The Second Path to Miracles

"There’s something like a barrier here. I can feel it—we’re being… watched…"

Elizabeth shrank back, feeling deeply uncomfortable. Her eyes swept over the surroundings. In this somewhat somber city, a small squad of armed ordinary people was currently registering the Reincarnators one by one.

Compared with the registration methods used in other countries nowadays, the procedures here were incredibly lax, almost like checking into a hotel in the eighties or nineties.

All they had to do was fill in a codename and apply for a shopfront to live in. Apparently, this was only a temporary registration method. Later, dedicated Ability Users would handle registration and fee collection.

With over a hundred Reincarnators gathered in one city, unease permeated the place.

Elizabeth was growing nervous as well.

"Relax, Sis Elizabeth. That guy’s watching all of us…"

Ye Kai quietly reassured his teammate. His gaze likewise passed over the other Reincarnators. Aside from the Finality Empire, the real world had never seen so many Reincarnators gathered in one place.

If Reincarnators were classified as a distinct race, then they would surely be an exceptionally tragic one.

Because brutal internal conflict constantly filled this race. Or rather, the most suitable food for this species was each other’s corpses!

In other words, it was a race destined to attack, hate, and hunt one another.

When Reincarnators had once concealed their traces in cities everywhere, it was not merely because they feared the power of the state. They also feared being hunted by other, stronger Reincarnators.

And now, everyone had appeared in this Paradise—weak ones, powerful ones, cruel ones, idealistic ones…

Ye Kai pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, his gaze eventually settling on the tall tower at the city’s center.

He continued explaining.

"Don’t make any rash moves. We’re all within that monster’s Mantra range. He must be waiting for someone to cross the line…"

At that moment, Liu Qi added,

"He needs a demonstration to kill the chicken and scare the monkeys. Since he wants Reincarnators gathered in this city, he needs to… establish his authority!"

Elizabeth recalled Enel’s Mantra ability from the original One Piece story. Her expression shifted with shock and suspicion. She seemed unable to believe that Mercenary Tao could reach such a level, yet she did not dare voice her doubts.

The three of them silently chose a small building in the central district. After registering their codenames, they moved in.

The next moment, an explosion rang out, before the crowd’s cries of alarm had even subsided.

Wheee!

A piercing shriek tore through the air. Elizabeth swiftly spun around, climbed up a wall with nimble movements, and leaped high into the air. When she landed, shock still lingered in her eyes.

"Someone died!"

"Someone’s head was blasted off, he…"

Boom!

The next instant, an overpowering aura swept outward without discrimination. Elizabeth’s heart lurched, as though it had stopped beating. She found it hard to breathe, as if caught in a gale. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed straight toward the ground.

Liu Qi reached out and caught her by the back of the neck in time, though he staggered himself. Ye Kai, his face pale, supported them both and pinched Elizabeth’s philtrum to wake her.

Only then did Mercenary Tao’s voice sound beside their ears.

"Private fighting is forbidden within Paradise. Violators… die!"

That domineering presence was almost no different from the Douglas Bullet they had encountered in the One Piece World.

After Elizabeth regained consciousness, her face remained pale. Looking at her two companions, she found it difficult to believe that the man who had entered the same-tier mission world with them back then had truly reached such a level.

"Fierce…"

"He’s already Fierce-tier?!"

Because they had teamed up with the Professor, they were relatively well-informed and knew much of the inside story concerning high-level Reincarnators.

The dividing line between elite Reincarnators and truly top-tier Reincarnators was Fierce-tier!

The most conspicuous trait of this tier was that it could directly make others feel fear. Strong-tier Reincarnators could not control the fear they felt before enemies of this level.

Although only Liu Qi among the three could be considered highly capable in combat, all three of them were Strong-tier Reincarnators nonetheless.

Just one release of Conqueror’s Haki had nearly wiped out their entire team. There was no doubt that Mercenary Tao had become a Fierce-tier monster.

Although Ye Kai had long suspected it, shock still appeared on his face.

He looked at the two of them, nodded, and then said,

"You wait here for now. I need to meet him."

Liu Qi and Elizabeth knew that Azure Sky had many secret missions, so they did not interfere. They nodded and began taking personal belongings from their Backpacks to arrange them.

Before long, Ye Kai arrived at the top of the Black Tower and met the real-world Mercenary Tao.

Without an Avatar concealing him, Ye Kai saw that Mercenary Tao was indeed remarkably handsome. He had formed this suspicion when he saw Mercenary Tao deliberately choose such an ugly and grotesque Avatar.

Usually, only those who truly did not care about appearances would design an Avatar in such a manner without reservation.

And those who truly did not care about beauty or ugliness were either genuinely possessed of great wisdom, or… had already fully enjoyed the benefits their looks brought them and no longer cared.

Bai Cangshu watched the "self-righteous" conclusions in the other man’s heart, a smile curling at his lips. He enjoyed watching those who considered themselves clever think before him.

He truly found it entertaining, as though… watching monkeys.

"Your Excellency Mercenary Tao, I wonder whether that Dragon King-level Bloodline Item, you…"

Professor Ye Kai knew he could not hide his identity from Mercenary Tao, so he directly stated his purpose.

Azure Sky wanted to open a path into the Little Garden World. Since there was no way to have the Halloween Queen perform an exceptional summoning directly, they had taken another route, using that person’s authority over miracles to forge a new passage.

By gathering the bloodlines of the three strongest species—gods, Star Spirits, and dragonkind—and combining them with the miracles of ordinary humans, they would push open that door and enter Little Garden on their own initiative!

After reading the information in the Professor’s mind, Bai Cangshu gained a new understanding of what an organization like Azure Sky was capable of accomplishing.

The Halloween Queen was an exceptional existence among the three-digit beings of the Little Garden World. In other words, she had already completely surpassed beings at the level of Main Gods across every mythological lineage.

Was Azure Sky achieving a manifestation of power similar to that kind of existence through some method… or had it triggered a special mission?

Bzzz~

Electric currents flickered. Ye Kai’s hair stood up strand by strand, and a stabbing pain spread across his skin. The next moment, a powerful current streaked past his side.

"Professor, I’m actually quite curious. Can a Dragon King bloodline of that level truly be considered dragonkind?"

"Come on, use that brain of yours. Let me see just how many secrets you still have hidden from me…"