Chapter 788: The New King
"Damn it, Mercenary Tao is completely insane. He actually killed that many people. What the FUCK!"
"Is he a traitor working for the West District? I heard Avalon from the West District directly invaded the northern ice plains and killed over a dozen high-tier Reincarnators..."
Controlling a small droid from the Star Wars universe, [MI0] made her way toward the registration location, hearing the grumbling of Reincarnators waiting in line the whole way.
This group of people was already dissatisfied with Mercenary Tao. They originally had no intention of registering; they just wanted to go on a satisfying killing spree.
However, they were deterred by the sudden announcement of over a dozen assemblies disbanding within the Space, and almost all core members of those assemblies issuing so-called "dying words."
Even the content of these dying words was largely identical.
[Making an enemy of Mercenary Tao is my greatest mistake.]
In less than half a day, Reincarnators preparing to launch operations across East Asia claimed to have encountered merciless attacks from Mercenary Tao in various regions.
Every single participant was slain.
Among them were two top-tier Reincarnators like Baldur, over fifteen high-tier Reincarnators, and a combined total of over a hundred Third and Second Step Reincarnators.
These vicious individuals, who usually mockingly called themselves the "True Worst Generation," were slaughtered en masse like helpless lambs waiting for the butcher in front of Mercenary Tao.
This shocking reality immediately halted the deployment plans of all assemblies intending to act.
Based on current intelligence, Mercenary Tao highly likely possessed an ultra-wide-range teleportation ability, or... he was already capable of flying tens of thousands of kilometers at terrifying speeds!
If it were the former, they could still try to find targeted countermeasures, such as spatial interference abilities or Authorities that prohibit teleportation.
But if it were the latter... that meant from now on, almost the entire Eastern Hemisphere was within Mercenary Tao's sphere of influence.
No matter who it was, as long as they were active on the surface, the moment Mercenary Tao noticed them, they could face his "offline reality check" in a very short time.
"Tsk, it's truly chilling~"
A middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache, wearing a crisp blue-green scholar's robe, shook his head and sighed. He cast a sidelong glance at the idiots still secretly criticizing Mercenary Tao's bloodthirstiness, not bothering to communicate with them.
Their [Evil Sword Alliance] had also planned an operation, but these guys calling themselves "Evil Swords" had excellent judgment. They postponed their operation, waiting for others to act first to test Mercenary Tao's reaction.
What they didn't expect was a display of Crimson Drop Cards spread across the stall in the shantytown. Mercenary Tao even rented the adjacent stall; otherwise, there wouldn't be enough room to display all the drop cards.
Consequently, the Evil Sword Alliance promptly changed its attitude and sent him, who could fly on his sword, to rush over and register.
Tap! Tap!
The sound of fingers tapping on a desk echoed, and an impatient female voice came from the other end of the long corridor.
"I'm telling you idiots to line up and be quiet, or else His Lordship might just... kill you all!"
The last three words were wrapped in terrifying sound waves, echoing and crashing through the corridor. A terrifying impact and shockwave violently spread out.
Wei Qingfeng's pupils shrank. He raised two fingers like a sword. Instantly, the longsword on his back unsheathed itself and flew in front of him. The vibrating sound waves were sliced apart by the longsword, while the people behind him were sent staggering. The weakest few were even blown off their feet, their eardrums bleeding.
Those who came here to register were mostly high-tier Reincarnators. Feeling the intensity of this Lion's Roar, Wei Qingfeng realized the woman's strength was also quite formidable.
Her energy intensity was no less than 30 points.
"Next, Wei Qingfeng of the Evil Sword Alliance!"
The corridor fell silent for a moment before the woman called out the next name. Wei Qingfeng straightened his collar, glanced back at the others who were staggering about, and walked towards the end of the corridor with a disdainful look in his eyes.
All of this was observed by the rotund droid MI0, her database updating in real-time.
"Former Third Step lone wolf of the martial arts faction, high-tier Reincarnator [Lioness's Roar: Lili], has joined Mercenary Tao's [Paradise]. Her strength has further improved. Estimated actual energy intensity approaches 35 points."
"Wei Qingfeng, an executive of the [Evil Sword Alliance] in southwestern Eastland, possesses considerable strength. Estimated enhancement is the Sword Control Technique from [Chinese Paladin: Sword and Fairy] or a similar work. Estimated strength exceeds ordinary high-tier Reincarnators; likely a unique title holder."
