Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen stopped the playback of the Ancient God's Holy Bell recording and began converting his life essence into spiritual essence. His sea of consciousness, which was on the brink of collapse, rapidly healed under the combined power of his indomitable will and the divine nature of the Ancient God.

Just listening to the conversation of these two entities, I wasn't even qualified to comprehend it.

The last recorded conversation in the Ancient God's Holy Bell clearly held secrets far beyond what he could currently withstand.

With lingering fear in his heart, Rosen casually drew patterns in the air with his fingers. Using Time Sketch's acceleration effect, he quickly restored his injuries to full health. Only then did he pick up the Ancient God's Holy Bell again, cautiously attempting to activate its Miracle Trait: Ancient God's Divine Sound.

Upon activation, Rosen realized his voice had undergone a transformation—it now carried a cadence similar to the speech tones of the two entities recorded by the bell. However, he still couldn't understand their words; the language they spoke wasn't one passed down through the Ancient God Sequence bloodline.

But even with just a change in intonation, his voice could now directly manipulate the rules of the world.

Even rules and authorities he had yet to master could be partially influenced through the Ancient God's Divine Sound.

Of course, this was nowhere near the level of a demigod who had fully mastered a particular authority. However, the Ancient God's Divine Sound provided a powerful tool for him to grasp and leverage unfamiliar rules and authorities, making it an exceptional auxiliary ability.

This Sequence 9 extraordinary artifact, in terms of practical value, far exceeded its apparent grade.

After this unexpected gain, Rosen became even more enthusiastic about exploring the floating mountains.

Over the following days, he discovered various treasures of varying worth—some extraordinary materials and rare ores. However, he hadn't found anything on the level of the Mountain of Gods Caves, which contained unique rule-based authorities. Either such treasures had already been claimed by others, or their value surpassed the detection limits of the Miracle Treasure Map.

With only five days left, Rosen began contemplating returning to the Flying Dragon.

Due to the extreme gravity in this area, descending was far faster than ascending. However, turning back now felt like giving up too soon.

He retrieved the Miracle Pouch and considered whether to use Equivalent Exchange.

If he was willing to pay a sufficiently high price, the treasure-finding ability of the Miracle Pouch could theoretically be enhanced without limit.

The Unique Miracle ability of the pouch was inherently capable of breaking conventional limits.

However, there was always the risk that even a fully enhanced treasure-finding ability could yield no results. In that case, the resources spent in Equivalent Exchange would have been wasted.

After a moment of deliberation, Rosen decided to use a fragment of the Pale War Spear for the exchange.

This shard of a true god-level extraordinary artifact could only exhibit its latent power in the hands of a Sequence 0 entity. Since he wasn't at that level yet—and might not value the artifact by the time he reached Sequence 0—it seemed wise to make use of it now.

As the Equivalent Exchange process activated, the Pale War Spear fragment vanished into the Miracle Pouch.

In that instant, the treasure-finding ability, originally capped at Sequence 3, was elevated to the level of a true god, surpassing even the limits of the Apocalypse Treasure Map.

Rosen immediately sensed the presence of a floating mountain with immense value.

It took him two days to endure the increasingly oppressive gravity and reach the mountain indicated by the Miracle Pouch.

The mountain spanned several dozen miles in diameter but was only a few miles tall, its entire surface a dark red color.

After circling the mountain's exterior, Rosen found nothing particularly unusual about it.

Activating his World Domain, he enveloped the floating mountain and began carefully dismantling its outer layers, bit by bit.

Several hours later, a translucent red crystal core, about three yards across, was revealed within his World Domain.

Though the material resembled crystal, the core began to "breathe" the moment it was separated from the floating mountain. Each breath absorbed spiritual energy from the surroundings, causing thin red threads to form within its structure.

Rosen used every method at his disposal but couldn't determine the origin or nature of this red crystal core.

Finally, Rosen thought of the Main God Computer. Ever since he had inherited the Ancient God's bloodline and acquired various identification methods, he had rarely used the computer's identification functions. True to form, the Main God Computer did not disappoint, providing a detailed analysis.

This red crystalline mountain was the primordial essence of a true god's soul, fused with the essence of divinity and life.

Strictly speaking, this red crystal mountain was a complete true god in itself.

