Who I Am

Fourth Tier…

Bai Cangshu sat in the hall, alone as he savored the power that had just radiated from within him.

Judging from Li Qingzi’s reaction and description, it was a strange power that prohibited all abilities and even reduced enhanced attributes to zero. She said that in that instant, she had felt as though her body were about to collapse. Before her eyes, she saw countless black wraiths pouncing toward her through an illusory space.

Without a doubt, that scene had been an image from his Consciousness Sea.

In other words, at that instant, Li Qingzi had seen the state of his Consciousness Sea while almost all her abilities, specialties, attribute points, transcendent traits, and tier characteristics had been cut off…

Under that power the space had defined as Fourth Tier: Heart Light, she had regressed into an ordinary person.

Was that his essence? His heart?

Bai Cangshu felt that probably was not the case, because it had been a trait revealed when he used the Limit Break Spiral to imitate Li Qingzi’s state in that very instant.

Yet at this moment, Bai Cangshu could no longer grasp that feeling.

This Fourth Tier: Heart Light was entirely different from the First Tier’s flesh-and-blood attributes and the Second Tier’s energy. It lacked the convenience granted by the space.

Using that ability was not something that could be activated with a mere thought.

On the contrary, it was a special power that came from within and radiated outward.

In Bai Cangshu’s current understanding, Heartlight was likely a power that pointed directly at the human heart. It was the light that erupted when one’s true self was fully revealed, when the sense of existence called "I" was driven to its ultimate extreme.

Bai Cangshu leaned back, his body naturally drifting backward through the air. His Mantra completely controlled the movements of every servant in the manor, so he did not worry about being seen.

He floated out through the window just like that.

His thoughts continued to churn.

Bai Cangshu had already obtained Gantz. Judging by the technology of the Multi-Faced Star People, humans possessed no special qualities whatsoever in the eyes of higher-dimensional beings.

Bodies and appearances could be replicated with a flick of the hand. Even in ordinary human society, there was technology capable of altering appearances and even cloning people.

The soul was what most humans believed made a person human, the most noble and unique part of them.

Humans believed they possessed noble souls. Some adhered to various faiths, believing that even after death, a person’s soul could continue through reincarnation. That was the foundation of why you were you beneath your fleshly shell.

But the Multi-Faced Star People said that a soul was merely a special piece of information weighing twenty-one grams.

They had already transcended the level of souls. Technology alone allowed them to shatter, replicate, and create souls.

Souls were neither special nor noble.

Bai Cangshu drifted beneath the night sky. Stars twinkled overhead. This place was some distance from the city, and with the city’s lights far away, the stars in the night sky could be seen more clearly.

With his hands behind his head, Bai Cangshu drifted through the night breeze like floating plankton in the sea.

He could not help but wonder: if there were someone who looked exactly like him, sounded exactly like him, even possessed an identical soul, and had all of his memories, while being granted the exact same abilities as him by the space or some other entity…

Then that being could also be called Bai Cangshu.

But he was clearly not that person, and that person was not him.

What, exactly, was the decisive difference between him and another him…

That was probably where the true heart existed.

Although Bai Cangshu often appeared cruel and violent, seeming more inclined to solve problems through slaughter than thought…

His mind actually worked incredibly fast. Aside from books on law, he had also read quite a few works on the ideas and philosophies of humanity’s great thinkers.

He understood very well that the question of who one was had long since been answered.

But this thing called the self held a unique meaning in a world of transcendent power—or rather, upon the so-called God’s Staircase.

It was some true self hidden deep within the soul and the heart.

It was the origin before one’s nature.

Bai Cangshu felt as though he had vaguely grasped something, yet no matter what he did, he could not recreate that mystical feeling. His memory was extraordinarily good. Even the degree to which Li Qingzi’s pupils had dilated, the frequency of her heartbeat, the number of contractions in her pulse, the protrusions of her skin pores, even the secretion of hormones within her body—he remembered all of it from that moment.

Yet he could not reproduce it.

Merely making his body display the same traits as Li Qingzi could not recreate that thing.

The invisible spiral within Bai Cangshu spun faster and faster, and the tips of the black hair behind his head had begun to turn white.

