Within the halls of the Extraordinary Affairs Bureau, tension ran high. Jiang Yu had only just returned from her meeting with Tony, yet before she could even sit down, she was already drafting a detailed report of the encounter. The higher-ups read it carefully, nodding in satisfaction at her performance. But when it came to selecting three candidates to join Tony's dungeon team, chaos erupted.
Everyone understood what it meant to be on Tony's good side. With his terrifying potential, many believed he could one day stand as humanity's Guardian Deity on Blue Star. Having a bond with someone like that was like holding a key to unimaginable future benefits. Naturally, every department head wanted to push their own person into Tony's squad.
The debate was fierce, political favors traded like currency, names crossing desks, rejections thrown back with subtle venom. After an hour of heated discussion, a final decision emerged.
Jiang Yu and Wu Qianqian were on the list.
When Jiang Yu saw the names, she felt numb. Seriously? You're just going to milk the same sheep dry until there's nothing left?
Yes, meeting Tony had dulled some of her fear, but the thought of joining a permanent team with him still made her skin crawl.
"Look," Director Liao said, scratching his head awkwardly, "the fewer people who know Tony's true circumstances, the better. That makes you the obvious choice."
He gestured toward the other name. "Wu Qianqian was chosen for her survival skills. You saw the data—the last Ascension dungeon had five players enter, and only two made it out alive. Besides Yuqing, the rest of the original team didn't survive. So, having someone who can stay alive matters. Otherwise, Tony will just have to replace fallen teammates every run. That's not good for anyone."
"Plus," Liao added with a faint smirk, "Wu Qianqian's got a good personality. Even without knowing the full story, she won't clash with Tony. First impressions matter, and she didn't leave a bad one."
Jiang Yu sighed inwardly. The reasoning was sound, leaving her no room to argue.
The last slot went to someone outside New Haven. A symbolic choice to keep the roster balanced between regions. Location didn't matter for dungeons—only the team composition counted.
"Honestly, you should count yourselves lucky," Liao said with a knowing grin. "From Tier Three dungeons onward, there's no team requirement. If you want to build rapport with Tony, this is one of the last chances you'll get."
A voice drifted in from the doorway, cold and familiar. "And you shouldn't waste it."
Jiang Yu's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "Lin Ming? What the hell are you doing here?"
Liao stood, looking a little sheepish. "Lin Ming's been brought on as a consultant for the Bureau."
Lin Ming stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "I tried to kill Tony once. And I still can't keep my composure in his presence. I'm not suited for formal meetings, nor for joining the Bureau directly. But I can offer something far more valuable—knowledge of future martial arts and techniques to help Great Xian grow stronger. Starting with this."
He laid a thick stack of papers on the table. "This is the Body-Strengthening Manual. In the future timeline, it was the foundational martial art every citizen of Great Xian learned. At full mastery, it grants +20 Strength, +20 Agility, +30 Constitution, and +10 Spirit."
Both Jiang Yu and Liao's eyes widened in shock. Those were stats no mere item could provide.
Lin Ming went on, his tone clipped. "Training results depend on talent. A gifted person can reach perfection in a month. Even the least talented can reach mastery in three years."
Liao exhaled slowly. "This… this outshines even the Wuhang Rootling…"
Lin Ming paused, frowning. "Wuhang Rootling? What's that?"
"You don't know?" Liao raised a brow. "Aren't you supposed to be from the future?"
Lin Ming's gaze turned icy. "The moment I was reborn, the timeline shifted. The future isn't fixed. If it were, why would I struggle this hard instead of just cutting my own throat and ending it all early?"
He skimmed the Wuhang Rootling's data sheet, eyes narrowing. That item had never existed in his past life. It must have been a rare drop, obtainable only because Tony claimed the first Ascension dungeon clear this time around.
"In your past life," Jiang Yu asked curiously, "Tony didn't get this item?"
"No," Lin Ming said flatly. "The first trial dungeon clear went to someone else—a coward who outlasted everyone instead of fighting. As for the Ascension dungeon, the Holy Chapel Squad claimed the record. Tony stayed hidden, just another face in the crowd, until a year later when he erupted onto the scene, shaking the entire world."
Jiang Yu leaned back thoughtfully. "So the only difference this time is that you tried to kill him. Maybe that near-death experience gave him a stronger survival instinct… made him more aggressive about getting stronger."
Lin Ming didn't deny it. The possibility gnawed at him, feeding his sense of urgency. If Tony's growth outpaced even his past life, the world would face a force beyond imagination. Whether Blue Star and Great Xian could keep up—or even hold Tony's loyalty—was no longer certain.
Time was slipping away.
"I need to enter more dungeons. Fast," Lin Ming said grimly.
"That's exactly why we brought you in," Liao replied, his tone hardening. "Captain Jiang, you, Lin Ming, Wu Qianqian, and two others will push through trials as fast as possible. Get to First-Tier. Don't make Tony wait."
"Yes, sir," Jiang Yu said, resigned.
—
Later that evening, Tony contacted Yuqing. To his satisfaction, she'd taken his earlier advice seriously, consuming all her stat crystals instead of selling them for cash. Pleased, Tony invited her to join his future team.
Her response was immediate and breathless. She'd been convinced she'd lost her chance to ride his meteoric rise. Now, without a second thought, she said yes.
Tony instructed her to reach out to the local Bureau office. Whatever perks Jiang Yu had promised him would extend to his chosen teammates as well. If they were going into dangerous dungeons together, everyone needed to be properly armed.
Afterward, he headed to the Bureau's designated shooting range, where the thrill of handling live firearms left a grin plastered on his face. But once the novelty wore off, he returned home and dove into the online forums of the Awakened community.
"College classes?" he muttered, scrolling through threads. "What are those again? Power is everything now. Dungeons don't wait for lecture schedules."
A thread caught his attention—guides posted by a user called Watcher. Each post dissected a dungeon with surgical precision, laying out monster stats, boss skills, team comp suggestions, even multiple alternative strategies.
Tony clicked one open and whistled under his breath. "Damn… this is next level."
With information this thorough, even A-ranked Awakened could breeze through a dungeon if they followed the steps exactly. The watcher had either extraordinary talent or absurd amounts of dungeon experience. The community was buzzing, begging for Ascension dungeon guides next.
Curious, Tony checked the official dungeon records. His zero-tier Ascension clear still sat proudly in the permanent "First Clear" slot, but his completion time had dropped to fifth overall. Four other teams, all from Great Xian, had beaten his time.
It was unusual. The nation hadn't looked this dominant during early clears before. But Tony just shrugged. Records were meant to be broken. Soon enough, his time would vanish from the list, leaving only the unshakable glory of being first.
Just as he leaned back, phone buzzing from notifications, a new message popped up. Jiang Yu had texted.
"Three First-Tiers assembled," it read.
Tony's eyes lit up. "So fast? Nice."
Grinning, he cracked his knuckles and sent out four team invites. The hunt was about to begin.