Chapter 1 The Battle Within the City

The sounds of battle inside the inner city grew louder, the flames of war spreading rapidly throughout.

Explosive shockwaves from high-powered firearms crashed one after another, mushroom clouds rising into the sky. Towering buildings collapsed in the violent explosions, the rumbling sounds incessant like a thunderstorm, the firelight turning half the sky red.

The bustling inner city was plunged into chaos.

The pirate attack had happened at midnight, and people were jarred awake from their dreams by the violent commotion.

The pirates, having thoroughly scouted the area beforehand, knew that the wealthiest people lived in the highest parts of the inner city. When they stormed in, dozens of squad leaders led tens of thousands of vicious pirates into the mansions of various great families, and looting began.

These great families typically kept tier-2 and tier-3 professionals as guards, with sophisticated equipment. In Old Lingdun, this was already considered a top-tier defense force and should have been able to deal with any robber...

But against these pirate squad leaders, who were all tier-5 professionals, they were as fragile as paper.

The pirates were like a pack of wolves pouncing on a flock of defenseless sheep.

"Brothers, hurry up! The boss said we get to loot for two days! Women, treasure, whoever grabs it keeps it!"

"Hahaha... a chance to get rich!"

"These underground women are so soft and tender, a hundred times better than those hags on the ship whose skin is so rough they could be used as sandpaper! My goodness, I bet even the high nobles of the empire aren't this good..."

"Gagagaga... brothers, charge!"

"..."

Just as Soren and the others had predicted, the pirates had no ability to occupy territory; they were just here to loot.

But it would take at least three days for the Duke Raphael's fleet to arrive and provide support. That meant the pirates had these few days to burn, kill, and loot as they pleased.

A nightmare had begun for the residents of Old Lingdun.

...

Inside the inner city's seventh district was a luxurious mansion with white stone statues, fountains, and colorful tulip gardens.

This was once the property of the Reis family, but having recently received news about the "Tower Climb," the family head, Carnegie Reis, frantically sold off his assets. This property, a symbol of the inner city's number one financial group, was also sold.

And now, it had become the base of operations for their former competitor, the Anderson Conglomerate.

After the underground cavern incident, the inner city's various powers had been reshuffled, and the Anderson family had vaguely become the leading financial group in Old Lingdun.

The Anderson family head was hosting a grand banquet today. Clark, Oliver, David, Smith... the heads of the various great families, along with their wives and daughters, were gathered together, toasting and reveling in the lively atmosphere.

They were celebrating their victory after years of struggle.

The Reis family had sold off various important assets and was now out of the game, with no chance of recovery.

From now on, they would have the final say in the inner city.

But the accident came suddenly.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom..."

The violent sounds of battle from the Black Tower center stunned the upper class people in their luxurious formal wear.

Someone was attacking the Duke's mansion?

The news of the pirates had spread like wildfire through the various great families in the vast inner city.

"Sir, madam, something's wrong! A group of robbers has stormed out of the Duke's mansion and are killing anyone they see."

"The guards? Quickly, notify the guards!"

"Lord Burt, this is terrible! A bunch of robbers seems to be heading our way in the seventh district. They have super-tier professionals among them; they're very strong... the city defense force can't stop them; they were scattered instantly..."

"Something's wrong, the villains have already stormed into the building! Chief Guard Mark has been killed, the guards can't stop them!"

"..."

Bad news came one after another, the sudden changes overwhelming everyone.

Just minutes ago, upon hearing the commotion, these inner city big shots had been able to remain elegant and composed.

Although they didn't know what these so-called "robbers" were up to, they had grown used to being ruled by the Duke's mansion, and they assumed the powerful city guard would crush the robbers.

After all, in their eyes, the Black Tower guard possessed the power to destroy everything.

But unexpectedly, every message brought more bad news.

The bandits were like a torrent, unstoppable.

After the Duke's mansion was breached, the city guard hadn't been able to stop them at all. The robbers were killing their way straight into the building at an utterly unexpected pace.

