Chapter 40: Three-Way Balance

Soon, it was nighttime, and it was close to the stipulated time. In his bedroom, Hiro sat up from the bed and opened a randomizing website on his phone.

He inserted the names of a few random districts off the top of his head and started the operating algorithm.

One name after another was eliminated till finally, only two names were left. After Hiro gave them a quick glance, one of the names disappeared.

"So, it's District B13?" Hiro didn't particularly care about the location, as anywhere within the city was fine by him.

He lifted his quantum watch and asked it to open the PARA app. Then, an interactive screen was projected from the watch, allowing Hiro to send the location to the [???] user in the private thread.

Hmm, now that I think about it, this is such an obvious hint.

It was just a random thought on Hiro's part, but the fact that the church developed the universal tier system, yet this system was reflected in some parts of the city.

Some districts had normal names such as Voodoo, West Peak, Swamp Hills, etc.

Other districts were designated as District B13, S7, C1, etc.

Hiro might be reaching, but what if there was a clear distinction between the territories controlled by the church and those controlled by the state?

It sounded ridiculously far-fetched, but Hiro had no reason to deny it. Although it was a random thought, it's still worth keeping in mind.

It's very difficult to confirm this matter, but Hiro hadn't reached a level where he had to worry about these things yet.

As his thoughts reached this point, Hiro stepped onto the balcony from his master's bedroom, equipped the cosmetics disguise together with the synchronization, and left the mansion.

If Hiro's guesses weren't wrong, the city was more dangerous than expected. Thus, he didn't dare to fly in the sky, lest he draw unwanted attention.

Nonetheless, his speed on land wasn't that bad either, and ordinary people or people weaker than himself wouldn't be able to see him.

The church's tier system was just the standard average for a person's destructive ability and the volume of their impact on the world.

To put it bluntly, one's ability could be likened to the influence of a star on the fabric of space-time in accordance with the theory of general relativity. A Paranormal's impact on the world is similar to the sun's impact on its immediate orbit.

For example, baseline humans are living within the tolerable limit of the world, and unless they rely on external forces such as war weapons, they couldn't impact the world's foundation much.

When they reach a point where they can shake the world's foundation, natural disasters may occur as a consequence.

For example, a bomb at the bottom of the sea will cross a certain threshold, resulting in a tsunami—these natural phenomena could be understood as a certain backlash from the world since Its tolerance threshold was breached.

The greater the impact factor of the Paranormal, the greater the response from the world—this is a universal understanding of power.

A Paranormal's impact factor is measured in the unit of vectors, and while this unit can demonstrate the extent of a Paranormal's impact on the world if they were to go all out, it is only a superficial observation of power.

It is like the surface of the sea; one can judge its size, but one cannot measure its depth.

Some abilities cannot be measured by the limited standards of the world's tolerance threshold—such as telepathy, hypnosis, illusions, and divine sense.

These are diverse methods of manipulating the consciousness, and each inheritance has a different approach to this power.

Although this power in itself isn't a destructive force and couldn't be quantified based on the universal understanding of power, one cannot simply ignore it.

Thus, those who take the church's unified power system for granted are doomed to suffer losses in one way or another.

This system can only determine the size of the ocean, not its depths.

A person could either be a shallow sea or a deep pond—it's impossible to know for certain.

At the very least, Hiro knew that those who judged him based on his Tier-9 Rank-C abilities as a Sorcerer were down on their luck.

…

Hiro quickly arrived at the underground parking lot of a large shopping center in District B13's open plaza.

He then enveloped the entire district with his divine sense, his consciousness locking onto the figures of Bella and her parents the moment they entered the district.

The moment he confirmed their identity, Hiro let out a sigh of relief. This was fine, as long as he recognized them.

Then, he canceled his synchronization and decided to wait until the clock hit 00:45.

…

At the entrance to District B13, while driving the car and waiting for the location update from Hiro, Bella's father furrowed his brow. seaʀᴄh thё Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

His wife, who was seated on the passenger seat, noticed his frown and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Bella's father said. "The moment we entered the district, I felt something observing me in the dark, but I was just a quick glance."

Bella's mother fell silent for a moment.

"It should be that mysterious figure," she surmised. "He should be confirming your identity by checking for our presence in your company. However, I might be wrong, so you better be careful."

Bella's father nodded, keeping up his vigilance.

He said, "If I'm not wrong, he should have arrived in this city recently and doesn't understand the situation of the powers here yet. I can't think of any other reason as to why no one knows anything about him."

Bella asked, "Are we planning to work together with him, Dad? Isn't it too dangerous?"

"You don't understand," her father smiled through the rearview mirror. "No matter how powerful he is, some things can't be accomplished through brute force. He has the power, and we have the foundation."

His meaning was clear; they could take what they needed from the other party, especially since they could be considered to have established a cordial relationship through the mission.

Thinking deeper, perhaps he took action that day with this intention in mind. The more Bella's father thought about it, the more feasible it sounded.

He added, "Furthermore, I even brought a gate with me to display our sincerity."

Bella didn't say anything, as she understood that her father needed allies that he could rely on the most right now.

They couldn't rely on her relationship with Rosaline to handle such sensitive matters, as the Paranormal Clans with deep foundations had their own considerations.

The waters in the Paranormal Society were too deep, and once those large clans expressed their intention carelessly, no one could predict the domino effect.

At this moment, the long-awaited three-way balance between the Church, the State, and those ancient clans had been realized.

No one could forget the horror of that ancient war that lasted for decades, and no one had the heart to reenact such a catastrophe.

At the very least, the battlefield had shifted from the open world to the pocket dimensions, which is also known as the New World at the moment.

All of those forces are currently occupied with their migration plans to the New World due to its higher tolerance threshold, as no one wants to be inversely restricted the stronger they become.

However, how simple is it to carve a piece of territory in the New World? Forget carving a territory, they need to find a suitable pocket dimension first, then consider settling down.

Bella's father had a simple idea in mind.

First, he would give Hiro a taste of what it's like to have his private territory in the New World, even if the pocket dimension in his possession was a barren land.

Then, he would tempt Hiro to move out with him to conquer and control other territories in the New World.

Since Hiro didn't have anything to lose in this area, he could be the knife in the open while the Odin family provided support and intelligence in the dark.

As he thought to this point, they finally received a location from Hiro.

Both apprehensive and excited, Bella's father changed direction at the nearest intersection and headed toward the shopping center.

…

Soon, glaring headlights swept through the underground parking lot. However, it wasn't necessary since Hiro was waiting by the entrance directly.

The Odin family easily spotted him standing conspicuously in a corner. The car's headlights were turned off immediately, and the family of three got out of the car.

The moment they entered the underground parking lot, Hiro activated his synchronization once again.

Bella and her parents carefully approached Hiro, and the closer they got, the heavier the passive presence of an Origin Soul cultivator weighed on them.

Although the pressure was tranquil and accommodating like the gentle white river surrounding Hiro, it still gave the family of three a shock.

Bella's father swallowed nervously, not having expected Hiro to have such an unfathomable presence about him.

They couldn't see his face clearly, only a pair of unfathomable silver eyes that shone through the hazy obstruction of the gentle mist.

Bella's father didn't dare talk nonsense and immediately retrieved an ancient piece of jade from his pocket, carefully tossing it over to Hiro.