Listening to Mike, the shadowy figure of Shadow Nine coldly replied, “Are you that brave? Let him come to you.”
Shadow Nine spoke again,
“Calderon’s last false body has only one wish: to challenge a potential Supreme Being.
Without fulfilling this wish, this false body won’t die.”
Mike: ???
Shadow Nine’s words carried a lot of information!
From the tone, it seemed Shadow Nine had tried to slash Calderon’s false body but hadn’t succeeded.
Mike recalled that when he met Little Nine last night, Little Nine had mentioned that his brother was severely injured.
Now it seemed clear that Shadow Nine had beaten up Little Nine’s brother.
After washing up, Mike left his dormitory and had breakfast in the cafeteria.
It was evident that Cain was still with Anderson, enjoying the freshest ingredients.
While eating, Mike quietly said, “Shadow Nine, don’t you think Anderson’s injuries are a bit too strange?”
Previously in the Suture Abyss, only Anderson was severely injured.
On the way back from the Suture Abyss to Earth, Anderson was still heavily injured by demon creatures.
It wasn’t that Anderson lacked strength; it seemed the demon creatures were specifically targeting him!
“It is a bit odd.”
Shadow Nine agreed with Mike’s observation, “But around a potential Supreme Being, strange things aren’t uncommon.”
“With the way you’re talking, I’m starting to feel like I’m something special.”
Mike took a big bite of his deluxe burger with three beef patties and washed it down with a glass of milk, letting out a long sigh of relief.
“By the way, Shadow Nine.”
Mike asked quietly, “Is the communication crystal that Shadow Ten has a standard issue for Guardian Shadow?”
Now that Mike was a member of Guardian Shadow, how could he not have one?
Shadow Nine replied impatiently,
“Generally, only Chief tier and above have communication crystals.”
Mike pressed, “Didn’t my last SSS-level mission qualify me for Chief tier?”
Shadow Nine sneered, “How about I promote you to Lord tier?”
Mike, not catching the sarcasm, seriously considered the suggestion,
“That’s not a bad idea.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Mike shook his head,
“Better not. Promoting too quickly might seem like favoritism.”
Finally, Shadow Nine tossed a communication crystal to Mike, silencing him.
“Input a number and username yourself, and don’t bother me this morning.”
“Got it!”
Satisfied, Mike took the communication crystal, thought for a moment, and entered four digits: 6969!
“Username: Deathsinger”
“Deathsinger (6969) logged in”
The communication crystal’s appearance could be altered, and under Mike’s manipulation, it turned into a sleek black phone, looking perfectly natural.
“Searching for user Shadow Seven…”
“User [Terraon Morrow (Shadow Seven)], add as a friend?”
Mike was stunned. Terraon became Shadow Seven?
It had only been three days!
Quick work.
Terraon Morrow having some trump cards was normal.
Violet losing to Terraon wasn’t shameful and made sense.
Mike continued searching:
“Searching for user Shadow Ten…”
Logically, since Terraon Morrow defeated Violet, they swapped ranks.
The current Shadow Ten should be the previous Shadow Seven.
“User [Nameless (Shadow Ten)], add as a friend?”
Who was this?
The previous Shadow Eleven, who had been guarding Professor Gregory, Darian, Terenas’s
mentor?
Mike had a bad feeling:
“How far did Shadow Seven fall?”
For a moment, Mike even considered starting from Shadow Ninety-Nine.
That might be faster.
“Last night, Shadow element materials surged in price, clearly indicating fierce competition within Guardian Shadow.”
Strong Shadow element users often had ties to [Guardian Shadow].
After internal competition, slackers would be pushed out by overachievers.
Like the former Shadow Seven, now who knows where they ended up.
After searching for a while, Mike finally found a familiar ID.
“User [Witty Wombat (Shadow Twenty-Two)], add as a friend?”
That’s the one!
Falling from Shadow Seven to Shadow Twenty-Two was quite a drop.
Mike didn’t know what to say.
“Sending friend request to [Witty Wombat (Shadow Twenty-Four)], awaiting approval…”
Seeing the prompt on the communication crystal, Mike was stunned again. Was this real-time
ranking?
“[Witty Wombat (Shadow Twenty-Eight)] has accepted your friend request…”
“[Witty Wombat (Shadow Thirty-Six)] is now your friend. Start chatting!”
In less than ten minutes, Mike watched Violet drop from Shadow Twenty-Two to Shadow
Thirty-Six.
Worse than a stock crash!
At least stocks have a limit down; Violet just kept falling, with no end in sight.
Picking up the communication crystal, Mike sent a message.