Only now did these lords and ladies belatedly begin to flee in panic.

But it was too late.

Moments after the news came, several pirates with their wing-type exoskeletons deployed landed on the roof, blocking everyone's path.

The banquet had invited the president of the Hunter Wilderness Union, tier-3 professional "Fiend" Meg Owen.

He was one of the apex figures in Old Lingdun City.

Looking at the uninvited guests, he roared with a resounding voice, "Who are you people?"

Unexpectedly, before his voice could fade, a head fell to the ground.

In one exchange, a tier-3 expert was dead!

The pirate squad leader with the red bandana killed him, wiped the blood off the short blade in his hand, and sneered.

In the short span of those few breaths, several of his subordinates had also killed off the tier-1 and tier-2 guards.

Leaving a group of lords and ladies huddled in the banquet hall, trembling in fear.

The red bandana pirate leader wore a greedy smile, but he didn't kill anyone else.

He swaggered into the banquet hall, grabbed a handful of meat from the table filled with sumptuous food and fruit, and stuffed it into his mouth, smacking his lips. "Tsk tsk, you guys know how to enjoy yourselves..."

He also took a swig of red wine, a look of enjoyment on his face.

Then, he looked at a gorgeously dressed noblewoman not far away and walked toward her with a lewd gaze.

The noblewoman in the low-cut blue dress had already been pushed to the corner, with nowhere left to retreat.

The red bandana pirate grabbed her, and in front of hundreds of people in the banquet hall, his rough hands rudely reached into her chest. He seemed to savor the unusual smoothness and grinned, revealing his smoke-stained yellow teeth. "Heh, these knockers are so soft and tender..."

The woman screamed in fright, trying to break free, but the red bandana pirate tore her long dress.

With a "ripping" sound, the long dress was torn to shreds.

The woman's upper body was now exposed to the air.

Looking at the panicked woman covering her chest, the pirates nearby burst into laughter.

And seeing this noblewoman being humiliated, a seemingly gentlemanly man stood up.

"You..."

But before he could say anything, a line of blood appeared on his neck, and his head fell to the ground.

A human fountain erupted before their eyes, and the hundred-plus people in the banquet hall were like frightened quails, no one daring to speak again.

With absolute strength, these pirates showed these top nobles of Old Lingdun what it meant for "weakness to be a sin."

"Anyone else want to say something?"

The red bandana pirate looked around. "Since no one wants to speak, then listen to me!"

He sneered and shouted loudly, "I am the seventh squad leader of Lord Oleg's Fourth Fleet. I'm giving you a chance to live; pay up to buy your lives..."

The pirates had plenty of experience with looting, and they were very skilled in the ways of kidnapping and extortion.

They knew very well that controlling these "big shots" was much more efficient than finding treasure themselves.

The banquet hall was covered in blood, and the human fountain on the ground was still twitching. The lords and ladies had long been scared out of their wits, and no one dared to disobey...

This scene was playing out all over the inner city.

The mansions of the various big financial groups became the first places the pirates patronized.

...

While the pirates were looting wantonly in the city,

At the same time,

In a secret laboratory in Old Lingdun's District 1,

This was a secret base for researching mechanical warriors, a place that even the upper echelons of the Umbrella organization didn't have permission to access.

After the Black Tower was breached by the pirates and the inner city guard proved so weak, the only place in the city that still put up a decent resistance was this mechanical research institute.

With the help of heavy mechanical doors and the mechanical warriors in the factory, the people inside the institute were still stubbornly resisting.

A group of pirates was angrily attacking.

"Damn it, attacking this lab is a waste of my time! The guys in the seventh squad have so much treasure their storage rings are overflowing, and the women have been screwed until their legs are soft... When the general comes and smashes open this damn mechanical door, I'm going to shove the head of whoever ordered it closed up his ass!"

