Chapter 365

A surge of vitality erupted from the abnormal's body, proving that the creature on the verge of self-destruction was indeed alive, not a lifeless object.

Wu Chang's True Self swallowed the vitality, and a prompt flashed before his eyes:

Strength +40.

After the passive boost from the Sea Giant, his Strength attribute reached 311; adding 40 points to the panel, and after the dimensional barrier collected its fee, his Strength rose to 339.

The fact that this abnormal could grant him a 40-point Strength increase proves its intensity.

In a near-out-of-control A-rank dungeon, this creature would qualify as a mini-boss; in most max-level players' dungeons, it would be a boss-level threat.

Wu Chang did not believe any native transcendent in the Steam Phantom dimension could reach this level—clearly, the abnormal's strength came from its modification by a Frankenstein-class transcendent machine.

Though he defeated the abnormal effortlessly, the actual feel of the fight was far worse than it appeared.

When his space magic advanced to Master level, he glimpsed its origin; though still not a true Origin-Power ability, its destructive force rivaled that of Origin Power.

After all, even without the Abyssal Giant Snake's talent boost, his Energy attribute now reached 309—brimming with numerical allure.

Yet even with full power, his spatial distortion struggled to pierce the abnormal's steam, barely failing to break through it.

His spatial distortion could pierce the bodies of Rational Realm players, yet after being blocked by steam, it failed to penetrate the abnormal's body.

The abnormal's difficulty stemmed partly from the dungeon dimension's influence by Origin Power, but more importantly, from the faction behind its modification's deep understanding of Origin Power.

Without needing to guess, the creators of this self-destructing abomination were undoubtedly the Steam Council, who sought to master transcendence through self-modification.

Raven had guessed correctly—his intelligence was outdated; after years of dormancy, the Steam Council's human modification techniques had undergone a qualitative leap.

Now it barely resisted his spatial distortion; in a while, with the dimension further influenced, it might truly ascend to heaven.

Wu Chang's expression darkened; for him, these soulless creatures might be more troublesome than demonic god projections.

He must find and eliminate them as soon as possible.

As the abnormal died, the steam in the air gradually dispersed, revealing to the players vying for the invitation a face no one could fail to recognize.

Peace.

Players in the arena reacted differently; those who had already seized the invitation tensed, avoiding eye contact.

They wondered whether to surrender the invitation voluntarily or risk being flung out like the unlucky members of the Phantom group.

Booker and Veronica, however, glowed with excitement—had the crowd not been so large, they would have already slid on their knees toward him.

With their strength, without a powerful patron, they likely could not have survived the near-out-of-control S-rank dungeon.

As for the other spectators, their faces showed only curiosity and gossip, sizing up the legendary super-newbie.

All players present were among the top 500 on the power rankings; many had doubted Peace's true strength before entering the Steam Phantom dungeon.

If all intelligence about Peace was accurate—if he truly broke the B-rank near-out-of-control dungeon during his trial—then he had been in the Abyss Game for less than a hundred days.

A hundred days—what could one accomplish in that time? They knew better than anyone.

Judging by their own experience, many believed Peace's strength was exaggerated, that he had secretly joined one of the Four Organizations, and that his current display was merely a god-making campaign by a major faction.

But what unfolded before them shattered their assumptions.

Merely entering an S-rank dungeon already signaled a certain level of power.

At the moment the abnormal nearly exploded, all of them sensed their impending death; those with high intuition had already seen the life-review.

Yet such a formidable monster fell in less than a second under Peace's hands, effortlessly obliterated.

Even Phantom, who had previously shone brightly, could not have achieved this.

Had Phantom been capable of such a feat, he would have acted long ago, even at the cost of his pride.

Without doubt, Peace's strength was at least at the ranked-player level.

Now no one doubted Peace's strength—they doubted how far his hacks had gone.

This progress could no longer be explained by minor cheats.

Wu Chang noticed the players' gazes. He gripped the abnormal's head, yanked it off the ground, and addressed the crowd:

"Keep fighting. Ignore me—I'm the referee."

He pulled from his personal space a business card some noble had slipped him last night, shoved it into the abnormal's blood-soaked chest, and displayed it to the players.

"He fouled. Red card, ejected."

The next instant, he vanished from the square with the abnormal, reappearing behind his true body, placing the abnormal on the ground, then using teleportation again to leave.

Zhu Li and the others stared at the abnormal's corpse—its chest bore a grotesque gaping hole, the wound's edges jagged and rough, as if a hand had been plunged into the dead man's chest and violently twisted, tearing away a large chunk of flesh.

Beneath the torn flesh, a steel skeleton was visible; where the lungs should have been, mechanical organs now replaced them.

The terrifying explosion moments earlier had originated from these mechanical organs.

But the mechanical organs had also been damaged by the tearing force—critical components shattered, obscuring the core of the explosion.

Those present were all natives of the Steam Phantom dungeon and had witnessed the birth and rise of transcendent steam machines.

Seeing the abnormal on the ground, they understood instantly what had happened.

Their minds raced, pondering the implications behind this event.

Silence lasted nearly five minutes before Zhu Li finally tore her gaze from the corpse and asked Wu Chang's true body:

"Chief Xiao En, who was that just now?"

Wu Chang smiled and replied:

"His name is Peace. He's an acquaintance of mine. Hearing the Universal Industrial Exposition was approaching, he came to Stilan to observe, so I appointed him as my deputy chief, responsible for combat."

"You know, Raven is highly capable and well-versed in Stilan, but he's not skilled in combat."

Zhu Li nodded in understanding. "Since childhood, he's always been the weakest fighter."

Anne, the head of the Clock Tower Magic Association, a mature woman in a purple robe and black veil, chimed in:

"Raven once studied magic under me. His power is already exceptional among ordinary transcendants, but in this context, he's clearly inadequate."

Luca, the sole silent alchemy association head, looked uneasy, leaning back in his chair, his thin frame sinking into it.

He knew Raven too—but his combat ability was even worse than Raven's.

Wu Chang continued:

"The Stilian Empire is now at its most critical moment; if the World Industrial Exposition succeeds, it will demonstrate the Empire's strength to the entire world and become the strongest nation on Earth."

"There are certainly those who do not wish to see this day, and will attempt to sabotage it. I fear someone might disrupt the battlefield, so I stationed Peace around to subdue any troublemakers."

Zhu Li and the other two recalled the combat power True Self had just displayed, their eyes filled with envy.

As the leader of an extraordinary faction, who could refuse such a powerful subordinate?

After the anomaly's self-explosion incident and Wu Chang's arrival, the combat morale of the players in the square plummeted.

Only now did they realize the calm of the past two days had been an illusion of the dungeon dimension.

A self-detonating monster suddenly bursting forth to wipe out dozens of players was the daily norm of an S-rank dungeon.

It might be better to hide in the shadows and survive than to show off and be chosen for a deadly mission.

With the intention to hold back their strength, the half-hour that should have been the most intense became dead time.

With the Invitation Card contest battle over, players who obtained an Invitation Card entered St. George's Cathedral; those who did not were eliminated.

Players holding Invitation Cards entered St. George's Cathedral, followed the side corridor, and arrived at the hall used for the charity banquet.

The hall had been arranged to the highest standard, befitting a noble charity banquet—not only were the drinks and food perfectly replicated, but the guests attending were the elite figures of Grimlan.

Except for cabinet ministers and the Speakers of the Upper and Lower Houses, the veteran nobles bearing ducal and earldom titles, major tycoons, and industrialists frequently featured in newspapers were all present.

They were the sponsors of this extraordinary gathering.

It was thanks to their turning a blind eye that the battles occurring across Grimlan over the past three days had been quietly ignored.

Seeing the extraordinary enter, the sponsors smiled warmly and approached to initiate conversation.

Normally, these powerful figures respected the extraordinary but would not act so eagerly—they would maintain the dignity befitting their status.

