Lord of Prayer

Chapter 609: Chapter 392: Ambition

「Half an hour later.」

Jiang Che found a clue through her intelligence channels: a blurry photograph of a prison building. Certain areas were a perfect match for the divination image, confirming this was the place.

"This is Hai City’s Liushan Prison. It was built forty years ago to house the most dangerous convicts. Right now, over 6,000 inmates are serving time here, and ninety-five percent of them have sentences longer than forty years. It’s the kind of place where evil and violence fester—for creatures of Darkness, it’s practically an all-you-can-eat buffet," Jiang Che said, scrolling through the intel report on her screen.

Zhou Chen pulled out his phone to check the navigation, then tsked. "This godforsaken place is out in the suburbs. It’s almost an hour by subway, and then another hour’s walk from the final stop... There’s not much time. I need to get moving.

Do you have a safe house in Hai City?"

"I do."

"Hmm... Dupe’s lackeys are after me. Your cover isn’t blown, so you should be safe. I’ll get you out of here first."

「Two minutes later.」

In the fitting room of a nearby mall, firelight flickered from the crack under the door before vanishing in an instant.

Then, Jiang Che, her face and clothes once again changed, calmly pushed the door open and walked out. The fitting room behind her was empty.

A few more minutes passed. Zhou Chen, having reapplied his disguise, swaggered out of the hotel. He headed straight for the subway station two blocks away and boarded a train to the suburbs of Hai City.

Along the way, he felt several covert gazes on him, and their owners followed him onto the train. As the subway passed station after station, more passengers boarded, and the number of people with malicious intent in the crowd grew.

Through his retinal camera, Zhou Chen transmitted all of their faces to Jiang Che’s laptop. She then ran facial recognition, identifying them one by one.

"Be careful. There are four fully converted military cyborgs among them," Jiang Che’s cool voice came through his earpiece.

"My Alchemy and Forging Skill are both at Level 3," Zhou Chen chuckled over the channel.

Cybernetic modification is still a common means of enhancing one’s strength, but it’s typically only used by ordinary people and Ascenders who can’t advance any further. Promising Ascenders almost never accept such modifications.

While cybernetic modification can grant immense Power by installing powerful prosthetics, it has a fatal weakness: it’s easily countered by Alchemists and Blacksmiths. Confronted with an ability that disables electronics, like an electromagnetic pulse, a cyborg would lose all combat capability in an instant. At that point, their powerful prosthetics would become nothing more than a dead weight.

Of course, a cyborg could use more expensive alchemical prosthetics, which aren’t so easily countered. But the price of combat-grade alchemical prosthetics is astronomical; the average cyborg can’t possibly afford them, to say nothing of military-grade ones, which are even more powerful and expensive.

Full-body conversion means a prosthetic transplant rate of 99%. Only the brain and nervous system remain biological tissue; the rest is completely transformed into a creation of steel and machinery. It’s tantamount to abandoning one’s frail flesh and achieving mechanical ascension.

Because of the high cost of these prosthetics, only major powers can afford to develop full-body cyborgs, training them into ruthless killing machines. In terms of cost-effectiveness and loyalty, they are a better investment than training an Ascender from the ground up.

As long as their equipment is kept upgraded, a cyborg’s power can far surpass that of most Ascenders—and truly powerful Ascenders are a rare sight.

These four were all fully converted military cyborgs. If their loadouts were maxed out, their combat power would be on par with a T1 Level Ascender of Tier Three. But to Zhou Chen, they were just piles of walking steel.

Zhou Chen closed his eyes to rest, conserving his energy for the coming fight.

·

「Meanwhile.」

A group of uninvited guests arrived at Liushan Prison. They silently infiltrated the facility, killing on sight. They were well-trained and efficient; the guards were gunned down one after another before they could even sound the alarm.

The door to the communications room swung open.

PFFT PFFT PFFT PFFT. A man in a black mask raised his gun and fired. With nearly inaudible gunshots, the guards in the room—before they could even react—were hit and collapsed, all motion ceasing.

"Communications room secured," he reported in a low voice.

Responses followed one after another over the comms channel:

"Control room secured."

"Master control secured."

"..."

Before long, the uninvited guests had taken complete control of the prison.

Then, two trucks drove into the prison, stopping in the open space of the yard.

The cargo bays of the two trucks opened, revealing dozens of unconscious men, women, and children lying inside each one.

The intruders moved quickly. Some began unloading the ritual sacrifices from the trucks, while others started painting a formation on the ground, preparing for some massive ritual.

"Master, the ritual sacrifices have been tallied. None are missing. In fact, we have a few extras of each type, just as a contingency," the female Secretary said respectfully.

"Mm," Dupe grunted, standing there and quietly watching the bustling scene. After a long moment, he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, found a lighter, and lit it.

He took a drag from the cigarette and looked up, his gaze calm as it fell upon the night sky.

The weather was perfect tonight. Not a cloud in the sky, and countless Stars were visible. The bright moon cast a quiet, silvery glow.

"Yue Xiao, how many years have you followed me?" Dupe suddenly asked.

"Twelve years," his Secretary replied.

"What kind of man do you think I am? Be honest."

"You’re extremely ambitious, unscrupulous, and ruthless. It’s how you managed to become a Grand Councilor, but it’s also why you’ve offended far too many people," Yue Xiao replied.

"That’s right. I, Dupe, got to where I am today by being unscrupulous and ruthless. But that’s a path you can’t walk for long. Unless..." Dupe took another drag from his cigarette, exhaling slowly. In the swirling smoke, the prison’s flashing red lights seemed to transform into a Demon’s eyes. "...you possess absolute strength."

"Many years ago, when I first became a Grand Councilor, I resolved to become a true ruler, the man standing at the very top of the World. But all these years have passed, and I couldn’t even become the President of Asia, let alone the Global Speaker, or claim an even higher seat...

Through all these years, I’ve come to understand one principle: Power and authority are reciprocal.

If I became a Crowned King, I’m confident I could become President of Asia within a year. If I became a Demigod, the seat of Global Speaker would be well within my grasp. Then, none of my enemies would dare show the slightest dissatisfaction. I would become someone who truly stands above the World.

But a fantasy is just a fantasy. Even possessing an artifact of Authority, I was never able to comprehend that kind of Power, never able to take the final step to become a Crowned King.

I always knew this day would come. I just never expected it to be so soon.

Everything I bled for, everything I spent half a lifetime building... all of it, collapsing in an instant... Ha... Haha..."

Dupe laughed, a mocking tone in his voice. "Perhaps this is Justice, long overdue?"

He threw down his cigarette butt and stamped it out. In that moment, his entire presence shifted. There was no trace of dejection; instead, he radiated an immense, boundless ambition.

"Yue Xiao, I’ve only just now had a realization."

"What have you realized, sir?" the Secretary asked.

Dupe spread his hands. "There’s a place out there hundreds of times vaster than the Mortal World, a place far more suitable for someone like me. Why was I so obsessed with becoming the ruler of this world?

Why not broaden my horizons, let my ambition grow even larger?"

He suddenly clenched his fist.

"If the Mortal World has no place for me, then why shouldn’t I go to Hell?"

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