543 Reaper’s Bargain
Thor’s performance once again left everyone in awe.
But by now, they were used to it.
Mike, however, had no time to pay attention to their reactions. He was fully immersed in the process of absorbing the law fragments.
Within Thor’s Sea, black lights flickered as the ghost laws were gradually digested by Mike.
At this point, Mike faced two choices:
1. Directly integrate the ghost laws into Thor’s Sea. This would provide the greatest boost to Mike’s combat power! However, the downside was that Mike would inevitably be tainted by the ghostly aura. It wasn’t that Mike would turn into a ghost—nothing that extreme—but he would become something between a ghost and a human. Moreover, as Mike’s strength grew and he mastered more ghost laws, he would begin to influence the entire ghost race, much like how the Blood Ancestor influenced the blood clan.
No way. Absolutely not! ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Whether from a personal standpoint or for the greater good of the human race, this was something Mike could never allow to happen.
2. The second option, which was Mike’s original plan: Inject the absorbed ghost laws into the still-developing soul skill he was researching!
Without hesitation, Mike chose the second path.
Once he made up his mind, he immediately got to work.
Countless black dots gathered around him, slowly merging into his body and being channeled into the development of his soul skill, which was specifically designed to target the ghost race.
In an instant, the skill research progress began to skyrocket!
[Current skill research progress: 99.99%!]
Before Mike could even react, the progress bar jumped to 102.5%!
Mike: ???
Wait, it can go beyond 100%?!
Mike quickly realized that 100% was merely the minimum threshold for developing the soul skill.
“Perfect timing!”
Mike had thought that the remaining ghost laws would go to waste, perhaps only useful for crafting equipment.
Who would have thought that he could use them to enhance his skill?
With a more efficient method in hand, Mike’s motivation surged.
His speed in absorbing the ghost laws increased dramatically!
The law fragment was soon fully absorbed, with a 100% utilization rate!
What Fool Master had estimated would take Mike three days and nights to complete, he had finished in less than half an hour!
The efficiency was far beyond anyone’s expectations!
Mike’s ability to deconstruct, absorb, and integrate the laws so quickly was due to several factors.
Of course, the Eye of Truth had played a significant role.
With the Eye of Truth guiding him, Mike followed every step without making a single mistake, allowing him to achieve a 100% utilization rate!
Don’t think this was an easy feat.
To complete the entire process, Mike had to make tens of thousands of adjustments, if not more.
Ensuring that every single step was flawless was an incredibly difficult task!
But Mike had a unique trait.
Once he fully focused on something, his efficiency skyrocketed, and his concentration reached its peak!
Especially when it came to making money!
Even when Vladimir had been badmouthing him behind his back earlier, Mike hadn’t heard a word.
Moreover, Mike’s natural talent was already extraordinary.
In less than 100 days, he had created several moves: All Things Grow, Mirror Shadow, Thunderclap Fate, Transmute, and more…
Especially Thunderclap Fate—Mike had created a Soul Element skill without even having a Soul Element Class, a feat that could only be described as miraculous!
In terms of raw talent, Mike was undoubtedly worthy of being a potential Supreme Being, fully deserving of his SSS-grade talent.
As the law fragment was fully absorbed, the skill research progress soared to 168.5%!
The further the progress advanced, the slower it became.
Each 1% increase in the later stages required ten times, even a hundred times more ghost laws than before!
With his first success under his belt, Mike repeated the process, extracting another, larger law fragment from the ghost source…
Meanwhile, Fool Master and the others, who had been watching, fell into a stunned silence.
If Thor’s earlier performance had shocked them, now they were beginning to feel a sense of fear…
“Does he… not get tired?”
Even Fool Master, when she had first absorbed source laws as a nine-star Lord, had needed time to rest afterward.
But Thor didn’t seem tired at all. In fact, he looked even more energized!
Fool Master knew that the human race’s potential Supreme Beings were always powerful, but she hadn’t expected Thor to be this powerful!
Her face paled slightly.
Fool Master had thought she had already given Thor enough credit.
But he always managed to surprise her in some way!
Thor, who had seemed so ordinary, even mediocre, in the early stages, had an unexpectedly high talent for source laws!
In fact, the signs had been there all along.
When Mike had constructed Thor’s Sea, he had broken the human race’s records.
Could it be that… Thor was a late bloomer?
Fool Master’s heart grew heavy.
But then she remembered something.
Wait, I’m a traitor to the demon race!
What does it matter to me whether the demon race lives or dies under Thor’s hand?
I’ve forged the Broken Sword for Ares, crafted a lyre for Apollo, and made countless contributions to the human race!
With that thought, Fool Master’s face regained some color.
Traitors are despicable!
But luckily, I’m the traitor.
Setting aside Fool Master’s internal monologue, Mike continued to deconstruct and absorb four more law fragments of varying sizes.
He didn’t feel tired at all, but the skill research progress was starting to hit a wall.
[Current research progress: 498.5%] [Research progress exceeding 500% will result in a 60% failure rate!]
For his first skill creation, he didn’t need to aim too high. He could always leave room for future breakthroughs!
“Create skill!”
With a single command, countless black dots flew from Mike’s forehead, gathering in front of him and forming a ball of black light.
The black light merged into Thor’s Sea, causing the entire sea to boil.
Moments later, Thor’s Sea calmed down, now tinged with a layer of dark ink.
Mike received a notification:
[Skill creation using soul fragments successful!]
Mike opened the skill description, and the first thing that caught his eye was the skill name.
