Single-Digit Numbered Member of the Throne of Illusion and Reality (35K)

Title: Villain Savior

Type: Special, Composite

Title Rank: Third Rank

Description: Evil is the primal nature. The world… is in my hands!

Title Effect: Upon equipping, in any world where order remains, you will automatically gain Respect-level Reputation with the order-aligned faction. Reputation gains are doubled, and the Reputation Shop is enabled by default.

Title Ability: Innate Evil (Passive) (Medium Priority): Any attacks from neutral or good factions affiliated with the order side will be weakened by up to 45%.

Title Ability: Despair Salvation (PassiveActive) (High Priority): The Collapse Value of world order will passively increase the Villain Savior’s overall attributes. When the Collapse Value exceeds the threshold and order completely collapses, Despair Salvation Mode can be activated. At that time, the Reincarnator will receive bonuses from the World Will and Restraining Force, greatly increasing all attributes and abilities.

The silver-white stream of information vanished before Bai Cangshu’s eyes. He had returned to the Rank Management Office, where the petite and energetic Knight Sister, now back to her smaller form, lightly clapped her hands.

"You did it!"

Her voice, tone, and emotions were completely different from when she had grown larger. Perhaps that was not merely a transformation that changed her strength. Bai Cangshu guessed it was more like temporarily summoning her future self into existence. Of course, perhaps this petite Knight Sister was instead a projection of her past self.

Bai Cangshu nodded calmly. After all, this Deathmatch Task had not been difficult for him. Even that final opponent had been easily killed without forcing him to reveal any of his trump cards.

His current combat power had already far surpassed the limits of ordinary Strong-tier Reincarnators.

Before entering, Bai Cangshu had learned that because the mortality rate of Deathmatch Tasks was too high, few Reincarnators were now willing to accept and enter them.

Among those people, only the final magic-side Reincarnator had probably been on the level of Li Qingzi, Flame Demon, and the others from back then.

Bai Cangshu examined the abilities of the Villain Savior title. Aside from passively gaining reputation with nearly the entire order-aligned faction, its effects were all combat-oriented.

He checked his panel. Probably because he was inside the space, he was not receiving the Despair Salvation bonus at the moment, and the Collapse Value was also listed as unavailable.

He could only return to the real world and see how much of an attribute boost he could gain in a world where the Reincarnators’ disturbances were about to bring order crashing down.

As for the first ability, Innate Evil, it was extremely practical. It was a highly versatile damage reduction ability and made up for one of Bai Cangshu’s current weaknesses.

His regeneration and immortality were decent, but before obtaining Tyrant Sky Blood, his defense had been far from strong. Powerful enemies often destroyed his limbs.

With the title effect of Innate Evil, at least quite a few people, including Plot Characters, would have their attacks against him greatly weakened.

Bai Cangshu looked over the materials sold by Knight Sister again. The highest quality among them was only Rare, and none possessed traits that interested him.

He decided that if he did not obtain a more suitable trait before the next task began, he would first melt and forge Nūrihyon’s Core.

Bai Cangshu walked out of the Rank Management Office, his gaze shifting as he instantly sensed someone leaning against its outer wall. The man wore a white robe edged in black. Black short hair covered half his face, and his thin frame carried a black-backed katana at his waist.

"So it was you. Looks like An Junxuan didn’t die for nothing."

The man turned around, his pale purple eyes studying Bai Cangshu. His white robe hung open, revealing the black number 098 on his chest.

That distinctive attire, along with the rule of using numerical ranks to indicate one’s strength, made it immediately clear that he came from the Throne of Illusion and Reality, one of the top gatherings in Infinite Dimensional Space.

Bai Cangshu nodded as though reminiscing, and the Scarlet Drop Card appeared in his hand.

"So his name was An Junxuan. He really was a pretty decent fellow."

He shook the Scarlet Drop Card twice and said,

"Do you want to buy back his Drop Card?"

