Chapter 474: Fourth Ladder · Light of the Heart
"You only found this many Reincarnators?!"
Kaito Shirogane was somewhat dissatisfied. The total number of Reincarnators had always been a mystery, because Reincarnators were a short-lived species; every moment, Reincarnators died in deployed missions, and new Reincarnators were recruited by the Space.
But in Kaito's mind, a highly oppressive country like Goryeo was actually quite suitable for the birth of Reincarnators. Even though the total population was only over fifty million, in Kaito's view, there should be no problem with the total number of Reincarnators exceeding a hundred.
"These are just the Reincarnators found through Seo Ji-woo's list. Next, I will have Chairman Lee Sun-hou fully arrange the channels and resources of the March Consortium to cooperate with us in unearthing Reincarnators, and even... artificial Reincarnators."
Li Qingzi used the distant address "Chairman Lee Sun-hou" to call her grandfather because she consciously felt she was now independent of the March Consortium.
She controlled the assets Kaito valued the most. Therefore, to prevent Kaito from developing ill feelings towards her and her family, she was determined to extract herself from the Lee family.
Kaito noticed this little scheme of the woman, but he had no interest.
Many rules of this world would change sooner or later ever since Reincarnators and extraordinary powers truly began to affect the order.
People like Li Qingzi and Lee Sun-hou could only be considered sharp, but not clear-headed enough.
There was absolutely no need to express this attitude to him, including Lee Sun-hou deliberately sacrificing his eldest son, kicking him out of the family, just to let Li Qingzi, who was closer to him, hold power.
In Kaito's eyes, these things were all inconsequential trivialities.
From now on, everyone should understand that power and strength are the most closely linked options.
He could seize everything because he possessed strength.
And if some Supreme wanted to seize Goryeo right now, then no matter how close these two were to him, they would ultimately defect to the Supreme.
Conversely, he wasn't afraid of the betrayal of Lee Sun-hou and Li Qingzi at all. Now, he was already vaguely stronger than Li Qingzi by a large gradient.
In the previous battles in the One Piece world, there were still various unstable factors that led to Li Qingzi's defeat. But after experiencing these few missions, Kaito had crossed his shackles. The speed at which he grew stronger far exceeded Li Qingzi, who merely obtained a new bloodline and slightly strengthened her Haki.
As Li Qingzi spoke, she suddenly felt all the hairs on her body stand on end. Granular bumps began to appear on her smooth and delicate skin due to that creepy feeling.
She looked up and saw Kaito's eyes looking her up and down. There was no lust in his eyes, only a kind of consideration of a prey inside and out.
And what made her feel creepy was exactly the faint fluctuation of killing intent.
Li Qingzi's pupils shrank. Even though she had long understood Kaito's disposition, at this moment, she still felt a considerable sense of loss and impact.
However, that feeling flashed by. In the next moment, Kaito had already turned his head, merely chuckling and saying:
"You've slackened a bit."
Kaito lifted Li Qingzi's chin. In the next moment, a terrifying force that was completely irresistible appeared. Li Qingzi felt as if she were a little cat, lifted directly in front of Kaito.
Her expression was somewhat astonished. Although she had already felt previously that her Strength attribute didn't hold any advantage, it was completely different from this overwhelming power now.
This performance proved that Kaito's Strength attribute had probably exceeded hers by a lot.
Crushing.
This was the manifestation of strength being crushed.
"You..."
Kaito felt the muscles all over the woman's body tense up instantly. In this beautiful body was contained the power to shatter walls and buildings barehanded, and with a sword, she could even slice open a mountain hundreds of meters high.
He pressed down Li Qingzi's tensed muscles bit by bit. It wasn't to vent lust; he was just making sure the other party didn't stray off the right path.
"Woman, you must understand, the so-called agency, the so-called Republic of Goryeo, are all just playgrounds for my entertainment."
His fingers gradually slid down from the woman's chin, until right above her violently beating heart.
