Although Duanmu Huai was speechless, he still had to accept Badi's "gift." Well, no matter how ridiculous it looked, as Badi said, it was indeed practical.
However, just as Duanmu Huai returned to his battleship, he received a transmission from the Guardian Civilization.
And the content of that communication left him a little surprised.
It turned out that the merchant rogue had once again visited the Guardian Civilization. This time, after learning from the Kabal Civilization's previous downfall, the Guardians decided to proactively open up to interstellar trade. They wanted to maintain a long-term trade relationship with the rogue trader. However, rogue traders weren't so easily persuaded—after all, the Guardians were local powers. If they decided to turn on him and rob him blind, he'd have no recourse. Therefore, both sides agreed that a third party would act as witness.
The Guardians didn't know many others, so they came to the Tribunal for that role.
As for the rogue trader… well, it was an old acquaintance.
"It's been a long time, my good sir."
"You?"
When Duanmu Huai saw the neatly groomed, mustached middle-aged man on the screen, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was Dardaniel.
He had met Dardaniel before—back when Duanmu Huai had traveled to the Guardian system, the man's ship had been attacked by space pirates, and it was Duanmu Huai who saved him. He even sold Dardaniel the pirate battleship he'd captured.
He hadn't expected…
"You're still running this route? There's no profit in border trade."
Duanmu Huai was well-acquainted with Star Sea Online's power map. The route from the novice systems to the Guardian Civilization wasn't exactly remote, but it was definitely poor—like some backwater mountain region in a developing country. No serious merchant would waste time trying to "develop" such a market. Merchants weren't pioneers—they wanted immediate profit, not long-term projects that took years to grow.
Even the fastest-growing "crop" was still a pain to plant.
"Hahaha, as you say, but I believe the Guardians have potential. If you would vouch for me—"
"You trust me that easily? Aren't you afraid I might be in on it with them, waiting to screw you over?"
Such scams weren't uncommon in the interstellar world. With the collapse of the Human Empire, there was no unified order anymore. Some advanced civilizations still had rules, but doing business with backwater races was like walking into the Amazon to trade with cannibals—you'd be lucky to come back alive and not on a dinner plate.
"You sold me a warship, my lord. A man that generous wouldn't stoop to petty scheming. Ah, thanks to you, that ship's made me quite a bit of profit—"
"Enough chatter."
Seeing the man about to butter him up endlessly, Duanmu Huai waved a hand to cut him off.
"You may trade with them—but only legally. Don't play any tricks."
Dardaniel feared being double-crossed, but Duanmu Huai didn't trust the rogue traders either. Many of them had long since aligned themselves with the powers of Chaos, using commerce as a tool for corruption. They'd offer deals laced with the blessings of Chaos gods, slowly turning primitive civilizations into warped cults. Duanmu Huai had seen it happen countless times in the game—entire worlds falling to corruption through these "trades."
"Send me your cargo manifest. Let's see what you're carrying."
As an Inquisitor, Duanmu Huai needed to verify that nothing illegal or tainted was being exchanged.
Soon, a list of goods appeared on his screen. Duanmu Huai reclined in his chair and scanned through it.
Ordinary interstellar beverages and liquors. A few slaves. Some industrial raw materials and construction supplies…
Yeah, this guy wasn't doing well at all.
One look at the cargo list told him everything. A trader with such a "general store" manifest—selling a bit of everything—wasn't thriving. It was like a run-down shop in a poor village that sold everything from beer to bolts because it was the only store around.
Still, there didn't seem to be any Chaos-tainted goods… for now. But considering Dardaniel's finances, temptation might come easy. Duanmu Huai made a mental note to warn the Tower Council not to let themselves get swindled.
"Hm?"
Just then, a system prompt appeared before his eyes. He focused on it—and his eyes widened.
[Egg of Illusion – 500,000 EXP]
It actually existed?
Seeing it, Duanmu Huai's spirit instantly lifted.
The so-called Egg of Illusion wasn't some legendary artifact—it was actually a pretty common player item in Star Sea Online. As a multiplayer game, it often held crossover events with other franchises, and the Egg of Illusion was the entry ticket for those events.
