Alfia seriously spoke to the girl who was about to step into a new world, in her uniquely cool yet subtly gentle voice.
"Rhode is like the sun; his love is like sunlight, it will shine equally upon this land."
"But the sunlight seen by a towering tree and a small blade of grass is destined to be different."
"Whether to completely sever the past, or to transform the past kindness into your strength, is for you to decide."
Taruvi was a simple and innocent girl, never having encountered the complex adult world, but she had grown a little through observation and experience along the way.
After a long hesitation, she finally accepted the plate.
Alfia gently stroked her head.
Actually, many complex meanings were hidden in this small gesture, which she did not tell Taruvi.
For example, why Uskali, the captain who also cared for Taruvi and swore allegiance, did not convey this message.
Instead, it was the seemingly more silent Lidali.
The answer was actually ridiculously simple.
Because, Lidali was her half-brother.
Taruvi did not know any of this, nor did she even know that her relatives existed in this country.
Although perhaps due to the ritual, their feelings for each other were somewhat subtle, the connection of blood would not lie.
This was also the reason why Rhode did not use other means against this country.
In Kamui Space.
An isolated prison area.
Rhode simply took a step forward calmly.
The bonfire burning on the ground disappeared in an instant, and the entire space was covered by a vast and boundless glacier!
It was less about "making the temperature drop" and more about "changing the world."
An eternal winter that extinguished all life, dyeing the entire space a desolate pure white.
And all of this happened in less than a second!
In this extremely cold environment, where even the soul seemed to freeze, Rhode did not feel the slightest discomfort; on the contrary, every cell in his body was cheering with joy.
This was the Authority of the Winter Goddess he gained after fulfilling Vera's wish!
An ultimate power that, when fully unleashed, would bring about the end of the entire world.
"...You, you are truly an out-and-out monster."
The one who could still speak to Rhode without changing expression in such an environment was, naturally, Vera, the friendly provider of the Authority.
Her expression was incredibly complex; watching her own power being 'stolen' so easily by the other party, her mood was truly not good.
But then she thought, her entire godhood was already Rhode's subordinate, so there was nothing to be awkward about.
Vera could probably guess that the opportunity for Rhode to acquire her Authority was related to her heartfelt wish.
But even so, this was too outrageous!
Just because a god made a heartfelt plea, he could perfectly replicate the other party's Authority...
Wouldn't that mean that as long as Rhode wanted to, he would one day be able to gather the powers of all the gods in this world and become a true—
King of Gods!
Just as Vera was greatly shaken, Rhode frowned slightly.
He could clearly feel the consumption of that vast energy within him.
Although he had the Shadow Origin as a backup energy reserve, using it to cast ordinary magic naturally did not require worrying about consumption, but for Authority, it was a different matter.
Or, completely converting magic power into divine power could reduce some consumption.
But at least for now, Rhode did not intend to do so; he wanted to retain a certain level of magic power.
More importantly, although the replicated Authority was complete, it felt to him as if it did not include usage techniques.
"Is there anything you can teach me?" Rhode looked at Vera and asked directly, "For example, techniques for using Authority?"
Vera tilted her head in confusion at his words, her eyes clear as if untouched by knowledge.
"Techniques? Aren't you using it quite well already?"
"No, I mean some moves or something."
"Oh, there's no such thing." Vera answered straightforwardly.
"Huh?"
Facing Rhode's questioning look, Vera, instead, put her hands on her hips, feeling justified.
"Do you think a group of gods who can't be killed and can't improve need to study any combat techniques?"
Rhode thought carefully.
Damn, that's actually true.
This world was just a playground for gods; they had no real natural enemies, nor any motivation to seek strength.
For them, using their Authority to fight was purely about brute force.
"It's like the rock-paper-scissors game you humans play," Vera spread her hands, "If the rules counter you, no matter how you struggle, you can't win. It's that simple."
She had originally wanted to complain that Rhode was treating Authority, a law-level power, as a low-level thing like magic that required casting moves.
But just as she was about to speak, Vera immediately swallowed her words.
She suddenly thought of a crucial question: since Rhode could travel to other worlds, then perhaps, one day, he would fight against gods from other worlds....
Oh no, Authority really does need to be developed. Now I've become a burden.
Rhode pondered for a moment, then looked at Loli Apophis, unit 1024, beside him.
"Apophis, what do you think?"
Rhode now had two external brains.
One was Alfia, responsible for combat development, and the other was Apophis, responsible for squeezing... managing the contribution system.
But now, Alfia definitely wouldn't be able to accumulate enough points to exchange for Authority in a short time.
