The Mercer brothers' brutality ignited the internet worldwide.
Condemnation flooded every channel—along with furious demands aimed at the Eastern Isles government.
Why hadn't they stepped in?
Why hadn't they stopped it?
"This kind of sick freak doesn't deserve to be called human—this is an animal!"
"Why is the Eastern Isles government allowing this?! Don't they know this is inhuman?!"
"Inhuman? After everything they've done—don't even bring up the past. Just look at what they've been doing lately with their waste disposal. Tell me that's something a normal country does!"
"Eastern Isles! We demand an explanation!"
But the Eastern Isles didn't have anything like Dragon Nation's keyboard-warrior army.
Even if they did, nobody would dare speak up under the weight of global rage.
Their official channels went silent—playing deaf, playing mute, pretending nothing happened.
And it wasn't just the public.
Even members of the so-called Divine Kingdom Alliance—the bloc the Eastern Isles had pushed earlier—started pressuring them nonstop.
They demanded the Eastern Isles split the newly obtained resource.
The response?
Nothing.
You couldn't wake someone determined to keep sleeping.
…
Back in the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone—
When the Will of Blue Star announced the results, the Mercer brothers froze for a heartbeat… then erupted into manic joy.
They'd slaughtered Shambles Nationcompetitors and satisfied their disgusting cravings—
and on top of that…
they could plunder points.
Four hundred points meant little to them now.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was the mechanic itself:
Points Plunder.
You could steal another nation's points.
That single discovery was worth more than gold.
If it was true, then they didn't need to scour the wilderness for Chests anymore.
They could simply harvest points from other competitors—and claim the Points Leaderboard rewards without doing any of the hard work.
Let others bleed for resources.
Then take everything at the finish line.
Wasn't that perfect?
As for resources?
The survival of the Eastern Isles back in the real world—what did that have to do with them?
They hadn't come here to "save a nation."
They'd come to a place where they could kill freely.
Resources? To hell with resources.
They wanted blood. They wanted screams.
They wanted to find out just how far they could push the limit of "1000 + 7."
Their excitement only grew.
But first—
they still had a D-rank Chest to open.
And if the chest made them stronger, then they could torment stronger prey.
Only strong prey lasted longer.
Only strong prey didn't die too quickly under "play."
Without hesitation, they each opened their chests.
Golden light burst out—
followed by the Will of Blue Star.
[Congratulations! Eastern IslescompetitorNolan Mercer has opened a D-rank Chest! Reward obtained—]
[D-rank Item: Rustscar Dagger]
[Effect: A razor-sharp short blade capable of cutting through virtually anything—truly "cleaves iron like mud." In addition, wounds inflicted by this blade cause double the pain.]
Nolan Mercer tested the dagger immediately.
His gaze drifted to the Shambles Nation corpse beside him.
Then—without the slightest pause—he brought the blade down.
Shhk!
A cold flash.
The body split as if it were paper—clean, effortless.
No resistance from flesh.
No stutter from bone.
It was like slicing tofu.
Nolan Mercer trembled with delight.
"Perfect," he breathed, voice shaking. "This is perfect."
No attribute bonus… but for him, this dagger was better than any stat boost.
"Sharper than sin… and the pain doubles?"
He laughed, breathless, intoxicated.
"Oh, this is fun. This is so fun."
Then the Will of Blue Star announced the second reward.
[Congratulations! Eastern IslescompetitorKieran Mercer has opened a D-rank Chest! Reward obtained—]
[All Attributes +30!!]
It was the best-known reward type so far—
yet Kieran Mercer's expression twisted with dissatisfaction.
He stared at his brother with open envy.
"Lucky," he muttered. "I wanted that too."
Nolan Mercer snorted.
"My foolish little brother… this is the Will of Blue Star recognizing me."
"It just proves you're still not good enough."
They traded a few more pointless lines.
Then their excitement surged again.
A D-rank Chest. A huge point jump.
For a moment, they genuinely felt as if surpassing Dragon Nation was only a matter of time.
And then they remembered the instructions their nation's higher-ups had sent earlier.
They'd laughed at those orders at first.
But now—knowing killing competitors could bring stolen points—
their interest sharpened into something hungry and cold.
"Dragon Nation…" Nolan Mercer murmured, voice low, delighted.
"I heard their competitors are a woman… and a student…"
The two brothers exchanged a glance.
Then smiled—cruelly, in perfect sync.
…
In the real world, the Eastern Isles leadership was ecstatic.
The Rustscar Dagger was clearly terrifying—"cleaves iron like mud" wasn't an exaggeration.
And All Attributes +30?
That alone pushed a human past ordinary limits.
With that, the Eastern Isles leadership began to swell with delusion—
to believe ruling Blue Star was only a matter of time.
As for the brothers' methods?
They chose to ignore them.
To the leadership, results mattered more than morality.
"Necessary sacrifices," they told themselves, "are inevitable."
Those tortured to death would become fuel for the Eastern Isles' rise.
And so, the Eastern Isles finally responded to the world—loudly, shamelessly.
"In the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone, the law of the jungle is absolute."
"We deeply regret the deaths of those competitors, but these were the competitors' personal actions. Our officials have no power to interfere…"
Then came a long, hypocritical performance of "solemn mourning."
And when the show was complete, they switched tone—arrogant and blatant:
"Rest assured. The Eastern Isles are stronger than ever."
"If you willingly pledge yourselves to the Eastern Isles… we will lead you all into a great era of prosperity!"
…
No one bought it.
If anything, the statement exposed their ambition more clearly than any confession.
The backlash only intensified.
"Shut your mouth! What filth are you spewing?!"
"You think an announcement like that earns forgiveness?"
"No explanation, no absolution!"
"Pledge ourselves to you? Are you insane?"
"Lead us to prosperity? I'll lead you with my fist!"
"Get lost!"
Online arguments raged.
Shambles Nation's viewers were the most furious of all.
They had watched their competitors be tortured to death—live.
How could they ever swallow that?
The Eastern Isles went silent again—refusing to respond at all.
…
Meanwhile, inside the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone—
in the Eastern Isles stream—
their expert team didn't hesitate anymore.
Through the barrage, they sent the brothers the current location of Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw.
The meaning was obvious:
The Eastern Isles were already ranked second.
If they eliminated the first-ranked competitors…
then—
As it happened, the brothers were busy eating, idly skimming the barrage when the message arrived.
The moment they read it, the same cold gleam flashed in both their eyes.
"Dragon Nation…"
Nolan Mercer chuckled softly.
And the cave seemed to get darker.
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