On the ground, the Black-robed Man vanished again. Jason came to an abrupt halt in mid-air, his gaze flickering.

This time, he could no longer sense the Black-robed Man’s presence.

Fluctuations in his life’s magnetic field, Essence Fluctuations, mental fluctuations, gravitational fluctuations... all of them had vanished.

’He got away.’

’A long-range Displacement Skill? I wonder if it came from a wish made to the Wish Box, or if it’s one of his own Extraordinary Abilities. It could also be an Alchemy Tool...’

In that short time, Jason’s lungs had already regenerated. He fished a cigar from his uniform pocket, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled.

His heart sank slightly.

The Black-robed Man was undoubtedly a Tier Four Ascender. Otherwise, he never could have withstood the Tier Five Power he’d gained by making a wish to the Wish Box.

When the Black-robed Man attacked the frontline cities before, he never displayed Tier Four Power. It was now clear he’d been hiding his true strength, trying to appear weak so the government would lower its guard. This would allow him to strike several more important cities and maximize the damage.

Now that the Black-robed Man had revealed his Tier Four strength, he would become the government’s number one enemy, and all sorts of problems would follow. On the other hand, he no longer needed to hold back and could go all out destroying the frontline cities.

Jason looked back. A massive, scorched crater more than ten kilometers in diameter now scarred the Eastern Rift Valley, thick with smoke. Not far from it, a towering mountain peak had materialized out of thin air. The battle had permanently altered parts of the valley’s landscape.

’If a battle of this magnitude were to happen in a city...’

Jason took a deep drag on his cigar. He didn’t need to be a genius to imagine what that would look like.

And the North Carolina Government was completely helpless.

The only thing in the world that could instantly reach any location was called the "Any Door," and it was contained and controlled by the Star Association. But now that North Carolina had closed its borders and refused the Star Association’s help, it was impossible for them to regain access. Not even a Crowned King could reach a city in crisis in time.

One could predict that the frontline cities were now facing the threat of brutal attacks.

·

「Rusted Iron City. City Hall. The Safe House.」

After a meeting, the Poisonous Sore Gang had devised a new plan. They would dispatch an advance team to Red River City to meet with their contact and scout out the situation. If conditions were right, they would develop it into their next base of operations.

Red River City had an arms factory—a resource the Poisonous Sore Gang and the Salvation Army desperately needed.

Zhou Chen had no objections. He wasn’t skilled in command or strategy; important matters like this were best left to the experts. If the Plague Doctor said to attack, then attack they would.

Of course, this didn’t mean declaring open war on Red River City. Since Zhou Chen had joined, the Poisonous Sore Gang had changed its strategy. Instead of overt violence, their new plan was to have Zhou Chen secretly brainwash key individuals one after another. This approach was far more covert, eliminated the risk of exposure, and ensured the loyalty of those they "recruited," offering far greater advantages.

Zhou Chen didn’t mind; he even requested to join the advance team.

’Recruitment’ of new ’employees’ in Rusted Iron City was nearly complete; it was time to expand to a new market. Besides, he had already "brought to justice" most of the Traders who dealt with the "Merchant" here. Once he finished harvesting the few he was letting ’graze’, there would be no more Gold Coins to collect in this city.

’If I want to do High-Tier business with the "Merchant," this handful of Gold Coins won’t be nearly enough. I’ll have to go to other cities to collect more.’

"Everyone on the advance team, get a good night’s rest. Be ready to depart at nine tomorrow morning," the Plague Doctor said.

·

「Late that night, in the dead of silence.」

A sudden, urgent knock sounded at the door to his room. "Siegfried" opened it to find Ted.

"Siegfried, there’s big news! The Plague Doctor sent me to get you."

By the time the two of them hurried to the safe house, Zhou Chen saw that all the core members of the Poisonous Sore Gang were already there. ’What in the world is going on?’ he wondered.

"I just received a message from our informant," the Plague Doctor began, pausing for effect. His tone turned grim. "Fifteen minutes ago, the Black-robed Man wiped out City 26."

Shock, bewilderment, surprise, disbelief... these expressions flashed across everyone’s faces. Even Zhou Chen was stunned. ’The Black-robed Man is that ruthless? He wiped out an entire city? One of North Carolina’s frontline cities?’

