Chapter 482: Black Emperor (4K)

"Belak, you don't need to do this."

"Mr. President, your current actions are extremely, extremely dangerous."

In a cave somewhere among the mountains, a group of black-robed men sat miserably beside ground-level metal pipes, their hands and feet shackled.

Among them were Epstein, the British prince, the former leader of Israel, and the couple who ran the American Chain.

These two, while in office, controlled everything; even after leaving office, they still held sway over the government.

Any White House advisor, intern, writer, agent, journalist, or prosecutor who tried to expose their scandals died under mysterious circumstances—some even committed suicide with eight bullets fired into their backs.

As dangerous as a Death Note.

"Belak, listen to me,"

Secretary of State Hillary's expression remained calm, but her voice betrayed her panic and fear: "Even if you kill us, how will you explain it to Congress when you step outside?"

The man she spoke to, Obama, sat lazily in his chair, facing a large screen displaying thermal imagery of an F-16 fighter jet.

Standing beside Obama was an entire squad of Secret Service agents, fully armed and expressionless, as if they had no reaction whatsoever to the president's illegal imprisonment of the Secretary of State.

The entire cave was spacious and vast; computers, servers, radio transmitters, and air filtration systems had all been fully installed, and at the entrance stood a one-meter-thick alloy door.

Such a massive project was unknown even to Epstein himself—the island's owner—or rather, he had once known, but his memories had been erased.

"Madam Secretary, you've misunderstood one thing."

Obama turned his chair and looked at his colleague with a light smile: "If my plan proceeds smoothly, the United States will no longer need Congress."

————

On the island's dock, guests in loose beachwear, bikini-clad attendants, and bodyguards who had come with their employers,

Were all blocked behind a yellow warning line by armed security; no matter what they said, they were forbidden from boarding the luxury yacht just steps away.

"Give me back my satellite phone!"

Hollywood actor George Clooney shouted at the armed guard who had taken his phone: "Do you know who this phone is calling?!"

This George Clooney was a famous supporter of the Democratic Party, closely friends with multiple Democratic officials, and had long maintained an intimate friendship with Obama and his wife personally.

Several naval vessels had already surrounded the island, and fighter jets flew overhead—anyone with half a brain could tell the military had moved.

Once the army is deployed, with so many eyes around, the secrets on the island can no longer be hidden.

The immediate priority is to distance himself from the scandal.

The armed guard ignored the rebuke; when George Clooney tried to cross the yellow line, the guard swung his rifle butt hard, knocking the Hollywood actor to the ground and knocking out several of his teeth.

The surrounding crowd screamed in terror and let out faint sobs, but the armed guard paid no attention—only bent down and coldly told the groaning Clooney: "The order came from the president."

————

"So, the final boss of this mission is the corrupted Obama."

On the path leading to the summit, Zhong Tian Beiji frowned: "Can we trust him?"

"A politician's integrity is like the review rating of Three Kingdoms Kill—there's some, but it's negligible."

Li Cheng said casually: "Do you remember the penalty for mission failure?"

"Of course I do," Zhong Tian Beiji blurted out: "If we fail to kill eight SVIPs, we'll be permanently trapped in the script world."

"Notice this: this time, the penalty isn't about keeping our current forms. That means if we fail, we'll be trapped in this world—and regain our full strength."

Li Cheng said: "If you were Obama, would you let a group of furious transcenders stay in your world?"

"Of course not."

Zhong Tian Beiji realized it: yes, for players, staying in the 2009 parallel world offered no benefit. After losing Louchai as their largest resource platform, surviving increasingly difficult script missions on their own would be nearly impossible.

But for Obama, suddenly gaining several transcenders averaging Lv25 was a disaster—unless he used intercontinental missiles in a chain of assassinations or launched a nuclear strike head-on, it would be nearly impossible to kill these interdimensional travelers.

"Precisely because of this, from Obama's perspective, he has only two options."

Li Cheng held up two fingers casually: "One: ensure we kill the remaining seven SVIPs, help us complete the mission, then see us off with courtesy.

Two: while the transcenders are still in child forms, kill all players on the spot and take over their qualifications.

There is no third option."

As they spoke, the two reached the summit and indeed saw a massive rock with a slightly different color. In front of the rock, the sandy ground bore friction marks and visible footprints.

Sensing their presence, a loudspeaker hidden inside a hollow tree trunk emitted Obama's voice: "Welcome, both of you."

Li Cheng stopped walking: "Aren't you going to invite us in?"

"Hehe, Master Pi Fu, you're quite humorous,"

Obama laughed: "Though you're trapped in child bodies with your spiritual power capped below 100 points, I'm certain that if I open this door, you'll kill everyone here within two minutes."

"Too kind, too kind—two minutes isn't enough; two and a half would be about right."

