Chapter 273: Shattered Illusions

A shudder ran through her entire body.

A warm exhale caressed her sensitive earlobe like the bite of a venomous snake.

Her striking blue eyes widened in terror, much like a cherished doll ruined by rough play.

Facing Yenir’s unabashed threat, the girl could only nod in fearful agreement, her eyes brimming with tears.

“I… I understand…”

“No… please, I beg you, don’t kill my father…”

She sobbed uncontrollably.

She had been held captive here for four days with no one knowing where they were, and she herself was clueless.

Lin Rui, who she imagined would come to rescue her, never appeared. She felt trapped like a canary, confined by Yenir with nowhere to escape.

Though young and inexperienced, her sharp mind realized exactly what Yenir intended for her.

She was nothing less than a bargaining chip—a trump card—to control Lin Rui!

This was the work of a demon!

Unlike Lin Rui, who saw Yenir as a hero—a role model—she clearly understood that behind that gentle smile lurked a monstrous fiend.

Even with only fragments of the truth, she knew that Yenir’s so-called salvation of the world was nothing but a lie!

In this world, if anyone truly knew the truth, understood Yenir’s real motives, it would probably be only her!

These monsters were not here to save humanity; they sought to use Lin Rui, and her, to further unspeakable schemes!

Anna’s fear was of little consequence at this moment.

In reality, confining the girl here was also a form of protection.

He needed Anna as a means to control Lin Rui, as well as to carry out other tasks…

Now that he had been reborn, he had cast aside most of his useless sympathy, with no regard for moral boundaries.

In the next moment, Yenir gently pried the girl’s mouth open and softly said,

“Swallow it—it might hurt a bit.”

………….

“Mission Settlement Instance!”

On a suburban highway outside the city, Yenir drew a deep breath, instantly linking his thoughts with the system.

Behind him, six teammates who had quit early held Zheng Cheng down, their faces alight as they stared at the sky.

They had survived!

They had completed the mission!

Each one gazed at their unique Trait Storage Devices, jam-packed with high-quality Spirit Energy Ore that shimmered brilliantly.

With the mission overachieved, not only would the Military go wild, but their mission ratings were bound to skyrocket!

They had flawlessly completed every task—even eliminating every hostile Awakener in the Battle Zone!

An extraordinary performance that bordered on miraculous!

“Buzz!”

Accompanied by a piercing buzzing, just as the exit from the instance and mission settlement began, Yenir’s vision went black and he immediately lost consciousness.

“Beep! Mission complete. Calculating rewards now!”

“Beep! Full instance evaluation in progress! Remaining Battle Zone: Huaxia Battle Zone!”

“Beep! No survivors detected in other Battle Zones. Mission rating has been upgraded!”

………….

A blinding white light.

Summoning his formidable will to suppress a slight queasy feeling, Yenir quickly opened his eyes only to find himself back in the familiar Entry Space.

The entire area bathed in pristine white, while a blue orb floated above his head.

A barrage of system notifications continued to chime incessantly, apparently due to the multitude of conditions awaiting evaluation.

“Solo settlement?”

“Looks like the rewards are being calculated based on individual contributions…”

He mused with a wry expression.

Instinctively, Yenir glanced toward the former positions of Japan and Korea, a cold smile tugging at his lips.

He chuckled darkly—when they arrived, they were cocky as hell; now, not even a trace of them remains.

To be honest, he owed them some gratitude, especially for Dahe Yicheng’s transformation talent.

Otherwise, with the subsequent performances for the Federation, it would have been hard to paint the Awakener of the Japanese and Korean Battle Zones as mere monsters…

“Beep! Main Mission 1: Contact with key instance character Lin Rui completed. Completion rate 100%…”

“Beep! Main Mission 2: Contact with Professor Krock and explore the world’s secrets completed. Completion rate 100%… Extra completion 17%…”

“Beep! Main Mission 3: Acquire Spirit Energy Ore… Accumulating current unit count…”

…

“Over-achieved! Acquisition exceeds maximum task value! Upgrading reward rating!”

…

Watching the ever-changing data on-screen, Yenir estimated it would take a while longer and resolutely focused on his Sword God System.

He noticed on the system’s mission panel that the progress bar for seizing the highest authority had already reached 99.99%.

At that moment, ever-changing dark-gold text prompted him to proceed to settlement immediately.

“I wonder, what will happen once I seize control of the instance…”

“Apart from blueprint rewards, there should be something more, right?”

A spark of anticipation flickered in his eyes.

Suppressing the surge of excitement, Yenir took a deep breath and waited patiently.

In his previous life, he had never even heard of such a thing as authority; he could only guess at the changes the Sword God System might bring once seized.

Perhaps it would allow him to control when to open or close instances, or even issue tasks himself?

Of course, he didn’t fantasize too much beyond that.

He was already more than satisfied with this haul.

Half a minute later, just as Yenir couldn’t help but check the progress bar again, his expression suddenly darkened.

It seemed as if the Settlement Space was being violently disrupted—the entire world around him beginning to twist!

“What the hell!?”

The space began to violently shake, and even the orb above, symbolizing system settlement, flickered erratically like it had been poisoned.

Experiencing this for the first time, even Yenir couldn’t help but be startled.

What was happening!?

Before he could dwell on it, a series of cold, mechanical warnings echoed around him.

“Warning!”

“System process anomaly detected! Warning! Unknown error found…!!”

“Warning! Instance authority has been seized! Initiating cleansing protocol immediately!”

“Buzz!”

The shrill, urgent alarms filled the space, sounding like the harbinger of destruction!

Unable to stabilize himself,

Yenir felt a surge of terrifying energy burst forth from the blue orb, making his scalp tingle with dread.

He could sense something amiss…

The system was “getting angry”!? A cleansing protocol!?

Did they intend to eliminate him!?

What the hell!!

The system had determined there was a problem with him and planned to erase him! Was it because the violent shielding of the Sword God System had been discovered!?

His face turned ashen.

In the next moment, in Yenir’s astonished gaze, a dazzling dark-gold beam erupted from his chest and hurtled furiously toward the orb overhead.