But this god had suffered catastrophic misfortune—its divine essence had been shattered, its life essence obliterated, and even its soul essence fragmented beyond recognition. Its spiritual consciousness had completely vanished, and the shattered remnants of its essences had irreversibly mixed together. After merging with the rules and authorities it once wielded, they could no longer be separated.

Thus, while this entity technically remained a complete true god, it was effectively a vegetative god, a lifeless existence with no hope of awakening. Perhaps, after several millennia, new spiritual consciousness might emerge from the remnants, birthing a new life that would be a god from its very inception.

But for Rosen, such a process held no benefit whatsoever.

The best choice was to use the Tenfold Annihilation ability of a Sequence 1 entity to utterly destroy this vegetative god.

This would allow Rosen to maximize the growth of his Divine Domain, accelerating its advancement from a Sequence 1 domain to a Sequence 0 Divine Kingdom. At that point, he could potentially inherit the authorities this god had once wielded, granting him unparalleled growth during his ascent to Sequence 0.

Of course, that was a plan for the future. For now, this relic had other uses.

The red threads forming inside the crystal mountain were new extraordinary bloodlines generated as the vegetative god's life essence reassembled itself. As long as Rosen was willing to supply divinity crystals, he could continuously extract true god-level extraordinary bloodlines from this vegetative god.

As for the specific type of bloodline, that could only be determined once extracted.

With little time left, Rosen decided to stop searching for other potential treasures.

The harvest from this trip was already substantial. His luck had peaked, and without more true god-level items to sacrifice for Equivalent Exchange, further searching was unlikely to yield much. He resolved to return in a hundred years if the opportunity arose.

Rosen returned to the Flying Dragon a day early, joining many other early arrivals.

Most people wouldn't risk cutting it close, as even a small delay could mean being stranded in the Mountain of Gods Sea Region. Once the hurricanes returned, not even true gods would escape unscathed, let alone demigods.

When they first set out, every passenger aboard the Flying Dragon had been filled with anticipation.

Now, on the return journey, emotions ranged from disappointment to satisfaction.

Standing at the prow of the ship, the Flying Dragon Pirate King, who served as captain, wore a visibly grim expression.

This trip's overall yield was far less than a century ago. The floating mountains near the sea surface were almost completely devoid of valuable treasures, and the mountains further above the sea were far beyond the reach of ordinary demigods in the short two-week exploration window. If things continued this way, the number of passengers willing to venture into the Mountain of Gods Sea Region would dwindle, making future ticket sales even harder.

As the last passenger boarded, the Flying Dragon Pirate King began preparing for the return journey.

Unlike the outward voyage, the return route took a different path.

Two days later, as the Flying Dragon drew closer to the edge of the Mountain of Gods Sea Region, the Pirate King began to feel a deep chill creeping over him. Without anyone noticing, the ship had veered off course.

The stable route he had painstakingly charted over decades had somehow shifted without warning.

If this were just a normal deviation, the Flying Dragon could simply return to its proper course, albeit at the cost of some additional time. After all, every stable route in these treacherous waters had been discovered through trial and error.

But this time was different—an unknown force in the ocean was actively pulling the Flying Dragon off course.

If this continued, the ship would never escape the Mountain of Gods Sea Region before the hurricanes returned.

"Attention! All passengers, report to the foredeck immediately!"

The Pirate King's enraged roar echoed across the Flying Dragon.

No matter where they were—whether in their cabins or the ship's bar and ballroom—every passenger heard the Pirate King's command.

Anyone qualified to be aboard this ship was no fool. Nearly all of them instantly realized that something had gone wrong during the return journey, something the Flying Dragon couldn't handle on its own. Otherwise, the Pirate King wouldn't have disturbed all the passengers.

Over two thousand passengers gathered on the foredeck, awaiting the Pirate King's explanation.

"For reasons unknown, the Flying Dragon has veered off course…" the Pirate King began, his tone urgent. "Some mysterious force in the ocean is pulling us away from our intended route, preventing us from returning to our stable path. I've tried every method I know to correct this, but nothing works. If this continues, we will all perish at sea!"

Upon hearing this, the deck erupted in chaos, but the uproar soon quieted down. However, a few demigods who had gained nothing from the trip could no longer suppress their anger and began yelling curses non-stop.

"Shut your mouths!"

"And who are you to order us around?"

"What, you think you can start a fight here—"

Before the argument could escalate further, at least dozens of demigod domains unfolded at once. Moments later, the domains dissipated, leaving behind a few lifeless corpses on the bloodstained deck.

