Chapter 317: The Last Breakfast

The collapse of the giant stitched monster plunged Sigfus City into chaos.

Especially the city hall employees who had witnessed Peace smashing through the window and sprinting straight toward the giant stitched monster—only now did they realize Peace the mayor wasn't waiting for gods to send angels; he himself possessed angelic combat power.

The relief of survival, combined with the mayor's miraculous battle, plunged the citizens into an inexplicable frenzy.

Previously, they had seen him as a divine emissary for summoning rain to extinguish the wildfires; now, they regarded him outright as a god.

Feeling the surging devotion around him, Wu Chang shook his head in regret—if the Cursed Instance weren't Amber's inner world, he could have turned this place into a private realm and harvested faith directly, without any further action.

According to standard procedure, with the giant stitched monster dead and Sigfus City's crisis over, the citywide emergency status should be lifted, and the mayor's emergency powers revoked.

But when he returned to city hall, no one dared bring up lifting the citywide ban.

What joke is this? Everyone saw how the mayor transformed and wiped out the monster—calling him a god descending to earth wasn't an exaggeration.

Who would dare strip a god of his rights?

Since no one mentioned it, Wu Chang was perfectly happy to let the status quo remain.

He called his secretary, gave him an address and a list, and ordered the SWAT team to move in and eliminate these terrorists.

The people on the list were all players who followed Li Zi and Lin Jiang—some were moles from the Light Society, others were freelance players recruited by Lin Jiang and Murphy.

He had seen all of them in Lin Jiang's resentment; he couldn't tell their identities, but he knew they all wanted to aid the Light Society and collapse the world will of the Cursed Instance.

Wu Chang was a man with strong family values; many of his favorite movie lines revolved around family, like "A family should stay together."

He had crushed minor players in the Light Society with full force; he certainly wouldn't let Li Zi, the mastermind, off lightly.

In a corner of Sigfus City, Wu Chang's physical body opened the Blind Abyss and dumped Li Zi out.

He pulled Lin Jiang from inside the giant stitched monster, tore off the ten-thousand-character seal from Lin Jiang's head, and used the seal as a token to lock onto Light Society members through the Survivors' Vengeance.

At first, he worried that if Li Zi sent Lin Jiang as a distraction, he'd immediately go into hiding—he'd have to clear out all the Light Society's minor players before he could lock onto Li Zi.

But as soon as the hatred marker activated, he directly locked onto Li Zi—the bastard had been watching right beside him, utterly fearless.

Since the opponent wasn't afraid, he'd test whether the opponent was truly fearless.

The result was obvious: Li Zi, released from the Blind Abyss, trembled like a leaf—clearly, he was terrified.

But this wasn't Li Zi's fault; the Cursed Instance's suppression of attributes had drastically lowered his already weak willpower.

Combined with the Blind Abyss's sensory deprivation and mysterious whispers, even a max-level player without attribute suppression would struggle to resist.

If he kept Li Zi locked up longer, he might lose all sanity and die from madness before drowning.

Wu Chang looked down at the trembling Li Zi and said:

"I want to make a deal with you."

Li Zi stared at Wu Chang with eager eyes and asked: "What deal? If I can do it, I'll cooperate."

Wu Chang crouched down and said: "I want the highest access rights to the four major organizations in your possession."

Demanding the highest access rights wasn't because he'd taken Hou Jingchuan's job and needed to complete it perfectly, ensuring the rights weren't taken away.

He did it for himself—he, more than Hou Jingchuan, didn't want the Wasteland Realm controlled by the Light Society.

If the Light Society seized control of the Wasteland Realm, the surface world wouldn't escape unscathed; he actually liked the current world and didn't want it ruined by the fanatics of the Evolutionists and the Light Society.

The surface world was his anchor, the only place where he felt he was still human; in the Instance, it was endless battle—if he returned to reality only to keep fighting the Light Society and Evolutionists, life would become meaningless.

So even if Hou Jingchuan hadn't asked, as long as he learned of Lin Jiang's intentions, he would have acted to stop them. But since the four major organizations were willing to step forward as patrons, he had no reason to refuse.

Li Zi's face turned pale at Wu Chang's words—he didn't understand how this stranger knew the highest access rights were in his possession.

Could it be from Lin Jiang? Impossible—he had confirmed it multiple times: Lin Jiang was dead, utterly dead, incapable of revealing his secret.

Then there was only one possibility: this stranger had been present when he killed Lin Jiang!

The stranger witnessed everything, let him act, let him fail, then appeared at last to capture him and seize the highest access rights.

Li Zi forced calm and asked: "Who are you? What do you want with the highest access rights?"

Wu Chang didn't answer—he threw Li Zi back into the Blind Abyss.

He pulled out his phone, scrolled through a breakfast recipe tutorial; after one video ended, he dumped Li Zi out and repeated it.

