Chapter 214: Everyone is a Player

"Are you joking right now..." Kaelen trailed off as she began swiping through her exclusive system panel.

It was obvious to him that she was checking his candidate status to verify her claims.

Before he could ask what she meant, her eyes widened as she exchanged shocked glances between him and her system panel before she began frantically swiping again.

"What’s going on? What are you—"

"YOU SPENT CLOSE TO A QUADRILLION EVOLUTION POINTS ON YOUR LAST ADVANCEMENT?!" she screamed and stared at him like he was an alien.

"Isn’t that how much everyone spends at Tier 80?" Kaelen asked in confusion.

"What the hell? If I spent that much at Tier 80, I would’ve been dead by now. Heck, the universe wouldn’t even exist if everyone spent that much. Kaelen, tell me how you can afford to make such expenses. It’s barely been a year since you were introduced to Evolution Online," Kelsey asked with a serious expression.

"Wait... do you guys have, like, a shortcut to advancing here or what?" Kaelen asked in genuine surprise and curiosity.

"It’s not a here thing. It’s common knowledge. You don’t need to advance your entire Evolutionary trait to advance. You just need to max one out, and you’re able to advance. And it’s usually the one with the lowest cost. Then you can slowly upgrade them according to their usefulness. Do you even realise how much you’ve been throwing away? If you had played your games right, you wouldn’t even need to be here trying to claw your way to the top. You wouldn’t even need Emir to stop Akkad from being shortlisted for the global descent. This also explains why you’re stronger than your peers."

Kaelen’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief. The more Kelsey spoke, the more he felt the weight of the wasted evolution points.

To confirm her theory, he swiftly navigated through his system and chose only [Miasma Slime] to max out.

[You have reached the threshold for Tier 80 Lifeforms]

[Do you wish to advance?]

Kaelen’s eyes widened further.

He always upgraded everything at once to avoid wasting time because, each time he advanced, he was almost always in battle and needed the strength boost.

He never really sat down to play around with the mechanics to understand them better.

But then, if he could’ve reached such great heights within a short period of time thanks to the 10,000× Reward System, why had his mother never found it weird that he was still stuck at such a low tier each time they met?

"First, you can upgrade everything. And now you somehow have a vast pool of evolution points to waste on a single advancement?" Kelsey asked, but she wasn’t looking at him. It was almost like she was asking herself.

"I understand it now. I miscalculated and jumped the gun too soon. The Atreus Vessel ability in your skill set isn’t the edge your mother gave you, is it? Whatever power your mother bestowed upon you has something to do with upgrades... multiplication... of everything. That means the ability in your skill set isn’t the power your mother gave you... it’s your very own ability to define the limits of what power can become," Kelsey said in bewilderment as she stared at Kaelen with an expression layered with varying emotions.

Kaelen frowned. He didn’t know how to react to Kelsey’s precise deductions, but he’d just been exposed and knew too well what that meant.

Neither said anything as they stared at each other for a long moment, caught in a deadlock.

"I get it now..." Kelsey broke the silence. "Emir has to be the smartest person alive. She didn’t return just to get married and have a family. She’s back for a purpose. Is this why the Goddess rose a second time?"

Kaelen’s frown deepened. "I have no idea what you’re blabbering about, and I don’t care what you think about anything, but I’m glad you seem to have realised that I’m a universal threat, and I’d like to tell you to your face now... if you or your people try to sabotage Emir in any way, in or out of the Tower, I’m going to be taking the rest of this universe down with me... including your so-called Creator," Kaelen said coldly.

Instead of trying to hide what had already been exposed, it was better to use it as leverage to make his stance clear.

Surprise flashed across Kelsey’s face, but she wasn’t moved or discouraged in any way by his threat. She laughed but stopped abruptly to stare at him again.

"If I remember correctly, your debut in the universal announcement began with you ascending the ladder of immortality... am I right? I’m guessing you ate a black fruit."

Kaelen’s brows furrowed.

She was right. His first universal announcement had indeed come after he ate the Primordial Black Fruit at the hotel. He couldn’t remember its name.

Was that supposed to mean anything now?

He didn’t reply.

"You asked a question the last time. You asked what separates our immortality from that of Zemira. You answered that question yourself, but you were wrong."

Did she just address the Goddess by her name alone?

"We’re all immortals. But what separates us is the limit. Everyone you see at the top today, including me, and Emir as well, is stuck at Tier 999. That’s the limit for us. We can’t ascend beyond that, whereas Zemira can ascend infinitely. That’s what the Immortality Pill is for: to break the chains of limitations. But it was programmed to enforce the ideals of Zemira into your head. You become her slave. Trying to resist will shred your mind to pieces. You could easily end up a mindless potato."

Kaelen’s eyes widened in surprise and disbelief because he understood very well what she was getting at.

First, the Immortality Pills were designed to keep anyone who tried to grow beyond the evolutionary limitations in line. That explained what Elyndra was talking about.

Whoever took the pills were scholars who wanted to understand the origin of creation. That was Zemira’s ideal. And whoever resisted either went mad or became cold-blooded killers.

Secondly, if Kaelen could remember correctly, the black fruit had one special attribute that Kaelen had never understood.

He could remember it now. It was called the Seed of Infinite Evolution, and aside from unlocking the next tier of evolutionary realms after being consumed, it destroyed every future evolutionary restriction. That was the Tier 999 limitation.

Kaelen could ascend beyond that.

With the 10,000× Reward Multiplier System... Kaelen could become the strongest in the universe.

He finally understood now. All the evolution points that went to the bank back on Earth weren’t being hoarded by the big families. They went straight to Goddess Zemira, feeding her strength every day so that no one ever came close to challenging her authority.

There was no such thing as a Creator. It was just like his mother had told him.

Everyone... is a player.