Chapter 835: The Paradise Taking Shape
Tan Zhishan's entourage did not arrive aboard the ostentatious Black Pearl. Defying expectations, they touched down in Burma via a private jet.
The four-man cell presented themselves at the entrance to the Paradise in the standard formation of a Reincarnator squad.
When Hongchen caught sight of Mahakala and Ice, his expression shifted. But when his gaze settled on the middle-aged man who still wore a heavy, fur-trimmed black mantle in this sweltering climate, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Hongchen was counted among the ranks of top-tier Reincarnators these days, but among the four standing before him, with the exception of the woman with straight-cut bangs trailing behind, the other three were apex figures within the top tier.
Ice, who had the least renown of the three, had earned his reputation during the "Capture Mercenary Tao" incident on the Philippine Islands. Even though he had been slashed to near-death by the Silent Life at the time, that defeat only underscored his strength.
After all, plenty of top-tier Reincarnators were present, but few warranted the Silent Life stepping in personally. Surviving that strike was proof enough.
Hongchen knew the narrative was slightly embellished, but Ice was a rare Reincarnator whose build possessed zero blind spots.
Mastery of all three colors of Haki paired with exceptional physical attributes was hard currency that guaranteed survival across virtually any world.
Mahakala, on the other hand, had lost the black flames previously granted by the Final Sun, yet that loss had driven him to devote himself entirely to unearthing his own foundations.
The Buddhist enhancement tree was multifaceted. It integrated immense physical resilience and crushing offense while encompassing esoteric sutras and divine arts—a truly troublesome top-tier adversary.
As for the former Sovereign Monarch standing behind them, Hongchen knew only that Tan Zhishan specialized in jujutsu and curse-craft—the precise archetype he despised facing most.
Recalling his past encounters under the Sage and the Mad King, Hongchen curled his lip. He loathed messy, insidious power sets.
"What brings you here?"
Having been personally assigned by Mercenary Tao as the warden of the Paradise, Hongchen had grown increasingly comfortable in the role.
He had noticed that after becoming firmly associated with Mercenary Tao and the Paradise, information brokers offered him far greater concessions.
Even for intelligence common knowledge to everyone, the moment Hongchen confirmed it, its market value spiked.
Hongchen was recognized as a member of Mercenary Tao's inner circle.
Mercenary Tao was a solitary operator. Reincarnators categorized as his associates were vanishingly rare—currently limited to the former Moon Demon, now known as Eclipse; the leader of Black Water, Li Qingzi; and the intelligence broker Black Butler.
Emboldened by this status, Hongchen's initial wariness toward Tan Zhishan and his crew receded, and his tone relaxed.
"If you're seeking cooperation with His Lordship, you should have reached out through the proper channels beforehand."
Tan Zhishan read Hongchen's posture clearly. While Hongchen sized them up, they were doing the exact same to him.
This martial artist, renowned for his swagger and hand-to-hand combat, had once carried quite a name, only to lose his unyielding edge after being crushed by the Sage.
Looking at him now, his mind was cluttered with trivial calculations.
Tan Zhishan shook his head inwardly. Once a Reincarnator crossed into the Third Step, these subtle mental shifts exerted an outsized influence.
Even high-ceiling willpower-based abilities were tainted by such clutter.
"I didn't come to discuss a partnership," Tan Zhishan said, his voice deep and resonant like stone striking stone, yet distinctly lighter than in the past. "I came... to swear allegiance to Lord Mercenary Tao."
Hongchen froze. "You too?"
After Tan Zhishan lost the Crown of the Supreme, the Final Empire had collapsed. The core lineup of the Final squad had fractured as well.
In the end, only Tan Zhishan, Mahakala, Ice, and the newcomer Mu Li remained; the rest were either dead or had departed.
Seeking to integrate into the Paradise as a direct subordinate unit to Mercenary Tao meant submitting the Final squad, a Fourth Step team.
With the exception of the newcomer Mu Li, the other three were top-tier combatants of formidable strength, fully prepared to be deployed into primary worlds at a moment's notice.
Tan Zhishan had assumed this was an asset Mercenary Tao would require in the days ahead. He hadn't expected Hongchen's reaction, which implied that someone else had already beaten him to the punch with the exact same plan.