"I want the highest access rights to the four major organizations in your possession."

This time, Li Zi was smarter—he didn't ask pointless questions but said: "I can give you the item. Can you spare my life?"

Wu Chang shook his head. "No."

Li Zi: "Then no, gurgle-gurgle…"

After another short video, Wu Chang released Li Zi from the Blind Abyss, watching the gaunt man slumped on the ground, spitting water in tiny jets like a fountain, and said:

"I'm not negotiating—I'm giving you a chance. Didn't you tell Lin Jiang you feared pain, and if you had to choose a death, you'd never want to be slowly devoured by a divine fusion entity like him?"

"Dying in the Blind Abyss is far worse than Lin Jiang's death. Hand over the highest access rights, and I'll give you a quick end. Think it over."

Li Zi's expression turned grim—he'd said those exact words to Lin Jiang's corpse after killing him.

Knowing those words meant this man had been present the whole time.

He'd witnessed everything—strong, patient, with superior intelligence. Against such an opponent, he couldn't even struggle.

He'd been ambushed by an old trickster—he lost fairly.

Recalling the sensation inside the Blind Abyss, he shuddered, pulled the highest access rights for the four major organizations from his personal space, and without haggling, handed them directly to Wu Chang.

The highest access rights for the four major organizations carried a unique aura; Wu Chang didn't need to verify—he knew instantly, through intuition, it was genuine.

He put the item away and asked: "Any preferred way to die?"

Li Zi ventured: "A stroke?"

Wu Chang's lip twitched; seeing the man's cooperation, he gave Li Zi one more chance. "Pick a conventional one."

Li Zi said: "Is there a painless way to die?"

Wu Chang grabbed Li Zi's throat and poured the Deepwater Devour toxin into his body.

Feeling his body gradually lose control, his consciousness slowly dissolving, Li Zi's eyelids grew heavy; before closing them, he said to Wu Chang:

"Thank you."

He should be thanking us.

After eliminating the final threat and completing Hou Jingchuan's mission, Wu Chang used long-distance teleportation to return to No. 26 Huayuanjie and began preparing today's breakfast.

Since he killed Lin Jiang, he had felt the world beginning to reject him—this was a precursor to the dungeon's completion.

He had to speed up.

He had already studied the recipe for today's meal while Li Zi was immersed in the Blind Abyss; he could cook it as soon as he entered the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, Wu Chang's family of three, along with Mavira and Grace, who had not yet left, began to enjoy this final breakfast.

With the largest hidden bomb in Amber's inner world eliminated, they all knew separation was coming.

Wu Chang, as usual, finished first and sat on the sofa watching the morning news from Sigef City.

After finishing breakfast, Amber sat quietly beside Wu Chang, watching the praise for the mayor of Peace City's heroic actions, then spoke up:

"Thank you."

Wu Chang turned to look at Amber and asked, "Thank me for what?"

Amber, caught off guard by Wu Chang's question, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

Wu Chang smiled and said, "We're family. It's only natural."

Amber nodded and replied firmly, "Mm!"

Amber continued, "Will we meet again?"

Wu Chang thought for a moment and answered, "Probably. I won't take long before I go after the Light Society. If you grow slowly enough, we might meet again soon."

After the Dungeon of Cursed Fate, Amber's divinity would fully awaken and begin shaping her own authority, grounded in this dungeon world.

According to the Abyss's power system, as soon as Amber awoke, she would reach the peak of Abyss Layer Two; with a little effort, she would enter Abyss Layer Three.

Once she solidified her stable authority, even within Abyss Layer Three, she would rank among the absolute top tier.

With the help of the Miracle Walker clan, plus Amber's foundation and talent, this growth would be extremely rapid.

Amber said, "I'll wait for you."

After Amber finished speaking, Wu Chang turned to her and said:

"Before I leave, I want to say something to you."

Amber listened intently.

Wu Chang said, "No matter what changes your memories might bring, during your time at No. 26 Huayuanjie, both I and Aileen have regarded you as our daughter."

"Perhaps in Grace's eyes, it was my intervention that helped you defeat monster after monster and patch your psychological flaws—but from my perspective, I truly felt your spontaneous transformation."

"Especially at the end, when you said you wanted to walk to the final step yourself, to face your greatest enemy—how utterly different you are from the girl who just left the orphanage."

At this moment, Aileen also came to the sofa and sat beside Amber, holding her hand.

Grace, at the table, swallowed her food and exclaimed excitedly, "I'm coming too."

Mavira, as a teacher, even though assimilated by the world, remained steadier than Grace; she grabbed the eager girl and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Wu Chang gave Mavira a look of approval, then continued to Amber:

"Though I'm glad to see your growth, as your adoptive father, I still want you to become a Spark."

"I've killed many people. I've seen them all—prodigies, geniuses, schemers, those who sought godhood. They never lacked fighting will or fear of hardship—but in the end, they all died."

