BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 87 – Unexpecte.

A dark feeling... took control over me... I hope everything is fine in the spaces—

"Master Jo... has been killed."

Ah...

Jo?

Killed?

How?

Jo... Jo...

"Did certain news reach you?" a voice echoed loudly from the sky...

I feel like my heart is falling into darkness. Something was cut out of it... something precious... something priceless.

"So, how many pieces of bad news reached you?" said the blond master.

I raised my head... I didn’t understand what he meant... but it wasn’t good. Not at all.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"How many of your friends have been killed... do you know the number?"

"What does he mean...?" I muttered internally... then my thoughts began to connect.

"That’s impossible!" a furious shout burst out of my mouth without control.

"You bastard... I’ll rip his head off and split it in half!"

The master didn’t respond... my threats were nothing to him... he laughed loudly and said: 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"You’ll follow them as well..."

Suddenly... he raised his hand... and a small iron needle appeared.

Swoooosh—

I didn’t see it.

At all.

Until it settled into my chest.

Then... I began to feel it.

The system window appeared quickly...

Warning of incoming danger...

"What the hell is this?!" I shouted.

{ 50% of Accumulation has been disabled – cannot be used until the needle’s effect is removed }

Are you kidding me?

How can something suddenly stop half of my accumulation?

This... is cheating.

My eyes turned back toward the master.

I thought fourth-rank masters had giant beasts... attacks that split the earth and shatter mountains.

But...

A needle??

What kind of nonsense is this...

Though... in reality... this "nonsense" almost equals the destruction of an entire space.

50% of my accumulation... completely sealed.

Flame Art requires high accumulation... I don’t think I’ll be able to use it much now...

Damn it... how did everything suddenly become impossible?

"Thinking of a solution?" the fourth-rank master’s voice whispered near my ear again.

"You lost half your accumulation and are trying to find a solution for the other half... maybe figuring out which attacks you can still use before the rest runs out."

The master went silent for a moment...

"I have two pieces of bad news for you, subordinate," his voice echoed again.

"First... I can hit you again and reduce your accumulation to zero..." a sinister smile appeared on his face, and he added:

"Second... even with full accumulation, you wouldn’t be able to do anything against me. In fact, even suicidal attacks won’t work on me. Hahaha... you only have one option."

"Surrender... and pray you’re kind enough to spare me, right?"

"Hahaha, well said."

"Too bad. Even if you’re telling the truth, I won’t believe you. Humans lie... let alone humans from Earth."

A wide smile remained on the master’s face.

"So we have someone with a grudge against the original world... unlike you, I had a smooth life. I owned a busy restaurant... had a lover who adored me... everything was perfect."

This idiot... bragging about his rich past.

"Alright. And how many years have you been here?" I asked.

"Maybe forty..." he replied, a look of joy appearing on his face.

"Why does he look happy about that...?" I muttered internally... then showed what I wanted.

A clear mockery appeared on my face despite my anger.

"Forty years and you’re happy about that? Hahaha... what stupidity... you’re just a fool—"

Swoooosh—

.

.

.

Ah...

What’s happening...

I opened my eyes... very slowly.

Ah... I feel sleepy...

Where am I...

"Welcome back," a heavy voice echoed... not unfamiliar.

"Deception Beast!!" I shouted.

My body jolted violently.

I stood up.

"I’m inside the cave..." I muttered.

Moments ago... I hadn’t even finished mocking him before that bastard sent an attack at me...

Maybe he cut off my head like he did to the second-rank master... or maybe something else... I really don’t know.

But...

What am I doing here...?

"What’s going on?" I asked.

The beast laughed. Its voice filled the cave again, echoing louder and louder.

"You egg... you were utterly defeated. Hahaha."

I didn’t respond... it was true... but I still didn’t understand what happened.

Suddenly—

"Master," a familiar voice echoed... soft... a voice that had always been like spring to me...

"Monali... you’re alright... thank God," I said, then—

I hugged her.

"Master..." she said in surprise.

I didn’t care.

I held her tightly and muttered:

"That bastard said you were all killed..."

"Well... that actually happened," Monali replied.

I raised my head and stared at her in shock. "What?"