The unruly demigods who refused to shut up were brutally slaughtered by dozens of their peers right on the spot.

"There are always fools—gifted, but utterly brainless," Rosen thought as he glanced at the bloody scene with satisfaction.

At a time when survival was at stake, these idiots were only focused on venting their frustrations instead of looking for solutions. Their tantrum solved nothing and only created more problems.

If they truly had grievances against the Flying Dragon Pirate King, they could have sought him out for payback after leaving the Mountain of Gods Sea Region. Even those who had decisively killed them just now might have stood behind them to demand answers from the captain.

But starting a ruckus here, in the middle of a life-threatening crisis, and refusing to shut up? They had effectively become the sacrificial lambs to set an example for the rest. Their deaths were enough to force the remaining demigods to quiet down and focus on working together to solve the problem.

Rosen walked to the edge of the ship and extended his world domain, compressing it into a narrow strip that stretched out into the sea. He scanned both the Flying Dragon and the surrounding waters, but found no anomalies.

Whatever it is, it must be beyond the scope of my detection abilities. The first thought that crossed Rosen's mind was rule authorities.

With over two thousand demigods aboard, various suggestions for self-rescue soon emerged.

Ultimately, the simplest plan became the consensus: if an external force was influencing the Flying Dragon, then all the demigods who possessed domains would layer their domains over the ship. This way, the mysterious force would have to overcome the combined strength of all the demigods' domains to affect the ship.

Over 1,500 layers of domains were stacked one over the other, leaving the remaining demigods without domains feeling too ashamed to even lift their heads.

Yet, even under this immense combined force, the Flying Dragon continued to drift off course.

One plan after another was proposed and tested, but every single suggestion failed.

Unbeknownst to the passengers, the Flying Dragon had returned to its starting point—directly beneath the floating mountains of the Mountain of Gods.

Even more bizarre, none of the other extraordinary ships on different routes had been dragged back by the mysterious force.

Despair engulfed the deck. The realization hit everyone like a hammer: even if the mysterious force disappeared now, the Flying Dragon no longer had enough time—less than six days—to leave the Mountain of Gods Sea Region.

In other words, they had less than six days to live.

The Flying Dragon had become a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

Some of the passengers, who had been harboring resentment over the previous incident where a few demigods were killed as an example, now looked like they were ready to rebel. If they acted out now, there was no doubt that others would follow.

A few demigods turned their attention to the Flying Dragon Pirate King, clearly planning to kill him before their inevitable deaths.

Others, unwilling to remain on the doomed ship, took to the skies, heading toward the floating mountains in search of a way out.

Many of them flew in the direction of the floating mountain housing the Mountain of Gods Cavern. While there was no record of anyone surviving by hiding there, it was still a better option than facing the legendary hurricanes directly. At the very least, there was a sliver of hope in the cavern.

At worst, they could die within the Mountain of Gods Cavern and possibly improve their odds of a one-in-a-thousand chance of resurrection.

Some demigods, faced with impending doom, had already decided to strip away their spiritual essence and fuse it into the statues representing them within the Mountain of Gods Cavern.

While some demigods planned to go down swinging, others scrambled to do whatever they could to save themselves.

Rosen, naturally, fell into the latter category. He joined the group of demigods leaving the Flying Dragon.

But then, something inexplicable happened.

The moment Rosen left the Flying Dragon, the ship—along with its passengers—suddenly disappeared.

Rosen's Hunter's Divine Eye tracked its movements, and to his shock, he found that the Flying Dragon had reappeared at the edge of the Mountain of Gods Sea Region.

He wasn't the only one who noticed. Several demigods who had left their avatars aboard the Flying Dragon also discovered the ship's mysterious relocation.

At this moment, the demigods who had left their avatars aboard the Flying Dragon were filled with deep regret. Their minds raced with questions: Why wasn't my true body on the Flying Dragon? Why did that mysterious force wait until we left the ship before transporting it to the edge of the Mountain of Gods Sea Region?

Rosen stood in silence, deep in thought. He had a strong suspicion about why the mysterious force had kept the Flying Dragon from leaving—it was because of him. Only after he stepped off the ship did the force immediately allow it to depart.

