Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

The Ashborn estate was huge. The Ashborn family’s patriarch, his brothers, their wives, and the matriarch all lived here.

Most of the children they had were either busy in a guild or away at school, so the estate was usually quiet.

The limo that Caelus sat in drove into the grand estate, and right behind it was the law enforcement bureau’s car.

Lloyd Ashborn, sensing the commotion from his grand office, looked down through the window to see the cars.

His face immediately went pale.

The door to his office suddenly burst open, and his wife, Mauve Ashborn, appeared with a panicked look on her face.

"It’s the Player’s Association and the law enforcement!" She said, trembling. "Could it be that useless bastard? After we generously fed him daily, he really told on us?"

"We should have killed him when we had the chance. Why didn’t you kill him already?" Mauve’s expression twisted viciously. "If anything happens to my precious daughter and son because of that trash, I don’t know what I will do!"

"Let’s go down. I’ve already contacted the Black Lightning Guild." Lloyd said with a cold, calculating look on his face.

The Black Lightning Guild had immense influence, even in Fortis City. He refused to believe that something would happen to him as long as they had his back. Guilds had more influence than the kingdom itself. Players dictated this world.

He calmly walked downstairs. His brothers, Rowan Ashborn and Caspian Ashborn, also joined him.

Chairman Welt and the police officer stood right in front of the massive estate doors. Caelus was silently leaning to the side with his arms crossed, casually looking around.

This place... this was the hellhole where the old Caelus constantly got bullied by his fellow adopted cousins and his adopted brother Marco when they were young.

They would bully him, make fun of him, and punch him whenever they felt like it, using him as a punching bag. The old Caelus took it all in silently. But the fact that he remembered these memories so clearly meant that the old Caelus was deeply humiliated by them. The lingering anger of the old Caelus was what forced these memories to the surface.

The heavy doors to the estate slowly opened up, and out emerged the arrogant Ashborns.

"You ungrateful little brat." Mauve, seeing Caelus, couldn’t help but grind her teeth in pure anger. "You’ve really got some nerve showing up here."

Caelus looked at the woman. Mauve. He remembered her perfectly. Whenever they were at the dinner table, she would always give him scraps, the absolute least amount of food. She constantly looked down on him and insulted him at every chance she got, just so her two real kids could feel superior about themselves. And yet, she probably told herself she "fed him generously."

"Greetings, I am the Chairman of the Player’s Association branch in Fortis City." Chairman Welt said with a completely indifferent look on his face. "I don’t think I need to spell out why I am here today."

"I don’t understand why you are here, Chairman Welt, especially with this piece of trash in tow. We disowned him a long time ago." Lloyd eyed Caelus coldly and sneered with disgust.

"Lloyd Ashborn. You were once the greatest friend of Jude Kross. The two of you grew up together and survived the war between the Solaris and Ritewing Kingdoms side-by-side. When Caelus Kross’s parents died in that conflict saving your life, you signed a contract to care for their only son as if he were your own."

"However, you have completely breached that contract." Chairman Welt met Lloyd’s gaze with a freezing stare as he produced a thick stack of bank statements. "This is the solid proof. Effective immediately, you are under the custody of law enforcement and will be summoned before the High Court of the Solaris Kingdom."

"Chairman Welt, I don’t think you understand. These bank statements could be easily forged. In this day and age where talents run rampant, having a hacking talent is common. Forging fake evidence is child’s play." Lloyd said smoothly, denying everything without a second thought. "I am not going to budge from here until the members of the Black Lightning Guild arrive."

"We have never taken any benefits from that kid." Lloyd shamelessly added.

’Where is the Black Lightning Guild? Come quickly!’ Lloyd shouted in his mind in pure panic and desperation.

Caelus observed the man with a small, mocking smile on his face.

It was quite honestly funny. The man looked calm on the outside, but Caelus knew he was anything but calm. His fidgeting hands that were tightly clasped behind his back were the absolute proof of his fear.

"Are you calling the law enforcement and the Player’s Association incompetent?" Chairman Welt’s voice grew dangerously low. "We have more than enough high-grade equipment to see if something is forged or not. What does a greedy family like yours know about our methods?"

