“Old man, look at all these Attribute Fusion Stones!” Tracy exclaimed, her eyes wide as she inspected the items dropped by the Two-Winged Angel.
There were over 1,700 Attribute Fusion Stones, hundreds of thousands of gold coins, several hundred skill stones, equipment enhancement stones, gem sockets, and a scroll.
Unfortunately, no weapons or equipment were dropped.
In the World of Gods, divine bosses typically drop weapons and equipment, but since the Two-Winged Angel was a player, her death only caused her to drop random items from her inventory.
John couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed as he examined the scroll.
[Scroll: Death Worm’s Nest – Rank Six King-Level Secret Area. Requires Rank Six or higher to enter.]
It was a powerful King-Level Secret Area!
However, it required a rank of six or higher to access, and John had just recently broken through to rank four. He was still far from reaching rank six.
John sighed; he now had several Secret Areas in his possession, but he lacked the strength to explore them.
There was the Rank Seven City Secret Area: Demon King’s Treasure, the Rank Seven Dark Sea Secret Area.
And now the Death Worm’s Nest.
He needed to find a way to level up quickly.
With the Two-Winged Angel dealt with, John didn’t linger in Death Land. After saying a quick goodbye, he led the two women back to the Elemental Secret Area.
According to the Undead Lord, the Elemental Secret Area was created by gods to benefit the angel race and Dark Humans, helping them to increase their power.
This meant that John might encounter more powerful beings from the angel race or Dark Humans within this area.
But John wasn’t too worried. With Death Land as his sanctuary, he could escape any danger at will.
He resumed hunting down the Elemental Golems.
Now, with his newly acquired skill, Holy Light Strike, which was unaffected by the restrictions of the Elemental Secret Area, his efficiency in killing the golems increased slightly.
Before long, they had cleared out the Elemental Secret Area again, yielding another three hundred Attribute Fusion Stones.
In total, John had amassed 2,407 Attribute Fusion Stones from this expedition.
He debated whether or not to distribute them to the Blues Family or the Flame Legion. Fusing attributes ahead of time would have significant repercussions in the real world. But if he didn’t use the stones, they would become worthless once the World of Gods and Earth merged. In his hands, they would have no value.
“Better to boost some people’s strength now,” John eventually decided after careful consideration. Helping the strong within the Blues Family and Flame Legion fuse their attributes would strengthen his control over the Ancient Martial Arts Families and the military.
It was also the perfect opportunity to reveal the truth about the World of Gods. Whether the players chose to believe it was up to them.
John explored the Secret Area thoroughly but found no connections to other spaces.
It seemed that only by using the Universal Order to reset the Secret Area could it connect to other areas within the Elemental Secret Area.
John decided to stop dwelling on the issue; he had enough Attribute Fusion Stones for the time being.
“Let’s keep leveling up,” he said, leading the two women out of the Elemental Secret Area to continue hunting monsters and gaining experience.
After their recent battle with the Two-Winged Angel, both Tracy and Sini gained a significant amount of experience. Tracy reached level 96, and Sini reached level 95. They were close to hitting level 100.
The low-level fourth-tier monsters around Green Moon were no longer challenging enough for John. He decided to take the women to the Eternal Forest to hunt fifth-tier monsters.
…
The three of them spent three days wandering through the Eternal Forest. Both women finally reached level 100, and with John’s help, they completed their class advancement quests.
During this time, John’s fox demon curse flared up once again, leaving the women utterly exhausted, but they didn’t complain.
“John, let’s take a break,” Sini suggested, concerned for him. John had been pushing hard, helping them level up without taking much time to rest.
John nodded. The relentless grind over the past few days had indeed worn him out.
He also had some other matters to attend to.
“Let’s head back to Saint Martial Sect,” John said, calling for Avis to take them there.
…
Under the leadership of the Blues Family, Saint Martial Sect had grown rapidly, now boasting
a membership of 100,000, all elite disciples from various Ancient Martial Arts Families. They
had all transitioned to the Martial Artist class, making them a formidable force. During this period, there had been occasional disturbances from the Orcs, but the sect had successfully repelled them each time.
Since Armstrong wasn’t in the city, John sought out the busy Chris.
“You’ve been missing for days, and you finally show up,” Chris said, setting aside his work,
his tone mildly reproachful.
“Old man, I’ve been busy, but I’m here to see you now,” John replied, feeling a bit exasperated. Chris had hinted several times that John should make an appearance before the disciples of the various families.
Clearly, Chris wanted John to take control of these Ancient Martial Arts Families.
Knowing John’s straightforward nature, Chris got straight to the point. “So, what brings you here this time?”
John didn’t waste any time. He took out 1,000 Attribute Fusion Stones and handed them to Chris, instructing him, “Old man, there might be some disturbances in the real world soon. Use these 1,000 Attribute Fusion Stones for the elite disciples of the Blues Family. Make sure they don’t fall into the hands of the other Ancient Martial Arts Families.”
Chris accepted the Attribute Fusion Stones and assured him, “Don’t worry, I know how to handle it.”
