Worlds’ Apocalypse Online

"Awaken the Devil King Warden Rod and initiate another competition to become the Devil King…"

Gu Qing Shan hesitated.

This wasn't impossible at all, in fact, he had done it once before.

But he was a lot more cautious now than ever.

-----what was the reason for me being targeted and surrounded by all the Sequence Envoys?

I managed to establish and build Star Gazer city without giving up anything in return.

I managed to directly defeat the Corruption Sequence within the Human realm Initial Grave.

By borrowing the divine sword's power, I summoned the Samsara's will and sent the Eternal Mind Seizer running.

Now that I think about it, everything I've done up to now has been too eye-catching.

Regardless of who or what the entities lying in wait are, my success has managed to rouse their caution.

That's the reason I fell into a deathtrap.

So should I repeat that entire process once again?

Gu Qing Shan fell into thought.

-------ever since I entered the Huang Quan realm, while everything had been smooth sailing, I've actually had to go through several layers of screening.

The first layer was getting onto shore.

Normal people would be eliminated here and be sent straight into reincarnation through the Forgetting River, only Professionists would be allowed to remain.

The second was entering the Hall of Reincarnation.

There was a Metamorphosis Pond inside of this place that would directly confirm and register one's identity, there were also a group of devil soldiers and generals standing on guard to deal with any situation that might arise.

The third was to join one of the six departments.

This would be the actual beginning, it represents the fact that one has the qualifications to start working, as for whether or not they would be able to survive------

The meteor rain earlier clearly reflected the status quo.

With all of that in mind, if someone who had just climbed out of the River of Death were to become the Huang Quan Devil King right away…

That would be quite the shocking news.

It would draw a lot of attention.

I need to proceed with this one step at a time… at least, I need to think of a way to earn Merits inconspicuously.

Then, let's lay out the steps.

Firstly, I need to make sure everyone accepts my character setting.

A powerful summoner and close combat expert who originated from the River of Death that is practically unbeatable in battle.

Once everyone accepts this setting, it would make perfect sense for me to then become the Huang Quan Devil King.

After making up his mind, Gu Qing Shan asked: "You just said 'awaken the Devil King Warden Rod'-------- is it perhaps in slumber?"

Liu Li sighed: "Yeah, its circumstances are a bit unique. Its previous master had abandoned their Samsara identity and left the Samsara, so it fell into deep slumber"

"How can we awaken it?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

Xiao Lang replied: "With Merits. By offering enough Merits, Huang Quan's Origin power will be imbued into the Devil King Warden Rod and awaken it to reinstate the 'Devil King' Deific Authority"

"How many Merits will we need?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"1 million" Xiao Lang said.

Gu Qing Shan exclaimed: "That much!?"

"Yeah, and only members of the 18 Hells department are allowed to do this as well" Liu Li added.

"Entering the 18 Hells department means it's impossible to collect that much Merits; but without such an astronomical number of Merits, it would be impossible to become the Devil King, it's a dead end" Xiao Lang concluded.

"For that reason, Hell has remained in this limbo state this entire time" Gu Qing Shan sighed.

"Yeah, we can't accept any tasks or jobs, and everyone else is always so busy that it's almost impossible to run into anyone, we can't even borrow some Merits to buy rations, this has been ongoing for a while" Liu Li followed up.

Gu Qing Shan suddenly cut in: "Wait-------"

"What is it?" Liu Li asked him doubtfully.

"You can lend and borrow Merits?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"Of course, not only can it be lent, it can also be gifted------ but everyone knows that we don't have any income, so they all take as far a distance from us as possible, nobody will lend us anything" Xiao Lang explained.

A glimmer flashed over Gu Qing Shan's eyes, he then muttered: "Merit Accountant!"

A series of numbers immediately appeared above his head: [0000]

The last time he came to Huang Quan, he already knew about the existence of this Huang Quan support machine; anyone in Huang Quan would be able to summon it and check their own Merit value.

[This machine will only answer questions related to Merits] the Merit Accountant spoke.

"Alright, I want to ask you something, can Merit be sold, bought, gifted, borrowed, as well as lent to others?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

[It can be] the machine answered.

Gu Qing Shan's eyes were now glowing as he told the two girls: "I've thought of a way to earn Merits"

"How do we do that?" Liu Li asked.

