Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1114 Crown Asset Acquisition.

After confirming that the second perfect embryo had been placed in its place, Xia Xiu did not immediately leave Joseph Garden with Fenrir.

It wasn't because the matter wasn't urgent, but because he had already made a promise to the child.

After all, he had promised the child that he would teach him how to use Blood Fighting Technique and develop his abilities.

Fenrir also hoped to unify all the tribes in the Fenris region with his own strength. The young wolf was indeed more stubborn than Xia Xiu had initially expected.

In fact, he could have relied on his father's power and the authority of the [Miracle Worker], or even just a word, to make the Fenrir tribes bow down and submit, but Fenrir did not choose that path.

Instead of relying on his father's connections, he planned to use the traditions of Fenris society, his own fists, his own blood, and his own battles to subdue all the tribes one by one, and truly unite Fenris into a cohesive whole.

Xia Xiu naturally had no objection to this; it was wonderful for the child to be able to support himself.

Moreover, for him, Fenrir's unification of Fenris was a piece of chess that he was not in a hurry to play. He planned for Fenrir to grow slowly in the Garden of Joseph, and to forge a force that belonged only to Fenrir in the most primitive and cruel way between glaciers and volcanoes, a garden army that could be used to deal with the Garden of Joseph in the future.

Far from the Golden Palace and shrouded in the shadows of the gods and the war, this place is a good spot to plant nails.

When the time comes to actually use it, this nail will naturally play its proper role.

Of course, Xia Xiu didn't really intend to be a hands-off mentor here.

Don't forget that the three [God-given Colossi] that he threw out with a single thought are currently operating deep within different outer planes, and his consciousness is always in sync with them.

While Fenrir was throwing punches, bleeding, and learning the Blood Fighting Technique, Xia Xiu had already begun to trace the perfect embryos lost in the myriad worlds through the perspectives of those machines.

On one side, a father guides his child's growth; on the other, colossi are quietly searching for more perfect embryos in the depths of the starry sky across countless worlds.

Xia Xiu has already secretly planted hidden mines on multiple lines. When the time comes, he can detonate these mines and give the myriad worlds a big surprise.

……

……

Seventeen outer interface layers - gray wilderness.

There is no concept of day or night here, only an eternal gray.

The gray sky hung low like lead, heavy and lifeless, as if it might fall at any moment and bury everything; the gray earth was barren, and when the wind swept through, it stirred up not dust, but fine bone dust and long-meaningless remains. This was the confluence of evil, the dimensional form of despair itself, the place where all hope was repeatedly crushed and could never be rebuilt.

The Gray Wasteland is located at the lowest point of the Lower Realm, a chasm between Purgatory and the Abyss that can never be filled.

On this vast, seemingly endless plain, legions of demons and devils clashed day after day, their sheer size enough to blot out the sky.

The Tanaris demons of the abyss charged forward with frenzied roars and unrestrained rage, while the Barts demons of the nine layers of hell stood in formation like an iron wall, advancing the slaughter in a ruthless, precise, and wasteful manner.

There are no prisoners, no pity, only a ruthless will to annihilate—even if the battlefield is filled with the same legions again in the next moment.

If the bottomless abyss symbolizes uncontrolled rage and the nine levels of hell represent sophisticated evil, then the gray wilderness is the final destination where both must eventually bow down.

The evil here is not clamorous; it is a slow and heavy erosion of the spirit, like an invisible swamp, dragging everything downwards. Anger cools here, conspiracy loses its meaning, and all vivid emotions are ground into the same color—indifference and despair.

The creatures that come here will soon find that their dreams are becoming lighter and their beliefs are crumbling.

The wilderness won't kill you immediately; it will patiently, bit by bit, strangle your once-burning soul, leaving only a shell that can walk and breathe, but is already empty and withered.

The Grey Wasteland is composed of three worlds known as the “Gloomy Layers,” which overlap and are isolated from each other.

A chaotic vortex slowly rotated between layers, and resentment and hatred permeated the air like mist, seeping into every crack, every rock, and every corpse.

