SSS Awakening: I Can Devour Gods to Evolve My Goddesses

Cassian did not check the Regional Channel first.

He went to the first Gold Vein.

The Warden Gate opened only one short Link. By the time he and Bram stepped through, more than a dozen workers had gathered near the main vein.

No one had stopped working.

But every person who passed the exposed ore layer looked at it twice.

Fine gold-white lines had appeared inside the yellow stone.

They were not newly exposed.

That section had already been mined yesterday.

Bram knocked off a piece with the point of his hammer.

"See for yourself."

The system identification appeared.

[Region Fortune Effect Confirmed]

[Existing Resource Point has undergone Evolution]

[Gold Vein → Rare Gold Vein]

[Effective Gold Ore layer purity increased]

[Probability of high-quality Gold materials appearing significantly increased]

Cassian lingered on the first line for two breaths.

This was not a new Rare point appearing somewhere nearby.

The Gold Vein he had already been mining for days—

had directly become Rare.

Bram handed him the fresh chunk.

"Yesterday, this section was ordinary Gold Ore."

"Today I don’t even need to rescreen it."

"The worst layer here is cleaner than yesterday’s best batch."

Cassian looked toward the deeper tunnel.

"The second vein?"

"Changing too."

"Not as fast as this one."

Bram rested the hammer against his shoulder.

"Region Fortune doesn’t hit every resource point at once."

"Some places move first. Some later."

Cassian nodded.

That made more sense.

If Fortune +5 landed and every mine outside all 402 Domains instantly jumped a grade, that would not be luck or probability.

It would just be the system handing out resources.

This was different.

Some Resource Points produced better material.

Some improved in quality.

Some empty areas really did develop Wild Resource Points that had not existed the day before.

But at least one clear step-up was already in his hands.

And it was his own mine.

Less than two kilometers away, the Battle Essence Spring had changed even more visibly.

Sigrid stood beside the water.

The spring had always been pale silver, steadily pushing essence up from below.

Now a thin ring of gold traced the bottom.

The moment Cassian approached, the system panel appeared on its own.

[Battle Essence Spring]

[Region Fortune Resonance detected]

[Rare Evolution: Complete]

[Type: Stable Resource Point]

[Current Quality: Rare]

[Previous Stable Output: approx. 12,000 Battle Essence / Realm Day]

[Current Estimated Stable Output: approx. 18,000 Battle Essence / Realm Day]

Six thousand.

Every day.

Not a one-time Boss drop.

Not something that disappeared after he collected it once.

As long as the Spring remained under his control, the extra output would keep coming.

Sigrid read the panel too.

"So first place gives you another six thousand every day?"

"This one point does."

Cassian closed the panel.

"And there’s the mine."

"And the rest of Riftward."

By then, the Regional Channel had completely changed tone.

[Anonymous Lord: A Rare Resource Point appeared on the north slope.]

[Anonymous Lord: My old Iron Mine didn’t upgrade, but today’s high-quality ore ratio is obviously higher.]

[Anonymous Lord: A Rare Wild Boss showed up near me. Patrol confirmed nothing was there yesterday.]

[Anonymous Lord: Does anyone remember exactly what Fortune +5 was supposed to affect?]

Rowan answered with a single line.

[Rowan Ashford: Higher probability, not every resource upgrading at once. Confirm first. Move people second.]

No long explanation followed.

No one needed one.

Region Fortune was no longer just a number on the Ranking reward panel.

Cassian already had proof in his hands.

One Gold Vein had become Rare.

One Battle Essence Spring had gained roughly six thousand more stable output per day.

That was not "maybe useful later."

It was producing value now.

When Cassian returned to Forgotten Shrine, the notification that stopped him did not come from Warden Authority.

It came from the Domain Core.

He had only just crossed into the main layer when the Domain Aether Vein below them pulsed.

Not a Rank-IV expansion.

Not an Aether Allocation shift.

Folded Sanctuary remained stable.

But the Domain Aether Vein lit with a ring of pale gold as if it had finally come into direct contact with Riftward’s Region Fortune.

Notifications appeared one after another.

[Forgotten Shrine is within the effective area of Region Fortune.]

[Detected: Domain Aether Vein]

[Region Fortune is entering long-term resonance with the Domain Aether Vein.]

[Vein State: Fortune-Touched I]

[Current Fortune Resonance: 5%]

Cassian paused on the line.

Then the effects unfolded.

