Chapter 300: The Failures Will Never Let Him Ascend to the Second Layer! [2]

Silas climbed the stairs leading to the platform at the front of the hall, while those who had been seated around the long table took their places behind him.

At the bottom of the Failure Network were its ordinary members. They were responsible for surveillance, transporting resources, and concealing identities. When necessary, they would also become the first batch of pawns used to exhaust an enemy.

Above the ordinary members were the Gatherers.

They controlled the sources of information throughout the first shelter. They were responsible for collecting intelligence, purchasing resources, selecting potential recruits, and searching for people who could be threatened or bought.

Above the Gatherers were the Executors.

Assassinations, kidnappings, the elimination of traitors, and every other direct operation that could never be brought into the light were their responsibility. The two members who had broken into Zich’s mansion and been captured alive belonged to this rank.

Above them were the Node Masters.

Every hidden base on the First Layer was managed by a Node Master. They rarely contacted one another directly, ensuring that even if one base was exposed, the other regions would be difficult to implicate.

The ones who commanded all the Node Masters were the four Wardens, each rooted within one of the four human Shelters.

As for the person who stood above the four Wardens, there was only one on the entire First Layer.

First Layer Head, Silas Crow!

This was the true hierarchy of the Failure Network on the First Layer.

Their people hid within declining guilds,, joined hunting teams, and controlled underground transactions. Some had spent years stationed near teleportation queues and mission halls.

Some were responsible for tracking targets. Others transferred Soul Stones, disposed of corpses, or maintained identities no one would ever suspect, allowing them to move freely between the Players Association and the major families.

They possessed no territory beneath the sunlight, nor did they have a banner recognized by the Human Alliance.

But within the shadows of the First Layer, they were everywhere!

Silas raised his right hand.

The light projected by the communication crystal immediately passed over the platform, displaying Zich’s name above the hall.

[First Place: Zich Grave, Twenty-Third Floor.]

Open hostility instantly erupted from the previously silent crowd.

"Look carefully at this name!"

Silas’s voice spread throughout the entire hall.

"This young man possesses everything we once desired!"

"A powerful Profession, the Players Association’s protection, invitations from the major powers, and a road leading to Level 30 and the Second Layer already laid beneath his feet!"

"He killed our members and imprisoned our companions, yet now he wants to complete his advancement beneath everyone’s gaze and leave the Failure Network behind forever!"

Silas abruptly clenched his fist, his voice exploding like thunder.

"Tell me! Can we allow him to leave?"

"No!"

The roars of hundreds of people erupted simultaneously, causing the entire underground hall to tremble slightly.

"The Heaven Reaching Trial Tower may protect him for a time, but it cannot protect him forever!"

"Whether or not he reaches the thirtieth floor, he will eventually have to come out of the Tower!"

Silas pointed at the name suspended above the crowd, no longer concealing the madness in his eyes.

"From this moment onward, cut off every piece of information that could possibly reach him! Keep watch over everyone who might provide him with resources! Monitor every route he could take after leaving the Tower!"

"Every Mission he accepts could become a trap!"

"Every person who approaches him could become a blade aimed at his back!"

"He wants to ascend to the Second Layer, so we will show him why people like us remain trapped here forever!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Damaged yet razor-sharp weapons were raised simultaneously. Beneath the crimson crystals, their cold gleam merged into a single field of steel.

"Do not let him advance!"

"Do not let him advance!"

"Do not let him advance!"

The violent roar battered the ceiling again and again, causing dust to rain from between the stones.

At that moment, Silas raised both hands once more.

The shouting throughout the hall gradually subsided, and everyone looked up at him.

"No." Silas slowly shook his head, an exceptionally cruel smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

"Death would be far too easy for him."

"He has never understood what it feels like to remain trapped in one place for years, watching everyone around you leave one after another while you can never find a path forward."

"Therefore, we will take away his resources, sever his path, destroy his confidence, and make every person standing beside him abandon him one by one!"

Silas’s fingers slowly closed, as though he had already grasped the name displayed at the top of the monument within his palm.

"When he has lost everything, when he can no longer take another step forward, he will finally understand us."

"We will not simply kill him. We will make him one of us!"

After a brief silence, hundreds of Failures raised their weapons simultaneously.

"Make him a Failure!"

"Make him a Failure!"

"Make him a Failure!"

At that moment, their voices seemed to transform into a storm rising from beneath the earth.

Only after the final echo gradually faded did one of the Wardens standing behind Silas step forward.

"Head, the Players Association has already sealed off most information related to Zich. The people we planted near the Tower can only see the information publicly displayed on the monument."

He paused, his expression solemn.

"More importantly, Arthur Magnus is personally guarding that place. Once Zich leaves the Tower, the Association will undoubtedly place him under immediate protection. How are we supposed to track his movements beneath Arthur’s watch?"

Not the slightest trace of concern appeared on Silas’s face. He turned and looked toward the small iron door that had remained tightly shut behind the platform.

"Who said we needed to gather information from the outside?"

The expressions of the four Wardens changed simultaneously.

Silas stared at the iron door and slowly continued.

"The Failure Network has survived until today not because we are skilled at hiding."

"It has survived because, throughout all these years, someone within the Players Association has always concealed every trace that should never have been seen."

Click!

The iron door slowly opened and a figure emerged from the darkness behind it.

He wore the standard combat uniform of the Players Association. His steps were steady, his expression calm, and his face was one that almost every Player in First Shelter would recognize.

Upon seeing him, all four Wardens behind Silas lowered their heads simultaneously.

"First Eye."

Without saying a single word, the newcomer walked toward the cracked long table, removed the Players Association insignia from his chest, and gently placed it beside the commission token Jayden had abandoned.

The crisp sound of metal striking stone was exceptionally piercing within the deathly silent chamber.

Then he raised his head and calmly looked at Zich’s name within the crystal.

That man was none other than Cole!

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300 Chapters guys!!! Thanks for you support so far