Rhode currently possessed many powers.
He naturally wouldn't give up on self-cultivation, but he also wanted to accelerate this process.
Apophis, dressed in a Gothic Loli dress, floated in mid-air, her small hand resting on her chin, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and countless black IBM particles rapidly converged in the air, forming a gigantic conceptual tree with countless roots and branches.
"Master, is there such a possibility?" Apophis's clear voice rang out.
"Allow your authority to derive countless power seeds. Your Familia members can exchange for these seeds using contribution points, and with their wisdom and talent, develop exclusive techniques and moves corresponding to that authority."
"And you, through the real-time feedback of these power seeds, like the main root of a tree absorbing nutrients from all its sub-roots, could indirectly draw all their combat experience and development achievements, instantly completing your own growth?"
This sounded like it was no different from Rhode directly replicating with his Sharingan, and even a bit redundant.
But… what if, in the future, Familia members span across countless worlds, and the number of Familia members reaches astronomical figures?!
Rhode's face instantly showed a satisfied expression.
Subarashii, leveling up while lying down—this truly is a suggestion that aligns with my preferences.
As expected of my "Stand," she understands me!
This thing is somewhat similar to how a Sequence's apex treats everyone who steps onto the Sequence as nourishment, but just not as evil.
He rubbed Apophis's head. Apophis's face showed a happy and smug expression, but Rhode's next words made her stop smiling.
"Your suggestion is excellent. The development of this function is entrusted to you!"
Apophis's expression instantly crumpled, turning into a crying face.
"Ah?"
Oh my goodness, what did their fellow IBM particles ghosts in the demi-human world used to do?
Every single one of them went to kill people, alright!
How come when it came to them, after fighting a few proper battles at the very beginning, now they've all turned into miserable programmers?!
Furthermore, because they don't need to eat, drink, or die, they don't even have rest time; they're always in an overtime state!
Rhode's face showed a kind and friendly smile, the kind that would make capitalists weep.
"Any objections?"
Apophis shivered, instantly stood at attention, her expression solemn, her small hands crossed in front of her chest, mimicking the posture of a double-headed eagle, and shouted with all her might.
"For the Emperor!"
After speaking, Apophis transformed into a black light and slipped away without looking back.
Although she knew that upon returning, because she had taken on such a massive task that would double the workload of all her compatriots, she would inevitably be ambushed and severely humiliated by tens of thousands of other Apophis.
However, some unspeakable intuition was frantically warning her that if she delayed even a step further, she would definitely be burdened with even more responsibilities!
She had no room for promotion and didn't want to improve at all!
After Apophis left, a crunching sound suddenly came from the empty ice field.
The empire's only current recipient of the supreme honor of "reserve test subject," the great demi-human — Mr. Sato, was climbing out of the thick ice layer with a bewildered expression.
He glanced at the seemingly polar environment, then at Rhode in the distance, and immediately became anxious to speak.
"I…"
However, the moment his eyes met Rhode's, his gaze instantly became dull.
Sharingan + Grimoire of Illusions, kid.
Vella observed this scene, marveling.
"The myriad worlds truly hold all sorts of surprises. This kind of creature cannot even be killed by a God's Authority."
Rhode didn't think so.
"It's just that your Ice Authority can't kill him. If you had a Death God or something, they'd just harvest his soul. I don't believe he couldn't die."
"It's not that simple," Vella shook her head, a hint of excited smile appearing on her face instead, "If I'm not mistaken, this guy's [Self] is evenly distributed among every 'particle' in his body."
"If a normal human's soul and body are separate, then this creature is equivalent to completely fusing the two in an incomprehensible way!"
"Hahahahaha, it's simply amazing! So interesting!"
Rhode narrowed his eyes slightly.
Vella's words reminded him of something from another world.
— The Third Magic: Materialization of the Soul.
He was about to immediately have Apophis put this matter on the research agenda, but then he remembered that he hadn't yet encountered the Type-Moon World and hadn't assembled any professional research team, so he could only temporarily give up.
In the Danmachi World, the professions that could be considered researchers were only alchemists, blacksmiths, and item makers.
But none of them were suitable for magic research.
The One Piece World did have some scientists, but they were more technology-oriented.
After thinking for a moment, Rhode called out to the system in his mind.
"Open the Myriad Worlds Wish Panel."
[Myriad Worlds Wish]
[World One: To Be Selected]
[Solo Leveling: To Be Refreshed]
[One Piece World: Koby: "Wuwuwu, please, kind soul, come and rescue me from Alvida's ship!" (B-rank Wish)]
Temporarily ignoring the One Piece World he was about to visit, Rhode immediately ordered the system.
