149 First in all

There was a large building in the Imperial Lightning Fort, and its proximity to the Titan Tower should tell everybody just how important that place was.

Unlike most buildings in the fort, where soldiers could go in and out without a problem, there were guards at the front gates, and their aura put them at the Wave Champion rank!

It had two words unleashing an imposing power in the front, and every soldier would show deterrence when they looked at them.

Military Investigation Bureau.

The Military Investigation Bureau was in charge of all types of criminal investigations across the Collapsing Lightning Sector, and their power was massive. A single order from them could deprive a Count of all their belongings and mark them as a criminal or, even worse, a traitor. They answer to no one but the Collapsing Lightning Duke.

The more serious the type of investigation done by the Military Investigation Bureau, the higher the floor where it would occur. Right now, on one of the lower floors, a group of five people was going through some files.

“The Mayor from Rouk City seems to have died from a complication of the wounds taken during the Dark Races’ invasion.”

The one that spoke was a man with a large belly. Despite his unaesthetic appearance, he had a thriving life force, making it clear he was in good health.

“Mmm, the coroner detected no foul play during the autopsy, but it is still odd for such a sudden death.” A very tall woman with a weird robe carried on, expressing her opinion.

.....

The moment she said that the other four nodded and began to pay closer attention to the files, going through all the data regarding Rouk City over the last month.

Seeing those five people work was an impressive sight. It was as if they shared a single mind and were open to all points of view, not discarding anything before doing a proper investigation.

After thirty minutes, they looked at each other and nodded before declaring that Mayor Clacius’ death resulted from his wounds and no other party was involved.

During their investigation, the death of the seventeen men in the forest near Rouk City caught their attention, but that group sent a request for help during the attack through their A.I. Chips and clearly stated that the cause was a Wave Beast.

—

While the Military Investigation Bureau group completely disregarded Cain’s name, it spread among the cadets and soldiers in the fort like wildfire.

The reason for that was pretty simple, the Pillar of Strength and the Pillar of Resilience’s Cadet Rankings had changed again, and the new N°1 was no other than Saint of Killers.

That not only stunned low-level soldiers, but even captains were shocked due to that impressive feat.

For the first time since the rise of the Pillars of Trial, a single cadet took first place in all five!

After the Pillar of Resilience’s Cadet Ranking had changed, a large crew had formed outside the Pillars of Trials, but they only caught a glimpse of Cain before he entered the Pillar of Strength.

Once Cain took the N°1 position in the Pillar of Streght’s Cadet Ranking, there were thousands of people waiting to see him, but he seemed to have vanished.

Cain walked calmly toward his residence as his presence seemed to vanish.

He had no desire to exchange pleasantries with thousands of people he did not know, so he used Void Breath after finishing with the Pillar of Strength and quietly returned to his home.

‘My name must have reached every corner of the Imperial Lightning Fort by this point.’ There was a smile on Cain’s face as that thought crossed his mind.

Popularity was not something that Cain cared about since his time in school showed him just how insignificant that was. The reason for his smile was that the rise in his fame would undoubtedly mean an improvement in his destiny, which would translate into Destiny Force.

Cain did not believe even for a second that he could decipher the mysteries of destiny, but he knew that achieving impressive feats would help him, so he did them.

It was already Sunday, and Cain prepared to sleep so he could be full of energy for tomorrow’s class. Still, before doing that, he reviewed the information recollected from Clacius’ encrypted communication device.

The mysterious force never got face-to-face with Clacius. All their dealing went through the encrypting communication device.

That force provided Clacius routes to sell his stolen goods, access to a hidden network where he could buy all sorts of illegal things, and even protection from the authorities to a certain point.

In exchange for that, Clacius needed to hand over fifty percent of his net gains and be ready to carry on with any command the mysterious force would give him.

Clacius had done business with the force for a long time, but eight days ago was the first time they sent him a direct order. He had to attend a meeting that would happen six weeks from now and wait for further instructions.

Although that order was vague, and Clacius had no idea what would happen once he reached that place, he knew that going against that mysterious force would be the same that committing suicide.

Cain’s eyes narrowed as he analyzed all the information at his disposal.

‘Nothing good happens when an underground organization calls for a meeting of their members.’

He could take many paths, but the one that was out of the question was informing the authorities.

First, there was no good way to explain how he got all this information, and second, such a mysterious organization must know how to cover its tracks. They would silence anyone that threatened their anonymity.

Cain considered discussing this matter with Zarak, but he shook his head after some consideration. He knew that his Master would not care about him killing Clacius, but he also knew this one would not bother to move a hand to interfere with that meeting.

‘Big fish care about big matters, and small fish care about small matters.’

While to Cain, a meeting of people at the level of Clacius was very important, for someone like Zarak, it was insignificant.

‘I still have time for the meeting to take place. I will use this time to enhance my strength and skills so I can take care of whatever happens on my own if needed.’

After deciding his path, Cain began to speak with Apex.

“Apex, do your best to gather all the possible information about where the meeting will take place. Also, can you locate other encryption communication devices? I don’t need the information in them, just their location.”

The System Spirit remained silent for a moment. Cain waited since he knew this one was assessing the viability of the task.

“I can locate other encryption communication devices using the code left by the one used for Clacius, but to do it, I will have to use Destiny Force to enhance the [A.I. Chip Module]’s powers.”

“How much will it take?”

Cain did not immediately agree. Although he had nearly two thousand points of Destiny Force, each was extremely valuable.

“I will need around fifty to one hundred points.”

Cain contemplated for a minute before nodding. Going blindly to the meeting of an underground organization was one of the most stupid things one could do.

While Cain wanted to prevent any dark scheme that would emerge from that meeting, his desire for justice was not so high that it could blind him and shut his survival instincts.

“Ok, then I will proceed with the hacking. I will inform you when I finish.”

Cain nodded at Apex’s words and knew he could thrust this one to carry on that task without flaw.

With that problem out of the way, Cain finally went to his bed and drifted into unconsciousness.

The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

The sun had already come out by the time Cain woke up. He carried on with his usual ritual, bowing to his father’s altar before dashing toward his class.

Cain reached the auditorium and saw that Orin was already there. The girl was very diligent, always arriving early.

When Orin noticed Cain, her eyes narrowed. She felt the young man’s strength had significantly grown, and the short hair on his head hinted he went through marrow washing.

Just like everybody else in the fort, Orin had heard that Cain obtained the N°1 position in every Cadet Ranking in all the Pillars of Trial.

Orin was originally one of the cadets that hid their strength until Jonathan’s test forced her to reveal it. Hence, she knew there were hidden monsters in the Collapsing Lightning Military Academy. However, the girl seriously doubted that there was anyone among the cadets that could really face Cain head-on.

Cain had no idea what Orin was thinking and did not really care. He just returned her nod before waiting by her side for Jonathan.