Li Cheng waved his hand modestly: "I demand to see the other players you've captured."

"Fine."

Before the words had fully faded, a LCD screen rose from the sand, showing a sealed room where three children, blindfolded, connected to breathing tubes, lay on operating tables in deep anesthesia.

One of them looked familiar—it was the fortune-teller 【San Ri Yue】 they had met in the inverted pyramid dungeon, his face streaked with tears and his body marked with scratch wounds from desperate struggles.

The image cut off; Obama's voice returned through the loudspeaker: "Need to inspect the goods again? I've prepared your SVIPs."

A Secret Service agent stepped before the camera, picked it up, and ran down a dim corridor, swinging the shaky lens toward the terrified SVIPs.

Prince Andrew wept uncontrollably, slamming his back against the metal pipe behind him, roaring: "You'll go to hell!"

"On the contrary, I will become Emperor of the United States. I will become the savior of this world."

Obama's cold chuckle echoed through the loudspeaker: "In July 1947, the first interdimensional incursion occurred in Roswell, New Mexico—two transcenders fought each other, and their floating cannons were mistaken for alien spacecraft.

The wreckage recovered by the U. S. Air Force from the Roswell incident dramatically accelerated global technological progress.

In 1991, interdimensional travelers on a mission in the Philippines triggered the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, killing 800 people and destroying 48,000 homes, lowering global temperatures by 0.5°C.

In 1999, a meteor fell over Chicago; in 2004, a tsunami struck Indonesia—all were manipulated from behind the scenes.

Haven't you realized yet? Our world is a trash bin, a public toilet."

The Outsider comes and goes as he pleases.

If we don't possess our own supernatural power, sooner or later some day, there will be interdimensional travelers casually tossing down bioweapons, memetic consciousness-pollution, infinitely self-replicating Tomie, turning the world upside down,

or even just for fun, in the one or two minutes before completing the mission and departing, brainwashing and controlling the weakest of the P5 — Britain and France — to launch nuclear weapons, triggering a global nuclear war and bringing about nuclear winter."

August's speech, as always, was impassioned and stirring, bewitching the hearts of the people, even carrying a hint of righteous solemnity.

Zhongtian Beiji guiltily rubbed his nose. On one hand, it was indeed true that a considerable number of players harmed others without benefiting themselves, dumping garbage into scenario worlds.

On the other hand, Zhongtian Beiji himself could also be included in this category — stripping Fate Patterns from NPCs would absolutely alter the trajectory of the world's situation.

August said coldly: "I am the one chosen by destiny. Only I can lead this world onto the right path, rather than being dragged into the abyss by interdimensional travelers."

"That's not necessarily true."

Li Cheng suddenly said: "I once went to a world that had been led astray by players, and it was actually quite nice — the whole society revered two-dimensional culture.

Those who'd seen Dragon Ball and Naruto counted as Otaku Power Level One,

those who'd seen Attack on Titan, JoJo, Tokyo Ghoul, and Demon Slayer counted as Otaku Power Level Two,

those like me who knew Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Gundam, Patlabor, EVA, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind like the back of their hand,

who could rattle off terms like BD, DVD, original art, film reels, CD, vinyl, and celluloid,

who were familiar with animation production and distribution processes — veteran two-dimensional fans,

upon going there, would directly be Otaku Power Level Nine, respected everywhere they went, with major companies fighting to hand them job offers, matchmakers wearing down their doorsteps, even their biological parents reading the newspaper with tears streaming down their faces, exclaiming that this child had really made something of themselves and could even make it onto the 'Otaku Daily'."

???

The earlier parts were fine, but damn it, where did a scenario world get biological parents from?

As expected, this is just the fantasy of a two-dimensional otaku who passed out in front of his computer screen, right?

Zhongtian Beiji's urge to rant burned fiercely, his expression twisting for a good while,

Li Cheng, as if guessing what was on his mind, calmly took out a newspaper from his dimensional warehouse — it was, shockingly, the 'Otaku Daily',

with the headline 'VR New Technology — Strengthening Sci-Tech Innovation and Deep Integration with the Two-Dimensional Industry', author: Master Pi Fu.

You... me...

Zhongtian Beiji was dumbfounded. He had no idea that Li Cheng, for the convenience of going to scenario worlds with different backgrounds to do missions, had prepared a whole shelf full of tools and items.

US dollars and gold bars for bribing customs officials;

passports and ID cards from different countries of different eras;

car keys for every brand and model from BYD to Porsche;

he even had over twenty billion Gold Yuan Certificates prepared.

It was just a newspaper — he could prepare a copier himself and print as many as he wanted.

"In any case,"

Li Cheng casually tossed down the newspaper and said calmly into the broadcast speaker: "If we agree to trade with you, how do we settle it?