"System, consume one thousand Wish Points to refresh the coordinates of World One."
"Preferably give me a magic-related world!"
In an instant, in the conscious star sea visible only to Rhode, countless world bubbles rapidly rotated and changed.
Finally, a blue world bubble radiating rich magical brilliance slowly stopped in front of him.
[Black Clover · Licht: Please save the Elf Tribe, who are about to be destroyed by the Word Magic Devil. (S-rank Wish)]
Rhode's breathing hitched slightly, and his face instantly showed an expression of wild joy.
It's this world!
The grimoire system of the Black Clover world, although it usually limits users to only using magic of the corresponding element and developing it further.
But it's far superior to the Danmachi World's system, which is limited by magic slots!
And this system perfectly fits Apophis's previously proposed Sequence Seed plan!
There are simply too many good things in the Black Clover world!
Equivalent to the Great Spirit of this world, the four Great Spirits of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire, which can only be obtained when the corresponding magic is at the world's apex…
Time, space, gravity, light, darkness… so much magic he wanted to obtain.
There's also an entire Elf Tribe that can be taken as vassals, and like the Combat Nation of the Danmachi World, where everyone is an Amazon girl, there's the Witch's Forest, where everyone is a witch!
And of course, the most heaven-defying… Anti-Magic!
Countless opportunities to be gained flashed quickly through Rhode's mind, finally culminating in the most efficient plan.
First, go to the One Piece World, get the Talent of the Effort King, then go to Black Clover to collect witches…Pooh, magic!
Afterward, Rhode first took Vella to the Kamui Space main body, temporarily placing the Spring of Life in the third circle's planting area.
In the Danmachi World, the Spring of Life was formed by the winter staff using the power of the earth pulse.
During the process of perfecting the Spring of Life, Rhode also discovered a peculiar phenomenon. After a moment of hesitation, he condensed it into a crystal-clear pearl and strung it up.
After some discussion, Rhode then took Vella and created a brand new, independent area within his shadow world.
Unlike the area where the shadow soldiers lived, this area would temporarily be used as a transit point for his direct Familia girls in the future.
It was equivalent to a simplified version of a main god's space.
After all, the Kamui Space could only be entered if Rhode personally brought people in, making it more suitable for semi-permanent facilities requiring strong confidentiality.
The Shadow Space, however, could be entered as long as one was brought by a shadow soldier, making it less confidential but much more convenient.
He had Vella create another Spring of Life in this area and had Vein voluntarily transform into a construction captain to oversee the subsequent renovation work.
After all this was done, he and a somewhat unfulfilled Vella returned to the Danmachi World.
At the time of departure, the residents of Belden and Taruvi looked at each other, silent, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.
Finally, Uskali, with a somewhat strained expression, wanted to keep her but ultimately said.
"Taruvi, no matter what, this is your home. You are always welcome back."
Upon hearing this, Taruvi's face bloomed with an incomparably brilliant smile. The smile was as innocent as ever, but with a different kind of radiance.
"Alright! Everyone, live happily while I'm away!"
With that, she waved vigorously and turned to step onto the returning carriage.
However, the carriage hadn't gone far before Rhode directly used Kamui to teleport everyone back to the wilderness outside Orario.
Since everyone here had already witnessed Kamui, there was no need to continue concealing it.
This special assault team temporarily disbanded, each returning home, while Alfia went directly to the Dungeon alone.
Upon returning to the Hall of Stars, Ryu, who had successfully advanced to Lv4, immediately sought out Kaguya, a hint of smugness and happiness in her sky-blue eyes.
"I'm stronger than you now, you know."
"Tsk!" A tiny vein instantly popped on Kaguya's forehead, her willow-like eyebrows furrowed.
"Oh my, oh my, it seems a certain stupid elf, after finally making a little progress, has become arrogant."
She said with a forced smile, "How about we go to the training ground and have a match right now? A higher level doesn't necessarily mean stronger combat power, you know~"
Ryu was more than willing.
She had long wanted to compete with Kaguya.
"Alright."
Seeing a battle that could tear down half the base about to erupt, Laila quickly rushed out, hugging the rampaging Kaguya tightly.
"Kaguya, Kaguya, don't be like this!"
However, the girls of the Astrea Familia were indeed stimulated by Ryu.
Orario was relatively peaceful now, and they had no opportunity to fight against the Dark Faction executives. Their experience points were sufficient, but they lacked the great feat to advance.
Since the girls' accumulated points had already reached the predetermined goal, Alise immediately suggested temporarily suspending urban patrols and heading to the Dungeon to level up.