The bitter cold of the South Pole, a vast prison deserted of human presence.

Accompanying the connection of consciousness, Ree Shil slowly opened his eyes.

He was no longer the paralyzed young boy asleep in a liquid pod.

On the contrary, his physique was incredibly strong.

And it was a strength that surpassed natural limits.

Such that he could remain immobile for several years in this harsh environment without eating or drinking, yet still be unharmed.

All of this was thanks to the benefits brought by half datafication and data enhancement.

Of course, even so, he could still feel the cold.

It was very cold here.

Then, the space he occupied was extremely narrow.

So narrow that he could hardly move at all, only able to maintain one fixed position.

In his nearly completely enclosed solitary narrow prison cell, there was an observation port at eye level.

Through the observation port, Ree Shil could see the movements outside.

Outside his prison cell, there were two figures.

One was a horned young lady sitting crossed-legged on the ground, who seemed to turn into an ice sculpture with frost all over her.

She was his summoned card follower, the "Kung Fu Sheep God".

Though she looked like an ice sculpture, through his senses, Ree Shil could tell that she was always at her peak condition.

The other was a small golden snake, coiled around a nearby pillar like a long rope.

This was the non-combat form of the "Five Claws Golden Dragon", ready to return to its normal size whenever the situation called for it.

These two card followers were deliberately stationed as guards for the past years.

It was to prevent any disturbance in case of an emergency to his deep sleep.

However, through the feedback from the two followers, Ree Shil knew that no one had come here again.

The remaining puppets were sent out to patrol various places and eliminate those Phantom Monsters.

Since his puppet followers could also bring in experience points for the Controller by killing, his levels had soared even without leaving home over the years.

Leveling up the Controller would result in more spots for puppet followers.

In the later stages, it would be like the "Spirit Master" leading a small army, sweeping through everywhere invincibly.

Especially since, under his deliberate guidance, the Blue Star Guards were fully aware of the existence of the Right Heart Sect.

After many years of investigation and pursuit, all the Right Heart Sect personnel here had been eradicated.

Without the interference of the Right Heart Sect, those Phantom Monsters were like scattered sand.

No longer operating as uniformly as before, they acted chaotically, following their own instincts.

Plus, as the overall level of the card players among the Blue Star Guards gradually improved, the Phantom Monsters became easier to deal with.

Now, the harm they caused could be kept under control to a certain extent.

But as the void passages were progressively opened wider and wider, the incoming Phantom Monsters also grew stronger.

Therefore, under the continuous shuttle, their harm couldn’t be completely eradicated.

Many civilians in various places were still unable to live normal lives to this day.

And Ree Shil made a bet with the Flammable God that he could eradicate the source of the Phantom Monsters.

That is, to defeat their leader, the Holy Void Deputy. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Defeating the Holy Void Deputy would mean the Phantom Monsters would no longer invade.

Besides, the Flammable God would also reveal the origins of some secrets on Ree Shil’s body.

At that time, Ree Shil felt from the other party’s tone that these secrets seemed far from simple.

So he was quite interested.

"I feel like my panel is about ready now," he mused.

After looking at the data he had cultivated for seven or eight years, Ree Shil felt there were no problems.

Now, he had reached LV98.

"Flammable Senior, are you there?" he called out into thin air.

Humm...

"Are you ready?" the figure of the Flammable God appeared out of nowhere.

"I’d like to confirm one more thing; there won’t be any repercussions if I fail, right?" Ree Shil inquired.

"No.

If you fail, I will close the void passage immediately.

The Void Deputy won’t be able to reach here or make contact with any other Blue Star lifeforms besides you.

However, I can’t guarantee your personal safety; that depends on your own performance," the Flammable God stated truthfully.

"All right, I’d like to give it a try," Ree Shil said, confident about his own safety.

"Okay then, get ready to receive your guest."

"Good."

With his consent, an energy field burst forth from Ree Shil’s body.

Boom!

The sturdy solitary prison cell was directly shattered into pieces, scattering on the ground.

"Ho, you’re pretty well-equipped," the Flammable God remarked upon seeing Ree Shil’s attire, raising an eyebrow.

The huge hourglass necklace was exquisitely crafted.

The glass-textured longsword in his hand revealed patterns of the cosmos and stars.

The cloak he wore was as wide as a flag, rusted at the edges with a flame design and the pattern of a dragon soaring through the sky.

Apart from that, various peculiar accessories of all sizes were hanging all over him.

He suspected that with all this equipment on, he might even have trouble walking.

"Come on, I’m ready," Ree Shil declared, lifting the sword with one hand.

As he moved, the accessories all over his body jangled loudly.

"All right then," the Flammable God took one more look at him before retreating into the distance.

Once settled, the Flammable God made a slicing motion through the air.

Whir!

A powerful spatial vibration erupted and then quickly settled.

Afterward, Ree Shil saw a spatial rift appear in the sky about a hundred meters away.

The edges of the rift were twisted and contorted by the forces of the space, but the inside view was plainly visible.

It was an expanse of vast starry space, with strange floating stone islands drifting slowly.

The rift gradually widened, finally forming a vast circular portal.

The edge structures appeared to stabilize under the Flammable God’s divine power, ceasing to twist.

Instead, the scenes within the portal began to move rapidly.