"Captain, Duke Raphael's 'Super Mechanical Warriors' really showed off in the war. The major lords in the black market have been clamoring for those blueprints, with prices sky-high. This is the most valuable stuff, I heard you can trade it for a Duke title in the Maha Empire..."

"Haha, you're right. No wonder Duke Raphael is richer than a country, turns out he has a gold mine like this... We're going to be rich this time! By the way, has the general arrived?"

"Almost."

"..."

The research institute had mechanical doors, and most of the buildings were underground.

Once the doors were closed, they were nearly impervious to firearms.

Unfortunately, there was a tier-6 professional among the pirates.

These mechanical doors, indestructible to tier-3 and tier-4 professionals, wouldn't last long under the attacks of a tier-6 professional.

Before long, a nearly two-meter tall bald woman arrived at the entrance to the research institute.

"General!"

"General!"

"..."

The pirates greeted her one after another.

This person was none other than Gladis Olmedo, the deputy fleet commander of the Fourth Fleet under the "King of the North Sea," with a bounty of 881 million Lesso, and known as "Sunflame Vice Admiral." A tier-6 professional, she had awakened a very rare talent [A-036-Flame Woman], a fire elemental variation, rumored to originate from a lava-controlling demoness from the mythical era.

Without any preamble, she formed a mage seal with both hands, and a roaring fire suddenly erupted around her. Looking closer, her whole body had turned into magma. With every step, the flowing magma scorched holes in the ground.

She placed her hands on the mechanical door and whispered, "Alchemy Art · Volcano!"

A crimson heptagram array lit up, and suddenly her arms erupted with molten lava as if a volcano had erupted.

Gobs of magma dripped onto the nearly one-meter thick alloy door, visibly melting it...

The pirates, watching the gradually breaking door, revealed gleeful and fierce expressions.

...

The commotion inside the inner city was huge, but conversely, the outer city wasn't affected at all.

The streets were filled with crowds of onlookers, pointing and commenting on the inner city's fires of war.

These pirates seemed to know their stuff.

The outer city was full of low houses and post-war Syrian-style slums, and plenty of factories belching white smoke. No matter how one looked at it, there was nothing worth robbing.

Not a single pirate came to the outer city.

The pirates seemed to have planned this long ago. After breaking through the Black Tower, several small squads directly seized several of the inner city's gates, blocking off the possibility of the inner city's residents escaping, trapping them like turtles in a jar.

Two days would be enough time for them to thoroughly plunder.

The Holy Cross Society, the Steam Party, the Raven Gang – the three great gangs – along with the various guilds that had transcendent professionals, were also taking action.

...

After sending out the message, at the Dark Alley Black Market in the North City.

Soren only found out later that the black market was the Mirror Organization's base of operations in Old Lingdun City.

And he had thought that the incredibly mysterious organizer was Mr. Mirror.

In a secret underground chamber deep beneath the surface, Soren and Chihiro arrived to find three people already there wearing gold-trimmed cloaks.

The cloaks of the Mirror Organization looked similar, but Soren now knew that they could be distinguished by the gold trim to identify each person.

Of the three people there, the one with the "mechanical gear" pattern was Number Nineteen, the one with the "fist" symbol was that tier-2 Red Devil Kai, and the one with the "book" pattern was Mr. Black.

When the two of them arrived, everyone nodded to each other, but no one spoke.

Because Soren was a new member, the three of them glanced at him.

But seeing the "Black Scythe" pattern on his cloak, everyone seemed to guess Soren's identity.

Before a few minutes had passed, a few more people arrived one after another.

Not counting Mr. Mirror, there were only eight people in the Mirror Organization.

Except for the person whose cloak had a "rotting flower" symbol, Soren had met everyone.

The atmosphere was very serious.

Just these few people standing together, an invisible sense of oppression instantly enveloped Soren's surroundings.

Even without any action, the auras of these people were so strong that they made one's breath feel constricted.

