[A towering figure, glowing crimson, looms over you like a mountain. With each step, the earth quakes. You crane your neck upward, and the sky-darkening behemoth is none other than the invading Apostle, dragging a monstrous spiked club as he approaches…]

What the hell was this thing? This was a player?!

Are you sure that’s not a world boss?

“Cursed game, you’ve bugged out again!”

[Your body radiates white light, trembling uncontrollably, what will you do?]

[1. Drop to your knees and beg for mercy, praying that your fellow Apostle might spare you.]

[2. Raise your Cross Sword and fight to the end. Let them learn the meaning of ‘a warrior can be slain, but never humiliated.’]

Even though Xu Zhi was screaming ‘bug!’ in his head, he knew full well, this game was rock-solid.

No bugs. Just brutal, horrifying balance.

His only guess was that the other Apostle had used some ridiculous one-time item to enter a lower-tier chapter.

“I’ve got nothing against you. Did you really have to burn a rare resource just to kill me?”

Grumbling to himself, Xu Zhi knew begging was pointless.

Might as well die with some dignity.

[Brave Apostle, you raise your Cross Sword and charge the invader…]

[The world goes dark. A club the size of a mountain crashes down…]

[You are dead!]

[You were defeated by Apostle ‘Swordsmith.’]

Death had been expected.

But that soul imprint…

“‘Swordsmith’? Wait, that was the guy I invaded last time!”

“Fk your whole family! He’s really holding a grudge?! Killed me twice and still not satisfied, now he uses a rare consumable just to finish me off again…”

Xu Zhi was still cursing, when he suddenly smirked.

“Heh. Bet you didn’t know I only had five Spirit Essence on me this time.”

“Wasted your precious consumable for nothing, sucker!”

[You dropped 5 Spirit Essence.]

[You dropped: ‘Refined Iron Cross Sword.’]

???

“Wait, my weapon dropped?!”

Xu Zhi stared at the screen in disbelief.

[A feeble wandering soul is reborn inside a ruined house…]

He frantically opened the Shell panel.

The Cross Sword was gone from his equipment slot.

“That sword cost me 250 Spirit Essence…!”

“Cursed game! It really is bugged this time!”

…

[You have defeated Apostle ‘BigDickBro.’ You obtained 5 Spirit Essence.]

[Due to your upgraded invasion permissions, you may claim an additional item from the defeated Apostle.]

[You obtained: Refined Iron Cross Sword (Common-grade Weapon)]

[Returning to the Library…]

Crap! I forgot to shrink my Giant Shell again.

Lin Xun smacked his forehead, not even paying attention to the name of the unlucky victim, BigDickBro.

Thankfully, the Library’s spatial rules were extraordinary.

Even using the massive Earth Giant Shell didn’t damage the surroundings, nor did it cause movement issues, he could still walk freely.

A question popped into his mind: how big is the Library’s true space?

He shook his head to dismiss the thought.

Opening his inventory, he checked the newly looted item.

Yup. Utter garbage.

He tossed it onto the Book of Trade, priced at 200 Spirit Essence.

After shrinking the Giant Shell to a manageable size, he resumed invading enemy Oath Apostles.

All the matches were Tier 1 Apostles, three quick wins, a clean sweep.

Unfortunately, the loot was meager: barely any Spirit Essence and only trash-tier gear.

With his quota met, Lin Xun headed straight for the Book of Oaths.

[You step forward and touch the Book of Oaths. A resonance forms between your feeble wandering soul and the book.]

[You may now access the Oath functions.]

[Oath: Your current allegiance is to Golden Blazing Sun. Enemy Oath: Corrupting Blood Sun. Ally Oath: White Moon.]

[Victory in Oath Invasions grants redeemable rewards. Current Oath Victories: 3]

[Would you like to redeem your Oath Reward now?]

Lin Xun didn’t hesitate and slammed ‘Yes.’

[You have redeemed your Oath Reward. Current victory count reset to zero.]

[You obtained: Unsealing Elixir of the Visage of the Leader (Special Item)]

Unable to contain his excitement, Lin Xun opened his inventory.

[Unsealing Elixir of the Visage of the Leader (Special Item): A magical elixir shimmering with multicolored light. Use it to break the seal on a related item.]

Finally, it’s here!

He’d been looking forward to this exclusive item forever.

Just as he was about to use it, he froze.

“Wait. Ritual mode! Can’t forget the ritual!”

He dashed to the bathroom and thoroughly washed his hands with soap, the full lucky gacha pull routine.

Clean and focused, he returned to his phone.

[You used Unsealing Elixir of the Visage of the Leader. The seal on a related item has been lifted!]

[Visage of the Leader (Exclusive Item): Even with a thousand faces and myriad forms, every legion needs a leader’s face among them.]

[Carrying this item allows you to designate the highest or second-highest-quality Shell in your Shell Panel as the Leader. All Shells of lower quality will become Followers.]

[Followers adopt the Leader’s level, and all experience gained by Followers is funneled directly into the Leader.]

[This item is bound to your soul and cannot be traded, gifted, dropped, or discarded.]

Lin Xun read the effects carefully, eyes widening.

Only one word came to mind: Insane.

This wasn’t just a powerful item, it was practically a game-breaking artifact tailored just for him.

Its most terrifying effect? Shared level scaling.

In his current Shell Panel.

His highest-quality Shell was Corrupted Earth Giant – Epic+, Level 29.

The runner-up was Yellow-Robed Bishop of the White Moon Church – Rare+, Level 22.

He could assign either one as the Leader.

If he chose the Earth Giant, every other Shell below it (except for the Engineer, which was already Level 32) would instantly scale to Level 29.

If he chose the Bishop, the Giant and Engineer would stay the same, and the rest would scale to Level 22.

Best of all, any experience gained by a Follower would directly level up the Leader.

Lin Xun laughed out loud.

This item could’ve been named Face of the Capitalist Overlord and it would still be accurate.

No more worrying about who gets the EXP. The Leader gets it all.

Sure, the Engineer remained awkwardly above at Level 32 and couldn’t become a Follower…

But the Earth Giant, despite being three levels lower far outclassed the Engineer in raw power.

He didn’t care.

He tapped the exclusive item.

[Your two highest-quality Shells are: Corrupted Earth Giant and Yellow-Robed Bishop of the White Moon Church.]

[Please choose which Shell to designate as the Leader.]

Without hesitation, Lin Xun chose the Earth Giant.

[You have designated Corrupted Earth Giant as the Leader.]

[Follower Yellow-Robed Bishop of the White Moon Church level increased to 29 (+7)]

[Follower Corrupted Theater Dancer level increased to 29 (+11)]

[Follower Blood Sun Paladin of Discipline level increased to 29 (+18)]

—

One by one, the Shells in his panel surged to Level 29, their levels unified under the Earth Giant’s leadership.

Only the Engineer remained awkwardly out of sync at 32.

Even the Corrupted Blacksmith, Corrupted Elder Beastman, and Corrupted Blood Beastman were now sitting comfortably at Level 29.

Staring at that long list of ‘29s,’ Lin Xun was beyond pleased.

All his junk gear was already listed for sale in the Book of Trade. Once those sold, he’d have enough Spirit Essence to craft his next weapon.

And in his inventory?

He still had: Beastmen Giant Chieftain’s Spirit Essence, Advanced Thunder Enchantment Stone, Three Advanced Forging Stones.

All just waiting to be fused and unleashed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep