Standing at the foot of the designated hill, Jeff took in a deep breath. After months of waiting, this was it.

It was pouring now. Bean-sized freezing-cold raindrops barraged Jeff's purple armor. Upon impact, the raindrops bounced off into spurts of smaller water droplets.

A rainstorm on top of a dense fog. The visibility here was rather low. It's not brighter than night time really.

A flash of lightening cracked through the sky. The cold light briefly showed the asphalt road up the hill.

PAM...

The sound of thunder rumbled through the skies.

[Threat Detection]

[Beast Instinct]

[Eagle Sight]

[Aura Vision]

...

...

Jeff's vision zoomed up the hill. With his stack of detection abilities, the environment couldn't obstruct his sight anymore.

This road was the only path for going up. Streams of rainwater flowed down the street gutters.

Up the hill, there were 5 mansions. A large modern mansion at the hilltop. Four on the hillsides. Small gardens. Large buildings. These mansions looked like small shopping centers.

Now that those cultist thugs had moved in, they had built a wall surrounding this area.

Carefully scanning around, Jeff's expression turned serious.

1 SS-rank as expected. This could only be Dilbert Reed, the gang leader.

Also, 3 S-ranks were scattered around. Not much a problem. Jeff could one-shot these guys before they could react.

There were also 200 energy signatures. All of them were at least B-ranks. To be honest, this was rather absurd.

After all, looking at a city-wide scale, B-ranks weren't all that common. These guys were at the top 0.1% of the population already. One in a thousand. What were the odds of all 200 thugs to hit this level?

At the moment, these thugs were mainly scattered around the walls, watch towers, and inside the mansions.

'Nevertheless, still small minions. A single mana burst can take care of all of them.'

Jeff focussed his gaze in another direction. There was a compact gathering of low-energy signatures.

About 50 people. These were the captives kept underground. Jeff remembered that location in his mind.

'Good. Let the operation begin.' Jeff walked up the road.

In a brief moment, Jeff reached the walls.

There was a guard post by the front gates. Looking down the barbed-wire walls, there were cameras set up everywhere.

A ray of light shot towards Jeff. In a blink, a dagger had stabbed into the road before Jeff.

Ignoring the dagger, Jeff walked forward.

Up the hill, a skinny dude exited the outpost. Looking down at Jeff with an examining look, the dude threw his cigarette butt onto the wet road. Not minding the weather at all, this guy stepped into the rain. In an instance, the rain had drenched this guy's shirt and jeans.

The thug opened his hand. His dagger flew back to his hand.

This guy was one of the three S-ranks.

Now that Jeff was close enough, Jeff could take a better look at this dude.

The thug's appearance... It's like... someone had poured purplish-black paint onto this guy's head. Now, half of his head was covered in purplish-black paint. The paint continued to stream down this man's face, down to his neck. The swollen purplish-black parts seemed to throb like a heart. The normal parts on this guy's body looked pale and withered.

In general, this guy gave off an otherworldly feeling. He looked more like an alien than a human now.

Out of sheer prejudice and instincts, Jeff felt hostile towards this guy.

This was just a mere S-rank. Yet, Jeff could sense a fleeting lethal threat from this thug.

Nevertheless, Jeff continued to move forward.

"Sanctuary's Smite member?" The skinny dude chuckled with a smirk.

"If I kill you, right here, Atlas won't say a thing." The skinny dude stared at Jeff with kill-intent.

"Same to you." Jeff pointed his chin at this dude. "Dilbert Reed won't wage war against the sanctuary over you."

Sensing the kill-intent in Jeff's gaze, this thug widely smiled.

"Hmm..." The thug growled. "We are the same type of people I see. Welcome to our den."

This S-rank thug got out of Jeff's way. The dude's attitude became a little more inviting. Just a little though.

Ignoring this dude, without stopping, Jeff walked past the gates.

Walking in the middle of this two-lane road, Jeff took a brief scan...

Trees were planted by the roadsides. A large wet grass field covered this hill. Some distance away, there were empty garden patches. Not much human activity at all.

Only the sound of rain and distant dog barks could be heard.

As expected, these guys only had one line of defense. After passing the front gates, other than a few sparse patrols, these guys barely had any security.

A few seconds later, two big dudes caught up to Jeff. Two A-ranks.

Both of them were half-naked. Both of them had purplish-black streams running down their faces. Both looked like aliens visiting Earth.

These guys gave off a familiar feeling to Jeff. Before, they had a black-droplet tattoo on their heads. Now, it's streams.

'There is a minor difference. But I'm 99% certain that these are the sons of bitches I'm looking for.'

Realizing this, Jeff's gaze gradually turned cold.

'Just a few months ago, you guys took everything from me. Almost taking my life as well.'

'Before, I couldn't fight back.'

'Now. I'm back.'

"Tsk. Follow us human. Don't do anything funky." A dude looked down at Jeff with a despising gaze, similar to the gaze of tourists looking at apes.

It's as if this guy believed that he's a superior species or something.

"Yeah. This is our turf. You better not catch our suspicion." The other guy menacingly smiled.

"Wait. Humans?" Jeff asked.

The two shot suspicious gazes at Jeff. In an instance, these two lowered their bodies, ready to jump away from Jeff. They opened their mouths, ready to shout.

Yet, too slow.

Tingling~

A crisp bell tinkle sounded out of nowhere.

In an instance, the gazes of these two changed. From suspicion, alert, and hostility, to reverence and awe.

Pa!

The two took a knee onto the wet asphalt road.

(Take a knee: to go down on one knee / kneeling on one knee)

"My lord! Your loyal servants are at your service!" The two stared at the ground, not daring to look at Jeff. It's as if that irreverent action would be an unforgivable offense.

Their voices trembled a little. Their bodies shivered in sheer ecstasy. It's their utmost honor to serve Jeff!

"Stand up. Walk with me." Jeff casually popped the bell bracelet out of existence. It didn't look fitting on men...

Yep. This was the drop he'd received from the vampire girl. A glint-tier. Only enough to temporarily mind-control A-ranks and lower.

Nevertheless, it's rather convenient in this situation.

"We are so honored!" The two patted the dirt off their knees and carefully followed Jeff. These two still kept their gazes on the ground, not daring to look at Jeff.

"First question. What's up with that purplish-black thing on your heads?"

"My lord, it's the Seed of the Void." A dude replied.

Both of them looked rather proud?

"With this seed, we have successfully ascended to the void race!"

"Yes. Yes!" The other guy quickly nodded. "Most humans are fragile E-ranks. But the weakest void race are C-ranks."

"Yes! Exactly!" The first guy fanatically nodded like a fervent cultist.

Why did Liam call these guys cultists? Jeff knew the answers now.

"This is evolution on steroids!"

"Also, every member of the void is immortal!"

"Yes! After death in this world, we will be taken to the void. We shall be reborn in the void!"

"One day." The two spoke in unison. "We, the pioneers, shall return as rulers of this world!"

"Ok...?" Jeff squinted. "So the void is promising a bright future for you after death?"

"No sir! We don't wait after death to reap our contributions!"

"We are given generous paybacks immediately!"

"Ok?" Jeff squinted. "And what can you get from the void?"

"Anything sire! Anything!" The fervent thug looked at Jeff with an ecstatic smile. "As long as you have enough contribution points!"

"The void gives generously!" The other thug with a beaming gaze. "You just need to give a little, and you shall receive a lot!"

"Uh huh..." Jeff slowly nodded. "And how do you earn these contribution points?"

"The void takes anything!"

"Even dirt and shit!"