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Sol put away the [Remnant Light of Tiga] card without using it immediately.
Tiga stood over fifty meters tall, its form immense.
If he were to unleash that inside the Astral Express, Himeko would probably have to overhaul the entire train from scratch.
He turned his attention to the remaining random gold cards and selected a few useful ones.
[Spatial Mastery Lv..5 (A Certain Magical Index):Achieves various spatial operations through computation, including but not limited to cutting, teleportation, storage, displacement, and dimensional opening.]
Its overall power wasn't high; even its teleportation range was far inferior to how fast Sol could simply run.
But since it involved space, it could serve as a seed.
Among the spatial-related magic he had acquired before—Runes and Norse script—there was no shortage of spatial understanding and application.
With research, he could elevate it to Lv..6 within a short period.
[Fifth Generation Divine Body Model Data - Sacred Body (The Outcast):The pinnacle achievement of the Angel Civilization from the Super God Universe. Every atom of the body is transformed into a Sacred Atom, each storing immense energy and recording every detail of the body's data. As long as even one Sacred Atom remains, revival is possible through equivalent energy conversion.]
This was a knowledge-type gold card; after fully understanding it, he could consider reconstructing his physical structure.
Sol already possessed a demigod body with a perpetual energy source. But though powerful, the structure was extremely simple, with much untapped potential.
He didn't need to remake his body; simply editing his existing particles would suffice. Reconstructing into a Sacred Body was a great choice.
In the Super God Universe, even when Kaiser was blown into atoms scattered across the cosmos, she still had the chance to return. She merely recovered slowly due to relying solely on absorbing cosmic energy.
In terms of durability, she was far inferior to Sol, but the resurrection capability was worth learning.
After using the handful of useful gold cards, he tossed the less useful ones into the system's storage to gather dust.
Sol then opened the selectable gold cards—thirteen in total, with 130 options accumulated.
After careful consideration, he selected the best thirteen.
His first choice: [Golden Rule].
A destiny eternally entangled with wealth—one will never be troubled by money. Walking down the street could lead to picking up a jackpot-winning ticket. It represents not only financial luck but extraordinary fortune in general.
[Golden Rule] involved fortune but was not limited to wealth.
For example, it could grant luck so high one might pick up a miraculous artifact—selling it alone could fund several lifetimes.
But whether to use it personally or sell it would be entirely his own decision.
His second choice: [Sin of Sodom – Authority (Bible)].
All those who blaspheme against God or bear great sin shall face divine judgment—scorched by heavenly fire and molten earth, while those who gaze upon divine wrath are turned to pillars of salt.
Sol was no longer ignorant after drawing so many cards; he understood the origin of this Authority.
In the Book of Genesis, Sodom was once an ordinary city, infamous for its indulgence and sin. Yahweh dispatched two angels to destroy the city. Because some people were innocent, the angels saved those few.
Heavenly fire and molten earth consumed Sodom. The saved were warned to flee without turning back.
One person disobeyed, looked back toward the city, and instantly became a salt statue.
According to the Bible, this destruction was executed by Archangel Michael.
The Sin of Sodom was precisely Michael's Authority.
Once released, heavenly fire descends, molten earth surges upward, and everything is obliterated in an instant.
Its secondary effect was a highest-tier Mystic Eyes—anything gazed upon could be turned into a salt.
It resembled the God of Salt of Teyvat, but its essence was entirely different.
Michael was an Archangel of the Bible, standing at God's right hand, possessing many world-ending methods.
His power originated from Heaven itself.
An Authority inherited from Him naturally wielded terrifying destructive power—and deeper mysteries worth studying.
The third selectable card: [Inferno].
A skill of Ultraman Noa—focusing energy into the left arm to unleash a trillion-degree superheated destructive beam.
The fourth selectable card: [Overview of Primal Magnetic Lightning Attraction].
A classic from a cultivation world, explaining the interconnectedness of primordial magnetism, lightning, and heaven and earth.
The fifth selectable card: [Portable Cave Heaven].
A cave-heaven treasure containing its own sun, moon, and miniature world.
The sixth: [Ryūjin Jakka · Zanpakutō].
The seventh: [EVA · Unit-01].
The ninth: [Kamen Rider Kuuga Belt].
Finally, the thirteenth: [Temporal Convergence · Year].
Allows time to converge in yearly units; once per year, one may merge with a temporal shadow of oneself without side effects.
Simply put, each year, one merges with the version of oneself from a year prior.
If one year ago he was tier seven, and now he was tier nine, the convergence would result in seven plus nine.
It seemed minimal—almost negligible.
But if one year ago he was already tier nine, and despite growing through the year remained tier nine, then when convergence occurred, he would gain an extra tier-nine's worth of power from nothing.
