"Oh." Grey had a look of realization. "One is my sister, the other is my personal wallet, and as for the other guy, I don't know him closely."

"You are the one who fled from Nova City after being mistaken as someone from the High Order?" Dorian asked carefully.

"That is indeed me." Grey said with a laugh. "To think it would spread here. Did Lia mention it to you?"

He didn't find it strange. Knowing her, she probably would have already revealed it to the Overseer.

The perk of meeting the Overseer after winning the championship was known to everyone.

"..." Dorian fell silent when he heard this.

For a moment he didn't know what to say anymore.

He didn't know this guy, yet he had managed to shock him into silence.

Then he took a deep breath and spoke. "Whatever it is, friend, I am not willing to give you my status as the city lord. It is something I painstakingly forged for years."

He slowly stood, stumbling, but he held himself up with a firm expression.

"Even if you do send me a challenge, I won't accept it!" Dorian exclaimed. "It is unbecoming of me as a man to refuse a challenge, but for my own power and my hard work, I will not accept!"

Hearing this, Grey shook his head. "Unfortunately, you don't get to choose in this matter."

He raised his fingers one by one. "One. You are no longer an evolver. Who do you think Eterna will favor more, someone who is an evolver or someone who is not? And two. It is only a matter of time before Eterna finds out that you are no longer an evolver and she asks you to replace someone, or else she will find a suitable candidate to replace you because you are no longer capable of protecting the citizens of the Three Guards Province."

The purpose of a city lord was to protect the people and manage them properly. They were guardians and overseers of a city or province, and if someone couldn't do even that, then what was the point of being one?

Eterna had been observing from the start. She didn't take action just yet to see whether he would give his title to Grey or not.

And from the looks of it, he didn't seem to agree.

With that, Eterna began to work. She removed the restriction on the challenge.

Now Grey could challenge the city lord without any issues.

"City Lord Dorian, I, Grey Lockhart, a 2nd ranking citizen, challenge you to a battle for the status as the city lord."

[Battle between two 2nd rank citizens for the city lord title of the province "Three Guards Province" code: 0001N56 has been initiated.]

[Would you like to broadcast this to the Three Guards Province?]

"No." Grey slowly replied as he walked forward towards Dorian.

"No!" Dorian shouted. "Please! Don't take this away from me!"

However, Grey didn't reply. He stopped time, arrived next to Dorian, and spoke, even though Dorian couldn't hear him. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to help you with that. Your goal might be to become a city lord, however, mine is even bigger. To reach my goals, I need the city to gain enough resources, and if I want true power in this world, I need this status."

With that, he unpaused time and immediately chopped Dorian on the neck.

The guy instantly collapsed to the ground, falling unconscious.

Eterna's and Grey's plan.

It was very neat and simple.

They had discussed it a long time ago.

Overthrow the current federation!

The thought wasn't new, but lately it had stopped feeling like a fantasy and more like an inevitability. The Federation had long since lost the right to rule. They funneled resources into the floating cities while the lower ones barely received scraps, acting like those people existed only to fill quotas.

The entire southern region went years without upgrades, yet the officials still dared to demand higher taxes.

And the High Order? The Federation pretended to stand above them, yet never once intervened. Corruption fields, abductions, disappearances, everything was brushed aside as "internal matters."

As long as the High Order didn't threaten the core zones, the floating cities, the Federation didn't even blink.

And most importantly, from Eterna he understood that she was under the strict observation of the Federation Master. The Federation Master owned the AI's special artifact, hence he had full control over it, and Eterna couldn't do much about anything. She basically worked on his orders, the things she could do was limited.

This was also Grey's goal, to take over Eterna's ownership. With her as his assistant, he could effectively rule over this world.

He didn't want to rule over this world for the sake of ruling. No, he wanted to spread his Nexus evolutionary path and, most importantly, get all the resources he could and, by the end, charge into the starry sky!

"Overthrowing the federation." Grey said. "This is the first step in taking you out from the federation's clutches, Eterna. And once we do that, we will soar the starry skies."

[Yes...]

Following that, an announcement boomed throughout the city as a sound blared.

It was Eterna's voice.

....

Be it the citizens of the Three Guards Province, the evolvers wandering along its borders, the experts stationed across the three cities, or the officials of the city, everyone instinctively looked up as a vast projection rose from the centers of all three cities.

The holographic projections combined together and enlarged in size for everyone within the vicinity of the Three Guards Province to hear and see.

A clear, synthetic voice echoed throughout the entire province, steady and emotionless, yet carrying the weight of absolute authority.

[System Announcement: A provincial authority update has been triggered. Processing verification… complete.]

[Former City Lord, Dorian Hale, has undergone an evolver qualification reassessment following his challenge against Grey Lockhart.]

[Result: Dorian Hale has irrevocably lost the qualifications of an evolver. Vital metrics, combat pathways, and evolutionary potential no longer meet the minimal threshold required for evolver status.]

[As such, Dorian Hale is no longer fit to retain the position of City Lord. His administrative authority is hereby revoked.]

The projection brightened, emitting a pulse that rippled across the province.

[In accordance with Provincial Regulation 7.1, Grey Lockhart, a certified Second Rank Evolver and Second Rank Citizen, has met every prerequisite for succession.]

[Effective immediately, Grey Lockhart is officially appointed as the City Lord of the Three Guards Province. All administrative departments, evolver squads, enforcement units, and city systems are to update operational protocols and acknowledge the new authority holder. Compliance is mandatory.]

Immediately, Grey's image appeared in the huge holographic projection.

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