Chapter 1 Rhein

Rhein.

The port city's night view was extremely beautiful. A gentle breeze brushed the sea, reflecting the myriad lights of the distant shore. Giant freighters were docked at Rhein Pier, one of which was heavily guarded.

This freighter was named "Dwarf." It had departed from Xiyin in Southern Continent and had just arrived in Central Continent today, supposedly carrying out an "important transaction" between the Red Grape Consortium and Xiyin's upper echelons.

Several transcendents were patrolling around "Dwarf."

Rhein was considered a landmark city in the eastern part of Central Continent, a vital port. There were only two "Star Envoys" stationed here, but their strength was incomparable to that of the garrison in a small city like Linz.

They had both reached Fourth Order, and each had a number of divine official transcendents under their command.

"Lord Rose."

Night fell. After anchoring, the deck of the Dwarf rose and fell with the waves. A wavy-haired woman leaning on the railing, gazing at the sea, slowly turned her head. She looked at the transcendent captains patrolling behind her.

The wide, dark red robe draped over her body was blown by the sea breeze, revealing her slender and shapely curves.

"The third round of patrol, still no anomalies found."

The captains spoke in low voices, reporting the results of their inspections.

As they lowered their heads, they looked at each other, with hints of puzzlement in their eyes...

Today, Lord Rose was truly acting abnormally.

The "Dwarf" had arrived in Rhein smoothly, waiting only for the Red Grape Consortium's Star Envoy to come and take over tomorrow. In theory, this was Central Continent territory, protected by the Twin Gods' light of the Source Tower, and ordinary people would not dare to cause trouble.

These patrols had been very peaceful, without the slightest accident.

Why was Lord Rose so nervous?

"Still no anomalies?"

Ye Caroline frowned.

Since last night, her mind had been uneasy... Could it be because of this cargo mission? She had sent people to check it carefully several times.

"Check again."

She lowered her voice and said, "Check every corner of the 'Dwarf'!"

...

...

"This meeting was very successful."

In the banquet hall of the Red Grape Building in Rhein, the music was melodious and the lights flickered. The Huazhi trade caravan, which had departed from Eastern Continent, took off their suits, straightened their shirts, and enjoyed tonight's "celebratory banquet" with their future partners in a refined manner, raising their glasses in cheerful toasts.

This transaction was smoother than ever before.

Upstairs in the banquet hall, Liu Yi was talking with Rhein's second Star Envoy.

"Young Master He Chan."

Liu Yi raised her glass and said, "I didn't expect you to be so young, yet your style of doing things is so decisive."

Sitting opposite her was a young man.

"Team Leader Liu is flattering me. In fact, this negotiation is just a formality. You and I both know that, looking at the five continents, Huazhi is the best partner for this project."

The private room on the second floor was slightly brighter than below, where the members of the trade caravan were celebrating... He Chan wore a rather unique robe, the Star Envoy robe that symbolized his status and strength!

There were a total of eight stars on his robe!

The Source Tower's division of "Star Envoy" strength was very clear. One had to reach at least the "Seventh Layer," that is, the "Third Order" in the transcendent realm, to be qualified to become a Star Envoy with a robe. There were only two ways to increase the number of star patterns on the robe: either increase one's own strength, or make significant contributions to the garrison.

The Source Tower's "Star Envoys" tacitly agreed that two stars counted as one major realm.

In the upper city of Central Continent, there were many quasi-Third Order powerhouses who had already obtained their "Star Envoy Robes" while still on the Sixth Layer. These were "Provisional Star Envoy Robes" distributed by the Source Tower. Because they had good qualifications and would break through to Third Order sooner or later, and because the four realms and cities of Central Continent were short of people, gifting "robes" was considered a kind of recognition of their status.

Once they advanced, they could get a formal robe with at least two stars.

Therefore, a Seventh Layer powerhouse had at least two stars on their sleeves.

Eight stars...

This meant that He Chan in front of her was a genuine Tenth Realm figure, a transcendent powerhouse who had already controlled the Fourth Order domain.

He Chan looked to be only in his twenties.

His age wasn't much older than Little Gu's...

Such a powerful figure couldn't stay in the upper city?

"Team Leader Liu... It's a pity that Madam didn't come in person for this negotiation," He Chan put down his teacup and said regretfully. "In fact, after this matter, there was originally another top-secret project that I wanted to discuss with Huazhi."

