Chapter 323: Mystic Eyes
"You probably aren't the type to be overly bold, yet you dare to come find me directly at a time like this. I assume other big shots are making deals with you?"
Kaito Shirogane teased Black Butler, who had arrived at his side, while checking the offers in his stall.
Black Butler looked slightly embarrassed but nodded nonetheless.
"Indeed. I am conveying a message to you on behalf of [Virtuality's Throne]. Even [The Final Empire] wouldn't vent their anger on me for this."
A special card appeared in his hand. One side was completely black, the other completely white. Through light refraction, a magnificent and splendid palace could be seen faintly on the white side.
On the black side, only an emerald green number was engraved in the center—[No.13].
Looking at this card, Kaito inexplicably thought of the [Cards] he had already obtained three of. Whether in size or style, they bore a certain resemblance.
Seeming to read Kaito's thoughts, Black Butler explained softly:
"Many believe those special sequence [Cards] are special items crafted by the master of [Virtuality's Throne]. And this card is the identity token for official members of [Virtuality's Throne]..."
His gaze was complex, and his tone somewhat wistful.
Mercenary Tao was a 'super rookie' whose rise he had witnessed. Although he wasn't sure before, with more and more information revealed now, he could roughly reconstruct the other's mission trajectory.
Upon entering the Nexus, he encountered the temporary squad of Moon Fiend and Balrog. Not only did he survive successfully in a mission with opposing factions, but he also caused that temporary squad to lose a veteran Reincarnator like [Mountain Demon].
Subsequently, under Moon Fiend's pursuit, he rose rapidly through several missions. Along the way, he caused the deaths of a series of somewhat famous Reincarnators like [Kai], [Balrog], [Glazed Scholar], [Kalpa], and [Bad Kid]. He also thwarted the mysterious [White Mask], and now it was rumored that he partnered with [Momiji] (Crimson Night) to inflict heavy damage on [The Final Empire]'s Reincarnators in the Northern Myanmar region.
The Title Level Reincarnator [Seven-Colored Magus · Kirinji] had been confirmed dead.
In just a few missions, Mercenary Tao had grown from a rookie into an elite Reincarnator no one could ignore, prompting a Supreme Being to issue a bounty.
Now, he had even gained the appreciation of [Virtuality's Throne], inviting him to join the organization as an official member.
"Virtuality's Throne is one of the top gatherings in the entire Space. In a sense, saying it's the strongest gathering wouldn't be much of a problem."
Black Butler explained solemnly to Kaito.
"Note that I'm not talking about the East District. The influence of Virtuality's Throne spans all four major districts of the Infinite Dimensional Space!"
"It is rumored that Virtuality's Throne is divided into three major clusters: the Emerald Cluster, the Silver Cluster, and the most powerful Golden War Group."
"The vast majority of members belong to the Silver Cluster. All members are between [Mortal]-tier and [Cataclysm]-tier. There are numerous personnel, estimated at over a thousand. Almost everyone who actively applies to join [Virtuality's Throne] and passes will be assigned to this cluster."
"As for the Golden War Group, it only has a scale of 10 people. Each one is a top-tier Reincarnator, carrying a number and referred to as a Seat Officer."
Just looking at Black Butler's expression, Kaito knew that this [Virtuality's Throne], which he had heard of for a long time, was indeed a behemoth.
An elite cluster of over a thousand people—this scale was terrifying. Crimson Magus · Luo Xi's gathering, [Crimson Lotus], had about eighty people when Kaito joined, and the quality was mixed.
If over a thousand elite Reincarnators caused trouble together in the real world, Kaito could imagine the scene.
He looked at the emerald color on the number and chimed in:
"So they want me to join that Emerald Cluster now?"
There was a mocking tone in Kaito's words. Black Butler thought Mercenary Tao felt underestimated and immediately explained:
"The Emerald Cluster is a cluster specifically for cultivating high-potential rookies in [Virtuality's Throne]. The number of people is extremely small; with you joining, there would only be 13. The Emerald Cluster serves as candidates for the Golden War Group, receiving immense intelligence support and enjoying almost all gathering privileges."
"Mercenary Tao, this is an opportunity most Reincarnators dream of but cannot get!"
Black Butler was a bit anxious. He was indeed envious. Among so many gatherings in the Space, most, in his view, only served for exchanging intelligence. The instability of personnel, and even the instability of the higher-ups, meant these gatherings could disappear any day.
Maybe in the next mission, the gathering leader would offend someone, causing the entire gathering to be hunted down.
Personnel instability led to the inability to upgrade the gathering level, meaning members couldn't enjoy facilities like the [Warehouse] and [Gathering Training Hall].
But [Virtuality's Throne] and [Azure Sky] were the two gatherings he wanted to join the most—powerful and stable.
Kaito sneered and didn't respond.
Black Butler looked at the Emerald No. 13 identity card in his hand, genuinely feeling an urge to take it for himself. With this identity card, often times, even in team battle missions, it was equivalent to having a death-exemption medallion. No one wanted to offend [Virtuality's Throne].
