’Origin crystals?’ Logan was confused.

He didn’t exactly know what the use of the origin crystals was.

Suddenly, his eyes widened slightly as a thought occurred to him.

Buried casually amongst the millions of words he had typed, he had once written about dungeons being formed from origin crystals obtained from origin beasts.

It was such negligible information that it could easily be overlooked. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

However... that simple detail seemed to be exactly what the two men were talking about?

Logan’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Based on the amount they were discussing, it seemed they were planning to create an S-rank dungeon at the very least.

The Pyramid of Gaza in Egypt, Antarctica, the Bermuda Triangle, and countless other terrifying places had transformed into S-rank origin gates when origin energy entered the world.

And the result was simple.

No human could tread through those locations anymore.

Humans didn’t even dare venture within several kilometers of them.

Thankfully, the creatures within the S-rank origin gates didn’t seem to care about humanity. If not, the human race would have long since ceased to exist.

’In the novel, it ended before this plan could even begin. In fact, there was never any mention of this plan...’ Logan muttered inwardly.

The novel had originally ended because of the invasion of the otherworldly races and the sudden surge of strength the Demon Emperor obtained.

Now... inside the novel itself, he was encountering all sorts of strange things.

The mysterious ancient turtle.

And now this.

The threat of an ungodly SSS-rank origin gate.

For a brief moment, Logan felt it all pressing down on him at once, suffocating in its scale, but he quickly calmed his heart.

He would handle everything one step at a time.

If his guess wasn’t wrong, the reason Astra had assigned this mission was so he could begin understanding the mysteries hidden beneath the surface of the world.

’As expected, no mission Astra gives is ever as simple as it seems.’ Logan muttered to himself as he silently slipped a coin beneath the door.

He studied the two men for a few more seconds, analyzing their posture, their breathing, already preparing the precise movements needed to strike and kill them.

Then he controlled the coin, making it roll to a stop in front of the mercenary vice head.

"Huh? What’s this?"

The mercenary vice head paused mid-conversation as he glanced down at the gold coin rolling to a stop before him.

He picked it up.

It felt strangely warm, and faint runes seemed to be etched across its surface.

Bang!

The gold coin suddenly shattered apart.

His eyes widened.

Before he could react, a sharp blade pierced straight through his head.

Logan had used the SSS-rank sword because he didn’t want to take any chances.

Both men were Origin Experts, a full rank above him.

Although he had displayed terrifying strength previously while fighting the origin beasts, humans were entirely different. More cunning. More unpredictable.

The instant he dealt with the vice head, Logan snapped his gaze toward the governor.

Daggers immediately encircled the man. One wrong movement and he was dead.

Silently, the governor pressed a button beneath the table, attempting to alert security to the situation.

Logan glanced at the man.

He was fat, bald, with a slightly slim build that looked oddly disproportionate. Dark circles sagged beneath his eyes, giving him a sickly appearance.

"Please don’t kill me... I promise to tell you all I know... is it money? I’ll give you a thousand gold coins, no, ten thousand. A hundred thousand!" Bard quickly spoke up, fear bleeding into every word.

Simultaneously, he was desperately trying to buy time for his guards to arrive and deal with Logan.

Logan nodded once before speaking.

"I have a few questions for you."

The man nodded repeatedly.

"I will do my best to answer them, as long as you can promise to spare my life."

"You’re in no condition to make demands." Logan echoed coldly, making the bald man fall silent.

Logan continued, "I overheard your conversation previously. What’s your purpose for bringing in all those origin crystals?"

The moment he heard the question, Bard avoided Logan’s gaze.

His teeth clenched faintly before he immediately replied, "I needed a high amount of energy for a new company I’m working on, hence the reason I need the origin crystals."

Origin crystals could also be used as an energy source and, similarly to cultivation resources, to evolve one’s origin rank.

But Logan didn’t believe him in the slightest.

One of the daggers dropped.

Swoosh!

Bard’s ear flew off, blood spraying across the side of the room.

A scream nearly tore from his throat, but Logan instantly used spatial kinesis to clamp his mouth shut.

Logan leaned closer.

"For every lie you tell me, you’ll lose a part of your body."

Bard stared at Logan with trembling eyes.

Underneath the table, his hand repeatedly pressed the button.

He gave Logan a pleading look, silently begging for forgiveness.

"I’m a merciful guy..." Logan smiled faintly, "so I’ll give you a second chance."

He lingered there for a moment, another dagger slowly drifting toward Bard’s remaining ear.

"Tell me. What’s the purpose of gathering the origin crystals?"

"I..." Bard’s voice shook. "I plan to cultivate an underground army and take over the Origin State."

Anyone in their right mind would believe him after hearing that. It sounded too reasonable.

He stared directly at Logan, eyes trembling ever so slightly as he forced the most honest expression he could muster.

Sigh...

A low exhale escaped Logan’s lips.

Then the dagger fell.

Bard’s mouth was instantly sealed shut again to stop him from screaming.

’How? Why doesn’t he believe me? Could he have some kind of lie-detection technique?’ Bard screamed inwardly, the ringing pain making his vision blur.

Blood streamed from both sides of his head, his face turning paler by the second.

For the first time, genuine fear surfaced in his eyes as he stared at Logan’s chillingly calm gaze beneath the mask.

The pressure was suffocating.

He felt the restraint over his mouth loosen.

"I... I..."

His voice cracked violently.

"It was an order from... the boss..." Tears mixed with mucus as they streamed down Bard’s face. "I promise I wanted nothing to do with this, but I was coerced by the boss to forcefully bring in the origin crystals... something about an origin gate forming..."

He knew Logan lacked the full details, so he could still confuse him, stall for time, maybe even find an opening to strike back.

But Logan couldn’t be bothered with such trifling tricks.

He had already obtained most of the information he needed.

Mostly.

He turned to look at Bard once more.

The fat man instinctively shrank backward, terror rippling across his face.

"Who is this boss you speak of?"

Logan understood one thing clearly.

For someone to know the secrets behind origin gates, they couldn’t possibly be ordinary.

And the fact that this person had already begun making preparations before the novel had even officially started...

That alone was terrifying.

Bard trembled violently, a shadowy figure surfacing in his mind.

"I... he..."

Bard tried to speak.

What Logan failed to notice was the shadow beneath Bard beginning to twist unnaturally.

A short dagger had silently formed within the shadow’s grasp, hidden from sight as it slowly poised itself to strike.