Forest of Truth
After returning from the private space, Mike’s first stop was to visit Professor Gregory.
Void Maelstrom was definitely on his agenda.
However, Mike had one lingering concern.
“I’ve been gone for so long. How am I supposed to explain this to the school?”
Professor Gregory, understanding Thor’s desire to keep his identity hidden, quickly addressed Mike’s concern.
He used the simplest solution possible.
“Ding-”
Mike’s communicator buzzed with a notification:
“The short semester will end tomorrow. Summer vacation will last two months. The reopening date will be announced later. Students are free to make their own arrangements during the break…”
Superpower universities worldwide had suddenly gone on break.
Mike: …
Well, that was certainly a straightforward and crude solution!
For most superpower university students, vacations were still filled with assignments and projects.
Mike, however, could use the excuse of “traveling” to disappear for a while.
With his worries resolved, Mike began assembling his team.
Gathering Allies
Maxen was an easy choice—just a quick notification, and he’d be ready.
Now that the Supreme Abyssal had been located, there was no need for Maxen to stay in the Second Abyss all the time.
Mike’s trip to Void Maelstrom wasn’t just for himself; it was to rescue Shadow Nine.
Saving Shadow Nine meant saving his father.
Maxen following him? That was a given.
Mike headed to the Eighth Abyss to notify the Eighth Demon God.
“This time, Void Maelstrom counts you in,” Mike said bluntly.
“If you don’t go, humanity will just replace you with another Eighth Demon God.”
The newly crowned Chaos Prince, now the Eighth Demon God, didn’t think too hard about it and agreed.
Mike then made a stop at the Ninth Abyss, only to be met with a slammed door.
The Ninth Demon God was blunt:
“Come back when Shadow Nine returns.”
The Ninth Demon God, nominally a mole for humanity, was in reality more like a devoted follower of Shadow Nine.
With Shadow Nine gone, the Ninth Demon God couldn’t even be bothered to keep up appearances.
Failing to recruit the Ninth Demon God, Mike turned his attention to the Fifth Demon God.
“Oh, look who it is-the ever-so-healthy Fifth Demon God,” Mike said sarcastically.
“Wanna join us in Void Maelstrom? There’s a 0.25% chance you might die!”
“Ridiculous.”
The Fifth Demon God didn’t even dignify Mike with a proper response, turning and leaving with Michael in tow.
If Thor had promised he’d survive, the Fifth Demon God might have been tempted.
But since Thor admitted there was a chance of death? No way.
He wasn’t stupid.
Even if death were truly possible, humanity’s Supreme Being wouldn’t let him die.
Watching the Fifth Demon God walk away, Mike let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow.
The notification in front of him slowly faded:
[Fifth Demon God survival probability: 0%]
Good thing that guy didn’t know…
The Fifth Demon God was special.
How exactly? Mike wasn’t sure yet.
But one thing was clear: Morpheus and Ares both refused to kill the Fifth Demon God, and they must have had their reasons.
Without a clear signal, Mike saw no need to antagonize the Fifth Demon God.
Besides, keeping him alive was probably the greatest punishment.
And on top of that, Shadow Two still owed Mike thirty years of unpaid labor. Killing someone’s dad? Not a great look.
Recruitment Continues
After returning from the Abyss, Mike resumed messaging potential allies.
What was originally a solo mission to Void Maelstrom had now turned into a full-blown team-building exercise.
First Abyss
As usual, the Archdemon lay sprawled on the ground.
Two swordsmen strolled through the Abyss.
Cedric suddenly stopped, frowning slightly.
“Thor’s going to Void Maelstrom?”
Clearly, Cedric had received Thor’s invitation and instinctively wanted to refuse.
“Void Maelstrom?”
Ares, recalling his past experiences there, felt a twinge of excitement.
“I’d love to go again.”
Unfortunately, he couldn’t.
Ares suggested, “Why don’t you go in my place?”
There were still a few enemies he hadn’t slashed to death back then, and he regretted it
deeply.
Originally, Cedric had planned to refuse.
But since Ares had spoken, he changed his mind.
Just as he was about to agree, Cedric frowned again.
“Ace is going too?”
Without hesitation, he declined.
Teaming up with that trash-talking loudmouth was pure torture.
Besides, Cedric had a nagging feeling Calderon was up to something.
Ace’s recent behavior had been unusually erratic.
Perhaps Calderon had predicted Shadow Nine’s moves long ago, foreseeing that Calderon and
Shadow Nine would storm the Supreme Abyssal together, and had deliberately left Ace
behind.
Of course, with Calderon’s limited brainpower, he probably hadn’t thought that far ahead.
But Calderon had a helper: Gregory.
Cedric wanted no part of this mess.
Forest of Truth
“Cedric’s not coming?”
Mike stared at the message in front of him, lost in thought.
Losing Cedric and gaining Ace was like adding extra weight to his training.
Rolling his eyes, Mike glanced at the eager Ace and muttered,
“Why are you even tagging along?”
“I won’t die,” Ace declared firmly, determined to join.
Mike sighed.
“Give me one good reason to bring you.”