The visitor’s pale purple pupils contracted, and his expression turned cold. He felt that Mercenary Tao was probably mocking him. With a cold snort, he said,

"Don’t think killing someone ranked in the hundreds means anything. Hmph."

With that, the man turned and left, leaving Bai Cangshu frowning.

He had been impressed by how Knight and the others had wanted to retrieve their companion’s inheritance. So when someone came looking for him immediately after he killed that Reincarnator, he had assumed it was the same sort of situation.

He had not expected the other party to become so angry.

Tsk. The human heart was impossible to fathom.

Bai Cangshu returned to his stall. Kidō Master seemed not to have finished his modifications yet.

As he browsed the offers he had received, he studied the Scarlet Drop Card gleaming with golden light. This was his first time using Cleaner Authority to successfully designate a Reincarnator as a purge target. Killing the man had earned him a Cleaner Scarlet Drop Card.

That person possessed the enhancement of the Op-Op Fruit, an extremely versatile ability worth a fortune.

Seeing this Devil Fruit, Bai Cangshu also took out the Paramecia Type Devil Fruit, the Heartfire Fruit, which had remained in his inventory all this time. This Devil Fruit gave him a strange feeling.

It was clearly not an especially powerful Devil Fruit, yet it had come from that peculiar treasure alongside Guts’ Black Sword: Dragon-Slayer, infused with Armament Haki and afflicted by a curse, as well as the severed arm left behind by the powerful Black King Luffy.

Even after leaving that One Piece World, Bai Cangshu still could not figure out the connection between these items.

Yet because of the peculiar nature of the Black King Society and the Abyss God’s power of Causality Law, Bai Cangshu had neither rashly eaten the Devil Fruit nor sold it.

As he pondered, a group arrived before his stall. Perhaps because it was rare to see Bai Cangshu personally sitting there, the visitor frowned and thought for a moment before taking the initiative to speak.

"Mercenary Tao, Black Butler released intelligence saying that you possess technology capable of mass-producing super-tech weapons and equipment. Can you show me what kind of technology it is?"

Bai Cangshu’s unfocused gaze snapped back from his thoughts. Seeing the visitor, he raised an eyebrow. That gesture on his strange red face only made him more unsettling to look at.

"Ha, Song Xian~"

Bai Cangshu drew out the name. Idealists like Song Xian, the sort of people willing to give everything for their country and people, rarely dealt with "madmen" like Mercenary Tao.

Bai Cangshu recalled that only about two months ago, when he had met Song Xian, he had still looked like an obedient student, while Song Xian had played the role of a seasoned criminal investigator.

They still stood face-to-face now, but their identities and attitudes had changed drastically.

Bai Cangshu was thriving in this chaotic space and had begun stirring up trouble in the real world, while Song Xian seemed far more exhausted. Even in the space, his expression made it seem as though he constantly bore an unbearable burden.

Tianjie frowned. He disliked the teasing look in Mercenary Tao’s eyes and did not support Song Xian dealing with someone like this. Everyone knew that Mercenary Tao currently possessed a Death Note Fragment bestowed by Life of Silence.

Song Xian’s true name had long been exposed, and his appearance was easy to find. Contact with such a person was extremely dangerous.

Yet Song Xian merely gave a bitter smile and continued,

"Mercenary Tao, someone like you probably doesn’t care about the identity of your trading partner, or what they intend to do with that equipment, right?"

Bai Cangshu naturally nodded. Then he raised his right hand, displaying the information for several pieces of equipment.

You have displayed the items Gantz Suit, Gantz X-Gun, Gantz H-Gun

Song Xian’s heart stirred when he saw those items from the Gantz world. Such equipment was indeed extremely powerful even for ordinary people. If they were issued to the special operatives of the Azure Dragon Branch and properly coordinated, they could completely wipe out some Concurrent-tier or even Strong-tier Reincarnators.

"Black Butler said it was technology. Could it be that you…"

Bai Cangshu nodded, then displayed the Special Creation he possessed.

You have displayed the Special Creation Gantz

The joy on Song Xian’s face was impossible to conceal.

