[Ding, Assassin Seven's darkening progress has reached 30%. Reward: One Stan Country's High-Purity Energy Core.]
At this moment, in the parallel world, just as Seven bid farewell to Meihua Shisan, determined to sever his past affections, a system prompt suddenly sounded in Hattori's mind.
"Such a beauty, why must you be an enemy... If not for that master-disciple relationship with Qing Feng, Seven and Meihua Shisan probably could have had a wonderful romance."
Hattori lay on the sofa, sighing lightly with emotion.
Seven and Meihua Shisan were mutually attracted, but lost solely due to their family backgrounds and identities.
If...
Seven hadn't lost his memory…
If Meihua Shisan hadn't become Qing Feng's disciple…
The story's ending might have been different.
"However, it can be considered eliminating a hidden danger. Although Meihua Shisan certainly has feelings for Seven, no one can guarantee she wouldn't be brainwashed by Qing Feng and become the woman who betrays Seven again."
Hattori played with the energy core in his hand, murmuring softly.
But regardless, the matters in Seven's dimension have basically come to a close.
This high-purity energy core, however, has brought him quite a pleasant surprise.
[High-Purity Energy Core]
[Grade: Low-level Charging Item]
[Effect: Recharges certain technology-based items.]
(Note: The two causality-defying items in the Group Owner's possession can be recharged using this energy core. Maximum total recharges: 100 times.)
For Hattori now, there aren't many valuable things in Seven's dimension.
But an energy core that can recharge items is undoubtedly one of the things Hattori wants most.
'After Seven recovers his memories, I might as well have him take down the Stan Country. We might be able to get quite a few of these high-tech goodies.'
Hattori smiled slightly and shifted his gaze to the TV.
By monitoring the entire island through rocket TVs, he could roughly estimate the tournament's progression.
And today, this Number One Under Heaven Martial Arts Tournament's preliminary round, which has lasted nearly half a month, is about to conclude.
On the 1082 islands, of the final survivors, the last kings…
Hattori can basically confirm that the vast majority are famous King-level contestants.
Of course, there are also a very few ascetics living in seclusion, and direct disciples trained by major families.
Among them, there are three Hattori is most focused on.
The ones he plans to develop into future members of his organization, to become his hands in laying out his plans for the world, are these three individuals.
"Moyan, the Mystic-type Esper from Island #981."
Hattori narrowed his eyes and switched the rocket TV to one of the screens.
Island #981, a relatively large island group, had extremely fierce competition.
Many King-level contestants had their eyes on it, engaging in bloody battles.
Among the crowd, this silent, reticent youth displayed incredibly bizarre superpowers.
On the beach by the island, he picked up a pebble.
Behind him, seven or eight fierce-looking superhumans, wearing gleaming gold badges on their chests.
Eight Gold-level superhumans joining forces… even an ordinary Platinum-level superhuman would have to take them seriously.
However…
Moyan simply gently raised the pebble and threw it into a puddle nearby.
Plop.
Water droplets splashed, tracing a precise arc in the air.
A tiny drop of water landed in one superhuman's eye.
The discomfort of the foreign object made him blink instinctively.
His vision blurred momentarily.
In that very instant, his right leg, running at full speed, tripped over a protruding stone spike on the ground.
Thud.
The superhuman tripped and fell.
As luck would have it, the most vulnerable part of his throat happened to land on another protruding stone spike ahead.
Squelch…
Blood flowed.
The superhuman died without even knowing what happened.
The second after he fell, a terrifying chain reaction unfolded like a nightmare.
Falling, accidental stabbings, out-of-control superpowers, accidental weapon discharges.
Even...
The originally bright, sunny sky also changed slightly due to countless tiny butterfly effects, suddenly stirring up strong winds and roaring thunder.
Raindrops the size of soybeans poured down recklessly onto the earth.
Under the heavy rain, the bloodstains on the ground were washed completely clean.
Moyan quietly watched the scene before him, not saying a word.
The eight Gold-level superhumans who were chasing him were all dead.
Before dying, their eyes were wide open.
They simply couldn't believe they would die in such an ignoble way.
No fight, no battle.
Everything was a coincidence.
Almost no one knew about this fight, the live broadcast cameras didn't notice it at all.
Only Hattori, through the high-definition cameras of the Anywhere TVs, captured this mysterious youth.
'If I'm not mistaken, his superpower should be one of either 'God-tier Luck' or 'Chain Reaction Calculation'.'
'The former, though elusive, is a causality-defying level ability with great potential, while the latter is very suitable for being the organization's helmsman. Moreover, if chain reaction calculation can be pushed to the extreme, even things like prophecy might not be impossible.'
Hattori stroked his chin, speaking with interest.
He must recruit the youth named Moyan.
'Aside from him, the two survivors from Island #651 and Island #1019 also have quite good potential.'
Hattori narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at two other screens.
Island #651, Enhancement-type Esper 'Dong Wanzhong'.
His ability is 'Ten-Thousand Fold Enhancement'.
Strictly speaking, this ability doesn't belong to the traditional enhancement type.
Instead, it has a hint of the mystic type.
Its effect is: Each time he approaches his limit, he can solidify that limit as his new baseline. This can be repeated up to ten thousand times.
What does that mean? Take weightlifting as an example.
An average adult man can usually lift 25-30 kilograms. Nearing his limit, he might struggle to lift 100 kilograms.
Dong Wanzhong's superpower is to turn that 100kg limit into a 25kg baseline.
As long as he works hard enough, his rate of progress is over ten thousand times that of a normal person!
In this tournament, he displayed cheetah-like speed, hawk-like vision, dragonfly-like maneuverability and reaction, and mammoth-like terrifying strength.
'If he could undergo one evolution ray, boosting his upper limit...'
'What level could this Ten-Thousand Fold Enhancement ability grow to? I'm looking forward to it.'
A smile curled on Hattori's lips as he turned his gaze to another screen.
On the other side, Island #1019, Psyche-type Esper, 'Nightmare'.
True to his name, his ability is to fabricate dreams.
It might sound not very impressive, but from Hattori's observation, Nightmare's development of his superpower has reached an astonishing level.
He can instantly trap hundreds of Espers in dreams.
They fight and deceive within the dreams.
He can even slow down the dreamers' thought speed, letting them live a long lifetime within the dream.
A dream spanning ten thousand years.
Such methods of toying with souls, Nightmare handles with extreme proficiency.
Moyan, Dong Wanzhong, Nightmare… these three.
One to manage the organization, one for individual combat power, one for brainwashing and control.
As long as he secures them, Hattori's ambition to manipulate the world from behind the scenes might not be impossible to achieve.