This was a sign that his vitality was being rapidly depleted.

He began to feel pain.

The power was right before him, yet he could not grasp it. That filled Bai Cangshu with pain and anger.

He always felt that something was missing, which was why he could not find that feeling.

Figures began to appear before his eyes.

From the black-rimmed-glasses professor who had first spoken to him about the power of the heart, to the weak Wuxin in The Boys World, to the tall One Piece captain Olgins, who had coldly looked at him and accused him of being utterly incapable of understanding the thoughts of the girl Cindy—he believed Bai Cangshu was a beast without a heart.

Before, Bai Cangshu had always thought that he merely lacked things like sympathy and empathy. He could not relate to those weak humans.

But now, he felt as though he were trapped within the prison of his body and soul, unable to touch reality.

Bai Cangshu felt unbearably stifled and could not help opening his mouth in a furious roar.

Ha!

Boom!

It was as though a thunderclap had exploded in the night sky, and a terrifying blast erupted from the clouds.

The dreadful vibrations in the air could be felt across a range of more than a hundred miles.

Countless Korean citizens were so terrified that they even wondered whether their northern neighbor had launched a war.

Only Li Qingzi, dressed in a white nightgown, stood in the courtyard and watched the Blazing White shockwave spread outward through the night sky.

That terrifying power made her deeply realize that Bai Cangshu had completely become a monster, surpassing elites like herself who were supposedly Strong-tier.

Mercenary Tao’s true combat power had absolutely entered the Fierce-tier.

He was already a Fierce Beast in every sense of the word.

She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the toughness of her body. The strength, speed, and even destructive power she had once secretly taken pride in had now all been surpassed by Bai Cangshu.

At that moment, she suddenly understood what this Fierce Beast had wanted to tell her.

She touched her chest, where it seemed the mark left by Mercenary Tao’s touch still remained.

Li Qingzi suddenly clutched her head and let out a bitter laugh, her voice growing louder and louder.

She had actually put the cart before the horse. So she had already become this weak…

The weak would only be abandoned by Bai Cangshu.

She too had been influenced by her family. In the end, she had still thought Korea was something remarkable, wasting her energy trying to control such a place.

"Ha, hahaha… Hahahaha!"

Li Qingzi laughed madly as intense Demonic Power began to radiate from her. Haki and Demonic Power intertwined, beauty and cruelty merging as one.

The next day, Li Qingzi, the new chairwoman of the March Group, publicly announced that the March Group and Korea would fully support the Ability User industry and comprehensively transform the group into a major conglomerate centered around Ability Users.

She also promised that all talents who joined the March Group’s Ability User Agencies would receive the March Group’s highest level of informational and material support.

At the same time, they would crack down on and expose unregistered Ability Users within Korea.

This news directly caused international shock.

A group with a market value exceeding two trillion dollars had unexpectedly transformed itself so abruptly. Moreover, this declaration made the existence of Ability Users impossible to conceal any longer.

Inside the March Group headquarters, several board members and directors went to Li Xianhou together, hoping she would step in to stop Li Qingzi.

But the old woman merely wore a grave expression and made no decision.

Bang!

The office’s custom bulletproof armored door was kicked open with a bang.

Li Qingzi appeared before everyone in high heels and a scarlet trench coat, her presence frighteningly sharp.

"This is my final decision. Anyone who does not accept this resolution may leave on their own."

Li Xianhou noticed that behind Li Qingzi, the terrifying Mr. Bai wore a faint smile as he surveyed the surroundings.

The bodyguard standing beside Li Xianhou was tall and wore sunglasses. Suddenly, his entire body trembled uncontrollably.

He felt intense Satsui no Hado winding around the surface of his body.

He could not possibly match it. If he made a move, he would die!

That feeling filled his heart. He had no room to resist. His body went limp, and he voluntarily lowered his head to Li Qingzi.

"Codename Mercury, reporting to Chairwoman Li. I’ll go register at the Agency shortly."

Li Xianhou also raised her head and addressed the others.

"My old friends, can’t you see it?"

She pointed at her granddaughter.

"The great upheaval has arrived. This… is the future!"