Li Qingzi's chest heaved violently, her pupils dilating slightly. With Kaito's current strength and martial arts cultivation, he probably only needed to poke forcefully, and she would be killed...
But she couldn't resist, and... didn't resist.
She felt the fluctuation of killing intent flowing on her body surface. That trembling sensation of her whole body and mind being captured by a stronger predator unexpectedly and weirdly spawned a pleasant thrill.
The corner of her mouth hooked up uncontrollably, and her eyebrows seemed to open up a little. At this instant, a certain essence within this woman's body was also awakening.
Sensing Li Qingzi's changes, Kaito's eyebrows twitched, revealing an expression of keen interest. His fingers continued to slide downward.
But faint footsteps were already approaching.
The woman's Observation Haki was not weak. She quickly woke up from that thrill. Not understanding what had happened to herself, she could only cough twice, break free from Kaito's hand, adjust her collar, and deliberately open up a distance.
But the old butler, leading the servants to deliver various high-end fresh ingredients, still saw the flush behind Miss Li Qingzi's ears at a glance.
He quickly lowered his head, waved his hand, and signaled the others to lower their heads and retreat.
In chaebol families, such things were always common. He just didn't understand why Li Qingzi, as the eldest granddaughter of the March Consortium, didn't seem to occupy the dominant position in this relationship.
Li Qingzi continued to report on the situation of the Reincarnators in the agency, as well as the stances and changes of countries around the world since the Vice President of the Free Federation confirmed the existence of ability users in a live broadcast.
But Kaito wasn't listening at all.
His hair slightly scattered. Before his eyes, he constantly recalled the changes that had just happened to Li Qingzi.
In that instant, he could feel as if something special inside this woman had flowed out. That was a truth that transcended any disguise and illusion.
In that instant, the fluctuations of the other party's Haki, spirit, and even soul were incomparably violent.
It could be said that only the Li Qingzi of that instant was extremely vivid, like a... true [Human]?!
Nowadays, Kaito was increasingly accustomed to using words like [Human] and [Woman] instead of the other party's name when communicating, because from the bottom of his heart, he couldn't feel the specialness of most humans.
Just like images on black-and-white photos, they couldn't make him feel the slightest touch.
But the Li Qingzi just now was vividly like a person in color.
What... is that thing?
At this time, Kaito began to feel that perhaps he had gone in the wrong direction. The thing called [Heart] was not just the exclusive property of those idealists.
[Heart] did not entirely point to those noble radiances of humanity.
Perhaps every human possessed their own dazzling light of the heart!
Thinking of this, Kaito's hair fluttered constantly to the surroundings, and the corners of his mouth and eyebrows began to stretch. He actually passively entered the state of Transcendent Helix rotation.
Kaito simulated Li Qingzi's thought pattern just now, and that joy in the heart appeared.
His eyelids lowered, seeming joyful, seeming to sigh. A golden luster appeared from his body surface. Li Qingzi suddenly realized this, looked up at Kaito, and found the other party slowly floating up from the ground.
The golden luster spread from Kaito's body like a phantom, and she was immediately enveloped in it.
At this instant, she suddenly lost perception of the outside world. Observation Haki... failed?
She tried to condense Armament Haki, also with no effect. Moreover, the strength in her whole body began to drain. Abnormal weakness and fear struck. Li Qingzi seemed to see a huge space where countless black Yin spirits pounced towards her.
What about demonic power... Li Qingzi suddenly erupted with intense demonic power, saving her from that panic of losing all strength.
Panting heavily, she looked at Kaito, finding that Kaito had already landed on the ground, and that golden luster had also disappeared.
[Reincarnator EX051, you touched Light of the Heart (Unanchored)]
[You have touched the Fourth Ladder. Now re-anchoring the power level of Reincarnator EX051. Anchoring...]
[Anchoring Error. No Authority Information detected]
[Please go to the Tier Management Office to inquire about the error]
(End of Chapter)
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter