Eternal Thief

Thousands of miles away, Ace's avatar was comforting, sitting in front of Freya in her ship and chatting with her when, within its soul space, Ace appeared!

'How magical.' Ace couldn't help but wonder as he looked around his avatar's soul sea. 

After robbing that guy in the black domain, Ace used the soul body sweep ability of Divine Soul Substitute divine trait to summon his body into his avatar's soul space! 

It was even more convenient than teleportation. Now, even if he wanted to find Ace, it was nigh impossible. 

Ace couldn't help but scoffed, "It ought to teach that bastard a lesson. Furthermore, these memories are quite peculiar. Who could've thought such a force is hidden under the endless sea?" 

Ace grimaced when he refined the memories he had stolen from that mysterious man. From the start, he had used his soul probe on him, and despite his high cultivation, he couldn't detect it until it was too late. 

Right now, Ace's soul probe could easily steal a massive chunk of memories from a law comprehension realm, while a law awareness realm would lose half of its memories. 

Now, he knew that man's name was Freddy, and he was one of the three leaders of a hidden force underneath the endless sea called the Sea Kings Federation. He was also a sea king like Pen. Coincidentally, Pen was part of this federation and the Federation President. 

This force was always paying close attention to the ten continents for ages, and they never showed themselves. Freddy came out to look for Pen because he had been missing for years without any contact and just happened to bump into Noa. 

Although there were many more secrets, they were not his concern at this moment. Their base was far away, and he would ignore them if they didn't get in his way. 

Still, he knew Freddy was a petty person who didn't let go of even minor grievances, and he liked to collect women with unique scents, whether they liked it or not, and force them to bear his children. That guy has over a thousand children due to his luscious nature. 

However, now that Ace had stolen the entirety of the treasures that he had collected over thousands of years and literally castrated him by using his darkness authority, which might never be healed or grow back, he would go crazy and take revenge. 

But that was for Union Lord to deal with, and Ace didn't regret his action in the least bit. He already had more than five hundred million TP with this thievery and took revenge for Noa. This matter was as good as over. 

Ace looked at his avatar, and he knew keeping it hidden would only waste its potential, and now that it was finally going to world lock, it would be foolish to keep it on him. This would easily be his escape route. 

Right at this moment, Ace's real body appeared beside his Avatar, and Freya was shocked and thought it was an enemy attack.

"It's just me. No need to be alarmed." Ace chuckled, seeing Freya's appalled expression. 

She was gobsmacked when she heard Ace's voice. Looking at his avatar and then Ace with absolute uncertainty, she had no idea what was happening. 

'Find a place to cultivate the laws.' Ace ordered, which still felt strange. 

The avatar nodded before it vanished right before Freya's dumbfounded expression. 

"What was that?" Freya questioned. 

"What? Do you think only you have the capability to create an avatar?" Ace snickered, "Let's go, Noa is already in there." 

Freya was astounded; she didn't expect Ace to have an avatar ability. Furthermore, Ace's avatar seemed just like him, unlike her avatar, which can only be made by possessing others. This meant his abilities were superior. 

She couldn't help but comment while putting her hand on his, "Just how many secrets are you hiding?"

"Now, this is a personal question. Think of it as a thief's honor." Ace grinned before he sent her directly into the thief's house.

Ace then opened the fate map and started to follow the compass point towards the world lock. 

Meanwhile, in the thief's house, the three thieves were gathered in the main hall, as it had been years since they had been together. 

Freya had just arrived while Noa was sitting in front of grumpy Winter. She was as cold as ever and didn't talk about that embarrassing encounter, afraid to lose face as the first thief under Ace. 

Seeing Freya, a cold glint flashed past her eyes as she was still quite dissatisfied about being beaten to house rank. 

Freya regained her composure as if she wasn't shocked by Ace's new ability and happily said, "Long time no see you both." 

"Yeah, welcome to our funeral," Winter grumbled, while Noa merely nodded in acknowledgment. 

"What funeral? Do you want to jinx this up?" Ace's unhappy voice sounded. 

"We're already jinxed enough." Winter scoffed. 

"So, what's the plan?" Freya turned serious. 

Although she knew about Ace's capability more than her fellow members, she still couldn't help but feel fear whenever she thought about the house mission and the penalty upon failure. 

Ace thought momentarily before expressing, "A few years back, I was given a chain mission by the goddess when I entered the Union for the first time…" 

Ace revealed the details about the world lock while omitting the part about heaven's secret. He knew just how dangerous it was, so it was fair to tell them. 

The women become astonished the more they hear. They never thought there was such a secret about their world. Ace also told them about the ascension and Sea Kings Federation, which made Noa eyes shimmer with killing intent when she discovered Freddy's true identity. 

"…so that's the gist of it. While I was still working towards my second part of the chain mission, you guys became Veteran Members, and a house mission was given to upgrade the thief house to the next level. 

"But since my mission was top priority, this mission ended up assimilated in my mission, and now you guys have to complete the house mission. I can't give you simple missions, since they must be related to mine." Ace ended his explanation. 

After hearing all this information, everyone was deep in contemplation. It was too much to swallow, and they felt pressure because Ace's mission was too difficult. In comparison, their missions were a walk in the park. 

"Why is there a need to upgrade the Thief House?" Winter couldn't help but ask, as she was also extremely serious now. She didn't dare to comment on this mission anymore, as she knew Ace didn't have it easy either. 

She had experienced just what kind of threat the secret realm of three races posed, yet Ace still completed it while she was busy enjoying her stay at his expense. 

"There's nothing free in this world. You've already got enough benefits from the Thief House. At certain stages, we need to prove ourselves to get even more. Right now, we are literally walking towards the territory of ascension, which I'm pretty sure would be outside the mortal sky heaven. Simply put, a new heaven. 

"So, we need skills and treasures to match our new playground, or we'll die eventually. We have the advantage of the Thief House in this regard, but we can't utilize it unless we are worthy. 

"I'm heading towards the final checkpoint of this mission. If there is something that needs your assistance, I'll summon you, or you have to wait until the next mission starts." 

Ace sternly declared, "Meanwhile, I need you all to cultivate diligently. Our enemies are no longer some random thugs but the true powerhouses of this world!"