Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 854: A Sting in the Dark

Ethan steadied his expression and took a slow breath, preparing himself as he stepped toward the tailor shop. He wanted to see for himself just how deep this judge-a-book-by-its-cover mentality ran.

[Ding... Incoming Video Call from friend: "NoPaperOnTheBigOne".]

"Huh?" Ethan paused mid-step when he saw the caller ID and accepted the call.

"Whew... Boss, you’re at the tailor shop, just like I thought," NoPaperOnTheBigOne said the moment the connection stabilized, his grin widening as he recognized the background behind Ethan.

"What do you mean?" Ethan frowned, then quickly remembered. As the owner, stepping into one of his own shops would trigger a system alert for the head of operations.

"Don’t worry about that shop, boss. I’m running a sting," the engineer said, clearly pleased with himself.

Ethan paused, the pieces clicking together. So he already knew something was wrong. "A sting?"

"Yeah. Those Reynolds Trading Company snakes are trying to pull a fast one on us. I’m playing dumb, letting them think they’ve got moles planted inside. Once they get comfortable, I’ll reel in the whole network in one sweep. I just don’t know how many of our people they’ve bought off yet." He chuckled, the sound thick with unfiltered scheming.

The look on his face told Ethan everything. If the guy were in trouble, he’d be panicking and begging for backup. Instead, he looked like someone sitting on a mountain of intel.

’He’s grown’, Ethan thought, surprised despite himself.

"Alright," he said with a faint smile and a nod. "It’s in your hands."

During the call, Ethan had already stepped back outside the All-You-Need Tailoring shop. When the call ended, his gaze drifted to the row of four shops lined up beside his own franchises.

Reynolds Trading Company.

Blacksmithing. Alchemy. Engineering. Tailoring.

The same company that had once tried to swindle his engineering schematics.

In his previous life, Reynolds had been the uncontested king of commercial trade. Their methods were textbook corporate villainy: crush smaller players, suffocate competition, and grease palms behind closed doors until resistance disappeared.

In this life, Ethan’s All-You-Need empire, fueled by foreknowledge and ruthless efficiency, had caught up to them and even edged ahead in some areas. Only slightly, though. He had to admit it. The financial backing propping up Reynolds was monstrous.

Still, if NoPaperOnTheBigOne had a plan, Ethan was content to let him execute it. He’d built the shops to generate wealth. Now that money was no longer a concern, it was time to let the kid manage things, to make mistakes, to grow. He couldn’t hold their hands forever.

A strange, heavy feeling welled up in his chest. Lately, it had been happening more often, a quiet sense that one day he might simply... leave them behind. Whenever the thought surfaced, it felt like trying to breathe underwater.

[Ding... Incoming Video Call from friend: "Skyblade".]

The call came almost immediately after he’d hung up with the engineer. Ethan answered without hesitation.

"Ethan! I found something big," Leo said, his excitement practically vibrating through the screen. "A massive score. Let’s go clean it out!"

"Where?" Ethan asked as Leo’s eager face filled his vision.

"No idea," Leo admitted cheerfully. "It’s a hidden quest. Can be done solo or as a duo. The rewards double if you clear it together, so it’s gotta be good. I triggered it while finishing my Ascension quest on the Lost Isle."

Ethan frowned slightly. He was about to ask for the quest name, but the mention of the Lost Isle made him pause. That place was tied to the Brewmaster questline, the Monk starting zone, completely isolated from the standard racial regions. The entire class hadn’t existed in his past life, leaving him with no frame of reference at all.

"Alright," he said after a moment. "Where do we meet?"

As Leo talked, Ethan considered the wider situation. Four days had passed since the initial fortress war frenzy, and by now, guild leaders across the world were likely deep into negotiations and alliance-building. After the chaos in Magnolia Valley, they’d probably attempt a coordinated push, rallying behind a single major guild to seize four advanced fortresses in one region and test the Energy Seal Unlock theory.

He wasn’t worried.

One of the four advanced fortresses under his control sat on the border between the Springhaven and Harmony City regions. If Zachary Steele wanted to unlock Springhaven’s system, he’d have to take that fortress from Ethan personally. If he abandoned Springhaven and aimed for Blackridge instead, the northernmost fortress there was still controlled by the Nocturne Order.

And attacking a player-held fortress was an entirely different beast compared to seizing one owned by the system.

On top of that, the Nocturne Order had Ethan’s quiet, behind-the-scenes support. Even without it, their strength had grown dramatically after absorbing the smaller guilds the Steele Consortium had discarded.

"Perfect," Leo said, snapping Ethan back to the present. "Where are you? I’ll come to you. The quest gave me a duo-teleport stone."

Ethan sent over his coordinates. A moment later, Leo ported in. After a quick resupply, Leo activated the unfamiliar stone.

Light flared.

Then everything went black.

Ethan waited, assuming the teleportation sequence hadn’t fully finished yet. Three seconds passed. Then four. His suspicion spiked when he noticed his skill icons were still active. During teleportation, they were always greyed out.

He reacted instantly, shifting into Panther Form.

The world sharpened as his vision adapted, revealing a monochrome landscape drowned in shadows. Leo stood beside him, head turning frantically as he waved a hand in front of his own face.

"Damn it," Ethan snapped. "I thought you said the Lost Isle. Did you drop us into Carnage Faction territory? Stop flailing around and check your bags. Put on any gear with Dark Vision, now!"

He sidestepped just in time as Leo’s blind groping hand nearly smacked into his backside. Way too close for comfort.

"I never said we were still on the Lost Isle," Leo shot back, already fumbling through his inventory. "I don’t know why we’re here either, but the quest just updated."

As Leo equipped the suggested gear, his pitch-black world gradually shifted into murky gray. Ethan let out a small breath of relief. During his last raid into Carnage territory, he’d hauled back a stash of Dark Vision equipment, making sure everyone in their core group grabbed at least one piece.

Anyone else from the Survivor Faction landing here would have been completely blind.

Dark Vision was standard fare on the Carnage side and absurdly rare among Survivors. Even bind-on-equip drops from this region were scarce, which was why not everyone in Ethan’s network had a full set yet.

"So," Ethan said, scanning the oppressive terrain, "where to now?"

"This way," Leo replied, pointing toward a distant valley that looked like it swallowed light. He broke into a jog, and Ethan followed.

They hadn’t gone far before the terrain tightened around them and the shadows grew heavier. Ethan slowed, then stopped entirely.

He stared ahead, his expression hardening.

"This," he said quietly, "is your quest?"