The Throne Room, City of Gods.

The silence in the hall was heavy, pressing down with the weight of an unseen threat.

Sunny sat on his Throne, his eyes scanning the city of gods through the eyes of his clones, searching for a ripple, a shadow, anything.

"Even with Eleven clones scouring the city..." Sunny whispered to himself, his voice tight with frustration. "This spy remains undiscovered"

Suddenly an idea popped up in his mind, if he can't search for them through his senses, then what about search for them physically?

"Thea," Sunny commanded, his voice echoing with authority. "Replicate your particles millions of times. Fill the entire City of Gods; every district, every alley, every building. If you detect a single particle dying without cause, or being displaced by an unknown mass, contact me immediately."

His logic was simple. Even if the spies were invisible, they still occupied space. They still displaced matter. If they were hiding using a stealth technique, they would inevitably collide with the microscopic particles of Thea.

[Yes Master.]

With that single command, the atmosphere of the City of Gods shifted.

To the naked eye, nothing changed. The starlight still shone; the waterfalls still fell into the dark space. But on a microscopic level, a tsunami of nano-particles flooded the City of Gods.

The city, larger than a hundred mortal worlds combined, was instantly filled with Thea's particles.

The particles drifted through the markets, swirled around the parks and every other building in the city of Gods.

Many of the Gods, with their heightened senses, felt the sudden increase of Thea's particles in the air. A few frowned, looking around as the they sensed this.

"What is this?" a God muttered, brushing invisible particles from his shoulder. "Is the Emperor watching us?"

"Relax," his companion, a Goddess, replied. "It's Thea. She's a Divine Embryo, remember? Probably just testing a new ability. As long as you aren't plotting treason, you have nothing to worry about."

The trust in Thea was absolute. She was the voice of the System, the loyal servant of the Emperor. If she filled the air with her presence, it was definitely for a reason

The Northern District: The Shipyards.

Kairos hovered invisibly inside the Pearl of Calamity, floating near the hull of the SSS-Grade ship.

He was mesmerized by the magitech engineering, urged to reach out and touch the rune-etched metal.

But his hand froze mid-air.

He sensed it. A sudden, overwhelming pressure surrounded the Pearl.

"What is he up to now?" Kairos hissed, pulling his hand back as if it was burned.

He watched, through his senses, as the concentration of Thea's particles multiplied by the millions. The air outside the Pearl became a solid wall of sensors.

Kairos held his breath. His heart hammered against his ribs.

'Did he sense us? Is this an attack?'

He waited for a while. He waited for the particles to crash against the Pearl's shield and explode, just like they exploded his planet, Solara.

But... nothing happened.

The particles drifted right through the Pearl. They passed through Kairos's body as if he was a phantom. They didn't collide; they didn't displace.

Kairos blinked, and then a smirk of relief spread across his face.

"Of course," he chuckled, shaking his head at his own paranoia. "What did I expect? We aren't hiding in invisibility. We are hiding in the Deep Layer of Space."

The Pearl of Calamity didn't just mask them; it shifted their existence into a sub-dimension of space, a layer deeper than reality itself. It was like a submarine diving beneath the sonar range.

"You think just any Demigod can sense us?" Kairos sneered at the invisible particles passing through his chest. "Even a God wouldn't be able to touch us here. We are untouchable."

The Throne Room, after half an hour.

[Master, there are no abnormalities in the city]

Sunny stared at the system panel. "None?"

He frowned deeply. "That means they aren't just invisible. They are hiding in the Deep Spatial Layers."

He leaned back, frustrated. "Smart rats. But that doesn't mean I will just let them scurry around my house."

"But what can I do?" he thought, analyzing his options.

His God's Domain was ineffective because they weren't technically in his domain and his intuition was vague because of these weak spies. Thea's sensors were also useless against them.

He then thought about his storage. Did he have a surveillance artifact capable of piercing hidden spatial layers?

No. The artifacts from the Realm of Advancement were powerful, but they were mostly weapons or utility items for cultivation. Nothing specialized in spatial detection.

"Wait."

Sunny's eyes lit up. He stopped tapping his finger.

"Artifacts..."

A slow, predatory smile formed beneath his mask.

If you can't find a rat, you don't tear down the house searching for it. You put out a piece of cheese. A piece of cheese so delicious, so irresistible, that the rat forgets it is hiding.

"Thea," Sunny announced, standing up. "Let's start a festival."

[Master?]

"Announce an Auction in the Eastern District," Sunny ordered, his voice dripping with cunning. "I want you to list ten SSS-Grade Artifacts. Items that defy logic. Items that would make a God drool."

[Which artifacts should be listed, Master? There are millions in the treasury.]

