Lord: Sequence Master

Standing on the balcony of the Alchemical Castle, Rosen gazed down at the group of teenagers below, feeling slightly troubled.

While spiritual awakening and potions weren't particularly expensive, the real challenge lay in acquiring skill crystals.

Of course, the residents could learn extraordinary skills on their own, but that would take far too long. Rosen needed usable followers for his Divine Domain sooner rather than later.

His urgency stemmed from unsettling news brought by Gray Rat. Using its divine split form, Gray Rat had sent out avatars to explore the area surrounding Rosen's domain.

It confirmed that Rosen's Divine Domain, located in a wasteland, wasn't devoid of spiritual realm creatures. In fact, there were many Sequence 7 and higher creatures nearby, but they were being repelled by the protective power of the Noble Sequence Tree within the domain.

This beginner protection would soon fade, leaving the domain vulnerable to attacks from spiritual realm threats.

Within two years, Rosen's domain would have to directly face these creatures.

Though the Alchemical Castle and Brilliant Lighthouse provided solid defenses, Rosen knew that actively attacking and expanding was the only way to ensure his domain's sustainable growth.

Months passed, and Rosen found himself busier than ever.

Through the Shafiq Corporation, he acquired nearly every Greed Island game console in the world. The newly recruited Nen users from the Shafiq Corporation were sent into Greed Island to play.

The more players that entered Greed Island, the better the game world developed. Additionally, if a Nen user died in Greed Island, their Nen would be absorbed by the island itself.

The original creators of Greed Island weren't strong enough to sustain such a massive Nen-based game on their own. They only provided the framework, while the Nen energy of all the players fueled the game.

With more players entering Greed Island, Rosen's ability to exchange spell cards grew as well.

With the increase in funds, Rosen purchased more extraordinary residences. The Kurta Clan had been added to his domain, along with the top 100 residents from Meteor City. He also recruited another 100 residents from Shafiq State, bringing the total population in his Divine Domain to 300 residents. Combined with the 202 catman slaves, Rosen's domain—now spanning 1,800 meters—was becoming increasingly lively.

Over the past few months, 50 of the best-performing residents had successfully awakened their spiritual energy.

Normally, spiritual awakening occurred around age 18, but the oldest of these 50 residents was only 16. Accelerating their awakening was costly—1,000 spiritual energy crystals per ceremony, compared to the usual 100 gold coins. However, the benefits of early awakening were significant, so the top performers were given this opportunity.

The Phantom Troupe members had all performed exceptionally well:

Chrollo transitioned into the Treasure Hunter sequence.

Feitan became a Criminal Hunter.

Uvogin, Nobunaga, and Phinks followed the Knight path.

Machi chose the Doctor sequence.

Kortopi advanced into the Wizard sequence.

Shalnark entered the Assassin sequence.

The rest of the members transitioned into the Hunter Sequence.

These newly awakened Sequence 9 residents required 150 skill crystals in total to progress further.

While Rosen had the funds to afford this, finding high-quality skill crystals was becoming increasingly difficult.

The Hunter Sequence could still manage on its own—Nen abilities could be developed through effort, and combining them with extraordinary artifacts could make hunters self-sufficient by hunting in spiritual realms.

However, sequences like Wizard, Assassin, Knight, and Doctor required significant investment for quick progression.

Just when Rosen began to feel frustrated, he received good news from the Hunter Association.

The Blue Whale Kingdom, home to Seadragon City, was preparing for the convergence of several void whales from the kingdom's vast oceanic territories.

Normally, the void whales spread out to gather extraordinary resources from different deep-sea regions, but this convergence wasn't just for exchanging resources—it was for war.

For years, the extraordinary creatures in the surrounding seas hadn't been culled, and their numbers had grown to terrifying levels. If left unchecked, it was feared that a demigod sea beast might emerge.

The Blue Whale Kingdom, tasked with managing these seas, was mobilizing all extraordinary humans for the grand sea beast hunt, a large-scale operation that took place once every few years.

On the appointed day, Rosen arrived at the Seadragon City harbor ahead of schedule. The docks were filled with a wide variety of ships, both ordinary and extraordinary.

Only nobles were permitted to rent extraordinary ships, and the deposits were astronomical. Rosen chose to rent a regular ship, boarding with Chrollo and his 50 newly awakened residents.

At noon, the extraordinary humans were all aboard their vessels, ready to depart.

As the void whales surfaced from the deep, they began releasing the ships from their belly spaces onto the ocean surface. Nearby, dozens of void whales floated, the largest among them measuring a staggering 10,000 meters in length.

Thousands of ships filled the surrounding seas, driving away the ash mist that blanketed the area. Afterward, the void whales dove back into the deep, spreading out to hunt sea beasts.

While the void whales would deal with some creatures, others would be driven toward the human fleet, giving the extraordinary hunters their chance to prove their strength.

Some hunters chose to remain on the surface, while others piloted extraordinary ships to dive beneath the waves.

Rosen opted for the most dangerous method—deep-sea hunting.

This part of the sea wasn't like the shallow waters of the Fishman's Lament spiritual realm. These were the true deep seas, where Sequence 7 extraordinary sea beasts roamed, far more dangerous than ordinary fishmen.

"Release the Bladefin Shark," Rosen ordered Pakunoda, a short-haired, blonde member of the Phantom Troupe.

Pakunoda's Nen ability allowed her to read memories by touching people or objects, and she could extract memories from things others had touched. She could even materialize these memories into bullets and shoot them into others to share the memories, or use them to erase memories.

However, Pakunoda's handgun was a regular Nen-constructed weapon.

Since joining Rosen's Pet Hunter sequence, Pakunoda had been equipped with an extraordinary firearm. Rosen also prepared a Beast Pen skill crystal for her, enabling her to tame pets. Her most prized companion was a Bladefin Shark, already on the verge of advancing to Sequence 8.

Unbeknownst to her, Pakunoda had already surpassed her former leader, Chrollo, in strength.

"Yes, sir," Pakunoda replied, summoning the Sequence 8 Bladefin Shark.

Rosen and his followers entered the underwater pressure chamber within the shark's mouth. The chamber had been magically expanded to comfortably fit 50 people.

Of course, if the Bladefin Shark were to be killed, the pressure chamber would become a watery grave.

However, this was just a front. Once they reached the deep sea, Rosen planned to unfold his Divine Domain and merge it with the real world, using the domain's spatial barrier to isolate the seawater.

Then, they would simply wait for the extraordinary sea beasts to come to them.

(End of Chapter)