Chapter 63: End of the Trial Ethan had just taken control of the situation, but the beasts were still coming out of the ocean endlessly. Ethan thought," Once this shit is over, I’ll make a seafood festival for three days nonstop. Damn it. I’ll cook that ocean emperor bastard soon too." Using flying knives didn’t consume his force energy, only mental energy—and that was one thing he didn’t lack. So the minced meat was already piled into a huge hill. While Ethan was cursing, the beast tide suddenly started retreating. Everyone was surprised. Finally, those damn things were going back to where they came from. Cough—well, back to the ocean. Ethan was about to vanish into the wilderness, but then he heard a voice behind him. "Wait!" Ethan knew exactly whom this deep voice belonged to. He didn’t bother to look back. Instead, he replied in a deep voice, "President, I respect you very much. Please don’t ask me anything. Have a good day." He then vanished into the deep wilderness. Dragon didn’t pursue futher either. All of Ethan’s clones were retreating, but some one from Supercity 6 started following him. He thought he was being very cautious and that Ethan wouldn’t notice him. But he didn’t know that each of Ethan’s clones’ mental domains almost covered the entire Supercity. So he naturally noticed the man. Who is this guy? Oh, we’ll see about that. He started flying even faster. The follower was now having a hard time keeping up. Ethan snorted. "A measly Level 1 Emperor is trying to follow me after I specifically told everyone not to? If I don’t teach you a lesson, I won’t be Ethan Hunt." All of Ethan’s clones received the news about an Emperor from Supercity 6 tailing him. So they all started flying toward that location. They would first ask his intentions—and if the guy couldn’t answer properly... hehe... they would pummel him. Ten versus one. Each of the ten was stronger than him. Erasmus was startled by the speed of this person. How can a King have such speed? Even if his power is doubled through treasures or something, this speed seriously belongs to an Emperor. Is this guy an Emperor? No—I watched their battle. If he were an Emperor, they wouldn’t have struggled that much. Maybe it’s some secret technique he got from a ruin or somewhere. He regained his confidence. Meanwhile, in the secret realm, Ethan killed the last monster on the eighth floor. Master Po was looking at him blankly. "No way... this dude really did it. I’ll have to call him Master from now on." That was the rule made by the Galactic Lord: if someone could conquer the Level 8 floor, they would get their own free personal AI. There were many generations of AIs. Master Po was a tenth generation—capable of maintaining the data of an entire galaxy alone, and evolving with time. He was on the verge of the eleventh generation. This AI was the best gift a disciple could get. But Ethan didn’t stop. He was going to finish Level 9 and create history. When Master Po saw this, his eyes widened. What is this guy doing? He already finished Level 8 and got full control over me. He wants to show off? Po snorted coldly. Then let him feel some pain. He opened the pain sensors of the tower and set them to 10%. Ethan didn’t want to waste time with this nonsense. He used the Level 9 Extinction and pulverized the ninety Level 9 King-level space beasts. The panda’s eyes were wide opened. Master Po fell to his knees. "Master, your cute AI at your service." He was totally convinced. Calling a legend Master was not bad at all—it was even the best. He would be able to show off in front of the other AIs when he met them. But Ethan didn’t come out after finishing Level 9. A projection appeared in the room. It was a human-shaped figure, its face clad in light. The projection was huge, so Ethan couldn’t gauge the exact size of the real person. The man lowered his head and looked at Ethan. "I am Sycarion Voss Ithrael, the owner of this inheritance realm. Congratulations, boy, for passing the Level 9 tower. This is the second time someone has done that." "Second time?" Ethan frowned. But Po told me no one had ever done this. The man said, "Indeed. If you acknowledge me as your master, you will be able to meet your senior brother." Ethan felt like the man suddenly smiled under the light—a very amiable smile. For some reason, a chill ran down his spine. Ethan didn’t hesitate. "Your most powerful genius disciple, Ethan Hunt, greets Master." The man in the projection felt a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. What a shameless bastard. But he continued calmly, "Once you step into the Planetary Realm, your AI will guide you to my abode. I’ll make a space tunnel then. As for your reward for passing Level 9, I am giving you a skill." The projection vanished. A skill book materialized in Ethan’s hand. Short Time Teleport. It would allow Ethan to teleport within a 100-meter radius. Ethan nodded in happiness. He was already looking forward to the upgraded version of this ability. Then Ethan asked in his mind," Hey System, this dude—the Galactic Lord Psycho or something—is a son of a bitch, right?" [How did you figure that out?] A message came from the System. It’s