Chapter 18: Touch of the Nether Abyss, Continuing the Upgrade

"Your Highness, what I wish to ask is this," Song Mingyuan said, struggling to steady his breathing before regaining his composure. "What is the Empire's stance on this matter?"

"I have already answered," Xia Qingyu replied coldly.

"The Empire will not interfere in Takamagahara's internal affairs." Song Mingyuan's expression darkened as he lowered his voice. "Even if the Elves are infiltrating every aspect of our society, is the Empire still unwilling to intervene?"

Xia Qingyu raised her eyebrows slightly. She examined Song Mingyuan in silence, causing him to hold his breath instinctively.

"Years ago, Takamagahara’s submission to the Empire was a result achieved through Shi Zhiqing’s utmost efforts," Xia Qingyu finally said slowly. "Therefore, as long as Shi Zhiqing’s descendants remain in the position of Sector Governor, the Empire will not interfere in Takamagahara’s internal affairs."

The implications of this statement were profound. Even someone as seasoned in the political arena as Song Mingyuan had to turn the matter over in his mind for quite some time before grasping its true meaning.

"Then what if Shi Di falls from power in the future?" Song Mingyuan asked again.

Xia Qingyu ignored his question, turning away with a look of disdain. But in Song Mingyuan’s heart, a cruel answer had already begun to take shape.

***

It was currently known that a certain organization was continuously corrupting the Women’s Mutual Aid Association, and Takano Seiko was investigating this organization from within, while incidentally purging the corrupted members.

A simple way to find Takano Seiko would be to identify the corrupted members before she did and then lie in wait. Of course, the difficulty remained: how many people within the Women’s Mutual Aid Association were connected to that organization?

If the number was high, pinpointing Takano Seiko’s next target would be nearly impossible. It was like trying to intercept someone on their necessary path within a dense, multi-pathed jungle—the difficulty was self-evident.

Chen Zi'ang had an ominous premonition, and once he received the data from the intelligence team, that premonition became reality.

Eight hundred people.

The real-time chat tool "Chain" had a group limit of eight hundred members, and the first group of the Mutual Aid Association was already full. How many groups were there? Eight, totaling around six thousand people. Each group had a limit of twelve administrators, meaning ninety-six in total across all eight groups. Those who became administrators were inevitably active members; even so, the scope of the investigation was nearly a hundred people.

Investigation was the intelligence team's job, so Chen Zi'ang and Tsukimiya Reina returned to their unit to await further findings.

Aside from the matter regarding Takano Seiko, the ghoul mutation previously caused by Nishikawa Mie had been completely quelled. From start to finish, the number of ghouls Chen Zi'ang had killed personally could be counted on one hand, yet he had still reaped the largest "Kindling" reward—granted by the Lord of the Great Deep after resolving Nishikawa Mie herself.

From this, one could infer that slaying anomalies was only a minor source of income; true wealth had to be built through war missions.

With over 1,300 Kindling points in hand and considering it had been some time since his last exchange, he guessed the Chaos Altar's list had refreshed. Chen Zi'ang took a short nap in his office, tucked away the blood-stained brooch, and activated his "Dreamwalking" ability.

He arrived in the ancient city of Enrank, which was exceptionally quiet at this hour. There were no nightmares flying in the sky, and not a single human to be seen on the streets. Chen Zi'ang went to the town square and, finding that the High Priestess Nico was not there, entered the open temple. He focused his attention on the Chaos Altar and confirmed the list had refreshed:

[Abyssal Touch] (Evolution path: Substrate): 500 points to upgrade further.
[Profane Sorcery] and [Thousand-Faced Avatar]: 50 points each.
New powers unlocked by his rank: [Malice Capture] for 200 points; [Dread Night-Fiend] for 500 points.
Current rank is [Slaughterer]; promotion requires 1,000 points.

The fact that the price for the next rank had jumped tenfold left Chen Zi'ang stunned. Of course, considering the wealth gap between different classes in the real world—the poor, the middle class, and the rich—a tenfold difference was hardly surprising. He eventually managed to understand.

Since he could only choose one exchange for the time being, [Profane Sorcery] and [Thousand-Faced Avatar] remained out of consideration. If he chose to upgrade his rank, he would gain no immediate boost to his combat power, and he might soon face the risk of fighting Takano Seiko. Furthermore, after upgrading, he would only have 300 points left, which might not be enough to afford the higher-tier powers even if the list refreshed immediately.

Looking at the new powers available after reaching [Slaughterer], there were no explanations provided. [Malice Capture] seemed, by its name, to be an auxiliary scouting power that sensed malice from other lifeforms. [Dread Night-Fiend] sounded like a summoning power, much like [Abyssal Touch].

After much thought, Chen Zi'ang decided to upgrade [Abyssal Touch] again.

The reason was simple: he had been promoted to Chief of the Field Division and had fewer opportunities to go out on duty. The more pressing threat came from Takano Seiko, that witch, so it was best to reinforce the powers he already possessed. If he knew the specifics of the new powers, he could consider them carefully, but lacking information beyond their names and prices, wasting a precious exchange felt too extravagant. With a major battle looming, he decided not to "open a blind box."

He chose to upgrade [Abyssal Touch], and the same question as before flashed before his eyes: continue upgrading the Substrate? Or shift to Spirit, or Concept?

Earlier, Chen Zi'ang would have undoubtedly chosen the Substrate, as it offered the most straightforward and brutal improvement, helping him survive head-on confrontations with anomalies. However, he still remembered Xia Qingyu’s assessment of divinity while in Nishikawa Mie’s divine kingdom:

"It possesses no attackable entity, nor does it fear any type of energy. Only your Mandala Dharma Sword can strip away its concept."

In other words, if Takano Seiko’s divinity was of a similar nature, then upgrading powers in the Substrate category would likely be of no help in slaying her. Non-corporeal, conceptual entities might only be vulnerable to conceptual powers.

Chen Zi'ang was not the type to be overly cautious to the point of inaction, but even if he decided to take a gamble, he had to calculate the possibilities beforehand. Upgrading [Abyssal Touch] toward the Concept path seemed, in terms of probability, more likely to help him deal with the witch Takano Seiko than exchanging for new powers or upgrading his rank.

It was decided: he would upgrade the Concept!

As the thought crossed his mind, the exchange list blurred, and a vast amount of information flooded his brain:

"Tentacle tentacle tentacle tentacle tentacle tentacle tentacle tentacle..."