Chapter 307: World Devourer Rune
"Still… just the two of us, is that really okay?"
Seeing the quest item indicating a maximum of five players per team, Mihawk asked the question.
Under normal circumstances, he would never ask. If something could sharpen his swordsmanship, he wouldn't hesitate.
However—
Red-Haired Shanks was the leader of the Adventurers' Guild,
built on the backs of players standing atop Navy Headquarters. If Shanks were to die in another world alongside him,
the now-unprotected Adventurers' Guild would become a giant piece of meat that everyone would try to carve up.
"Counterattack Quests are special,"
Shanks shook his head. "The main quest difficulty scales with the number of participants. The more players, the harder the mission—fewer players, the easier it gets."
That information had come from players who had survived their own Counterattack Quests.
Besides—
after all their monster hunting lately, the Adventurer's Guild had earned enough to afford a few resurrection coins.
Even if they failed, they could still come back.
Buzz—
Ripples spread through the air, expanding like water waves, until they formed a glowing portal.
After giving some final instructions to Beckman about guild affairs,
Shanks stepped through the portal with Mihawk. Their figures vanished.
"Is this really okay, Master?"
Afu asked nervously, clearly lacking confidence.
She still preferred the earlier method—carefully and methodically conquering corrupted worlds, relying on superior player numbers to crush monster resistance.
But this—
sending players directly into foreign worlds to resolve corruption on their own—seemed far too risky.
Fang Yi looked at the anxious white-haired catgirl and smiled.
"Eating away at corruption bit by bit is stable, yes… but it makes players grow far too slowly."
Players from the pirate and ninja worlds
were able to reach Tier-2 so quickly because their home worlds were rich in foundations.
They could trade for many Tier-1 abilities,
which let them hunt Tier-1 monsters at a rapid pace.
But after reaching Tier-2—
that growth slowed dramatically, because their worlds didn't have the resources to support
gear-up-first-then-hunt strategies anymore.
In the entire ninja world,
most of its origin power only produced a single pair of Tier-2 Rinnegan.
The pirate world hadn't even seen a single Tier-2 item yet.
"If we keep using the old approach, it won't be long before the corruption becomes aware of the Reincarnation Game."
Fang Yi took a deep breath.
The Tier-1 monsters previously slain had been so low-tier the corruption didn't notice.
But the Tier-2 sources they were hunting now—
even in the corrupted worlds—weren't cannon fodder.
If too many of them disappeared,
the higher-ups of the corruption would realize something was wrong.
And when that time came—
if the players weren't strong enough, they'd all be wiped out.
"But Master," Afu asked doubtfully, "if you're sending players into other worlds so boldly… aren't you afraid of being found out?"
This kind of cross-world travel was exactly the kind of thing that had gotten "Reincarnator" rebels killed by the corrupted worlds in the past.
"Do you think I spent my Reward Points for nothing?"
Fang Yi laughed—though there was pain in his eyes.
He raised his hand.
A strange rune appeared in the Reincarnation Game's dimensional space, shining like a miniature sun.
[World Devourer Rune (Tier-2)]: Can siphon a piece of a world's temporal essence and transform it into a new, derivative world.
The brief description stunned Afu.
She didn't understand the rune's full effects,
but as the will of the Reincarnation World, she could sense it—
This rune had consumed five hundred million Reward Points.
One rune
had devoured the essence of everything players had hunted in two entire worlds.
Afu stammered. "Master, are you insane?"
Fang Yi ruffled her head, messing up her fluffy white hair. "I'm not crazy. This is the key to fighting the corrupted continent."
Though expensive, the rune was worth every point.
It was the core that made Counterattack Quests possible.
If a corrupted world was like a lump of clay—
this rune could silently steal a chunk of it
and reshape it into a derivative world.
A derivative world was fake.
It was a sealed timeline, repeating the same storyline over and over
until someone broke the loop.
Players sent into these worlds to complete the main quest
would be cleansing the corruption inside the echo.
The reason the World Devourer Rune was so costly was because—
killing corrupted monsters inside the derivative world would weaken the real-world versions.
With more players taking Counterattack Quests,
and slaying echo monsters over and over,
the original corrupted enemies would gradually weaken until they became fragile.
"That's even possible?!"
Afu's eyes went wide.
She had objected to the idea because the old Reincarnator rebellion had been destroyed—
crossing too many worlds had revealed their coordinates, and the corrupted continent crushed them before they could grow strong.
Because sending people across worlds always risked exposing their location.
But Fang Yi's Counterattack Quests—
while similar to Reincarnator or Infinity Stream setups—
were actually a form of stealthy, parasitic warfare.
The chance of discovery was minimal.
By the time the corrupted worlds realized what was happening, it would be too late.
This felt shameless… yet made her proud.
Once upon a time—
The world's awareness only focused on defending against corruption.
Now, it was Fang Yi setting the traps and luring them in—
and the corruption hadn't even noticed.
Blushing with pride,
Afu puffed up her chest.
With honor.
[Entering "Fengyun" World. Language module loaded. Beginning task search...]
World Tier: Tier-2
Mission Description: Blessed by destiny, the tyrannical overlord Xiongba of World Society seeks to conquer the entire Fengyun Continent.
He sends powerful enforcers across the land. The Huo Family Manor is one such obstacle.
Main Quest: Prevent the Huo Manor Massacre
(Defend the manor for 3 days. At least 5 direct Huo descendants must survive.)
Rewards: 100,000 Reward Points, 2,000 Contribution Points
"A martial arts world?"
Reading the quest, Shanks furrowed his brow.
After numerous trades and exchanges, players had started categorizing other worlds:
There were magic worlds, tech worlds, and now—this was clearly a martial world.
"So now, we'll be fighting not monsters, but people from another world?"
"Let's check the Interworld Shop first."
Shanks opened it eagerly.
After the update—
Each alternate world now had its own exclusive shop, selling gear and items native to that world.
Players could only buy from them after completing that world's Counterattack Quests
and earning Contribution Points.
Some players grumbled at this limitation.
But for Shanks, it was just one more unknown adventure.
A new game panel appeared.
[Interworld Shop – Fengyun World]
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