"Filter the list," Sunny said. "Check for the top ten richest Gods in the city, the ones with the most Faith. Select items specifically tailored to their desires. If a Fire God is rich, put up an SSS-Grade Flame Essence. If a Warrior God is rich, put up an Indestructible Shield."

Sunny laughed softly. "This way, the artifacts go to those who can use them, the economy gets stimulated... and we catch our flies."

The Eastern District: The Golden Festival.

Within minutes, the announcement flashed across every system interface in the city. Giant holographic banners unfurled in the skies.

[IMPERIAL AUCTION: THE TREASURES FROM THE REALM OF ADVANCEMENT]

[10 SSS-Grade Items. Open Bidding. Currency: Faith.]

The city erupted.

The Marketplace transformed instantly. Colorful lights lit up the streets. Music played from the spires. It wasn't just an auction; it was a celebration of wealth.

"Ten SSS-Grade artifacts?" A God gasped, looking at the catalog on a floating screen. "Look at this! The Hammer of Thoros! It amplifies lightning damage by 1000%!"

"I only have three hundred thousand Faith saved up," his companion God, lamented. "Do you think I have a chance?"

"Three hundred thousand?" The first God laughed, slapping him on the back. "You are poor, brother! I spent eight hours in the God-Maker Realm refining my law. My lifeforms generated a million Faith Points while I was gone! I am rich! I am definitely bidding on that Hammer!"

Hidden in a dark alleyway, shrouded in the dimensional fold of the Pearl, Vorr was listening.

His eyes were wide, practically vibrating with greed.

"One million Faith..." Vorr whispered. "They treat it like pocket change."

He looked at the screen. Item #4: The Cloak of Shadows.

[Effect: Grants absolute stealth in the physical plane. Increases assassination damage by 1000%.]

Vorr swallowed hard. His heart began to race. If he had that cloak... he wouldn't need Kairos. He wouldn't need the Pearl or Lom. He could be the ultimate assassin.

"...the auction will start in thirty minutes," the first God said, moving toward the massive domed building in the center of the district. "The artifacts are already on display in the Auction House. I want to see them with my own eyes."

Vorr's breathing quickened.

"On display?" he muttered. "Before the auction starts?"

A dangerous idea took root in his mind.

"If I get there before the crowd... I can phase through the protection with the Pearl's power. I can take them. All of them."

"I need to enter before anyone else," Vorr decided, his greed overriding his fear. "If I have ten SSS-Grade artifacts, even Lom won't dare touch me."

He disappeared into the nothingness, moving rapidly toward the central dome.

The Northern District.

Kairos and Mongo (the third spy) also saw the announcement.

Mongo's reaction was immediate. "Kairos! Look! SSS-Grade items! Artifacts that can kill Gods! If we steal those..."

"Shut up," Kairos hissed.

He stared at the announcement. He looked at the lights. His instincts screamed, as all this was too sudden.

First, Thea's particles flood the city, trying to find them. The moment that fails, the Emperor decides to throw a party and put his most valuable treasures on display?

"This is sus," Kairos whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"What?" Mongo asked, confused. "Kairos, this is our chance!! We have the ultimate stealth tool! We can empty their vault!"

"You fool," Kairos grabbed Mongo by the collar.

As the saying goes, A scammer knows when he is getting scammed. A hunter knows what a trap looks like. Similarly Kairos also sensed something treacherous from this auction.

"Think!" Kairos shook him. "He couldn't find us with the particles. So now he is baiting us. He knows we need power. He is putting cheese in the trap."

"This is surely a trap," Kairos confirmed, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He was about to praise himself for his intellect, for seeing through this trap. But then, a terrifying realization hit him.

"Vorr," Kairos whispered.

He looked around. Vorr wasn't with them. Vorr had been scouting the Eastern District.

"That idiot," Kairos cursed. "He doesn't have my brain. He only has his greed. He's going to walk right into it."

"We have to stop him," Kairos said, panic rising. "If he gets caught, he will be tortured. He will reveal everything. He will reveal us."

He turned to the Pearl. He needed backup. He needed the Demon God's guidance.

"Master Lom! Master Lom!" Kairos screamed mentally into the artifact, channeling his faith into it. "It's a trap! Vorr is going to be trapped! Answer me!"

Silence.

But the Pearl remained silent.

"Is he busy?" Kairos wondered frantically. "Or... has he abandoned us?"

He shook his head violently. It didn't matter. He was alone.

"Mongo, move!" Kairos commanded, propelling the sphere toward the Eastern District at maximum speed. "We have to intercept that fool before he touches a single artifact!"

They raced across the sky of the City of Gods, two invisible rats running toward a trap that was waiting to snap shut.

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