Kaito staggered to the top of the Water Tower, his body burning with the pain of the Permanent Status Curse: Target of Chaos (Level 1). Haron's beam of disorder hadn't caused physical damage, but it had rewritten Kaito's Essence signature. He was no longer a human with a Pactum; he was an Entropy Beacon, a walking magnet for any Cultivator who thrived on chaos.
Wulfrina helped him sit down on the rusty platform. The cold wind at the top of the Tower was nothing compared to the icy chill of the Shadow Guild freezing the neighboring district. Kael's Dark Frost had stopped meters from the Slum's perimeter, trapped and being absorbed by Master Haron's Domain of Entropy.
"Master, you are wounded! (Wulfrina hissed, her Lycan eyes inspecting the sickly green glow on Kaito's chest). This curse… it's corrupting your code. I feel Chaos trying to link with my Optimized Eternal Frost."
"I know. (Kaito took a deep breath, trying to maintain the stability of his INT 15). Haron gave us a new buff… but it's a death buff. He wants us alive and moving so that Chaos brings us back to him. It's a Farming Algorithm."
Kaito opened his Status panel.
{ Master Kaito Status (Level 2)
INT (Intelligence) : 15 (Stable)
XP (Cultivation Power): 0.1 (CRITICAL)
Permanent Buff Target of Chaos (Level 1): Attracts Entropy Cultivators (+1000% encounter rate)
Temporary Buff Contamination (Level 1): Duration: 5 seconds (Decaying) }
"The Protocol clock is up, but the hunt isn't. (Kaito said, ignoring the cold). Haron let us go. He wants us running to increase the Essence loot. The Water Tower is our worst place. It's the only point of Static Order in the Slum. Kael or Haron can target us precisely."
The Temporary Buff: Contamination (Level 1) flickered and disappeared. Wulfrina's body began to radiate the unstable Purity of the Optimized Eternal Frost again. They were, once more, the obvious anomaly in the middle of chaos.
Kaito had to use the last 0.1 XP to hack a solution. It was a zero-margin-of-error gamble.
"General, prepare for the riskiest hack yet. (Kaito warned, concentrating all his INT on the Lycan Analyst Eye). I can't remove the Target of Chaos, but I can mask it."
He opened the Essence Modification tab.
[ HackAttempt: Curse Optimization. Required Cost: 3.0 XP.
AvailableXP: 0.1 XP ]
"I don't have enough XP. Optimization fails. (Kaito growled, frustrated). Haron left us resourceless!"
"No, Master! (Wulfrina intervened, her voice almost pleading). Use my Optimized Eternal Frost! It's unstable, but pure! Use the Pactum to drain 3.0 XP from me! It's the only way to avoid feedback damage!"
The plan was insane. Draining Wulfrina's essence to fund a risky hack could trigger the Primitive Fury again, but Kaito realized the General was offering her life for the Master's survival.
"The Pactum will stabilize the drain! (Kaito accepted, feeling the adrenaline return). Drain! 3.0 XP from Wulfrina to Kaito's Optimization System!"
[ SystemNotification: Essence Drain Imminent! Anchor General (Optimized Eternal Frost) DONATES 3.0 XP to Master. PrimitiveFuryFeedbackRisk: 50% ]
Wulfrina's body trembled, but she maintained her composure. The pure, glacial energy flowed from her into Kaito's Pactum, who used the power as a Temporary Super-Computer.
[ SystemNotification: Drain XP Received: 3.0 XP
Total XP for Optimization: 3.1 XP ]
"Now! (Kaito shouted, his mind boiling with data). Hack the Curse! I don't remove it. I force it to accept the Contamination Buff as its new Status Quo!"
He rewrote the Curse's code line, forcing the Target of Chaos to link with the Contamination algorithm, making it a permanent feature of hidden filth.
[ SystemNotification: Hack Successful! Status Curse Optimized! New Passive Skill Unlocked: Optimized Entropy (Level 1) ]
{ Master Kaito Status (Level 2)
INT (Intelligence): 15 (Stable)
XP (Cultivation Power) : 0.1 (CRITICAL)
Passive Skill Optimized Entropy (Level 1): The Master is permanently covered by a thin layer of Contamination Essence (Human Disorder). Purity and Chaos Tracking is -90% effective. Allows stealth mobility in High-Chaos Zones.
Permanent Buff Target of Chaos: (Level 1)
(Masked by Optimized Entropy).
Kaito gasped. The pain of the Curse transformed into a constant, yet comfortable, feeling of filth. He was no longer glowing green. He was, functionally, chaos disguised as a human.
Wulfrina smiled, exhausted but relieved.
"You made the filth permanent, Master. Now, no one tracks us easily!"
«The New Direction»
The relief was interrupted by a sound in the sky.
It wasn't Kael's Dark Frost. It was the familiar and annoying buzz of a high-altitude surveillance drone. Kaito's Analyst Eye flashed.
Artifact: SurveillanceDrone
Lineage: LocalGovernment
Status: Active, TrackingDisorder, HighPriority: WaterTowers.
"They found us! (Kaito shouted, pulling Wulfrina to the side of the Tower). It's not Kael, it's the Government! They saw his Dark Frost and are now after the anomaly!"
The Water Tower was too clean. They had to descend.
"We go back to the ground! (Kaito ordered, beginning the descent). Haron wants us in Chaos. We stay in Chaos, but we hide in the Entropy that he doesn't control!"
Kaito had a new target. Haron dominated physical Entropy (trash, mud, disorder). Kael dominated Purity. But there was a zone where Kaito's Logic (INT) was supreme, and where neither Purity nor physical Entropy could follow them.
"We have to leave the Slum. (Kaito explained, descending quickly). We need Resources. XP! Money! Information! Haron, Kael, the Guild… they want us! We need a place where they have no jurisdiction. The Digital Underworld!"
"Digital Underworld? (Wulfrina asked, confused, jumping the last meter). Where is that, Master?"
"It's a place where filth and disorder are virtual. (Kaito smiled, the Analyst look returning). It's the Entropy of Information! We're going to the Broken Byte Black Market! It's where Cultivators buy and sell data, hacked artifacts, and rare essences. It's the only place where my INT is an S Rank weapon!"
[ SystemNotification: New Primary Mission Activated: Infiltration of the Broken Byte Black Market ]
[ Objective: Acquire 500 XP.
Secondary Objective: Discover Elder Haron's Plan.
Location: The Heart of the Glass City, beneath the Digital Surface ]
Kaito looked at Wulfrina. Haron's Curse was still there, but masked. The escape was no longer about fleeing Entropy, but about using Entropy to infiltrate the underground world, where Kaito could, finally, turn his Data into Power.
"Come on, General. (Kaito finalized, the Government drone buzzing overhead). The Master of Optimized Filth has a new game to play."
Kaito and Wulfrina leave the Wall of Chaos, with Kaito now permanently "filthy" and invisible to Essence trackers. The next stop is the Broken Byte Black Market, the city's digital underworld, where Kaito's INT 15 is the most valuable currency. However, the Government surveillance drone has detected them, and they will have to move quickly to the city center before they are surrounded by human or Lycan forces.