The end of the world is approaching, I'm handing myself over to the country.

"authority?"

Zhou Jian finally spoke, with a hint of doubt in his voice.

This was a word he had never heard before.

"You can think of it as a concrete manifestation of the rules of the world."

"It's about mastering the rules, not just using energy," Lin Mo explained in the simplest terms.

"At the end of the flame lies the authority to wield the concept of 'burning'."

"At the end of lightning lies the power to wield 'annihilation' and 'rebirth'."

"And you," Lin Mo's gaze fell on Zhou Jian's hand again, "what you obtained, though only a tiny sliver, is indeed the power of 'death'."

Zhou Jian was completely stunned.

He looked down at his right hand, at the thin, grayish-white strand of hair that resembled a strand of hair.

The power of death?

He just went into the Rune Tower, how did he get involved with something that sounds incredibly powerful?

"Gaining authority means you have a ticket to be promoted to S-rank."

"Once the time is right, you will be able to smoothly enter that realm."

Zhou Jian didn't know whether he should be happy, or happy, or happy.

There was so much good news that he didn't know where to begin being happy.

Moreover, judging from Lin Mo's somewhat envious expression, this authority must be a valuable thing.

Just then, the sparrow that had been perched on Lin Mo's shoulder, as quiet as a specimen, suddenly moved.

He flapped his wings, took flight, and circled once in front of Zhou Jian.

His gaze swept back and forth over Zhou Jian, finally settling precisely on Zhou Jian's left middle finger.

There, he wore a bone ring.

However, at this moment, the bone ring was covered with fine cracks, as if it would shatter completely at the slightest touch.

The sparrow slowly landed and stopped on the back of Zhou Jian's hand.

The sparrow moved very lightly, but Zhou Jian still subconsciously tensed his muscles.

The sparrow ignored his reaction, simply extending its beak and gently pecking at the shattered bone ring.

Your authority over death should be related to it.

Perhaps Zhou Jian had always been wearing this bone ring.

When the bone ring was intact, all the aura was perfectly sealed inside, and even the sparrow did not notice anything unusual.

But now, it's broken.

The faint, almost imperceptible, power of death emanating from those cracks was like a searchlight in the dark to the sparrow; it was impossible not to notice it.

Zhou Jian lowered his head, looking at the bone ring on his finger that was about to shatter.

Sparrow's words made Zhou Jian's body stiffen like a stone.

He had heard some of what happened last night.

Zhang Heng... no, it was Ainz Ooal Gown who came.

They even seemed to have attacked Lin Mo.

He didn't understand why Ainz Ooal Gown would do this, since he was clearly a very easy person to get along with...

It simply doesn't make sense that his initial purpose in approaching Lin Mo was to get close to him.

This ring is the best evidence.

If it's just for personal use, there's no need to give yourself something so expensive...

Lin Mo understood what was going on when he saw his expression.

"This ring, is it the one Ainz Ooal Gown gave you?"

Lin Mo's voice broke the silence in the store.

Zhou Jian slowly raised his head and nodded.

His movements were somewhat slow, as if he had not yet fully recovered from the great shock.

"Yes."

He unconsciously stroked the ring, his fingertips clearly feeling the fine cracks.

"It was in perfect condition when it was first given to me."

He hadn't noticed until just now that it was on the verge of breaking.

It turns out that it wasn't the rune tower that gave him the power.

Rather, the ring shattered under some catalysis from the rune tower.

A trace of the origin overflowed from it, allowing him to touch the so-called "authority of death".

Lin Mo leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.

Ainz Ooal Gown.

It's that Ainz Ooal Gown again.

This guy is becoming more and more unpredictable.

It was truly kind of Zhou Jian; this kind of item, which contained the essence of authority, could be considered a divine artifact, yet it was given away so casually.

But the undisguised malice towards himself is very real.

The contrast between the two is outrageous.

Could it be that I cheated on him with my boyfriend before?

Lin Mo's thoughts drifted away.

Then, he chuckled self-deprecatingly and banished the absurd thought from his mind.

Thinking about these things is pointless.

Regardless of what Ainz Ooal Gown was really thinking, Zhou Jian obtaining the power of death was ultimately a great thing.

This means that, given enough time and resources, the Dragon Kingdom could produce another top-tier S-class expert in the future.

A powerful being capable of contending with an existence like Ainz Ooal Gown.

Lin Mo nodded, his gaze shifting from Zhou Jian to Sparrow: "If you have any further questions about authority, you can ask him."

"He knows far more about this than I do."

Zhou Jian shook his head: "No need, you've already explained it very clearly."

As for just how powerful the power of death really is, we can test that out later.

Comrade Lin Mo's time is very precious.

There's no need to waste Comrade Lin Mo's time on your own matters.

Done.

Zhou Jian didn't say much, gave Lin Mo a standard military salute, then turned around and strode away from the grocery store.

"Clang!"

The door was closed again.

Inside the shop, only Lin Mo and the sparrow on his shoulder remained.

The sparrow fluttered its wings and landed back on Lin Mo's shoulder, preening its somewhat disheveled feathers.

I thought this little safe zone had produced some kind of extraordinary genius.

[His acquisition of the power of death was an extremely rare exception.]

[Even entirely because of that ring.]

However, to leave a complete mark of the Death Authority on a small ring would probably take a significant portion of Ainz Ooal Gown's life, and he would then be in a weakened state for a considerable period afterward.

He was quite willing to give it up.

The sparrows chirped incessantly.

[I just can't understand why he would do that? Is it because he still has some conscience as a human being?]

Lin Mo smiled and said, "That's right, you can't figure it out."

sparrow:【? 】

Lin Mo: "Because I can't figure it out either."

sparrow:【......】

You understand the world of nonsense literature.

Lin Mo stood up, stretched, and his joints cracked and popped.

After all this fuss, it's time to go back and clean up the mess.

The thought of his laboratory, which had been bombed into ruins, and the pile of precious materials that were completely destroyed made Lin Mo's heart bleed.

He pushed open the door leading to the backyard and stepped inside.

A strong, burnt smell, mixed with the strange odors of various ingredients, hit me.

The entire laboratory was beyond just a mess.

That was a complete disaster.

The walls were blackened by soot, various precision instrument parts were scattered all over the floor, and black dust was floating in the air.

Lin Mo's face instantly darkened.

He spotted the culprit at a glance.

That damned scruffy bird was standing sheepishly on a high shelf in the distance, its rear end facing him.

Lin Mo's fist hardened.