After a long day of classes, Mike returned to his dorm. Activating the room’s built-in defensive array, he teleported back to the Forest of Truth.
He remained at the forest’s edge, waiting for midnight, rather than venturing deeper. As midnight approached, Mike returned to his private space.
0.25 seconds before his arrival, a green light erupted from Vladimir’s head, illuminating the entire space.
Gabriel looked surprised. *Was that really necessary?*
Glancing at Vladimir’s green hat, Mike reached out and tapped it experimentally. The hat changed! Areas previously containing gold had transformed into copper.
After experimenting on Vladimir, Mike searched for Fool, eventually finding her near the forging furnace.
“Fool, whatcha doing?”
“Making equipment.” Master Fool rolled her eyes, retorting without hesitation, “The sooner I finish, the sooner I escape this hellhole.”
Intrigued, Mike pressed further. “How much longer?”
Fool considered, then replied, “Five or six months if I’m fast, no more than thirty years if I’m slow.”
Mike: ???
Why so long?!
“Weren’t you pretty quick making SS-rank equipment before?” Both Maxen’s Dorakos and Ace’s weapons were forged quickly once the materials were gathered. Even upgrading the Force of Nature from SS-rank to SSS-rank hadn’t taken this long!
“Don’t you dare bring that up!” Master Fool bristled. “What kind of materials did I use for SSS-rank equipment back then? Nightmare’s Breeze! I made it from scraps of cloth! A
watered-down version at that! Cutting corners wherever I could! Otherwise, would this cloak be in such tatters now?”
That was understandable. Back in Morpheus’ time, everyone was poor, resources were scarce. Even crafting SSS-rank equipment meant using whatever they could scrounge up.
“Ares’ sword, Apollo’s lyre, those are weapons. Once the main material is ready, forging is quick.” Master Fool pointed at Mike accusingly. “Look at the stuff you’re asking me to make!”
Mike’s equipment design drafts alone were over 1.3 million words, almost the length of an online novel. And crafting weapons and armor were completely different!
The SSS-rank armor Mike requested… Calling it “one piece” was generous. It was more like hundreds of SSS-rank components pieced together! Such a massive undertaking naturally took time.
Mike knew he was in the wrong, but he wasn’t one to back down easily. Who said you couldn’t be assertive even when you’re wrong?
“Is there any way to speed things up? Ideally, within three months?”
“There is,” Fool replied, her curiosity piqued. “Thor, tell me, what was the effect of Ares’ skill on you?”
Mike pulled Fool aside, whispering the effects of “Broke.”
“Sweet!” Master Fool grinned, her mouth practically splitting.
“I can accelerate the forging, but only if you agree to one condition.” She stated her terms. “For the next six days, you convert 100 million of your Truth Gold Coins into copper every day…”
“Impossible! Absolutely not!” Mike flatly refused.
100 million gold coins were equivalent to 100 Lord merits. Six days, 600 Lord merits! Spending 600 Lord merits to speed up Fool’s forging was undoubtedly a good deal. The problem was… Mike couldn’t emotionally accept it!
He tried to bargain, but Fool wouldn’t budge. “Not a penny less!”
In the end, the negotiations collapsed, and they parted on bad terms.
Just then, midnight arrived. Mike headed to the Core City of Truth, ready for his challenge. This time, he summoned the Truth Core Crystal in advance, attempting to contact the Tower Spirit.
“Calling Tower Spirit, calling Tower Spirit, come in!”
Half a minute later, an irritated voice responded. “Shut up! You’re annoying!”
“What are you babbling about instead of tackling the next floor?” the Tower Spirit grumbled.
“I want to inquire about the 34th floor.” With his class change approaching, Mike had to be cautious. Reclaiming the floor was secondary; the class change was paramount!
Thor’s caution was warranted. After this class change, he would reach level 500. The max level was 1000, and 500 was a special milestone.
The Tower Spirit explained slowly, “A normal potential Supreme Being would possess the combat power of an ordinary Nine-Star Lord at level 500.”
Mike puffed out his chest. “I already do!”
