Tl notes: Sorry guys, I'm tied up with the app and distracted from everything else right now.
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The Death God was most fond of humans like Morena and Gyro.
Unfortunately, compared to Morena, Gyro was ultimately a bit lacking.
So, despite a slight sense of regret, the Death God unhesitatingly paid a small price to inflict the power of "Instant Death" on Gyro from afar.
This man, who shared a similar past and the same goal as Morena, died with such ease.
Morena gazed at Gyro's corpse, her eyes devoid of any ripple of emotion.
She had always valued like-minded individuals.
Yet she never expected Gyro to be shackled by a pointless sense of honor, placing the fulfillment of a promise above the ideal of destroying the world.
In that instant, she felt she might have overestimated Gyro.
But it no longer mattered.
Soon, calamities would run rampant across the six continents, enough to overwhelm the V5 and the International Permit Agencies.
In such a situation, she, Morena, only needed to borrow the Death God's power and turn the population of Meteor City into vessels for spreading death, and she could steadily push the entire world toward ruin.
Morena's gaze shifted from Gyro's body to the Death God floating in mid-air.
"The people here are yours to use. If it's not enough, the Dust People of the Kukan'yu Kingdom can be added to the count."
"Tsk..."
The Death God's lips curled into a grin, a dark light flashing in his eyes.
"It's enough. I don't have the ability to implant the 'Instant Death Plague' into millions of people at once. Some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled... they're of no use anyway."
Morena nodded.
The Death God's Instant Death Plague could embed the power of death into an ordinary person's body.
This power was like a bomb. As soon as the Death God triggered it, the vessel implanted with the power would instantly detonate, sweeping through the surroundings like a plague. All life touched within its range would wither and die in a flash.
Morena and the Death God's plan was precisely to turn the residents of Meteor City into walking seeds of death, to be scattered across the globe.
When the time was right, they would detonate them all at once, wiping out a vast number of humans in an instant.
Such a method, in fact, had a certain Meteor City flair to it.
"If we're going to do it, we must be thorough," Morena murmured to herself.
If the Death God's power could truly reach such a level, she could almost foresee just how many lives the countless seeds of death, once scattered, would claim.
By then, the entire world would descend into utter chaos.
And she would no longer need to hide.
She could use the chaos to maximize the value of her Etude of Love ability, sending her modified humans to directly hunt down other humans and create a legion of max-level Nen users in the shortest time possible.
But this also meant she would be stepping completely into the open.
If she failed, there would be no turning back.
Yet Morena showed no hesitation.
From the moment the Death God revealed to her a part of the truth about the Dark Continent, she knew that the current situation was her only chance.
"Let's begin."
Morena walked out of the house, her gaze sweeping over the low, disorderly rooftops of Meteor City.
The residents of Meteor City, completely unaware of what was to come, were mostly still living in their daily numbness and struggle.
The Death God followed behind Morena, letting out intermittent, sharp, cackling sounds, like metal scraping against decaying bone.
Human lives...
No matter how large a number was placed before it, it seemed insignificant in the face of a plan to destroy the world.
But even the Death God hadn't expected that the Morena he was watching had not shown a single ripple of humanity from beginning to end.
That's right.
The Death God's gaze swept over the scales on Morena's face.
She only looked human.
Strictly speaking, the woman before him could no longer be called human. She was a monster, just like him...
—--
The third day of the Black Whale's voyage.
The sky was clear, without a single cloud for thousands of miles.
The Black Whale's massive hull cut through the waves, moving forward with a heavy, steady momentum, as if any obstacle in its path would be crushed.
Inside the ship, however, a clear class hierarchy existed, like a mobile, miniature kingdom.
The fifth and lowest level was crammed with the largest number of passengers.
More than half of the two hundred thousand people were gathered here.
Due to the excessive numbers, the Kakin Empire did not impose strict control, only stationing a small number of soldiers to guard key passages, leaving this level in a state of chaotic disorder, a mix of all sorts of people.
From the fifth level upwards, the class divisions became increasingly distinct, like a microcosm of Kakin's social structure.
Above the commoners were the mafia forces, then the celebrities and wealthy merchants, and finally, the nobles and members of the royal family.
The boundary between each level was like an invisible wall, separating the crowds into different worlds.
In reality, nothing would change.
