"Kek! Hahahahaha!" Holding his stomach, Ray continued to laugh, while Nik seriously considered if Brian had been lucky or not. Meanwhile, the blue-haired brian coughed softly, his chin resting on his palm while he gazed at the two with a bleak expression. "You know what," he may look a little annoyed, but his tone finally gained the calm that Nik and Ray enjoyed, "just lay your thoughts out... it would be better that way." Still holding his stomach, Ray had a tough time speaking as Nik coughed.

"Basically... your blood parents are Adam and Eve of your planet... and, ehm, everyone shares their blood. So, basically, it is an incest planet."

"Basically," Brian nodded, a little amused by the description, "Well, after breeding his 198th generation, my father stopped and went to reclusion with mother... then, as the 615th generation came, the two— my mother and father— decided to fuse their essence one last time and rest for good. Me."

"So..." Nik whistled, "Shouldn't you be, eh... a prince of sorts? I mean—"

"Why am I not coddled by two amazingly strong parents and scurrying at the lowest levels of the Paradise?" with Brian's tone turning a little annoyed, he pointed at himself, "They literally 'fused' their essence, in hope of uniting forever and creating the most amazing talent... instead, the 'product', me, don't have an amazing talent. A little luck is all I have..." His words finally pulled a frown from the duo as he continued, "Tragedy exists everywhere, in every form. My birth began my tragedy, not for long, though. I got into a sect, grew lucky to participate in the most prestigious operation of the sect, and used my position as the leverage to finally gain the items worth losing all."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ray hurriedly cut in, still reeling from the shock, "You mean, you 'were' a Rank 9 before?"

"Two rank 9, to be precise," Brian shrugged, "Anyway, my background... ehm, me being the ancestor of everyone on that planet, gave me great leverage. People there tend to... favor me unconditionally, but this only applied to lower leveled beings. Honestly, I cannot care about being a prince or not. What I do know is to invest... and, I would like to propose something to the both of you."

Furrowing his brows, Nik's presence grew as he leaned forward. His action made Ray and Brian look at him strangely. "You know..." he whispered, his gaze falling on Brian, "we both can never be together, right? I mean, I know I am hot, and all... but—"

Dodging Brian's headbutt, Nik slumped back with a chuckle as Ray snickered, making Brian groan in annoyance, "Just listen, will you... this is important. Take a look at this..."

Taking out a dark violet sphere from his inventory, its surface marred with runes and patterns while the shape of sphere always gaining and deforming as if alive, Brian pulled the description of the item and showed it to the duo.

[Transmigration Heart: Unique

Use: After a successful installation, the user can create a phantom avatar in a different existence and can transmigrate into that existence through the phantom. The transmigration heart is already installed with the basic system legacy and is far more adaptable to various legacies than other items of the same function. Users can return to their existence in a manner similar to regular transmigration or, can assimilate with the phantom and live in a different world.]

"This," waving the sphere before storing it, Brian whispered, "is a choice right here... yes, before I explain everything to you, I understand that I have no obligation to provide you with this choice, but... I'd rather take the chance of getting backstabbed instead of..." not completing his words, Brian smiled wryly. For a moment, Nik and Ray felt speechless. Not out of annoyance, not out of anger... but genuine amazement. Seeing that the duo had nothing to add, for the moment, Brian continued.

"I don't have the memories of my... 'parents' but all I know is that each living being... flora or fauna, has nine locks in their bodies. The transmigration paradise is not the one who establishes such locks on us... we also are just born that way. Instead, for completing Transmigration Paradise's missions and raising our experience, the paradise itself helps us lift up the shackles by rank-up quest. That's why so many beings salivate at the chance of joining any form of paradise." Till now, the explanation didn't require much effort as Brian only had to reveal certain facts, "And, the paradise is very much alive. It is always in contact with us, even if we don't know about it and I... made a deal with Paradise."

Recalling his own forceful trade with the Paradise, Nik sighed deeply, thinking that Brian might have had experienced things similar to him only to hear him say astonishing facts, "I won't delve into details. I traded an item similar to this heart and... well, the paradise has agreed to a few things. First, once you absorb the heart, from then on, effectively, you are free from the constraints of Paradise."

"..."

Waiting for dramatic 'oohhh' and 'waahhh', Brian waited for the duo only to find them waiting for the details. "Ehm," a little embarrassed and feeling warmth in his cheeks, the Temporal Fiend continued, "You may think, if the Paradise helps us elevate the locks and shackles, why leave it? One, the moment we die in the mission, we are dead. Two, our loveable ancestors can keep track of us using the Paradise. But... if we continue to gain strength using the Transmigration Heart, both of these troubles can go to hell, and we can still continue to break away the locks... do you want me to go into detail—"

"*Cough*..." interjecting, Ray smiled wryly, "We should really order the drinks... I don't think that this conversation would be completed soon enough."

