Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
The three advanced beneath the storm in the middle of the night, walking through the darkness with Scarlet King at the front due to the powerful night vision granted by his Existential Sense.
"You know what? Let us fly using the jetpack while you two hang onto me. Ikalat, wrap chains around yourself and Liu Zai Hang, then attach them to my legs."
Ikalat moved his hand, and chains emerged, securing themselves around his and Liu Zai Hang's waists before attaching to Scarlet King's legs.
The jetpack immediately unfolded, and Scarlet King shot upward at high speed, heading toward the spacecraft they had left behind during their battle against the stone giants.
As they flew, Ikalat spoke to Liu Zai Hang.
"If those stone giants had not interfered, we would have already returned to the Food Sect's Eternal Universe by now."
Liu Zai Hang replied:
"At least I gained something from all of this. I broke through to another level."
[After One Hour of Continuous Flight Through the Snowstorm]
The three finally reached the two spacecraft…
Or rather—
one spacecraft.
They descended and landed on the ground, staring at the lone remaining vessel while Scarlet King rubbed his eyes and sighed.
"Hah… Well, one of the spacecraft was erased by the pistol, so only one remains."
Liu Zai Hang asked:
"Can you control the pistol's power?"
Scarlet King answered as he leaped into the spacecraft.
"Well, if I reduce the amount of power I draw from the Infinity Stone, I can fire consecutive bullets, but their destructive power will be lower. The opposite is also true."
"And once I upgrade it using Black Bamboo Metal, it will partially ignore the law of qualitative and existential superiority."
"Beings from higher dimensions—or those from outside the dimensions entirely—possess qualitative, existential, and cumulative superiority over those of lower dimensions."
"The weakest cultivator in each dimension is capable of completely erasing the dimension beneath it. At least, that is how erasure works among the Mortal Dimensions."
"The Immortal Dimensions possess an even greater degree of qualitative and existential superiority. Naturally, the structures of the dimensions themselves cannot be completely destroyed, even by those at the highest cultivation levels, such as the Demonic Ancestor, Great Emperor, Sacred Beasts, or Sacred Demonic Beasts."
"This pistol partially ignores that superiority. An injury inflicted upon someone from the First Dimension would inflict the same degree of damage upon someone from the Second Dimension."
"But against someone from the Third Dimension, the pistol would have no effect because its ability to bypass that superiority is only partial. The higher we ascend through the dimensions, the stronger that bypass becomes."
"In other words, once we ascend to the Second Dimension, the pistol will be capable of affecting beings from the First, Second, and Third Dimensions. If we ascend to the Third Dimension, it will affect beings from the first three dimensions as well as the Fourth."
"But that applies only to the pistol, not to our overall strength. Without using it, someone from a higher dimension within the Mortal Dimensions could erase us along with the entire dimension."
Scarlet King entered the spacecraft.
Liu Zai Hang and Ikalat looked at each other.
Liu shrugged, while Ikalat shook his head.
"He says too many things, and I do not care enough to listen to all of them."
Liu Zai Hang lightly tapped Ikalat on the shoulder.
"But it is useful information."
The two climbed aboard and followed Scarlet King inside.
Scarlet King began examining the spacecraft's interior.
It was incredibly advanced, containing rows of seats, an area displaying a map of the Second Dimension, several holographic images projected through the center of the vessel, and holographic screens lining both sides that displayed internal and external readings.
However, all of them were inactive.
Scarlet King ran one finger across one of the seats.
The glove covering his finger turned brown from the enormous amount of accumulated dust.
"I do not know… The idea in my head is both good and stupid at the same time."
Ikalat asked, already expecting something insane that might somehow result in the destruction of entire dimensions.
That was, after all, what people had come to expect from the Devil of Rebirth.
"And what is this idea? I hope it is not insane."
Scarlet King replied:
"Well, we can transport the spacecraft into the Sealed World. Once we reach the Second Dimension, we could repair it, sell its parts, study it, use it in battle, or choose from many other options that would allow us to profit from it instead of simply taking the Black Bamboo Metal."
Liu Zai Hang asked, unable to understand what was supposedly stupid about an idea that sounded intelligent at first.
"And what is stupid about that? The plan is smart. You are extracting the maximum possible value from it."
Scarlet King turned his head, his pupil widening.
"The stupid part is that I want to repair, sell, or fight using something valuable even by the standards of the Second Dimension. That could attract a great deal of greed and create many problems."
"And we are weak. We have no real power. It would be easy for someone to defeat us and take the spacecraft."
"Fortunately, I remember the most important regions, empires, kingdoms, sects, clans, and families throughout all the dimensions, so we can make use of that knowledge."
Ikalat said:
"You are greedy."
Scarlet King replied while examining one of the metals:
"Of course."
He inspected the metal and struck it several times.
"Well, here it is. Black Bamboo Metal."
Scarlet King immediately pulled it free from its place.
It was shaped like a long pillar approximately one and a half meters in length, made from extremely durable black metal.
Without hesitation, Scarlet King threw both the pistol and the Black Bamboo Metal into the air and activated the Eleven Heavenly Weapons Fusion Technique.
It was a technique capable of merging any type of weapon with another weapon, producing a hybrid that combined the properties of both.
And it was not limited to weapons.
Metals, pills, techniques, and anything else capable of being fused could also be combined, although the level of risk varied depending on what was being merged.
The pistol and the metal immediately began rotating around one another.
They gradually drew closer as Scarlet King poured Qi into both of them, initiating the fusion process.
They spun faster and faster as the distance between them continued shrinking—
until suddenly, they fused.
A wave of energy erupted and shook the entire spacecraft.
An intense blue light burst outward, forcing everyone except Ikalat to close their eyes.
When the light faded, the pistol emerged after successfully merging with the Black Bamboo Metal.
Its appearance had not changed significantly.
Its power, however, had.
A faint white gleam now shimmered across its surface.
Liu Zai Hang opened his eyes and asked:
"Well, how do we know whether the pistol has actually become stronger?"
Scarlet King answered:
"We will not know until we ascend to the Second Dimension."
"Now, let us return to the universe. But before that…"
The three exited the spacecraft.
Scarlet King took out the Sealed World Gate-Opening Badge.
A massive gateway opened before them, slightly larger than the spacecraft itself.
Scarlet King immediately raised his hand.
"Hegemon's Touch."
The spacecraft began rising into the air and slowly entered the gateway.
After ten minutes, the entire vessel disappeared through the gate.
Scarlet King closed it.
"Alright, let us go. There is nothing left for us to do here."
Scarlet King immediately wrapped his arms around Ikalat's and Liu Zai Hang's necks.
"Vaporization."
Mist appeared around them and began transporting them back to the laboratory.