The Traitor Has Stepped Forward on His Own!

The instant this realization surfaced in his heart, the final sound of shattering rang out. The desiccated Tyrant, withered like a corpse, still struggled in vain. In his grasp, the fractured Marquis Seal finally shattered completely, turning to dust! A wisp of essence drifted up and settled into Ji Jue's palm, and with it, fleeting phantoms and memories of the past washed over him. Legions waging ceaseless battle against behemoths at sea; splendid, solemn celebrations and conferrals of honor; unending luxury and indulgent revelry; apocalyptic scenes of heaven collapsing and earth rending; and a panicked, aimless flight. Finally, after striking a reef on the boundless ocean, the seal of nobility in its brocade box sank into the depths of the vast sea, lost to sight... Until countless years had passed, whether by stroke of fate or arduous searching, the barnacle-encrusted box was fished from the sea and pried open. Dazzling light illuminated a face weathered by time and hardship. Shrieks of agony erupted. As terrified, struggling companions were hoisted into the air, pulled by black threads manifesting from thin air, a famished, covetous flame kindled within those turbid eyes. He had gripped the seal tight, holding it like a treasure more precious than life itself. For centuries thereafter... Until one day, the seal slipped from his grasp, along with a life that should have ended long ago. No matter how the Tyrant wailed, called out, or wept bitter tears in pleading. This authority had never belonged to him. It never had. Now, the time had come for it to end. Radiance, drifting and unfurling like clouds and sky, gathered in Ji Jue's hand, condensing into the silhouette of a blade. Slowly raised, and without hesitation, brought down. *Crack—* The terror-twisted head fell amidst the ruins of the hall, mingling with the shattered remnants of the throne. Meeting death. As the Tyrant's blood drained away into the darkness, the cloud-like flames finally consumed the last dregs of the Law of Aberration, converging and taking shape in Ji Jue's grasp. Only... "What the heck is this?" Ji Jue looked down blankly at the thing in his hand. With Ji Jue's spine as its primary material, it naturally couldn't take the shape of an ordinary sword, but the form Chixiao now unfolded and constructed left even Ji Jue, its creator, utterly baffled. The original spine-like appearance had smoothed out, its contours softened. Held in hand, it felt like an angular bamboo cane, yet upon its bamboo-like segments flowed dense, tiny characters, like decrees naturally forged by heaven and earth. Looking closely, one would see that inscribed across it were the employee benefits, compensation packages, and safety regulations Ji Jue had laid down and emphasized for the Coast factory, along with the hierarchical divisions and management systems within the Lord of the Flies... Holding Chixiao, at first glance, it looked like... ummmmmm... The more he looked, the more it resembled an imperial tally representing supreme authority—the kind held by imperial envoys exemplified by the Imperial Sovereign's Hand during the era of the Eternal Empire! Perhaps because it had merged with the Veil, the very top of the tally even bore an ethereal banner fluttering in the breeze, upon which the mandala layers of Deus Ex Machina shifted in ceaseless rotation. This was unmistakably a banner-tally representing the [Power of Summary Execution]! In the era of the Eternal Empire, this was a symbol of imperial sovereignty that not even enfeoffed princes and lords could possess. The sole authority granted by the crown allowed its bearer full reign to govern and oversee all affairs under their jurisdiction, able to decide the life or death of princes and marquises with a single word... Now, upon the banner-tally into which Chixiao had transformed, the authorities of Tianyuan and the Tower flowed through one another as though they were one and the same. The front pumped out brilliant gold light, while the back belched plumes of black smoke... Something wasn't right! Myriad Soul Banner on the back, Human Sovereign Banner on the front? To make matters worse, deep within Chixiao's core... nestled between the emblems of Tianyuan and the Tower, a seal had suddenly appeared! [Ever-Enduring Heaven's Mandate, Eternal Through Ten Thousand Generations] What the hell was this?! Ji Jue broke into a cold sweat, his vision dimming. He felt the sheer absurdity of someone crying wolf all day, only for the wolf to actually show up and ask when you were going to throw out the disobedient kid for dinner. Who the hell stamped the Imperial Seal of the Realm onto my Chixiao?! In a daze, he seemed to hear familiar, gloating laughter. But when he tried to focus on it, everything had already vanished without a trace. Gripping the Chixiao banner-tally, Ji Jue could sense that it wasn't just superficially similar in form like other Tianyuan ritual implements. Even if he were thrown back hundreds of years into the era of the Eternal Empire, it could function as the genuine article! But times had long since changed! In this day and age, where was he supposed to use it?! It came down to that same old truth: authority descends from above. The power of a banner-tally derived from the emperor's endorsement. Without an emperor, the tally was nothing more than an ornamental relic. Trying to use a sword from the previous dynasty to slay officials of the Federation and the Empire wouldn't work in the slightest! All that remained was the inherent power of Chixiao's Foundation. Ji Jue had completely abandoned the original form and functions of a sword. The Foundation of Chixiao had traded away all lethality in exchange for ultimate crowd control. Just like the Tyrant, internally it wielded unquestioned, supreme dominion. Through the [Heavenly Constitution], Ji Jue could deploy and control his subordinates with even greater ease. Externally, he could harness the profound weight of Tianyuan to interfere with and warp all phenomena, bringing the forces of heaven and earth into harmony to bind and hamstring his adversaries. Such a noble crowd-control ability! It completely patched Ji Jue's current shortcomings, and what was more, it could continue to develop as Coast Industry and the Lord of the Flies expanded in scale... Caressing the banner-tally, Ji Jue beamed from ear to ear. As the saying went, without night grass a horse won't grow fat! Relying solely on Coast Industry