“You are indeed strong,” the Tower Spirit sneered. “But your individual strength isn’t enough. Humanity’s enemy is the Supreme Demon God!”
Mike decided to drop the subject. “What’s the situation on the 34th floor?”
“I don’t know.” The Tower Spirit’s reply was blunt. The floor was controlled by the Supreme Demon God’s minions. The Tower Spirit’s influence was limited.
“Originally, the 34th floor’s class change realm was a combat realm. A God would descend a projection of their power to fight you…”
“Wait,” Mike interrupted, his expression grave. “If a God can descend their power, does that mean this floor has a connection to the Temple of Truth?”
“Well, yes…” The Tower Spirit knew what Mike was worried about. “But… if the Supreme Demon God wanted to corrupt the Temple of Truth, your Third Bro wouldn’t just sit idly by,
would he?”
Losing nineteen floors of the Tower of Truth wasn’t a major crisis for humanity. The Tower Spirit itself wasn’t overly concerned, patiently waiting for Thor to conquer each floor. However, if the Temple of Truth was involved, that was a different story!
All beings above level 990 in the Tower of Truth would enter the Temple of Truth! If the Supreme Dem God into the Temple of Truth, the consequences
dire!
Because of the severity, the Tower Spirit believed the Supreme Demon God wouldn’t risk it. After all, Apollo was still on the 99th floor.
Mike pressed on. “The Temple of Truth is connected to the 34th floor. The black fog could use this connection to corrupt the Temple. Let me confirm: if this happens, the consequences are
severe, right?”
“It depends…” the Tower Spirit mumbled. “Actually, your Second Bro left a message in the Temple of Truth.”
“What message?” Mike was always curious about Ares’ embarrassing past.
The Tower Spirit revealed the message: “A Temple of Truth without Gods is a good temple.”
Mike raised an eyebrow, understanding Ares’ implication. Gods, looking down on the world, saw all things as ants. Without the constraints of the rules of Truth, these Gods would be worshipped by all races.
And humanity, being one of those races, would be enslaved. In fact, this was how things were in ancient times.
For Ares, even Gods could be killed. Following this logic, even if the Temple of Truth was corrupted, it would give human Supreme Beings an excuse to act…
“Then it’s none of my business.” Mike shrugged, unconcerned. He didn’t have a favorable impression of the beings within the Temple of Truth. Poseidon was always causing trouble.
The Tower Spirit hesitated. “There’s something I’m not sure I should say.”
Mike: “Then don’t.”
Undeterred, the Tower Spirit continued, “If the Temple of Truth is corrupted, it won’t be
good for either Apollo or Ares to intervene.”
Mike realized the gravity of the situation. Even a weakened God, once corrupted, would require significant effort to neutralize. Prevention was the best approach.
“You should’ve said that earlier! Then I would’ve understood!” Mike declared. “I’ll sever the connection between the 34th floor and the Temple of Truth. You pay double. That’s all. My
Truth Core Crystal is out of battery. Gotta go.”
With that, Mike ended the conversation.
Before heading to the 34th floor, Mike checked his status one last time:
ID: Thor
Talent: Eye of Truth (SSS-rank)
Level: 499
Class: Thunderlord Magus (Lightning, Fire, Shadow) SSS-rank
Second Class: Tidewalker Magus (Wind, Nature, Water) SSS-rank
Title: Fire Thief
HP: 48.69 million / 48.69 million
MP: 64.86 million / 64.86 million
Strength: 297,000 (+326,000) Intelligence: 398,000 (+635,000) Spirit: 314,000 (+428,000)
Agility: 212,000 (+229,000)
Constitution: 238,000 (+268,000)
Luck: 17
Equipment: Force of Nature (SSS-rank), Thunderclap Hammer (SS-rank)
Skills: Thunderclap Fate, etc.
Status: Broke, etc. Due to “Broke,” Mike opted for the Thunderclap Hammer instead of the Force of Nature.
Ready, Mike placed his hand on the Truth Core Crystal, selecting the 34th floor. The familiar prompt sounded: “Wishing you an early conquest of the Tower of Truth!”