Truth be told, when it came to the dark-beast royals' ultimate trump card, what Wei Huan really wanted to say was this: once a profession reached Sequence 6, certain sequences unlocked true "ultimate abilities."
A Sage who reached Sequence 6 — the [Divine Domain Mage] — could manifest a personal divine domain perfectly suited to their power. Once deployed, it could be an ocean of flames, a tidal wave that swallowed the sky, or a hundred-li ice age. The sheer spectacle surpassed human limits and felt downright divine.
A Prayer who reached Sequence 6 — the [Life Angel] — would sprout a radiant halo when channeling holy power, exuding an aura so sacred that onlookers instinctively bowed in reverence.
A Diviner at Sequence 6 — the [Bestowed of the Heavens] — moved beneath a rain of starlight, the entire night sky seemingly becoming their backdrop, every gesture ringed in cosmic brilliance.
A Dancer at Sequence 6 — the [Ancestral Soul] — could previously only summon the distant beat of war drums and a primal, savage energy. At Sequence 6, the ancestral soul truly descended, its colossal projection looming in the sky, showering the entire army in waves of natural force.
As for the Driver sequence at Sequence 6 — the [Starship Pilot] — Wei Huan had never seen it in his previous life, but rumors claimed they could ascend beyond the atmosphere or reach extreme altitudes above the grand battlefield, raining orbital bombardment from the void. The shadow of their massive vessel alone was enough to terrify enemies below.
When viewed through that lens, those terrifying, unknown entities no longer seemed utterly invincible.
They were powerful, yes — but wasn't humanity evolving too? Sooner or later, humans would reach — and surpass — that level.
Wei Huan, who knew fragments of the future, could not speak of it openly.
Fortunately, the dark-beast royals possessed a similar ability: by drawing on the dark beasts within their domain and the troops they had recruited, they could prematurely manifest enormous, devastating "dharma avatars." It was one of the royals' signature racial gifts.
But that gap would rapidly close as both sides continued to evolve.
The reminder eased the others' fear.
The unknown was always the most terrifying thing.
The royals' avatars were indeed horrifying — when Wei Huan and his vehicle had been away, no one present could have withstood one. They would have been annihilated in an instant. But humanity had already repelled them multiple times. Knowing they were not truly invincible dulled the dread carried by those implanted memories.
"Those things appeared inside a Tier-5 Relic's mind," Wei Huan said calmly.
"That means they're only Tier-5 level at best."
"Once we have Tier-6 vehicles, we'll be fine."
"We might never even meet them — maybe they've already cleared the game."
"Now that we can open diamond chests, nothing in this world can stop us anymore."
"Thanks to Mofidi, we can steamroll everything!"
Just looking at the countless civilizations the Relic had slaughtered across different eras in its memories proved how long — and how powerfully — it had dominated Tier-5 and Tier-6 worlds.
But they had Mofidi.
Mofidi turned the dragon's reverse scale into reality and made an otherwise untouchable monster far easier to kill.
With that in mind, Tier-5 could no longer hinder their growth.
"Next step," Mu Zhong said excitedly, "gather Tier-6 vehicle materials, open every gold or higher chest we can find, and stockpile as much capital as possible for the jump to Tier-6 worlds."
"Most of us only just reached Sequence 5," he continued, "but because we over-accumulated in previous sequences, we'll hit Sequence-6 requirements much faster than average. First the vehicle reaches Tier-6, then we do. Give us two years — less, even — and we'll be ready to march into Tier-6 worlds in full force."
"Yes!"
"The path ahead is wide open!"
"Humanity is about to soar!"
Wei Huan watched the others practically vibrating with enthusiasm and couldn't help an amused, helpless smile.
Two years?
Wasn't that a little too conservative?
He had gone from ordinary human to sweeping Tier-5 in just over half a year.
And now it would take two full years to reach Tier-6?
Looked like he needed to find some shortcuts.
While the meeting continued, their war vehicle was already racing home.
The losses from this battle had been massive. Until they regained the strength to handle serious threats, Wei Huan planned to return to the Azure Dragon base for full resupply and rest.
Along the way, every request to board or meet was politely refused.
Fortunately, no gold chests appeared on the journey back — otherwise Wei Huan would have been torn.
In the blink of an eye, they left the no-man's-land behind.
…
The news that Wei Huan had opened a diamond chest in the Tier-5 world never cooled down. If anything, once it reached Blue Star and sparked massive discussion there, it only grew hotter.