"As someone who's been there, I want to tell you: in the Abyss, methods don't matter, the journey doesn't matter—the one who survives is the winner."

As Wu Chang spoke, he suddenly noticed Amber's eyes growing moist, as if she might cry—he froze, utterly at a loss.

"I'm not blaming you, and I didn't mean to say anything harsh—I…"

Amber, tears streaming, smiled and comforted Wu Chang, saying, "I'm crying because I remembered the past."

When Amber was imprisoned in the Light Society's research facility, she and the other test subjects had once received help from the researchers.

The one who influenced Amber and the test subjects most deeply was Sister Sister Amanda, one of the supervisors overseeing the subjects.

Though she was a member of the Light Society, she secretly aided Amber and the others; without her protection, Amber's Spark would have been extinguished long ago.

But paper can't wrap fire—Sister Sister Amanda's actions were eventually exposed and she was executed by the facility's director.

The new supervisor, Susan, was Sister Sister Amanda's junior and deeply admired her.

Before her execution, Sister Sister Amanda sensed what was coming and entrusted Susan with a final request—so Susan resented Amber and the others for causing Sister Sister Amanda's death, yet, under Sister Sister Amanda's influence, continued to protect them.

The orphanage in Sigef City corresponds to her time in the facility; the two directors correspond to the two supervisors who once protected her.

Amber said, "Every time we failed to escape, when I confessed my cowardice to Sister Sister Amanda, she always told me to keep being a Spark—as long as I lived, everything would get better."

Wu Chang gently stroked Amber's head and said:

"I think Sister Sister Amanda was right. As long as you live, everything will get better."

"Whether in this inner world or the outer Abyss, Aileen and I will be your Nurse Zhu Li. Do you remember our promise? As long as you do your part, trust in your guardian's strength."

Amber nodded and smiled, saying, "If that day ever comes, come early—don't be so late again."

Aileen looked at Amber, entered her divine form, and used her light magic to form a golden bracelet entwined with threads around Amber's wrist.

She spoke softly, "I'm not good at grand speeches, but if you need me, I'll always be by your side."

Amber threw herself into Aileen's arms and held her tightly.

He stood up from the sofa and walked to the table, facing the two Miracle Walkers, and said:

"Take care of Amber."

Mavira said, "Don't worry. She's one with us—we have no interest in self-harm."

Wu Chang said, "Thank you."

At that moment, a notification appeared before his eyes: main quest completed. He told Amber, "It's getting late. We must leave."

He believed he would meet Amber again; after a simple farewell, he chose to exit the dungeon.

As the familiar transition light enveloped him, he entered the dungeon settlement space, where the TV wall played back his performance within the dungeon.

"Player ID 4444444 has successfully completed the dungeon Cursed Fate. Settlement begins based on player performance within the dungeon."

"Player has completed Main Quest One: Survive thirty days in Sigef City. During this period, you must not leave Sigef City."

"Player has completed Main Quest Two: Stay awake. Do not let your willpower drop below 5."

"Player has completed Main Quest Three: Leave your mark in Sigef City. Become a famous figure known to all."

"Player has completed Hidden Side Quest: Nurture Amber's healthy growth. When the dungeon ends, Amber's approval rating must not be lower than 60 points."

"Player has become the Mayor of Sigef City, obtained the highest authority in Sigef City, led Sigef City through hardship, and gained a support rate of over 95%."

"Player has discovered the secret of the Misfortune-Plagued dungeon and learned the truth of the dungeon's plane."

"Player has helped the World's Will patch its psychological flaw and completed the plane's elevation."

"Player has purged the dark filth of the dungeon world and completely eliminated the dormant divine composite hidden in the dungeon's dark side."

"Dungeon Completion: 100%!"

"Title 'Perfectionist' activated, dungeon completion +5%."

"Title 'True Wanderer' activated, dungeon completion +15%."

"Congratulations to the player for ranking first in the Sigef City Influence Ranking, gaining an additional 25% dungeon completion. Since the player's dungeon completion exceeds 60%, the overflow portion will be converted into basic dungeon rewards."

"Overflow dungeon completion totals 45%, basic dungeon rewards increased by 225%."

"Dungeon Rating: Perfect!"

"Experience and Decayed Silver Coin settlement correction: 300%!"

"Player gained Experience: 48750 (5000×3.25×3)."

"Player gained Decayed Silver Coins: 97500 (10000×3.25×3)."

With the dungeon's basic settlement concluded, Wu Chang could hardly wait to proceed to the next reward settlement phase.

As for the rewards from the strongest reward dungeon in the Wasteland Realm that Hou Jingchuan had spoken of, and the payment the Miracle Wanderer had promised him, he was looking forward to it greatly, hoping it would not disappoint him.

(End of this chapter)