“Old man, I have other matters to attend to,” John said, confident in Chris’s abilities as he got
up to leave.
“Ah, you brat,” Chris sighed, about to say more, but then simply added, “Go on, I’ll take care
of things at Saint Martial Sect.”
John didn’t bother to argue and took his leave.
He used the teleportation array to travel to Flame City.
Flame City was much quieter compared to Saint Martial Sect. The Flame Legion had always had a smaller membership, with only about 5,000 members.
Ritchie had a unique status, and expanding the ranks of the Flame Legion required approval from higher authorities.
However, he wasn’t overly concerned with the numbers; what he valued was quality. For him, five thousand elite soldiers were more than sufficient.
“Boss, I was just about to look for you,” Ritchie said, hurrying to meet John as soon as he
heard of his arrival.
He pulled John aside and spoke in a low voice, “Do you remember Gaia?”
Gaia?
John certainly remembered him. Gaia was a Dragon Knight, a rare class, and once the top warrior of the Mike White Family.
He had tried to steal the Diamond Giant Shield, a powerful artifact from Ritchie, which led to his city’s destruction by John and Ritchie. Later, they sent beasts to camp out and kill him repeatedly in the newbie village, and it had been a while since John had heard anything about
him.
Ritchie continued, “Boss, he’s in Flame City right now, and he wants to defect to us.”
“Defect?” John frowned. “Could this be some kind of trap set by the Mike White Family?” Ritchie shook his head. “I thought the same at first, so I had him thoroughly investigated.
Turns out Gaia just got out of the hospital.”
John looked puzzled. “What, was he sick?” Ritchie tapped his temple with a finger and explained, “Mental issues. He was so broken by
what we did to him that he had to undergo psychiatric treatment. That Dark Angel guy was in a similar state but has apparently recovered somewhat recently. Gaia’s condition was much worse. He had multiple breakdowns, even talked about quitting the game entirely, and it seems the Mike White Family has given up on him. Somehow, he got wind of the Attribute Fusion process and now wants to join us.”
“Do you think we can trust him?” John remained wary.
“Boss, he’s actually still in the city. Why don’t you meet him yourself?” Ritchie suggested,
leading the way to the City Lord’s Manor. “Besides, I’ve got a hold on him in the real world too. It doesn’t seem like he’s lying. I also figured that if we use Gaia to demonstrate Attribute Fusion, it would be more convincing to others.”
In the City Lord’s Manor’s hall, John finally met Gaia.
Gaia was a shadow of his former self. His eyes were sunken, his hair disheveled, and he looked
dazed as if he had endured some kind of horrific torment. Gone was the confident, imposing
figure he once was.
“Godslayer!?” Gaia exclaimed as soon as he saw John, abruptly standing up from his chair. His face was filled with fear, and his first instinct was to log off and escape the scene.
John had become an inescapable nightmare in his mind.
Gulp!
Gulping nervously, Gaia forced himself to calm down and looked at John. “Godslayer, I swear,
I’m genuinely here to join you. I’m a Dragon Knight with a hidden class. Though I’m only level
30 right now, I have a high potential cap. I can definitely be of use to you.”
John casually took a seat, glancing at Gaia without rushing to respond. Gaia was practically a broken man, but whether his offer to switch sides was sincere or not
didn’t matter much-he could be a useful tool to manipulate the Mike White Family. Ritchie leaned in and whispered, “So, what do you think, boss?”
John nodded slightly, “Go ahead with your plan, but first, get him to at least third tier. He’s
too weak right now; I don’t want him getting assassinated in the real world and embarrassing
us.”
“Got it,” Ritchie replied, then gestured to a nearby soldier.
The soldier understood immediately and escorted the bewildered Gaia out of the room,
closing the door behind them.
Ritchie turned back to John and asked, “What’s the plan?”
John pulled out over a thousand Attribute Fusion Stones and handed them to Ritchie. “These
stones are only for trusted members of the Flame Legion. No one else.”
Ritchie’s eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. “That many? Shouldn’t we give a few to the
higher-ups?”
“No. If they want them, they can come to me personally,” John replied firmly. Attribute Fusion Stones still had significant influence in the real world, and he needed to ensure that
those in power remained under his control.
“Understood, boss,” Ritchie said, carefully stowing away the stones. He wasn’t in any hurry
to distribute them.
“One more thing,” John continued, glancing at the closed door. “Go ahead with the plan to
pin this on the Mike White Family, but this time, have Gaia leak some information about the hidden agenda of the World of Gods.”
“Isn’t that a bit early? It could cause panic in the real world,” Ritchie hesitated. The implications were massive, and revealing such information could lead to widespread chaos.
John was unfazed. “It’s not an official statement; they can believe it or not. After this, start preparing to take action against the Mike White Family in the real world.”
“Got it, I understand,” Ritchie nodded quickly, fully grasping the gravity of the situation.
Just then, a soldier hurried into the room, saluted John, and said, “Commander! There’s someone outside claiming to be a Demon Emperor who wants to see you.”