NOVPUBRegardless of what it was, obtaining such an object would grant immense power.
"Why wouldn’t he retrieve it himself?" Daniel wondered.
He remembered Nine mentioning before that he was chosen to fetch it due to his ability to resist negative effects.
But Clown was a level 4 Evolver.
Even with Daniel’s special resistance as a level 1 Evolver, it couldn’t possibly surpass a level 4.
Conveying his doubts aloud, Daniel asked, "Why don’t you retrieve it yourself?"
Clown scoffed coldly, "Hmph, to extract that thing requires luck, rarer than winning the lottery a million times over."
"I once thought, with your foresight, you were the perfect candidate. Yet now, seeing you mispredict a goal with only one outcome, sending you would be futile. It might even cause the object to vanish from this world forever."
Daniel pressed on, "So, who will you turn to next? Alex?"
Clown shook his head.
"Why not? Oh, I get it. It’s because he’s invincible among the level 3 Evolvers, and you fear him," Daniel surmised.
Upon hearing that, Clown was visibly agitated. "Fear him? I believe I’ve just heard the world’s most ridiculous joke."
"No matter how powerful Alex might be, he’s merely dominant among level 3 Evolvers. I, on the other hand, am a level 4 Evolver. Crushing him would be as effortless as squashing an ant."
"It’s only because he’s favored by Godfather that I haven’t acted directly against him."
"If it weren’t for you, that worthless man would’ve already perished in Isaac Town."
Daniel keenly seized the crucial piece of information.
Seizing the opportunity with Clown’s unguarded chatter, he promptly asked, "Who is Godfather?"
"The monster from the Isaac Town incident, was that your doing?"
That couldn’t be right.
Both Liam and Stanley met their ends in Isaac.
Wes and his team’s objective was to obtain the Blood-eyed Monster’s eye.
Clearly, the Blood-eyed Monster wasn’t connected to them.
Without hesitation, Clown readily replied, "Indeed. I wanted to see what made Godfather value Alex’s mere level 3 Evolver capabilities so highly."
How could he assume that Alex would be dispatched to handle the Isaac incident?
Was it mere coincidence?
But, on second thought, it wasn’t hard to deduce.
The entire Evolver squad was annihilated in Isaac, which was testament to the danger lurking there.
There was a need to assign a formidable Evolver to investigate the matter.
With Brooks away on a mission and not yet returned, Alex became the inevitable choice.
Yet, nobody anticipated the anomaly that was Daniel, who almost single-handedly resolved the situation to perfection.
After sharing this, a sly smile crept back onto Clown’s lips. "As for Godfather, I’m afraid I can’t divulge that. All you need to know is that, in Godfather’s hands, the entire world is but a malleable lump of clay."
Daniel grasped that perhaps Godfather was the puppet master behind Rebirth Corporation.
He wondered if this Godfather and the Godfather of the Black Hat Gang were one and the same.
Could it be such a coincidence?
No matter how he tried, Daniel couldn’t associate the seemingly benign old man with an unhinged organization like Rebirth.
Clown’s voice pierced through again, "Now, you can die in peace."
Suddenly, without warning!
A blade, formed entirely of shadows, separated from Clown’s own shadow on the ground, thrusting towards Daniel’s neck.
Daniel remained still, his face composed.
He would have dodged with his speed, but once again, he found himself immobilized by Clown’s shadowy grasp.
Fortunately, he could still speak. "Wes, now!"
At his command, Wes, who had been hidden in the shadows, swiftly emerged.
Clown was taken aback, initially thinking that Daniel had brought backup by mere coincidence, also named Wes.
However, when he turned to see that familiar devilish black face charging towards him, his fury knew no bounds.
"Wes, what are you thinking?!"
With a swift turn and kick, Wes was sent flying, furniture scattered in his wake.
The chasm between a level 3 and a level 4 was profound.
Yet, undeterred, Wes picked himself up from the ground.
Observing this, Clown, still puzzled, exclaimed, "Wes, what’s gotten into you?"
Wes, his face a pitch black, eyes flashing with murderous intent, snarled, "Kill you!"
Whoosh! Transforming into a black whirlwind, Wes charged at Clown once more.
Clown, unfazed, unleashed his shadowy power.
Almost instantly, a dark shimmering barrier, spanning three to four meters in radius, rose around him, encapsulating both himself and Daniel, reminiscent of an octagonal cage.
