Awakening, Mercenary Tao

Luo Ge crouched at the edge of the massive crater, her calm eyes fixed on the man lying at its center.

Traces of Conqueror’s Haki-infused strikes remained on his body. That Haki was probing at the special power within him, trying to erase it, yet it was almost effortlessly purged by his Soul Power.

She nodded, confirming her suspicions. This was a qualified collaborator—a humanoid weapon like herself, someone capable of slaughtering any enemy.

She kept one hand extended, turning a deaf ear to the two voices in Mercenary Tao’s mouth as they blamed and cursed each other.

What interested her more was the ever-changing, peculiar scent within his body.

It was the scent of good and evil. This Mercenary Tao was wavering between the two.

The scarlet spatial prompt brought this battle, whose intensity had risen to the point where even high-level Reincarnators could be killed at any moment, to a halt.

That constantly flashing sole mandatory mission was practically telling every Reincarnator outright that the consequences of failure would be unimaginable.

Moreover, nearly all the Reincarnators present had entered dozens of mission worlds, slaughtering and wreaking destruction in all sorts of worlds. They found it difficult to imagine that their own real world would instead become a mission world.

And… among the Reincarnators present, only a handful even knew the names Void Paradise and Contractors.

"Temporary truce. No objections, Sen Xia?"

Tan Zhishan spoke as the Coronal Cannon gathering in his hands slowly dispersed, and the scalp-prickling sense of danger gradually faded.

But he now held far more respect for Sen Xia. Tan Zhishan had a feeling that if this battle continued, he too would be in great danger.

More importantly… Tan Zhishan turned and saw the girl crouching at the crater’s edge. The scarlet Battle Aura blade in her hand was so condensed that merely looking at it made his scalp prickle.

Life of Silence…

Tan Zhishan covered his forehead, feeling his old wound begin to throb faintly again.

He rarely liked to admit defeat, but when facing a lunatic like Life of Silence, he would rather withdraw from numerous Secondary Worlds and surrender their resources, instead gathering more Reincarnators in the real world.

The reason was simple: in direct combat, he had felt the fear of death.

Tan Zhishan waved a hand, and Mahakala and the others immediately regrouped at his side. He frowned at ICE lying on the ground, then, after a moment of silence, took the initiative to lead his people toward the silver-gray-haired girl.

Meanwhile, the more distant battlefield had also fallen silent with the end of Sen Xia’s battle against the Great Sun of Finality. Su Qingqiu and Su Enfei, who had been confronting A Single Thought of Silk, all returned to the vicinity of the main battlefield.

A Single Thought of Silk arrived at the edge of the enormous crater. From the fractured riverbed exposed when the coast had been torn apart, she could vaguely sense the terrifying force of that strike.

A Single Thought of Silk glanced back at ICE, whose chest still rose and fell faintly and who had not completely died. Her estimation of his combat strength rose further. If she had taken that strike head-on, she would probably have instantly lost all ability to resist.

Watching the Conqueror’s Haki still flickering faintly, she felt that this kind of idealistic power system was truly unsettling.

The others also approached while maintaining a safe distance. The urgency of the world mission completely eclipsed the currently unclear situation surrounding Mercenary Tao.

And… many sharp-eyed people had already spotted the second Supreme Expert present.

Whether tilting their heads aside or lowering them, these high-level Reincarnators were all unwilling to stare directly at this girl-shaped Reincarnator.

As the Supreme Expert witnessed making the most moves, Life of Silence was often the source of other top Reincarnators’ fear of Supreme Experts.

During this cycle alone, at least four top Reincarnators had been killed after encountering Her Excellency. Title-level Reincarnators were too numerous to count.

She did not form a faction, and her squad had very few members. Although gatherings and teams such as Crimson Lotus claimed to be affiliated with Her Excellency, they were mostly just using her name. Life of Silence was rarely seen personally acting on behalf of those people.

"You knew long ago that our world would be invaded?"

Tan Zhishan stopped twenty meters away. Mahakala stepped forward to try to help ICE up. As long as Reincarnators were not killed on the spot, most injuries could be healed in the space.

Tan Zhishan received no response. Life of Silence did not even intend to turn around and look at him. She merely stared unblinkingly at Mercenary Tao in the crater, keeping her hand extended.

Tan Zhishan took a step forward.

"This guy was probably crushed by the Mad King’s Heartlight. His consciousness has long ceased to be under his own control. What use is there in looking for him?"

"And according to the rules, whoever is deployed first definitely won’t be anyone remarkable. Even Void Paradise cannot ignore that rule. If they want to open a breach large enough in the world barrier, they must gradually send in more information coordinates that belong to them. We…"

Shh~

Tan Zhishan froze. The silver-gray-haired girl finally turned around, but her eyes were cold and utterly without ripples as she raised a hand before her mouth in a silencing gesture.

Even though Tan Zhishan had held a high position before becoming a Reincarnator and possessed considerable composure, that enormous humiliation still shattered him at that moment. Intense fury surged up, and the Black Great Sun reappeared behind him.

Crackle!

At that instant, a bolt of golden lightning exploded out of thin air.

A Single Thought of Silk was nearby. Her body trembled almost instinctively, as though a current had passed through her, making every cell in her body shudder for an instant.

In that instant, she clearly sensed a terrifying pressure emerge.

Unlike the Spiritual Pressure from before, it was an aura belonging wholly to a predator.

She was very familiar with that aura…

She looked down into the crater.

Mercenary Tao’s body rose upright from the ground in defiance of gravity, slowly. A Single Thought of Silk detected no energy at all, only seeing Mercenary Tao’s toes gripping the ground tightly.

This was…

Her heart thumped once.

At the same time, Mahakala, who was helping ICE up, also froze. He slowly turned around as that familiar, terrifying sensation returned to his body.

When they had previously ganged up on Mercenary Tao, Her Excellency and ICE had both gone forward. But Mahakala had been left with a certain psychological shadow from the earlier battle, so he had not taken the initiative to attack Mercenary Tao.

Still, he had paid close attention to Mercenary Tao’s condition and believed Her Excellency’s judgment was correct. Mercenary Tao’s consciousness seemed to have already undergone Body Snatching. Not only had he lost that terrifying transformation ability, but neither of his signature energy systems—qi and Satsui no Hado—had appeared.

Not to mention those inconceivable martial combat techniques.

But at this moment, that familiar shivering sensation returned.

Crackle!

Another bolt of lightning slashed across the sky, and specks of golden light began to emerge from the crater.

Qi—extremely powerful qi!

Tan Zhishan raised a brow, while Life of Silence slowly rose to her feet. She watched as golden qi surged into the sky, and illusory stairs appeared beneath Mercenary Tao, half black and half white.

Within the white Consciousness Space, Black Face looked up as Black Curses began to form in the air, while the Throne of the Heart floated bit by bit from the Yellow Springs.

It knew that the true king had returned.

The next moment, black spirit bodies fell one after another from the Throne of the Heart, followed by White Face and Gilgamesh, who both tumbled down as well.

A figure appeared upon the Throne of the Heart…