Marlon understood exactly what the noise outside was.

"That bastard is alive in this round and planning a coup d'état like the second round," he muttered.

"But this time everything has changed." He grinned.

"I will use his greediness for power to complete my mission."

His mind was already set.

But before he walked outside to face what was awaiting him, he checked the apocalypse panel.

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 8,000,000,000

—Time remaining: 0 days, 11 hrs, 50 mins

"The time has been halved this time," he muttered, then clenched his fist tightly. "I can work with this."

KNOCK!

KNOCK!

Two hard knocks came at the door.

It seemed the soldiers outside were getting impatient.

So Marlon strolled toward the door and opened it. True to his predictions, there were soldiers outside.

The last time they were around ten of them, but this time more than twenty soldiers stood outside, awaiting him, forming a small crowd.

Yet another change in events.

He noted to himself.

But he was not fazed by it.

A middle-aged soldier who led the others stepped forward with a stern expression on his face and ordered coldly,

"Come with us, and we won't have any reason to hurt you."

"Hurt me?"

Marlon chuckled, causing the leader to frown slightly.

"I want to take down half of your men to vent my frustration. Only then will I accompany you peacefully."

Hearing his tone, the soldiers exchanged confused glances as they wondered how a kid who had never fought anyone in his entire life would be able to take down ten well-trained soldiers.

Some of them even spat out their opinions, but Marlon did not seem to care. Wearing an unfazed expression, he selected the ten soldiers he would deal with.

And then—

Without wasting time, he launched toward them, shocking the others.

The entire ordeal lasted for a little over three seconds.

"Ahhh!"

"My legs… I can't feel my legs!"

"Ahhh, I can't see!"

Ten soldiers lay on the ground crying in anguish, each going through a different kind of pain that caused their remaining colleagues to stare at them with mouths and eyes agape.

The leader observed his injured men and turned back to look at Marlon, who was now standing in the same spot he had been before his sudden launch.

He looked unfazed, his breathing was stable, and a confident glint shone in his eyes.

Unknowingly, he shivered as he stared into those eyes.

For a second, he felt like he was looking at another person entirely.

As for the soldiers, after the shock passed, a few of them brought out their guns and pointed them at Marlon, ready to fire.

Marlon simply glared at them with no sign of fear in his gaze.

"You demon! What did you do?!" one of them barked through clenched teeth, his body shivering as he tried to maintain his grasp on his pistol.

"We should take him down before he hurts another person," another said.

"Very well."

Marlon heaved a sigh. It seemed he had to take down more people than he expected, and so once more, he flashed from his location. Within a couple of seconds, he had unarmed each of them and knocked them out.

Leaving only their dumbfounded leader standing.

Pressing the head of an unconscious soldier to the ground with his foot, Marlon turned to the leader and said in an intimidating voice, "Since you're their leader, I can at least assume you're smart, so lead the way without causing trouble."

The middle-aged soldier, with years of experience under his rank, nodded attentively the moment Marlon's voice faded.

He transformed from a fearsome leader to an obedient servant in a matter of seconds.

Taking one last look at his men—both injured and unconscious—he gave Marlon a polite salute and led the way.

Marlon strolled casually behind him, ignoring the wailing of the wounded soldiers.

Fortunately, he had injured them enough that even if they wanted to, none of them could muster the strength to pick up their guns and attack him.

For one, he was satisfied.

"That does calm my nerves a little bit," he thought. "Now I need to plan the rest of my time to succeed in this trial."

===

Unlike the second round, Marlon was taken directly to the purple villa where his uncle and his men had already taken his father hostage.

Luckily, this time, they hadn't killed him yet.

It seemed like they were awaiting his arrival before moving on with their plans.

"Get inside!"

A young soldier pushed Marlon into the spacious hall, revealing the gathering inside.

There were dozens of armed soldiers, and on the ground were his father and mother cuffed to the massive pillar in the room.

Sitting arrogantly on a seat, crowded by his men, was Ronaldo, dressed in an overly decorated military uniform.

He wore a grin as he watched the soldier push his nephew into the hall.

"Son!"

His parents cried the moment he made his entrance.

Since he was bound with cuffs and tape covered his mouth, they assumed he was a hostage just like them.

Well, he actually was.

But it was part of his plan.

During the drive down here, he made the leader cuff him and tape his mouth to make it seem like he was a captive of his uncle.

When they arrived, the leader, who had practically shivered the entire way ordered one of the young soldiers outside the crowded villa to take him inside.

Unaware of everything, the young soldier acted as ordered.

"Move!" he urged Marlon, kicking him in the back to move faster.

Marlon obeyed.

The soldier led him to the pillar his parents were bound to and made him kneel.

His parents immediately moved closer, showing their care as they checked if he was okay.

Ronaldo watched everything with satisfaction, and after enjoying their cries for some time, he stood up and walked toward them.

"What a nice family reunion," he said, stepping closer with heavy steps.

"As the good brother that I am, I will give your family a chance to reunite in heaven." He grinned.

"But not now," he continued. "I need to make your deaths relevant to my rise to power."

"There are already thousands of people waiting outside the villa to witness the elimination of their weak president and the rise of a new leader—a stronger leader who will lead them to greatness."

"Ronaldo, why are you doing this?" Marlon's mother, Theresa, cried out.

"What did we ever do to deserve this treatment from you?" she asked, wailing.

"What did you do?" Ronaldo repeated sarcastically, frowning for a moment before his face brightened again. "Exist. Yes, your existence is your sin against me, and I hate sinners."

"I've always treated you as a brother should," Orlando snapped. "Your current position in the army wouldn't even be possible without my intervention, and yet you repay it with betrayal?"

"If you wanted the seat, you could've asked for it instead of doing all this," he barked.

But his words only seemed like a joke to Ronaldo as he burst into laughter.

"So what? If I met you and told you, 'Hey, I would like to be the president,' you would've just asked me to take it? Bullshit!"

"Anyway, I do not have enough time to waste on pointless talk. My people are waiting."

And with a simple hand signal, he ordered the soldiers to lead them outside.

Marlon was dragged away, but a confident smile tugged on his face.

Everything was going according to plan.

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