Four Worlds Converge, Jade River Society Forms

"Everyone, the hundred million Shanghai dollars I hid under my bed are gone. Do you have any clues?"

The Corpse-Eating Gang's boss heard this, and the corner of his mouth twitched as if he'd been electrocuted.

A hundred million Shanghai dollars, my ass! There were only two crumpled balls of toilet paper under your bed that had fallen into some unreachable corner, not even half a cent!

If you had a hundred million Shanghai dollars, would you be living in the 18th Ring Shantytown?

And do you even know how much a hundred million Shanghai dollars is? Forget stuffing it under a bed—even building a bed out of cash would be more than enough!

The boss ranted wildly in his heart, but he didn't dare make any rash moves. Beads of cold sweat trickled down from his temples, and his legs trembled uncontrollably.

He knew he had run into an unusual situation.

The flow of time between mission worlds and the Main World differed little. Under normal circumstances, a first journey through the heavens took roughly two to three days.

Being able to remain in a mission world for ten days meant that this young man had most likely uncovered other missions. The talent he had awakened probably wasn't bad either.

As long as someone like this didn't die young, he would definitely become a major figure in the future!

He was merely a noob who returned immediately after every traversal mission. Ten missions might not earn him as much as this guy could earn in one. There was no need to make an enemy of a future big shot!

So he had to find a way to ease the tension immediately!

The boss's thoughts raced as he considered how many Fate Points he should spend. But one of the lackeys beside him had a hot temper. Rolling up his sleeves, he walked toward Xiao Miao. "You little brat, are you tired of living? How dare you—"

"Duang!!!"

A stainless steel basin fell from the sky and smashed heavily onto the lackey's head. The damage wasn't high, but the sound was ridiculously loud. His psychological trauma far outweighed his physical trauma.

In plain terms: it scared the hell out of him!

"Who—who the fuck ambushed me?!"

The lackey clutched his buzzing head and turned around with an angry roar. First, he saw the dented stainless steel basin. Then his gaze moved upward to his own boss's arm.

"B-Boss?!"

"Shut up! You're my boss!" The boss shot his lackey a vicious glare, then switched to a fawning smile and walked up to Xiao Miao with nods and bows.

"Sir, I'm really sorry. We didn't expect you to come back alive—no, that's not it... I mean, we didn't expect you to be so strong... no, that's not right either. I, uh... you..."

The boss stammered for a long time, utterly unable to explain himself. Mainly because the house-ransacking operation had already reached its final stage; any explanation now would seem unbearably weak.

In the end, the boss dejectedly dropped to his knees. "Sir, how much compensation do you want? Let's discuss a price."

The three lackeys behind him stared wide-eyed, their faces blank with shock.

It was the first time they had seen their boss humble himself like this. While secretly despising him, they somehow also felt a surge of admiration.

As expected of someone who could become a boss!

Xiao Miao was very satisfied with his attitude. Finding a three-legged stool, he sat down. "Don't worry. I'm not some demon either. Since you've shown a good attitude in admitting your mistake, I won't demand an outrageous price. How about this? Three thousand Fate Points, fixed price, and we'll call it even."

The boss stiffened his neck. "Then you'd better just kill me. Three thousand Fate Points? Even if you sold all four of us, we wouldn't be worth that much."

Xiao Miao crossed his arms over his chest. "You can bargain."

The boss cautiously tested the waters. "Then... how about three hundred?"

"Duang!"

Xiao Miao tossed aside the stainless steel basin. "That joke wasn't funny."

The boss: "..."

After a round of haggling, the Corpse-Eating Gang's boss ultimately transferred one thousand Fate Points and left behind fifty thousand Shanghai dollars before slinking away with his lackeys.

The house was a complete mess. Everything valuable had already been gathered into a pile by the Corpse-Eating Gang, saving Xiao Miao the trouble of cleaning up.

Shanghai City's layout wasn't complicated. It radiated outward from the City Lord's Manor at its center, divided into twenty rings in total.

The stronger one was, the closer one lived to the center. The environment and facilities were better too. There were supposedly other hidden benefits, though Xiao Miao had no way of knowing what they were.

He was an orphan. With no active Traveler of All Heavens to look after him, he could only live in the 18th through 20th Rings.

Now that Xiao Miao had successfully completed his first journey through the heavens, things were completely different. He estimated that he could at least move into the 16th Ring, perhaps even the 15th.

Xiao Miao felt no attachment whatsoever to the filthy, chaotic shantytown. After stuffing all the valuables into his backpack, he stood at the door and looked back one last time at the tiny home he had lived in for so long, as if bidding farewell to the self he had been before turning eighteen.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Miao pushed open the door and walked out of the dilapidated little house. Brilliant sunlight spilled into the room, illuminating the road ahead beneath his feet.

At the shantytown bus stop, Xiao Miao waited for a bus headed toward the inner rings.

The blazing sun hung high in the sky, suspended in the eastern heavens.

To the west, four moons shone together.

That was right. This world had four moons. Only one of them had originally belonged to the Main World; the other three were passages formed when three other worlds converged with the Main World!

Around two hundred years ago, four worlds converged. Powerhouses from the God-Demon Realm descended, and heaven and earth underwent drastic changes.

On that very same day, every human in the Main World activated a system panel and became a Traveler of All Heavens. After two centuries of upheaval, the Main World gradually evolved into its current state.

The gods and demons had gone into seclusion, and the powerful Travelers of All Heavens had likewise vanished without a trace.

While he was lost in thought, the bus arrived. Xiao Miao paid two Shanghai dollars, sat in the back row, and opened the window.

The smell inside the bus was unpleasant, and several suspicious puddles of vomit lay on the floor. Considering this was the 18th Ring, having a bus to ride was already pretty good.

In Xiao Miao's view, Shanghai City's leadership seemed to have adopted a completely apathetic attitude. Aside from the core districts of Rings 1 through 5, everything else barely had any presence.

Instead, societies of all sizes recruited Travelers of All Heavens and jointly maintained order.

After transferring once, Xiao Miao arrived at the 15th Ring. He had intended to go to the government offices first to repay his loan, but he changed his mind at the station.

At the station was a middle-aged couple with a child. The woman intended to have their son, who had just completed his first journey through the heavens, join the society she belonged to before repaying his government loan. The man disagreed, believing their son was suited for a better society.

Xiao Miao perked up his ears to eavesdrop and decided to follow the family of three.

This was a classic information gap.

Just as a merchant's child would learn business and a politician's child would learn politics, it wasn't some theory of noble bloodlines. In the end, it was because parents taught their children through words and example, teaching them many things ordinary people could never learn.

Of course, cases where the next generation was simply an idiot were another matter.

After another three transfers and paying to pass through a security checkpoint, Xiao Miao tailed the family of three to Talent Plaza in the 11th Ring.

The plaza covered an enormous area, stretching beyond sight. Countless booths were scattered all around it, all recruitment stations for various societies.

Blood Axe Society, Jiahao Society, All-Heavens Society, Swordsman Society... those were the relatively normal-sounding ones.

There were also some less normal ones, such as Do We Have a Society Today Society, Are You Joining a Society or Not Society, A Little Embarrassing Society, and so on.

Xiao Miao also saw recruitment stations for forces from the other three worlds: the Joyous Sect of the Moonlight Realm, the Holy Light Church of the God-Demon Realm, and the Commander Academy of the Astral Realm.

The lines in front of those three stations were the longest, all filled with young people under eighteen. Once someone turned eighteen, they were rejected outright.

Coming here had really been the right choice!

Aside from those three forces, Jade River Society had the most people lined up in front of it. Xiao Miao joined the end of the line, watching in all directions and listening closely, picking up quite a bit of useful information.

It turned out that every society cooperated with the government. One benefit of joining a society was having one's loan repayment amount reduced!

The stronger the society, the greater the reduction, along with many other benefits. There was all sorts of miscellaneous stuff, such as an internal intelligence database on the heavens.

Journeys through the heavens took place once every fifteen days. Everyone had just completed one mission and was a newcomer, though some had completed two traversals and were scornfully called "old farts" by many people in line.

Jade River Society's benefits weren't the best, but its requirements were the most relaxed. It could be said that it had virtually no mandatory requirements, which made it especially popular.

Everyone wanted free perks!

The line moved quickly. The closer Xiao Miao got to Jade River Society's recruitment station, the more he could feel someone watching him.

Following that gaze, he found that it came from Jade River Society's recruitment station. There were many staff members inside, and he couldn't tell which one it was.

Soon it was Xiao Miao's turn for the interview. The young female interviewer's eyes lit up when she saw him, and her mood visibly improved. "Please display your panel talent."

This was a standard procedure. Xiao Miao had no objections. He opened his panel and selected [Talent: Endurance (Green)] for display.

Magic Sense was too low-grade, while Fate Dice was too high-grade. Only the green Endurance talent was suitable to show.

"Ah? A green talent?" The young interviewer looked utterly disappointed. "Our society requires blue talents. You don't—"

"You're accepted."

A pleasant female voice interrupted her. The young interviewer turned around, then stood up in surprise. "Soc—ah, Leader, you're here!"

The woman was wrapped up from head to toe and even wore a mask. The only thing missing was a sign above her head saying, "I'm very mysterious."

Xiao Miao: ー`′ー

Woman, you were the one secretly watching me just now, weren't you?!