The remnants of information about the Olympian and Titan gods are constantly being reenacted here, with myths repeating themselves—the abducted goddess, the gods vying for power, the endless war between fathers and sons and brothers—these are not true history, but narrative fragments forcibly dragged into the gray wilderness, repeatedly reenacted, repeatedly failing, and repeatedly decaying.

To put it simply, the gray wilderness is trapped in an eternal cycle from which it cannot escape.

At this moment, in the first of the three layers of gloom—Oinos.

This is a low, twisted gray forest, where trees are rooted in the decaying earth like dead blood vessels, with unidentifiable spores hanging from their branches, and the air is filled with the sweet, pungent smell of disease, decay, and the dissipation of souls.

The creatures of purgatory roamed the forest, some having lost their minds, while others mechanically patrolled during lulls in the bloody battle, awaiting the order to charge again.

Above this desolate land, space was suddenly torn apart by a brute force.

The fissure, like a wound forcibly torn open, emitted a piercing roar, ripping the gray sky apart as a massive shadow plummeted down from it.

The next instant, a deafening roar swept in all directions.

The earth cracked open, the gray forest was instantly flattened, and the shockwave spread outward like divine punishment. Wherever it passed, demons, devils, and the already mutated infernal creatures were evaporated, crushed, and purified without any resistance.

Before the smoke and dust had cleared, a massive machine was already kneeling on the ground. Behind the machine, three mechanical crowns slowly rotated, releasing layers of interlocking, sacred energy. The energy seemed out of place in the gray wilderness, yet it was so powerful that it could not be ignored.

A gray despair receded around it.

This machine, which descended upon the heart of the bloodbath and crushed all evil with absolute power, is none other than—[Gospel Machine Prometheus].

After a brief silence, the Gospel Machine, kneeling on the gray earth of Oynos, slowly began to rotate its mechanical crown.

As the rings began to rotate synchronously, an unprecedented energy was drawn out from the depths of the body. It was a kind of particle that existed between concept and matter. These particles were naturally Xia Xiu's "Fantasy Particles".

The particles exhibited a cold and clear color. They escaped from the gaps in the mechanical crown and quickly gathered together under invisible constraints, as if being guided by an unseen hand, outlining a clear human figure in mid-air.

First, the lines of the spine and limbs take shape, then the outline of the torso and shoulder armor, and then the head.

When the last particle returned to its place, the humanoid figure constructed of pure energy stood completely before the Gospel Machine.

It was a figure almost identical to Xia Xiu's original body, yet distinctly different. Particles flowed slowly across its surface, flickering like breathing, both stable and full of power.

This is the new form he awakened after achieving 100% synchronization with his body—'Fantasy Particle Mimic'.

Xia Xiu stood in this brand-new body and looked down at his hands.

His palm was made of particles, yet it possessed a clear and realistic tactile sensation. He slightly tightened his fingers, and the particles moved subtly, yet there was no sign of instability, as if this body had always belonged to him.

He raised his head.

The mimic's eyes lit up at that moment. They were not golden pupils like those in human form, but a deep and clear azure. There were no clear boundaries inside the pupils, and layers of light patterns slowly rotated within them, carrying a calm, rational, yet not cold radiance.

"...The compatibility is even higher than expected."

Xia Xiu muttered to himself in a low voice, his tone steady, yet he couldn't hide a hint of interest.

He moved his body slightly. The mimic's movements were almost instantaneous with his consciousness. Before his thoughts had fully formed, his body had already made the corresponding adjustments.

After confirming that his condition had stabilized, he raised his hand and lightly tapped the air with his fingertips.

The communication structure of the Kingdom of Heaven's lineage was rapidly awakened in the higher dimensions, and a clear and direct signal of will was projected out along the predetermined anchor point.

"Broly".

The sound did not echo in the gray wilderness, but it had already accurately reached the level where the target was located.

The great spirituality, like an invisible black sun, slowly rose in the ethereal realm of the gray wilderness. Its light was not intense, yet it possessed absolute penetrability. Narratives tainted by bloodshed, distorted mythological remnants, and spiritual ripples left by chaos were peeled away and filtered layer by layer under this perception.

After he finished delivering the message, a long time passed, and a tall figure appeared before him with a person.

