Lord: Sequence Master

"What kind of fool does something like this..." Grey Mouse danced excitedly on Rosen's shoulder, accidentally inhaling some seawater in its frenzy, causing it to choke while still celebrating on the spiritual plane.

"What did you discover?" Rosen asked through the Nightmare Chains, communicating mentally.

"This is a temple of the Sea Gods..." Grey Mouse responded with excitement. "That demi-god merman likely discovered this ancient Sea God temple and used the extraordinary resources within to ascend to demi-godhood. The temple itself seems to have been stripped of its treasures, but the most valuable part—the temple itself—remains!"

"A Sea God temple?" Rosen inquired further.

Under Grey Mouse's explanation, Rosen quickly grasped the temple's value.

The Sea Gods were once the undisputed rulers of the ocean. No other race could challenge their dominance over the seas. However, their overwhelming power attracted countless enemies over time. Eventually, a massive war broke out between the Sea Gods and a coalition of powerful races, a war that spanned the vast oceans.

Both the Naga and humans only rose to power after the decline of the Sea Gods. Because the Sea Gods ruled the oceans, which were far richer in extraordinary resources than the land, they were wealthy beyond imagination, and their temples were built with no expense spared.

According to Grey Mouse's expert eye, this ice crystal temple was constructed from natural medium-grade ice-element spiritual crystals. Even more shockingly, the entire temple had been refined into a Sequence 3 extraordinary building-type artifact.

Among all types of extraordinary artifacts, building-class ones were the rarest, most expensive, and most valuable. Rosen's own Void Gallery, though only a Sequence 8 structure with a maximum potential of Sequence 6, was already valued at ten million low-grade spiritual crystals. The value of this Sequence 3 temple was beyond imagination.

Without a doubt, this temple was the core of the entire Merman's Lament spiritual realm.

Normally, such a powerful core should have raised the spiritual realm's level to at least Sequence 3. However, the temple had been sealed, and its true nature had been hidden even from the demi-god merman, who lacked the insight to perceive its full power.

If one wanted to take this temple, the only way was to completely conquer and control the entire spiritual realm.

Rosen's earlier idea of using the Divine Scavenger Space to take the treasure was nothing but wishful thinking.

However, Grey Mouse wasn't entirely disappointed. Instead, it eagerly watched Rosen, knowing that Rosen had a secret—an ability that could easily devour and absorb divine power.

Rosen stowed Grey Mouse back in the Divine Beast Pen and pressed his hand against the temple's wall, activating his Main God Computer.

He carefully extended the mainframe cable from the window and placed it gently against the temple wall.

In an instant, brilliant multicolored light began flowing into the mainframe computer through the cable. The radiant energy coursed into Rosen's body, traveling through his arm and into his spiritual sea, filling the Void Gallery until it could hold no more. The remaining divine energy then flowed into the Noble Sequence Tree.

At that moment, Rosen's spiritual sense was pulled into the spiritual realm, where he perceived the Golden Noble Sequence Tree.

Three golden leaves detached from the tree, drifting toward the noble extraordinary essence in Rosen's bloodline.

Rosen could feel his noble sequence advancing, as his rank elevated from a mere Sequence 9 hereditary baron to that of a count.

At this moment, Rosen possessed two titles—a hereditary baron and a non-hereditary count.

Rosen could no longer sense the divine energy. Gazing out the window, he saw the ice crystal palace beginning to rot and melt. He realized that the divine power within the temple had been completely drained by the mainframe computer.

Without wasting any time, he quickly stored the still-struggling Frost Naga in his Void Gallery.

The spiritual realm began to collapse, and Rosen was forcibly expelled from it.

At the last moment, he recalled his self-portrait from the Void Gallery. As long as the distance wasn't too great, his self-portrait could return instantly.

After exiting the spiritual realm, Rosen found himself back in his bedroom in Sea Dragon City.

He immediately accessed the Blue Whale Guild City through his identity card. In the Hunter Guild, more and more human supernaturals were logging in from reality, all with puzzled and bewildered expressions. Some were already approaching the guild staff for answers.

Rosen casually approached Benny and asked him what had happened.

Benny shook his head helplessly. He, too, had no idea.

After a long day of investigation, the incident remained unresolved.

The Hunter Guild couldn't uncover any conclusive evidence and could only confirm that the Merman's Lament spiritual realm had completely collapsed.

As for whether it was a natural occurrence or caused by someone, they had no way of knowing.

That night, back in reality, Rosen could feel that someone had begun watching him. By evening, someone even attempted to enter his dream.

Rosen didn't resist because he quickly realized that the intruder was only a Sequence 6.

Normally, a Sequence 6 would have no trouble dealing with a Sequence 8 like Rosen. However, Rosen possessed the ability to devour and control nightmares, and his spiritual sense far exceeded that of an ordinary Sequence 8. While he couldn't invade the dream of Sequence 6, he had no trouble obscuring and altering his own dream.

In his dream, Rosen replayed the events in the Merman's Lament, with nothing out of the ordinary happening. From beginning to end, he remained at the top of the corpse mountain, commanding his pets.

The next morning, when no one came to his door, Rosen realized that he had successfully covered his tracks.

After causing such a commotion, Rosen hoped that his harvest would be worth it.

First, he checked on the Void Gallery, and unsurprisingly, its attributes had undergone dramatic changes.

Void Gallery: Divine Building

Level: Sequence 8

Defense: Sequence 5

Durability: Sequence 6

Attack Power: Sequence 7

Functional Buildings: Void Studio, Void Safehouse, Gallery Maze

Extraordinary Traits: Bone Frame, Human Skin Canvas, Blood Furnace, Sea God's Blessing

First, the defense, durability, and attack power had all risen by one level.

Additionally, a new trait called Sea God's Blessing had appeared.

Rosen carefully inspected the new trait. With Sea God's Blessing, the Void Gallery could now be filled with seawater, transforming into a submarine gallery. Moreover, any spiritual paintings involving water would receive a significant power boost.

With such formidable power, even a Sequence 6 who entered the Void Gallery would likely never leave unless they possessed special means of escape.

Rosen then checked his noble sequence for changes, releasing Grey Mouse to inquire if it knew why his non-hereditary count title had appeared so suddenly.

Although Grey Mouse was still annoyed at being locked in the Divine Beast Pen earlier, it patiently explained the situation to Rosen, relieving him of any concerns.

His newly acquired count title was genuine and free of any hidden dangers.

(End of Chapter)