The passengers crammed into the lower decks were still fantasizing about turning over a new leaf on the new continent and welcoming a brand-new life.
But in fact, from the moment they boarded this ship, the shackles of class had never loosened.
It was so in the past, it was so now, and it would remain so in the future.
What this ship brought them was not hope, but a voyage to the end of the line, death.
The passengers on the lower decks were oblivious to this, still discussing a bright future in the crowded space thick with the smell of sweat.
And in the cabins above their heads, the Kakin royal Succession Contest had already begun.
There were no aspirations there, only a silent, spreading murderous intent.
Of the fourteen Kakin princes, only one could survive in the end.
So, to fight for that single spot, they had to resort to any means necessary.
Formidable contenders like the First Prince Benjamin, the Second Prince Camilla, and the Fourth Prince Tserriednich had already begun their respective moves after the banquet on the first night.
Blood ties were meaningless at this moment.
They only wanted the others to die quickly, to clear the path to the throne for themselves.
As for the princes' open and covert struggles, the current King, Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, simply remained on the top floor, watching everything with a cold eye, as if the young people fighting were not his children.
Tap, tap...
Footsteps, unconcealed and accompanied by a faint trace of bloodlust, echoed in the luxurious and silent room.
Hui Guo Rou sat on a lounge chair, staring expressionlessly at an oil painting of a natural landscape on the wall, completely ignoring the approaching bloodlust from behind.
The Ninth Prince, Halkenburg, dressed in a sharp suit with a handsome face, walked up behind Hui Guo Rou with a gun, aiming it steadily at the back of his head.
"It's already too late," Hui Guo Rou said calmly, without turning his head.
"No, there's still time." Halkenburg's tone did not waver in the slightest.
Hearing his son's resolute response, Hui Guo Rou tilted his head up slightly and slowly turned his chair, facing the cold muzzle of the gun with his forehead.
"The ceremony of the Succession Contest requires the consent of every prince to begin. That includes you, Halkenburg."
"But you never told us..." A trace of sorrow crossed Halkenburg's brow, and his voice grew heavy. "That this ceremony would make us kill our own siblings."
Hui Guo Rou's gaze rested calmly on the dark barrel of the gun.
"So, this is your answer?" he asked faintly.
Halkenburg's hand holding the gun was as steady as a rock, his eyes becoming resolute.
"Either terminate the Succession Contest immediately, or... die by my gun. Now, please make your choice."
"I refuse." Hui Guo Rou's expression remained unchanged. "This is the Succession Contest for all of you. Once it begins, even I cannot stop it."
Hearing this, a moment of struggle flashed across Halkenburg's face, which was then replaced by complete determination.
He had to stop the Succession Contest, to stop the princes from slaughtering each other.
Bang!
He pulled the trigger.
A flash of fire erupted, and the bullet spun towards Hui Guo Rou's brow.
But in the next instant, as if hitting an invisible wall, the bullet flattened, froze in mid-air, and stopped steadily an inch from Hui Guo Rou's forehead.
It was Hui Guo Rou's Guardian Spirit Beast that had stopped the bullet.
But Halkenburg couldn't see the spirit beast's existence. His pupils contracted sharply as he stared in shock at the bizarre scene.
Hui Guo Rou slowly raised his right hand and pinched the stationary bullet with his fingertips.
"Now you should understand... Once the Succession Contest begins, there is no way to terminate it before a result is decided. I am also part of the ceremony, so I will not die before the Succession Contest ends."
A sense of powerlessness seized Halkenburg.
The supernatural phenomenon happening before his eyes completely crushed the last shred of hope he had of stopping the Succession Contest.
"Since I cannot make you choose..." Halkenburg's temperament was, after all, extraordinary. He quickly calmed down, turned the gun on his own temple, and said in a low, resolute voice, "Then I will choose for myself."
As his voice fell, he pulled the trigger again.
Bang!
This time, the bullet was again intercepted by an invisible force, stopping just before his temple.
Halkenburg turned his head in disbelief, looking at the bullet just inches away.
Hui Guo Rou said faintly, "Are you sober now?"
"What in the world is..." Halkenburg's fingers went limp, and the gun slipped from his palm, hitting the floor with a heavy thud that echoed through the room.
Hui Guo Rou remained expressionless.
