Chapter 89: Who created Evolution Online?

A crisp snap of a finger.

A spark in the dark.

The stronghold spectators were just shielding their eyes from the Emperor’s sword when the Emperor suddenly froze mid-air.

He could only let out a groan before his body began breaking down into ash particles as he was slowly erased from existence.

"T-This... is not the end."

Those were his last words as he disappeared from the sky, and the sun immediately stopped generating power and began receding as it gave way for the moon once more.

Kaelen was left suspended mid-air as the full moon slowly appeared behind him, casting its warm glow upon his back as the entire stronghold finally looked up once more, speechlessly.

Kaelen stood there for a moment, reeling in the silence, when his vision glitched and a series of notifications began flashing across his vision.

[You have reached the strength cap for Tier 33 Lifeforms]

[You have reached the strength cap for Tier 34 Lifeforms]

[You have reached the strength cap for Tier 35 Lifeforms]

[You have reached the strength cap for Tier 36 Lifeforms]

[You have reached the strength cap for Tier 37 Lifeforms]

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[You have reached the strength cap for Tier 41 Lifeforms]

[You have killed a Divine Puppet of the Primordial Keepers]

[10,000× Reward Multiplier Triggered...]

[You have received 5,000,000,000,000 Evolution Points]

[You have received (1) Loot Bundle]

[Quality or Quantity?]

Kaelen only spared the notification one glance before he immediately activated his [Sharp Senses] and spread his perception across the stronghold to search for the Emperor.

Respawning didn’t take more than five minutes before the individual spawned at their save point. But even after searching for several long minutes, Kaelen couldn’t find the man anywhere across Stronghold 1.

His brows furrowed slightly.

Did the Emperor not put a save point inside his own stronghold?

How was that even possible?

A figure suddenly appeared behind his back, but Kaelen didn’t need to turn to know it was President Hunter from his mana signature.

He was silent for a moment before he finally spoke.

"I don’t think you’ll find him here."

Kaelen turned to face the man with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

"I’m not certain, but from the way I see it, the Emperor seemed to have learnt a lesson after trying to kill your father, and to this day fears his return. So the possibility of him changing his save point to somewhere no one could find him, like your father did, is very plausible."

Kaelen’s expression immediately changed. Not out of rage, but his focus immediately shifted to the mention of his father being alive.

Before he could ask, President Hunter explained. "You asked me if your father had attained Tier 9 before his death, so I did my research and refreshed my memory with a few acquaintances who knew what happened back then... my answer is yes. Your father did reach Tier 9 before his death, and was the first man to ever do so in Evolution Online. So there’s a possibility your father might still be out there somewhere."

Kaelen fell silent for a moment as he digested the information. But even after learning the truth, he still had a thousand more questions.

If his father was still alive, and his mother was still alive as well... why did they never come back for him?

Why did his mother abandon him in front of Stronghold 5 and disappear?

"I know what you’re thinking, Kaelen," President Hunter suddenly said. "But you’re asking yourself the wrong questions." The man’s expression turned serious as he looked Kaelen directly in the eyes.

"There’s so many things you and I don’t know about this world and the origin of the first wave that devastated modern civilization and turned humanity into feral survivors. Over my years of research, I’ve come to discover that everything—including your father’s death and what happened in Stronghold 2 that night—all seem to be connected by a thin thread. If you keep chasing after the wrong questions, you’ll end up in dead ends that can lead you to frustration. But if you truly want to know what happened with your parents, you have to know what happened to Earth."

"I’ve made up my mind not to show sympathy for this world, but if everything’s somehow connected to my parents, then tell me... what is the right question I should be chasing?" Kaelen asked with a cold tone.

President Hunter shifted his gaze to the full moon hanging in the sky before he replied. "Just a few months ago, you came to me to exchange one billion Evolution Points for dollars. And just like you, the entire stronghold comes to exchange their Evolution Points in exchange for the dollar currency. Have you ever wondered why that is?

"Have you ever wondered why it’s a one-way conversion and the dollars you exchange it for hold no weight in Evolution Online?"

"Ever wondered where all the Evolution Points the bank receives go to?"

Kaelen frowned deeply. He never thought about it, but now that President Hunter mentioned it, it was concerning. Considering the fact that he was fully aware Evolution Online was real now.

"You’re the President of the Central Bank, aren’t you? Tell me, where does it go to?" Kaelen asked.

President Hunter smiled at his question. It wasn’t warm either. "That’s it. I’m the President of the Central Bank across the nine strongholds... but even I don’t know where it goes."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Everything is sent to the capital, and I’ve always thought the Emperor puts it back inside the game. But we both saw how even he was unable to ascend beyond Tier 41, and his entire forces averaging between Tier 20, that raises the question: where do the Evolution Points go?" Hunter said and turned to Kaelen.

"So if you truly want to know about what really happened with your parents, your question should be... who created Evolution Online?"