The former glory of Gureg is no more, having declined to this day.

Yet those magnificent buildings from a millennium ago still stand tall, immersing everyone here in an untouchable ancient prosperity.

Lostra is already a constitutional monarchy; the prime minister is selected through the election of party leaders, followed by a certain degree of public opinion polls, and finally appointed by the Monarch.

Though Aran is an autocratic military government ruled by the Emperor, it does not lack advantages. Quick decision-making, powerful execution, and military means can effectively suppress opposition and rebellion, maintaining social stability. The absence of partisan color also significantly prevents political infighting.

However, the rigid feudal monarchy of Gureg can no longer keep up with the times. The royal structure has never lost its grip, and the court's influence remains everlasting, yet it leads to frequent troubles for the state.

An aging hero is trapped in the web of the past, even though the magic energy revolution has completely washed away the ancient embankments; he still guards the ruins, unwilling to set sail.

In the desolate courtyard of time, the sands of the century erode the old giant to a mere skeleton, which must regrow flesh and blood.

A city in false slumber, where the clamor covers the vicissitudes.

Shop windows are the frame of dreams, displaying vanity.

Pearls like tears, diamonds like frost, imprisoned in glass cells.

In the gray area of a power vacuum, darkness breeds, causing the era's ulcers, the Thief Guild, to spread capillary-like.

When a person makes a choice, they also lose choice.

And every choice Kai Deng makes is based on willfulness and foolishness, at least she thinks so.

Records document it.

Nine hundred years ago, the conjunction of the Heavenly Sphere began to spread the half-demon bloodline of white hair and golden eyes on the Western Continent, and as the gateway to the Otherworldly Gate, this bloodline is relatively most common in Gureg.

Scholars of the Tower Alliance call this atavism; even if generations appear normal, it is a recessive stubborn lineage form where a certain trait re-emerges after several generations.

Bloodline-centric Gureg does not favor this bloodline and most often abandons it.

It is not only the Life Weaving Society that likes to use demons against demons; the Thief Guild favors all marginal figures of society because their otherworldly bloodline has physical qualities far superior to common people. Kai Deng wasn't dismembered or sold into prostitution, as she has a higher utility value and the potential to achieve success in political assassinations.

Within the Thief Guild's structure, the mysterious source of plague, Diaz, is omnipresent, issuing orders through letters to each district's Staff Chief.

To become a regional Staff Chief, one needs not only solid business capabilities but also the ability to skillfully manage human relations and business.

Against common sense, in her childhood, Kai Deng did not envy her peers with complete families. The Staff Chief bore the responsibilities of a guardian but did not exercise a guardian's authority.

The Staff Chief stated that Kai Deng possesses talents that others do not. In a conventional educational environment, people are often refined into the crucible of universal values.

People usually feel guilty for the mistakes they commit, but against common sense, it's not due to a moral consciousness but due to the deep-seated upbringing conversion rates in their minds. Your money has raised such a person, truly sorry.

The Staff Chief's life creed is only three words: cost-effectiveness. Blood relations masquerade as steadfast bonds, but they are merely high cost-effectiveness. Social animals always need mutually beneficial allies, and blood continuation is actually driven by performance, but generally, it's also about performance, not emotions brought by genealogy.

According to his statement, he has mortgaged his soul to money.

Hence, serving as Kai Deng's guardian was only for the high cost-effectiveness.

Therefore, Kai Deng is talented and doesn't need to feel guilty for the mistakes committed. Ordinary people might slap themselves awake if they accidentally bullied a disabled person, but Kai Deng could completely crush the good leg of a cripple, with the saying, "one kick for a moment of bliss, ongoing kicks for ongoing bliss."

The Staff Chief won MVP, while the nobles were mere freeloaders who reaped without effort.

If you don't have a house, wandering and dying away from home, why not find your own issues? Now it's truly your problem. Have you committed murder? Arson? Swindled, lied, kidnapped, stolen?

The tenant farmer stands there, ah, cursing you to death.

Can the grain harvest offset the debt for renting the land?

It can.

Can my ass?

According to the Staff Chief, Gureg's issue isn't with the economy. The ninety-eighth king hasn't plunged the nation into hunger and dire poverty, remaining one of the few strong nations on the Western Continent.

The real deadlock lies in the social structure, the ideology of people. The royal family's position is too high to be shaken, inherently creating a difficult-to-cross class of aristocracy, living in tranquil despair.

Under the magic energy industrial revolution's impact, the free market sees the infinite proliferation of bureaucratic assets, leading to absolute extreme materialism.

It's nothing surprising that people admire power.

In the magical energy industry era, where Magic Rune Armor, magic-guided braking weapons, and economies dictate the world, the definition of strength has been rewritten.

In primitive tribes, physical prowess meant hunting ability, which was strength. But as civilization developed, one's assets marked the only steady measure of power. The gap in strength between people is infinitely magnified, causing the destitute to view others of the same flesh as if gazing up at giants.

In Lostra or Aran, there remains a certain upward mobility, whereas in Gureg, under the king's pressure, no one dares raise their head.

In these nations, materialists might at least feign morals, but in Gureg, they don't even bother acting; the moral baseline has utterly collapsed, achieving the freedom of buying pleasure.

This country is left with cowards and sex workers, every face waiting for a dusk where rain will dissolve them into faded oil paintings.

But that day...

Seemingly never arrives.

As Kai Deng grows older, she increasingly understands the Staff Chief's way of the world and comprehends entirely how the Thief Guild operates.

Appearing that the most important thing is the Golden Dragon, which indeed is. For the Golden Dragon, for power in the industrial age, all means are pursued.

This is the only way for those on the bottom worldwide, who don't want to become "cowards" and "sex workers," to band together and resist some seemingly insurmountable fate.

Cost-effectiveness.

That has also become Kai Deng's life creed.

Golden Dragons tear at each other in the dark, while Kai Deng collects every fragmented moan, counting each drop of spilled blood and sweat.

"As people make choices, they lose choice."

"And every choice I make is based on willfulness and foolishness."

"But this time, I seem to have truly stepped onto an extraordinary path."

Imperial Arena.

In the backstage resting room, Kai Deng set down her pen.

The real debtor is truly terrifying, but they're not scary with the Staff Chief around; the Staff Chief is the best.

Kai Deng's guardian is an exceptionally rare peacefully retired thief.

The Royal City Army guarding around Kai Deng only thought she was writing a will; this bloodthirsty fourth round indeed puts significant psychological pressure on these contestants, being selected layer by layer from worldwide to compete for the pinnacle of martial arts.

"Here, please help me deposit this letter at the adventurer's guild. At least I'm one of the top hundred contestants now, so the Royal Court should cover the postage for me."

Kai Deng winked at the fully armed Royal City Army guard.

"Isn't it a will?"

The guard was startled.

"Damn it, a will! I've done my research, and Lord Augustus seems to still be single. Soon I'll be his wife, so speak to me with respect."

Kai Deng set her oversized scientific blade tools aside; outside, the first match had already begun, seemingly between a stateless person and someone from across the Narrow Sea.

The guard: "..."

Kai Deng continued to fantasize; the tournament schedule was set, and soon she'd be facing someone she hadn't heard of, seemingly nothing special.

But the Ghost Eye Mad Blade, Saleret, who had been pursuing her, would likely die. He had to face a champion-seeded contestant, a super high-difficulty match right away.

But unlike those madmen who want to be champions, she only needed to make it to the top sixteen, to face-shoot her first kiss a little honor.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.