Gu Dai Ouz's eyes; such a weak human is of no use to him, not even fit to be a tool for bearing his offspring.

"Let me see what happened to this world during my seal..."

Gu Dai Ouz reverted to Hong Shang Guangsheng's form, sitting in the office chair.

The moment he closed his eyes, his consciousness entered Hong Shang Guangsheng's memories, rapidly grasping the world at an incredible speed.

He has now even lost Ouz's drive and the Core Coin; before fully understanding the world's specifics, he'll wait for now.

Elsewhere.

Li Zhong, who escaped from the office, sprinted down the stairs, continuously heading underground.

Now her extraordinary physical condition showed; without a word she kicked off her expensive high heels.

She looked at the maze-like stacked stairwell below, then performed a reckless move unimaginable to ordinary people,

She grabbed the railing with gymnast-like agility and leapt directly downward from the stairwell.

The beneficiaries back then weren't just Hong Shang Guangsheng; he became even younger.

And Li Zhong possessed a body beyond ordinary humans, with increased strength, reflexes, and dynamic vision.

Li Zhong wildly bounded within the descending stairwell, using her body and reflexes to treat the stairs as flat ground, then plummeting faster than any elevator.

As for why she didn't take the elevator, it's because Li Zhong knows Greed's nature well; they attach to humans like blood‑sucking parasites.

Not only is the body controlled, the host's memories are also fully read by Greed.

President Hong has permission to control all building systems; if the possessed President Hong Greed finds that switch in his memory, everyone will be sealed inside the building, and that would be total disaster.

She doesn't want to be trapped in an elevator; a stalled elevator is no different from a solid cage.

"Clang!"

Li Zhong slowly stood up, droplets of sweat falling onto the floor with a crisp pattering sound.

This is the bottom floor of the Hong Building, where the near‑infinite cell coins are stored, yet it's only the fourth-to-last level. In Hong Shang Guangsheng's eyes, the value of items kept on the lowest floor still surpasses those countless cell coins.

There are no electronic devices here, only an almost indestructible door forged from special alloy; besides Hong Shang Guangsheng himself, he has only told Li Zhong about this place.

Li Zhong removed a spare key from her neck and inserted it into the lock of the door before her.

The sound of gears turning grew louder, the tiny lock activating all defensive mechanisms in the room; with a click, the fully metal door swung open inward.

Li Zhong swiftly withdrew the key, ignoring the slowly moving alloy door, and forced her way through the narrow opening like an agile squirrel.

Soft, dim lights flickered on around, a beam illuminating the room deep underground.

Although this place may never have seen sunlight since birth, it is unusually clean, with not a speck of dust; all four walls are whitewashed, and the floor is merely smoothed with cement.

The walls still had some murals hanging, and in the corner there were stone steps carved with circular grooves, but the most obvious thing here was the statue of the Oz Eagle Tiger Locust Union.

Even in the dim lighting, they still exude an unparalleled sense of nobility; the image of the King wielding Oz with tremendous power to crush and destroy, defeating Greed, is vividly before our eyes.

"Found it! The thing Chairman Hong Shang mentioned! As long as we hand this over to Jiang Xia, the Chairman will be saved."

Li Zhong saw the stone carving in the hall, and a hint of joy appeared on his weary face.

This is completely different from the Oz statue on the twenty‑seventh floor; it is far too small, as if it had been plucked straight from Oz's chest.

She rushed to the sculpture in two quick steps, shoved the key she had just pulled from the alloy iron door straight into the yellow tiger's mouth, and heard the metallic clink as the mechanism activated.

That key was then devoured by the yellow tiger, fitting in as if it had always belonged there.

This key is not only for opening the door; it is also essential for unlocking the treasure.

The exquisite round relief, composed of three combined animals, emitted a mechanical sound and began to split to the left and right.

The devices controlled by the metal mechanism will not encounter serious problems, nor will they be disrupted by power outages or human interference.

As the relief opened, the items stored inside appeared before Li Zhong: three coins shining with an extraordinary brilliance, even somewhat eerie, the Core Coins simply placed there.

Li Zhong reached out and grabbed them all at once; the moment she took out the Core Coins, the lights here suddenly went out.

They fell into total darkness, except for a faint glow on the metal door, with an arrow pointing downward.

At that moment, the entire building suddenly shuddered.

Just moments ago, Li Zhong had been smiling with delight, but a huge terror exploded in her mind, and her body began to tremble.

However, she quickly suppressed her fear and fled swiftly along the light's guidance.

Finally, the door closed, its light vanished instantly, and everything fell into silence.

At that moment, deep within the underground of the Hong Shang Group's base, a deep‑red indicator arrow lit up—it was the elevator's signal light, with the red arrow blinking repeatedly before stopping at a special floor, a secret floor.

The elevator doors opened, and he stepped into a pitch‑black darkness where he couldn't see his own hand; aside from the sound of the doors closing, there was only a deathly stillness.

Suddenly, the lights ahead turned on, the lamps hanging from the ceiling casting a faint, eerie brightness.

Looking around, the area was filled with numerous transparent glass boxes, each containing many well‑preserved documents about the Core Coins.

Above the glass boxes hung a massive Oz several meters in diameter; the ceiling spotlights scattered light across his obscure, hard‑to‑read face, sharp‑angled, revealing an indescribable demeanor.

His pupils faintly glowed with a dark light.

At last, the king's chambers welcomed their true master—the first to wield transformation into Oz, the King of Desire.

Ancient Oz, bearing the face of Hong Shang Guangsheng, faced the warehouse concealed by red curtains and walked straight in; to regain his power, Cell Coins were necessary.

"No wonder you're my descendant, constantly seeking the power of desire."

Ancient Oz gazed at the piles of Cell Coins; although most had been taken away, the remaining amount was enough to replenish his strength.

From the depths of the warehouse came the clatter of coins, and the remaining Cell Coins entered Ancient Oz's body.

The surging power sent out ripples like a stone dropped in still water, breaking the underground's utter tranquility.

Ancient Oz surveyed the now‑empty warehouse, satisfied and ready to leave, but as he was about to step forward, he frowned, sensing a familiar presence.

He lowered his head, his gaze seeming to pierce the thick floor and reach deeper underground.

The utter darkness did not hinder his emotionless gaze; a faint, flickering dark red within the blackness stood out strikingly.

A rhythmic red light pulsed in his pupils, sensing the distance continually receding.

Ancient Oz's hand suddenly burst with blinding gold light; as his inner power surged, the light sharpened into a keen blade.

He aimed at the red light flickering deep in his eyes and swung downward fiercely.

The gold‑light blade sliced into the cement‑and‑reinforced‑concrete floor as easily as cutting tofu, cleanly penetrating the ground while locking onto its target.

This sharp blade makes one thing clear: if it strikes a person's body, anyone hiding anywhere who is aimed at will be killed outright, without exception.

Li Zhong, who had just snatched the Core Coins and was sprinting through the underground, had no idea of this.

The only place here that connects deep underground to the surface is the Hong Shang Group's underground parking lot; just get in a car,

Then, with her driving skill, she could unleash the sports car's full performance; she is a licensed professional racer, so getting the message out would be a sure thing.

Just as Li Zhong was about to dash out of the underground passage, a sudden whoosh came from above; she looked up, startled, and her running speed increased a bit.

The ceiling of the underground passage was cracking, a huge fissure like a giant python burrowing through the earth, faintly emitting gold light from within.

One could tell with their toes that this was surely because someone had stolen important things from others, making them furious and coming to collect debts.

The gold‑light blade pierced the ceiling, carving a huge hole through the three underground layers.

Ancient Oz looked at the woman agile as a cheetah in the underground passage and said, "Li Zhong, you took what you shouldn't have; hand it over."

Ancient Oz looked at the agile woman in the underground passage, who moved like a cheetah, and said, "Li Zhong, you took something you shouldn't have; hand it over."

(End of chapter)