Chapter 154: Resonance Tower
At the next stop, four more people boarded the bus. All of them were men. The moment they spotted Nanoe’s group and the silver-haired woman sitting at the back, their eyes went wide, faces immediately twisting with naked greed.
"Oy! Four beauties in a place like this, looks like we’re having a lucky day."
"Exactly! Four beauties, four of us. Works out perfectly."
"Hahahaha... it’s been so long since I’ve had a taste of a woman, especially ones this gorgeous."
"Same here. I’ve been starving way too long. Tonight, I’m eating meat no matter what. Even if the sky falls, nothing’s stopping me."
The four men advanced toward Nanoe’s group first, grinning with undisguised hunger since the women were seated in the middle of the bus.
As they closed in, one of the four reached a hand toward Nanoe, laughing as he did: "Hahaha... Hey sweetheart, did you know there’s all kinds of fun things you can do on a bus?"
Nanoe didn’t even look at him. She simply raised her hand in a light, casual wave.
"AGH!!"
His hand never reached her. It was incinerated to ash before it could make contact, then fell to the floor and shattered into countless fragments.
He screamed like a man losing his mind, pain reducing him to sobbing like a child. He collapsed onto the bus floor and frantically scrambled backward.
The other three men froze at the sight, and the two who had boarded alongside the silver-haired woman were especially shaken.
Nanoe said quietly: "Don’t ever reach for me with those filthy hands. My body... belongs to my master alone."
Her voice was indifferent, but it carried a coldness that could freeze bone, and by reflex all three remaining men took a step back.
Selina rose from her seat, her eyes cold and brimming with killing intent as she looked at the four men and said with contempt: "How would you like to die?"
All four of them went dead silent. Even the one who had just lost his hand forced himself to endure the agonizing pain, clamping his mouth shut, tears streaming down his face like a child.
The silver-haired woman at the back of the bus saw all of this, and a flicker of disbelief crossed her face. She let out a contemptuous snort, closed her eyes, and tuned out everything around her.
Nanoe raised a hand, signaling Selina to stand down, and said softly: "No need to kill them. The quest hasn’t started yet. They still have their uses."
The four men were drowning in regret over the decision they had just made. They knew it clearly now. Today, they had kicked a slab of iron, one covered in sharpened, poison-tipped spikes.
Absolutely terrifying.
These three women weren’t just beautiful. They were strong in a way that defied belief. Since when did Tenants get this powerful?
All four of them retreated in fear and then, feeling as though they had been spared from death’s door, hurried to the front of the bus and huddled together near the driver’s seat.
The two men who had boarded alongside the silver-haired woman quietly exhaled in relief. If they had done the same as those four idiots and poked those three walking disasters, they’d be in exactly the same wretched position right now.
Meanwhile, the four men sat clustered together. Terrified, yes, but also seething with fury.
"Damn it all! My hand!" The man clutched the charred stump of his wrist. The pain was still there, but he didn’t dare raise his voice.
"Relax!" another man said. "Once we’re inside the quest, we’ll get our payback."
"Are you serious? They’re that strong. How are we supposed to get revenge?"
"Huh! This quest is a puzzle type. Once we’re inside, all abilities get sealed. At that point, they’re just a bunch of weak little playthings."
"Hehehe... you’re right. When that happens, I’m going to have my way with them until they break. Damn it! She cost me a hand..."
The four of them still had absolutely no idea what kind of existence they were about to provoke.
Nanoe, of course, had heard every word of their conversation. Her physical capabilities had grown to a staggering degree. She could pick up the sound of wind brushing past. A few hushed voices were nothing.
She listened and felt nothing but amusement, her eyes drifting to Selina and Monica with a faint trace of dry humor that was barely there to catch.
Both of them caught the look immediately and glanced at the four men the way one looks at people who are already dead.
The bus continued barreling through the fog, heading toward the quest location.
...
Rover slowly woke up to find that Nanoe, Selina, and Monica had already left. Elith and Morie were busy preparing dinner for him.
With nothing pressing to do, he opened the Chosen Ones’ Intercom and started scanning for Dark Lord’s chat channel.
A line of text appeared on the display: ’This person is currently in another chat room and cannot connect with you at this time.’
Rover saw that and immediately remembered the frequency for the general chat room Dark Lord had mentioned before.
He started scanning for the frequency. It didn’t take long to find the room, but a different notification appeared on screen.
[Please wait for the room owner to grant you entry.]
Rover sat quietly and waited. After a moment, he was let in.
"Wow! A new member!"
"Hahaha... been a while since we had anyone new."
"Ah! That’s Rover, the one I mentioned to you all."
"Rover?! You got the Intercom at Rank 1?!"
"Not exactly. If you’re counting right, he should be Rank 2 by now."
