Loren’s act of vengeance this time had affected almost everyone in Clear Mine City.

Unlike the reactions of other innocent people in the city, those who had received a Revolver from Loren suddenly felt an indescribable sensation stirring in their hearts.

A feeling beyond words.

Excitement mingled with complexity, anticipation intertwined with urgency—these strange emotions flowed through their minds.

The enormous upheaval made them suddenly eager to see just how far Loren would eventually influence the Dusk Star Domain, the Federation, and even this entire world...

And they were the “witnesses” to it all.

This Star Realm hadn’t seen major changes in a long time; everywhere was suffused with lifeless stagnation.

On the grand stage called “the world,” it had been ages since someone like Loren had appeared.

The future might be better, or it might be worse, but at least it would no longer remain stagnant...

People had grown tired of hearing distant legends from on high. They yearned for a more dramatic epic.

A story of “an orphan from the slums, arrogant and dangerous, who ultimately becomes a major figure of great importance in the Star Realm.”

Such a major figure, in people’s hearts, would neither become distorted nor unreachable...

He would carry the deepest hidden yearnings of the people, walk to the center of the “stage,” and showcase the unique beauty of their class.

Even if that “beauty” symbolized danger and destruction, it didn’t matter.

After all, they had been ignored for far too long.

No one wants to be ignored.

Even though this group was vast—so vast that it made up nine-tenths of the Federation’s population...

That was precisely where the Federation’s most terrifying problem lay:

“The largest group is often habitually overlooked.”

And that was the real reason Loren, despite becoming a dangerous criminal with a sky-high bounty, still enjoyed immense popularity among the Federation populace.

This Star Realm had always divided people into different classes and ranks.

Loren should have been at the very bottom, even inferior to the vast majority of ordinary people.

Yet he had stepped onto this stage called the “Star Realm” and become one of its most dazzling “new stars.”

This fulfilled the deep-seated yearnings of almost all Federation citizens.

They needed a “representative” who could speak for them, even if Loren didn’t actually say a word. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Just having him exist was enough!

In the hearts of most Security Bureau old-school factions and the lower-class Federation populace, someone like Loren was naturally suited to become a Federation Councilor.

His emergence deeply represented that the Federation’s “foundation” hadn’t fallen behind.

“All men are equal; in a free environment, every human can achieve dreams once thought unreachable.”

“Civilization lies at humanity’s feet.”

“The power of freedom is sacred and inviolable!”

Though it was admittedly ironic that such a spiritual totem now resided in a criminal guilty of every evil under the sun, unfortunately, among the Federation’s upper echelons, this spiritual totem was gradually fading away...

And that was the deeper reason why the Security Bureau’s old-school faction and the lower-class Federation populace kept clamoring for a special pardon to be granted to Loren.

“The Federation may fall, but its spirit must not.”

In these few short months.

Driven by the immense power of “Fortune,” amidst the praise of countless Federation citizens who upheld the “spirit of freedom,” under the dark hands of some ambitious individuals eager to overthrow the Federation, and with assists from the Nature Sect and the Interstellar Hunter Association, he had become a spiritual symbol in the hearts of countless people.

A symbol of freedom and power, and those unreachable dreams.

A symbol of the populace’s hidden desires.

A symbol of people’s discontent and resistance.

If Federation Councilors were elected by popular vote, Loren would already be one...

...

This was no coincidence; it was an alternative form of “Fortune.”

The times and the crisis had forged this “Legend”...

It was a miracle born from the collision of countless contradictions.

After all, beings capable of fulfilling the desires of so many hearts were rare.

It was the unique choice of the Star Realm...

As they said in the Eastern Star Domain, this was “born in response to the times.”

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Federal Calendar 7709, January 2nd, noon.

After bidding farewell to Boss William, Loren withdrew his gaze from the grocery store.

He hovered silently in the sky, looking down, his expression unreadable...

“Master, you seem to have suddenly lost interest.”

The tense Raven kept constant watch over Loren’s mental state.

Loren nodded calmly. “The game is over.”

There were still many people waiting for him...

Let this boring game end here.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers again.

“Click.”

With the sound of that snap, the manipulated people in Clear Mine City stopped their awkward, uncanny dance.

The people gathered on the streets, with terror in their eyes, rushed into the shops and residences lining the streets and brought out many flammable items.

Wooden tables, cloth curtains woven by industrial machines, gasoline and other combustible energy sources...

With terror in their eyes, the people piled these flammable items in the middle of the streets!

In each other’s despairing gazes, they lit them!!

Wherever the streets stretched, so too did the flammable items spread...

Blazing flames roared to life!

The fiery heat illuminated every person who couldn’t move!!

Every street in Clear Mine City was engulfed in flames!

When the fires reached their highest temperatures, the people walked toward the flames in orderly silence!

Throughout this process, not a single sound escaped—not even a muffled grunt!

Someone still liked silence.

The uncanny atmosphere, set against the backdrop of the raging fire, unexpectedly took on a touch of sanctity...

Those standing in the flames quickly raised both hands to their heads!

And twisted hard!

A “crack” rang out!

The breath of life faded away...

They calmly ended their own lives.

The clothes on the corpses began to catch fire, their skin began to melt...

The flames surrounded them.

Until everything gradually turned to ash...

The entire Clear Mine City fell silent.

The population still alive on this planet was now less than a tenth of what it had been.

Personnel from the Energy Department and all the Resistance members could be considered temporary outsiders.

The still-living people in the city hid behind the curtains of their own homes, bearing witness to this utterly bizarre and absurd scene.

They couldn’t even stand upright anymore.

A tremendous terror, mixed with deep-seated fear, flooded their minds.

It made their legs weak.

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