"Another top-secret project?"

Liu Yi raised her eyebrows.

He Chan emphasized the word "top-secret," and his implication was very clear.

He felt that her status was too low and she wasn't qualified to know.

"The higher-ups instructed... If Madam came in person, or if that Mr. Cui came to negotiate, I could tell them at this moment..." He Chan said regretfully, "With your current status in Huazhi, I'm afraid it's still a bit lacking."

"Young Master He, although there are some things I can't decide, I still have some knowledge."

Liu Yi said calmly, "What kind of status do Madam and Mr. Cui have? You should also know that the mere cooperation project with Red Grape can't invite them. If you really have better opportunities for cooperation, you might as well reveal a little bit, so I can pass it on to them for a decision."

"Tonight, a batch of 'goods' was sent from Southern Continent." He Chan extended two slender fingers and gently tapped the transparent table.

Liu Yi was puzzled. "Goods? What goods?"

He Chan smiled and said, "The Awakening Act has already been promulgated in Southern Continent... The 'Deep Sea' has sealed off the experimental area. After the program is activated, we all lose permission to enter the sealed area to prevent external interference. The only thing we can do is wait for the 'experimental' results and some 'samples.' I think such an important thing, a great figure like Madam, will definitely not just wait."

"'Goods'... are they people?"

"Yes, and no." He Chan said indifferently, "These are 'invalid samples' that have been cleared out by the 'Deep Sea.' They have lost control and must be transferred for disposal... Such creatures can no longer be called 'people.'"

"How could this be..."

Liu Yi frowned deeply.

As the continent that strongly opposed the Act, Eastern Continent relied entirely on Madam to stand up and change the direction of the Act's promulgation, overcoming all objections.

Because of this, the transcendents of Huazhi didn't like the "Awakening Act" very much. The promulgation of this Act was likely to change the order system that human society had built for so long.

And in the end, the efforts of the people of Eastern Continent successfully moved away the mountain pressing down on their heads.

But... it was just moved away.

The promulgation of the Awakening Act was just changed to another area.

"Storm," the most worshipped god among the Seven Gods, agreed to implement the Awakening Act within his territory. From that day on, the "Deep Sea" conducted a deep "spiritual link" to an entire area, stimulating the awakening of transcendents within the sealed area through "Lion's Awakening Technology"... Over this period of time, no one knew what had happened in the sealed experimental area of Southern Continent.

Liu Yi asked in a deep voice, "Doesn't Deep Sea ensure that 'awakening' is very stable?"

"'Awakening' has never been stable. Even figures like you and me may 'lose control.'" He Chan's tone was smiling, but more indifferent. "Concentrating a large-scale 'awakening' in a sealed area will of course cause many transcendents to lose control... Even if the probability of losing control is small, the overall base is huge, and these 'out-of-control individuals' transported out are enough to pile up into a mountain."

"You transported the 'out-of-control individuals' from Southern Continent to Rhein?"

Liu Yi felt shocked in her heart. She raised her eyes and looked at He Chan... What kind of madmen and what kind of illness did the people who came up with this idea have?

There were actually people in Southern Continent doing this kind of business?!

"They are 'corpses.'"

He Chan smiled and said, "Out-of-control individuals must of course be executed. In this experiment, we control the 'Lion's Awakening Technology.' We are the supreme gods. Once they lose control, how the 'Deep Sea' gave them their abilities will be how they take them away..."

"How did you kill the 'out-of-control individuals'?"

"They all died from extremely strong 'spiritual stimulation.' Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it."

He Chan snapped his fingers, and a blurred image appeared in front of Liu Yi.

"'Dwarf,' this freighter, the bottom of the cabin stores sixty corpses of out-of-control individuals... They are the first batch of samples from the 'Awakening Experiment' and have extremely high research value."

He Chan said slowly, "Imagine, the Awakening Act is still in the experimental stage, but it will be popularized sooner or later... Under the general trend of 'opening up' sooner or later, doesn't Huazhi want to have its own 'stable activation technology'? For combat personnel like you and me, these samples have no value, but for those researchers, each corpse contains a lot of information. Perhaps we can push the 'Lion's Awakening Technology' in our hands further towards perfection."

The Source Tower technology relied upon for this Act's implementation was essentially Huazhi's "Lion's Awakening" from back then.

This was the research that Lu Cheng had done back then!

Huazhi's achievements in this area were well known... So this condition was undoubtedly tempting.

