Antu City, Serpent Hair Society base.
In the break room, Guan Tong stared with a strange expression at the irregular dark brown crystal in his hand.
This was an item he’d pulled from the Glory Grade Survival Chest rewarded after the rule ended.
【Dragonblood Tree Heart】: After consumption, the user will gain some traits of the mutated dragonblood tree, but will also develop a fondness for sunlight and a disgust toward flames.
*I thought the chest would give me a completely random item, but this time, what came out was directly related to that mutated dragonblood tree...*
Guan Tong studied the item’s effect, with no intention of using it.
The reason was simple—it came with the side effect of "disgust toward flames."
He didn’t know the exact degree of this "disgust." Was it just a simple dislike, an unwillingness to see fire? Or would the sight of flames make him uncontrollably furious?
If it was the latter, that would be very troublesome for Guan Tong. Because of the control issue with "Shadow’s" existence, he had been trying his best to keep his emotions in check.
If he used this thing, and seeing flames made him furious, then it would do more harm than good.
After all, quite a few people wielded flame abilities. He’d seen them on the news several times, and among his real-life acquaintances, there was Yang Ran.
...Maybe he’d just feed it to Coal Ball later.
Guan Tong remembered getting an item called 【Demon Monster Flesh】 before, which also had the side effect of mania. By chance, Coal Ball had eaten it, and it had turned the cat into the overlord of the Pinglu canyon.
If he fed it this 【Dragonblood Tree Heart】, what kind of enhancement would that bring?
He’d thought before that if he got the right chance, he could have Coal Ball fight alongside him against enemies, like a summon beast in a game.
But after this rule was issued, Coal Ball had been so scared by the mutated plants that it burrowed into the shelter, showing that its strength still wasn’t enough and needed improvement.
Guan Tong was about to keep thinking when he heard footsteps coming from outside the room. He put the item into the Storage Box first.
Adam pushed the door open and came in, sizing up Guan Tong’s expression.
“So, how are you? Everything okay?”
“How am I what?” Guan Tong said. “I’m fine.”
“Heh... yeah, I figured. The rule’s over, and I’m getting ready to head to Suroma to keep digging for information under the radar and gather intel from all sides. Wemban said their department’s been busy lately, so Bruce and the Senate might be planning something big. I need to keep an eye on it. You coming?”
“I’m not going to Xisiya just yet. I need to prepare more,” Guan Tong said.
His Mind Power was severely depleted right now. He had to first make a big purchase here in Sakura Prayer Country, then do another large acquisition from Black Star in Xisiya.
Revenge was important, but going to confront Bruce, who held all the power in a nation, and the Senate, while lacking Mind Power, was no different from walking straight to one’s death.
“Alright.” Adam didn’t seem surprised by this answer. “Then I’ll go on my own. If I get any important intel, I’ll contact you through the Mind Network.”
“See you later.”
After Adam left, Guan Tong murmured and called up the Terminal Panel.
【Name: Guan Tong】
【Nickname: Shadow】
【Title: Low-Level Civilization Observer】
【Mind Power: 1540 (1540) (0)】
【Ascension Coins: 4,363,700】
【Overall Biometric Rating: Awakened】
Guan Tong looked at the latest panel data and noticed that his Mind Power growth seemed to have sped up again.
It had increased by over a hundred points in a month. This was clearly the effect of some external force.
Could it be...
Guan Tong thought it might be related to "faith power."
After he’d revealed the evidence, and after Suroma had admitted to it, a large number of people would naturally trust and approve of him. This was obvious from the overwhelming support under his post on Ascendant Home.
The belief of these people, when gathered, had accelerated the natural growth rate of Guan Tong’s Mind Power upper limit. This wasn’t surprising; in fact, it could be said to be a natural progression.
But he wasn’t too excited about it either. Having gone through all he had, he understood all too well how fickle people could be.
Today’s trust could turn into suspicion tomorrow. Today’s suspicion could turn into trust again the day after.
Knowing this well, Guan Tong wouldn’t treat this occasional acceleration as the norm. But still, it was a small pleasant surprise.
But...
Looking at the "0" in the reserve Mind Power slot, Guan Tong couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
This time, in order to deal with that mutated dragonblood tree, he had truly drained himself dry.
Whether this was worth it or not, he hadn’t thought about it carefully at the time. He just felt that since he could do it, he should do it. Sometimes, following instinct might be the best choice.
But no matter how brilliant the "fireworks" of that mutated dragonblood tree’s explosion were, now it was just as troublesome to replenish his reserve Mind Power.
If there was something to be thankful for, it was that his Ascension Coins were still quite a lot.
He calculated: "Income from selling Hidden Rules, plus the rule rewards and my previous savings... On top of that, the extra three hundred thousand or so came from the 【Impermanent Tax】 Authority."
This number could be considered both high and low. For Guan Tong, reaching a scale of several hundred thousand in the first month was already very satisfying.
In terms of Mind Power, those three hundred thousand extra Ascension Coins could buy an equivalent amount of three hundred thousand Flowable Mind Power, or be converted into over sixty thousand reserve Mind Power!
Even if the scale of the Impermanent Tax never increased, having an extra sixty thousand reserve Mind Power per month was already like a pie falling from the sky.
If he added the two supply channels of the Serpent Hair Society and the Twin Stars Bar, Guan Tong estimated that even without relying on selling Hidden Rules to make money, he could still acquire over one hundred and fifty thousand reserve Mind Power per month.