a hunch, you might say. That guy is collecting destined people from everywhere. I’m sure he’s up to no good. [Correct as always.] Ethan smiled but didn’t say anything more. He came out of the tower. Po was still kneeling. A fat panda kneeling looked rather historical. Ethan held back the urge to pinch his furry cheek. Seeing Ethan come out, Po looked up and cheered, "Master, congratulations!" he said cutely. Ethan’s mouth twitched. Wasn’t he an arrogant punk just now? Now look at him, acting all cute. "Stand up, Po. You don’t need to call me Master. Call me Boss." "Yes, Boss!" Po gave a salute. "Okay, now let’s see the prize I won... hehe." Outside, deep in the wilderness. Where satellite cameras couldn’t see, Ethan’s clone stopped. He said, "You’ve been following me for quite some time. Don’t you think it’s time to come out?" Erasmus, clad in a mask, emerged. "Your instincts are sharp. Anyway, tell me who you are and what your organization is, and I’ll let you live." Ethan looked at him with some amusement. "It’s proper etiquette to give your introduction first before asking others, don’t you think so, old man?" Ethan already figured out who this Level 1 Emperor was. Supercity 6 had three Emperors: one belonged to the Alliance, a Level 5 Emperor; one in the Windsor Family, a Level 4 Emperor; and the other from the Ashford Family—a Level 1 Emperor. A few days ago, Ethan had destroyed an Ashford young master. So he had used some extra mental power to gauge the Ashford Family today. But why is he here? He doesn’t know who I am... "Boy, you are just a King. Don’t act arrogant in front of me. Now answer my question. Were you the one who was present in Base City 5 that day? Did you kill that monster?" Then something clicked in Ethan’s mind. So the Ashfords were responsible for that day’s attack. What a dumbass—I didn’t even investigate yet, and here the criminal comes to confess. Should I kill him? No—then Dragon might think I’m from an evil organization and try to hunt me down. I really don’t want to fight him. He can be a great general under my command. But Ethan wasn’t going to let him off easily. All nine other clones stepped out. Erasmus was startled and took a step back. He hadn’t sensed their presence at all. Those ten didn’t even give him any chance. They all charged at him together. Erasmus was an Emperor, after all. He became enraged at their insolence and attacked immediately. He conjured earth spikes, meteors from the sky—all at once, intending to destroy everyone. But Ethan’s clones didn’t even flinch. They appeared in front of him in a blink and released their full pressure. At that moment, Erasmus knew he was utterly fucked. He tried to run away. Bam! A kick landed squarely on his back. He fell face-first to the ground. Then began the ultimate pummeling—punches, kicks, slaps. It was a beautiful rhythm. A heavenly tune. Erasmus tried to protect himself by conjuring force around his body, but it did jack shit. The protective coating fell apart in moments. The pummeling continued. Erasmus started howling. "Please let me go! I was wrong! I’m a very elderly person! I have money—I can give you one percent!" Ethan paused for a moment. Erasmus thought he had successfully stopped the disaster. But then the pummeling resumed even harder. Erasmus was on the verge of crying. The hits felt like hell—unbearably painful. After twenty minutes, he finally started sobbing. Saliva dribbled from his mouth, and snot ran from his nose as he begged for mercy with all his might. In Supercity 1, Dragon ordered everyone to collect those sea monsters. They would have a feast. Dragon was also a passionate man. He carried a passion similar to Ethan’s. "Ocean Emperor, you bastard. Once Ethan comes out from that realm, you’d better pray I don’t get anything useful from there. Or else, I’ll barbecue your thick octopus legs." In the wilderness, Erasmus had lost consciousness. His face was black and blue, covered in lumps. He looked utterly pathetic. Ethan felt refreshed. He hadn’t killed him because that day no one had died, and Erasmus was just an ant he could squash anytime, anywhere. From now on, he would watch that family. If they did anything to harm him or anyone close to him, he would destroy the Ashfords without a doubt. In the secret realm— Ethan was eagerly waiting for his rewards. Po gave him a ring. Ethan took the ring, still looking at the panda with expectant eyes. Master Po said, "That’s all, Boss. The other things are the knights you’re seeing and the others you saw outside." Ethan was still smiling, but as the sentence processed in his mind, his face turned black, then blue, then yellow with anger. He roared like a mad dragon, "Po, you corrupted bastard! You ate all my rewards, right? Spill them out right now—or else—" Ethan was about to rush at him, but Po spoke in a hurried, panicked voice. "Boss! That’s a space ring! Everything is inside!" "Heh?" Ethan stopped mid-charge. Space ring? That legendary thing really exists... He dreamed of having a space ring and carry everything without burden. Finally he could achieve his dream. He started laughing creepily. Po felt goosebumps all over him by those creepy look.