Liu Yi took a deep breath.

She stared at He Chan for a long time and said, "Why give this kind of thing to 'Huazhi'?"

"Benefits, of course benefits."

Without spending even a second to think, He Chan smiled directly and said, "Trading with anyone is still a trade. We only look at who offers the highest price. Of course, there are risks in studying 'out-of-control corpses.' No need for me to remind you, you must also be clear about this."

"... Hmph."

Liu Yi forcibly calmed herself down. She really didn't expect this young Red Grape ruler to look smiling and full of spring breeze, but in reality, he was a cold-blooded devil who ate human flesh without spitting out the bones. He felt no guilt or shame in doing this kind of business.

"I need to ask Madam for instructions."

She stood up and silently left the seat.

He Chan looked at Liu Yi's departing figure, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared, becoming expressionless.

...

...

Fourth patrol.

Currently, it was still calm.

Several transcendent captains, with their subordinates, checked this giant freighter and finally arrived at the bottom cargo hold... According to Star Envoy He Chan's request, they only needed to guard the freighter, and the specific situation of the "bottom layer" did not need to be asked, let alone explored.

However, now Lord Rose's order was to check every corner of the freighter.

"Open it?"

Several captains looked at each other, unable to make up their minds.

The orders of the two Star Envoys seemed to conflict... They only knew that this was a highly "confidential" transaction, but no one knew what the specific transaction was.

"You guys do as you please, but count me out."

One of the captains backed down. He said seriously, "The atmosphere tonight is really a bit scary. Curiosity killed the cat... I'd better check the area I'm responsible for patrolling."

He shone his flashlight and left the bottom layer. Just as the other captains were entangled, heavy footsteps rang out again.

"Old Xia, you're back again?"

One of the captains subconsciously spoke to the figure against the light.

The figure stood on the cast steel steps between the bottom layer and the outside, his whole body shrouded in darkness.

He was silent for a second, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah... I'm back again."

The moment this voice was spoken.

Several captains instantly felt their hair stand on end... Their years of patrolling in Rhein told them that this deep-voiced guy was not "Old Xia" at all!

In the first moment, they started to move, preparing to fight.

However, the figure opposite them reacted even faster. Before they could start, he waved his hand violently, throwing out a bloody head, and then shot out like an arrow!

The head howled like a cannonball, exploding directly in mid-air—

Blood splattered everywhere. Before the combat formation could be set up, it was torn apart. Countless hot "blood fires" rolled and burned at the bottom of the cargo hold. This figure bathed in the scarlet fire, directly tearing apart the bodies of these transcendents.

A high-level transcendent who had murderous intentions was simply crushing low-level ones!

The Fourth Order "domain," when fully unleashed, was simply not something that transcendents on the Deep Sea's Fifth or Sixth Layer could resist.

The bottom cargo hold was burning with hot flames and thick smoke.

The originally silent "Dwarf" was instantly ignited by a scarlet sea of fire...

Before the sealed giant door of the cargo hold, a figure bathed in blood fire stopped. He reached out and pressed on the sealed door, the flames swirling and burning the door to ashes, revealing the fresh corpses immersed in "red silver liquid" inside.

Owl's eyes became complicated.

He slowly turned his head and asked in a low, smiling voice towards the entrance not far away, "Why don't you come closer and see the scene here for yourself?"

In the scarlet sea of fire, a gale howled, opening up a small, spotless area.

Ye Caroline arrived at the cargo hold at the last moment. Looking at the corpses all over the ground and the boundless red fire, her expression was cold.

Anger almost overflowed her chest.

She had already clenched the "Thorned Iron Whip" in her hand.

"No wonder... I've been feeling uneasy."

Ye Caroline said coldly, "So there really are fools who dare to intercept goods in Rhein."

"Fool... Goods..."

Owl stood in the sea of fire. He repeated Ye Caroline's words softly, saying sarcastically, "Lord Rose, why do you think I'm here to intercept goods? I have no interest in these 'things.'"

Ye Caroline frowned.

"The 'goods' I'm really interested in are the beautiful Rhein Rose."

Owl admired the woman's beauty obsessively.

The next moment, he suddenly raised his arms high, and the sea of fire roared and howled. The man spoke in a low voice, each word like a giant drum trembling, carrying anger: "I'm not here to intercept goods. I'm here to destroy everything on this freighter... especially, you!"