Hongchen then had a guide lead Tan Zhishan's group toward the district adjacent to the Black Tower.
Several distinctive cafes and taverns had opened along the streets, selling items sourced directly from mission worlds.
From the cheap rum ubiquitous across the One Piece world to high-tier delicacies from Toriko.
The storefronts traded exclusively in Dimensional Points and Singularity Points, completely discarding the currency systems of the real world.
Tan Zhishan could tell that the ultimate ecosystem of the Paradise would mirror the conventions of Reincarnators, resembling a public hub established directly within the real world!
This was precisely what he had envisioned in the past, yet before he could bring it to fruition, the Final Empire had disintegrated.
As for the catalyst behind that collapse... Tan Zhishan's gaze paused beside a cafe's floor-to-ceiling glass window fronting the avenue. A man in a fedora and sunglasses sat opposite a young man with a ponytail, sipping coffee.
Sensing Tan Zhishan's stare, both turned their heads. Faintly luminous crowns materialized above their brows.
Sovereign Monarchs—both of them!
Ice and Mahakala tensed instinctively. Hongchen casually waved his hand. "Relax, relax!"
"This is the Paradise. Even Sovereign Monarchs have to follow the house rules. Otherwise..."
Hongchen spoke with casual indifference, devoid of the wariness he had displayed at the gates. He had finally realized that he no longer needed to constantly measure himself against these monsters.
He was no longer bound to a life of perpetual mortal terror; he was backed by an unshakeable colossus.
"Otherwise, they die."
Hongchen's gaze drifted naturally toward the Black Tower. Atop the monolithic structure, dense waves of Ki radiated outward.
Even during rare downtime in the real world, that monster remained thoroughly submerged in self-cultivation.
Hongchen couldn't quite fathom it: did Reincarnators truly need to cultivate like that?
Reincarnators needed resources—letting the Space pump diverse powers into their frames, then leveraging time-dilation exchanges in the training grounds to hone those abilities until they responded like second nature.
Ice and Mahakala relaxed slightly. Footsteps approached from behind as a tall woman with stark white hair, Su Enfei, appeared alongside Su Qingqiu, who wore his hair in a ponytail and sported a deep-blue trench coat.
"Well, well. Seems you aren't completely dim-witted after all—reforming your ways to seek out a worthy master just in time?"
Su Enfei's tongue was sharp. Even knowing the man before her was the previous cycle's Sovereign Monarch, the Final Sun, she offered no deference.
Su Qingqiu merely scratched his head, the pure white light of Virtue flickering subtly across the back of his hand.
Tan Zhishan ignored the barb, looking straight through the glass at the two Sovereigns seated inside.
He recognized the man in the fedora and sunglasses: the West District's newly minted mental-domain Sovereign, Doctor Hill.
The man who had pushed him out of his seat among the Sovereign Monarchs.
Terrifying telekinesis paired with bizarre psychic dominance made Hill the quintessential mental-domain combatant, capable of wielding practically any psionic ability with peerless precision.
Tan Zhishan then shifted his gaze to the figure seated across from Hill. Though his aura had evolved, his avatar remained unchanged.
Tan was intimately familiar with that identity.
The previous cycle's mental-domain Sovereign—the undisputed apex of that sphere, the anomalous Reincarnator who had claimed the crown of Eternal Destiny: Shigure.
A man who relied fundamentally on physical martial techniques for combat, yet had qualified for the mental-domain crown and secured an overwhelming victory.
The sheer combat prowess Shigure displayed back then was something even the slacker Kazuto Ando had failed to overcome.
And now, this man had abandoned that ill-fitting mental crown, returned to his native domain of raw power to claim a Sovereign seat, and enlisted under Mercenary Tao?!
In this moment, Tan Zhishan grasped that the Paradise had already grown into a leviathan far outstripping his Final Empire.
Though its roster of Reincarnators was still modest and its administrative framework remained loose...
Anchored by the monstrous strength of Mercenary Tao, legions of powerhouses were converging.
This was already the most formidable force in the East District—an entity capable of flattening any modern nation at will.
Whoosh!
A crew-cut, blonde local Reincarnator named Mai teleported behind Tan Zhishan's group. His breathing was shallow; standing before so many top-tier operatives left him thoroughly rattled.