MI0 was young, but thanks to the assistance of her mechanical mind, she was far calmer than most Reincarnators.
"Next, MI0 of the Machina Gods."
The woman's voice rang out again. MI0, originally at the end of the line, had her electronic eyes flash as her database continued to record various intelligence and data.
"Hypothesize that special detection abilities or items exist within [Paradise]. The registration mechanism of Paradise may be positively correlated with the strength of the registering Reincarnators..."
In the first basement level of the Black Tower, massive supercomputers with a sci-fi aesthetic were running at high speed. On various screens, every Reincarnator who entered the registration corridor was captured.
Every Reincarnator's facial expressions, lip movements, voice, strength of aura, and even heart rate were comprehensively recorded.
Lili executing her ability earlier was also part of the plan. In that instant, these Reincarnators instinctively revealed their abilities. Changes in individual energy intensity and their reactions during the event were all recorded.
[Tenkyou] had several data cables in his hands connecting to intricate machinery.
A woman resembling a virtual projection stood beside him.
"Red Queen, change the potential rating of [Machina God] to B+, [Evil Sword Alliance] to B+, and [Reluctant to Think of Shu] to C."
"Received. Records have been updated."
"Detected high-tier Reincarnator MI0, codenamed [Roaring Blast], carrying an advanced database. Attempt to hack it now?"
Tenkyou thought for a moment and rejected the proposal. Right now, many assemblies were voluntarily coming to register due to Lord Mercenary Tao's prestige. Using such petty tricks at this time could easily tarnish his Lordship's reputation.
Furthermore... his Lordship probably didn't need this kind of intelligence anyway.
In fact, the one who devised all these plans was him, along with Li Qingzi, now codenamed [Eclipse]. His Lordship himself lacked interest in understanding most Reincarnators.
Wei Qingfeng turned sideways, looking at the round droid below the counter. MI0 communicated via a mechanical voice: "Hello, Wei Qingfeng of the Evil Sword Alliance. I am MI0 of Machina God. Since my main body is unable to enter, could you please help me move this droid onto the counter?"
The flying sword beside Wei Qingfeng circled once and automatically sheathed itself. He considered his own strength to have surpassed that of Mo Shi Mo Wang, who had died during the Mad King incident. Both had the same enhancement, but most people favored Mo Shi Mo Wang.
But now, he was alive, and that guy was dead. Hah, what's the use of being a good person...
He also realized at this time that the registration mechanism of [Paradise] actually held hidden evaluations of various assemblies and Reincarnators. Seeing MI0 called over right after him, he understood that this lesser-known assembly, [Machina God], highly likely possessed outstanding strength.
Knowing that a terrifying war among Reincarnators was about to begin, and an even more terrifying Dimensional War was inevitable in the future...
Wei Qingfeng was also consciously preparing to befriend other assemblies.
Mercenary Tao's [Paradise] was obviously different from the West District's [Avalon] and current super-assemblies like [Throne of Illusion and Reality] and [Destiny].
It was a loose super-alliance.
Lord Mercenary Tao would highly likely not directly control their group, but correspondingly, their group couldn't receive direct protection either.
Therefore, proactively seeking allies was a matter of urgent importance.
Wei Qingfeng raised his hand, and spiritual fluctuations appeared. The round droid immediately floated up and landed on the counter. MI0's electronic eyes blinked as her database rapidly updated.
"Wei Qingfeng's Sword Control Technique is no lower than Lv7, capable of telekinesis."
Lili massaged her forehead. She hadn't expected Lord Mercenary Tao's [Paradise] to be this loose. Not only did she have to do the recording work, but she was also responsible for some testing procedures.
But seeing so many assemblies voluntarily coming to register after just one warning, she still felt a sense of pride.
Lili disliked chaos, which was why her impression of Mercenary Tao wasn't very good either. But just as Tenkyou had told her, even an era ruled by a cruel King was better than absolute chaos.
Lili took out two tablet-like light screens and gestured for the two to fill in their information.
Wei Qingfeng looked at the items on it: Assembly to be registered, number of members, strength distribution, proposed operation destination, proposed operation scale, destructive power level of abilities...
Option by option, it was practically demanding that assemblies planning operations announce in advance when, where, and with what level of destructive power they would strike.
This gave him a very strange feeling.
Clearly, their group of self-proclaimed villains existed to seize benefits by creating chaos and destruction, yet Paradise was using such an "orderly" method to regulate this destruction.