would have taken who knew how long to nurture Chixiao, yet devouring a Tyrant alive had completed it immediately, extending its reach over the Lord of the Flies as well. It had even left behind such a vast swathe of territory! Hands behind his back, Ji Jue surveyed the devastation of the Ocean Abyss, clicking his tongue in admiration. What a fine place... Bereft of the Abyssal Lord's maintenance and support, countless tons of seawater would have swallowed everything whole, yet now, propped up by Chixiao's Foundation, it had regained its original form. So what if the Scaled were all dead? It didn't matter. He had the Lord of the Flies; he could have as many subordinates as he wanted. What mattered was the land! And below it, the majestic leyline formed by the dense terrestrial qi—an authentic treasure trove of geomancy. After all, the earth is receptive, and heaven moves vigorous. The Tyrant's Law likewise required a foundational support. When a leyline grew to this scale, it could rightfully be called a Dragon Vein! The richer the leyline, the more abundant the resources. The entire Ocean Abyss, inside and out, was a hyper-rich mineral zone where formed ores lay exposed in the open! Scraping off a small fragment of rock to test it, Ji Jue picked up the scent of countless elements... Splendid news! The Blessed Workforce Zone, which had been growing overstaffed due to the scale constraints of Punabantu, could now expand even further! His dedicated, hard-working employees wouldn't have to fear being optimized and returned to society; they could keep their heads down, labor diligently, and turn over a new leaf! Once reformed, when they finally reintegrated into society, they would possess practical skills beyond turning screws, becoming people of greater value to the world! Three major factories—Xinquan, Luo Island, and Mid-Continent; two sprawling zones—Punabantu and the Abyssal Realm. With all of that serving a single worker, could such a blessing possibly be small? From now on, we at Coast will have endless mountains of copper and iron—a supply that can never be exhausted! The thought that his dear brothers could now turn screws on the assembly line by day and mine in the Ocean Abyss by night—building a fulfilling life through the sweat of their own brows, laying bricks for his Chixiao in life and letting their residual warmth shine in the Paradise system in death—made Ji Jue's grin stretch from ear to ear. They could never repay Mr. Ji's immense kindness and virtue! Never in a lifetime! "Time to see what you've got!" Holding the weighty banner-tally, Ji Jue eagerly raised it toward the pitch-black abyss overhead. At once, amidst cloud-wreathed flames, a tremendous roar erupted. Under Chixiao's control, the parted abyss slowly closed, vanishing beneath the fathomless sea. Amidst violent tremors, the terrain shifted and heaved, rapidly blending into the seabed until not a single trace of the former abyss remained. Throughout the entire process, every transformation felt completely natural, hardly consuming any of Ji Jue's spiritus. Instead, his efficiency in using spiritus and his mastery over power had climbed several notches! Align the granularities, deliver a combo-punch, focus on vertical sectors, connect the underlying logic, complete the new business ecosystem, establish a closed-loop matrix... Directly reduced costs and increased efficiency! Once the sealing was complete, Ji Jue logged a coordinate in the Doomsday Express for future development, then jumped directly back aboard the Prosperity. Amidst the howling storm, the raging waves had subsided. Without the Tyrant stoking the flames behind the scenes, the gathered Sea Locusts began to show signs of routing, and the disoriented Merfolk were slaughtered to the last. The abyss lay far in the distance, and in the chaos of battle, he had been gone for barely ten-odd minutes; no one had noticed a thing. Transformed into Dragon Mountain, the Prosperity was still conscientiously processing the White Jiao's massive severed head. The colossal head was sealed within solid ice, its soul having already fled. Following in the Azure Jiao's wake, the White Jiao had also left behind a generous gift on Luo Island. By now, the tempest was gradually dying down, and the corpses in the murky currents sank in silence. Night had passed. A faint glimmer of celestial light descended from above, heralding dawn. A vibrant scene of burgeoning life and all things competing to flourish greeted the eyes. It seemed everything had ended, the crisis weathered with more scare than harm. Yet was it truly over? Ji Jue stared at the monitors displaying various feeds, his expression blank. The enemy had routed, the calamity beast had been decapitated, and the Tyrant's home had been ransacked by Ji Jue—an undeniable, overwhelming victory! Win, win, win—he'd won till he was numb. This time, he'd fished till his keepnet burst! The problem was... How many fish had slipped through the net? From the preceding melee until now, Ji Jue had never let down his guard. Even when a lion goes fishing, it uses all its strength! Yet at the very moment when internal and external perils erupted across Luo Island and the Tyrant and the White Jiao struck with everything they had, the malice-sensing ability from Wolf Sin had keenly picked up an unreleased strand of murderous intent! So deep, yet unimaginably sharp. Though it lasted only a fleeting instant, it had left Ji Jue with thorns at his back. Yet just as he braced for a formidable foe, the other party had realized one step ahead that the Abyssal Lord and the White Jiao posed no real threat to Ji Jue, and held back entirely. With arrow nocked to the string, they had seen through the situation and forcibly pulled their punch. Without firing a single shot, they had vanished without a trace. Like a seasoned veteran hunter, they would never pull the trigger without absolute certainty! Had it not been for Wolf Sin's perception, Ji Jue likely wouldn't have noticed a thing and would still be grinning like an idiot right now! Now came the question... Who on earth would be so calculating, taking such painstaking care to lurk behind the scenes, keeping their eyes on a weak, helpless, pitiable artisan like him? The Xu family? The Seven Cities? Or perhaps... Ji Jue lowered his gaze, recalling the fleeting glimpses he had caught when the Marquis Seal shattered. That strange, emaciated figure, hunched like an ape, inside the hall of the former Abyssal Lord. The Profound?