Kaito's brows furrowed as he reviewed the steady rise in Earth's spiritual index.
One month. That was all the time he had.
He needed to implement every countermeasure, every development plan, before the world changed completely.
There was no room for error now.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
"Kia," he called out.
"Yes, Young Master?"
"Can you search for someone using their game ID? Try the ID NightShade Vale."
"Searching…"
As her systems initiated the probe, Kaito leaned back, eyes narrowing.
There's no way to him in Glory.
He remembered well from his previous life — even the Earth Federation, with all its power and resources, had failed to access the inner data of Glory. The game's back-end was built using alien architecture beyond their understanding. The Federation had only managed to skim the surface, enough to construct a virtual world… but not enough to control it.
Player data in Glory was truly secure.
But the same couldn't be said for earlier games.
"Match found," Kia's voice chimed again. "Multiple confirmed associations for the ID 'NightShade Vale' across previous game servers. Most prominently active in:
Phantom Blades: Eternal Arena
Darklight Requiem Online
Bloodshade Protocol"
Kaito's eyes lit up.
"I've identified NightShade Vale's real-world alias as Damon Kray. He operated under various pseudonyms but was consistently listed on private blacklists compiled by security firms, law enforcement task forces, and even several guild-run anti-griefing networks."
"His public gaming profile shows exceptional performance in assassination-style PvP roles. He was known for:
Only accepting assassination targets that interested him personally
Refusing requests that bored him, regardless of payment
Personally killing clients who tried to coerce or threaten him
Performing full-wipe hunts, forcing targets to delete their characters
Completing every contract he did accept without failure"
Kia paused for a moment before continuing.
"Additionally, several confidential records—flagged in darknet intelligence hubs and archived by security crawlers—point to his involvement with real-world underworld networks. These suggest Damon Kray operated not only as a digital assassin… but also as a real-life hitman with ties to several clandestine circles inside the Federation."
Kaito's gaze sharpened.
So… he was an assassin in both the virtual world and the real one.
Kaito sat in silence for a few seconds, letting the full weight of the revelation sink in.
Damon Kray...
The man's notoriety was well-earned. Just from the reports Kia had retrieved, it would've been more than enough to get him arrested — or worse.
If Kaito wanted to, he could easily forward the compiled intel to a nearby enforcement division. Damon Kray's location wasn't difficult to track now that Kia had linked him to physical-world coordinates. A strike team could be deployed within minutes. One quiet knock on the door, and that would be the end of NightShade Vale.
Or even simpler — Kaito could call on the Ren family's guards and have Damon erased from existence. After all, the man had once taken up a contract on Kaito's life.
But he didn't.
Not because he couldn't.
But because now… wasn't the time.
The Ren family had just stepped out of the shadows with their decisive strike on the Velthorn Family. They'd claimed all of Velthorn's assets, swept through their warehouses, and buried their core leadership.
It was a powerful move — but one that came with consequences.
Now, they had to keep a low profile.
They were no longer just a weak, nameless household on the fringe. They had stepped into a territory long treated as a hunting ground by one of the Federation's silver grade powers.
This land — and everything in it — had always been hunted by the Silver Grade Kaelas Family.
Even in his past life, the name Kaelas had meant one thing: domination through patience. The Kaelas Family never moved rashly. They waited, they watched, and when the time was right, they struck with overwhelming force.
The Kaelas Family, being a recognized Silver Grade household, held autonomous control over Silvercrest City for more than 10 years now — a right officially granted by the Earth Federation. And they weren't alone. Any organization that reached the level of Silver Grade was entitled to govern a city-level domain, with full authority over its infrastructure, administration, and governance.
Thus, in Silvercrest City, the Kaelas family reigned supreme.
Though the Federation had symbolically stationed a governor to maintain oversight, it was nothing more than a formality — a political ornament meant to show that Federation law still held weight. In truth, the Kaelas family controlled everything. Taxation, law enforcement, public security, and even the military forces stationed near Silvercrest were all under their direct command.
The city functioned under their gaze, and nothing happened within its borders that escaped their notice. Every building, every street, every data signal — all were under constant surveillance by the Kaelas family's systems.
This was precisely why, during the assassination of the Velthorn core members, Kaito had ordered Kia to temporarily jam the Federation's satellite feed. He couldn't risk leaving any trace behind — not when the Kaelas family could access that surveillance data on a whim. The Velthorn Family had been wiped out in a single night, and no one knew who had done it. That mystery was only possible because Kaito had accounted for the all-seeing eyes of the Kaelas family.
In addition to that, the Kaelas family had even launched their own constellation of private satellites, independent of the Federation, to monitor their city and protect their corporate interests. No matter how many small-scale families — Bronze-ranked or unranked — resided within Silvercrest, the final authority in the city was, and would always be, the Kaelas Family.
.....
Despite their recent gains, Kaito knew it was in the Ren family's best interest to remain low-key for the time being.
He hadn't opened any major businesses in Silvercrest just yet — not because of a lack of ambition, but because of caution. The Kaelas family, the ruling power of Silvercrest, still loomed large.
They were greedy and had sharp political instincts. If the Kaelas family caught even a whiff of something unusual—such as a previously unranked family suddenly displaying strength beyond its means—they might become dangerously curious.
Kaito had already weighed the risks. If he moved too early, the Kaelas would act. And right now, the Ren family's strength wasn't enough to defend against a frontal assault by a Silver Grade power. Not yet. That's why even the plans for the Agricultural Research Institute, a key part of Kaito's long-term vision, had been hidden. He would only introduce it after his family had the strength to stand toe-to-toe with the Kaelas — which he estimated now would take at least another month.
Even more telling was the fact that Kaito hadn't applied for the Ren family's Bronze Rank yet—despite being fully eligible. With both his grandfather and grandmother recently breaking through to Rank 3, their household had already fulfilled the minimum requirement to apply for a Bronze Grade designation. Yet, he held back. Why?
Because he was accumulating.
Kaito had a different plan in mind. If he could successfully convince the secluded ancestral branch of the Ren family to rejoin them, the combined strength would be staggering. They wouldn't just qualify for Bronze rank—they would rival the power of a Silver Grade household, at least in martial strength.
Granted, they still lacked the other conditions required for a true Silver Grade classification — such as influence, territory, and registered businesses. But in terms of raw power, they would be on equal footing.
For Kaito, above all else, there was one ancestral teaching he held close to heart—an unshakable principle passed down through generations
"True strength does not need to roar. It waits — and strikes only when the time is right."
So he waited.
Also, He didn't want to be the first family to apply for a Bronze Rank after the spiritual index began rising. That would make them a target of speculation. Especially now that the Library Ruins had been excavated. If someone suspected that the Ren family had used some hidden ruin or technique to gain their power, it could invite their scrutiny—or worse, the envy of stronger families.
Instead, Kaito planned to wait until four or five other families had already made their move and applied for Bronze Rank, riding the wave of collective upgrades.