The million euros in the travel bag were probably still there, but the police had already shown up, so there was no way to get it back.
Return to Europe?
Merritt had a serious problem: he needed to get to a city first. He was stuck in the middle of nowhere with no airport, no vehicles—how was he supposed to get back?
He couldn't remember the exact route, but he had a general sense of direction.
To avoid being seen by the police, he took a long detour. By the time the eastern sky started to lighten, he finally saw a road.
Not long after, a car stopped in front of him.
Lucky break!
Merritt thought to himself. Last time, he had tried to hitch a ride so many times, but no cars or trucks had stopped.
He stood by the back door, but the passenger door opened instead. A voice from the driver's seat called out, sending chills down his spine, "Hey handsome, sit up front."
The driver was a woman around forty.
She wasn't exactly ugly, but definitely not pretty either. Her face showed signs of age, mostly hidden under heavy makeup. Merritt even wondered if her makeup would fall off if she made any sudden expressions.
He didn't care about her looks though. What caught his attention was...
Handsome?
No one had ever called him handsome before. And if someone did, they were usually lying. He knew his face was far from attractive.
The woman was giving him a ride, so even though her overly sweet voice creeped him out, Merritt forced himself to suck it up.
Merritt Priya slid into the passenger seat. He glanced at the rearview mirror, and his entire face froze.
That's when he finally understood why the woman called him handsome, why she stopped the car, and why she used that flirty voice.
In Bien City, at a small motel that didn't even need an ID to check in, Merritt stood in front of the bathroom sink, staring dumbfounded at the person in the mirror.
Over the years, he'd been through things most people couldn't even imagine. That world in the shadows held more than its fair share of dark truths.
But...
Everything he'd experienced before felt like nothing compared to this moment. The shock he felt now was impossible to put into words.
"From now on, you are me, and I am you!"
The final words of the dying soul echoed in his head. He hadn't thought much about them at the time, but now, he finally got it. In the mirror...
Merritt raised his hand to touch his cheek and muttered, "How could this happen?"
His original height of 5'9" had randomly shot up to over 6 feet.
The face that used to be average—neither handsome nor ugly, had completely changed into someone he didn't even recognize.
Thick eyebrows like swords. Eyes that sparkled like stars. Sharp, clean-cut features.
The craziest part?
Even though he hadn't been especially good-looking before, there'd always been a kind of heroic energy to his face.
But now, everything about him was different.
That aura… how to describe it?
It had this dangerous, almost evil vibe to it.
He was basically a different person now.
But being handsome wasn't necessarily a bad thing, right?
Honestly, Merritt had been pretty fine with his old face. He'd grown used to it over time.
In his world, no one cared if you were hot or not. What mattered was strength.
Deep down, Merritt had always believed that good-looking guys were usually just hollow decorations.
But that wasn't even the main problem now. The real issue was, how was he supposed to return to Europe and face that girl?
Tell her he got plastic surgery?
Yeah, right. Like she'd ever buy that.
Knowing her personality—so rational and decisive—she'd 100% think he'd already been killed.
She'd probably believe the killer tortured him for memories, then made up a massive lie to trick her. So if he showed up in front of her...
Given how well he knew her, she'd definitely try to kill him on the spot.
What now? What should he do?
Staring at the good-looking face in the mirror, the once-mighty king had now...
After a long while, Merritt finally managed to calm himself down and thought, "Looks like I'll have to live here for now..."
Living meant needing food, shelter, and transportation—and the foundation of all that was money!
He had left all his bank cards and identification behind to avoid being tracked by that girl.
Originally, with that one million euros, living wouldn't have been an issue. But now, that money was gone.
All he had left were a few hundred euros and the four thousand local currency he had exchanged.
What could four thousand even buy?
Moreover, not only had he lost all his powers, but his physical condition was also worse than an average person's.
Earning money the way he used to was out of the question.
He needed to find a job that didn't require much physical effort.
Otherwise, once his cash ran out, would the mighty Azure Dragon really have to steal or beg?
Suddenly!
Just as his emotions began to settle and he started to think about his next steps, something deep within his mind was triggered.
It was a memory.
Or rather, it was something passed down to him by a remnant soul, which had remained hidden until now.
For some reason, Merritt could only see the first chapter.
"The Chapter of Wind..."
He stared blankly at the memory, almost fainting. "Invisibility? X-ray vision? What... This has to be a joke!"
Even though it was just the first chapter, he found it completely unbelievable. Or rather, it had already surpassed the limits of what he had previously thought possible.
There was no doubt that Merritt had once reached an astonishing level of martial arts prowess, ranking among the top in the global martial arts community.
But what exactly is martial arts?
It involves refining internal energy, transforming it into true power.
Top-tier martial artists can project their energy outward, making it possible to kill from ten steps away without breaking a sweat.
However...
Internal energy is meant for combat, not for the magical feats described here.
Take the first chapter, Chapter of Wind, for example. Besides being used in combat, it supposedly allows one to see things from a great distance...
Isn't that just spying?
Creepy! Perverted! Disgusting!
But... if it really were that amazing, just thinking about it was exciting!
As Merritt read on, he was stunned.
Just the first chapter, Chapter of Wind, took the creator of this supreme art thirty years to master. Can you imagine? Someone with such incredible talent, capable of creating such a secret technique, still needed thirty years to master the first chapter!
How do you even train for that?
Merritt's excitement vanished.
He hadn't put much stock in the authenticity of this technique to begin with, given how unbelievable the abilities sounded. Now, seeing that it would take thirty years, he immediately gave up. He didn't have the patience to spend decades mastering just the first chapter of some supreme technique.
Instead, he would rather go back to practicing the martial arts he had learned before. With his past experience, it wouldn't take him more than a few years to achieve something significant.
"That's it!"
Merritt finally made a decision: to give up on those elusive so-called secret techniques. Starting tomorrow, he would find a job to make ends meet and then resume his martial arts training.
Oh, right!
Since he couldn't return to Europe for the time being, once he settled down, he could try to find his childhood friend—the little girl named Hamilton—using the few clues from back then.
Yes, Merritt had lived in Bien City when he was at Ancient Splendor!
After a series of exhausting events, his frail body couldn't take it anymore, and he quickly fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
The next morning.
Upon waking up, he tidied himself up from head to toe. Looking at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, Merritt shook his head and sighed.
He still preferred his old face. Being handsome didn't put food on the table, and this pretty-boy look... it just made him seem like a pushover.
He didn't like being seen as a pushover, but he had no choice now.
After washing up, he stepped out of the tiny hotel room. Thinking about the $10 per night room rate made him even more worried.