"Answer me something first, if someone joined the 18 Hells department, would you be able to kick them out again?" Gu Qing Shan asked her.

"Of course I can, both me and my sister are the only Deities left in Hell, so the authority to recruit as well as expel members reside in both of our hands" Xiao Lang replied.

"Then, would the people that have been expelled be able to join a different department?"

"They can"

"Then that's enough"

Gu Qing Shan clapped his hands and stood up: "-----I didn't want to be too conspicuous so I had to consider stealing dead people from the Forgetting River, but now that I've found a new method, we can actually earn some Merits now"

"From where?" both of the girls asked in unison.

"Come, let's go make some preparations" Gu Qing Shan said.

…

The Hall of Reincarnation.

All the departments were still here recruiting every person they could, which made for a very lively scene.

On the other side of the hall.

Several groups had gathered here.

These groups consisted of both Deities and powerful dead people, they were about to set out on their missions, so they had gathered here in preparation to be teleported.

Since they were all about to head out, they were all either anxious or silently solemn.

At this point, Gu Qing Shan and the two girls arrived.

Without caring about the various gazes from everybody, they brought a table to the center of the gathering area.

And then------

Gu Qing Shan leapt onto the table with a microphone and cleared his throat: "Everyone, Hell Insurance is now officially open for business!"

Everyone else didn't know what he was talking about, so they all remained indifferent.

Gu Qing Shan continued: "No matter how arduous or brutal your assigned task is, if you pay us a certain amount of Merits, we can guarantee that you'll be able to return to Huang Quan alive!"

"This is nothing short of a chance of a lifetime! Don't miss it, cause if you do, you will literally not get another"

The crowd went into a stir.

A Deity scoffed: 『 Our tasks are all exceptionally brutal, and you're only a dead person; how are you supposed to guarantee our lives? 』

Gu Qing Shan immediately took that chance: "Good question!"

"-------I trust that everyone here knows this fact: for entities that are being subjected to suffering in Hell, as long as their sins haven't been absolved, no matter how or where they die, they will return to Hell to continue their suffering"

Everyone nodded.

That wasn't a lie, this was indeed the brutal and cruel Law of Hell, even a Deity wouldn't be exempted from it.

Gu Qing Shan grinned and continued: "That is exactly what our service is------ we of the Hell Department will temporarily turn you into a member of the Hell Department, by which you'll be resurrected in Hell after you die"

One of the dead people at the venue felt a bit tempted, then quickly realized something and loudly questioned: 「 You're joking with us right? Everyone here possesses positive Merit values, and I heard that as long as your Merit remains positive, you wouldn't be able to enter Hell 」

Gu Qing Shan maintained his grin and answered: "That is very simple to resolve, I'd like to invite this Combatant up here with us------- after this, we'll give you a 30% discount"

He jumped down from the table and helped the dead person up.

"Alright, now transfer me all of your Merits" Gu Qing Shan said.

The dead person just stared straight at him.

"There are so many people here, and we're in the middle of the Hall of Reincarnation, how can I steal your Merit?" Gu Qing Shan persuaded.

The dead person was still hesitant.

Gu Qing Shan relented: "Fine, if you're willing to cooperate with me for this demonstration, I'll give you a 50% discount"

「 Ok deal 」the dead person said.

-------the task I was assigned is extremely dangerous, it doesn't hurt to give this a try.

「 "Merit Accountant!" 」

Both of them called out at the same time.

The Merit value displayed above the dead person's head was [1137]

Gu Qing Shan's Merit was [0000]

The two of them signed a waiver, then completed the transaction.

Gu Qing Shan's Merit then became [1137], while the dead person's became [0000]

「 Although my Merit is now zero, it's still not negative, I still can't enter Hell 」the dead person asked confusedly.

"This is the easy part" Gu Qing Shan handed him an empty can of beer.

The dead person was surprised and doubtfully asked: 「 This is------」

"Toss it" Gu Qing Shan told him.

The dead person randomly tossed it.

The can fell on the ground.

The Merit value above his head instantly changed from [0000] to [-0001]

------littering was equal to a deduction of 1 Merit.

