Infinite Wealth System: Crazy Tasks, Insane Rewards!

(Two Years Ago).

The executive chamber of the Nexus Citadel felt colder than usual that evening. The endless hum of machines buried beneath the stone floor reverberated like a distant heartbeat, as if the dying world itself was groaning. Magnus stood by the wide crystal windows, staring out at the broken skies, the crimson sun bleeding faint light through the cracks of a fading atmosphere.

Behind him, footsteps echoed steadily, proud and heavy. Neil, his elder brother, the Grandmaster of Nexus, walked in with the usual authority of a man who believed the future bent to his will.

"You've seen the latest projections," Neil said, his voice clipped, almost impatient. "Nexus won't last another three years. The core is collapsing. No technology, no matter how brilliant, can stop it."

Magnus didn't turn around at first. He kept his eyes on the broken horizon, his fists tightening. "I've read them. But you're forgetting something, Neil. We don't have the right to decide the fate of another world because ours is dying."

Neil chuckled dryly, the sound bitter. "Another world? You mean Earth. That primitive sphere of chaos, still crawling in its infancy. They waste resources, poison their own skies, fight among themselves. And you want to leave the future of our people to them?"

Magnus finally turned, his eyes hard. "I want us to survive, yes. But not by enslaving another world. You want to march into their home and claim it as ours? That's not survival. That's conquest."

The air between them grew tense. For a moment, the silence seemed to hum louder than the machines beneath the citadel.

Neil stepped closer, his robes brushing the floor like shadows.

"Do you think Earth would welcome us with open arms? They will never agree to share their world. We'll be treated as invaders no matter what we do. So, if we are to be called invaders, we might as well take what we need. History favors the strong, Magnus. It always has."

Magnus' chest rose with a heavy breath. He looked at his brother, the same man he had fought beside during the early wars of Nexus, the same brother he once admired, and now saw only a tyrant waiting to be born.

"You've let power blind you," Magnus said quietly. "Grandmaster or not, you've forgotten what our parents taught us. Survival without honor is no survival at all."

At that point, Neil's face hardened, anger flashing in his eyes. "Honor won't save our people. Honor won't stop extinction. Strength will. Vision will. I will."

The words rang like a verdict.

They stared at each other, two brothers bound by blood but divided by ideology. Magnus knew where this would lead, yet he still hoped Neil would relent, that reason would pull him back.

But reason was gone.

Without warning, Neil's hand moved, faster than the eye could follow. A spear of condensed energy, born from the very core itself, tore through the chamber. Magnus raised his arm, countering with a shield of blue light, but Neil pressed harder.

"You would stand against me? Against your own brother?" Neil thundered with widened eyes.

"I would stand against anyone who thinks they can play god!" Magnus roared back.

Their clash shook the chamber. Sparks rained as energy slammed against energy, the crystal walls cracking under the force. Magnus fought with everything he had, but Neil had ascended too far, his mastery of Nexus' core technology unmatched. Blow after blow landed until Magnus faltered, blood trailing down his lip.

Neil's final strike pierced his chest. Magnus staggered, breath leaving him in shallow gasps.

Neil's face showed no triumph, only cold resolve. "You forced my hand, brother."

Magnus collapsed to his knees, eyes dimming, but even in his last moments, he wasn't broken. With a weak but steady voice, he whispered, "The future… won't be yours alone."

Neil didn't understand, not yet...

Because long before this confrontation, Magnus had seen Neil's ambition coming. In secret, he had crafted something forbidden, something beyond ordinary technology. A supernatural tech entity, built to endure. Unlike the machines of Nexus, it was alive with thought, hidden in code and soul. He had taken a fragment of his essence and sealed it into this creation, sending it away, planting it deep within the body of someone far beyond Nexus' reach.

Someone on Earth.

It was his last gamble. A safeguard for the day Neil turned his hunger toward the blue world below.

