A real tycoon. Liu A'dou used to think Batman and Iron Man were already rich enough—turns out, today he met someone even wealthier.
Truck after truck, all carrying cultural relics. Once the castle was finished, priceless treasures started arriving in waves. Liu A'dou's sharp eyes instantly spotted that not a single item was ordinary. Most were unknown to the public, but clearly of immeasurable value. Some were even long-lost legendary artifacts from myths and ancient records.
Among the ones he could recognize were items so famous they'd shaken the world—pieces that only existed in legends and history books. With these alone, one could probably buy the entire United States. But he didn't spot anything that screamed "Pandora gem" at first glance. Now hiding inside the castle, Liu A'dou waited quietly for this mysterious tycoon to show up.
As soon as the construction finished, all the workers were sent away. No one was underpaid, and no one was silenced. Seemed like the tycoon had some decency. But Liu A'dou's curiosity wasn't just about the money—he had to find out if the gem was in this man's hands.
The trucks kept coming for two whole days and nights before everything finally quieted down. Liu A'dou casually strolled through the treasure hall, fingers itching. He didn't steal anything, but he couldn't resist playing with a few.
Right hand holding the Spear of Longinus, left hand gripping the Sword in the Stone, his eyes scanned the crown once worn by King Richard the Lionheart. There were also the Tablets of the Ten Commandments from Moses and Alexander the Great's jewel-encrusted saddle.
These weren't just decorations. Any one of them could shake the entire archaeological world.
"I'm kinda looking forward to meeting the guy who owns all this," Liu A'dou muttered, actually getting excited. Someone who could collect these things had to be no ordinary man.
At last, his patience paid off. The tycoon finally arrived.
A bearded man in a perfectly tailored suit stood before the castle. Behind him, an elderly man well past his fifties—probably the butler.
The bearded man wasn't handsome, but he had an unmatched presence. He radiated authority and calm, like a mountain that wouldn't budge even if the sky fell. For the first time, Liu A'dou met someone whose presence alone made you forget about appearances. He'd seen inner strength before, but never anything like this.
"Who is he?" Liu A'dou didn't recognize him. Couldn't recall any anime character like that either.
"Is everything ready?" the man asked in a deep, steady British accent. Just hearing his voice, you could tell he was a refined gentleman.
"Everything is ready, sir," the butler said respectfully.
The man gave a soft grunt and walked proudly into the castle. The massive doors shut behind him.
Then came the chilling declaration: "Then let's begin. In twenty minutes, I'll reclaim my value."
"Understood," the butler replied after a pause. "It has already begun."
"Good!" the man shouted. "In twenty minutes, the world will once again become what I remember. Hahaha! I've spent eighty thousand years searching for the meaning of my existence. To achieve this goal, I've done countless things. In the end, I realized—being the ruler above all is where I belong!"
"Thank you for choosing me, Master. I'd die ten thousand times and still be unworthy," said the butler with deep emotion.
"You won't die. I'll always remember what you've done for me. You've done a lot. I'm very satisfied. That's why I brought you into this sanctuary."
The butler dropped to his knees, kissing the man's leather shoes, displaying absolute loyalty. Not a shred of pride left in him.
"Hahahaha!" The man laughed, glanced at his mechanical watch, and said, "Only seventeen minutes left. Earth will return to the primitive era, and I'll lead humanity to unite again. I will rule them. Hahaha, I spent my whole life to realize—that was the time I was happiest."
"…" Liu A'dou, hiding in the shadows, was stunned. 'What the hell?' He was only here to find the gem and maybe check out the mysterious tycoon. But now it seemed like the guy was plotting some world-ending scheme. He checked the time—out of those twenty minutes, only fifteen minutes were left. No time to waste—he had to force the truth out of the guy now.
"Tell me everything!" Liu A'dou burst out, a flash of white darting through the air like lightning.
"What?!" The butler instantly jumped in front of the man.
"Move!" Liu A'dou threw a punch. "Phantom Mirage Devil Fist!" The butler froze in place. Liu A'dou turned to the man. "Who the hell are you?"
The man looked closely at him, then smiled. "So that's who caught the scent. Kaitou Kid—figures the world's greatest thief would sniff out my treasure hoard." He didn't seem bothered. After all, there were only fourteen minutes—no, precisely ten minutes left before the Earth was his.
No more time. Liu A'dou's heart was racing. No time for questioning. He immediately cast an illusion spell—and in a flash, he saw it all.
Vandal Savage. A caveman who had survived since the Stone Age. In his time, a meteor carrying a strange radiation crashed onto Earth. Vandal was the only one in his tribe brave enough to approach it. After spending the night beside it, he gained immense intelligence and an immortal body.
Through the endless centuries, he'd been a slave, a farmer, a merchant, an official, even a king. But none of it satisfied him. What he craved was absolute control, to make people completely dependent on him.
Just like during a disaster back in the primitive days. Vandal had stepped up and become the leader of all the tribes. The others had worshipped him like a god. Yes, like a god. They couldn't live without him. In that moment, he was the center of the world, the ruler of all creation.
But as time passed, humanity progressed. People relied on him less and less. Vandal felt increasingly hollow. He had watched countless sunrises and downfalls of nations. He came to believe that only the tribal age—where he ruled without question—was the purest, the most beautiful, the most unforgettable era.
Now, he planned to trigger a solar flare to create a coronal mass ejection. He would draw the sun's power to Earth, burning half the planet. The resulting energy pulse would reset civilization to the steam age. And he—Vandal Savage—would emerge to lead the survivors, to unite them again, becoming their one and only faith.
He didn't care to rule all the survivors. As long as he could establish an absolute kingdom around his castle, that would be enough. To satisfy his ego, he was willing to sacrifice half of humanity.
"Damn it, no time left!" Liu A'dou couldn't waste time complaining anymore. The beam had already left Earth, guiding the flare toward the sun. It only took eight minutes for light to travel from the sun to Earth. That "twenty minutes" they kept talking about—it was only a rough estimate.
Now the beam had already hit the sun. Which meant the solar flare had been launched.
Boom! No time to teleport. Liu A'dou stomped the ground and burst through the castle-like bunker, soaring toward space.
Faster, faster! He ripped open a path through the atmosphere.