Chapter 826: The Struggling Marionette

This was Russell's first appearance.

It wasn't just Ye Qiyan who sensed the divinity radiating from him.

At this very moment, within the headquarters, the few Train Conductors who had previously hunted gods all felt the same thing.

Stacia.

Koleira.

And...

Bartos, who had come from the City of a Thousand Stars.

"Who talked this kid into this? Why did he go down the Divine Sequence Path?"

In a restaurant, Bartos stared at Russell in shock, rubbing his eyes.

After confirming he hadn't misseen things, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Mr. Bartos, what does Divine Sequence Path mean?"

A young man trailed beside Bartos.

The young man looked thin and small. Compared to Bartos's burly frame, it seemed like a single slap could smash him into the ground.

"It means becoming a False God. In the past, quite a few people who had no room to grow decided to use their own power to walk that path. But later on, they discovered that while walking that road let them live a long time, the Divine Sequence they chose would become a shackle and a chain.

Even worse, because they'd gained divinity, it actually made it impossible for them to defeat some people they previously could have beaten."

"Why?"

"Because of Titles. Kid, why do you have so many questions? Stay here and watch. I need to go report this to Boss Lu. Something's not right here. Why did that kid named Russell suddenly gain divinity?"

Similar confusion appeared in several people.

Stacia, who was out in the field exterminating trolls, furrowed her brow. After hesitating for a moment, she contacted someone on her friends list.

["Sister Gina Two, I remember you said that the boss of RUN Company was someone you were using. Did you... make her walk the Divine Sequence Path?"]

No response came from the other end of the friends list. Stacia facepalmed in exasperation.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I don't have the Time Flow Synchronization module. Only the blog on my phone can send messages synchronized across time flow... Huh? Wait, why did I forget? Sister Xingtu upgraded the public chat room to shared synchronization."

She muttered softly to herself, copied her question into the Emperor's Order public chat room, and tagged Menrojina's name.

And as for someone else who was also in that organization...

Unlike Ye Qiyan, who didn't particularly care about the conversations of Emperor's Order members, Zhao Lin, who happened to be right beside him, heard the special notification tone. She pulled out her tablet computer and looked at the text on it with some confusion.

"Brother Qiyan, is the Divine Sequence Path something bad?"

Ye Qiyan, who had been pondering Russell's condition, snapped back to attention. Hearing her question, he raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you suddenly ask about that?"

"Look."

Zhao Lin held up the tablet with the chat function up for Ye Qiyan to see.

Seeing the contents, Ye Qiyan was actually just as curious to know how Menrojina would answer.

A few minutes later, Menrojina sent a message in the group.

["What Divine Sequence Path? I'm raiding a Station World right now. The boss of RUN Company? I haven't had time to deal with that place recently."]

["Huh? But if it wasn't you, then why—"]

["Wait, what happened over there?"]

Stacia sent out everything that had occurred, in full detail.

["You're saying Ye Qiyan is there with you too?"]

["Actually, little sister Zhao Lin is also here."]

Menrojina didn't continue the conversation in the chat room.

But immediately after, Ye Qiyan's system interface materialized before his eyes, and the notification tone for a friends list message rang out at that moment.

[The other party has enabled Time Flow Synchronization]

[Connecting]

[Synchronization successful]

Time Flow Synchronization.

Menrojina didn't originally have this permission.

She'd only obtained it not long ago, from the Grand Judge Zhao Xi, under the name of Karma.

["A marionette is cutting the strings above its head with a knife. Unfortunately, I, the one holding the strings, cannot respond in time."]

Ye Qiyan drew out Bewitchment and crossed it with Defiance.

Only then did he reply on the light screen:

["So the divinity on Russell wasn't your doing?"]

["Heh, if it were, I wouldn't deceive you. RUN Company is a very good tool to use. As long as their emotions are slightly guided, they can become a considerable force."]

["So, Sister Gina, what do you want to do?"]

["In a certain corner of a certain floor of RUN Company's current headquarters, there exists a secret space. I've sent many people to scout it out, but none could find it.

This company was originally controlled and supported behind the scenes by Heinz, the founder of Utopia City, one of the twelve cities established by the Homeward-bound Souls.

The people of Utopia City know the location of that secret space.

All that's missing is a key.

But that key can only be known to whoever sits in the position of RUN Company's boss, after obtaining the recognition of this world.

These are all pieces of information I gathered after gradually taking control of RUN Company's backend data and some of its high-ranking members.

I don't want to do anything.

After all, RUN Company is just a tool I can use to me.

But Bro Ye, you're different.

You should be asking yourself that question you just asked me.

Right now, at this very moment, you're at RUN Company's headquarters. What do you want to do?"]

Every high-ranking member around Russell had been controlled by Menrojina through Karma.

But even so, she still didn't know when exactly Russell had gained his divinity.

And she certainly didn't know that Ye Qiyan had already obtained a secret Substitute Cube that was highly likely to be the key to the door.

So what he wanted to do was already obvious.

Find that door, and see what was inside.

["I think I've figured it out. I came here to attend Stacia's meet-and-greet, so I might as well let this performance continue. Heh."]

["If you need anything, contact me anytime. Oh right, this is for you."]

An email was sent over.

Ye Qiyan opened his mailbox, and looked at what was inside, stunned.

He wasn't stunned because the item Menrojina sent was precious, nor was it because of her at all.

Rather, it was because in his mailbox, a Divine Core was still lying quietly, unclaimed.

[B-grade Divine Core - Prism]

"...How did I forget about this thing? It's a B-grade Divine Core, after all."

He'd been busy ever since leaving the Lunar Heart Arena, and had completely forgotten he still had a Divine Core to claim.

And on top of that, that unreliable Miatira hadn't even reminded him.

Speechlessly straightening the light screen that had been slowly inching to the side, he first extracted the item Menrojina had sent.

[Karmic Vessel]

[Category: Ability Derivative]

[Contains fifteen Karmic threads inside. Can be used on those who owe Karma to Menrojina, compelling them to undergo Karmic Retribution]