Listening to the voices, he recognized two of them immediately. One belonged to Olivia, the other to Dark Lord. The rest were unfamiliar.
"Hello everyone." Rover said. "Name’s Rover. Hope I’m not interrupting."
"Not at all." Dark Lord said. "We were just sharing locations of resource veins."
"Resource veins? Have all of you already separated from your complexes and are managing your own territories?" Rover asked, genuinely puzzled.
Someone else spoke up: "I’ve reached Rank 7, but I’m still living with the other Survivors in the complex. I want to lead them, keep everyone together and united, surviving as one."
Rover was genuinely taken aback. In a world this brutal and unforgiving, someone had managed to hold onto a heart like that. It was something truly worth respecting.
Dark Lord spoke up: "He’s a pastor. His ability is extraordinary. The more people around him, the stronger it gets."
Rover nodded, taking that in, then continued: "I wanted to ask, if I wanted to break away and establish my own territory, what would I need to prepare?"
Dark Lord was genuinely caught off guard and immediately asked: "What Rank are you at right now?"
"Rank 2."
"Heh?! Rank 2?" Dark Lord asked skeptically. "And you’re already that confident you’ll reach Rank 5?"
"I am. All my Tenants have awakened Epic-grade bloodlines. I think we’ll make it through to Round 5."
Silence.
Rover frowned, confused: "Oy! Where did everyone go?"
The sudden quiet startled him. For a second he thought the Intercom had cut out.
Then a woman’s voice came through: "You said... all of your Tenants have awakened Epic-grade bloodlines?"
"That’s right." Rover answered.
She pressed on: "How many Tenants do you have in your room?"
"Five right now. One of them was an existing Survivor who had been trapped in a strange space and I got her out. She carries the bloodline of the Spidary Queen and is currently in the middle of merging with it." Rover answered plainly.
"The other four have all awakened Epic-grade bloodlines. I think... with that kind of combat strength, we can survive through to Round 5."
Another silence fell. Rover felt increasingly uncomfortable, his brow creasing as he said: "Hey! Someone say something. Why does everyone keep going quiet?"
Dark Lord let out a long sigh: "I knew from the moment you got the Intercom at Rank 1 that you weren’t an ordinary Survivor. I just didn’t expect you to be on this level."
"Be honest. Do you have some kind of connection to whoever created this world? There’s no way someone is just this lucky."
"What the hell!" A woman’s voice burst through, drenched in envy. "Do you believe I could march straight to your complex right now and tear you into a hundred pieces? AGH!!!"
Olivia laughed: "Hehehe... Rover really is something else. If my territory ever gets overrun in the future, I’m coming to be your Tenant."
Her voice carried a touch of flirtation and a hint of teasing playfulness.
Rover pressed a hand to his forehead and asked, genuinely lost: "What are you all going on about? Are Epic-grade Tenants really that significant?"
The pastor spoke up: "It’s not about having Epic-grade Tenants. It’s the Epic-grade bloodlines those Tenants carry that are extraordinary."
"Put simply... if even one Tenant or Owner carries the bloodline of a race rated S-rank, they can breeze through the first four rounds without much trouble."
"As for Epic-grade bloodlines... you should ask Olivia."
Olivia laughed: "Hehehe... I personally have an Epic-grade ability, and one of my Tenants was lucky enough to activate an Epic-grade bloodline. Between the two of us, we can clear 8 rounds without breaking a sweat."
"There’s one important point though. An Epic-grade ability, while extremely powerful, is still a step below an Epic-grade bloodline."
"Heh?!" Rover frowned. "Why?"
Olivia explained: "Because an Epic-grade ability is just that, one ability. But when you activate an Epic-grade bloodline, you don’t just gain the power of that race. You gain every ability tied to that race as well."
"Exactly." the pastor said. "I have two Tenants. One activated an S-rank bloodline, the other an A-rank. Things have been fairly comfortable for us. Round 8 is coming up, but as long as we’re well-stocked on resources, we’ll clear it without any real issues."
Listening to everyone talk, Rover was beginning to truly grasp just how formidable an Epic-grade bloodline really was.
Olivia continued: "Rover, if you want to bring out the full potential of your Tenants, you should look into buying a defense tower blueprint called the Resonance Tower."
"What’s that?!" Something in Rover’s instincts told him this was important. He asked immediately.
Olivia didn’t hold back and answered right away: "There’s a type of defense tower called the Resonance Tower. You can use it while you’re still in the complex or later when you’re developing your own territory, either works."
"It can form a life resonance link with your Tenants. Through it, your Tenants can fight and attack monsters without ever leaving their room. Its power scales directly with the strength of the Tenants it’s linked to."
"Are you serious?!"