At this moment, Rhodes was somewhat bewildered. What was going on? He'd been inexplicably thrown out of the Warp, and then, just as inexplicably, he owed the system three hundred million credits?
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Isha looked at Rhodes and asked.
She had originally intended to pull the other Isha back first, letting the two of them share one body temporarily, and then think of a plan to obtain a real, physical body in the material universe.
But for some reason, she and Rhodes were both ejected from the Warp, and even her core pleasure palace at the heart of her territory was sealed off by some special power—she, the owner, couldn't even investigate inside.
"I don't know either. Give me a second, let me check." Rhodes sat cross-legged, focusing his mind into the system.
"System, what the hell is going on? I never agreed to a loan—why do I suddenly owe three hundred million credits?"
The monster system didn't reply—its intelligence was limited, so Rhodes had to check for himself.
[Debt Purchase: At three times the price, you have purchased a special monster only available after upgrading the ultimate shop!]
[Please pay for this purchase in one hundred and twenty years, and upgrade the system shop to advanced mode!]
[After purchase, the monster will be immediately sent back 120 years, avoiding any time paradox or creation of new timelines.]
Wait! Payment is due in 120 years and at triple the price, meaning the monster originally cost 100 million!
But the problem is, I didn't do this!
System, I want to complain! If you had a debt-purchase function, you should've told me sooner—I'd have bought Greeza or the Alien Serpent right now.
This sudden debt purchase left Rhodes speechless.
He was now inexplicably saddled with a 300-million loan! What did the Chaos Gods fighting Slaanesh have to do with him?
A hundred and twenty years later—so during the Spirit Banishment Dead Zone timeline! Or after psychic awakening, but before the Omen Ark event.
With the Unyielding Crusade's first stage completed, this was a real scam!
Rhodes let out a helpless sigh—it seemed the loan was unavoidable. So what kind of monster had he actually bought?
Rhodes scrolled to the bottom of the monster list and indeed found a new entry: a giant shining with golden light, clad in golden armor, exuding a mighty presence.
This was the current top representative of the Absolutian race—second only to the Absolutian King: Absolutian Tartarus, also known as the Golden Man, a highly renowned, top-tier villain who had only appeared in recent years.
The Golden Man's strength was indeed top-notch—in combat, he could suppress limitless-state Zero, easily defeat many regular Ultra Warriors.
But when faced with Reiga, he didn't even dare show his face, fleeing immediately. His Absolute Destruction could annihilate planets, but the Ultra King could easily defend against it.
He could only fight an animated Ultra to a draw. In terms of style and villainy, the Golden Man was impressive.
But when it came to sheer oppression and inspiring despair in the new generation, he still lagged behind other top villains.
His most broken ability, however, was the power to freely traverse dimensions and timelines, travel to parallel universes, and even across timelines.
So, in theory, as long as this guy was summoned and sent back 120 years, there'd be no problem.
Tartarus's state was special—as the highest-tier monster, the current system enhancement shop couldn't enhance this ultimate life form.
All his abilities were retained, but he was in his most basic, unenhanced state.
Even so, Tartarus in his base form was absurdly strong.
So Rhodes had inexplicably gone into debt to buy a Golden Man!
No—he actually bought him in the future, 120 years from now!
Which meant that 120 years from today, he'd have to purchase the Golden Man and have him use his spatial powers to return to the past.
That's the only way to avoid timeline or spatial paradoxes.
Damn! Why would his future self buy the Golden Man and send him back like this?
Still, 3 billion system credits in 120 years wasn't a big problem for Rhodes.
"Master! I must now complete the task your future self gave me. After that, I'll return to your side. Please be patient," Tartarus's voice echoed in Rhodes's mind through the system space.
"So you were purchased by my future self, and at three times the price," Rhodes said, stroking his chin.
A hundred-plus years from now—fine! Anyway, for now, he'd gotten a super-powerful fighter for free. Tartarus, after all, was an ultimate life form whose combat power far exceeded any super life form.
"Yes, Master! In the future, you summoned me with supreme power and promised to save our Absolutian race. I shall serve you loyally," Tartarus replied.
"Did my future self give you any specific tasks? Where are you now?" Rhodes asked.
"Master! I'm currently in the Warp, fending off the other three Chaos Gods. That was your instruction," Tartarus answered.
This task was specifically assigned by his future master. After completing it, he would follow the current master's orders.
"Tell me the details—why did I have you help Slaanesh?" Rhodes asked.
"Master, that was your future will. In 120 years, you will naturally understand everything!" Tartarus replied.
"So you can't tell me directly, right?" Rhodes frowned.
"Yes, but I can give you a hint, Master: the balance between the four Chaos Gods cannot be broken. If it is, it will hinder your growth.
You also need the strongest possible guardian—which is why I was sent here," Tartarus explained.
So his future self had sent him back to protect his past self—like some kind of Terminator plot!
There were quite a few monsters with time-travel abilities—the golden dragon from Dyna, a super beast from the Yapoolians, and even the superdimensional beast from Gaia; Rhodes could summon any of them.
In terms of combat power and broken abilities, Etelgar the Superdimensional Demon God was even more overpowered. His future self must have had a reason for choosing Tartarus!
This guy's fighting power was off the charts, but he also made some incredibly dumb decisions in the TV series!
"Go do your job, I'll wait for your return," Rhodes said.
So what the hell was his future self thinking, going into 300 million debt to send back this blockhead?
Tartarus definitely couldn't outthink Mefilas, but whatever—better than nothing!
…
Meanwhile, in the Warp, Tartarus ended the call with Rhodes and turned to the Life Goddess.
"So your relationship with Rhodes is pretty complicated. But since he sent you, how do you plan to resist the three Chaos Gods' attacks?" Isha asked.
As expected, the other Isha wasn't reliable—her man was much more trustworthy!
"Lady Life Goddess, I possess powerful temporal and spatial abilities. I can take you away instantly. I've sealed this area with a time-space barrier, so it's safe for now," Tartarus replied.
Even as an ultimate life form, standing before the four Chaos Gods was still daunting.
His future master knew exactly how powerful the Warp deities were—if they had physical forms, he'd never be able to resist.
"If I leave the Warp, I can only exist for seven days. After that, both Aisha and I must return," Isha said.
If they swapped bodies, they could take turns staying in the material universe, but sharing a body permanently was impossible—even super life forms couldn't handle two godly souls in one vessel.
"Don't worry. When I came, my master already prepared a suitable vessel for you!" Tartarus waved his hand, and a 50-meter-tall female giant stone statue appeared before Isha.
It was a voluptuous female giant, resembling an Ultra Warrior from the Land of Light, but clearly different.
"This is kind of like Rhodes's Dark Giant—is this my new body?" Isha asked.
"Yes! Her name is Camearra. She was killed by a giant of light called Dyna. All that remains is this body—perfect for housing your soul, giving you a real form in the material universe," Tartarus explained.
This was the stone statue of a Dark Giant his master had instructed him to bring. It was just a battle shell—the soul was long gone!
"A truly powerful body; all it lacks is a soul and life energy," Isha exclaimed with delight.
She eagerly transformed into a stream of green life energy and slowly infused herself into the statue's signal timer.
As her soul and life energy merged with the statue, it radiated dazzling light—the surface cracked, revealing a golden female giant within.
"Perfect—absolutely perfect. This body suits me best!" Isha said.
"Hurry, let's go! Once those four arrive, not even I can stand against them," Tartarus said, opening a golden portal and escaping with Isha.