"I think we can make a deal. A major deal!"

Black Butler teleported over at that moment. Seeing that Mercenary Tao and Song Xian had already met, he worried that the two might clash and had intended to mediate between them. Yet he only saw Mercenary Tao nodding readily.

"Just so happens, I have a few things I hope you can give me."

Tianjie and the others had all heard of Mercenary Tao’s Fierce Reputation. He had already been listed by East Xia as a high-risk target for observation and barred from entering East Xia’s territory.

However, no one could confirm whether someone like Mercenary Tao possessed some hidden ability capable of evading detection by perception and prophecy-type abilities.

Bai Cangshu then sent Song Xian a special request through the space’s communication system. Song Xian frowned deeply after seeing it.

"I can’t make the decision on something like this."

But Bai Cangshu merely waved his hand.

"Then go apply to someone who can make the decision. You know they’ll agree, don’t you…"

Song Xian looked at Mercenary Tao’s undisguised, mocking smile but did not refute him. If the situation in the real world truly worsened, he knew the person in charge of the Southern Heavenly Gate Project would definitely agree to such a request.

Or rather, with that so-called Paradise appearing in Southeast Asia, it would be a good thing for East Xia. It would lead more Reincarnators to choose Paradise rather than East Xia.

Elsewhere, within a vast illusory space, blue skies and white clouds drifted overhead. The entire space covered several hundred square kilometers, so enormous that it did not resemble the public space of a gathering at all.

The man with the number 098 on his chest swayed slightly. Another old friend had died, putting him in a poor mood.

"Yo, Number Ninety-Eight. Why the funeral face?"

A crisp voice rang out. A girl with dark green hair tied into twin ponytails sat atop the eaves of a black-and-white building, her feet swinging.

She wore a high-collared white uniform trimmed in black, open at the chest. Underneath was a shirt whose color did not match at all, with the number 03 seemingly scrawled crookedly across it in ink.

Mo Qingzhu, ranked ninety-eighth in the Silver Cluster, looked up. Upon seeing the newcomer, he instinctively frowned before respectfully lowering his head.

"Captain Kurushi… One of our members was killed in a Deathmatch Task."

"Oh? What number?"

The girl did not care about An Junxuan’s death. She only casually asked for his number. Once she heard that he was a member ranked beyond the hundredth position, she had nothing more to say.

Mo Qingzhu took two steps, then suddenly turned back and proactively asked,

"Captain, will the Emerald War Group continue trying to recruit Mercenary Tao?"

"Why don’t I go to the real world and…"

Mo Qingzhu pressed a hand against the Zanpakutō at his waist. The blade gave a soft hum, as if responding to his surging soul.

"Ha… Hahaha, hahahaha…"

The girl clutched her stomach and burst into laughter, rolling about on the eaves and making the black tiles creak beneath her. Only after a while did she recover.

She stood and took a single step. Like a frame-skipping animation, she instantly appeared before Mo Qingzhu, placing one hand on his Zanpakutō.

Wuu~

The Zanpakutō seemed to let out a mournful cry.

Mo Qingzhu instinctively used Shunpo to retreat. The girl merely stood where she was, gazing wantonly at this disappointing subordinate of hers.

"Stop saying things that make me laugh, Number Ninety-Eight. You don’t understand the gap between yourself and those who are truly qualified."

She looked up at Mo Qingzhu.

"The difference in true essence can be seen at a glance…"

Boom!

Mo Qingzhu felt the world turn dark green in an instant. Dense Spiritual Pressure nearly became liquid, blanketing the entire sky.

Huff… huff…

Who knew how long had passed before Mo Qingzhu began gasping for breath. Unlike the public space, the gathering’s space offered greater freedom. Though direct combat was impossible, one could more clearly sense the other party’s strength.

Mo Qingzhu recalled the terrifying Spiritual Pressure of the girl calling herself Kurushi, his expression despondent.

Mercenary Tao… was he someone on that level…

One of the single-digit numbered members…