Hours passed, and everyone had settled into their schedule following some decent rest.

The vision was coming to fruition gradually but perfectly. Or, as ideally as Kieran could ask for. Execution was always a concern, but Kieran was managing well enough for the time being. He had come into slight obstacles, but most of the key foundations had been set.

He had obtained a trustworthy manager, convinced Weasel to join hands with him, becoming his exclusive technology expert, and acquired a place the team could begin migrating to.

Lillian’s research facility was not an ideal location for them anymore. As the number of core people grew, the need for space would grow accordingly. Everyone had to be accommodated with comfort in mind.

Perhaps not even the recently purchased property would be enough.

‘No, it definitely won’t be enough. That’s why guild headquarters and branch offices are separate and generally spread out.’

However, neither Herald nor Sanguis Requiem produced enough revenue to warrant an ocean’s worth of expenses. Godhand Consortium, in its current state, made slight profits. The production team was too unseasoned, and thus they failed often.

Kieran expected as much, though. He knew a successful production company required an absurd amount of funding. Without the help of affluent allies, that cost became even more devastating.

On the subject of allies, Kieran looked at the vial of an X-hancer rolling to and fro in his palm.

Without Khaos’ help, acquiring the X-hancers would have been a tremendous hassle. From what Kieran heard, the verification process and examination phase for X-hancer clearance was lengthy, sometimes taking up to two months to conclude.

Kieran could not afford a two-month delay. He had reached a delicate stage in his growth… evolution process? Whatever fitting term. His body was transforming, albeit at a slow rate, but it was consuming energy like a voracious fiend.

Whereas one X-hancer would sate his comrades, he had to guzzle several vials to feel temporary contentment.

Kieran fell into an episode of somber brooding as he regarded Khaos’ situation. Following their joint dungeon run and even during that time, it had been made abundantly clear that Advent was on a downward spiral.

While he had resolved himself to remain impartial before, Kieran was no longer as sure.

‘I owe him a favor…’

Kieran’s limited reasons for remaining uninvolved were undeniably selfish. Others didn’t know it, but he did. And perhaps others would come to see it in the future. Khaos had the connections, and Kieran had the vision.

Together, they could accomplish more than either could alone.

However, would someone like Khaos, who put unfathomable amounts of blood, sweat, and tears into forging Advent into the beast it is today, be willing to give it up?

Kieran heavily doubted that.

For Khaos to abandon his cherished guild… it had to be faced with peril. It was the grim, irrefutable truth. But, if his plans ever came to light, Kieran would likely be branded a deceitful scavenger in the gaming world. .𝘯𝘵

A scheming vulture, to be exact.

Well, that was only true if Khaos was the sort of vindictive person to disseminate damning information. From what Kieran heard and knew of Khaos in the past, he possessed the traits of a failing leader.

Not because he did not know how to lead but because he wasn’t ruthless enough. He was too tractable and credulous, lacking the spartan qualities a leader should bring to bear in a crisis.

That inability was Advent’s undoing.

Had Khaos taken matters into his hands early on and pulled out the weeds of sedition, burning them in the flames of mercilessness… it could have been a prosperous guild.

How long did Advent have left in its lifeline now?

The details were hazy in Kieran’s mind because the guild’s downfall had never been his focus. All he knew was that by the time Zenith Online held the world’s population in a vice grip, wresting their attention away from most matters… Advent was a thing of the past.

Zenith Online’s popularity was already snowballing into an unstoppable avalanche. It would soon grip the world in an inescapable hold.

‘Would Advent be no more by then?’

Kieran was truly curious. But he was also worried about other things. Should he succeed where others failed, what would happen to the things that he knew? Would they become obsolete once the winds of changes altered the tides of destiny?

For some reason… fear of the unknown gripped Kieran. It was a primal fear he had no control over. His confidence stemmed from his trust in his knowledge. Should that knowledge become valueless, Kieran’s ability would truly be put to the test.

‘What was it that man said? Luminary? Supernovas? I’ll have to contend against people like that when I can’t begin to tell you what those words mean?’

Well, that only applied to him now.