Four black and red characters, radiating an oppressive aura, appeared before him:
[Reaper’s Bargain]
After the skill name, the full description unfolded before Mike:
—
Skill Name: Reaper’s Bargain
Skill Description: Summon a Reaper’s Envoy to act as the arbiter of a transaction, ensuring the fairness of the deal. Initiate a trade request with the target. – If the target refuses the trade, the caster is automatically deemed the Big Winner. – If the target accepts the trade, both parties will engage in a fair competition to determine the winner. – The rules of the competition are set by the caster but must be fair and just. – The winner will receive a reward based on the outcome.
Competition Results: – Small Win: The winner receives a small reward (valued under 10 million Truth Gold Coins), and the loser suffers no penalty. – Big Win: The winner receives a large reward (valued under 1 billion Truth Gold Coins), and the loser suffers Soul Chaos Damage proportional to the reward (damage range: 1 to 1 billion). – Note: Soul Chaos Damage ignores armor, magic resistance, and other defenses but is reduced by soul defense. – Win-Win: The winner receives double the Big Win reward, and the loser suffers double the penalty. – Jackpot: The winner receives the rewards for Small Win, Big Win, and Win-Win simultaneously.
Cost: The cost of this skill is borne by the target.
Cooldown: No cooldown, but the same target can only engage in Reaper’s Bargain once every 24 hours.
Notes: – Current probabilities: Small Win 50%, Big Win 25%, Win-Win 24%, Jackpot 1%. – When the target is from the ghost race or demon race, if the result is Small Win or Big Win, the process will continue until a Win-Win or Jackpot is achieved. The winner will receive all accumulated rewards. – This skill cannot be made into a skill book.
—
After reading the skill description, Mike almost forgot what the word “win” meant!
After reading it several times, Mike could only sigh in satisfaction.
I love this skill!
First of all, it was forced trading.
If the target refused the Reaper’s Bargain, Mike would automatically win big!
Second, the rules of the competition were set by Mike.
Although the skill description emphasized that the rules had to be fair and just, there were plenty of loopholes!
For example, if Mike used this skill on Dracula, he could set the competition rule as: “Whoever deals more damage to Dracula within a set time wins.”
That rule was fair, right?
On the surface, everyone was on equal footing.
But in practice, all Mike had to do to win was keep zapping Dracula with lightning.
For Dracula to win, he’d have to kill himself!
In the end, even if Dracula won, he’d be dead… so what was the point?
Mike was just too good at being “fair”!
Finally, the skill was naturally biased against the ghost race and demon race.
All in all, this skill was a perfect fit for Mike and a powerful weapon against the ghost race and demon race!
Of course, while the skill was strong, it wasn’t invincible.
There were a few ways to break the Reaper’s Bargain.
One option was to overpower the situation by killing the caster, Thor, which would end the bargain.
Another option was to kill the Reaper’s Envoy, which would also terminate the deal.
According to the Eye of Truth, the Reaper’s Envoy was at least as strong as a nine-star Lord, and with good luck, it could even be an Ultimate Lord.
Additionally, during the Reaper’s Bargain, the Reaper’s Envoy was protected by the rules, granting it high damage resistance and various buffs.
Killing the Reaper’s Envoy would be no easy task.
And the cost of doing so might be greater than the cost of losing the bargain!
As Mike stood there, lost in thought, Fool Master curiously approached.
“What skill did you create?”
They had an agreement—after creating a skill, Mike had to share the details with Fool Master.
Mike generously showed Fool Master the skill and even invited her to participate in a round of Reaper’s Bargain.
“Are you crazy?!”
Fool Master hadn’t expected Thor to create such an outrageous skill!
Refusing to be a test subject, Fool Master backed off, leaving Mike to settle for Vladimir as his guinea pig.
“Reaper’s Bargain!”
Although there was no need to shout the skill name, Mike felt that doing so gave the skill more impact!
It was all about the ritual!
Within the range of Thor’s Sea, a black light flashed, instantly forming a complex rune on the ground. The rune took the shape of a Libra…
Black mist swirled, and a Reaper’s Envoy, wielding a scythe, emerged—a genuine, powerful nine-star Lord!
“I… heed the call of the undead (ghost) lord…”
The scythe-wielding envoy whispered, bowing before Mike.
Mike: …
Because he had infused so much ghost law into the skill creation, Mike was now seen as the undead lord by the ghost race.
Setting aside that minor detail, Mike gave Vladimir a look, signaling him to attack.
He wanted to test the strength of the Reaper’s Envoy!
Vladimir, whose strength had grown considerably, was now on par with a nine-star Lord.
10:46
At Mike’s command, Vladimir attacked the Reaper’s Envoy with all his might.
Numbers floated above the envoy’s head:
“-100!” “-150!” “-188!”
Vladimir: ???
What the hell?
A full-power attack from a nine-star Lord should deal damage in the billions!
But it had been reduced to just 100?!
Vladimir’s attacks didn’t even leave a scratch on the envoy!
Sensing hostility, the scythe-wielding envoy shot Vladimir a disdainful glance, casually pulling out a card and throwing it at him.
“Attacking the referee. Yellow card warning.”
Boom—
The yellow card hit Vladimir, and his health plummeted, leaving him on the verge of death!
The more Mike watched, the more excited he became, cheering for the Reaper’s Bargain!
This Reaper’s Envoy was too strong!
It could completely nullify the attacks of a nine-star Lord, and a single yellow card could severely injure one!
If Vladimir continued to attack, the envoy had a red card ready, which would eject him from the game entirely!
After issuing the yellow card, the Reaper’s Envoy turned to Mike and said in a deep voice,
“Undead lord, state the rules of the competition.”
Mike pulled out the rule he had prepared in advance.
“Whoever gives Thor the most Truth Gold Coins in one minute wins!”
The Reaper’s Envoy’s eyes glowed red as the competition rules were inscribed into the surroundings, becoming an unbreakable law that bound both parties.
Finally, the envoy nodded slightly, acknowledging Mike’s rule.
“This is fair!”