The grand hall of the Underground Guild headquarters remained trapped in a state of absolute, paralyzed shock.
The hundred thousand digital bidders watching the live stream across the globe stared at their screens in total silence.
The Three Saints of the Federation—the legendary Level 100 heroes who had stood as the absolute pinnacle of human power for a decade—were currently groveling on the shattered stage. Their white ceremonial cloaks were covered in dust, their bodies trembling under the weight of a power they could not even comprehend.
Saint Alden clutched his fractured shoulder, his pale face dripping with cold sweat as he looked up at Ethan. "You... you aren’t an Awakener... you are a demon..."
"A demon?" Ethan chuckled softly, the sound echoing with a chilling, multi-layered cosmic resonance. "No, Alden. I am the one who holds your leash."
Ethan didn’t waste his time executing them. Public execution would only turn the World Hunter Federation into a frantic, cornered beast, forcing them to activate their hidden, apocalyptic emergency protocols.
True dominance meant subversion. True power meant owning the pieces on the board without anyone knowing the hand that moved them.
With a thought, Ethan opened his system space. He bypassed the mountains of trillions of Credits and focused on a dusty, low-grade relic he had seized from the deepest rows of the Vance Corporation’s private vaults: the F-Rank Slave’s Iron Collar.
It was a worthless utility item normally used to control low-level dungeon goblins. But in Ethan’s hands, it was raw material for a miracle.
Ethan casually tossed the three rusty iron collars onto the floor in front of the frozen Grandmasters.
[DING! You have sincerely invested 3x ’Slave’s Iron Collar (Trash Grade)’ into the network of your maximum-level domain.]
[Triggering Return Multiplier... Calculating... CONGRATULATIONS! You have triggered the maximum capped 10,000x Multiplier!]
[The low-grade physical constraints have undergone a total conceptual ascension into Soul-Law!]
[You have received: 3x Brand of the Void Sovereign (SSS-Rank Mythic Soul-Control Runes)!]
[The rewards have been automatically deployed onto the targets within your Void Reality domain!] New chapters come out on g.com first.
OMMMM—
The three rusty iron collars instantly dissolved into a thick, pitch-black liquid mist. Before the three Grandmasters could even scream, the dark mist shot forward, boring directly into their foreheads.
"ARGH!!! AAAAH!"
Saint Alden and the other two heroes shrieked in agony as the mythic SSS-Rank runes burned through their mental defenses like hot needles through wax.
Their legendary Level 100 mana pools, their souls, their memories, and their very wills were violently rewritten and bound to the absolute authority of Ethan’s Void Sovereign talent.
Within five seconds, the screaming stopped.
The dark gold light of the runes faded beneath their skin, leaving no physical trace. The three Grandmasters slowly rose from the floor, their eyes blank for a split second before snapping back into a sharp, perfect clarity.
Their legendary Level 100 mana rushed back into their bodies, completely restored.
But their posture had completely changed. The arrogant, world-ending pride they had walked in with was gone.
Simultaneously, the Three Saints of the Federation dropped to both knees, bowing their heads so low they touched the polished marble floor before Ethan’s boots.
"We greet our Supreme Lord," the three Grandmasters chanted in a perfect, chilling unison. "Your will is our absolute command."
The digital broadcast viewers watching across the continents went completely, pathologically insane. The high court judges of the Federation, watching from their central headquarters across the ocean, dropped their glasses, their faces turning a deathly, horrifying white.
The ultimate law enforcers of humanity had just been converted into loyal dogs on a live global stream. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
"Alden," Ethan commanded, his voice smooth and cold. "Stand up."
The old man rose instantly, his face a mask of perfect, submissive deference.
"Return to the Central Federation Headquarters," Ethan said, turning his back on them as his black trench coat billowed in the quiet hall. "Tell the high court that the situation in this city has been ’stabilized.’ Tell them Ethan Reed is a loyal, law-abiding citizen who successfully defended the province against a rogue beast surge."
A dark, mocking smirk played on Ethan’s lips. "And while you’re there... begin systematically transferring the Federation’s internal dungeon registries, border codes, and military command structures directly to Julian Cross’s database."
"By your supreme command, My Lord," Saint Alden replied, his voice completely natural, carrying no trace of the soul-shackles binding his mind.
The space behind the three Grandmasters rippled with gold light as they opened a spatial portal, stepping through it to return to the heart of the global government.
They were no longer the protectors of humanity. They were Ethan’s premier trojan horses, sent to hollow out the world’s greatest superpower from the inside out.
Julian Cross stepped forward from the back of the stage, his hands shaking with an intense, fanatical adrenaline as he looked at his phone screen.
The internal data files of the World Hunter Federation were already beginning to leak into his encrypted servers.
"Lord Reed..." Julian whispered, bowing until his spine was horizontal. "The Federation... the entire global government... they have no idea that they are already sleeping in your shadow."
Ethan walked back toward his VIP balcony, Cassandra moving flawlessly half a step behind him. He looked out over the city skyline through the shattered glass doors.
The academy had fallen. The corporation was dead. The global federation was already on its knees.
The 10,000x Return System had broken the world. Now, it was time to rebuild it.