"Let me explain, you egg," the Deception Beast said again.

At the same time—

More footsteps approached.

"Louis... Jo... Suman... Rock Leader..." I said in surprise.

Then behind them appeared the rock fighters and the ten soldiers—all of them.

None of them were injured.

Which meant the beast was lying... but Monali said it wasn’t.

"How is that?" I asked.

"You need time to remember... but I’ll explain what happened. Listen."

The beast paused briefly, then began recounting:

"You and your leaders finished training. None of you reached stage 100. After three years... the highest among you was Suman."

"He reached stage seventy... unlike his leader, hahaha."

"Who was still struggling at stage sixty."

"In the end, all of you reached sixty... but only Suman surpassed seventy."

"You may not remember... but we agreed that when I see the right time for each of you, I would grant them a mastered weapon."

"These weapons... if your enemies knew there were more than a hundred of them here... they’d go mad."

The beast paused again...

Its words began entering my mind... and with each one, memories returned.

It continued explaining... and I finally understood.

Suman had earned the right to obtain one of those mastered weapons.

His weapon... wasn’t ordinary.

It was more like an ability:

{ Half Replication }

It allows the user to copy any allied fighter.

It’s similar to summoning a wolf or turtle corpse... but the difference is—

The summon is a living fighter.

The summoned fighter is identical... but at half strength.

And also—

Without a soul.

But that wasn’t all.

It also allowed something greater—

Partial soul transfer.

The copied fighter can transfer their soul into the replicated body... making them believe they are the original.

Because the memory of the copying process is erased.

That’s why—

None of us were actually there.

What existed there...

Were copies.

Even Suman himself...

Was a copy.

But—

There were limits.

Each replication costs over 75% of Suman’s accumulation.

Which means—

He couldn’t summon everyone at once without help.

The Deception Beast... who benefited from our cooperation... didn’t want us to die.

So—

It helped.

Every time Suman summoned a copy—

The beast sent him to an accelerated dimension.

Inside it... Suman recovered his accumulation.

And when he returned...

Only seconds had passed.

He repeated this process...

Until he summoned everyone.

Even himself.

"I understand," I said out loud.

"What a terrifying ability, Suman... congratulations."

"Thank you, Master," Suman replied proudly.

"Then let’s exchange information," I said.

"The enemy activated a stealing ability. From what I understand, if I die... it will definitely activate... and all abilities, weapons, and resources in this space will be stolen."

"Yes," they all replied.

"So what’s the solution?" I muttered.

No one answered.

I didn’t give them time and continued:

"We defeat them... and take their abilities instead. Hahaha... imagine them attacking to steal you, only to be robbed instead... that would feel amazing."

They all agreed enthusiastically.

After a moment... my awareness fully returned.

I began sensing their energy...

Their strength... far greater than those second-rank masters...

But—

"They’re still far from that bastard..." I whispered.

The Deception Beast noticed.

I don’t know how...

But it did.

"You’re thinking about that fourth-rank man."

"Yes."

"Yes, he’s stronger... but—"

"What?"

"You’re strong too."

Heh... what touching words.

Fine... why fear?

"Hey, everyone," my voice rose.

They all looked at me... waiting for a motivational speech, as if I actually had one.

"I want revenge on that arrogant master... don’t you want the same against those who defeated you?"

Silence fell—

Broken by Louis.

"What a stupid question... of course I’ll crush that little bitch."

"Me too," Jo muttered from afar... he seemed the least energetic.

"I was killed by a second-rank master... so easily... I’ll take revenge for my stupidity."

"Same here," Suman said, then laughed.

"I won’t defeat anyone... I already did. Hahaha... you weaklings."

"You bastard..." Louis snorted.

"Hahaha alright, that’s enough," I said.

"The ones who were defeated... weren’t you. It was a lesson. Let’s use it... and crush them."

"Our city... must stand.

Everyone’s eyes... were blazing with excitement and vengeance...

A surge of exhilaration suddenly washed over me...

It was time for the decisive battle.

The second round.

The first was theirs...

The second—

I will never allow it to end in anything but our overwhelming victory.

With our new power... all of us, myself included—

Without a doubt...

We will win,

and cast those lunatics into hell.