[New Effect 1: When a Lord / Hero / Troop formally belonging to Forgotten Shrine participates in a valid kill, standard loot-drop probability +10%.]

[This effect follows units formally belonging to Forgotten Shrine and does not require the target to die inside Forgotten Shrine’s main layer.]

[New Effect 2: When Cassian Vale opens a Chest / Reward Container with random outcomes, base probability of a High-Fortune Result ×2.]

[Fixed rewards, guaranteed drops, fixed production lines, Daily Output, and system cooldowns are unaffected.]

Cassian read the second effect again.

It did not force a Rare Chest to become Epic.

It did not duplicate fixed rewards.

But if a container already had random outcomes—

his chance of hitting the better side of that randomness was now higher than yesterday.

Veyra came out of the Deep Layer just as he pulled his inventory to the front.

Two items that had been sitting untouched for a long time were dragged into view.

[Epic Chest ×1 | Resource Collection Ranking #1 Reward]

[Rare Chest ×1 | Rank III Advancement Record #1 Reward]

Veyra looked at them, then at him.

"You still have those?"

"I never had a reason I needed to open them."

"And now?"

Cassian looked at the line marked High-Fortune Result ×2.

"They’re worth more today than they were yesterday."

Veyra laughed softly.

"So now you like unopened boxes again."

"I always liked them."

"Before, they just had something inside."

Cassian moved both Chests to the front of storage.

"Now even the way I open them changed."

Veyra did not tell him to open them immediately.

Instead, she asked,

"And the five Fortune?"

Cassian looked at the Domain Aether Vein’s 5% resonance.

"If the next Ranking gives more—"

"I’ll compete for it."

"You don’t even know what the next Ranking is."

"I’ll take it after I know."

Veyra smiled.

This time, she did not call him greedy.

First place had just proved that Region Fortune was not a decorative number.

It could take something that already belonged to him—

and make it more valuable all over again.

The other thing first place brought was attention.

More and more messages in the Shattered Marches Channel asked how Riftward had fought its final Waves.

Some asked about the Fountain.

Some asked about the Rocketiers.

Others asked whether Cassian had hidden a second high-grade main force before Wave 45.

Cassian answered none of them.

Seraphine forwarded him a Private Message instead.

[Seraphine Valcrest: Someone asked whether your last million Points came from a second Legendary line.]

[Cassian Vale: What did you tell them?]

[Seraphine Valcrest: I don’t know.]

[Cassian Vale: You really don’t know all of it.]

[Seraphine Valcrest: Which means I don’t even have to lie this time.]

Two seconds later, she added another line.

[Seraphine Valcrest: First place means more people are going to watch you.]

[Cassian Vale: They already are.]

Cassian looked up.

Veyra had already closed the entrance to the Deep Layer again.

The twenty Rocketiers had not come up to the main layer to celebrate Riftward taking first.

Neither had the two hundred Eclipse Legionnaires or nine Praetorians.

Training continued.

Rotation continued.

What changed was Veyra’s schedule.

She crossed out a Praetorian group that had been planned for a main-layer formation drill the next day.

"This group stays inside too."

Cassian looked over.

"Because we got first?"

"Because of what happens after first."

Veyra rolled up the training sheet.

"Yesterday Black Banner wanted to know what you had at home."

"Today the entire Shattered Marches wants to know."

"I have no interest in solving that question for them."

Cassian nodded.

"The Eclipse line."

"You keep making the calls."

Veyra looked at him.

"I was already making those calls."

"Mm."

"You still are."

She held his gaze for two breaths.

"Good."

This was not Cassian asking someone else to hide his troops for him.

The more famous Riftward became, the less willing Veyra was to display the line she was responsible for just because more eyes were watching.

By evening, Cassian had just put the two Chests back into storage when his Private Channel lit up.

Not Tobias.

Not Seraphine.

Stoneward.

[Gareth Halvern: Cassian.]

[Cassian Vale: Here.]

[Gareth Halvern: I want to buy one bottle of Life Water.]

Cassian’s hand stopped.

Stoneward.

Third place.

Gareth’s next message arrived immediately.

[Gareth Halvern: I’m not asking about the Fountain.]

[Gareth Halvern: I only want one bottle.]

[Gareth Halvern: Name your price.]

Cassian looked toward the Fountain in the Deep Layer.

[Life Water: 46]

First place had just given him a long-term Fortune advantage.

Third place was already asking to buy a recovery resource almost no one else could reproduce.

Cassian sent one reply.

[Cassian Vale: We can talk.]