"That can’t be right..." Catherine said, full of doubt. "The Black-robed Man wouldn’t just wipe out an entire city, would he?"

"Yeah, exactly," Ah Man and a few others chimed in, agreeing that the Black-robed Man wouldn’t do something that would draw such universal condemnation.

"There are already detailed reports on the international news and the dark web. This afternoon, satellites captured a battle between High-level Ascenders in the Eastern Rift Valley. During the fight, there was a burst of Energy from a Tier Five Ascender. It only lasted an instant, but it caused devastating damage to a radius of more than ten kilometers... As you all should know, that was the Black-robed Man fighting Jason."

The Plague Doctor continued in a grave tone, "The Black-robed Man has revealed his true strength, so he has no more reason to hide. He’s started going all-out against the frontline cities. But he’s too extreme. This attack resulted in tens of thousands of casualties. City 26 is now a ruin, and it won’t be possible to rebuild for over a decade."

’This guy is terrifying, killing tens of thousands of people just like that. Should I tell the Plague Doctor I don’t want to meet him again?’ Zhou Chen thought. ’It’s probably best for someone with ulterior motives like me to avoid the Black-robed Man entirely.’

’It’s a good thing the Star Association has no reach in North Carolina right now. Otherwise, a butcher like him would’ve been taken down immediately.’

The Plague Doctor sighed. "The Black-robed Man’s actions have certainly drawn the North Carolina Government’s attention away, but this will also make them focus more heavily on the Rebel Army. We have to move fast. We must take Red River City and its arms factory before the government crackdown begins!

Therefore, tomorrow’s operation is moved up three hours. We leave at six a.m.

Siegfried..."

"I know."

Before the Plague Doctor could even finish, Zhou Chen sighed in resignation and waved a hand. "I’ll go collect the Gold Coins from those people."

Over the next two hours, Zhou Chen rushed all over Rusted Iron City, busily collecting all the Gold Coins from the ’free-range’ Traders he’d been cultivating.

’Two hundred fifty-seven this time. Added to what I had before, that’s a total of six hundred and four Gold Coins...’

Zhou Chen stared at the gleaming gold coins in his pouch, lost in thought. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

’If I make a Prayer to create some identical fake Gold Coins, I wonder if the "Merchant" would accept them. And if I add a little something extra to them, maybe I could even trip him up when he’s attempting his Advancement...’

He immediately asked the Prayer System for the price of such a Prayer.

[One fake Gold Coin requires 1,000 Wish Value.]

’So expensive?’

Zhou Chen was deeply disappointed. After a moment’s thought, he tried a different angle.

’How much Wish Value would it cost to add some "material" to the existing Gold Coins—the kind of "material" the Merchant won’t be able to detect?’

[One spiked Gold Coin requires 500 Wish Value.]

’Five hundred for one coin, five thousand for ten... I can’t afford to make very many of them. Just as I thought, anything involving a High-level Ascender is expensive.’ Zhou Chen felt resigned.

Besides, even if he managed to create twenty or thirty spiked Gold Coins, there was no guarantee they would have any effect on the Merchant.

’Still... it’s better than nothing!’

’Even if it just messes with him a little, I’ll have accomplished my goal.’

"I wish for ten spiked Gold Coins," Zhou Chen made his Prayer.

[Wish Value -5,000]

Instantly, a massive number of Wish Star Seeds burned with brilliant light, transforming into a radiance that flowed into ten random Gold Coins in his pouch. Zhou Chen immediately felt a connection form between himself and those ten coins.

It felt as if he were controlling ten bombs that he could detonate with a single thought.

Zhou Chen shook the pouch, mixing the spiked Gold Coins with the regular ones. He felt a bit anxious, to be honest. ’Could a spiked Gold Coin created with only 500 Wish Value really escape detection by a Tier Four Ascender?’

’In any case, the one making the trade won’t be me; it’ll be the Black-robed Man. Even if the coins are discovered, he can probably win the fight. And if he can’t win, he should at least be able to escape...’ Zhou Chen reassured himself with this line of thought.