Gu Qing Shan clapped his hands and said: "And we're done, now please go to Gou Hun and Duo Ming to join Hell, then you can head out on your task"

「 Is this ok? What's the punishment for having negative 1 Merit? 」the dead person nervously asked.

"An ice bath------ consider it a way to refresh yourself after battle" Gu Qing Shan casually explained.

"Trust me, when it comes to Hell, we're professionals, furthermore------"

Gu Qing Shan turned to the others and said full of implications: "Even if you don't trust us, you should trust Hell to never forgive any entity whose Merit is negative"

The dead person then asked: 「 What about after I return? 」

"We'll expel you from Hell, give you back your Merit, then you can return to your original department"

Gu Qing Shan answered obviously.

The dead person was stunned, then slowly realized.

That's right.

In case that I fail my task, since I still carry the sin of littering, I wouldn't have to enter the Forgetting River to reincarnate and would instead enter Hell to absolve my sins.

Does that mean------

Isn't that the same as------

Returning to base?

After they expel and give me back my Merits, I essentially lose nothing for this.

The only question left is------

「 How much is your service? 」the dead person asked.

"500 Merits" Gu Qing Shan answered with a straight face.

「 So expensive! It took 7-8 tasks for me to earn just a bit over 1000 Merits! 」the dead person exclaimed.

The two girls standing behind Gu Qing Shan almost exclaimed in shock as well.

That's 500 Merits you're asking for, is that really a good price?

Don't go scaring everyone away!

The two girls were both very anxious.

Gu Qing Shan casually replied: "Good brother, you get a 50% discount since you're our first client, so you're only paying 250"

"These 250 Merits are the fees for saving your life, don't you think your life is worth that much?"

"We're a business here, so I won't force anyone to do anything------- not to mention, our two Deities Gou Hun and Duo Ming will be working very hard; one person to turn you into one of us and the other to lead you out from Hell; you're not asking the Deities to work for free right?"

Gu Qing Shan explained with a calm and justified tone.

The dead person was still hesitant.

But someone else had already called out: "Hell Insurance, register me for one time!"

Another dead person came up, requested Merit transfer and handed everything to Gu Qing Shan without hesitation.

Gu Qing Shan was surprised, but he remained cautious of sabotage and asked with a stern expression: "Brother, we're delighted for your generosity------- I can give you a VIP membership later, so can I ask why you're in such a rush?"

"Hurry up, I only have 3 minutes before I need to head out, send me to Hell now" the dead person replied.

Gu Qing Shan understood right away.

-----he's in a hurry to keep his life.

"Got it!"

Gu Qing Shan waved his hand and gave the dead person an empty can.

The dead person tossed the can away.

"Xiao Lang!" Gu Qing Shan called out.

Xiao Lang flew onto the table and personally inducted that dead person into the Hell Department.

The entire process only took 1 minute.

"Alright, I don't have to feel nervous now" the dead person sighed in relief.

Gu Qing Shan read his expression and whispered: "Your task was------"

"I drew the lot for the 'expendables'" the dead person answered with as few words as possible.

Complete silence.

Everyone looked at him with sympathy.

The dead person quickly vanished, having been transported away.

A few moments later.

Liu Li's expression shifted a bit and said: "He's back in Hell, let me pick him up"

She then disappeared.

Not even a minute later, she reappeared with the same dead person.

He was still muttering to himself with absolute horror: "---ran into that terrifying… You know, never mind, it's good that I escaped death"

He then clasped his fist towards Gu Qing Shan and the two girls: "Thank you for saving my life"

"You're being too formal, it's merely a transaction" Gu Qing Shan returned the gesture.

In front of the crowd, he returned the Merits to the other party.

Keeping only 500 Merits as a fee.

A mere 500.

"Alright" Gu Qing Shan turned back to the first dead person and asked: "Have you made up your mind?"

「 Hm, give me one time of Hell Insurance as well 」the dead person resolutely said.

"I'll take one time too"

『 I also want this kind of return protection! 』

「 Please arrange for me quickly, my task is about to begin! 」

"Screw you, line up, first come first serve!"

Gu Qing Shan turned back towards the two girls.

Both of them were still stunned, apparently not sure what to think.

"Xiao Lang, Liu Li, we have money now"

Gu Qing Shan smiled with narrowed eyes as he sent his voice to them.