Soren knew that apart from him and Number Nineteen, the other six people were all tier-4 professionals who had awakened a secondary talent.

Being able to awaken a secondary talent also meant that they had definitely experienced life and death revelations, and they carried an aura of killing with them.

This was a group of people with tigers in their hearts.

In Mr. Mirror's words, professionals who could awaken a secondary talent were very rare, even a thousand years ago.

It usually meant that they had the potential to advance to tier-7 and truly glimpse the domain of top-tier alchemy!

...

The group didn't speak.

The pirate attack had come very suddenly, and the information they knew was very limited.

In the communicator, Sabina was continuing to report the situation in the inner city.

The Umbrella Organization had a massive intelligence network in the inner city, and they clearly grasped the movements of the pirates.

Apart from the hidden forces in a few secret laboratories, almost no one in the city had organized any effective counterattack.

"A few massive Abomination monsters have appeared at Biological Research Institute Number Seven; the pirates are entangled with them, but a tier-5 professional has stepped in to kill them..."

"A large number of mechanical warriors are participating in the battle at Mechanical Research Institute Number One, temporarily holding off that group of pirates. But a very strong professional has also arrived among the pirates, using lava abilities; they're about to break through the research institute..."

"The pirates are very brutal, killing anyone they see; the inner city residents have suffered heavy casualties. Especially the rich district in the upper city and the residences of the various financial groups; the pirates have gone for them..."

"..."

Soren shared the real-time information, and the atmosphere in the secret chamber grew even heavier.

...

Before long, a flash of mirror light condensed, and a person suddenly appeared in the secret chamber.

Everyone seemed to be used to this strange way of appearing, and no one was surprised.

The person who came was naturally Mr. Mirror.

"Leader!"

Everyone spoke to acknowledge him.

In the face of the strong, they all showed great respect.

Mr. Mirror nodded and, without wasting words, said directly, "The situation has been investigated pretty thoroughly. The good news is that 'King of the North Sea' Oleg didn't come; his Fourth Fleet came instead. These pirates killed the guard team stationed at Black Reef, and they destroyed the defensive restrictions and traps along the way, clearing a lot of trouble for us..."

Hearing this, everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Oleg was rumored to be an tier-8 professional, one of the top experts even in the surface world.

Mr. Mirror's strength hadn't fully recovered yet, and if that guy came, there would be almost no room for them to maneuver.

His not coming was indeed good news.

Moreover, the pirates had cleared the way, which meant the Tower Climb would have fewer problems.

But good news meant there was also bad news.

Sure enough, after pausing, Mr. Mirror continued, "But the bad news is, there are two tier-6 professionals in this Fourth Fleet: 'Sunflame Vice Admiral' Gladis Olmedo, and the 'King of the North Sea's' youngest son, 'Frost Troll' Gal Popov. Both of their battle strengths are very high, and their talents are very troublesome. With my current strength, I'm confident in dealing with one of them, but two would be very difficult. There are also more than a dozen tier-5 squad leaders and tier-4 vice squad leaders among these pirates... If we try to climb the tower now, the risk will be very high. So, I want to ask everyone's opinion."

As soon as he said this, everyone fell into contemplation.

Before, climbing the tower meant facing one of Duke Raphael's guard teams. They had been planning for many years, and they knew a lot about the arrangements, so the problems weren't too big.

But now, things had suddenly changed.

They had to face an entire fleet of the "King of the North Sea."

A tier-6 professional whom even Mr. Mirror called troublesome was definitely not that simple.

In the end, the "gold mine's" development space was limited. No matter how powerful these people were or how good their growth talents were, they had only just advanced to tier-4.

Even if secondary talents and some special cursed objects could make up for some of their combat power, they would barely reach the standard of tier-5.

That was still a world of difference from tier-6.

...