"Miss Jin says... she says you may proceed to the second floor of the Black Tower to complete the formal application to join the Paradise. That is the highest courtesy she can extend within her administrative clearance."
Mai was terrified his words might provoke a violent reaction from these notorious figures of the East District.
If a brawl erupted here, the destruction of the Paradise would be the least of their worries; his homeland would likely be leveled alongside it.
Every person standing before him was a walking natural disaster!
Tan Zhishan turned around, wearing a calm smile as he nodded politely to Mai.
"Understood. Lead the way, my friend."
No argument, no objection. Whether this was an intentional show of authority or a reflection of Mercenary Tao's complete indifference toward them, it mattered not.
He had made his decision to fall in line under Mercenary Tao.
This was an irresistible tide!
No matter how formidable Yoko of the West District might be, she could hardly surpass this.
"Look at that. Our Monster King has reeled in another batch of prime talent."
Shigure took a sip of his coffee, set the cup down, and produced a green gourd, drinking his own private brew instead.
He tilted his head, watching to see how the Sovereign serving the Queen of the West District would react.
Doctor Hill was undeniably capable; during the ambush back then, it was Hill's opening Mind Blast that had thrown him onto the defensive.
Yet Shigure possessed absolute confidence in his own might. In a clean one-on-one duel, he would never lose to this man.
"As expected of Lord Mercenary Tao."
Hill's voice remained thoroughly measured; he had no intention of sparking a clash with that monster.
The intelligence Fenrir brought back had already been laid bare across the Round Table: the East District's King of Monsters, Mercenary Tao, possessed operational strength fully equal to Yoko's.
He was a terror capable of instantly executing adversaries hovering near the Sovereign threshold in a one-on-two engagement.
Moreover, unlike Yoko, Mercenary Tao was brutally savage. During the prior riots in the East District, rumors claimed he had slaughtered over a hundred Reincarnators within half a day.
Before an entity like that, total compliance was the only sensible choice. Harboring rebellious thoughts would invite ruin.
A master of psychology, Hill had composed his mindset long ago, remaining unswayed by Shigure's provocations.
"Seeing Lord Mercenary Tao of the East District display such supremacy, our Lady can rest assured leaving Miss Ritsu here."
"With Song joining the Paradise, the escalating friction between the East and West Districts should cool down for the time being."
Hill's response was airtight. Shigure lost interest; his opening gambit upon joining the Paradise had ended in a draw.
Standing atop the Black Tower, Li Qingzi's silver eyes returned to normal. She watched Shigure exit through the rear doors, cross his arms in an 'X' toward her, and saunter away.
Given their respective levels of strength, there were countless discreet methods to communicate.
Yet Shigure deliberately chose the gesture most visible to outside observers.
Li Qingzi's expression remained indifferent. Shigure had joined the Paradise with ulterior motives, so she had never demanded absolute loyalty.
Her fleeting intent to bait the West District's mental Sovereign into a clash to eliminate him here quietly faded.
Without needing elaborate justification, Li Qingzi let the thought go.
She had a premonition that if such a battle erupted and reignited the war between the East and West Districts, her "master" would be thoroughly amused.
Swish!
Li Qingzi stepped through the air to the top floor, where several barrier masters were attempting to erect defensive formations.
Though Kaito Shirogane himself was indifferent, Li Qingzi and Jin Yue'an insisted that the Black Tower—as the heart of the Paradise—had to enforce a strict ban on flight and teleportation.
It was an indispensable demonstration of sovereign authority.
Any Reincarnator arriving to seek an audience with Mercenary Tao, regardless of their personal repertoire, had to walk up the stairs step by step.
"I failed. Hill showed zero inclination to engage."
Kaito Shirogane opened his eyes, twin lances of golden Ki carving shallow grooves into the reinforced walls of the Black Tower.
He was still a far cry from Son Goku's realm of killing purely with a glance.
"Doesn't matter either way. If you want him dead, just kill him."
Kaito's tone was casual, yet his Ki locked directly onto Hill inside the cafe below.
Just as he rose to leave, Hill felt a cold jolt travel up his spine, a sharp, searing headache ripping across his scalp.
A visceral sense of mortality, far eclipsing any crisis he had weathered in previous mission worlds.
Mercenary Tao... intends to kill me right here in the Paradise?!