Paradise had no intention of stopping them from causing destruction, but Paradise needed everything to be within their plan?!
Wei Qingfeng frowned and nodded. He felt this style was actually quite similar to Lord Mercenary Tao's evil and chaotic demeanor.
In truth, Wei Qingfeng had already unconsciously changed his view of Mercenary Tao. Previously, Mercenary Tao appeared as a top-tier Reincarnator with the strength of a Sovereign Monarch.
Even though everyone knew Mercenary Tao had strength approaching a top-tier Reincarnator even without the [Sovereign Crown], obtaining the [Sovereign Crown] definitely meant he was among the absolute pinnacle of Sovereign Monarchs.
But before displaying that level of lethality, Mercenary Tao was just a symbolic label—everyone knew he was very strong, but no one knew exactly how strong.
However, after this bloody massacre, no one dared to question Mercenary Tao's strength anymore.
Top-tier Reincarnators had absolutely no ability to resist him.
It should be known that although ordinary Sovereign Monarchs have a huge gap with top-tier Reincarnators, there are still many top-tier Reincarnators capable of escaping from Sovereign Monarchs.
This was also why major assemblies basically measured their strength by the number of top-tier Reincarnators.
The reason top-tier Reincarnators were called "top-tier" was that this group could represent the highest level of power currently available to Reincarnators.
Sovereign Monarchs were merely the strongest among top-tier Reincarnators.
But today's Mercenary Tao had evidently reached a different realm. He could kill top-tier Reincarnators with a flip of his hand, leaving them no room to even resist.
According to divinations and séances performed by prophecy-type Reincarnators regarding Baldur's final moments, Baldur was crushed almost instantly after activating that fake divine body, utterly unable to resist.
Wei Qingfeng quickly filled out his registration form and handed it back to Lili.
"Very good. The Evil Sword Alliance is now part of [Paradise]. We will create a separate file for you, recording your potential level, combat power level, and honor points level."
"Honor points?"
Lili took the other registration form filled out by the droid and explained, "In plain terms, the number of other Reincarnators you kill, the degree to which you modify the real world, the number of invaders from other worlds you kill, and your ranking in events hosted by Paradise will all provide corresponding honor points."
"Assemblies that achieve corresponding honor levels will receive rewards from Lord Mercenary Tao!"
Hearing that killing other Reincarnators could earn points, Wei Qingfeng rejoiced. Their [Evil Sword Alliance] naturally wasn't an alliance of moral guardians either.
They were also an assembly formed by a group of vicious individuals.
Confirming that Mercenary Tao was indeed not a hypocrite like Sousuke greatly settled his mind.
"Rewards?"
Hum~
At this moment, a gust of wind appeared, causing Wei Qingfeng's sleeves to flutter slightly. But the next moment, a voice sounded by his ear.
"Whether it's Singularity Points, special abilities, the desire to kill someone, or... the right to rule a certain region, or ownership of a certain secondary world."
"As long as you can demonstrate your value, I can give you anything."
Wei Qingfeng felt a chill run through his entire body. His spiritual perception was quite excellent; the Sword Control Technique was fundamentally a method of using spirit to control objects, so perception was the most basic requirement. Yet, he hadn't detected the appearance of the person behind him at all.
Even at this moment, he felt the space behind him was empty. That voice seemed to come from someone who didn't exist.
Wei Qingfeng's fingers twitched instinctively, and the spirit sword on his back was about to unsheathe itself. But the next moment, an intense pressure descended, as if heaven and earth had been inverted.
His sword wailed within its scabbard, actually unable to be drawn.
"Heh, a little clever, but still not clever enough."
Pat, pat.
Wei Qingfeng's shoulder was gently patted twice. Only then did he see a man with long black hair draped down his back walk past him.
The man wore that signature dark green trench coat, and the uniquely shaped crown atop his head shimmered faintly.
Mercenary Tao!
Lili immediately stood up, only to hear Mercenary Tao say, "Go, tell [Amatsu] to come see me. I want her Erdtree to join my [Paradise]."
Lili nodded instinctively. She had no idea that Amatsu had already encountered Avalon and had highly likely already submitted to Yoko.
But even if she knew, she would execute this order.
Because judging by his performance today, Mercenary Tao had undoubtedly surpassed the title of [Sovereign Monarch].
He had become the East District's new King, following the King of Miracles.