Hearing Mr. Mirror ask for opinions, Red Devil Kai thought of something, and he was the first to speak, saying, "Based on the current information, it will take Duke Raphael's territory a maximum of two or three days for their warships to travel at full speed to the Black Tower. So, these pirates will most likely not stay long, and there's an eighty percent chance they'll withdraw in two days. We can wait until then to go out. With no garrison and no pirates, that should be the safest option..."

As soon as he said this,

Everyone fell silent.

They felt that something was wrong, but they couldn't figure out exactly what it was.

If it was that simple, Mr. Mirror clearly wouldn't have brought it up for discussion.

Hearing this, Soren frowned slightly.

Kai's analysis was actually fine.

But because he lacked some necessary knowledge about the surface world, he had overlooked some factors.

Soren had harvested some memory fragments from outside, and he was probably the most knowledgeable about the outside world apart from Mr. Mirror.

After thinking about it, he felt it was necessary to inform them of some of the information he had thought of, so he said, "I don't think waiting for the pirates to leave before climbing the tower is a good choice."

As soon as he said this, everyone looked over at him.

Soren continued, "After all, if we leave Black Reef, we'll need a sea ship that can withstand the waves. If we wait for the pirates to leave, I don't think they'll leave us a single intact sea ship."

As soon as he said this, Kai also realized that he had overlooked something, and he suddenly understood, muttering to himself, "Oh yeah... there's also the sea."

After pausing, he looked at Soren again and asked, "Do we have to have a ship? Can't we swim across? If we need a ship, how big does it have to be? Can we build one ourselves?"

"Swimming... probably won't work. The intelligence shows that there are many terrifying sea beasts in the sea... The safest thing is to take a big sea ship!"

Soren's face twitched slightly, and he said, "The area near Black Reef is a storm zone; the nearby wind wolves are very strong, and the weather changes unpredictably. Small boats simply can't get us across the sea to the mainland safely."

The people of the underground world had never seen the sea, and they didn't have much of a concept of it.

They didn't even know what the standards were for a sea ship, nor would they know what impact the weather, waves, and storms would have on navigation...

But after hearing Soren's simple analysis, everyone gradually understood a little.

Mr. Mirror had been silent all along, naturally agreeing with this statement.

Hearing this, Mr. Black also spoke, agreeing with Soren's statement, saying, "Mm... I also agree with climbing the tower now. Otherwise, after this pirate attack, the existence of Old Lingdun will be exposed to the surface world. The Duke's mansion will definitely send heavy troops to guard it, and the defense force in the future will be even stronger, and other forces of the Luye Empire may intervene. If we miss this opportunity, the difficulty of climbing out later won't be any easier than it is now. Moreover, the annihilation of Princess Theresa's team has probably already alerted the Duke's mansion. If it weren't for the war between the two great empires, Duke Raphael would probably have come to investigate himself. If we delay any longer, there may be some unpredictable changes in the future..."

Hearing this, everyone also understood why Mr. Mirror had said that climbing the tower was very risky, without mentioning the option of not climbing now.

Because they had no choice.

In the underground, it was impossible for Mr. Mirror to fully recover to his peak strength. He still needed to find some high-level materials in the outside world.

"Climbing the tower" now would be very risky.

But if they didn't climb now, there would be more unpredictable problems in the future.

They might be trapped here forever.

After he said this, everyone understood, and they all expressed their positions.

Cards: "I also think that climbing the tower now is the best time."

Chihiro: "I agree!"

Ray: "I agree!"

...

The Mirror Organization was a very loose organization, and the members had the right to choose for themselves.

But everyone had gathered together for the same goal.

Because there were few people, and everyone present was intelligent, the efficiency of the meeting was extremely high.

After a few simple sentences, everyone voted in favor.

Mr. Mirror actually meant the same thing.

There was only one path to choose.

Whether they were willing to take the risk and climb the tower, they had to face death.

After the voting was completed, Mr. Mirror didn't say much and said, "Since everyone agrees with taking action now, we'll gather at the secret passage in two hours to prepare for the Tower Climb!"

Everyone: "Yes!"