Vardason Broly, commander of the Court Guard, stood there, his figure imposing yet not bulky, his white robe standing out against the somber backdrop of the gray wasteland.

His face was sharply defined, and his expression was calm and restrained, as if he were already used to walking in the worst battlefields and was oblivious to the evil and chaos around him.

Beside him, naturally, was John K. Hanks, the second president of the Edison Federal Savings Bank and the holder of the "Financial Giant Juno".

He seemed out of place in this world—his perfectly tailored dark suit was impeccable, his tie was neat, and his shoes were gleaming. Even standing in the gray wasteland filled with the scent of decay, he maintained an almost stubborn sense of dignity.

His slightly graying sideburns made him appear calm and experienced, the kind of temperament that belongs to someone who has long stood at the top of power and capital.

Both of them turned their gazes toward Xia Xiu, or rather, toward the Gospel Machine behind him.

The massive machine stood silently on the wasteland of Oynos, its three mechanical crowns slowly rotating. The remaining illusory particles had not yet completely dissipated, outlining an order that did not belong to the lower realm in the gray air.

Second-in-command John's gaze lingered on the aircraft for only a moment, but that moment was enough.

His pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

As a high-ranking member of the Federation, this was not his first encounter with the Kingdom of Heaven, but when he actually stood here and faced the Fourth Swordholder again, the sense of oppression was still impossible to ignore.

Xia Xiu in front of him did not deliberately release his pressure, but he was like a star that had already been ignited.

You don't need to touch it or get close; just being aware of its presence will instinctively remind you to keep your distance.

The current strength of the fourth swordsman of Heaven is truly terrifying.

Second Bank Manager John was secretly alarmed. Moreover, he was not facing the true Fourth Swordholder of Heaven at this moment, which made him involuntarily make a judgment: the other party may have already reached the Miracle Node.

The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly suppressed it with reason. He wouldn't allow himself to have any unnecessary emotional fluctuations at that moment; that would be too out of control.

"Long time no see, the fourth swordsman of Heaven."

Second Bank Manager John spoke first, his tone still restrained and appropriate.

He gave Xia Xiu a slight bow, the gesture precise yet distant, maintaining the proper respect without completely lowering his own status.

Xia Xiu withdrew his gaze from the depths of the gray wilderness and landed on the two of them. The mimic's azure eyes lingered on John for a moment before revealing a smile that was not sharp but hard to ignore.

"Long time no see, President John."

After exchanging a restrained and polite greeting with the Second Bank Manager of the Federation, Xia Xiu's attention naturally turned to the other side.

His gaze fell on Broly, not deliberately staring at him, but under the illumination of his great spirituality, he saw the other's state clearly.

It was a change that could no longer be concealed.

Broly's existence was more solid than ever before, and the flow of information within him formed a clear and orderly closed loop. Deep within his consciousness, a nascent crown, not yet fully solidified but already taking shape, was slowly forming.

This is a state where they are just one step away from winning the crown.

Xia Xiu's lips curled up slightly, his face filled with pure satisfaction.

He looked at the former commander of the Imperial Guards, with whom he had fought side by side, and offered his sincere congratulations:

“It hasn’t been easy to get this far, Broly. The sham crown is complete; only one final leap is needed to transform it into an information integration entity.”

Broly's lips curled up slightly, the movement almost imperceptible, yet undeniably real.

"This is the result of my duty."

He responded in a low voice, his tone remaining calm.

"As the commander of the Imperial Guard, I led the Imperial Guard to sweep across the myriad realms of the heavens and the worlds of small and medium-sized planes that rejected the order of the Heavenly Kingdom and the enlightened dictatorship, paving the way for the Heavenly Kingdom with war and obedience. After countless conquests, the illusory crown naturally condensed."

He spoke calmly, as if this were merely a stage in a long march.

Then, Broly raised his head, his gaze passing over the churning gray wasteland in the distance to the endless battlefield of slaughter. His voice remained deep, but now held a hint of sharpness:
"But this empty title is merely a threshold. I need a real breakthrough opportunity, for someone like me who walks the path of the berserker—"

His gaze swept across the distant army of demons and devils, then over the deeper battles where the myths of Olympus and the Titans were being reenacted, and he continued:

“A place like the Gray Wilderness is just right.”

