Medicinal Catalyst

"You?!"

Within the torn, kaleidoscopic world, a massive black silhouette reached out, trying to seize the blown-away Mercenary Tao. But it was blocked by a burst of white light and could only watch helplessly as Mercenary Tao vanished.

Tang Sanzang’s ears twitched. Amid the shriek of souls, he heard a question.

"Why did you stop me…?"

Then, as terrifying psychic fluctuations shook violently within the spirit world, Tang Sanzang dared not linger. He stepped through the air and fled toward the edge of the desert.

He knew perfectly well that he was no match for Shigeo Kageyama, who had completely darkened and entered the ??? state. The World Main Storyline issued by the space had made the other party’s standing abundantly clear.

He was a monster that required the combined strength of all Reincarnators who had entered this world normally to have any chance of eliminating. Yet among the three strongest Title-level Reincarnators known to have entered this world—

The Sage had clearly been defeated in a series of conflicts and had lost part of his power.

Tree Herder was nowhere to be found, likely hiding away and plotting his own schemes.

On his own, the outcome would be the same crushing defeat as before.

However…

From the corner of his eye, Tang Sanzang saw the Spirit World Evil Lord questioning someone, as well as the power within the spirit world that had prevented ??? from catching Mercenary Tao.

Both set Tang Sanzang’s mind racing.

"This world is hiding some very deep secrets."

He no longer fixated on killing a Plot Character like Charanko. After glancing from the air at the place in the desert radiating white light, Tang Sanzang turned and flew toward nearby Z-City.

Someone had clearly gotten to the Divine Relic first. Whether it was the revival of the god from the original work or the handiwork of some Reincarnator, Charanko’s condition at least showed that someone had already begun to wield Divine Power.

Having learned that this world concealed even greater secrets, he gave up on competing for the Divine Relic and swiftly fled.

As he flew away, Tang Sanzang soon realized his premonition had been right.

The atmosphere overhead was suddenly pierced by an emerald-green beam. A figure dropped directly from above the atmosphere, telekinesis tearing through the clouds as the thunderous impact in the desert sent towering waves of sand dozens of meters high rolling outward.

Tang Sanzang’s breath caught. He immediately used the Treasure Gourd to suck himself inside again, completely concealing his presence.

"Hand over that bastard who dared lay a hand on my sister…"

What should have been a sharp female voice was incomparably low under the weight of her gloomy tone. Accompanied by rolling sound waves, it echoed endlessly across the desert.

The passage between the torn spirit world and reality also began to resist closing. Tatsumaki, consumed by rage, had no desire to hear any explanations. She did not even spare a glance for Bang, whom she had not seen in a long time, on the other side.

She simply clasped her hands together and used telekinesis to force open the entrance to the spirit world.

She intended to enter it directly and find that familiar aura that had flashed past only moments ago.

Inside Z-City, the terrified screams had yet to fade when Tree Herder waved a hand, instantly clearing all the sand from the house.

Several Reincarnators keeping watch below grumbled as they cleared the sand from the first floor as well. They had been lying in wait here for several days and had no plans to leave anytime soon.

Tree Herder’s skin was now an eerie pale white. The emerald blood flowing through his veins stood out starkly, perhaps because he had just used the power of his bloodline.

He sat back down on the sofa and nodded at the long-haired man standing in the room before asking, "Your Excellency, the time has not yet come. Why did you…"

The man turned around. His face was blurry and utterly impossible to make out, as though it had been censored, or as though looking at him had suddenly given one severe nearsightedness, making it impossible to discern his actual features.

Tree Herder had already grown accustomed to His Excellency’s appearance.

He actually had many questions, but only dared to ask a limited few.

Eternal Destiny shook his head, laughter in his voice.

"You needn’t be so restrained. You want to ask whether my operation at the Divine Relic failed, don’t you?"

Tree Herder did not dare reply.

His Excellency Eternal Destiny had always seemed very approachable, but Tree Herder’s spiritual senses were keen. Whenever he got close to this man, he felt deeply unsettled, with every hair on his body standing on end. This Excellency was definitely not a Supreme Expert to be taken lightly.

"I gave up."

He turned to look out the window, as though the entire desert landscape lay within his sight.

"Let that lucky fox have that Divine Power. After all… the Black King Project is more important. If Shigeo Kageyama got Mercenary Tao now, the later stages of the plan would be exposed, wouldn’t they?"

His smile was natural, with little sign of regret over losing that Divine Power.

Tree Herder clearly knew something about the so-called Black King Project as well.

More accurately, nearly every gathering in the Third Tier had some understanding of the Black King Society.

The Black King Society’s brutality toward Reincarnators, as well as its members’ origins and strength, circulated through those gatherings as vital intelligence.

Reincarnators eternally pursued powerful strength. Though the Black King Society itself was an anti-Reincarnator existence, the power known as the Black King had become the target of top teams and gatherings precisely because it was so powerful.

One reason Tree Herder had joined His Excellency Eternal Destiny’s service was his desire to participate in the Black King Project, research that Solomon, leader of the Far East Magic Society, had openly declared he would never conduct.

"Your Excellency, isn’t our objective to use the deaths of those close to Shigeo Kageyama to stimulate his darkening and turn him into the new Black King?"

The long-haired man suddenly chuckled.

"Who told you our target was Shigeo Kageyama?"

"Su Mu, Su Mu, your understanding is still lacking. Mercenary Tao dismissed Shigeo Kageyama as a possibility from the very beginning."

Tree Herder frowned. It was not Shigeo Kageyama?!

Every operation he had cooperated with before had basically revolved around Shigeo Kageyama. Moreover, Shigeo Kageyama had now been identified by the space as the Spirit World Evil Lord and possessed "transdimensional traits." In Tree Herder’s eyes, he practically already met the potential requirements to become the Black King.

Yet His Excellency said he was not the target?

Knock, knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door, and a woman’s voice sounded.

"My lord, the two divine envoys you sent to kill Reigen Arataka seem to have run into trouble…"

"They stirred up chaos and slaughter in B City and A-City, and it’s now being widely reported."

After hearing this, Tree Herder’s first thought was that the two had failed their mission. Since they had not killed Reigen Arataka and feared punishment, they had chosen to leave the team, farm rewards from other missions to make up for their losses, and planned to betray him after this world and face his pursuit.

But Eternal Destiny clapped his hands.

"See, Su Mu? Mercenary Tao’s thinking is quite similar to mine."

"Because Shigeo Kageyama already possesses the conditions for darkening, a target like him will inevitably have all manner of possibilities for darkening across countless worldlines."

"But the Black King requires far more than that…"

"I had the Sage obtain that form of Immortal Body in this world. Originally, I wanted to keep him as a medicinal catalyst for Saitama. Who would have thought Mercenary Tao would snatch the Sage away? And now he is making a new medicinal catalyst himself. Interesting…"

"It seems letting Mercenary Tao consume the Sage, that medicinal catalyst, would also be a fine ending. That future… is truly fascinating."

Listening to His Excellency’s laughter, Tree Herder felt profoundly uncomfortable.