Lord: Sequence Master

In his Divine Domain, Rosen placed ten miniature houses, each worth a million spiritual energy crystals.

These were extraordinary buildings known as Human Residences—their sole purpose was to extract human life from within a spiritual realm. The higher the level of the residence, the greater its value. The World Government once used a Sequence 1 residence to bring back a long-deceased Sequence 1 peak demigod from a spiritual realm.

In a way, these extraordinary residences functioned as a means of resurrection.

Theoretically, each sequence allows a person to master one innate ability and up to three acquired abilities. However, each extraordinary skill relies on extraordinary essence, and overloading the essence with too many abilities is not ideal. The commonly accepted best combination is one innate ability and three acquired abilities per sequence level.

For the Noble Sequence, Divine Buildings essentially act as special acquired abilities. Extraordinary residences like these are not linked to the extraordinary essence or the noble's growth, so they don't count toward the limit of acquired skills. This makes them perfect for further development without hindering a noble's advancement.

Now that Rosen had ten Sequence 9 Human Residences, he could recruit up to one hundred spiritual realm residents, no higher than Sequence 9.

Each recruit would cost about 10,000 spiritual energy crystals, explaining why Rosen had been reluctant to purchase these residences in the past. However, these buildings had a significant advantage: the residents they brought out had their spiritual essence bound to Rosen's Divine Domain, ensuring their absolute loyalty. Additionally, they would enjoy further benefits when advancing to extraordinary sequences.

In fact, most major nobles used such extraordinary residences to guarantee the loyalty of their core followers.

Given his limited power in the real world, Rosen was forced to adopt these noble practices early on. Though he had room for one hundred new residents, he didn't intend to fill these slots carelessly.

Those with insufficient potential were out of the question—Rosen planned to heavily invest in cultivating this initial group.

As the Main God Computer interface appeared in his vision, Rosen opened the personnel list from several virtual realms:

Chrollo Lucilfer, Nobunaga Hazama, Feitan Portor, Uvogin, Machi Komacine, Pakunoda, Franklin Bordeau, Phinks Magcub, Shalnark, Kortopi, and… Shizuku Murasaki.

These names belonged to the current members of the Phantom Troupe, with Shizuku set to join in a few years.

While the Phantom Troupe members weren't the main characters of Hunter x Hunter, they were undoubtedly formidable antagonists. Most of them originated from Meteor City, a place with little formal training, yet they had become top-tier Nen users. Their natural talent made them excellent candidates for Rosen's new residents.

Rosen now faced a dilemma: should he recruit them now or wait?

If he recruited them now, Chrollo and the others were still young—perfect for grooming. But the Phantom Troupe had only recently formed, and it hadn't yet reached its peak. Once these individuals became his residents, they, like him, would be restricted to the areas of the world he had unlocked, unable to travel freely to recruit new members.

After careful consideration, Rosen decided to secure what he had instead of taking unnecessary risks.

The Shafiq Corporation wasn't just for show—it might not wield immense power, but with money, many problems could be solved.

Rosen had already set several traps using the Shafiq Corporation to capture significant characters from the story. For instance, the entire Kurta Clan, including Kurapika, resided in the Lukeson Region. Once he pinpointed their location, capturing the entire clan and bringing them to Shafiq State would be easy.

The Kurta Clan, with their innate Scarlet Eyes, had the potential to become Nen users, making them ideal candidates for Rosen's residents. Beyond Kurapika, Rosen had his sights set on other characters with roles in the story.

Even unnamed background characters with potential wouldn't escape his notice.

In Meteor City, Rosen used his control over the spiritual realm to teleport instantly outside an old church.

The decrepit building hadn't been maintained for years, and it was clear that even divine intervention couldn't save the people of Meteor City.

Rosen entered the church, his footsteps echoing as he approached the rear chamber. The moment he crossed the threshold, a sharp knife slashed at his throat from the shadows.

In an instant, Rosen disappeared and reappeared behind the attacker, his hand clamping onto the assailant's head.

He had grabbed a neatly dressed young man with bandages wrapped around his forehead—Chrollo Lucilfer.

Chrollo could feel the terrifying pressure in the hand gripping his skull, and cold sweat dripped from his brow. He knew that this person could crush his head with a single squeeze.

"Disappointing," Rosen sighed.

The Chrollo from the anime was calm, calculated, and strategic. But the Chrollo before him was far less mature—still a teenager, not yet the seasoned leader of the Phantom Troupe.

It wasn't surprising, though. At just fourteen or fifteen years old, Chrollo hadn't yet experienced the events that would shape him into the mastermind of the Troupe.

Without wasting time, Rosen activated his Divine Domain and brought Chrollo to the edge of the Divine Domain's Alchemical Residences.

Chrollo's heart sank as he took in the sudden shift in his surroundings.

Rosen pushed Chrollo into one of the residences and closed the door, waiting for the transformation to be completed.

A few minutes later, Chrollo emerged, holding a book with a complicated expression. The book, provided by the extraordinary residence, explained the relationship between a Divine Lord and their residents. It also offered a brief introduction to the World Government and the spiritual realms.

Chrollo now understood what had happened—he had been chosen by this Divine Lord and forcibly transformed into a resident. From this moment on, his life and death were in the hands of the Divine Lord.

While he now had the chance to transition from a spiritual realm into the real world and could potentially advance to an extraordinary sequence, he would have preferred to remain free.

Hiding his resentment, Chrollo knelt and pledged allegiance to Rosen.

Rosen understood Chrollo's bitterness, but there was nothing the boy could do. To break free from the Divine Domain, Chrollo would have to become a demigod and surpass Rosen's sequence by at least one level.

That was impossible. While Chrollo was talented by Hunter x Hunter standards, the broader human world was filled with prodigies. Chrollo's chances of reaching demigod status were slim.

With Chrollo under his control, Rosen returned to the church and ordered him to summon the rest of the Phantom Troupe.

Rosen, meanwhile, teleported to a slum where Shizuku Murasaki lived.

At this point, Shizuku had not yet joined the Phantom Troupe—she was simply a girl scavenging through garbage to survive.

Rosen pushed open the door of her rundown house, where Shizuku sat, emotionless, gnawing on a piece of bread as she looked at him.

Rosen wasn't interested in coaxing every potential resident. He grabbed her and used his Divine Domain to place her into an extraordinary residence.

Over the next few hours, Rosen selected one hundred of the most promising youths from Meteor City.

By nightfall, they were all gathered beneath the Brilliant Lighthouse within his Divine Domain.

Though there was no sun in the domain, the Brilliant Lighthouse's light illuminated the entire territory, creating a soft glow.

Chrollo and the others, now bathed and dressed in new clothes, sat under the lighthouse, waiting for dinner. A group of catfolk busied themselves, preparing roasted meat over campfires.

For the youths from Meteor City, simply eating enough was a luxury—let alone enjoying roasted meat.

Everyone wolfed down their food, mindful of the Lord's earlier instructions: from now on, they were to eat their fill and train hard. The sooner they met the requirements, the sooner they could awaken their spiritual powers and transition into extraordinary sequences.

Even Chrollo, despite his resentment, ate as much as he could. After all, how could they train and grow stronger on an empty stomach?

Besides, the food was genuinely delicious. Until he grew powerful enough, he might as well eat this Lord into bankruptcy.

(End of Chapter)