Ace quickly convinced him.
“Calderon told me to go.”
Well, that settled it.
Mike respected Calderon as a senior, after all.
Surprisingly, adding Ace to the team actually increased their survival rate!
Survival Rate: 65.57%
Not good enough!
Still too low!
Mike had one last card to play: his fourth talent awakening.
Fourth Awakening
With Maxen’s credit card in hand, Mike spent a fortune at the Mystic Market, gathering
materials.
Following the instructions of the Eye of Truth, Mike carefully executed each step without wasting a single penny.
Unlike the fiery pain of his third awakening, the fourth awakening felt icy cold.
When he opened his eyes, a refreshing chill spread through his body, leaving him feeling
indescribably comfortable.
A series of notifications appeared before him:
[Fourth Awakening Complete!]
[Immunity Mode Unlocked!]
[…]
Skipping the irrelevant details, Mike went straight to the part he cared about most: his
survival rate.
Looking at the updated number, Mike felt a headache coming on.
[Current Survival Rate: 94.99%]
With this survival rate, Mike would normally call it quits.
But he had already exhausted all his options.
Leveling up wouldn’t help much at this stage.
His current sources-Lightning Source and Greed Source-were already the most compatible
with him.
He couldn’t break through to level 900; otherwise, the Supreme Demon God wouldn’t let him
live.
In the past, potential Supreme Beings had started attracting the Supreme Demon God’s
attention as early as level 500.
Mike was only an exception because Shadow Nine had prematurely opened the Supreme
Abyssal and enlisted Ares to seal it.
This had bought him some time.
In other words, 94.99% was Mike’s limit.
Final Preparations
Pacing back and forth, Mike decided he needed to do something drastic.
So, he pulled out a bed and promptly fell asleep.
He slept deeply but woke up a few hours later.
No matter what, the danger he was about to face was the closest he’d ever come to death.
Mike needed to be in peak condition.
Feeling refreshed, he checked his survival rate again:
[94.99%]
Still no change.
Reluctantly, Mike headed to the Tower of Truth.
A white cloud descended slowly, carrying him to the ninety-ninth floor.
This time, he didn’t bother asking Apollo about Void Maelstrom.
He’d already asked everything he could. Instead, he inquired about his fifth talent awakening. After voicing his concerns, Mike waited quietly for an answer. “You can’t merge it with yourself,” Apollo replied calmly, patiently explaining.
“If you do, even if the Supreme Demon God dies, you’ll become the new Supreme Demon God.”
Mike: ???
That’s insane!
With Apollo’s warning, there was no way Mike would choose to merge.
But that didn’t stop him from asking another question:
“Why not?”
“Truth Source cannot fully merge with a being,” Apollo explained.
“Even a fragment, once fully merged, will make you irresistibly drawn to other Truth
Sources.
“Once fully merged, your existence will have only one goal: to collect all the fragments of the Truth Source.”
Hearing this, Mike finally understood the origin of the Supreme Demon God.
Departure
After leaving the Tower of Truth, Mike felt strangely light, as if a weight had been lifted.
He had left all his belongings-everything unrelated to survival-in a storage item on the
white cloud.
If he died, these items would be passed on to Light Nine.
With his affairs in order, Mike adjusted his mindset.
Even for the sake of that stash, he had to survive! [Current Survival Rate: 95.00%]
It worked! It actually worked!
With his survival rate now at 95%, Mike felt much better.
His recruited allies began to gather, and even the private space fighters signed up.
Since private space couldn’t be accessed in Void Maelstrom, anyone who wanted to join had to
participate from the start.
Mike reviewed the list of volunteers:
Vladimir, Sylvanas, Gabriel, and Dracula.
“Huh, they’re all going?”
Mike hadn’t expected Vladimir, of all people, to join such a high-risk mission.
When he saw Vladimir in person, he was even more shocked.
“You look like you’ve been hit by a truck. What’s wrong with you?”
Vladimir, pale and trembling, looked like a gust of wind could knock him over.
But the most shocking part was the survival rate above his head:
[Survival Rate: 100%] Mike asked sincerely, “How did you manage that? Teach me your ways!”
Vladimir weakly waved him off, saying nothing.
His method wasn’t something Thor could replicate.
As for the others…
Mike was stunned again.
These guys had somehow boosted their survival rates significantly!
– Gabriel: 98%
– Sylvanas: 95%
– Dracula: 100%
Gabriel’s high survival rate made sense-he was incredibly strong.
Sylvanas’s survival rate was tied to Mike’s. If Mike died, so would she.
As for Dracula…
Another 100%.
Mike couldn’t help but marvel, “What’s with you vampires?”
Two members with 100% survival rates, both from the Blood Clan, and clearly using different
methods.
“Alright, enough delays. Let’s move out!”
Just as the group was about to depart, a seven-stringed melody echoed from the top of the
Tower of Truth.
The music was ethereal, resonating across the forest.
Mike and his team paused, turning to look back at the tower.
A faint yellow light descended, landing on Mike’s shoulder.
A new notification appeared before him:
[Current Survival Rate: 105%]