Even [The Final Empire], with its unimaginable number of personnel now, might not be willing to antagonize [Virtuality's Throne] for the lives of one or two Title Level Reincarnators.
"Mercenary Tao, do you understand the value of this invitation at all!"
Black Butler showed rare anger, but Kaito just waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
He sat in front of his stall, flipping through the offers. Suddenly, he saw one.
[VH14421985 sent an offer: I want to exchange a Mystic Eye for your Drop Card of Obito Uchiha.]
He contacted the other party immediately. The person happened to be in the Space and soon arrived at the stall under the gaze of numerous Reincarnators.
Kaito looked up. It was a Reincarnator with the avatar of a middle-aged man in a red blazer, with a prominent belly and a significantly receding hairline.
Few Reincarnators would make their avatar in such a 'realistic' style, but it had to be said, the recognizability was quite good.
He looked at Kaito's avatar and also clicked his tongue secretly.
"Mercenary Tao, your style of creating avatars is a bit radical~"
He also noticed Black Butler, who hadn't left yet, and greeted him with a smile.
"Black Butler, this is your customer too? Seems your taste is indeed good."
Black Butler collected himself, nodded respectfully to him, and then said to Kaito:
"This gentleman is [Thousand Illusions Mystic Eye · Wu Junchuo], a Title Level Reincarnator belonging to the [Wicked Lord Shingan] gathering. He is a person of excellent strength and reputation."
Black Butler clearly held this person in high regard. Kaito nodded. Whether it was the codename that sounded like a real name or the gathering name [Wicked Lord Shingan] (Evil Eye), both were quite intriguing.
"What Mystic Eye do you plan to exchange for that Drop Card?"
Kaito had completed the [Thousand Eyes] milestone in the Naruto World, unlocking a special biological implant slot. He didn't need to dig out his own eyes for transplantation; he could install those Mystic Eyes directly at the glabella position to function.
Therefore, he hoped to get a usable eye to enhance his strength.
Those eyes from the Naruto World basically required Chakra. In his normal state, he had no Chakra in his body, so neither the Sharingan nor the Byakugan would be very useful.
Wu Junchuo nodded, light flashing in his hands. He spread his hands open in front of Kaito. Kaito was stunned to see that the palms were full of special eyes.
"Hehe, I'm very interested in Mystic Eyes, so I specially collected some."
Kaito glanced at him again. Combined with his title, he guessed the other party probably had some special ability to use various Mystic Eyes freely.
He focused on those eyes.
[Scarlet Eyes] from the Hunter x Hunter world;
Three Jewel Mystic Eyes from the Type-Moon world;
[Ultimate Eye] from the Fullmetal Alchemist world;
[Eye of Breaking Illusions] from the Basilisk world;
And the [All-Seeing Eyes of God] from Blood Blockade Battlefront, along with a few eyes blocked in the back whose information couldn't be seen.
The sudden appearance of so many precious biological implants, rarely seen on ordinary days, caused exclamations from the surrounding crowd.
But neither Kaito nor Wu Junchuo had any intention of keeping it a secret.
"How is it? My collection is not bad, right?"
Wu Junchuo had a humorous personality and seemed to be showing off deliberately at this moment.
Kaito withdrew his gaze, thought for a moment, and said:
"I think it's average."
"I thought you could bring out eyes like the [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception] or [Migeiko] (Observation)."
Wu Junchuo's expression stiffened, and he said grumpily:
"Is that kind of thing exchangeable for a pair of Sharingan?!"
Kaito smiled brightly.
"In that case, Sir also knows the method to specifically extract the items you want?"
"If so, I can't sell this Drop Card containing [Kamui] cheaply."
Wu Junchuo's face twitched twice. He knew he had let the cat out of the bag, and Mercenary Tao was going to jack up the price. He couldn't help looking at Black Butler, but Black Butler just shrugged, indicating he couldn't help—Mercenary Tao was just that kind of troublesome guy.
While Kaito was haggling with Wu Junchuo, the Team Space that once belonged to [Fatal Fury] was empty. A woman in a green dress took one last look at this space she cherished, then turned and left.
With the withdrawal of the last member, [Fatal Fury] officially perished.
The woman arrived at a new gathering, where many people smiled and welcomed her.
"Fleur, we just got news. That guy Luo Xi seems to have bet her treasure on Mercenary Tao."
"Ha~ Desperate times call for desperate measures? Looks like we'll get that key very soon."
Seven or eight Reincarnators laughed loudly. Only a man leaning by the distant window, wearing a black jacket and an unseasonal scarf around his neck, didn't smile. His expression was calm.
"Lord Sage, that Mercenary Tao... I feel he isn't simple..."
Fleur spoke, but the man didn't look at her. He didn't think much of someone who betrayed her team and killed her captain. He simply said:
"I know it's Luo Xi's trap. But no matter. Just crush it."
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