Inside a vast conference room, the President of the Cindralock Dominion and members of the House of Representatives were watching a video.
The footage showed Shura clashing with the Golden Sage King.
When Shura leveled an office building with a single strike and then summoned thunder to rain down from the skies, the President and his lawmakers could not hide their astonishment.
By the time the video ended, every face in the room had turned grave.
"Shura has truly risen," the President murmured, his tone heavy. "And he has done so in less than a month."
The words made the atmosphere sink even further.
They all remembered—Adam had taken over a year to climb from rookie to A-rank. Yet Shura, in just over half a month, had already reached the level where he could contend with a master ranked in the world's top hundred.
The difference in talent was terrifying.
"We cannot allow him to grow any further," an elderly congressman pressed. "Is there no way to eliminate him?"
"In the Samsara space, none," someone replied. "At equal rank, no one can match Shura. If we act, it must be in the real world."
"Have we discovered his identity yet?"
The Director of the Intelligence Bureau cleared his throat.
"There has been some progress. Shura once intervened and killed a Blacklight Virus adapter in AH City. Our experts speculate that he may be from AH."
"Find him quickly," the President ordered. "If we delay, his strength will only increase."
The Director hesitated before speaking again.
"I'm afraid that won't be easy. Jadeveil is secretly shielding Shura's personal data, blocking all citizen records from AH city. Without that information, acquiring anything useful has become… nearly impossible."
"..."
The grim expressions in the room deepened.
Shura's rise had been too fast. Given more time, even Adam might no longer be able to stop him.
Finally, the Intelligence Director offered a path forward.
"Our best hope lies with Mr. Adam. If he can clear the 33rd floor dungeon and seize greater authority, then perhaps we can contain Shura."
At that moment, the heavy doors of the chamber opened.
The President's aide strode in quickly and leaned down to whisper in his ear:
"Sir, the President of Willowland Republic just called. He hopes you will pressure the Jadeveil Nation into releasing Mr. Golden Sage King."
The President rubbed his brow irritably. Jadeveil was no minor power to be pushed around. Their relations with the Cindralock Dominion were already strained; even if he applied pressure, Jadeveil would hardly bend to his will.
When he relayed the matter to the room, silence fell.
One congressman finally suggested, "Mr. President, you could hold a press conference. Publicly condemn Jadeveil."
Condemnation, at least, would serve as both a gesture and an explanation to their allies. It would show they had not ignored the matter.
The President considered, then nodded.
"Good. Contact the White House. Summon the media. We will hold a press conference."
"Yes, sir."
As the aide departed, another lawmaker raised a harsher point:
"Mr. President, the domestic Blacklight Virus outbreak is still not fully under control. The negative impact has been enormous. Your approval rating has already fallen below forty percent. You must be careful."
The President sat back with a bitter expression.
"Is there no good news left to tell me?"
No one answered. In recent days, there has been nothing but bad news.
—--
Similar meetings were being held across the world.
Shura's name had now reached the highest levels of power.
World leaders were forced to reconsider their stance toward Jadeveil Nation, because none of them were fools. They knew it was only a matter of time before Shura's achievements in the Samsara space eclipsed Adam's. And that time might not be far off.
After browsing the endless online discussions for a while, Fenric closed the page with disinterest.
Praise from netizens was nothing new to him; he had grown numb to it.
Instead, he opened the Samsara Forum and navigated straight to the strategy section, searching for official guides.
Soon, he found the details for the 11th floor of the Samsara Tower.
Two dungeons were listed:
"Total Recall" — Difficulty: Normal
"Transformers" — Difficulty: Hard
Fenric's eyes immediately lit up.
Both were based on science fiction movies he remembered from his previous life.
After only a moment's thought, he made his decision.
Tonight, he would challenge "Transformers."
It wasn't only because of the higher difficulty and rewards.
What drew him most was the AllSpark, the mysterious artifact that gave birth to the mechanical lifeforms. If it existed in the dungeon as a special item, and if he could bring it back… it would be a devastating trump card.
With it, he could form an army of mechanical soldiers to unleash against any enemy who dared provoke him.
Not only would such power dominate inside the Samsara space, it could shake the real world as well.
The Cindralock Dominion's repeated attempts against him would not be forgotten.
With renewed determination, Fenric skipped past the "Total Recall" notes and opened the "Transformers" strategy.
"The hard-level dungeon 'Transformers' introduces the mechanical lifeforms of the planet Cybertron. These robots are colossal, equipped with advanced weaponry, and capable of transforming into various machines.
The primary mission is simple: eliminate the Cybertronian lifeforms.
Warning: unless you are exceptionally strong, do not attempt this dungeon. The difficulty is extreme, and the enemies are overwhelming."