Jin Taiyang determined that today was the perfect moment to eliminate Liu Xiaolong.

He had already mapped out the general movements of Seoul’s superhumans.

Furthermore, the area Xiaolong was heading toward was in western Seoul, presenting an ideal scenario to frame Iron Heart Yoon Changdae.

He thought all that remained was for his target to step into the designated zone.

Yet, Liu Xiaolong suddenly changed course and headed elsewhere.

Hah! Why is everything going so wrong!

Still, it wasn’t over yet.

Taking sudden, unplanned actions could indicate that an urgent matter had arisen.

What could it possibly be?

To uncover the truth, Taiyang pursued Xiaolong.

His destination was the Prestige War Cafe, operated by Park Soyul.

It was a secret membership-based establishment, piquing his intense curiosity about its inner workings.

Hadn’t he received a report that Park Soyul had driven back to her residence?

Did she perhaps come here in the meantime?

Ultimately, it didn’t matter much.

He had already reached the 63rd floor, the same level as Park Soyul.

He was perfectly prepared to withstand both Soyul’s electric skills and Xiaolong’s attacks.

In fact, wouldn’t it be even better if he could take them both down at the same time?

And what if he could frame Iron Heart for it?

A sly grin crept up Jin Taiyang’s lips.

In truth, Wang Wei had promised to elevate him to the position of the second-ranked superhuman in the Shanghai Tower if he eliminated Liu Xiaolong.

Furthermore, the Chinese authorities had pledged their full backing to push him right up to Wang Wei’s position if he returned after eliminating a Seoul ranker.

Catching both rabbits this time meant the rank 2 spot in the Shanghai Tower was guaranteed to be his.

With China and the rank 1 superhuman fully supporting him, climbing the remaining floors would be a breeze.

Keukeukeu!

I’ll finish this in one fell swoop!

Jin Taiyang immediately used a One-time Skill Enhancement Ticket to boost his skill.

The Invisibility skill blurred his body and anything he touched. While it suffered some nerfing in reality, using the One-time Skill Enhancement Ticket allowed him to blur his entire body like a heat haze even outside the Tower.

The Prestige War Cafe had a highly enclosed structure, making the elevator the only way in.

However, the elevator required a keycard.

That left only the emergency stairs as a viable route.

Seureuk-

Drawing his blade, Jin Taiyang’s entire body faded into a blur.

He silently ascended the stairs to the top floor.

Just in case, he grabbed the handle and turned it; the door opened effortlessly.

What’s this?

Are they really allowed to be this sloppy?

Chuckling inwardly, Jin Taiyang stepped inside.

“Huiying! Are you okay? Huiying!”

For some reason, Liu Xiaolong was sobbing while holding his younger sister, Liu Huiying.

The very fact that someone who should have been in Shanghai was here was astounding.

However, realizing that this was the perfect timing to eliminate Liu Xiaolong, whose hands were tied by his sister,

he immediately activated Swift Sprint and charged at his target.

‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll send you both off together!’

Just as he swung his blade with that thought,

“Found you.”

Ppeog!

“Keugh!”

He was caught off guard by an assailant who had suddenly appeared beside him.

Ppaak!

Before he could even process what had happened, he lost consciousness.

And that was…

the last moment Jin Taiyang could think clearly of his own volition.

* * *

Watching the situation resolve in an instant, Liu Xiaolong realized anew that there was always a sky above the sky.

The 63rd floor.

He had reached the 63rd floor, the same level as Seoul’s rankers.

Compared to his time in Shanghai, he had climbed nearly 10 more floors.

In particular, the Intermediate Zone was vastly different from the Beginner Zone; clearing each floor was exceedingly difficult.

Consequently, the rewards had also become significantly better than before.

Especially during the period when the Blessing of Growth was active, the value of the rewards was on another level, even yielding the unexpected Source Stone.

He thought he might be able to strike a deal with the United States using the Source Stone, but lacking a direct line to their administrator, he had presented it to Korea first.

He even felt a vague confidence that simply continuing to clear the Seoul Tower for the remainder of his contract period would allow him to reach the 70th floor upon returning to Shanghai.

But that was a mistake.

He realized that such confidence was mere arrogance the moment he saw the blonde female knight.

Even if he could unleash his full strength inside the Tower rather than in reality, could he have properly countered that knight’s strike even once?

Perhaps once or twice if he was incredibly lucky, but the thought that he would undoubtedly lose within three exchanges dominated his mind.

When asked to show an opening to lure Jin Taiyang out, he had been slightly worried that he might be buried along with him.

However, the man had personally rescued his sister from Shanghai.

Therefore, distrusting him now would mean he had no brain in his head, so Xiaolong had given the performance of his life as requested.

Just like that, Jin Taiyang fell into the trap, and with the knight’s strike, his blurred form solidified, revealing his unconscious body.

This guy… to think he had the Invisibility skill.

When he occasionally evaded detection skills and vanished like a ghost, it seemed the Invisibility skill could even bypass detection.

…If I hadn’t received this help, I might have died today.

From rescuing his only sister from the hands of Chinese intelligence to saving his own life,

he couldn’t be thankful enough, even a hundred or a thousand times over.

“Thank you. I will repay the favor I received today for the rest of my life.”

The person Liu Xiaolong sincerely thanked was…

Shin Jungho, the part-time worker at the Prestige War Cafe who had been hiding in the Dimensional Room.

Shin Jungho originally intended to use Iron Heart to wrap up this incident.

However, when rescuing Liu Huiying, he unexpectedly brought back a Shanghai superhuman as a bonus.

Faced with the reality of having to personally deal with Jin Taiyang as well, he decided to take full responsibility and handle the situation himself.

Originally, he had planned to reveal his identity as Mirinae and extract information about Jin Taiyang.

But both Liu Huiying and Liu Xiaolong had a knack for dragging along unexpected baggage.

The moment Lea and Maya’s detection caught Jin Taiyang, they sprang the trap, and the situation was cleanly resolved.

Looking only at the results, the ‘Kill Before Being Killed’ philosophy was certainly correct.

Liu Xiaolong spoke with a resolute expression, making a vow.

“And I will take your secret of being Mirinae to my grave.”

He would have to do so for his own sake anyway.

Otherwise, he and his sister would bear the full brunt of the wrath spewed by Lea, Maya, and Clara.

The ability to travel from Seoul to Shanghai in an instant.

Overwhelming martial prowess that seemed unmatched by any superhuman in the world.

Knowing all that, leaking Mirinae’s information would be sheer suicide.

Furthermore, with Maya having cast a tracking spell on them, he wouldn’t be able to act recklessly, especially considering his civilian sister.

“That’s enough. Let’s discuss how to handle things from here on out.”

Shin Jungho asked Liu Xiaolong about the secret internal affairs of China that he hadn’t heard about last time.

With the addition of Guo Tao, who had tried to assault Liu Huiying, and Liu Xiaolong’s accounts, the current state of China’s Tower came into view.

The ever-concentrating support and power around Wang Wei, the rank 1 superhuman.

The Chinese intelligence agency’s struggles to replace Wang Wei.

And Wang Wei’s ambition to further solidify his own power.

Broadly speaking, it was a battle between those two, with Liu Xiaolong and Jin Taiyang feeling like the trump cards of each side.

After organizing his thoughts, Shin Jungho asked.

“If the Korean government were to reveal this information and pressure China, what do you think the outcome would be?”

Liu Xiaolong smiled bitterly and replied.

“They would likely deny all allegations. Chinese intelligence wouldn’t have failed to prepare for the possibility of an operation failure.”

It was the expected answer.

He had already experienced how brazen communist states could be through the Russian assassins and the Chinese superhuman kidnapping incident.

If they were to officially press the issue with this again?

It was obvious they would act outrageously, just like last time.

Do you have evidence!

Aren’t you the ones slandering us!

How can you believe the words of Liu Xiaolong, a traitor!

They would obviously make up various excuses and pressure Korea instead.

Therefore, Shin Jungho decided to take a completely different approach.

“Then how about we handle it this way?”

Listening to Shin Jungho’s subsequent explanation, Liu Xiaolong thought it was quite a good plan.

“Leave that part to me and trust me. I will act so that no one catches on.”

He was a man who had successfully hidden his intentions to betray Chinese intelligence all this time.

There was no need to worry much about that.

With the conversation settled, Liu Xiaolong spoke with a serious expression.

“Guo Tao. I ask that you let me see him.”

He was the man who had tried to violate his only family, his younger sister.

His anger toward Guo Tao seemed far greater than toward Jin Taiyang, who had tried to kill him.

Without another word, Shin Jungho guided him to the Room of Truth.

Contrary to expectations, he stayed inside for quite a long time before emerging.

“I couldn’t even muster the courage to poke him with a finger. That alone felt like it would kill me instantly. That was… an artistic sight to the point that it’s a miracle he’s still alive.”

Judging by his expression, he seemed quite satisfied.

“Is your stomach alright?”

“In China, we undergo various training to endure torture without breaking if captured by an enemy. So my stomach is fine, but… even I wouldn’t have found that easy to endure.”

China is truly a terrifying country.

No, aren’t the Remacle Trio, who made even such a Chinese superhuman talk, more impressive?

“Seeing Guo Tao, I think leaving Jin Taiyang to you as well is the best decision. Even if it’s only at the level of Guo Tao, it will be a sufficient punishment for him.”

Shin Jungho thought that if he wrapped things up as he planned,

this incident would also pass without a hitch.

But who could have known?

Just how reckless a furious China could become upon learning the truth.

* * *

The Chinese authorities were in an uproar.

A superhuman managing Heaven had vanished without a trace.

They had clearly captured him entering the 35th floor.

But after he entered Room 317, he was never seen leaving.

The same went for Liu Huiying, who had entered Room 317 before him.

Thus, they hastily covered up the incident and conducted intensive interrogations of those involved.

However, no information surfaced.

The glass windows weren’t broken, and there were no holes in the walls. How on earth did the two escape Heaven?

They discovered that Wang Wei had contacted Guo Tao, but that alone was insufficient evidence to pressure him.

Furthermore, Jin Taiyang, who had transferred his affiliation to the Seoul Tower, also went missing at the exact same time.

What could this possibly mean?

The answer was found in an unexpected place.

[Tower 13 Deceased List]

– One Slash 999

[Tower 25 Deceased List]

– Lightning Five Whips

Guo Tao and Jin Taiyang’s aliases had been added to the deceased lists of their respective Towers.

At the exact same time!

In short, this was the work of the same person or organization.

The Chinese authorities interrogated Liu Xiaolong regarding the matter.

However, it was Liu Xiaolong who lashed out in anger.

“What? My sister is missing? What are you talking about! Didn’t you say that if she was in Heaven, her safety would be 100% guaranteed!”

Zhang Wei, Liu Xiaolong’s secretary and watchdog, was at a loss for words at his attitude.

“Didn’t you orchestrate this incident?”

“Hah! Did you think I wouldn’t know just because I stayed quiet? About how you all turned a blind eye in exchange for backroom money from Jin Taiyang?”

“W-What are you saying!”

“Do not provoke me any further. If you don’t bring my sister back safely… I can’t guarantee where my sword will strike.”

The moment Zhang Wei saw the murderous glint in Liu Xiaolong’s eyes, he instantly realized how serious he was.

Therefore, he defended Liu Xiaolong, reporting to the Chinese authorities that he seemed completely uninvolved.

This drove the Chinese authorities mad.

This was undoubtedly Korea’s doing.

Specifically, Seoul’s superhumans.

And the most suspicious among them was…

Mirinae.

It had to be him.

How on earth did he breach Heaven’s impenetrable security network from Seoul to kidnap Liu Huiying and Guo Tao?

How did he capture Jin Taiyang at the exact same time without anyone noticing?

Everything was a mystery.

But that was exactly why they believed no one other than Mirinae could have pulled this off.

Or perhaps,

it was a collaboration between rankers like Iron Heart and the Electric Empress, including Mirinae.

Zhou Jianguo, the Chairman of China, felt a chill run down his spine upon receiving the full report.

If Mirinae had done it once, couldn’t he do it twice?

What if he could infiltrate his own office and bedroom, which boasted even tighter security than Heaven?

What would happen then?

Fear gradually eroded his rationality.

That was why Zhou Jianguo voiced an order that should never have been given.

“Collapse… the Seoul Tower. By any means necessary!”

Superhumans…

lose all their abilities and become ordinary humans if their affiliated Tower collapses.

Therefore, nothing was as certain to eliminate all threats as a Tower Collapse.

This was the underlying motive that sparked the Seoul terrorist incident carried out by China.