Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!

As soon as Shatterstar's analysis came through, Micah's voice cut into Ethan's comms, laced with urgency.

"Boss, rumor has it a Blood Clan stronghold was found in this region. People say it looked a lot like where you are now. You need to be careful—don't run into a Blood King. Supposedly, once upon a time, the strongest warriors on this star banded together to fight one. In the end it was a pyrrhic victory: the Blood King survived, and almost all the warriors were wiped out."

Ethan didn't bother replying. He had just reached the chamber marked on the decrypted map. With Shatterstar's layers of code peeled away, the heavy door finally slid open, and what waited beyond made his stomach sink.

Blood Clan.

A whole cluster of them.

'Micah, you damned jinx', he swore to himself.

The worst part wasn't just their presence—it was the glowing names hovering above their heads. Never, in all his time in the Sea of Death, had Ethan seen anything like that.

The creatures turned as one when the door hissed open, their collective gaze pinning him where he stood. He knew immediately his cover was blown.

"You shouldn't have come here."

The voice came from a figure with no hands, and Ethan froze when he read the name glowing above it: Osloak. A name he had almost managed to forget.

Another Blood Clan, a hulking brute labeled Bear-Brawler, sent a chill down his spine. It reminded him of another name. The Blood King. The one who had opened the portal that flung him into the Sea of Death.

Ethan's pulse quickened. This wasn't just some random encounter. These were not NPC monsters.

He dropped his stealth form and brought every defense online in one motion. His battle embodiment system roared to life, beast forms layering over his body, the protective shield on his wrist-unit sparking to full power. He didn't trust what he was seeing, but the names told him enough: Osloak, Level 300.

Back when Ethan was in Ethereal, he had once scanned Osloak's data, only to discover he was ranked Divine-tier. That had been terrifying enough. Now, at three hundred levels? His current system couldn't even hope to measure the stats. Just the thought of it was enough to tighten his throat.

"You knew I was coming?" Ethan demanded, narrowing his eyes.

Osloak's smile was faint, unnerving. "I knew the moment you stepped foot inside this vessel. Otherwise, tell me—how do you think you reached this place so easily?"

Ethan faltered. He replayed the journey in his head. After breaching the ship, he had crossed a long distance, yet there had been no resistance. A few sealed doors cracked open after minor decryption, but no ambushes, no swarms of Blood Clan. And the corridors had all been lined with guiding light strips, as though he was being led.

They wanted him here.

His voice hardened. "When did you get here? Why are you here?"

"Don't be so hostile. Perhaps we can be friends," Osloak said, his words oddly sincere.

Ethan didn't respond, keeping his guard up, studying him in silence. If this was some kind of deception, it wasn't the kind he was used to. There was no bloodlust in Osloak's eyes. But then, what had he meant by saying Ethan shouldn't have come here?

For a long minute they stared at one another. Finally, Osloak spoke again, his tone measured.

"Yes, I used you. Because we want to go home."

"Home?" Ethan frowned. "Here?"

"No. Somewhere you wouldn't understand yet. You will, eventually. What matters now is this: we, the true Blood Clan, are not what the rumors paint us to be."

Ethan's mind raced. "Then what did you mean when you said I shouldn't have come here?"

Osloak considered the question before answering, his voice low and deliberate. "You should know where this vessel comes from. Every step you take here is being recorded—sent back in real time. And you know very well what the situation is over there. You don't have much time left. Get what you came for. If we cross paths again, I hope it's only in the wars of our own kind. Until then, our enemy is the same. Now go. We have to repair the damage you've caused. This artificial womb the First Universe built, this breeding ground for false Blood Clan—it is our only way home. If we succeed, this star may yet escape catastrophe."

Ethan froze. So that was the sliver of hope Osloak had spoken of—their departure. And those monsters rampaging through the Sea of Death… he called them "artificial." Pseudo-Blood Clan.

Yet Micah swore they were pure-blooded.

If Osloak was telling the truth, then Micah had been wrong. The creatures were man-made weapons, manufactured slaughter-machines, born of the First Universe. And the First Universe had already collapsed. Which meant it had been destroyed by an outside invasion.

Ethan's jaw tightened. He gave Osloak a long, searching look, then wordlessly backed away. None of the Blood Clan moved to stop him.

As he reached the corridor, Osloak's voice followed him, echoing strangely in his ear.

"Next time you see the old man, thank him for me. He trapped us there, drained more blood from me than I care to remember, all for his research. But even so, he gave us sanctuary. What he seeks, I've already left behind. Whether you find it or not is up to you."

Ethan paused mid-step, a cold prickle racing up his spine. The old man—Morzan.

The Ethereal world Morzan had built wasn't just a virtual construct; it was some kind of testing ground, opened to humanity through a fusion of technology and power. What kind of research had he done on the Blood Clan? Whatever it was, it had to benefit humanity.

The mystery of Morzan deepened in Ethan's mind. He was almost certain now that the old man had been born on Earth. Otherwise, why risk so much for this world? With his strength, escape should have been easy. So why stay?

"Boss?" Blackie's voice snapped him back. Ethan stepped back into the cockpit where his crew was waiting, concern written across their faces.

Before he could answer, Shatterstar's comms cut out completely. Nothing Micah or the others had said remained, as if it had all been severed.

Ethan didn't explain. He simply shook his head, laid back in the pilot's seat, and stared at the ceiling. Osloak's warning gnawed at him. His presence here had been recorded, broadcast to the First Universe. And if Osloak was right, then the countdown to the disaster Morzan had foreseen had just been accelerated.

And Ethan had no idea how much time they had left.