If there was something special about him that caught the attention of the mysterious force, it could be the Ancient God's Bell, the vegetative-state true god, the Ancient God Sequence he had mastered, or perhaps his Mysterious Study Room and Mainframe Computer. It had to be one of these factors that drew the force's attention.

While Rosen wrestled with these heavy thoughts, the other demigods unexpectedly seemed to relax. Although missing the chance to leave aboard the Flying Dragon was unfortunate, staying behind didn't necessarily mean a death sentence anymore.

They reasoned that the Flying Dragon's early escape would inevitably alert the World Government. Upon learning of the situation, the World Government wouldn't stand idly by and let hundreds of demigods perish. Surely, they would send true gods to rescue them.

If only the Mountain of Gods Sea Region weren't cut off from the Spirit Net, which rendered them unable to send any distress signals, someone would have sought help long ago.

Yet three whole days passed, and the awaited rescue never came.

The stranded demigods didn't know what went wrong. But Rosen did.

The plight of the Flying Dragon's stranded passengers had already caused an uproar across the Spirit Net. The World Government had announced its intent to mount a rescue mission. However, the true gods entering the Mountain of Gods Sea Region couldn't find them.

It was as though Rosen and the other stranded demigods existed in a different version of the Mountain of Gods Sea Region, completely separate from the one where the rescue operation was underway.

For Rosen, leaving was as simple as using data transmission—he could exit the Mountain of Gods Sea Region at any time. But if he left, the remaining 300-plus demigods and the billions of citizens in their Divine Territories would be doomed.

These people had been dragged into this situation because of him. He had the power to save them but would be letting them die if he left.

Rosen didn't have much of a conscience, but he had just enough to feel the weight of this choice.

It seems the time to reveal my Time Domains has come, Rosen thought grimly. He had initially created the Time Domains as a fallback to obscure the Mysterious Study Room's presence. But now, he had no choice but to play this card much earlier than expected.

Because they were still waiting for true gods to rescue them, all the demigods had gathered on a floating mountain closest to the sea surface.

"Everyone," Rosen spoke up, "I have a way to save us all."

He then explained the abilities of his Time Domains.

The Time Domains existed on past timelines, meaning the Mountain of Gods Sea Region's hurricanes were unlikely to affect them. If the demigods hid within the Time Domains for 100 years, they could wait until the hurricanes disappeared during the next cycle.

At this point, desperate for any hope of survival, no one doubted Rosen's words.

To dispel any lingering hesitation, Rosen sent a few demigods into a Time Domain and brought them back unharmed. This demonstration erased everyone's doubts. With a viable escape plan now in place, the demigods finally relaxed, waiting together on the floating mountain as the final two days ticked away.

When the final half-day arrived and there was still no sign of the true gods, no one wanted to wait any longer.

Rosen ushered all the remaining demigods into the Time Domain, then turned around and stepped into his Mysterious Study Room.

If the mysterious force doesn't want me to leave, then I might as well uncover the true nature of the Mountain of Gods Sea Region, Rosen thought.

As the clock ticked down, Rosen closed the windows of the Mysterious Study Room.

Although keeping the windows shut meant he couldn't see what was happening outside, it minimized the risk. The Mysterious Study Room was powerful, but Rosen knew it wasn't invincible. Overconfidence often led to unbearable consequences.

When the countdown reached zero, the calm Mountain of Gods Sea Region erupted into chaos as countless hurricanes appeared out of nowhere.

The ocean churned violently, sending towering waves into the sky. Countless sea creatures were swept up by the hurricanes and vanished without a trace.

The hurricanes actively avoided the floating mountains, leaving them untouched.

However, this didn't mean those hiding within the mountains' interiors were safe. These hurricanes were omnipresent, able to penetrate every crack and crevice. Even true gods who attempted to investigate the Mountain of Gods Sea Region had barely escaped alive, relying on miraculous treasures to flee in utter disarray.

As time passed, months slipped by.

The once-vast ocean of the Mountain of Gods Sea Region had undergone a complete transformation.

The seawater had been sucked into the sky by the hurricanes, leaving behind a completely dry seabed. Even the layers of silt and sediment that once covered the seabed had been scoured away, revealing a barren, cracked expanse.

Among the debris unearthed from the silt were countless skeletons. These skeletal remains began to stir, slowly reassembling themselves into a colossal bone giant, which turned and began striding toward one of the floating mountains.

Rosen's instincts screamed at him—this bone giant was coming for him.

(Chapter End)