Boom! Wes’s assault struck the dark barrier, producing a deafening blast.
A grimace marred Clown’s face, as if he had just realized something, his gaze burning with rage towards Daniel.
"So, that’s why you face death so calmly. You had an ace up your sleeve."
"I don’t know how you managed to turn Wes against me, but if you think he can save you, then you’re sorely underestimating me."
"I am, after all, a level 4 Evolver!"
Clown’s voice boomed, his entire being merging with the shadows, becoming an embodiment of darkness itself.
Daniel’s brow furrowed, realizing he might have indeed underestimated a level 4 Evolver.
Looking around the shadow-formed octagonal cage, he recalled the distinctions between Evolvers that Alex had once explained.
From level 1 to level 3, an Evolver’s power continuously strengthens, gradually mastering their ability.
At level 4, they not only fully control their powers but also possess a domain related to their ability.
Yes, the very same Domain Power found in monsters.
This was the profound gap between a level 4 and a level 3 Evolver.
The shadowy octagonal cage was Clown’s Domain Power!
Within this cage, Clown was akin to a god, insurmountable by any!
Thud!
Outside the cage, Wes had fully transformed into his demonic form, pounding against the cage with fists as heavy as meteors.
Despite his immense force, the cage remained unyielding.
Clown sneered, "A mere insect trying to shake a giant tree."
"You had such a promising future, yet you chose to betray the organization for a mere nobody."
"So be it. Any past ties we had are now forgotten. Time to eliminate the traitor."
As he spoke, an opening appeared in the cage.
Without hesitation, Wes charged in, only for Clown to face him head-on.
There was no doubt, Wes was no match for Clown.
But Daniel couldn’t afford to dwell on that.
Freed from Clown’s control, he knew he had to seize the opportunity while Wes bought him some time.
Perhaps he could still escape.
In an instant, a silk thread appeared in Daniel’s hand.
As he dashed out of the cage, the thread began to coil rapidly around it, encasing the entire octagonal structure within moments.
Without hesitation, Daniel sprinted towards the window, allowing no room for delay.
Yet, what he hadn’t anticipated was that even combined, Wes and the silk thread could barely stall Clown for mere seconds.
"You think you can escape after knowing so much about the organization?"
The dark barrier surged from behind, effortlessly shattering the silk thread’s cage.
Clown soared, his obsidian eyes locked onto the fleeing Daniel, rushing forward like a phantom from the abyss.
Without a second thought, Daniel launched himself out of the window.
Twenty-five stories, a hundred meters high.
Even a level 4 Evolver would be shattered upon impact.
But for Daniel, there was no choice. Standing still was a certain death.
Moreover, he still had the power of the silk thread.
Whoosh!
A silk thread shot from his palm, wrapping around a nearby building, propelling him in a daring swing between the two structures.
On the streets below, onlookers erupted in a series of gasps.
"WTF?!"
"What the hell is that?!"
"Spider-Man?!"
"Holy shit, Marvel is real?!"
"It’s Spider-Man! It has to be!"
The crowd was buzzing with excitement, whipping out their phones to capture the moment.
But what they also recorded was Daniel’s impending doom.
From the window, Clown emerged, firing a shadow-formed black spike, swift as a bullet.
Daniel, suspended in mid-air, had no chance to evade.
His Skeletal Armor, outmatched in strength, was pierced straight through.
Blood rained down from the sky, like a haunting drizzle of crimson.
...
[Remaining rewind count in the next 24 hours: 9.]
...
On the twenty-fifth floor of the building, Daniel emerged alone from the stairwell. n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
Before him lay a deserted office area, and alongside the window sat workers entrapped in illusions.
Using his Enchanted Eye, he dispelled the enchantments and quickly ushered the employees out of the building.
Soon, only Daniel remained on the twenty-fifth floor, accompanied by two hidden figures.
Suddenly, Daniel slowly turned, looking down at his own shadow and subtly stepping back.
The shadow on the floor eerily split into two.
From the detached shadow, a complete silhouette emerged, even though no one was there.
With a serene demeanor, Daniel spoke, "Show yourself, Clown."
The shadow remained unresponsive at first. But sensing Daniel’s unyielding gaze, it began to transform, and a figure wearing a Clown mask rose from within it.
Meeting Daniel’s calm countenance, Clown’s eyes betrayed undeniable astonishment. "How could you...? Is this the power of the Prophet?"
