"Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?!"
Smith's eyes lit up the moment he heard the system prompt. He immediately opened the interface to examine the detailed requirements:
> [The host has unlocked the qualification to exchange for the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.]
[Basic Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan: Requires 1,000 energy points to fuse. Only one pair of Mangekyō Sharingan abilities can be retained.]
[Advanced Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan: An additional ability can be retained for every 3,000 energy points.]
[Note: Once the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan is fused, the host will no longer be able to exchange for the abilities of other Mangekyō Sharingan.]
Smith currently possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan of Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke. In theory, he could now fuse them into an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
But the system's warning made him pause.
Once fused, he would no longer have the opportunity to acquire abilities from any other Mangekyō Sharingan.
That was a significant limitation.
If he was willing to spend extra energy points, he could retain more than one ability—but even then, it would still mean closing the door to any future upgrades from other Sharingan users.
Smith weighed his options carefully.
His decision was clear—he would wait.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could be fused at any time, but the abilities from other Mangekyō Sharingan could not be exchanged forever.
If he fused now, he would lose access to Kamui and Kotoamatsukami—two of the most powerful ocular techniques in existence.
Kamui, the space-time technique of Uchiha Obito, and Kotoamatsukami, the mind-control genjutsu of Uchiha Shisui—both of them were top-tier abilities.
Smith wasn't ready to give them up.
He would bide his time and wait until he had exchanged those abilities first.
---
"Su Bai?"
"Su Bai!"
Smith was still lost in thought when someone called his alias again, louder this time, snapping him back to reality.
"Huh?" He blinked and turned toward Xu Yue, who was walking beside him.
She had quietly followed him after he left the command post.
"Miss Xu, did you say something? Sorry, I didn't hear you just now."
Xu Yue smiled softly. "I just wanted to thank you again for saving Tai'an City."
Her voice was gentle, the perfect volume—neither too loud nor too soft—and had a calming effect as it floated through the evening air.
She wore a flowing light blue dress today, elegant and graceful, her footsteps light as feathers.
"You're welcome," Smith replied nonchalantly. "If Tai'an City had fallen, I would have been affected too."
Of course, the real reason wasn't righteousness. He just happened to benefit from defending the city. But he didn't mind accepting the gratitude.
Before they knew it, they arrived at the entrance of Smith's restaurant.
"Su Bai…" Xu Yue hesitated for a moment, then gathered her courage. "What I said before still stands."
As she spoke, she clasped her hands in front of her chest, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
Smith froze for a moment before he remembered—she was talking about marriage.
He cleared his throat and quickly shook his head. "Miss Xu, you should go home and get some rest."
With that, he turned around and walked upstairs without another word.
---
The battle for Tai'an City had ended in a hard-earned victory.
It took nearly two full days just to clear the battlefield.
Thousands of demonic beast corpses littered the plains.
Unfortunately, many of them had been vaporized by the city's charged cannons, which not only obliterated their bodies but also destroyed their valuable monster cores.
In the end, only one out of every ten demon cores had survived intact.
But even that was a good result.
Those cores would be enough to maintain the energy supply for both the city's defensive barrier and the charging cannons.
True to his word, City Lord Kong Changxing had not forgotten Smith's contribution. As promised, he handed over half of the harvested demon cores to him.
---
"Mr. Su, here are half of the demon cores we recovered after the beast tide," Kong Changxing said, placing a space ring on the table in front of Smith.
He didn't quite understand why Smith needed so many demon cores.
After all, demon cores didn't directly improve a psychic's cultivation. At best, they could be embedded into weapons or used to power certain tools or constructs.
Even for material-control psychics, the number of cores Smith requested was excessive.
But despite his confusion, Kong Changxing didn't question him further. A promise was a promise.
"Thank you, City Lord Kong." Smith accepted the space ring calmly.
"Pardon me for asking, but… where do you plan to go next?" Kong asked curiously.
He had long suspected that Smith wasn't originally from Tai'an City.
Smith didn't answer immediately. Instead, he posed a question of his own.
"Are you certain this beast tide was part of a greater one?"
"This wave is definitely part of the Great Beast Tide," Kong replied seriously. "We've been preparing for it for a long time, and our predictions—especially those from the young lady—were spot on."
Smith's gaze turned contemplative.
He had heard of the Great Beast Tide several times before—from Jiang Lei, Xi Yan, and others—but the details had always been vague.
Now that it had truly begun, he still didn't fully understand its origins.
"Tell me, what exactly is the Great Beast Tide?" Smith finally asked. "Is it just a larger version of a normal beast tide?"
Kong Changxing shook his head. "It's far more than that."
He looked Smith in the eye and spoke gravely.
"The Great Beast Tide is a coordinated, empire-wide assault by the demonic beasts. It's their counterattack against the Holy Empire."
"It began in the Monster Forest, near the Holy Royal City, and has since spread outward—sweeping across every major region."
Smith's brows furrowed. "So... if the tide started from the Holy Royal City in the north, and it's only now reaching Tai'an City, which is far to the south... then the Royal City must have come under attack months ago."
"Exactly," Kong confirmed.
"The beasts are attacking in waves—slow but relentless. First the north, then the central provinces, and now here. It's only a matter of time before it reaches the southernmost cities."
Smith fell silent for a long moment.
He finally understood what was happening.
Huaihai City, his hometown, was located in the southern region—on the opposite end of the Holy Empire from the Royal City.
When the prophecy had warned that Huaihai would face a beast tide in a year, the Great Beast Tide had already begun.
It had taken only four or five months to reach Tai'an City from the Royal City.
It wouldn't be long before it reached Huaihai City.
"I see," Smith muttered. "Then I need to return to my own city… soon."
He clenched his fists. He couldn't let the people he cared about fall to the beast tide.
"I understand," Kong said with a nod. "In fact, we're also preparing to leave Tai'an."
Smith looked at him in surprise. "You're leaving? But this is your city. You just defended it. Why leave now?"
Kong looked out toward the horizon, his expression grim...
"We're going to support the Holy Royal City."
Smith was stunned. "You're heading straight to the heart of the beast tide?"
Kong nodded solemnly. "We are soldiers of the Holy Empire. It's our duty to protect the Royal City, no matter the cost."
Smith looked at him with newfound respect.
Kong was no coward. He was marching toward the storm, not away from it.
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn (Gk31)