The Great Hall-the place that gathered tens of billions of elites, monarchs, rchants, cultivators, and rulers from every corner of the universe-was normally a realm of overwhelming noise.
A place where even breathing, the subtle hum of artificial life-support fields, and the synchronized rhythm of countless enhanced hearts were enough to turn the air itself into a constant roar.
Yet now-
it had fallen into absolute, unnatural silence.
Not a single whisper.
Not a single careless breath.
".....?!"
"Did you hear... what I just heard?"
"I heard it clearly. There's no mistake- he said the Soul Society shut everything down because of Lord Human's projects!"
"Has sothing like this ever happened before?"
"...Never. Not once."
"Just what in the universe did Lord Human create to force the Soul Society to close all of its factories?"
"That's absurd. Completely illogical."
"The Soul Society's factories are effectively endless. The number of sellers reaches the billions, the number of products surpasses that, and the number of potential buyers can only be expressed with terrifying figures filled with dozens of zeros..."
"Yeah, and nearly half of those products are manufactured directly by the Soul Society itself!"
"Exactly. The daily output of their factories alone is enough to sustain thousand sectors."
"No-what's truly terrifying is that they ntioned stock depletion and being forced to wait in line."
"Right. Factories capable of supplying the entire universe shut down for a full month-do you realize how many products could be produced in that ti?"
"And yet they're openly saying it'll still run out, and we'll have to wait our turn?"
"What is this now-will the Soul Society be rationing bread to the entire universe next?!"
"Hey did you catch that last part?"
"He said Lord Human now has a private section."
"He absolutely did."
"But only the Tyrant Interas has ever had a dedicated section of its own!!"
"Do you think the Tyrant will lose his temper when he hears about this arrangent?"
"Why would anyone be angry?"
"He's the Great Truth Chosen of this generation-if anyone deserves it, it's him."
"He hasn't officially beco a Great Truth Chosen yet!"
"The Soul Society in its current form has existed through three Great Truth Chosen."
"How many of them were granted their own section?"
"...As far as I rember, none."
"Exactly. This is the first ti a Great Truth Chosen has ever been given a personal section inside the store!"
"He still hasn't beco one yet!!"
"But this developnt makes sense, in a way"
"The previous Great Truth Chosen weren't producers. They achieved one or two earth-shaking feats-then vanished without a trace."
"Doesn't that an we're witnessing the birth of history itself?"
"The Great Truth Chosen of this generation is extraordinary. We're incredibly fortunate to live in his era."
"He hasn't beco-agh, why am I even arguing anymore."
"So... what do you think those four products actually are?"
"Sothing massive. Sothing that will shake entire sectors."
"Maybe martial arts that incorporate fundantal laws-like the legendary Breath of the Ages martial art."
"Or maybe he solved humanity's internal energy bottleneck and created the
fifth cultivation path, hehe."
Thud
"This is not the ti for jokes, you idiot."
Beneath the tallic mask, sweat stread down Robin's face.
He knew-better than anyone-that these four innovations would reshape the universe itself, without the slightest exaggeration. Entire markets, power structures, and future paths would shift because of them.
But did the Soul Society really need to announce them on such an apocalyptic
scale?
A month-long store shutdown.
A scheduled reopening broadcast across the universe.
Lord Morval's personal appearance.
All of it had driven expectations to unimaginable heights.
At this point, people might genuinely expect Robin to have created
dosticated dragons, or rewritten reality itself.
What if when they finally saw the real products-their imaginations had
soared too far?
Would disappointnt follow?
Ding
Ding ding ding ding ding
The sound of store interfaces opening echoed billions of tis within the sa
second, overlapping into a single overwhelming chi that made Robin's scalp prickle beneath his tallic mask.
Instinctively, he shut his eyes tight, bracing himself for the storm he was
certain would follow.
For a brief mont, he simply stood there, motionless, letting the noise wash
over him.
Then slowly-he cracked one eye open and began scanning his surroundings.
"I found it! Lord Human's section!"