Diplomacy was handled by the officials and Mu Zhong; none of the headaches reached Wei Huan.
Until one day — Xu Qingqiang finally woke up.
For the days he had been unconscious, the AI butler had cared for him constantly. The room — once a carnage of bones and gore — was now spotless. Xu Qingqiang opened his eyes on soft sheets, freshly bathed and dressed.
The moment he sat up, Wei Huan was notified. He and Mu Zhong headed upstairs together.
Liu Chengzhi followed, pushing a cart laden with carefully prepared food — delivering a feast straight to the patient's mouth.
"Eat first, Brother Qiang," Mu Zhong said with a smile. "We'll talk after."
Xu Qingqiang had gorged himself unconscious before passing out, so he wasn't particularly hungry now. He ate a little, then stopped, lit a cigarette, and lazily flicked the hand holding it toward the ceiling.
A palm-sized crimson steel gate, ancient and rusted, materialized at his fingertip. The scent of decayed iron instantly filled the room.
"You can all see it, right? Endless Prison," he drawled, peach-blossom eyes half-lidded as he glanced around.
Wei Huan's full attention was captured by the tiny yet imposingly ancient gate.
Mu Zhong, unable to wait, asked, "Yes, we see it — what exactly is Endless Prison?"
Xu Qingqiang exhaled a lazy plume of smoke.
"A personal cheat code exclusive to the Criminal sequence."
Mu Zhong laughed. "Every profession training ground is a cheat code."
Without the [Steel Foundry], Drivers would have to wait until Sequence 5 — "Mecha Engineer" — to hand-craft mechs one by one instead of mass-producing mechs matching the owner's level.
Without the [War Tower], Farmers would have nowhere to train skills and physique — and the tower's time dilation was what kept the training-heavy Farmer sequence ahead of the pack.
And the [Undead Pasture] needed no explanation.
Without it, Wei Huan's legions would be far weaker than same-level challengers or monsters. Quantity alone would never have turned into quality.
Profession training grounds were each sequence's unique "cheat" — and the perfect remedy for their inherent flaws.
With that in mind, Wei Huan already had a rough guess about Endless Prison's purpose.
The Criminal sequence's biggest problem was obvious.
Xu Qingqiang didn't keep them in suspense.
"After we twist, we recover sanity and heal wounds through eating. That process isn't just life insurance — it's a hard boundary that keeps us from losing ourselves completely. Twisting is… hard to describe. Without self-imposed limits, most of us would just die in the madness and never come back.
It's brutal. A lot of Criminals break and quit during that phase. The ones who make it through always have partners who refuse to abandon them — people we trust completely to pull us back from the brink."
Wei Huan knew what was coming.
Sure enough, Xu Qingqiang continued, "So Endless Prison isn't really a prison. It's our lifeline — our mental anchor when we lose control."
He raised a hand to stop Mu Zhong's question. "Let me finish. Mental anchor is just one function — the one Criminals need most.
But if that were all, it wouldn't deserve the title of 'profession training ground.' At Sequence 4 I can already hold onto basic sanity.
So the real core ability…"
"Brother Qiang, when did you get so long-winded?" Liu Chengzhi finally interrupted.
Xu Qingqiang's eyebrow arched. "Makes me sound smarter."
"Tch." Liu Chengzhi rolled his eyes.
Xu Qingqiang grinned, crossed his legs, took another drag, and said, "Fine, straight to the point.
When we go berserk and eat something, the soul — or whatever the hell it is — of whatever we ate gets locked inside Endless Prison.
It becomes part of our mental anchor, and at the same time it permanently adds attributes to us."
He turned to Wei Huan. "The reason I regenerate so fast — aside from my natural Gluttony talent — is because all the undead I've eaten from your army have been giving me resurrection attributes."
That made perfect sense; undead naturally possessed resurrection traits.
Wei Huan nodded. "Give me the exact numbers."
Data glasses couldn't show this.
Xu Qingqiang shrugged. "I don't know my total resurrection value yet, but after getting Endless Prison, the three Shura horses I just ate are now imprisoned inside. Each one added roughly 0.01 resurrection attribute."
Wei Huan had fed him two or three hundred crabs over time. At that rate, Xu Qingqiang already had 2–3 points of resurrection — nothing to scoff at.
He had long suspected Xu Qingqiang absorbed pieces of the "undead laws" when eating his soldiers. Now it was confirmed.
With enough resurrection value, not only would recovery be monstrous — true death-and-rebirth might become possible.