"Endless blood battles, a war logic that continues to operate despite being corrupted by chaos, and conflicts at the level of the remnants of gods... This place itself is a battlefield that exists for breakthroughs."

As soon as he finished speaking, John K. Hanks, who was standing nearby, took over the conversation.

The Federation's second-in-command wore a professional smile, but his tone clearly carried a hint of genuine admiration: "The Federation has always recognized Commander Broly's potential. The fact that he has reached the 'nominal crown' stage in such a high-intensity interdimensional war speaks for itself."

He paused slightly, then his tone became meaningful:

"More importantly, the Federation is willing to provide assistance to such a powerful individual. Regarding the breakthrough of the Crown, we... have found a rather suitable opportunity."

Xia Xiu's eyes lit up slightly, his interest undisguisedly piqued. He looked at John, then at Broly, his tone relaxed yet carrying an undeniable authority:
"Oh? The opportunity that prompted the Federation to take action sounds complicated."

He stepped forward, standing in the swirling winds of the gray wilderness, and said calmly:
"Tell me, what exactly did you find?"

The second bank manager did not give an answer immediately. He stood in the churning wind of the gray wilderness, his gaze sweeping over the still-fighting demon army in the distance, but his tone was unusually calm, as if he were talking about a long-term investment that had been calculated countless times.

“Your Majesty Abraham,” John began slowly, “you should know very well where the real capital of the financial district originally came from.”

Xia Xiu recalled the contents of the Heavenly Kingdom archives he had once perused, and he calmly replied:

"The real capital comes from the true Olympian gods who were completely wiped out during the Federal War of Independence."

"The information prototype of the financial giant was not created out of thin air, but was formed by Financial Street through reverse analysis, disassembly and recombination of the twelve Olympian gods, resulting in twelve integrated information entities."

John nodded, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

"exactly."

“The essence of Financial Street is never as simple as a representation of currency; it is a redefinition of value. As long as something can be measured, compared, and exchanged, it will be transformed into an asset by Financial Street.”

His voice was calm and unhurried, yet it carried a calmness and ruthlessness unique to capital.

“You have killed many deities of the faith stream, and the Federation’s database has a complete record of this.”

What do they most often leave behind after their fall?

Xia Xiu replied: "Godhead."

John chuckled softly. "Yes, it is divinity. However, for those who walk the path of lineage, divinity is not something they find easy to digest."

He looked up at Xia Xiu, his tone becoming more direct:

“Absorbing a godhood is essentially equivalent to accepting a set of established authority templates. You can quickly obtain stable units of power and achieve output and influence close to that of a ‘standard god,’ but the cost is equally clear.”

"The authority has been locked up."

"Information has been solidified."

“The personhood is confined within the framework of divinity.”

“You must respond to the faith, you must uphold the doctrine, and your power will no longer grow from self-evolution but from external supply. Once the believers decline, divine power will dry up.”

He paused slightly as he said this, as if he were giving a risk warning.

"For those who follow the path of lineage, this is not a gain, it is a naked liability!"

"High leverage, low liquidity, strong constraints, and once defaulted—the cost is the collapse of its own structure."

John lowered his clenched hand, his face revealing the kind of aversion capitalists have towards bad assets.

Xia Xiu's expression was somewhat subtle.

Does the statement made by the second president of the Federal Reserve Bank constitute a critique of decadent feudal theocracy by extraordinary capitalism?
Capitalists who like hanging streetlights seem to dislike those mystical deities and feudal kings who don't produce any gold coins and even hinder the production and circulation of gold coins.

For capital, circulation is of utmost importance.

The theocratic politics based on the belief in deities is not conducive to circulation.

In a world where gods are worshipped, kings with divine right of kings and churches that believe in these gods possess vast tracts of land, and feudalism and theology dominate thought, law, and ethics.

This greatly inhibited the emergence of a free market, because land was the most important source of wealth, status was tied to birth (nobles/serfs), the economy was mainly a natural economy (self-sufficient), power came from land ownership and personal dependence, and markets, currency, and free labor were underdeveloped.