What good is extraordinary power if it cannot withstand a concentrated volley of anti-magic bullets?

Even if it withstands anti-magic bullets, can it withstand anti-magic shells?

For this extraordinary gathering, they had initially treated it as a game, not taking it seriously.

But two days ago, Baron Philip's entire family was burned to death in their mansion—no one, young or old, male or female, not even their pets, survived.

That cruel method made them take the extraordinary seriously once again.

The extraordinary may not be able to resist the Stilian Empire, but that does not mean they cannot kill these people.

No one wished to become the second Baron Philip; if they could invite one or two extraordinary individuals to serve as security advisors at their homes, that would be excellent.

The major factions and powerful figures craved the extraordinary; the players craved to join extraordinary factions. This mutual attraction made the gathering atmosphere exceptionally lively.

Within it, every player felt their effort to seize the Invitation Card had been worth it.

When the banquet began, Wu Chang's true body claimed he had urgent matters, leaving True Self to replace him in recruiting extraordinary individuals.

This instantly turned the area around True Self into the most popular spot at the gathering.

The newly formed Anquan Force had already been seen by players as a highly promising faction; now that they discovered Peace was also within it, the faction possessed not just potential, but hard power.

Many players wished to join Wu Chang's faction, but he had only twelve slots and must reserve them for those he trusted.

The five members of the Management Bureau had already claimed five slots.

Buk and Veronica outside St. George's Cathedral had been reserved two slots.

As Peace, he himself would occupy one slot—this totaled eight, leaving only four slots remaining.

Before the banquet began, he had already found enough acquaintances and acted first, before the players could approach to volunteer.

Coincidentally, the four he wanted were all gathered nearby, preparing to join his faction.

The first two he approached were one dressed in a pristine chef's uniform with a neatly trimmed mustache.

The other, even in winter, wore a sleeveless fighting suit; however, for the banquet, he had washed his hair and trimmed his beard, looking far less like a vagrant.

These two were the hosts of "Every Hot Topic": Killing Wave and Divine Tongue.

Several founders of "Every Hot Topic" were star solo players of the Abyss Game.

In the Abyss Game, becoming a star through singing, dancing, or live-streamed sales was impossible; to become a star player, one needed either a unique skill or exceptional combat power.

Killing Wave and Divine Tongue both belonged to the latter category.

Killing Wave was a dual-specialist in strength and agility, possessing the hidden class transformation: Asura Warrior, ranked twenty-seventh on the combat power leaderboard.

Among small factions in the Wasteland Realm, few were stronger than Killing Wave.

The reason it was "few" and not "none" was because of the man beside him: Divine Tongue.

Divine Tongue was a rare endurance-specialist, possessing the hidden class transformation: Gourmet, ranked twelfth on the combat power leaderboard.

During the observation, Leng Shan had said that players ranked in the top fifteen were called Ranked Players, and the threshold for Ranked Players was mastery of Root Power.

Leng Shan had once cleared a dungeon alongside Divine Tongue and knew his information.

According to Leng Shan, Divine Tongue's Root Power was likely related to food or eating—he could gain additional boosts by consuming various quantitative items containing extraordinary power.

Leng Shan had seen Divine Tongue consume a quantitative fruit that could not be taken out of the dungeon, gaining permanent attribute increases.

These two also had a connection with Wu Chang—they had guided him to his first fortune and interviewed him during the world dungeon exposure.

He heard that afterward, "Every Hot Topic" was targeted by the other three major organizations and suspended for several days.

As compensation, he would take them along on a dungeon.

Wu Chang pulled out two identity cards from his pocket and asked: "Gentlemen, interested in joining our faction?"

Killing Wave and Divine Tongue did not hesitate—they immediately took the identity cards.

The instant they held the cards, a prompt appeared before their eyes.

"Deputy Leader Peace has invited you to join the Mystic Knight Order. Do you accept?"

Deputy Leader?

The two stared at Wu Chang's title for a moment, then quickly recovered and selected "Confirm."