And from Moji's example, death didn't erase memories. The only restriction was respawning within Wei Huan's grand tomb.
Through his data glasses, Wei Huan could also see that every time Xu Qingqiang ate, his agility and strength ticked upward — some from the food itself, some undoubtedly from Liu Chengzhi's nutrient-rich cooking.
Even stripping away all external buffs and Endless Prison bonuses, Xu Qingqiang was already far stronger than the average Criminal of his sequence.
Before the prison, those gains had been invisible to data glasses.
Now they were crystal clear.
To test further, Wei Huan immediately dragged Xu Qingqiang out to hunt various sea beasts and chest monsters.
They needed hard data: what attributes did different creatures grant?
More importantly — Endless Prison clearly wasn't meant to be enjoyed alone. Under what conditions could it be shared with other Criminals?
Wei Huan even contacted Commander Mu about it. The commander promised to send up the next batch of Criminal-sequence awakeners.
There were plenty in Tier-4 worlds, and some from Blue Star legions who had awakened as Criminals but excelled in support roles and reached Tier-4 as logistics personnel.
They were completely trustworthy.
And turning that dormant combat potential into frontline strength made Commander Mu very happy.
There was still half a year until the next highway trial opened. For now, Wei Huan's top priority was upgrading the war vehicle, reaching Sequence 6 as fast as possible, and gaining power that surpassed the current world tier.
With his current prestige and importance in the pioneering armies, gathering materials didn't require his personal involvement. All of Daxia would funnel resources to him to create the first super-vehicle.
Still, once his strength recovered a little, Wei Huan planned to head out again.
Only he could open high-tier chests.
And research on Xu Qingqiang's Endless Prison was ongoing.
The more they traveled, the more varied Xu Qingqiang's "diet" could be.
It was already confirmed: eating undead boosted resurrection.
During the diamond Relic fight, he had devoured stems and roots — granting psychic resistance. With enough, he could become humanity's second "anchor" after Mofidi.
Regular sea beasts increased agility.
Chest monsters granted strength or elemental resistances depending on type.
A month flew by.
Wei Huan's combat power was nearing full recovery once more.
And this time, after a full month of accumulation — excluding the subterranean insect branch — his summonable undead alone had reached one hundred thousand.
If unleashed all at once, that force could already swing entire battles on the grand battlefield.
Another highlight: Commander Mu had traded for five more "super energy batteries."
The price had been steep, but the boost to Wei Huan's strength was absolute.
Without touching his own underworld energy, the batteries alone could now produce sixteen Netherflame bombs per day.
In one month, he had stockpiled over five hundred.
Five hundred bombs could shatter the shields of two or three Tier-5 dark-beast cities.
And as long as he didn't use them, the stockpile would only grow.
Full combat recovery gave Wei Huan unshakable confidence.
Three days ago, he had already begun planning the next expedition.
"Back into no-man's-land, or we go open that gold chest on Five Star Island."
At the vehicle's leadership meeting, he laid it out: "Or Five Star Island first, then no-man's-land."
His interest in Five Star Island's gold chest wasn't just about screwing Aosam. The critical part was that eating Relics granted psychic resistance. Once immune to illusions, they would have a melee anchor.
Xu Qingqiang = melee anchor.
Mofidi = ranged anchor.
Perfect.
Everyone agreed: Five Star Island first, no-man's-land second.
Why choose when you could have both?
Mu Zhong did remind him, "We don't know when the Colossus will activate."
"How long do you think we have?" Wei Huan asked.
Mu Zhong shook his head. "Can't sense it."
Wei Huan shrugged. "We can't just sit here forever. Let's do what needs doing first."
"Fair."
A few sentences settled it. The plan was locked in.
When the others left the meeting room, they were practically vibrating with energy.
Captain Xue laughed, "Before, every mission had me on edge — never knew if I'd die out there. Now? I can't wait to get out and tear shit up!"
Mu Zirui nodded with a grin. "Been waiting for this day a long time."
Word spread quickly through the vehicle: they were heading out again.
The atmosphere was like New Year's Eve.
That sense of safety even while exploring the unknown — only Wei Huan's vehicle could give them that.
Crew members who had rotated back to Blue Star for leave carried themselves with newfound pride, boasting (without breaking secrecy rules) that they were part of Wei Huan's legendary war vehicle.
A whole month had passed, yet the topic of Wei Huan slaying a diamond-tier monster and securing Tier-6 core materials had only grown hotter.
Ordinary citizens were obsessed.