"Hm? What's this tiny disc? Second Chance? A second chance for what exactly? And-why is it this expensive?!"
"This small device looks like an add-on for the Youth Restoration Device, hehe."
"Oof..."
Robin slapped his forehead with his palm and shut his eye again, his shoulders
sagging slightly.
His worst expectations had co true. The absurd level of anticipation had inflated people's imaginations far beyond reason, and now the backlash was inevitable. Sarcasm, ridicule, dismissal-it was all arriving at once.
All of it... because of that damned Morval and his grandiose announcent.
At this point, the only thing Robin could hope for was that this wave of mockery wouldn't permanently stain his reputation across the Middle Belt-and
"Hm?"
Robin opened one eye again, more carefully this ti, and looked around.
Whoosh
Whoosh
"...What?"
The sight before him made his breath hitch.
Large numbers of people were leaving the Soul Society outright.
Every single one of them followed the sa pattern: they glanced at their screen, tapped it once-or twice at most-clack, and then vanished in a flash of spatial distortion-whoosh-without uttering a single word.
No insults.
No laughter.
No heated debates.
Just... silent departure.
Within two minutes, nearly half of the attendees in the Great Hall were gone.
The once-crowded space visibly thinned out, vast stretches opening where dense clusters of figures had stood monts earlier.
The remaining half, however, looked even worse.
They stood frozen in place, store windows still open in front of them, eyes
widened to the limit, brows tightly drawn. So looked pale. Others looked stiff, as if their minds had montarily shut down.
"...What's happening here?" Robin muttered, unease creeping into his voice.
Clank
A faint popping sound rang out beside him.
A familiar fairy figure materialized out of thin air-small, luminous, and
unmistakable.
"Lord Human," Temari said quickly, her tone apologetic, "I'm sorry I wasn't available earlier. The preparations over the past period were massive, and I was assigned almost everything personally."
"Shhh!!"
Robin reacted instantly, clamping a hand over her mouth while darting glances
in every direction. "Why are you saying that title out loud?! Are you trying to get exposed?!"
"Hehe~ relax," Temari replied calmly, unfazed. "No one can see except you-
just as you can't see the fairies assigned to others. And even if you stand right
next to soone, you still can't see the contents of their windows."
She winked playfully, then pointed upward with one finger. "How about I transfer you to the ditation Hall? The atmosphere here is...
getting unpleasant."
"...Heh~"
Robin let out a weary breath and took one final look around.
Angry faces.
Shocked faces.
Faces twisted in confusion and disbelief.
After a short pause, he nodded. "Alright. Let's go."
Whoosh
The scenery shifted instantly.
Robin reappeared in the familiar hall where he usually processed requests
related to the Truth Chamber. The mont his feet touched the floor, his strength seed to give out. He dropped into a seat with a dull poof, leaning back heavily.
He rubbed his face through the mask and shook his head. "Damn these arrangents of yours, Temari," he said bitterly. "You raised people's dreams to impossible heights just to smash them in seconds. Did you see that? Half the crowd vanished imdiately. They didn't even bother leaving
sarcastic remarks behind."
"Hehe~"
Temari laughed softly, floating in front of him. "That's because you're part of
the equation, Lord Human. You can't see the situation from the proper perspective."
"...What do you an?"
Robin straightened slightly and looked up at her. "Didn't you see what I saw?
The ones who stayed behind are still staring at their windows in silence. It's obvious they're desperately searching for so hidden innovation-sothing big enough to justify all this hype. They're shocked. And disappointed."
"Lord Humans," Temari said gently, shaking her head, "you're still underestimating what you've created. You're underestimating the waves this will send across the entire belt from this day onward."
She then raised a finger and pointed toward him.
"Why don't you open the profits tab? If words aren't convincing you, perhaps
numbers will."
Robin frowned, his brows lifting slightly in confusion.
"The profits tab?" he repeated. "Why would I check that now? The products
were only announced minutes ago. There's no way the numbers could already
be a-"
He froze mid-sentence.
"...Hah?"
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