Ray carefully reviewed the strength of every awakened individual in the underground city.If anyone's ability level exceeded his own, he would immediately change his mind and turn away without hesitation.He was only here to observe the situation and, if necessary, issue a warning. He did not intend to cause trouble—but neither would he tolerate anyone provoking him. If someone crossed the line, he would not show mercy.The strongest individual he detected had roughly a 1,000-unit ability level. Certainly not weak, but still far inferior to the major powerhouses of Guillory City—and completely insignificant in front of Ray. However, this person was not the leader.That was odd.The true figure in charge was currently sitting in a large office, buried in administrative work. Everyone who entered to report to him addressed him respectfully as "Mr. Robinson."His ability level was only around 300 units.Ray decided he would go in and take a closer look.Ray smiled faintly. Althoug

If Spark City were truly a lone lamp in the darkness, then at the very least, Ray was willing to coexist with it in peace."We're here."They arrived at a makeshift laboratory. Freddie called out, and a young girl stepped out from the inner room. The moment she saw Ray, her eyes lit up.Because Ray had sculpted his face into something outrageously handsome.A handsome man, and an awakened ability user at that. In this era, wasn't that the very definition of a high-value catch—a top-tier golden bachelor?"Take your pants off!"The words blurted out instinctively. The instant they left her mouth, the girl's face turned red. She stammered in panic, "N-no! I mean roll up your sleeves!""Can't you draw blood from the fingers?" Ray asked."It's too cold. Finger blood is hard to extract," the girl finally managed to say with some professionalism.Fine.Ray rolled up his sleeve.The girl tied on a tourniquet, but the moment her hands brushed against his explosive muscles, her expres

So Ezra's energy level was probably around 1,000 units, making him the strongest person in all of Spark City.From that perspective, Spark City was far inferior to the six major factions that once existed in Guillory City.In Ray's view, however, this level was actually more "normal."Awakened ability users were limited in number. Even if they fought and killed each other endlessly, how much energy could one person possibly accumulate, even if all of it was concentrated into a single individual?So that explained it—the number of golden snowflakes here was lower?What about Lawson? He wasn't a physical enhancement type, so his ability level was easy to judge—around 200 units. Not weak, but completely insignificant in front of Ezra.And yet, he still dared to compete for talent with Ezra.What did that mean?It meant Ezra was extremely disciplined. Otherwise, with his strength, he could easily have turned Spark City into his private domain—or gone elsewhere and lived as a ruler

After that, Ray could decide whether to fight or merely show his strength.After hearing Ray's choice, Ezra, Lawson, and Hannah all looked visibly disappointed. Lawson and Hannah were fine; they didn't particularly need a powerful ability user.But Ezra was different. He truly needed one.He had long harbored ambitions of expansion—first taking Jayzepan, then sweeping north to bring another foreign nation under control. After that, depending on the situation, he might continue northward to seize the vast northern lands, and from there, move east to other continents."Steve, think it over," he made one final pitch. "This is our best shot to expand our borders and wipe out every external threat against us for good."Yeah, we might be judged harshly by today's standards—but future generations will thank us for the lasting security we give them. We may carry the burden of this decision now, but our children will know nothing but peace because of it. If we don't strike against the Jayz

If they didn't strike first, what would happen when Jayzepan got its forces together and came after Gohaven instead?Sure, Jayzepan was small in terms of land area. But with a population over a hundred million, that was nothing to dismiss.More importantly, it was an island nation—completely surrounded by water. That meant a statistically higher chance of yielding golden snowflakes.So if Gohaven didn't move fast to take it down, it was only a matter of time before Jayzepan became a major threat.Ray found himself quietly agreeing with Ezra's logic.Jayzepan had always been resource-poor. Historically, Jayzepanese had constantly sought to expand outward, attempting to seize resource-rich Gohaven. Most of the time they failed—but in the modern era, they came dangerously close once.And after they lost? Did they show any real remorse?No. They just regretted losing. They studied why they failed. They never once reflected on the death, the destruction, the suffering they caused. If