The government produced endless shows analyzing the battle and its aftermath.
The entertainment industry, once too timid to dream big, suddenly realized they had been far too conservative. Dramas, movies, and variety shows about the "Diamond War" were already in production or airing.
Returning crew couldn't reveal details, but the constant praise and hero worship made their chests swell with honor. They felt infinitely lucky to have boarded this vehicle in the first place.
They all had a feeling: following Boss Wei, they would see a far grander world.
"For real? We're finally heading out?"
"Hell yeah, time to go wild!"
"I've improved so much this month — finally a chance to show it!"
"Just a bit more DKP and I can redeem advancement materials. Come on, adventure — my greatsword hungers!"
The vehicle roared to life.
Wei Huan and Mu Zhong, however, were still outside, not yet aboard.
Commander Mu Dehao saw them off at the vehicle's entrance.
"Perfect timing," he said. "Mu Zhong has basically finished his training this month. From now on, you two won't be separated again. I hope this expedition brings you great rewards."
He added, "But be careful on Five Star Island. Your alliance pact plan has spread everywhere. Aosam opposes it the most — they'll be watching you like hawks. If you need a distraction, I've already prepared forces on my end."
Mu Zhong replied, "We still don't know if that gold chest contains a Relic. If it does, that's actually good for us — we can counter psychic attacks and kill it extremely quickly. If it isn't a Relic… then we might need your help after all."
Mu Dehao laughed. "Aosam and I have never gotten along. Staring contests on Five Star Island are routine. It's no trouble — just the moment to show our blades."
Wei Huan asked, "How's the situation these past few days?"
Mu Dehao answered, "Territorial disputes don't end overnight. One month is nothing. Left unchecked, this could drag on for a year or two.
That suits Aosam just fine. They don't want to share the pie they already have. Their strategy is to stall and use the old 'joint pressure' tactics.
As long as they finish building cities in key locations first, they'll control at least half the island's resources."
Wei Huan listened and recalled his previous life — it had played out exactly like this.
Aosam knew they couldn't claim the whole island, so they quietly started building cities first, then invited allies to do the same, carving it up before anyone else realized.
By the time Daxia and the other major powers caught on, the best spots were taken. Smaller nations like Austria settled for scraps, but Daxia and Great Bear refused to be humiliated and ended up with only consulates inside Aosam cities — no real territory.
Exactly what Aosam wanted.
Wei Huan wasn't sure how far along Aosam's construction was this time, but he remembered the location of the Atlantis city from his previous life was far from the gold chest. That might still be an opportunity.
And this time, Daxia had gotten involved early. They would definitely secure real territory.
In his view, the area around that gold chest was perfect.
Open the chest, remove the threat, then build the city.
Whether Aosam agreed?
Irrelevant.
Not just in the challenge world — even on Blue Star, the one with the biggest fist made the rules.
With that in mind, Wei Huan said, "Uncle Mu, could you coordinate with the other Daxia pioneering teams? Have a full construction battalion follow us."
Mu Dehao's eyebrow rose. "City-level construction?"
Wei Huan nodded. "Yes, full city-building crew. It's close to the White Tiger Legion — have them contribute manpower and garrison troops."
Mu Dehao broke into a wide grin. "Done. Old Wang is going to lose his mind with joy — a pie just fell from the sky."
Wei Huan smiled too.
Daxia's four legions were indeed somewhat separated because of the divide between challenge worlds and Blue Star — they had a faint warlord flavor.
But fortunately, those in power were rational patriots who understood that only unity could lead Daxia out of this apocalyptic crisis.
Having your own people pour labor and resources into building someone else's city? In any other nation, that would cause internal chaos.
Wei Huan knew he had deeply misunderstood Commander Mu in his previous life.
The man just had a scheming face. In reality, he was upright, benevolent, never hogged credit, never hid his capabilities, knew how to use talent, and had vision vast enough to encompass the future.
That was why Wei Huan's loyalty naturally lay with the Azure Dragon Legion.
He added, "I'll search the no-man's-land slowly. There will definitely be a perfect spot for an Azure Dragon city."
Mu Dehao nodded, eyes shining with pride. "Black Tortoise guards the rear, White Tiger and Vermilion Bird hold the flanks, Azure Dragon charges at the front — exactly the original vision for our four legions."
He looked deeply at Wei Huan. "I'm leaving the future in your hands. With you leading, I can rest easy."
After a few more words of concern, Wei Huan and Mu Zhong bid Commander Mu fa