Chapter 113: [113] : Extorting the Execution, The Annihilation Protocol

Declan stood in the middle of the ruined cyberpunk lobby. He held the glowing golden data drive in his right hand.

Ryker was still curled up on the floor near the elevator, shivering and completely ignoring the world around him. The hundred pitch-black shadow clones stood in perfect military formation, guarding the perimeter.

Declan focused entirely on the item.

"System," he commanded. "Enhance the Emergency Backup Code. Push it to plus twenty. Burn the points."

He did not care about the cost. He had systematically drained the entire Praetorian Guard of 1.5 million Origin Points earlier that day. He had millions more sitting in his Warlord treasury from the Abyssal Tide event.

He was richer than the game’s actual developers.

The familiar, blinding white light erupted from his hand. The system chimes hammered rapidly inside his head, sounding like a frantic alarm bell.

[System Enhancement Initiated.]

↳ Target: Emergency Backup Code (Mythic Tier)

↳ Cost per level: 100,000 Origin Points.

A massive chunk of his digital wealth vanished in an instant. Two million Origin Points were gone in a single breath.

[Backup Code +1... +5... +10...]

The standard red warning boxes flooded his vision. The game engine was desperately trying to stop him.

Enhancing a Cash-Shop item was mathematically prohibited by the core ruleset. The item was hard-coded to reject external data.

[CRITICAL ERROR!]

[Target item is a premium locked asset. Modification denied.]

[Immediate item shatter imminent! Severe soul backlash guaranteed!]

Declan gritted his teeth. A sharp, burning headache spiked right behind his eyes. The system was fighting back hard.

"Override," Declan growled.

His SSS-Rank talent, Boundless Enhancement, surged forward. It did not negotiate with the game’s safety protocols.

It acted like a digital sledgehammer, violently crushing the error codes and forcing the enhancement through the firewall.

[Talent: Boundless Enhancement activated. Cap removed. Safety protocols bypassed.]

[Backup Code +15... +18... +20.]

The headache vanished instantly. The blinding white light shifted, turning into a deep, vibrating purple energy that completely swallowed the golden drive.

The physical shape of the item warped in his hand. The small USB stick melted down and reformed. It turned into a sleek, pitch-black coin with a glowing red infinity symbol carved into the center.

[Item has reached +20.]

[Triggering Conceptual Mutation...]

Declan smiled. He loved that prompt.

The system text in his vision flashed brightly, updating the item’s parameters.

[Item Mutated: Conceptual Save State]

↳ Tier: Divine Anomaly

↳ Type: Passive Inventory Asset

↳ Functionality: This item no longer needs to be manually consumed. While held in the inventory, it grants the user 3 automatic and immediate resurrections upon taking fatal damage. Nullifies all death penalties, level drops, and loot drops. Charges recharge at a rate of 1 per 30 days.

Declan let out a low whistle.

He had just turned a one-time use respawn ticket into a permanent immortality engine!

Three extra lives that automatically triggered and recharged over time. He was already a walking tank with absurd Abyssal stats and a regenerating blood shield.

Now, even if someone managed to pull off a miracle and kill him, he would just instantly pop back up and delete them.

"I love this game," Declan said out loud.

He tossed the dark coin into his digital storage. He felt an overwhelming sense of security settle into his avatar’s code.

He turned his attention back to the elevator. Ryker was still crying on the floor.

"Get up," Declan ordered, his voice carrying that heavy, unnatural Warlord resonance.

Ryker flinched. He scrambled to his feet, keeping his hands pressed against the wall. He did not dare look Declan in the eyes.

"Take me to your boss," Declan said smoothly. "I want to talk to Kato."

Ryker nodded frantically. He practically punched the elevator call button. The heavy steel doors slid open.

Declan stepped inside, and Ryker cautiously followed, pressing himself into the farthest corner of the metal box.

The elevator shot upward at a sickening speed. They were heading for the penthouse suite of the Neon Syndicate skyscraper.

A few moments later, the doors chimed and slid open.

Declan stepped out into a massive, luxurious executive office. The walls were made of floor-to-ceiling glass, offering a panoramic view of Sector 9’s towering cyberpunk cityscape.

A massive mahogany desk sat in the center of the room. Sitting behind that desk was Kato.

The Guild Master of the Neon Syndicate wore a flashy neon-green leather jacket and had bright pink hair. He had a glowing plasma pistol resting on the desk right next to his hand.

Kato looked up. He expected to see Ryker walking in to report a successful execution.

Instead, he saw a guy in a pitch-black trench coat with swirling voids of dark energy for eyes.

Kato froze. His arrogant smirk completely vanished.

"Ryker," Kato snapped, his voice tight with panic. "What is this? Why is he alive?"

"He... he killed the squad," Ryker stammered from the elevator, his voice trembling. "He killed them all in six seconds. I gave him the backup code. I had to!"

Kato’s jaw dropped. He looked at Declan. He looked at the Warlord who had just strolled past his absolute best security measures like he owned the building.

Kato was a politician at heart. He knew when a fight was lost before it started. He immediately shifted his strategy.

He took his hand off the plasma pistol and forced a wide, fake smile onto his face.

"Player V!" Kato laughed, standing up and spreading his arms wide. "Welcome to Sector 9! It seems there has been a massive misunderstanding between our guilds."

Declan did not say a word. He walked slowly across the plush carpet, stopping right in front of the desk.

"My men in the canyon were acting on outdated orders," Kato lied smoothly. "We did not know you had claimed Sector 7. We respect your authority."

"Look, we can make an alliance. My guild has forty thousand members. You have the Iron Bastion. We can pool our resources and dominate the global server together."

Kato reached into his inventory and pulled out a heavy bag of digital coins. He tossed it onto the desk.

"A peace offering," Kato smiled. "Ten thousand Origin Points. Let us call it water under the bridge."

Declan looked at the bag of coins. Then he looked at Kato.

"You killed one of my miners," Declan stated flatly. "You stole a cart of Void-Ore."

"I can refund the ore!" Kato said quickly.

"I do not care about the ore," Declan replied. He leaned forward, placing his hands flat on the mahogany desk.

"I care about the principle. You walked into my territory and shot my employee. That is bad for business. It makes me look weak."

Declan tapped his finger against the wood. "I do not do alliances with people who shoot my workers. I do hostile takeovers."

Declan pulled up his administrative interface. As the owner of the Iron Bastion and an Abyssal Sovereign, he had access to server-wide combat mechanics that normal players could not even see.

He navigated to the Guild Warfare tab.

"System," Declan commanded out loud. "Initiate the Sector Annihilation Protocol. Target: Neon Syndicate."

Kato’s face turned completely white.

"Wait! No!" Kato screamed.

A massive, glaring red system prompt appeared in the air between them. It was visible to both players.

[Sector Annihilation Protocol Initiated.]

↳ Challenger: Player V (Eclipse Legion)

↳ Target: Neon Syndicate

↳ Type: Server-Mandated Deathmatch. No logouts. The losing faction will be permanently deleted from the database.

"You are insane!" Kato yelled, grabbing his plasma pistol and aiming it directly at Declan’s face. "You want to fight forty thousand players?! You will be wiped out!"

Declan’s eyes narrowed. The air in the office instantly distorted.

He reached his right hand out. The heavy, dark matter shaft of the +40 Eclipse Severance halberd materialized directly into his grip.

The razor-thin blade, holding a spinning localized black hole, hummed with terrifying, world-ending power.

Declan raised the massive weapon and rested it casually on his shoulder.

"Accept the match," Declan said coldly. "Or I delete you right now."