The Infinite Realm Emporium was no longer drifting. Guided by Sarah's soul, it was cutting through the "Void Between Dimensions" like a hot knife through butter. Inside, the shop was transforming; the wooden shelves were being replaced by pillars of liquid data, and the air hummed with a frequency that felt like a heartbeat.
"Omar, look," Laila whispered, pointing at the main console.
The blue flame that was Sarah had merged with the shop's central terminal. Her holographic face was clear now, but her eyes were filled with complex equations.
"Mom, you said this was a trap," Omar said, standing before the console. "What did you mean?"
"The System they gave you, Omar... the 'Merchant System'... it was designed to harvest the potential of every world it touched," Sarah's voice echoed through the speakers. "The Architects don't create; they recycle. They take the souls of heroes, turn them into 'Currency,' and use that energy to keep their own dimension from collapsing."
"And you?"
"I was their lead designer. I built the 'Marketplace' for them. But I hid a 'Virus' in the source code—the Sovereign Class. I designed it for someone who knew the value of a single coin. Someone who wouldn't be corrupted by infinite power. I designed it for you."
Suddenly, the shop shook. A massive, metallic claw—miles long—gripped the hull of the Emporium.
[Warning: Interception by 'The World-Eater' Class Dreadnought.]
[Enemy: The Architect's Vanguard.]
Outside the windows, a ship the size of a moon appeared. It was white, sterile, and covered in thousands of glowing "Eyes." These were the true forms of the Architects—not gods, but a parasitic civilization of high-dimensional bureaucrats.
"They've found us," Sarah said, her hologram flickering. "They're trying to 'Delete' the Emporium. Omar, you cannot fight that ship with weapons. It's made of 'Immutable Code'. You have to use the Black Market Logic."
"Explain!" Omar shouted as the ceiling began to crack under the pressure of the claw.
"Everything has a price, even existence. If you can't kill it, Buy it."
"Buy a moon-sized ship? With what?" Omar checked his balance. He had some Soul-Embers, but not nearly enough for a Dreadnought.
"Use the 'Debt of Origin'," Sarah commanded. "The Architects owe a debt to every soul they've harvested. You are the Sovereign Merchant. You can 'collect' that debt on their behalf."
Omar closed his eyes. He reached out and touched the wall of his shop, connecting his mind to the trillions of souls the Architects had "traded" over the millennia. He felt their pain, their stolen dreams, and their unspent energy.
[Skill Activated: Universal Debt Collection!]
[Target: The Architect Vanguard.]
[Calculated Debt: 999,999,999,999 Soul-Embers.]
Omar's eyes snapped open, glowing with an blinding white light. "I am the Sovereign! And your bill is overdue!"
A massive golden scroll manifested in space, wrapping itself around the Architect's ship. The "Eyes" on the Dreadnought turned from white to a panicked red.
The ship didn't explode. Instead, it began to shrink. Its matter was being converted into pure currency to pay off the "Debt" Omar had called in. Pieces of the hull turned into gold coins, then into mana-crystals, then into raw data packets, all flowing into the Emporium's open doors.
[Transaction Complete!]
[You have 'Purchased' the Enemy Fleet.]
[Gained: 1x Celestial Dreadnought (Scrapped for parts).]
[Gained: 'The Key to the Origin Point'.]
The massive claw vanished. The silence that followed was heavy. Omar fell to his knees, gasping for air. His hair had turned white at the temples from the sheer strain of the move.
Laila ran to him, helping him up. "You just... you just bought a god's army?"
"Not bought," Omar wheezed, a tired but sharp smirk on his face. "I foreclosed on it."
Sarah's hologram smiled. "Well done, son. But now they're terrified. They won't send ships anymore. They're going to activate the 'Final Reset'. We have to reach the Origin Point before they erase the Earth and every other 'Failed Asset' in their ledger."
"Kaelen," Omar stood up, straightening his torn suit. "Set the coordinates. No more hiding. We're going to the center of their empire. It's time to close this market... forever."