"Of course we're interested."

Wu Chang received word that the two had passed, and said, "After the banquet, report directly to the Secret Anquan Force."

After parting with them, his third target was a tall, thin man clad in a black bodysuit.

The man was none other than the Shadow, who had once joined his faction during the Silent Passage dungeon.

The Shadow excelled in reconnaissance, stealth, and escape; obtaining an invitation was no challenge for him.

But when he first contacted the Shadow, he had used the identity of Li Zaishi; now he could only pretend to be a stranger and approach him, asking:

"Agility specialist?"

The Shadow nodded and said, "Agility and energy dual specialist."

Wu Chang: "Your aura is faint—you're skilled at concealment, right?"

The Shadow's eyes flickered with surprise, just as they had on the Star Leaper, then dissolved into a pool of shadow and merged with the ground.

Moments later, he suddenly appeared behind Wu Chang.

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, handed him an ID card, and asked, "We're short a scout. Want to give it a try?"

The Shadow took the ID card and, like the previous two, chose to join.

Among the crowd, Wu Chang did not see the Great White Shark from the Star Leaper—she hadn't entered the dungeon; her reason was likely the same as Colton from Bai Ta: her ability was incompatible.

If the dungeon's setting had been the Age of Sail, the Great White Shark would have made the cut.

At this moment, Wu Chang still had one ID card left, and not far from him, the Phantom stood holding a wine glass, radiating an aura of "keep away," posing deliberately.

He looked exactly like someone waiting for Wu Chang to come to him.

Wu Chang smiled and walked toward the Phantom. The Phantom caught his movement from the corner of his eye, let his wine glass drop slightly, and prepared to speak to Wu Chang.

Then he watched as Wu Chang walked right past him and approached an unremarkable-looking man.

Crack.

The glass in the Phantom's hand instantly cracked with fine, spiderwebbing fissures.

Wu Chang's final target was a young man wearing the badge of the Secret Police.

He stepped close to the youth and lowered his voice: "A remarkable ability. Would your true self like to join us?"

The youth trembled slightly, feigning ignorance: "I don't know what you're talking about."

Wu Chang shrugged and continued:

"The ability to possess ordinary people is common. But possessing another transcendent outsider—I've never seen it before, not until now."

Exposed, the youth tensed instantly, slipping into a combat stance.

Wu Chang went on: "Don't be tense. I'm a solo player—I only care about what happens inside the game."

"I have no interest in player-vs-player killing, and I don't care which faction you belong to outside the dungeon—as long as you don't turn on your own."

The youth paused, then took the ID card.

"How did you see through my ability?"

Wu Chang said: "Confidential. You only need to know that even if you swap bodies, I'll still find you."

The youth sighed. "Fine. I join."

"Player Ma Jia has accepted your recruitment and joined the Secret Art Knights. Current player count: 10/12."

The last player Wu Chang approached was Ma Jia, who had appeared in the Silent Passage dungeon.

He recognized Ma Jia's method—the same as how he'd uncovered the Fisherman: through resentment.

Ma Jia's method of forcibly invading another's flesh made it nearly impossible to avoid generating resentment.

Back on the Star Leaper, Ma Jia, while controlling the possessed Fisherman, had ambushed and severely wounded Zheng Ruiyuan, saving Wu Chang considerable trouble.

Otherwise, eliminating that power-wielding mini-boss would not have been so easy.

He remembered Ma Jia well: capable of invading players with flesh, skilled in the occult, and strong in power.

More importantly, Ma Jia was a believer of the Apocalypse.

Ma Jia's entry into Steam Phantom—was it coincidence, or was it Christine's doing?

Either way, keeping him close was wise; perhaps he could use Ma Jia to reach Christine at a critical moment.

With the final qualification issued—the five from the Bureau, Killing Wave, Divine Tongue, Shadow, Ma Jia, Booker, Veronika, and finally himself, Peace—twelve Secret Art Knights players were now assembled.

(End of Chapter)