Deathsinger: Seven Bro, it’s Deathsinger
Witty Wombat is typing…
Witty Wombat: Ahem, it’s been a while since we last met. I’ve missed you, but I’ve been
gravely injured in a great battle, unable to attend to other matters.
Reading Violet’s message, Mike fell silent.
Could it be…
She was pushed down because she had no trump cards?
Sitting in the classroom, Mike played with his new phone, chatting with Violet.
Witty Wombat (Shadow Forty-Nine): It’s been a few days, and you’ve already been promoted
to Chief tier. Not bad, not bad.
Mike: …
How do you have time to worry about me? Shouldn’t you be concerned about yourself?
At Violet’s current rate of decline, Mike felt it wouldn’t be long before they met at Chief tier…
“Something’s not right. Violet was quite strong. How did her level drop so fast?”
“Is she sick?”
Mike asked curiously: Seven Bro, are you seriously injured? Maybe you should see a priest or a
doctor.
Witty Wombat: It’s a long story…
Clearly, Mike calling her Seven Bro pleased Violet.
She managed to hold her position at Shadow Forty-Nine, stabilizing for now.
She took the opportunity to vent to Mike.
Witty Wombat: It all started with Thor creating [Wind’s Reach]…
Mike: ???
How did this involve him again!
Through Violet’s explanation, Mike finally understood the backstory.
Most Lords within Guardian Shadow had learned Wind’s Reach.
This skill was worth learning as a trump card, even if it couldn’t be used in large abysses!
Violet, wanting to save face, publicly claimed she hadn’t learned it!
A skill she hadn’t learned, she couldn’t use, or she’d be mocked by other shadows!
So a strange situation arose: everyone challenging Violet found she really didn’t use [Wind’s
Reach], like playing League of Legends with the R key removed.
She didn’t use it, but others did!
Combined with Violet’s lack of trump cards, her ranking plummeted.
After hearing this ‘sad’ story, Mike fell into deep thought.
Violet had raised a sharp issue Mike hadn’t considered.
Wind’s Reach was a revolutionary god-tier skill, changing the status of wind mages and
having a profound impact.
So, how could Mike counter this move?
Since [Wind’s Reach] was publicly sold, Mike’s enemies could likely get [Wind’s Reach] skill
books.
He wouldn’t be surprised if abyssal demon creatures learned it someday.
How to counter it?
Mike had no immediate answer.
But he knew someone who might!
Mike picked up the communication crystal phone and typed a message.
Deathsinger: Seven Bro, do you remember the Soul Element project we talked about?
Witty Wombat: I remember. Have you finished it?
Deathsinger: Yes, I’ll send you ten articles. Can you pass them to Professor Gregory for me?
Deathsinger: As payment, can you ask Professor Gregory for a favor?
Mike briefly explained his request. On the other end, Shadow Forty-Nine (Violet) was taken
aback.
“Is that even possible?!” freewēbnoveℓ.com
She gasped.
She hadn’t realized Deathsinger was quite smart!
Soon, Violet received ten Soul Element articles and forwarded them along with Deathsinger’s
request to Professor Gregory.
…
Tower of Truth, Eleventh Floor.
Professor Gregory was at his desk, working on the eleventh-floor strategy guide.
In the past few hundred years, he had never been this busy. Exploring the Tower of Truth at night, and making guides after failing to clear levels.
In just a few days, he had gone from the ninth floor to the twelfth, reaching level 89,
progressing rapidly!
“Beep beep-”
An email notification popped up. Professor Gregory glanced at it.
“Violet sent me ten Soul Element papers?”
Soul Element papers, even for Professor Gregory, took a long time to write.
Ten papers at once, where did she copy them from?
Moreover, it was an email from Violet.
Most people would just ignore it.
Professor Gregory opened the email and glanced at it, his expression changing.
“This is written by Thor?”
The quality of the papers was unexpectedly high, better than what Professor Gregory could
write himself! After quickly reading through the ten papers, Professor Gregory was deep in thought.
The content of the papers provided significant insights, taking time to fully digest.
“If this is true, it might offer a different solution to Shadow Nine’s long-standing problem…” Professor Gregory looked at the last line of the email, surprised again.
“Seeking a method to counter [Wind’s Reach] and requesting confidentiality?” This… was also Thor’s request?
After pondering for a moment, Professor Gregory picked up his phone and dialed,
“Get Maxen.”
“I have a request for you. Take this request form to your Second Godfather.”
“Alright, go now.”
Hanging up, Thor’s matter was settled.
Professor Gregory looked at the ten papers again, lost in thought.