Monsters Die When Killed

The failure of the Void Trading Orbit in Shan Country was the most severe loss the Holy Snake Spirit Prayer Association had suffered in the last century.

A group of the organization’s most loyal, powerful, and highly capable members from all over the world had all died for unknown reasons.

Because of that operation, the heads of the Prayer Association’s Zhu Country, Shan Country, and Zhengguo branches all died, causing the organization’s influence in those regions to fall into chaos. One could even say it collapsed overnight.

But more importantly, the previous Leader from the Central Asian Bedouin Region, whose true name was unknown, had died. All confidential channels of communication were severed, leading to the complete collapse of the Prayer Association’s power on the World Island. The various regional factions could now only fend for themselves, with some even going completely into hiding.

And it was precisely for this reason that the young man from the upper echelons of the America branch—by leveraging his strength, cunning, and legitimate claim—was able to smoothly take over as the new Leader.

According to tradition, he was supposed to abandon the name Kroessel and use only the title of Leader. But since the entire old guard of the Prayer Association was dead, it meant no one cared about the old rules anymore, and Kroessel couldn’t be bothered to follow convention.

’The members in the American Federation region are second in number only to those on the World Island, but most of the surviving members of this branch support ’isolationism.’ They only want the organization to continue infiltrating the upper echelons of the American Federation, forming a clandestine alliance of power and money to protect their mutual interests. This essentially weakens the Prayer Association’s identity as a Mysterious Organization, reducing it to nothing more than a well-hidden collective of capitalists.’

The young man with long golden hair picked up a photograph from the table. He gazed at a widely circulated photo of Su Zhou—the one that had earned him the teasing nickname "Sea King," showing him surrounded by numerous sea serpents and fish—a thoughtful expression on his face.

’A clandestine collective of capitalists... there’s nothing wrong with that. The Holy Snake Spirit Prayer Association could act as a notary in Extraordinary matters, ensuring members can cooperate without any lingering concerns. That way, our ’villainous’ organization could gradually clean up its image and move from the shadows into the light. And the offerings and deposits paid by the members would be more than enough to sustain the organization’s development.’

But Kroessel found that incredibly boring. ’Clandestine capitalist alliances? Who knows how many of those exist in the world, but there are only two Mysterious Organizations of this scale in the entire world!’

’Wasn’t the whole reason he’d joined the Prayer Association in the first place because it was so cool?’

’As for the Spirit Summoning Association, they had no class. They both dealt in blood sacrifices, but the Prayer Association was secretive, never letting outsiders find out. The Spirit Summoning Association, on the other hand, insisted on making their deeds known to the world. There were even times when a Prayer Association ritual site was discovered, and the Spirit Summoning Association would pop up and claim responsibility.’

’So lame. That organization is hopeless.’ That had been Kroessel’s thought at the time.

Who would have thought that less than ten years after he joined, all the old-timers at the top would be wiped out? And though he was young, he’d become a division head early on thanks to his talent and his family’s influence. The position of Leader had just happened to open up for succession, and just like that, he’d inexplicably become the organization’s new Leader.

On the surface, Kroessel appeared to be a master strategist with everything under control, but honestly, who wouldn’t be stunned for a while in a situation like this? ’I just went to a class reunion, and the entire upper echelon of the Mysterious Organization I’m in gets wiped out? And I become the new Leader?’

’Was I hand-picked or something?’

’I can’t forget my original reason for joining—is a Prayer Association that doesn’t trade with a Great Being even the Prayer Association anymore? But this whole blood sacrifice thing...’

At this thought, Kroessel couldn’t help but ponder for a moment. He was certainly not a kind person; if blood sacrifices were necessary, he would perform them without hesitation. However, it seemed the organization never reaped any real benefits from its sacrificial rituals. It felt like that path was a dead end. ’Of all the ways to please a Great Being, sacrificing souls with blood is the simplest, and also the most primitive.’

’Overthrowing the existing Order—that is the ritual, the offering most beloved by the Holy Snake Spirit.’

’The joint multinational operation in the Beast God Realm will inevitably overthrow that world’s original Order. If our organization’s sleeper agents infiltrate it, it can be seen as ’our Prayer Association’ participating in this act of subverting the Order... Using that as an offering, perhaps we can obtain another piece of an Extraordinary Inheritance or even more power. It’s a shame the last ritual failed—the one from the prophecy, a once-in-a-millennium opportunity when the Great Being was prophesied to be most generous. Otherwise, a ritual of that magnitude would have at least earned us another sliver of ’Undying Blood’.’

And speaking of Undying Blood, one had to bring up Su Zhou. Kroessel’s long, slender fingers remained crossed and motionless, but his hair began to stir with a life of its own, slithering like little snakes as it pulled stacks of reports, records, and analyses from within his clothes for him to review.

"Su Zhou... Zhengguo’s most powerful, perhaps even the world’s most powerful, Transcendent." Staring at the information, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself, "He possesses powerful Dragon’s Blood, but to this day, no one knows what kind of Dragon it is. His power and talent are beyond all reason. It’s no exaggeration to call him a monster."

’Coincidentally, when the organization’s ritual failed, he just so happened to be traveling in Shan Country. It’s even possible he was one of the dozens of surviving offerings from the Orbit.’

By this time, the middle-aged man who had been serving at Kroessel’s side had withdrawn. The golden-haired young man took out his phone. He logged into Weibo and, with a frown, opened Su Zhou’s profile. ’How could things be this coincidental?’

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