Chapter 147: The Future Plunderer
The enormous black sphere slammed directly into Bill’s face.
For a moment, the surface of the sphere sank inward.
Then—
Gulp!
Bill was suddenly pulled inside.
"Guh!"
His body disappeared completely into the strange black sphere.
It felt like falling into the body of a gigantic slime.
A colorless, tasteless, sticky liquid surrounded him.
It flowed over his body.
Bill desperately kicked with his remaining leg.
Splash!
Splash!
He tried to force himself upward.
But no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t escape the sphere.
"Damn it!"
"Let me out!"
His curses became muffled beneath the liquid.
He kicked again.
And again.
But the sphere simply swallowed his movements.
The liquid continued filling his lungs.
Bill’s movements gradually became weaker.
Until finally—
He stopped moving.
His body sank into the darkness.
Bill had suffocated.
Inside the unfathomable darkness, Bill’s eyes remained wide open.
He had never imagined that he would die in such a pathetic way.
Not fighting a powerful monster.
Not being crushed.
Not even being ambushed.
He had simply been swallowed by a strange sphere and drowned inside it.
The talent he had copied and plundered suddenly seemed completely useless.
His one-legged body had always been a weakness.
And now—
It had become a fatal weakness.
So this is it...
I’m going to die here?
Gulp.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Just as Bill took his final breath—
His blue eyes slowly changed.
The color disappeared.
His eyes became completely black.
The strange liquid surrounding him began to move.
It was slowly absorbed into his body.
The liquid entered his skin.
His muscles.
His blood.
His entire body.
Bill’s expression gradually became blank.
Then—
BOOM!
The black sphere exploded.
Fragments of liquid scattered through the darkness.
Bill stood there.
Still.
Silent.
Then a strange laugh escaped his throat.
"Hehe."
"You foolish one without a future."
"Then let me help you seize theirs."
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Bill began walking.
Then hopping.
With every movement, the twisted expression on his face slowly disappeared.
The madness faded.
His expression became calm.
Then composed.
And finally—
The familiar arrogance returned.
Bill was himself again.
But something had changed.
Something fundamental.
He eventually returned to the front of Room One.
The door strangely opened by itself.
Bill looked at it.
No transfer card fell from above.
There was no reward.
Nothing.
He simply hopped out.
And appeared before Shen Yu and Malin.
Shen Yu looked at him in surprise.
"You came out first?"
According to what they had understood about the future battles, Bill’s future shouldn’t have been weak.
So how had he escaped before Menloa?
Bill sneered.
"What?"
"What’s wrong, Chinese kid?"
"Do you look down on me?"
"Do you think I can’t see through the loophole in this level?"
Shen Yu shrugged.
He didn’t think too much about it.
The three of them stood together.
Their attention returned to Room Two.
They were still waiting for Menloa.
But at that exact moment—
The United Nations broadcast suddenly changed.
A special announcement appeared on the live stream belonging to Beautiful Country.
[Participant Bill of Beautiful Country has triggered a Special Faction Mission.]
[Mission: Future Plunderer]
[Description:]
[A person without a future attempts to seize the futures of others in order to create his own.]
[From this moment onward, every person killed by Bill will provide different levels of rewards.]
[Kill one person: This instance will be considered completed. Bill may immediately return to the original world.]
[Kill two people: All bodily injuries will recover. Bill will obtain one S-Rank instance skill.]
[Kill all participants: All bodily injuries will recover. Bill’s physical fitness will increase once, and he will obtain one SS-Rank instance skill.]
Boom!
The announcement struck the live-stream audience like thunder.
The Beautiful Country broadcast exploded.
Free America: "What the hell?!"
"Bill transformed from a participant into a killer?!"
"He can actually win simply by killing other people?"
Strict Farmer: No wonder the screen went black!
"He stumbled into a dark-choice route!"
"Bill has no future!"
"No wonder there was no future image of him!"
Another viewer asked:
"So what exactly is he now?"
"Was he trained by his future self?"
The speculation became increasingly exaggerated.
Interestingly, the comments from Beautiful Country seemed to disappear from the public feed.
They were no longer visible.
Only viewers from other countries continued discussing the development.
"Why is the Beautiful Country screen black?"
"I don’t know."
"Bill is out too."
"Why is his screen still black?"
"Could it be that Bill has turned evil?"