You open the door and let us go in and kill the remaining seven SVIPs?"

"Of course... not."

August said: "The risk of opening the door is too great. I've designed a device that can let an unconscious player complete the kill, satisfying your team's objective.

There's a system notification sound to certify it, so the two of you needn't worry about me cheating.

At the same time, I've prepared this for the two of you."

Bang!

Beneath the gravel, a stone slab sprang up at the sound, and two glass devices rose from below.

The devices were cylindrical, hollow inside, with intricate and obscure runes carved into the outer glass surface, and filled with an orange-yellow viscous liquid.

【Item Name: Path Bestowal Apparatus】

【Type: Magic/Tech Prop】

【Quality: Perfect】

【Effect: Bestowal. A supernatural being, in a state of willing consent, inserts a limb into the hollow of the device, draws blood, and stores a portion of their own supernatural power and corresponding knowledge into the device in the form of a power seed, subsequently falling into a weakened state lasting 7 days. Once the recording is complete, a life form that has never come into contact with supernatural power may attempt to inherit the power seed.】

【Consumption: None】

【Cooldown: None】

【Usage Requirement: Supernatural being level greater than or equal to 25; recipient's total attributes less than or equal to 7】

【Note: The recipient has a 50% chance of exploding and dying. After the subject dies, the Bestowal Apparatus can be used again until the inheritance is complete.】

【Note: After the bestowal is complete, the life form can cultivate along the inherited path on their own; cultivation speed depends on their own aptitude and external conditions.】

【Note: The intellectual property of this product belongs to the Demon Scientists Alliance, Patent No. ZL202520076560.5, the general content being 'Launch a war, collect 66,666 high-intelligence spirits that die in the war, and melt them into LCL fluid using occult arts.' If there is infringement, please immediately destroy similar products, otherwise this guild reserves the right to pursue liability.】

Zhongtian Beiji's pupils contracted. This 【Path Bestowal Apparatus】 was, shockingly, a weakened version of a power seed.

With his position and authority in the Global Paranormal Alliance, he had actually never heard of it?!

He instinctively turned his head to look at Li Cheng. The latter's face was expressionless, his mind racing.

If the contents of the note weren't fabricated, then according to the patent number encoding rules, the first four digits are the year, the fifth digit is the patent type code — 1 is invention, 2 is utility model, 3 is design.

20252 means this is a 2025 product iteration.

But for the Demon Scientists Alliance, keeping this product in hand was reasonable — the technology was still immature, manufacturing was difficult, the cost was high, and crucially, the recipient still had a 50% chance of exploding and dying on the spot.

Rich people who could afford it and wanted great power for themselves were afraid of death, while ordinary people unafraid of death couldn't afford it.

"It says here that the supernatural being, after infusing power, will fall into a weakened state lasting 7 days,"

Li Cheng said playfully: "How do I know you won't go back on your word?

After the deed is done, one ballistic missile — whoosh — directly precision-targeted, blowing the pants right off the two of us?"

"Don't you two still have two supernatural beings who aren't here? Standing from my position, perhaps I could accept letting everyone complete the mission and depart immediately, but I absolutely cannot accept a supernatural being failing the mission and remaining stranded in this world."

August smiled and said: "Of course, to show my sincerity, I can reveal the type of supernatural power I obtained in the 1999 Chicago Meteorite Incident."

He drew a deep breath and said in a low voice: "Sequence 9: Lawyer — obtained a Juris Doctor from Harvard University in 1991.

Sequence 8: Barbarian — entered politics in 1996, elected to the Yilinuoyizhou Legislature from the Hyde Park district in Chicago's South 13th Ward.

Sequence 7: Briber — won election as an Yilinuoyizhou Senator in 1998 through the connections of major donor Antony Rezko.

Sequence 6: Baron of Corruption — befriended the deeply rooted Jackson family of Yilinuoyizhou, and used personal charm to persuade Jesse Jackson Jr. of the same district not to run for Congress.

Sequence 5: Mentor of Chaos — took White House Counsel Abner Mikva as his teacher.

Sequence 4: Depraved Earl — as a Black man, half-Muslim, half-Jewish, half-Christian, won the support of Chicago Jewish tycoon James Crown.

Sequence 3: Frenzy Mage — engineered the takedown of his rival, forcing Yilinuoyizhou Governor George Ryan to withdraw from the election over a corruption scandal, and was smoothly elected as the African-American Senator.

Sequence 2: Duke of Entropy — took up the mantle from Ted Kennedy, determined to complete the healthcare reform bill.

Sequence 1: Prince of Sequence Slaughter — in the Democratic Party's internal primary, took down the surging Hillary.

I, Barack Hussein Obama, am about to become this world's only—

Sequence 0: Black Emperor."