This number looked huge, and for other Ascendants, it was huge. But for Guan Tong, it was just okay. After all, his abilities consumed Mind Power at an outrageous rate.
However, this was also the source of his great power.
Looking at his Mind Power upper limit in the panel, which had broken through the fifteen hundred mark, Guan Tong suddenly thought, "Could the new page of the 【Wordless Book】... be ready to write on?"
It wasn’t that he didn’t care about it, but that the requirements for opening each new page were too high now. It took a long time to raise his Mind Power to the needed level.
But compared to before, he was now undoubtedly more motivated to open a new page.
After all, the existence of "Life-Hunting Demon" and "Mysterious Gambler" had let him in on some of the secrets of the 【Wordless Book】.
If this book truly sealed the key to an unknown, powerful Authority, then getting that key, finding it, and unlocking that Authority would surely yield unimaginable rewards.
Life-Hunting Demon’s 【Impermanent Tax】 Authority had already been very beneficial to Guan Tong, and judging by how desperately Life-Hunting Demon had wanted the 【Wordless Book】, it meant that power of that unknown Authority might be a hundred, or even a thousand times greater than the 【Impermanent Tax】.
This was, of course, extremely tempting for Guan Tong.
Besides, more than just pure power, he wanted to uncover deeper cosmic mysteries by exploring it.
For example, that civilization that broke the cosmic cycle, as the Mysterious Gambler had spoken of. Why had they created an Authority only to seal the key inside the 【Wordless Book】? And why hadn’t they kept it themselves, letting the book end up in Guan Tong’s hands instead?
There was another question of sequence that Guan Tong had been pondering.
Had he traveled to Tianshui Star first, and only later obtained the 【Wordless Book】? Or had the book itself caused his travel?
The answer seemed to be the former, because a while after he’d traveled here, the Fire Thief had descended, the Doomsday Rules had begun, and he had obtained this book.
But he always felt... that his very travel itself had a major problem.
“Troupe Leader.”
At that moment, Uenoshi came in from outside. Guan Tong stopped his thoughts and closed the panel.
“The tally is done. Over forty thousand people from Sakura Prayer Country died in the mutated dragonblood tree’s attack.”
“...That’s quite a lot.”
“But the remaining five hundred thousand people in Antu City survived.” Uenoshi looked at Guan Tong seriously. “Most of that credit goes to you, Troupe Leader. You saved them.”
“Not bad. Looks like our client base is about to grow,” Guan Tong joked.
He didn’t want to take any credit. Saving people was, to him, a matter of capability.
If he had the ability, he would save them. And when his ability wasn’t enough, he would retreat. Just like in this operation—when his Mind Power was nearly bottomed out, if Adam hadn’t finished the force field simulation in time, he would have most likely taken the group away instead of fighting to the bitter end.
“The survivors all know it was you, Troupe Leader, who saved them. They saw those shadows from the windows of high-rise buildings... They all said they hope you can replace Sakura Prayer’s negligent officials and rule over them. They believe it would be safer that way.”
“Me?” Guan Tong shook his head. “Uenoshi, you know I’m not interested in ruling over anyone.”
If he had wanted to be a "mountain king," he could have achieved that goal a long time ago. But to him, that was far less appealing than developing his Mind Power, resisting the rules, and exploring the truth.
“I know. So I want the Serpent Hair Society to do it instead,” Uenoshi said. “Two cities, over a million people. An expanded Serpent Hair Society will be more than capable of handling administrative affairs. That way, intermediary fees can be collected in the name of a ‘Transaction Tax,’ which will be more convenient.”
“Do as you see fit. You don’t need to ask for my opinion,” Guan Tong said. “Just like I won’t interfere with Black Star and White Star managing their underground market, I won’t interfere with your design and management of the Serpent Hair Society either.”
The Trace Origin Travel Troupe had always been a loose organization. Aside from those three troupe rules, Guan Tong didn’t want to and couldn’t be bothered to manage anything else. Besides, he didn’t have the time. He had more than enough of his own business to keep him busy.
“Good. I understand.”
“Oh, Uenoshi. Help me purchase a batch of Flowable Mind Power from Sakura Prayer Country. I’ve used up too much and need to replenish it urgently.”
“I’ll get on it right away.” Uenoshi nodded and left the room.
Before closing the door, she glanced at the TV screen in the room, imagining what Guan Tong must have felt watching that press conference last night.
Although she’d been busy with Serpent Hair Society affairs and hadn’t watched it with Guan Tong, she had caught up on the entire thing in her spare time.
The face of Dodge from the Senate reminded her of the former Divine Child, Yuzawa Jun. The latter had also put on that humble facade while being as venomous as a snake inside.
Actually, she hadn’t had the idea of having the Serpent Hair Society replace Sakura Prayer’s officials before. It was this press conference that changed her mind.
Guan Tong’s enemy wasn’t the Senate, wasn’t Bruce. It was the entire high-level clique of Suroma, and the immense national power they could control and drive.
Even with Guan Tong’s strength, facing such enemies was still very dangerous.
She couldn’t accept Guan Tong dying under the siege of his enemies. So she had to do something.
Use the Serpent Hair Society to replace Sakura Prayer’s officials, then turn Sakura Prayer’s Ascendants into a field army.
Uenoshi thought to herself, *This will surely be useful when Guan Tong eventually goes to war against Suroma.*