In a world like this, the people's gold coins simply can't be obtained!
For capital, although from its very inception, from head to toe, every pore drips with blood and filth, everything solid vanishes under its mighty hand, and everything sacred is desecrated by it.

It also likes to draw lines for the people to be killed, and it's very keen on setting traps...

However, that doesn't stop it from considering itself a good person... oh no, a good thing.

As a good thing, the bad things it sees are naturally corrupt feudalism and theocracy—these two things are really too bad!
This evil thing makes a person's value completely dependent on their status, turning them into a mere appendage of their class.

Prison capital is purely evil; it treats people like spinning tops, relentlessly exploits them, and ruthlessly draws lines to kill them.

Prisoners and prison gods are both stupid and evil; they treat people as less than human. They sanctify violent exploitation and perpetuate social injustice, making people not exploited as laborers but ruled as natural inferiors. They make exploitation look like order, love, responsibility, and faith.

Capitalism has at least torn off the sacred cloak of these two things. It ruthlessly severs the colorful feudal ties that bind people to their natural superiors, leaving no other connections between people except for naked self-interest and cold-blooded monetary transactions.

Based on this view, John really disliked the worship of deities. He believed that the existence of these beings would only bring negative assets to the Financial Street and affect circulation.

So, the second bank manager said to Xia Xiu:

“Financial Street is particularly adept at handling non-performing assets like Shenge.”

“Our goal is actually very clear: we don’t need the complete divinity; what we want is the purest and most valuable part of it—the authority over information itself.”

His gaze was as if he were examining a complex financial product.

“Through splitting, dilution, refinancing, and structural restructuring, Financial Street can separate the heavy faith debt, narrative chains, and core of authority from the divine identity.”

"It's like restructuring the assets of a company that's on the verge of bankruptcy but possesses core technologies."

"Debts are bundled into a junk bond pool, and all restrictive clauses are isolated; truly valuable technology patents, market pricing power, and concept control are extracted separately and relisted."

"Through a series of operations by Financial Street, what we ultimately obtained was a pure information authority that does not require believers, is not bound to narratives, and is not attached to religious obligations."

“They can be reconfigured, injected into the lineage structure, and used as fuel to break through the crown, rather than as shackles.”

As he said this, he looked directly at Xia Xiu, his voice not loud, but each word clear.

"This is the opportunity that the Federal Financial Street can offer Broly."

At this moment, he looked like an investment banker giving a merger and acquisition presentation. He raised his hand and made a faint stroke in the blood-red mist rolling in the gray wilderness. His tone was calm and composed, even carrying a chilling sense of professionalism.

"If we were to describe it in the language of the financial district, we would help Mr. Broly complete a crown-level asset acquisition."

He smiled slightly and said, word by word:

"Hercules, Achilles, Hector."

"These names are super assets that have already been solidified in the present world and the outer planes. They can be the most famous keys to domination, just like Sisyphus in your hands."

"Of course, they can also become high-value conceptual carriers that have been repeatedly reinforced by countless narratives, epics, rituals and beliefs; that is, the hero himself, the original information narrative itself."

“Take Hercules as an example. In the Financial Street model, he is a long-established, asset-heavy company with a strong market appeal.”

"Hercules' main business is the narrative of power, trials and invincible heroes; its cash flow comes from mythological reenactments, faith projections and hero worship."

"But the company's problems are also very obvious."

He spread his hands and said with a smile:

"The company has a bloated structure, excessive divine debt, and a high dependence on the Olympian system. Once the core pantheon is shaken, the valuation will face systemic risks."

“What we want to do is not to hold this company long-term, but to take it hostilely.”

He then explained:
"The battle itself is the acquisition process."

"Victory or defeat is a matter of valuation reset."

"Death is a forced reckoning."

“When Hercules is defeated, the long, closed mythological structure surrounding him, which is burdened with religious obligations, will collapse instantly. At that time, the financial district will intervene, freeze all of his narrative assets, and strip away the highly indebted parts, such as his divine status, and pack them into a risk pool.”

"What truly remains is the pure authority he embodies as a combatant—the upper limit of power, the adaptability to trials, and the resistance to extreme environments."

"These are the high-quality assets that can be directly injected into the genealogy structure."

After he finished speaking about Hercules, his tone remained unchanged, as if he were simply switching to the next slide.

“Achilles is another model.”

"He is a typical war hero, with high mobility and high intensity output, but the narrative cycle is short and the risk fluctuations are extremely large."

"Defeating him is equivalent to making a short-term sniper strike in a high-risk market."

"The benefit lies not in scale, but in speed—killing him allows us to quickly extract three core pieces of information: battlefield intuition, killing efficiency, and critical decision-making."

"It is very suitable for helping strong individuals like Broly, who primarily engage in direct combat, to make the leap from a nominal crown to a full crown."

“Hector, on the other hand, is a different kind of asset. He is not simply a hero, but a guardian-type asset.”

"His value lies not in his personal fighting ability, but in the density of his responsibility, sacrifice, and the narrative of fighting for others."

“Killing him is equivalent to liquidating the emotional credit of an entire city-state in the market.”

"The rewards will be equally enormous. Once this acquisition is completed, Broly will gain not only power, but also the power to set the price for the very concept of 'fighting for order'."

He raised his head, looked at Xia Xiu, and gave him an extremely sincere smile:
“Your Majesty Abraham, we are not encouraging you to hunt down heroes. We are simply providing a proven career path with an extremely high risk-reward ratio.”

"Use war as a bargaining chip, victory as a contract, and death as the final settlement."

"If you choose the right labels—every fallen hero will become the perfect fuel to propel you to higher positions."

After listening to this almost cold financial instruction, Xia Xiu did not immediately express his opinion.

He merely turned his head slightly, his azure mimic pupils gleaming faintly against the gloomy sky of the gray wasteland, his gaze falling on John K. Hanks.

This guy is just stirring things up.

"Well arranged." Xia Xiu said, his tone gentle, yet carrying an enigmatic meaning.

"Risk splitting, profit concentration, narrative liquidation, power recovery... Financial Street truly lives up to its name; it can even turn the corpses of gods into structured products."

He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips, and asked curiously:
"However, what are the respective costs that you, as the acquiring party and the acquired party, need to pay?"

John K. Hanks did not answer immediately; this time, he was genuinely thinking.

A few seconds later, the second president of the Federal Reserve Bank finally spoke, his tone more serious than ever before.

“One of the costs,” he said, “is the utter destruction of the Olympian pantheon.”

"From the perspective of Financial Street, the Olympus system is already an old and seriously insolvent pantheon."

"Their core assets are repeatedly mortgaged to historical narratives, heroic epics and the re-emergence of faith, relying on the constant reenactment of myths to maintain superficial prosperity."

“And every time we defeat, liquidate, or force a merger, we directly destroy their most important thing—continuity.”

"When heroes are killed, myths break; when authority is stripped away, faith loses its anchor; when narratives cannot close the loop, they cannot complete the information flow back, let alone reconstruct a complete timeline and divine structure."

“In other words,” John looked directly at Xia Xiu, “as long as this operation continues, the Olympian pantheon will forever remain in a state of repeating failures.”

"They will not disappear immediately, but they will be trapped in a vicious cycle of continuous devaluation, dilution, and inability to rise again."

“And this,” he said calmly, yet with an undisguised stance, “is precisely the outcome that the Edisi Federation most desires to see.”

John paused briefly, then added:
"Of course, asset acquisitions of this scale are not cost-free."

“Financial Street has distorted, dismantled, and diluted the divine information at the conceptual level, which requires a large amount of monetary information.”

"You can think of it as the fuel, market liquidity, and continuous injection of the real structure required to launch the ritual."

"This part of the cost will be borne by the federal government."

At this point, he finally revealed the Federation's true core objective to Xia Xiu, speaking with great sincerity:

"You could say that Financial Street provides the money and the effort, while the federal government bears the risks."

He paused and then said:

"In return, we have only one request; we hope that His Majesty Abraham will help us hunt Hermes of the Olympian gods in the game of the Gray Wilderness."

(End of this chapter)