Chapter 1427: 1427 Adjudicator Game: Game Invasion 32

Rita suddenly remembered one of Nivalis’s skills from a very long time ago.

[Dragon Thief]: It’s you! The beloved little dragon! As the only dragon hatchling born in nearly three thousand years, you have received the blessings of both the Lord of Time and the Ghost Sang Cup Wanderer. You may steal time itself and turn back its flow...

"The Lord of Time and the Ghost Sang Cup Wanderer..."

Could the legendary Prisoner have been one of them?

The thought was unexpectedly interesting.

For some reason, it reminded her of herself and the undead Wildfire.

Rita’s steps slowed.

Then she came to a complete stop.

StarseaPrisoner: "What was the legendary Prisoner’s Divine Talent called?"

Ash Inspector: [Divine Game.]

What a fitting name.

Rita’s eyes curved slightly.

There was a trace of appreciation in her smile.

Then she stepped out from the prison cells scattered across the endless starfield and onto the Bridge of Sighs that connected countless prisons together.

Behind her, the flower throne and Order Clock woven from white petals gradually dissolved into the wind.

Petal after petal drifted into space.

They spun through the darkness before gathering into a flowing sea of flowers that chased after their creator.

As BS Rita personally joined the battlefield, the speed of conquest accelerated once again.

The players were already highly coordinated.

With their Adjudicator directing the overall war effort, their advance became even more efficient.

Less than ten hours later, the second prison had fallen completely.

Every cell had been occupied.

Every original Prisoner had been brought into their ranks.

And once enough soul fire had accumulated, Rita finally unlocked an entirely new section of her game.

From that point forward, Adjudicator players no longer needed to rely solely on combat to seize cells.

Military strategy.

Knowledge.

Craftsmanship.

Management.

Specialized skills.

All of them could become methods of conquest.

The system gradually began to resemble the prison games they had encountered when they first arrived.

And as soul fire reserves continued to grow, Rita planned to expand the system even further.

Mahjong.

Poker.

Beast Chess.

Countless games could eventually become tools for taking territory.

The second prison slowly unfolded.

At its core floated a key.

A key shaped like a twisting Vine.

This was the prison’s authority.

Its lock.

Its ownership.

Its future.

The key determined whether the prison remained closed or open.

And it would determine what form the prison took in the future.

Rita extended a hand and passed the Vine Key to Deceitful Bloom.

"Beacon belongs to you now."

Deceitful Bloom accepted it.

But she only held it for a few brief seconds.

Then she turned and handed it directly to Cicada.

Her expression was unusually serious.

"Beacon belongs to you now."

For once, the perpetual coldness on Cicada’s face cracked.

A visible trace of emotion surfaced.

Excitement.

Pride.

Something even deeper.

She accepted the key with both hands.

The gesture resembled a knight receiving a royal decree.

Or perhaps a priest accepting a sacred relic.

Yet in the very next second, she executed a movement so smooth it looked practiced.

She turned slightly.

Then handed the key to Smoke Tune.

"Sister."

"You manage everything at home anyway."

Smoke Tune looked down at the key resting in her hands.

Her expression remained completely calm.

Only someone who knew her well would notice the effort it took to keep it that way.

A notification appeared before her eyes.

[You have obtained the Order Fragment known as "Beacon".]

[Please do not leave Beacon.]

[If no one maintains this Order, Beacon will close once more.]

Smoke Tune stared at the message.

Then calmly turned and handed the key to Spring Guest, who had been staring at it with barely concealed longing.

"Here."

"You can have it."

Spring Guest froze.

His brain stopped functioning.

Me?

Really me?!

His eyes widened.

His breathing sped up.

Am I the Crown Prince of Beacon?!

His hands shook as he accepted the key under the watchful eyes of three and a half Vineborne.

Then the system notification appeared.

And his smile instantly froze.

Oh.

Not Crown Prince.

Property manager.

Got it.

Nearby, Deceitful Bloom suddenly seemed to realize something.

She turned toward BS Rita.

"Then how are you able to leave?"

"Is someone managing the Abandoned Zone for you?"

Rita gazed toward the distant end of the Bridge of Sighs.

Her eyes seemed to pass through countless prison cells.

Past countless prisons.

Past endless stars.

Toward Moon No. 1.

"Yeah."

Then she smiled.

"Who do you think it is?"

"The B80 here?" Cicada asked immediately.

"Did you find a replacement?"

"???"

Rita turned toward her with complete seriousness.

"What replacement?"

"Everyone is unique."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Deceitful Bloom nodded knowingly.

"That answer was suspiciously pleasant."

"It can hear us, can’t it?"

Cicada sighed.

"BS Rita is manipulating people’s feelings again."

Smoke Tune glanced sideways.

"You sound experienced."

Cicada: "???"

Spring Guest’s eyes widened even further.

Hold on.

What exactly did that mean?!

Rita felt a headache coming on.

She had already decided not to continue this conversation.

Unfortunately, Spring Guest chose that exact moment to speak.

"So all those rumors outside are actually true?!"

Every Vineborne present immediately looked at him.

Even Deceitful Bloom’s eyes widened slightly.

Startled, Spring Guest immediately sold someone else out.

"It wasn’t me!"

"Fat Goose and Jiche were the ones saying it!"

Rita’s eye twitched.

For some reason, she was suddenly reminded of that ancient rumor about Mistblade supposedly abandoning someone after leading them on.

Without another word, she turned around and left.

Immediately.

She wanted no part of this.

Absolutely none.

Returning to the central chamber of Prison 8017, she found the softly glowing white cube still floating quietly in the air.

No one else was there.

The room was completely empty.

Rita didn’t linger.

The sound of distant waves echoed around her as she left Prison 8017 behind.

The moment she disappeared...

A figure clad entirely in black iron armor emerged silently from behind the cube.

Ash Inspector.

He watched the direction Rita had left.

Then he took out his notebook.

A moment later, he wrote a line.

"Was I deceived?"

After several seconds of consideration, he added another line beneath it.

"No."

Then another.

"I am unique."

"B80 is unique."

The crimson cube embedded in his chest rotated slowly.

His gaze lingered on the final sentence for a long time.

Then he wrote:

"One Unique Key is enough."

That should have been the correct conclusion.

A single key.

A single lock.

One connection.

Nothing more.

Ash Inspector raised his black iron gauntlet.

Five armored fingers spread toward the void.

At that instant, every prison that remained locked throughout the Exile Zone emitted a faint vibration.

A low mechanical hum spread across the stars.

No one knew how beautiful the future created by that person had become.

No one knew how powerful his future self truly was.

But Ash Inspector wanted to test something.

He wanted to know whether he could sever the contract between B80 and her.

After all...

If B80 and he were both unique...

Then surely one Unique Key should be enough.

Just one.

Bzzzt!

A sharp burst of static echoed through his senses.

In Ash Inspector’s vision, a crimson coordinate visible only to him suddenly disappeared.

The signal had originated from the Third Prison.

And now it was gone.

At the exact same moment... 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Far away.

In the Twelfth Epoch.

At the very center of the Order Clock.

Upon the endlessly rotating crimson cube...

A pair of tiny black bean-like eyes suddenly snapped open.

The first time.

It had endured.

The second time.

It had endured.

But now—

The third time.

The.

Third.

Time.

BS Rita!!!