"Officer, please." Chairman Welt turned to the officer, who nodded with a cold look as he approached Lloyd with cuffs in hand.

"Stop right there." Rowan and Caspian Ashborn, Lloyd’s brothers, suddenly stepped forward and blocked the officer’s path. "You guys cannot take our brother. Do you know where our sons work? They are part of the Royal Guards of the Solaris Kingdom! What makes you think you can just march in here and do whatever you want?"

"I’ve already informed our sons about this situation. They will be here soon!" Rowan threatened, puffing out his chest with arrogance.

"But, if you guys plan on using force, then we will have no choice to use it as well." They both unleashed their auras, ready for a fight.

Caelus chuckled seeing this.

These people, they didn’t know how powerful Chairman Welt was.

Rowan and Caspian shot towards Chairman Welt with their muscles bulging.

"Stop now, or you all will be taken into custody as well!" The law enforcement officer shouted.

"Our sons work for the royal guards, do you think we care?" They shot towards Chairman Welt who stood there with a calm expression.

On the side, Lloyd was staring daggers at Caelus. "It’s you! It’s all your fault, Caelus! Because of you, our Ashborn family’s reputation will be ruined!"

"You ungrateful bastard!" Mauve also equally looked at Caelus in anger. "Is this how you treat us after we let you live?"

"Let me live?" Caelus sneered. "You guys were killing me rather than letting me live. I know all about the assassination attempt you tried to pull on me, but ever since I came in contact with Chairman Welt, you both didn’t dare to send them my way."

"Trashes like you shouldn’t exist in this world." Lloyd Ashborn said with a cold look on his face.

He looked around. His brothers were busy fighting Chairman Welt. This was the perfect chance to deal with this brat! Since it had come to this, he wouldn’t be able to rest easy in prison anyway.

Boom!

He unleashed his powers. He was a Bronze I with a combat score of 50. He was weaker than his older brothers, Rowan and Caspian, who were both Silver I. The only reason he was the patriarch is because he was the most exceptional one at managing the family matters of the family and their father had a particular liking to him.

Then, he shot towards Caelus with immense speed. He refused to believe that he couldn’t take this brat down.

However, seeing this, Caelus simply smiled coldly.

"Young friend, watch out!" Chairman Welt, who was dealing with the two brothers, froze seeing Lloyd attacking Caelus. He couldn’t believe this was happening right now. How grey was the Ashborn’s heart?

Mauve looked at the scene coldly. The Ashborn brothers looked at the scene with mockery, letting Lloyd rush in with killing intent.

However, what everyone expected would happen, didn’t happen.

Boom!

A terrifying might erupted from Caelus as his fighting spirit’s claw manifested and merged into his body.

[Trait activated: Holy Ignition!]

[Combat Score: 47.34 -> 52.34]

Boom!

Caelus’s appearance transformed as his eyes flashed red. It was like time slowed down. His perception increased to a terrifying degree as Lloyd Ashborn stood frozen in place.

Boom!

The following instant, a fist locked onto Lloyd Ashborn’s face, plunging him straight into the floor down below.

[Talent: First Generation Spark Ignition!]

An explosion erupted from Caelus’s hand as it crushed into Lloyd’s face.

"W-What?" Mauve’s eyes widened in disbelief seeing the scene.

Chairman Welt froze, and so did the Ashborn brothers and the officer.

"Impossible. Brother has a combat score of 50 at Bronze I, how can this brat defeat him..."

Rowan and Caspian turned their attention away from Welt in pure shock. However, before Rowan could even finish his sentence or move to help, a punch tore through the air and crushed into Rowan’s and Caspian’s faces. Chairman Welt was simply too fast.

Boom!

Their bodies crashed hard into the estate walls.

"You bastard! Let go of my husband!" Mauve cursed angrily as she unleashed her Iron III aura. She refused to believe that Caelus would dare hurt her!

However...

Boom!

Caelus casually waved his hand and Mauve stopped dead in her tracks as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

"I just want to make some clarifications." Caelus said calmly. "I’m not the old Caelus."

Boom!

His leg casually crushed down onto Lloyd’s severely injured head.

"But as the saying goes, an eye for an eye. I once spat out blood like this because Marco bullied me, and what did you do? You kicked me out of the mansion because I dirtied the estate." Caelus sneered. "Now look at you, coughing up blood in a public place. Should I kick you out of the kingdom?"

Mauve trembled uncontrollably when she heard this.

However, just then, a cold, arrogant voice rang through the air.

"YOU DARE HURT MY PARENTS CAELUS?!"

Before Chairman Welt could even react to protect Caelus, a heavy, invisible pressure from the sky pinned the Chairman in place for a split second. It was a dirty trick!

Taking advantage of that exact moment, a figure bypassed everyone.

Boom!

A fist connected heavily to Caelus’s body, shooting him straight into the estate.

Boom!

The estate directly fell apart from the impact as a powerful presence descended onto the ruined grounds.

[Ding!]

[Your HP has reached zero.]

[You are dying.]

An exaggerating amount of pain erupted from Caelus as his HP directly hit zero.

"Young friend!" Chairman Welt, breaking free from the momentary suppression, wore a completely enraged expression. He looked at the source of the punch. It was Marco Ashborn with Lena.

"Mother." Lena had her usual cold and emotionless look as she rushed towards Mauve, not even sparing a single glance at Caelus’s dying body.

"M-My daughter, my son." Mauve heaved a sigh of relief. Then, with a vicious, angered look, she turned and pointed at Caelus’s unmoving body. "He punched your father! He is a bastard! Kill him for me!"

"Don’t worry mother, he’s already dead." Marco said with a smug sneer. He had seen Caelus’s HP hitting zero. Now he won’t wake up.

"You dare harm my benefactor in my presence?!" Just then, a booming power came towards Marco.

"???" Marco immediately became pale sensing this power.

Gold!

This was the power of Gold-Rank!

’I’m going to die!’ Marco’s danger senses screamed to him as he saw a gigantic golden fist manifesting in the air, crushing down towards Marco and the others.

However, before it could reach them, a golden shield appeared.

"Calm down, Chairman Welt."

Boom! Crack!

The fist cracked fiercely the following moment, and two figures became visible in the sky.

It was the High Constable of the royal family of the Solaris Kingdom and the Guild Master of the Black Lightning Guild. High Constable Theodore and Guild Master Victor.

"Calm your anger. The player isn’t dead." High Constable Theodore calmly pointed at Caelus’s body, which was riddled with injuries. He had 5 HP left. His golden light state had forced his HP back to 5, but due to the severe injuries, it was going down rapidly.

Seeing this, Chairman Welt shot forward and swiftly fed Caelus a healing potion.

"Tch." Marco clicked his tongue in annoyance seeing this.

Then, the High Constable spoke again. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"There was no need for such commotion here." High Constable Theodore said indifferently. "You, cuff Lloyd Ashborn and take him into custody..."

However, he paused midway when he saw the miserable state Lloyd was in. "Feed him a healing potion first."

"As for them." High Constable Theodore casually eyed Rowan and Caspian. "They were just protecting their brother. It’s not something to take them in for."

"But they tried to hurt me. Are you saying that is fine, High Constable?" Chairman Welt spoke coldly as he heard the High Constable’s clearly biased words.

"It was just an act of self defense. Don’t I know you, Chairman Welt? You always make trouble whenever you are around." The High Constable said with a small snort, completely twisting the truth.

Chairman Welt fell silent hearing this.

Of course the High Constable was going to protect Rowan and Caspian. Their sons were part of the royal guards. If the matters that happened today got out, it would ruin the royal palace’s reputation.

"Alright. The rule breaker Lloyd Ashborn has been captured and will be taken into the court for his trial soon. Let the royal court handle it from here." High Constable Theodore said as he exchanged a look with the Guild Master, Marco, and Lena, who nodded back at him without any worry.

Chairman Welt, seeing this, understood perfectly.

’The Black Lightning Guild, they used the High Constable, huh?’ He looked at Lloyd who was unconscious and in cuffs. This man, he wasn’t going to get punished for his actions at all, was he?