After the two overlord faction Elders left, Jack remained as today’s greatest winner.

He had defended Empty Star’s and Great Silver’s honor. He’d won a valiant duel before tens of thousands of monsters. He’d jumped two small realms to fight a genius.

Each of those would be enough to mark his name. Combined… They made him a hero!

“It’s fine, guys, it’s fine, thank you,” Jack muttered as he returned to his inn. Monsters crowded him from all sides, trying to congratulate him or shake his hand. Many offered to buy him a drink. Female monsters poured from every direction. Even Dolly’s shouts—and occasional bite—couldn’t stop them.

Brock and Starhair followed from a distance, laughing all the while. It was only several minutes later that they managed to cross the inn’s entrance, where the guards stopped the overflowing crowd. Jack stumbled into the tavern space, finally able to breathe. He looked around. A dozen eyes fell on him—all radiating respect.

“Hey,” an ogre said from the side. “Good job out there.”

“Yeah. You really showed that guy who’s boss!” another creature—a five-legged octopus—agreed. Maybe it should be called an quintopus? A cthulhian monstrosity? Jack wanted to ask, but he wasn’t ready to start a conversation.

He waved thanks to all of them, then made his way to the back, where the stairs upwards were located. He could have teleported to his room, but he didn’t want to be rude by breaking the inn’s spatial seals. Besides, he knew something most people did not. If you wanted to be a hero, you had to let people see you. Even chasing you around built prestige.

“Congratulationsss,” the snake innkeeper whispered in Jack’s ears, startling him.

“Can you not do that?” he replied.

“My apologiesss. On behalf of Empty Star City, I will waive your accommodation fee. Pleassse. Proceed.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

Brock and Starhair had caught up by now. The three of them climbed the spiral staircase, soon reaching the top floor, where their rooms were located.

“Jack?” Starhair asked. Even in Double Devil form, he still wore his bandana, covering the injuries left by him sacrificing half his hair to delay Archon Summer Noon.

“Yeah?”

“Good job out there…but, please, be careful. We were safe before. Now that we’re involved with A-Grades, there’s no telling what will happen.”

Jack paused. He looked at Starhair with a faint smile. “Have you adventured before, Starhair?”

“Of course.”

“What was the chance of death?”

Starhair thought about it for a second. “Up to ten percent.”

Jack nodded. “There are three possible paths in life, Starhair. You risk it all and thrive, you risk it all and die, or you persist in mediocrity. Of the three, there is only one I fear. What about you?”

The other man stopped, his face filled with confusion. Brock smirked to the side. As for Jack, he turned and entered his room. Brock followed.

“Well done, bro,” he said after the doors closed. “What’s the harvest?”

“Let’s see.” Jack reached into his robes, removing the space ring he’d taken from Saturnstar. It was gray and regular-sized—the godzilla-like monster had worn it on the tip of one of his scales. Jack connected his mind to the ring and inspected its contents.

“Well?” Brock asked.

Jack frowned. “It’s…decent. But far less than I’d hoped for.”

With a wave of his hand, a small pile of cores appeared. The room was instantly saturated by their rich energy—Jack had to seal it to prevent others from noticing. Brock reached for the pile and picked one up.

“Not bad,” he said.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“But not good either,” Jack replied.

Before them lay ten peak B-Grade cores followed by thirty late B-Grade ones. There was also a single early A-Grade core. Their elements were varied and random. Clearly, these weren’t meant to be used as cultivation resources, but as currency.

This was undoubtedly massive wealth. Even the late B-Grade cores were each very difficult to acquire, let alone the A-Grade one. It was just that, as rich as this was, Jack had a feeling it was nothing but change compared to an overlord Elder’s space ring. He couldn’t compete for the truly high-level items.

In the space monster world, one core was roughly equivalent to three of the previous small realm. For example, one late C-Grade core would be worth as much as three middle C-Grade ones. The difference in large realms, like a peak C-Grade and an early B-Grade core, came with a tenfold increase in value.

It was a crude and clanky system, more complex than it needed to be, and it was made even worse by the fact that these ratios weren’t set in stone. Different places used different exchange rates. If someone wanted to buy a specific core to advance their cultivation, they might need to fork up much more than the core’s monetary value. The higher one went, the more fuzzy the lines—for A-Grade cores, these rules basically didn’t apply, and the economy reverted fully to exchange-based transactions.

