Death had never looked so profitable.
The Nightmare Lord's crystallized corpse pulsed with divine energy worth billions, and Captain Zhao Feng wanted it all. His convoy of armored vehicles formed a perfect kill box around Ethan Su, a hundred elite soldiers with weapons trained and ready.
"Ethan Su!" Zhao's voice boomed across the wasteland, amplified by military-grade enhancement tech. The Level 35 Berserker's scarred face twisted with predatory hunger as he stepped from his command vehicle. "By Emergency Conscription Order 7-Alpha, this site is now Alliance property!"
Ethan stood atop the crystalline remains, utterly calm despite the firepower aimed at his head. His lips curved into a smile that made hardened soldiers step back.
"How patriotic of you, Captain."
"Don't play games." Zhao's legendary battle axe materialized, purple runes blazing with lethal promise. "Preliminary investigation shows your methods constitute terrorism. You're under arrest."
Energy weapons hummed to life, painting Ethan in targeting lasers. Any sane person would have surrendered. Ethan had never been accused of sanity.
"Terrorism?" He descended with fluid grace, hands raised in mock surrender. "Captain, there's been a terrible misunderstanding. I'm fully prepared to cooperate with the asset transfer."
Zhao's combat instincts screamed warnings, but greed silenced them. The divine creature alone was worth a promotion to the Capital District—maybe even a seat on the High Council.
"Smart choice. Everything—creature, territory, mineral rights. Now."
Ethan produced a sleek tablet, quantum processors gleaming like captured starlight. "Standard protocols require proper documentation. Just need your signature here..."
Holographic contracts materialized between them—dense legal text that made Zhao's eyes glaze over. Property deeds, environmental assessments, liability clauses buried in bureaucratic poison.
"Just sign the damn papers," Zhao growled.
"Of course." Ethan's fingers danced across the interface with helpful efficiency. "Here... here... and this final clause regarding joint liability—"
Zhao's thumb hit the biometric scanner without reading. Around them, soldiers deployed containment equipment, already counting their bonuses.
The moment his DNA registered, Ethan's smile turned predatory.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ASSET TRANSFER COMPLETE]
[TRANSFERRING: NIGHTMARE LORD REMAINS + TERRITORIAL RIGHTS]
[ACTIVATING CLAUSE 15-C: JOINT LIABILITY ASSUMPTION]
[DEBT TRANSFER INITIATED: 2.8 BILLION CREDITS]
The notification detonated across Zhao's HUD like a digital nuke. Environmental cleanup costs for dimensional contamination. Infrastructure damage from reality distortion. Ancient God psychological trauma compensation—apparently even cosmic entities had lawyers.
"What the hell—" Zhao's voice cracked as the numbers kept climbing.
"Congratulations, Captain." Ethan's tone held surgical precision. "You just inherited the most expensive piece of real estate in human history."
[DEBT COLLECTION PROTOCOLS ACTIVATED]
[TARGET: ZHAO FENG - CRITICALLY DELINQUENT]
[INITIATING EMERGENCY ASSET SEIZURE]
The system's judgment was absolute. Zhao's purple-tier equipment began aging like time-lapse photography—decades compressed into heartbeats. His legendary axe crumbled to rust, enchantments failing as everything of value was stripped away.
"This is impossible!" Zhao clawed at his disintegrating armor, but entropy was merciless. Twenty years of accumulated wealth evaporated like morning mist.
[BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS INITIATED]
[COMMAND AUTHORITY TERMINATED DUE TO INSOLVENCY]
[TRANSFERRING LEADERSHIP TO PRIMARY CREDITOR: ETHAN SU]
Neural networks rewrote themselves across a hundred military implants. Loyalty algorithms shifted in milliseconds, recognizing new command authority. Weapons lowered as fresh orders flooded their systems.
"Sir." The squad leader approached Ethan with parade-ground precision. "Awaiting instructions."
Ethan surveyed his newly acquired army with the cold satisfaction of a chess grandmaster. "Begin construction. Eastern quadrant, priority alpha. We're building something extraordinary."
Zhao collapsed among the ruins of his career, watching his own elite troops obey their new commander. The man who'd come to steal everything now knelt in the dirt, stripped of rank, equipment, and dignity.
"The Alliance will never let this stand," he whispered.
"The Alliance?" Ethan crouched beside the broken officer, voice dropping to a whisper that carried more menace than any scream. "Captain, the Alliance just rubber-stamped this entire transaction. Every signature, every biometric scan—legally binding under their own regulations."
Soldiers erected prefabricated structures around the crystallized remains as Ethan stood, brushing dust from his immaculate coat. Fusion generators roared to life, bathing the wasteland in harsh industrial light.
"Besides," he continued, gaze lifting to where reality itself seemed to ripple and bend, "I have cosmic tax collectors to outwit."
The Entropy Council's attention pressed down like the weight of collapsed stars. Twenty-two hours remained before their audit concluded, and he still needed to construct something capable of hiding divine-tier assets from beings who existed outside conventional spacetime.
In his inventory, the Ancient God's fragment pulsed with otherworldly power—the keystone of his ultimate tax shelter. The irony was exquisite: using Alliance resources to build a facility designed to defraud the universe's own revenue service.
As night claimed the wasteland, Ethan allowed himself a moment of cold triumph. The opening move was complete. Now came the real game—intellectual warfare against entities that had been collecting cosmic taxes since before humanity's sun ignited.
Above, something vast and patient maintained its vigil.
The countdown continued: 21:43:17.
And in the crystalline depths, ancient dreams of vengeance began to stir.