The room comes into focus around me, and I can't help but stare at my status screen in my mind's eye as all of these notifications go off like blaring alarms in my head.

My body doubles have been farming this entire time I've been inside the construct, and for whatever reason, all access to my system has been cut off until now when I've returned.

A massive surge of power flows into me as my base stats nearly double in an instant from all of the extra stat points awarded, and my mana control goes through the roof as I'm awarded trillions of MCP.

My level skyrockets to 3087, and 10 new mythic-grade skills are added to my status.

It's an overwhelming amount of power to receive all at once.

Even so, my gaze is still steady, and I automatically adjust my mana control output through my limiter to not cause any extra suspicion.

I take a deep breath and take a mental picture of my surroundings as I walk out from the cyan rift with the Lich King in disguise by my side.

The first thing I notice is every single one of the hunters that I left behind to be swallowed by the void is in this room now, breathing heavily all in a circle near the walls.

It seems they were transported back here, so my efforts in creating a copy of Emrie as a cover-up were not in vain.

The second thing I notice is Trax still unconscious on the floor while the high-level B-Class healer woman tries to bring him back.

It's clear that his health has been restored just from being brought out of the construct, but his MP is falling, and his skill is still missing. He's unconsciously shaking from the withdrawals of the red fragments even though surprisingly I don't sense a single red thread inside his body now.

Being ejected from the realm rather than leaving the normal way must give different results.

I come to this conclusion not only because my core and limiter are still in perfect shape, but because I see my three teammates at the opposite side of the room, as they left hours before me.

The three of them are already treated and healed, but there are faint red threads still lingering in their bodies.

My gaze lifts up to the ceiling next as I see the live rankings showing only 8 people with points on the board.

There is Nat, Marcie, and Dane all taking up the top three spots with 284, 261, and 240 stones respectively from their hauls.

Below them, there are the two water wielders from the Vice Region that I remember making gear for; they have 71 and 66 points.

Next on the list is the Phantom Region's single contestant, and he has 50 points.

Below this, there are 2 unknown applicants from the Veridian Region that were not even in the top 12 before this 5th stage started. Both of them have 1 single point on the board.

My best guess is they used up all of their energy and resources to defeat 2 red cores and left the construct far before the time was up.

I know exactly what happened with my teammates, but I don't see the Vice Region hunters nor the Phantom Region's lone applicant remaining either.

They must have also left the construct very early for their own reasons.

While it may have been perceived as a disadvantage at the time, leaving others to continue farming, it actually worked out in their favor.

Every other name on the list is greyed out.

They were all eliminated early on from dying inside the domain, including all of the Apex Region's applicants. Everyone else that was still farming and trying to get points up until the last minute was eliminated by the descending void, and just like Trax's red threads, all matter that was farmed inside the construct disappeared.

After hearing Celia's story about the time limits put on her pocket world, making greedy humans suffer a loss of their hard work farming her energy now makes perfect sense.

I smirk inwardly to myself as the entire blue rift starts to disappear behind me.

By the time I take a second deep breath, the divine portal is gone.

It shrinks back into the spherical cyan stone on the center table of the room, and before everyone's eyes, the artifact shatters into pieces then the shards fade from blue to white before quickly disintegrating into dust.

There are gasps that fill the room, and the two A-Rank guards move to surround myself and the disguised Lich.

One of them speaks out loud. "Hands up! Make yourself available for search, we will calculate your points."

It's the fire user.

He steps in front of Emrie, and as he does I notice both of the hunter's arms are missing. He's using a similar technique to when I've seen monsters lose limbs mid-battle, creating golden soul energy manifestations of his arms so that he can continue his duties. On the cutoff points right below his shoulders, it appears to be glowing with residue from a very familiar royal blue soul energy.

The wounded areas are covered up well by his gear and a dense layer of the Sun God's Soul Energy , but my eyes can see far more than the average hunter right now...

A million theories run through my mind, and my curiosity only grows as the wind user approaches me from the opposite side and he's missing a hand and a leg. The same technique of golden soul energy is used to allow the man to walk. Near his wounds, there is another familiar energy signature, bright green soul energy residue seeps from his wounds that cannot be healed.

Stolen novel; please report.

He speaks up to me too, "Arms up, allow me to search you now, Hunter Ray Anderson."

I do as he says, and the manifestation of Emrie does the same by my side.

The two A-Ranked guards pull our item boxes from our waists, and begin to look inside.

My mind wanders elsewhere, thinking of Maria and Abby, as it's as clear as day that the soul energy residue on these guards belongs to them.

Immediately, I check my Rising Emperor's Domain interface and see that their geolocations are still deep inside the dark continent, however a brand new interface is blinking in front of my eyes next to each of their live status screens.

[Contact]

I mentally pause for a moment, then remember the last notification that popped up when the hundreds of notifications hit my psyche moments ago.

I quickly take a look at the details of my new [Ruler's Gaze] perk.

__________________

[New Perk Unlocked: Ruler's Gaze]

Info: The caster can create a communication channel with any subordinate under their rule with an active link of loyalty. While a communication link is created, the caster can see through the eyes of their subordinate in real time.

The caster may borrow 5% of all Base Stat Points and Mana Control efficiency from all subordinates under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor. In addition, 5% of the caster's Base Stat Points and Mana Control may be temporarily distributed to any subordinate under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor.

The caster may only borrow or share exclusively; both actions cannot be performed simultaneously.

Members affected by this perk are not required to be within range of the Rising Emperor's Domain.

This additional buff stacks with the [Power Holder] perk if used simultaneously.

__________________

The fire-wielding guard pours out the contents of the item box Emrie Carter had, and counts out 11 red divine fragments, lighting up his name on the leaderboard right below the Phantom Region's slot.

The A-Class hunter places the fragments in a containment case with the Association's logo on it.

It pains me to even see this small amount of energy go to waste and put into the hands of the Association, I could have just given the 1 or 2 stones instead and it would have given the same effect.

Even so, the activities in this room are pushed to the back of my mind as I press [Contact] on both Abby and Maria's names.

Instantly, I feel a 3-way communication channel form.

It feels similar to telepathy, but the moment I say "Hello? Maria? Abby? It's Jay... can you hear me?" I realize the link is far more crisp and directly transferring information into the receivers' psyche than a delicate telepathy channel.

Maria's voice is the first one I hear back. "Yes! Jay- Where are you? I don't sense your presence-"

She's cut off by Abby next "Hello? Yes- I can hear you- what is this?"

It feels like we're all standing in a small room and our echoing voices are in each other's heads as I reply.

"I'm still at the Hunter's exams... In the Apex Region. I unlocked a new ability of long-range communication... Based on the wounds on these A-Class hunters, it seems you've been busy too..."

Maria's voice echoes out right after this.

"You're with them? You know the Association tried to attack us while you were gone! They were spouting flame Emperor this, Flame Emperor that! You didn't anger them? Or expose yourself, did you?"

I pause for a moment, but reply honestly.

"I didn't expose myself, no. They have no idea I'm here. My disguise is perfect. However, the Flame Emperor may have angered some parties here... It seems they really have eyes out in the Dark Continent..."

I want to ask them about everything that happened, but it would be a lot faster if my body doubles catch me up on the details.

Next to both of their names, now I see a new button labeled [Spectate].

I speak up again while pondering whether or not to press it.

"Considering you two are alive and well, I take it you fended them off with ease? How's the city? I can see it's grown in population, but have no idea how it's doing. I never expected to be away for a whole month..."

Abby responds.

"We handled it, but I doubt they're going to take the losses we gave them lightly. You know A-Class hunters are a sign of military status for a country. If other nations hear of this news, there may be some powers outside of the Dark Continent and 8 Great Regions that will begin to dwell in these matters..."

I stare down at the [Spectate] button again, becoming immensely curious about how this battle between the Crimson City and A-Class hunters unfolded.

I get to the point while the item box around my waist is picked up by the A-Class wind user.

"I have another feature unlocked as well, it allows me to see through your eyes while our link here is activated. I'd like to see how the City is doing, and if you could fill in one of my body doubles that would be great. I can see through its memories exactly what happened."

Maria's voice rings out next without any hesitation.

"Use it on me first!"

Abby's voice echoes through the channel next.

"We're together at the moment, so I don't know how helpful a double view will be, but you can use it on me if you'd like too."

Out of curiosity, I press [Spectate] on both of their interfaces, but nothing happens.

-

Underground, beneath Valor City, as the two hunters are continuing to cultivate Qi in the mines beneath the center of the city, two blue text boxes pop up in front of their eyes.

[Accept Spectator]

-

As both of them click accept, my mind feels as if it's being split into three pieces.

All of my senses become scrambled, and I get an incredibly dizzy feeling.

I feel like I'm living three lives at once.

In one of my visions, I see the A-Class wind user sifting through my item box with his remaining good hand.

Then, in the other two, I see Abby and Maria both sitting on the ground in the Qi crystal room, but I see them from the other's perspective.

It's not only sight, I can perceive the Qi floating through the air and walls around them from the mana and Qi senses of both of their auras. Even smell, touch, and fine tuned hearing is transmitted through the spectator link.

I watch them both stand up and pull teleport crystals out of their item boxes, then Abby speaks up through the link.

"Did it work?"

I want to hold my head and shut off the link from how bizarre this is, but I reply instantly.

"Yes."

Then both of their visual fields and senses are filled with blinding white transfer magic.

The hunters walk up out of the basement of the guildhall, through the incredibly crowded but orderly lobby, and out into the streets of the Crimson City. There are so many new faces, I hardly recognize 1 in every 5 people.

I get two points of views down opposite directions in the streets as they look both ways, then fly into the air to look down on the growing city. The longer I watch their perspectives, the more I get used to the odd sensation of living 3 simultaneous lives in my head at once. I can't interact with the world from their eyes, but I can sense their actions and talk with them in real-time through a link.

Once we're high enough in the air, I notice that there have been many more major construction projects that happened while I was gone.

The entire center city is finished and thriving with local business and the streets are filled with both normal citizens and groups of hunters. Another large area of apartment buildings and grocery stores has been made near the new shops where one of the last remaining empty lots in the inner city was left unused before.

Outside of the Crimson dome, the outer city has grown almost 5 times as large too. It is full of smaller restaurants, hotels, and trading posts available to travelers who have not sworn their loyalty to gain access to the inner city.

Trade routes have been built off in every direction reaching deep into the desert to link to all the nearby towns and linking us to the other major Sectors in the Dark Continent.

I enjoy the view and think of all the possibilities for a thriving future as Abby and Maria pinpoint my surveillance double doing its rounds flying high in the sky.

They wave each other down, then Maria explains what's happening in simple and quick terms.

The double sends out a burst of telepathy to one of the other doubles in the area nearby to take over surveillance as it flies into the sky higher away from the two hunters' eyes to deactivate itself

The second it does, a month's worth of memories start flashing through my mind and everything starts to make sense.

At the same time, back in the Apex Region, the A-Class guard pulls a bright red fruit out of my item box and all the attention in the room turns toward me.