The fall of the Vance Corporation sent shockwaves through the global network. In less than forty-eight hours, the name Ethan Reed transformed from an academy joke into a terrifying legend whispered in the highest corridors of global power.
Instead of hiding his new wealth, Ethan decided to shake the foundations of the world.
Using the twelve thousand resource vaults and the eight hundred billion Credits seized from the Vance empire, Ethan launched a world-spanning event through Julian Cross’s Underground Guild: The Sovereign Black Market Auction.
Julian’s networks blazed to life, streaming a private signal directly to the desk of every billionaire, guild leader, and hidden powerhouse on the planet.
The catalog Ethan provided was short, but it contained items that defied human comprehension—items born from his 10,000x Return System.
Inside the opulent, gold-trimmed grand hall of the Underground Guild headquarters, Julian Cross stood on the main stage, his silver monocle gleaming under the crystal chandeliers.
"Welcome, leaders of the modern world," Julian purred, a predatory smile on his lips. "Today, the Sovereign does not sell common steel or ordinary beast cores. We sell miracles."
Julian clapped his hands, and a floating glass pedestal rose from the stage, holding a single, beautifully sculpted diamond heart pulsing with an absolute-zero blue energy: the Glacial Empress Heart (SSS-Rank).
"Our first item," Julian announced. "An SSS-Rank Mythic Core Evolution Material. It can forcefully evolve any frost-type talent below the SSS-Rank to absolute divinity. Starting bid: One hundred billion Credits!"
The global digital bidding screen exploded into a chaotic frenzy.
150 Billion!
300 Billion!
500 Billion!
The hidden powerhouses of the major continents were practically tearing each other apart for a chance to buy a ticket to godhood.
By the time the auction reached its third item—a set of SSS-Rank Purity Mana Elixirs—the total pool of wealth flowing directly into Ethan’s secure system account had bypassed five trillion Credits.
Sitting in a private VIP balcony overlooking the auction floor, Ethan watched the screens with an expression of complete indifference. Cassandra stood silently behind him, her snow-white hair reflecting the digital light.
[DING! System Notification: Massive asset pool accumulation detected!]
[Your secure cosmic balance has reached: 5.4 Trillion Credits!] This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
[The scale of global wealth investment has triggered your final passive attribute breakthrough!]
[Level Breakthrough: Level 80 -> Level 100 (Max Mortal Cap)!]
[All Core Attributes +5,000! Current Base Attributes: 15,700+]
[Your SSS-Rank Passive Skill ’Eternal Domain’ has evolved into: Void Reality (Allows the host to completely erase any concept, skill, or magic structure within a 5-mile radius)!]
A silent, cosmic tremor rippled through the room. Ethan’s eyes darkened into a bottomless, absolute void.
At Level 100, with over fifteen thousand base attributes, he didn’t just surpass mortal limits—he was a living calamity. Space itself groaned and distorted around his body, struggling to contain his compressed mass.
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, a catastrophic explosion tore through the reinforced tungsten doors of the auction hall.
The crystal chandeliers shattered into millions of sharp fragments, and a wave of oppressive, blinding gold light flooded the room, instantly suppressing the mana of the wealthy bidders on the floor.
Three figures floated through the smoke, descending slowly onto the shattered stage.
They wore heavy, ceremonial white cloaks embroidered with the gold crest of the World Hunter Federation. Floating above their heads were their terrifying, legendary rank indicators: Level 100 Grandmaster Hero.
The hundred thousand digital bidders watching the live stream gasped in absolute terror.
"The Three Saints of the Federation!" Julian Cross whispered, his face turning pale as he instinctively stepped back. These were the ultimate law enforcers of humanity, the old monsters who had conquered the first SSS-Rank apocalyptic rifts ten years ago.
The lead Grandmaster, an elderly man with a long white beard named Saint Alden, stepped forward, his eyes burning with an arrogant, absolute authority. He held a massive staff that radiated the law of heavenly judgment.
"Ethan Reed!" Saint Alden’s voice boomed through the hall like a thunderclap, vibrating with the full weight of a Level 100 powerhouse. "You have systematically disrupted the global balance of power. You have slaughtered tier-one guild elders, extorted a sovereign corporation, and are now illegally distributing forbidden cosmic materials through the black market!"
Alden raised his staff, pointing it directly toward Ethan’s VIP balcony. "By order of the World Hunter Federation High Court, you are issued an ultimate ultimatum: Hand over your illegal mutated cheat system and all hoarded SSS-rank artifacts immediately, and submit to a lifetime soul-seal in the Abyssal Prison. Refuse... and we will erase this entire city from the global map!"
The remaining two Grandmasters unleashed their full, terrifying pressures. A massive, continent-cracking storm of lightning and solar fire materialized over the building, threatening to flatten everything within a five-mile radius.
Ethan slowly stood up from his velvet chair. He walked to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the three legendary heroes as if they were nothing but annoying dust motes.
"An ultimatum?" Ethan murmured, a cold, ruthless smirk breaking across his face.
He didn’t draw his twin blades. He simply extended his hand and clenched his fist, activating his newly evolved cosmic skill: Void Reality.
SNAP.
The absolute silence that followed was terrifying.
In a fraction of a millisecond, the massive storm of lightning and solar fire raging in the sky outside completely vanished, erased from existence as if it had never been written into reality.
The blinding gold light suffocating the room instantly evaporated.
The three Level 100 Grandmasters gasped, their faces turning completely white as they felt their massive, legendary mana pools instantly locked, drained, and completely disconnected from their bodies.
Within Ethan’s five-mile domain, they weren’t heroes anymore. They were ordinary, powerless old men.
"What... what did you do?!" Saint Alden shrieked, his voice losing all its majestic authority, his hands trembling violently as his golden staff became nothing more than a useless piece of wood. "My mana... my skills... they’re completely gone!"
Ethan stepped off the balcony, casually walking down through the empty air as if descending an invisible staircase of shadows, his black trench coat billowing behind him.
"You old fools lived in your high towers for too long," Ethan whispered, his pupils completely dissolving into a terrifying, multi-layered abyss that began to swallow the ambient light of the room. "You thought you controlled the rules of the global awakening. But you forgot one simple truth..."
Ethan stopped right in front of the trembling Saint Alden, his hand gently resting on the old man’s shoulder.
The mere weight of his 15,700+ raw physical strength caused Alden’s collarbones to violently fracture.
"...I don’t play by the rules. I write them."