During such events, players could buy the item from merchants and use it to "dream" themselves into another world. There, they'd experience a limited-time questline, earn points, and exchange them for items, mounts, or experience.
It was just like any ordinary MMO crossover event.
But that was precisely why it was so shocking.
In the game, such an event made sense—you just log in to another map, call it a dream world, done.
But in reality… how the hell was a "crossover" supposed to work?
And these weren't random IPs either—some were massive, world-famous franchises!
Yet here, in this world where he had actually crossed over, the Egg of Illusion still existed.
Which meant… crossover events were real?
The thought made Duanmu Huai practically drool. Forget the rewards or exclusive loot—if he could actually travel to those iconic worlds… wait, did that mean those worlds really existed here too, in some dimension?
What the hell was going on?
Honestly, he still didn't understand how he'd even ended up in this world. What kind of being could cause something like this? Sure, maybe it was his fault for not reading the fine print on that "agreement," but come on—how could a mere gaming company have the power to transport someone into another reality?
Hmm… could this be like The Matrix? Maybe he hadn't crossed worlds at all—maybe his consciousness had just been uploaded into a virtual construct?
Forget it. No use thinking about it.
He shook his head. Overthinking wouldn't help—and might attract attention from entities he really didn't want noticing him. Whether this was reality or a simulation didn't matter. He was alive, and surviving came first.
And besides… he was bored. If he could slip into a crossover world for a bit of fun, why not?
Grinning, Duanmu Huai tapped the screen. A bright light flashed, and a translucent crystal-like egg materialized in his palm.
It actually worked.
He turned it over in his hand, admiring the shimmering surface before storing it away. Then he reconnected the communication line to Dardaniel.
"No problem. Go negotiate with the Tower Council. But don't try anything clever. I'll only warn you once—understand?"
"Yes, my lord. Understood."
Dardaniel's tone turned serious immediately. He feared Duanmu Huai's kind the most—those powerful, unbound forces with no fixed homeworld. If such a man decided to kill him, there'd be no one to avenge him, nowhere to hide. He wasn't a high-ranking trader either—just a middling rogue trying to climb up in his family's hierarchy by leveraging Tribunal connections. No way he'd risk messing that up.
After giving both sides a few more instructions, Duanmu Huai closed the link and returned to his quarters.
"Olgis, I'm going to rest for a while. If anything urgent comes up, wake me."
"Yes, Master."
Olgis replied softly and returned to her reading, while Duanmu Huai sat on the bed, rolling the Egg of Illusion between his fingers. A glowing message appeared before his eyes.
[Crossover Mission Activated]
[Crossover World – Biohazard]
Ah… Resident Evil, huh?
Duanmu Huai smirked. As a veteran player, he knew this one well. It had been Star Sea Online's very first crossover event—hugely popular at the time. The Resident Evil series was a massive IP, and since players were still low-level back then, it made a great entry-level event.
Of course, every crossover had its own exclusive rewards. The Biohazard event's main prize, besides XP, was a Virus Antibody—a rare item.
That made sense—you couldn't exactly bring the T-Virus or G-Virus back into your home universe. Otherwise, it'd be hard to tell if you were still an Inquisitor or if you'd joined the ranks of the Plague God's cultists.
Rumor even had it that the top-ranked player from that event received a random bonus reward—a replicating Blacklight Virus. Some dataminers claimed to have seen it, though no one had ever obtained it after the event ended. Probably just another internet hoax.
Even if it did exist, no sane player would use it. That kind of pathogen belonged squarely to the domain of the Plague God. Turning yourself into a viral entity was basically gift-wrapping your soul for Nurgle's embrace—and no one wanted that kind of "love."
Duanmu Huai chuckled, then opened the event's leaderboard—which, of course, was blank.
Well, that figured.
Looked like no other players had crossed over into this world.
A little lonely, honestly.
With a sigh, he set the difficulty to maximum. His stats were equivalent to a level-60 player, while the Biohazard dungeon capped at level 40. Even though crossover events restricted equipment use for balance, raw attributes alone were enough to bulldoze most of it.
He remembered how, in the game, his charisma-maxed character had rallied hordes of NPCs to charge together through the zombie apocalypse.
But now…
He glanced at his reflection and shrugged.
Guess he'd be flying solo this time.
(End of Chapter)