Roughly speaking, the single early A-Grade core Jack had was worth as much as the ten peak B-Grade ones combined, which were worth as much as the thirty late B-Grades. He also had Saturnstar’s core, which he’d ripped out of the monster’s body with his killing blow.

Overall, Jack had the rough equivalent of three early A-Grade cores and change. It was a great amount of wealth. But not enough. The late A-Grade core offered in the auction had a plain monetary value of nine early ones, three times Jack’s wealth. The Archon core was simply pointless to think about. The only item he might have a chance at acquiring was the black hole-related incomplete manual…but, thinking about it, Jack released a sigh.

Elder Crownbeast would be present, no doubt carrying a stupid amount of riches. Once Jack bid on something, the Elder would surely outbid him just to be a jerk.

He sighed again. This auction…would be difficult.

“What do you think, big bro?” Brock asked. “Can we do it?”

“Honestly? No.”

The brorilla laughed. “A bro should always keep a level head. That Elder has anger in his heart, which makes him weak. We can work around it.”

Jack smiled. “Damn right!”

“It’s late,” Brock said as he stood. “Rest, bro. Cultivate. I will see you in the morning.”

“Sure thing. See you, bro.”

Brock left the room, leaving Jack alone. However, he didn’t go to his own room. He took the stairs and returned to the ground-floor tavern, then calmly walked out of the inn. A smile of anticipation was plastered on his face.

Jack had rallied the crowds. If Brock didn’t use this opportunity to spread some brohood, he was no big bro!

***

Centrum Nightsky was a member of the Featherwell battalion of the Black Hole Church. He was a soldier—at this stage, that was all an early B-Grade qualified for.

The war was still escalating. Their forces had figured out how to counter the Immortals’ System Cannons, but that didn’t mean the war was over. It only meant they’d be slaughtered slowly.

If this was a few months ago, Centrum would have been demoralized and on the verge of deserting. But things weren’t the same as back then. Now, the army had hope. It had heroes.

Centrum clutched a small doll. It was a Brock plushie, the kind that had sold over a million pieces by now. This one had been given to him by his daughter, and he held it very dear. The alarm still blared over his head, but Centrum took a moment.

“I believe in you, bro,” he whispered, chuckling at his own words. “Take care of my daughter. Build a nice world for her.”

Centrum took the plushie into his space ring, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then teleported outside. Energy attacks flew left and right. The void shattered, revealing a gaping darkness leading into the interdimensional sea. Whoever was sucked inside was never seen again.

In the distance, Elder Featherwell was fighting another A-Grade. Their battle was incredible to watch. Feathers covered the sky, violently ripped apart by all sorts of spectral ghosts. It was a level of power Centrum couldn’t even hope to reach. His potential was already wrung dry.

But he could still fight.

“Centrum!” a voice reached him. A panicked squad commander. “We need you here!” he said as a blast of green energy slammed into his protective shield, corroding it. The commander barely managed to dodge in time.

Centrum rushed over. He took stock of the battlefield. They were outnumbered. The enemies were more and stronger. This was a losing battle.

But there was nothing he could do about it right now. His only options were to stand and fight, or flee by himself. If he fled, there was a small chance he would survive, but that would only urge more of his comrades to flee as well. If he stayed, his death was certain, but at least he could take a couple enemies with him. He could help the war effort.

Another green energy blast flew at him. Centrum waved his sword, cutting it up, but a single droplet fell on his forearm. It immediately began to sizzle. Intense pain assaulted Centrum as his arm melted. With a decisive motion, he chopped it off at the shoulder, preventing the effect from spreading. He used his Dao to seal the wound.

As he joined with his comrades and charged the enemy, his mind traveled to the plushie he kept in his space ring. It traveled to the recording he’d seen, of one C-Grade man challenging an entire B-Grade faction.

Create a safe world for my daughter… he thought again as he dived head-first into the fray.

Centrum Nightsky slew two enemy soldiers and saved the life of a comrade before he finally fell. He died a hero. They all did.