"He isn’t the same Bill anymore."
"That’s why there’s no perspective from him."
Shen Yu, Malin, and Bill continued staring at Room Two.
Bill’s expression was calm.
Too calm.
Then—
Inside Room Two—
Poof!
A strange sound echoed.
"Are you going to rely on others for your entire life?"
Whoosh!
A tremendous gust of heat exploded beside Menloa’s ear.
The skin on his cheek shrank violently.
Menloa instinctively raised his arms to protect his face.
But—
A wave of blood mist exploded directly in front of him.
A thin figure rushed through the mist.
Bang!
The monster struck Menloa’s arms.
His defenses shattered.
The force sent him flying more than ten meters across the golden palace.
But before Menloa could even land—
Another wave of blood mist erupted.
"Get stronger."
"Get stronger."
"You are far from it."
Boom!
This time, the attack came from behind.
The monster suddenly appeared behind Menloa.
Its hand seized the back of his head.
Swish!
An unbearable wave of heat surged through Menloa’s body.
His hair burned away.
His scalp began peeling from the heat.
The smell of scorched blood and flesh filled the air.
Menloa clenched his teeth.
"Damn it!"
He twisted around and threw a powerful punch directly into the monster’s face.
Bang!
The monster’s face sank inward from the impact.
But it didn’t dodge.
It didn’t retreat.
It merely laughed.
"Hehehe."
The blood mist surrounding its body surged even more violently.
Menloa’s fist began losing flesh.
The skin burned away.
Muscle disappeared.
Soon, layers of bone were exposed.
"Ah!"
"You monster!"
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Menloa continued punching.
Each strike landed heavily.
The monster’s head gradually drooped.
Yet it continued laughing.
Then—
The blood mist completely enveloped Menloa.
"Soon..."
"Soon it will be time."
"If you keep relying on others..."
"Your ending will..."
The monster’s voice became strangely gentle.
But the blood mist did not weaken.
Instead—
It continued burning.
Sizzle.
Sizzle.
Sizzle.
The scorching mist ate through Menloa’s back.
His flesh burned away.
His back was almost completely exposed.
Even the bones of his waist could be seen.
Menloa’s eyes gradually lost their focus.
I’m going to die.
I’m going to die...
Outside Room Two, Shen Yu suddenly frowned.
He looked at Bill.
"Try activating Golden Hero."
"See if you can pull Menloa out directly."
"If this continues, I don’t think he’ll last much longer."
Bill frowned.
"Ha."
"Dragon country kid, are you ordering me?"
Shen Yu merely shrugged.
"Don’t you want to save another person?"
"By your way of thinking, having one more person means having one more fighter."
"So get moving."
"Stop talking nonsense."
His voice left no room for argument.
Malin also stared intently at Bill.
Bill’s eyes flickered.
Save him?
He didn’t actually want to save Menloa.
But if he refused—
Shen Yu would certainly begin questioning him.
Given Bill’s previous personality and his instinct to prioritize benefits, he would normally save Menloa anyway.
After all—
If he intended to use his new ability to plunder futures, Menloa could become a useful stepping stone.
Why wouldn’t he want another stepping stone?
And if he refused to save Menloa now, his identity would be exposed.
Bill gritted his teeth.
"Damn it."
"For the sake of getting more future rewards..."
"Let’s protect him this time."
He raised his hand.
"Golden Hero!"
But—
Nothing happened.
No golden halo appeared around his body.
Bill froze.
He slammed his hand against Room Two’s door.
The door unexpectedly creaked open.
"Huh?"
"It opened?"
Bill stared at it.
"Looks like I don’t need to act."
He casually pushed the door open.
Shen Yu and Malin looked inside.
Neither of them noticed anything strange.
Inside the room—
The blood mist monster slowly faded.
As the mist disappeared, its body became increasingly solid.
More robust.
More human.
Menloa stared at the creature in confusion.
The monster looked back at him.
Its voice was no longer mocking.
Instead, it carried a strange sense of encouragement.
"Slowly become yourself."
"Menloa."
"Rely on yourself."
"Become stronger."
Menloa’s pupils slowly contracted.
He finally understood.
This monster wasn’t simply trying to kill him.
It was sending him a message.
A message from his future self.
A message telling him—
Stop relying on others.
Become stronger yourself.