As Magnus fell, Neil stood over him, breathing heavily, fists trembling though his face betrayed nothing. The silence afterward was suffocating. When the guards finally rushed in, Neil simply waved them away.

"Take his body," Neil ordered coldly.

"And his daughter, Esta. She will serve the Alliance in the Test Base. If she refuses, she dies."

The guards hesitated but obeyed.

Neil didn't look back as they dragged Magnus' lifeless form away. For the first time in years, the Grandmaster felt something close to sorrow. But he buried it quickly. Nexus would not mourn weakness.

Thus, that day, when Magnus gave his last breath, that supernatural tech entity he created left the surface of the red world and soared toward the blue.

Someday, this entity would meet the suitable soul to dwell in, and would build him to face the threat that was coming for his nation.

When that day comes, Earth would not face Neil alone.

******

Royce was widely confused by the story, but not entirely. However, he still wasn't clear where she was heading.

All he could grasp was that the Grandmaster had a brother whose name was Magnus, and was the father of Esta. He also grasped that Magnus never wanted him to attack Earth, but Neil wasn't backing down, so he had to kill his own brother.

But the most terrifying thing was that Nexus, the absolute world which he thought was a million times better than Earth, was about to go extinct in less than a year.

Royce's heart jerked repeatedly upon coming to that realisation, but what could he do?

"I... I really didn't catch up much," Royce said.

Esta hesitated and then continued.

"My father knew the Grandmaster wouldn't stop, so he created an absolute guide and sent it to Earth. This entity would build whichever soul it entered, and make him prepare for the Sovereign Protocols. The Grandmaster might think his attacks would be an easy take, but they wouldn't," she said.

"So you mean there's someone down there on Earth who can take down the whole Sovereign Protocol army?" Royce asked in amazement.

Esta nodded. "I don't have an idea who this person is, but I think I'm already having a clue."

"A clue? How?" Royce furrowed his brows.

"I'm sorry, my Lord. But I can't serve you any information anymore."

At that point, Esta already noticed he was asking too much, and she didn't want to get into trouble.

Even though Royce wasn't acting like someone who would report her, she still wanted to stay safe.

But...

"What if I can help?" Royce suddenly asked.

Esta froze.

"I mean... I know you would have wanted revenge for your father's death, and to fulfil his wish."

She turned to him and glared. "How can I trust a leader of the Sovereign Protocols?"

"Well, unlike Chosen One Kael, I'm not blinded. That's thanks to the fake Serum you sponsored," Royce laughed softly.

Esta couldn't help but smile, feeling the joke, and then she turned serious in a second.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Royce replied without hesitation.

It took Esta quite a while to think about it, and then she nodded.

"Okay..."

"So what do we do? I'll try to get every piece of information from the army and then report to you?" he asked.

"That's important. My job at this point is to find who got the absolute guide and tell him what's coming, then we can feed him with every piece of information he needs," Esta said.

"That's great... Uhm, maybe I'll take my leave now," Royce said with a smile and attempted to walk away...

"Royce..."

Until Esta suddenly called.

He turned at once.

"Promise me you won't betray me?" she asked with a strong tone that held many emotions.

"I will not betray you, Esta. I will not betray my..." He paused. "My planet..."

He gave a weak nod as he said that and then finished the statement inwardly.

"Even though they don't want me back."

He slowly walked away.

Now fed with the whole story, he was relieved, but now another tension was on.

He was wondering...

Who had received the Absolute Guide?

******

Jayden didn't even care about the area not being safe, as he quickly flew to Western Spring City the moment he heard about the news.

He was already down before he got there, but was still energised to make that effort to meet up with Tom and his kids.

Smoke, fire... Everywhere.

The President was running towards their home alone.

Just at that moment when he got there, he noticed that their building wasn't any different from the other destroyed houses around.

Watching the crumbling house burn, he fell on his knees with instant tears rushing down his eyes.

"Nooooo!!!"