---

"So... let me list out the pro and cons of moving out of the Transmigration Paradise...

Hmm, Pros first then.

One, if we transmigrate using the phantoms of the Transmigration Heart... the moment we die, we can return to our homeworld. So basically, we can do anything without thinking of consequences... almost. Two, should we need to change the homeworld, we can simply fuse with the empty phantom, and become a regular of the different world. Three, the time difference ratio of travels remains constant as Transmigration Paradise, so, after a week-long journey in respect to our homeworld, the Transmigration Heart would need to recharge for a month before starting again..."

Focusing on the demerits instead, Ray whispered out, "Then let me state the Cons...

One, instead of easily filling our world root by killing, we would need to complete nine 'karmas' respectively to unlock a single shackle. Two, we won't be able to access the collection of hosts and their items that can be found in the Transmigration Paradise. Three... well, we cannot use our main bodies and need to climb the ladder using our phantoms covering the Transmigration Heart instead. So, that basically puts as at the lowest level unlike when we travel various existence using Transmigration Paradise."

Nodding at both of their words, Brian continued calmly, "There are many ways to travel different existence, or records, or worlds, or whatever you wish to call them. Transmigration Paradise bypasses the will of that particular world and smuggles you in, meanwhile, the Transmigration Heart would actually create a phantom existence and then, warp itself there, bringing you alongside. As you both stated, it has its pros and cons, but... if you decide to join me... we can connect our Transmigration Hearts, making so that we travel into a particular existence together."

"You mean..." Nik whispered, his eyes glowing a little with gratitude.

"Yes. Even if we are not a part of Transmigration Paradise later on... I would like for us to keep our... partnership, no, I am comfortable enough to call both of you my acquaintance—"

"We are friends, we get it. No need to be shy about it, geez~!" Ray sipped on his wine with a smug smile. Seeing Brian writhe in embarrassment served as an amusing factor to the two.

"Wait, I don't get one thing... sure, we can use our phantom bodies to reach the peak of the particular record and use their methods to reach the peak... how would it benefit our real body?"

"Karma, remember? Phantom is simply a name given to a blank existence that would be a vessel to us. To properly make fool of that particular world's will," Brian groaned, "the Phantom will actually have its own life. For example, if I wish to transmigrate, I would send a phantom, set an age in which I would want to jump. Now, if I chose age... um, if I decide to transmigrate when my phantom is 19 years old, it means that my phantom has lived independently for 19 years, and has already formed his own thoughts and ambition. And 'that' is Karma. If I am able to fulfill the desires of my phantom, then, I'll be able to absorb all of the energy compressed into the purest form into my main body and that is the way for us to get stronger. This kind of strengthening is also called the 'Heavenly Devil's' way."

"Aside from that name... I think I can accept everything," Nik nodded.

"How about... Possession Advancement?" Ray chimed, pulling an approving nod from Nik as Brian's brows twitched, "Guys? Did you maybe lose your reasoning and simply cannot get serious anymore? The Heavenly Devil's method is actually—"

"Possession Advancement system..." Ray interjected with a poker face.

"Anyway," Nik grinned, "Friend," his words instantly making Brian avert his eyes, "the fact that I don't have to fear death while traveling is the greatest boon..." 

"But, if you can, I would like you to postpone the absorption of the Transmigration Hearts for two reasons— First, you probably need to pass the Rank up quest and that would essentially save you nine travels. Second... we should probably attend the auction before leaving the Paradise for good..." Hearing his words, the two nodded in understanding. The auction set by two rank 9 members... was something that they didn't wish to miss and while Brian had already completed the requirement of being Rank 2, the two Lustful comrades of the Temporal Fiend had yet to complete the requirements.

Storing their Transmigration Hearts respectively, the two continued to chat casually. Quoting Naruto and others as Nik finally looked at his Rank-Up Mission.

---

[Rank-Up Quest

Paradise War

Description: You can opt to join the paradise wars any moment you wish. The series of tasks to be promoted shall be relayed once you enter the Paradise Wars.

Join?]

"Hmm," looking at Ray, who was already gazing at him, Nik shrugged, "I still have my [Scroll of Pardon], so, I'd rather join in and save my stats and skill points, until ranking up. And... yeah, what do you say? I don't want to enter this place again... so, I want to join the Paradise Wars now." With all the good impression of the system destroyed after the forced trade, Nik did note a priority to get away from the system for the good and now that he had a chance, he definitely wanted it.

"Anyway, now that we are on the topic of trusting each other," Nik smiled, "I want to confess something to... of course, no comments while I am directing my legendary tales!"