Two years later, it would be 2 + 2, quadruple the original.
Three years later, 4 + 4, eight times the original.
Without considering any other growth—only the gains from [Temporal Convergence]—the nth year would yield a doubling by powers of two.
Of course, this only stacked the raw numbers; knowledge and comprehension still had to be learned manually.
He couldn't expect his past self to know more than his present self—that was common sense.
Sol activated the gold card without hesitation.
It dissolved into a silver radiance, slowly merging into his body.
At the boundary between the real and unreal, a silver mark formed.
At once, he seemed to witness his past self from one year ago—an exhausted intern at a company.
The figure flickered and merged with him.
Sol clenched his fist; the power increase was negligible—virtually imperceptible.
The silver mark fell silent, waiting for the next activation a year later.
Sol wasn't surprised and felt no disappointment.
He had once obtained a gold card called [Photosynthesis], granting power simply by basking in sunlight—within a century, its life level could reach planetary scale, with its upper limit being something like the Sun.
Later, he acquired the [Type-III Perpetual Motion Engine - Stellar Particle], whose infinite energy rapidly catalyzed [Photosynthesis].
Within just two months, his life level surpassed planetary scale, and so did his strength.
One year ago, he had been a mortal who struggled to carry a 50-kilogram rice sack.
The gap was too vast; the convergence was naturally imperceptible.
But one year from now, when this ability activated again, the gain would be immense.
So even without cultivation, I become at least twice as strong every year… is this the power of time?
Sol's thoughts stretched, and he couldn't help but feel shaken.
Extending time to infinity, the power gained would be infinite.
If an Aeon had received this ability ten thousand years ago, THEY would now wield nearly four hundred million times their original strength.
Equivalent to millions of new Aeons spontaneously appearing—an unthinkable outcome.
And this was only time convergence in yearly units.
If it were monthly, daily, by the second…
Down to each infinitely divisible moment…
Converging infinite moments would produce an infinitely powerful being.
Stack that across 3600 seconds per hour—an infinite of infinities.
Just by merging with oneself, one could open a path straight to the heavens.
It resembled the second tier of the ninth rank—Past and Future Converged—where even IF-branches of oneself existed as a single entity.
Even an Aeon of the [Tier IX: Trinity] would seem insignificant before such an existence.
Standing on the shoulders of giants, Sol gained a clearer vision of his path.
Electromagnetism, Light, and Thermodynamics—these three fundamental directions, along with the other cosmic foundational principles gained through draws—would all become stepping stones toward the state of [Tier IX: Trinity].
And through the principle of infinite energy, he would touch upon infinite time, stepping toward the infinitude of the second level.
High-tier abilities from other systems—like Michael's Authority—would serve only as catalysts, supplementary nutrients rather than the main path.
Even Aeons often lacked higher-level guidance and could only fumble through the dark.
But Sol was different. He had received hints from countless higher systems: the [Bible's Authority], [Norse Runes], [Emperor Armor Construction Principles], [Remnant Light of Tiga], the [Type-III Perpetual Motion Engine]…
Any one of these paths could lead to ascension beyond the ninth rank.
But with his current strength, he could not walk two roads at once.
[FGO Gacha System 1.0, at your service!]
[Host: Sol Mercer]
[Age: 22]
[Tier:VIII—Demigod Stage (from this point onward, every step crosses the abyss between human and god)]
[Personal Inventory:Remnant Light of Tiga, Kuuga Belt, Emperor Armor, Ryūjin Jakka, Transcendence Sword, Judgement of Shamash, Teyvat Fried Egg ×14…]
[Essence: Temporal Convergence (Year), Demigod Soul Lv.8, Demigod Body Lv.8, Electromagnetic Mastery Lv.8, Thermodynamic Mastery Lv.7, Dominion Over All Laws Lv.7, Wisdom of the Stars Lv.7, Life Link Lv.7, Type-III Perpetual Motion Engine (Stellar Particle), Spatial Mastery Lv.5, Sin of Sodom · Authority, Golden Rule…]
[Knowledge-Type Skills:Ultraman Noa's Inferno, Overview of Primal Magnetic Lightning Attraction, Unlimited Blade Works, Reality Marble, Emperor Armor Construction Principles, Lightning-Shadow Hand, Unshakable Vajra Body, Runic Script, Runes of the Æsir…]
[Conceptual Blessings:Four Conceptual Fragments of Yàn Shuāngyīng]
[Total Dennies:Ð6,777,420.69]
After glancing at his now even more extravagant status panel, Sol closed his eyes, letting his thoughts sink into stillness.
Rather than sleep, it was more like meditation.
All in all, his luck in this world wasn't bad.