"I told you, once the Succession Contest begins, there is no way to terminate it."
Halkenburg stood frozen on the spot.
He finally understood that behind this Succession Contest surged a power beyond his comprehension, beyond all reason.
He couldn't stop the contest, nor could he withdraw from it by dying of his own will.
It seemed there was only one path left for him: to become king.
Halkenburg slowly clenched his fists.
Hui Guo Rou watched him expressionlessly, observing every subtle change in his demeanor.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Hui Guo Rou's expression changed. He shot up from his lounge chair and abruptly looked up at the ceiling.
A roar caused by Nen was coming from the upper level, accompanied by intense energy fluctuations that vibrated the air.
Halkenburg couldn't hear the sound, nor could he sense the energy vibrations.
He only saw his father, who had always been composed, lose his calm for the first time.
At this very moment.
Countless black hands, swirling with an ominous aura, were frantically bursting out from the cruise ship on the top deck's pool, extending towards the sky like a dense mass of writhing eels.
Their posture was as if they were desperately trying to block some kind of invading force.
The materialization of these black hands originated from the power of Kakin's regalia, the Lotus Anchorite.
Its main body was a Buddha that had entered nirvana, sitting cross-legged on its anchorite throne in a state of millennial incorruptibility, silently watching over Kakin's Succession Contests one after another.
With it guarding this place, no one could leave its domain before the Succession Contest ended.
Likewise, no one could break into this domain it protected midway.
At this moment, the countless black hands it had summoned were fiercely clashing with an external force.
And that external force was Morrow, who had come to seize Kakin's regalia.
He hovered in mid-air, the dark red phantom of Terpsichora appearing on his shoulders.
With his eyes slightly lowered, he looked down upon the endless black hands surging up from below.
A sacred treasure, indeed...
From the aura emanating from the black hands, Morrow sensed a powerful energy fluctuation.
Without a doubt, this was a power on the same level as the Sword of Good Omens.
The instant the thought crossed his mind, Morrow stepped on invisible stairs, walking down towards the cruise ship below.
With every step he took, swaths of black hands shattered beneath his feet.
The collision of the two forces continuously stirred up deafening wails of Nen.
Morrow's expression remained unchanged as he took step after step, shattering more and more black hands.
This powerful force, born from a thousand years of Post-Mortem Nen, could easily invade the body of an ordinary Nen user and crush their heart directly.
But in the face of Morrow's even greater power, it couldn't even get close to him, let alone invade his body and crush his heart.
With one roar after another, Morrow quickly broke through the blockade of black hands and landed steadily on the top deck of the cruise ship.
However, no matter how many black hands he shattered, they seemed endless, still rushing towards him one after another.
After all, it was a Postmortem Nen that had persisted since Kakin's rise, nourished by countless sacrifices in one Succession Contest after another. It was not surprising that it possessed an aura of such scale.
Morrow stood on the deck and casually reached out to grab an approaching black hand. With a flicker of his will, he was about to activate the power of Tree Rings to absorb it.
But the black hand, as if it had a life of its own, acted with the wariness of a lizard shedding its tail, proactively severing its connection to the main body.
Interesting.
Seeing this, Morrow was unconcerned. He instead focused his mind, sensing the source of this power.
If the Lotus Anchorite and the Seed Urn were placed together, it would save him a lot of trouble.
Once he found the two regalia, he would absorb them in a swift battle and then leave the Black Whale without delay.
Just as Morrow was concentrating on sensing the Lotus Anchorite's location, all the Nen users in the ship's cabins were startled by the violent roar of Nen.
"What powerful energy fluctuations... What's happening up there?"
"This commotion... what kind of monster could create it?"
"Who in the world is it?!"
The Nen users from the mafia, the International Permit Agencies, the Kakin army, and even the royal family all wore looks of horror.
Such a terrifying clash of Nen was far beyond their scope of understanding.
Among all the Nen users, only Hui Guo Rou knew what was happening.
The Lotus Anchorite was resisting the invasion of some power.
However, the intensity and duration of the confrontation made him realize the strength of the intruder was so great that even the power of the Anchorite could not suppress it.
This fact made Hui Guo Rou lose his usual lofty composure.
Beside him, Halkenburg was seeing his father so flustered for the very first time.
(Translated by yourtl.app)