A few minutes before,

Within the fog surrounding the Alamos town

Red Sun waited within the fog as the yellow crystals danced in his eyes, collecting the data related to the spatial anomalies created by Palkia, the Space Pokemon.

[Done.] The Echo of Ad Infinitum beeped.

Letting out a sigh of relief, as the fog was weirding him out for no reason, Red Sun was about to return when the beep returned.

[Chant the Epithets.]

Then, rows of words began appearing in Red Sun's mind.

The sudden command to chant His Majesty's epithets was already shocking enough, as he had been given specific warnings and instructions to complete the Mission by himself and, hopefully, join the Billion Club.

However, the moment Red Sun found another lore added to the previous ones, a lore that… sounded just too similar to that of Hastur's, the earth slipped from beneath his feet.

For a moment, he even contemplated if… Captain was compromised by the King in Yellow.

Red Sun already knew that Red didn't have a good relationship with the Temple of Hastur because of Meg. So, it wouldn't surprise him the least if one day the Priests of the King in Yellow decided to go all out, coming for all the White Serpent Pirates.

Still, for the Old One to Himself possess the Captain…

Red Sun licked his lips.

He was a Top-level 11th Floor Contestant!

Yet, at this moment, his lips had gone dry, and there was a queasy feeling in his fingers, his blood pressure rising to the extreme.

He contemplated ignoring the Echo's command.

But, if the command had indeed come from the parent-AI, then it would mean nothing short of disobeying the Captain.

The Echo didn't beep again.

"Fuck!" Red Sun cursed and began… chanting the epithets aloud.

…

The Devastating Despair

The Blue-skinned Demon

The Unforgivable Cursed One

The Scion of Death

The Crawling Chaos

The Devourer of Luck

…

A strange hum pervaded the surroundings.

The fog, which had been still before, churned as if massive spatial storms had sprouted out of nowhere.

A hiss entered Red Sun's ears, much clearer than any time before.

And, with that hiss, came a strange calm, slowing down his loudly beating heart.

Red Sun would have welcomed such a calm on any other day, and through any other means. The calmness slowing down his heart, though, was… just too overwhelming. It felt as if he didn't resist it, it would bring his heart to a deathly stillness, killing him on the spot.

Fortunately, before the calm hisses could overwhelm Red Sun's all senses, it ended.

Black, wearing a black jacket, jeans, and shoes, walked out of thin air as the epithets opened a channel directly to Kai's Inventory.

Red Sun stared at the man for a second before suddenly remembering to kneel. "Your Majesty, I…"

Black raised his hand. "There's nothing wrong with you," he said. "It's Baron Alberto."

Red Sun squinted his eyes as he got up, remembering the royally dressed storyline character. He recalled everything about the guy, but, for the life of him, he couldn't find anything odd.

"A storyline character doesn't deviate from the storyline without intervention," Black said, his black eyes flashing left and right. "Because of the strange anomalies caused by Palkia's presence, the dream world is merging with the real world, right? As per the storyline, Baron Alberto must have already turned into his Pokemon, Lickilicky, after Darkrai put the real Pokemon to sleep. It's a small thing, not important to the overall plot. In fact, Baron Alberto himself is inconsequential to the plotline. Still…"

Black looked toward Red Sun.

"Let's find out who else wants you dead," Black said.

Red Sun, with a blank, white face, watched as Captain conversed with someone through the Primordial Tower Trade Market.

He couldn't hear a single word.

But if he wasn't wrong about it, then there was only one organization that would know what was happening in the Primordial Tower.

The Faceless Men of Byagoona!

The question was — would they know of such an inconsequential matter related to an unimportant side character?

Apparently, they did.

Red Sun saw Captain's ever-present smile flicker before his lips flattened completely.

Closing the notification window, the black-haired Captain looked toward him.

"Quasi Cipher Pol has issued Death Marks for all of you," Black said, making Red Sun turn even paler instantly. "The one supposedly coming for you is Agent Zero."

Red Sun took pride in the connections he had made through his Sun and Moon Organization in the Primordial Tower. However, when it came to Cipher Pol, even he found himself lacking any data. He had no idea who this Agent Zero was or what his abilities were.

Surprisingly, the Faceless Men's intelligence-gathering skills weren't just for show.

"You must know Agent Zero by another name," Black said. "12th Floor Contestant — Zeus."

Red Sun's eyes popped out, along with a gasp. "No…"

If it were any other 12th Floor Contestant, then Red Sun could have thought of a way to end him, despite the immense disparity between even the weakest 12th Floor Contestant and a Top-level 11th Floor one.

However, some 12th Floor Contestants could even rival those from the 13th Floor, ignoring the sheer level of qualitative difference between them.

Mang Jian, the Blind Executioner of 100 Zanpakuto School, was one such Contestant known to many.

Zeus was another.

"Hmm…" Black hummed, reading the info. "Prototype's powers. But it's not an Inheritance or Blessing. He ate a Prototype-Prototype Fruit in his Initiation Mission. A Multiverse Interdependency so early in the game… this Zeus is no ordinary Contestant. No wonder Quasi Cipher Pol recruited him."

Red Sun looked at Captain.

He knew other members of the White Serpent Pirates wouldn't say it, but he… he had a son to look after. If the price for Mark's smiles was becoming infamous as a shameless man, then that was a small price to pay indeed.

"Help me," Red Sun said, grinning ear to ear. "Quasi Cipher Pol is cheating, so… we should cheat, too, right?"

Black's lips twitched.

"Not necessarily, but…" the Captain said, his flesh squirming. "I will give you an opportunity. If you cannot take advantage of it, then…"

Red Sun didn't need to hear what came after then.

Defeat was never an option, because he... couldn't afford it.

****************

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