All Caught in the Net

Compared with the original crude "winner notified, Loser Withers" model of the Altar Spiderweb, Ronan's improved control system had advanced tremendously, incorporating his own design concepts. His Configuration Thinking had now almost become instinctive. He placed greater emphasis on rational control and possessed his own rules and order.

The new Altar Spiderweb was like the Cotton Candy Machine he had seen in the Life Museum as a child. A small wooden stick stirred inside the machine, while countless visible and invisible threads of sugar wound around it, forming a marvelous cloud-like creation as white as snow.

Ronan was that small wooden stick. Using the Ronan Ruler, he perceived the universe, heaven and earth, and the myriad states of human hearts, drawing and transferring power from them.

Whether that power came from the mighty forces of heaven and earth or the turbid currents of human hearts, it was merely raw material. It had to be crushed and reassembled into "sugar threads," then woven and entwined into similar yet distinct "clouds," all built around himself to form a more refined, denser, stronger, and more stable structure.

Heaven and earth, time and space, human hearts and human nature—I was the central axis.

Ronan was still some distance away from fully controlling this power, but he was steadily improving. Through Madam Harold, Cat's Eye, and the others, he had already accumulated a wealth of experience. He was simply continuing to seek out more effective Configurations for use.

Now, at last, it was time to exert force.

Ronan drew a long breath and carefully adjusted the state of his body.

In today's world, information spread everywhere without limit, while Ronan's Soul Cape covered the entire globe. Building a control network on that foundation made gathering power a natural process. Thus, the life force flowing through