If he completed Maine’s demands, the war machine of a man would train him personally, becoming his sponsor and mentor. The idea excited Kieran, but it was subdued for apparent reasons.

First, Kieran understood that excitement engendered expectations. And failed expectations led to disappointment. He’d like to avoid feeling disappointed in himself at all costs. He had learned of the great power vested in words and thoughts.

The tenets of Eni’s practice taught that man gave words meaning, and the more you said them, the more profound that meaning grew.

Second, he didn’t know much about Maine other than his position and the suffocating feeling of dread he exuded. What if he ended up being the kind of man Kieran couldn’t tolerate?

The mentorship meant nothing to him if he couldn’t derive any benefit from it. His mind would be preoccupied with dark thoughts—possibly of murder.

It has happened before.

Kieran cleared his throat and shook his head, dispelling those thoughts. Sometimes, he didn’t understand why his mind traveled to those gruesome places. It was disturbing not to understand some of your thoughts.

It was your mind, after all. If you couldn’t muster an explanation for your action… then who orchestrated the action?

Soon, Kieran shook away those thoughts entirely. A strange beeping noise outside the research facility had caught his attention.

‘Ah, it’s here.’

Out of all the Virtual Pods they had ordered, Kieran sent some of them here.

The difference between a pod and a helmet was massive. The former allowed players to supplement their bodies with high-grade nutrition fluids. X-hancers could be mixed in for better results, but careful monitoring was advised.

For the most part.

It was relatively safe if the player inside the pod put themselves through rigorous training in the game. The mind battling to simulate the image of that enhanced version of the player would exhaust tremendous amounts of energy.

The company issued a vague warning, but the players aware of X-hancers understood the gist of the message.

‘So that’s what they meant in the past. I always found their wording to be strange, but I didn’t really think anything of it. To think distinct but craftily molded hints of X-hancers existed before my face, but I couldn’t surmise their existence.’

Kieran praised the creators of this serum, but he commended Apex Industries more. Whoever managed their PR division was highly skilled. Kernels of desire began popping into Kieran’s mind.

‘I kind of want them… but how can I have them if I don’t know who they are? Maybe I’ll get Weasel to do some sneaking and digging around. That is his specialty, after all.’

Met with the idea, Kieran tapped away on his receiver, informing Weasel of another side task: find those responsible for the advertisements Apex Industries runs.

Kieran paced around the room while the medical bed he usually laid upon was unbolted from the ground and moved. Various large tubings were connected to several outlets in the room, and then… the behemoth of a machine was delivered via a delivery mech.

Well… something resembling it.

The machine looked like a forklift, crane, and robot engaged in explicit relations, resulting in a deformed amalgam. Also, it was manned by an individual in a jumpsuit, the AI logo of the company embroidered on their breast.

The pod’s design was sleek and eye-catching. Despite its name, the pod was predominantly black in color with accents of silver and generous amounts of crimson flair. The azure insides offered a stark glow that attracted Kieran’s attention.

It all felt familiar… and right.

Kieran grinned, tracing the curvature of the pod’s rounded edge. He palmed the transparent hatch and gazed inside, mesmerized by the nostalgia he felt. A pod like this was temporarily placed in everyone’s room, removing their beds.

If they had to sleep, it’d be inside this thing for the time being.

No complaints were to be made there. The revolutionary technology included several novel features, including something akin to smart foam… just better in all regards. It regulated body temperature, conformed to the uniqueness of one’s physique, and adjusted for deformity, injury, or abnormality.

It was in every way superior to a bed.

The others realized that the moment they lay in it. Aside from the material, the pod also came with a skin-tight injection suit. It mapped the veins and arteries of the body, indicating the best delivery system for nutrients and, if added… X-hancers.

Kieran unceremoniously stripped in the middle of the research floor. Standing stark naked, he stepped into the suit, and it immediately hugged him in a… revealing manner. Though covered, every toned line could be seen on his body.

Not that he cared.

With an exhale, Kieran climbed into the Blackcrim pod and engaged the boot-up sequences while leaving a note for Lillian. Once she read it, she would know what to do.

Zenith Online awaited the advent of its King.