60: A whopping 20 million! The seventh divine choice has begun!

Rome, hotel suite.

A massive virtual light screen hovered in the center of the room, silently broadcasting the real-time riots from Tokyo.

The footage came from the city's surveillance network hacked by mirror doll no. 2; after integration, it was presented from the optimal directorial perspective.

The panic and stampedes on the streets of Shinjuku, the helplessness of the Metropolitan Police Department's emergency units, and the tragic state of the supervisor named Sato Tadashi in the thirty-seventh-floor office of the Sigma Building—bleeding from his seven orifices, having died with his eyes open.

The source of all this chaos pointed toward a young man who had just completed a contract in a rented room: Takahashi Shota.

Jiang Ming held a glass of red wine, gently swirling it.

Jiang Ming felt no surprise regarding Shuten-dōji's unauthorized actions—finding a Master and even killing people in the street—let alone any thought of stopping him.

This was already part of the plan.

Berserker was meant to be a synonym for madness and destruction.

The more excessive his actions, the more realistic the stage of this "Holy Grail War" would become, and the more intense the audience's emotions would be.

The fear, shock, excitement, and hatred toward the mastermind behind the scenes welling up in those who caught glimpses of this chaos from all over the world through various channels... these emotions were the finest grade of food.

Jiang Ming didn't care what the puppet did; or rather, the more excessive, the better.

He didn't care who Takahashi Shota's first target for revenge was, nor did he care who he would kill next.

Jiang Ming closed the virtual screen and sank his attention into his sea of consciousness.

On the system panel, that long string of numbers was emitting a startling glow.

【emotion points Balance: 42,580,000】

Just then, a cold system notification sounded directly in the depths of Jiang Ming's mind.

【Detected that the host's total emotion points has exceeded 20,000,000 points.】

【The emotion points required to open the seventh "Destinys Triple Choice" has been met.】

【Would you like to open it?】

"Perform Choice Enhancement first."

【"Choice Enhancement" function activated.】

【This enhancement requires 2,000,000 emotion points points. Do you confirm?】

"Confirm."

As Jiang Ming's thought fell, the startling string of numbers in his sea of consciousness instantly shifted.

【emotion points Balance: 40,580,000】

Immediately after, the system notification sounded again.

【Consuming 2,000,000 emotion points points. The quality of this choice has been upgraded.】

"Consume twenty million emotion points points to open the seventh 'Destinys Triple Choice'."

【Command confirmed.】

【Consuming emotion points: 20,000,000 points...】

【The seventh "Destinys Triple Choice" has officially opened...】

Hum!

At this moment, Jiang Ming's entire sea of consciousness seemed to freeze.

Three clusters of unprecedentedly brilliant golden light slowly emerged in the deepest part of his sea of consciousness.

As the light dissipated, three sets of clear golden option information were directly imprinted into Jiang Ming's mind.

【Host, please make a choice among the following three options.】

【Option A: Astral Projection】

【Ability Effect: Your soul will gain the ability to break free from the shackles of the physical body, allowing you to freely roam higher dimensions beyond the physical universe—the "Astral Plane." In the Astral Plane, the meanings of time and space will be reconstructed; you may catch a glimpse of the universe's truth and encounter existences that transcend understanding.】

【Note: The Astral Plane is vast and boundless, containing unknown risks that pose a significant threat to the soul. Please explore with caution.】

【Option B: Causality Weapon (Prototype)】

【Ability Effect: You can set a clear "cause" and consume a massive amount of emotion points as a price to forcibly lead to a desired "effect." As long as the logical chain can hold, no matter how bizarre the process, the result will inevitably occur.】

【Note: Forcibly twisting causality will inevitably produce unpredictable "backlash." The intensity of the backlash is proportional to the degree of distortion, and the effects are unknown. This ability is still in its prototype stage and its functions are unstable.】

【Option C: Artifact Crafting】

【Ability Effect: You will gain the ability to create "conceptual armaments." The host can independently set a "conceptual blueprint" for an item, including its appearance, rules, and contained transcendent effects, and invest emotion points as "raw material" and an "energy core" to transform it from a concept into a physical entity.】

【Note: The strength of the artifact is proportional to the emotion points invested, with no theoretical upper limit. Created artifacts will be absolutely obedient to the host.】

Jiang Ming quickly analyzed these three options.

Every single one could be called heaven-defying.

【Astral Projection】.

A soul roaming the Astral Plane and exploring dimensions beyond the universe sounded full of temptation. For anyone eager to know the truth of the world, it was an irresistible option.

But Jiang Ming excluded it almost instantly.

The reason was simple.

The risks were unknown.

His stage was Earth, and his audience was the seven billion people on this planet. Before fully controlling his home field, rashly heading to a higher dimension full of unknown risks to encounter those "existences that transcend understanding" did not fit his style of doing things.

Next was the second option.

【Causality Weapon (Prototype)】.

This ability was even more domineering and even more dangerous.

Set a "cause," and forcibly derive an "effect."

For example, setting the "cause" as a certain country's president slipping on a banana peel while going out—as long as enough emotion points was invested, no matter how tight the security, this result would inevitably happen.

This was an unreasonable, rule-level power.

But its drawback was equally fatal.

"Backlash effects are unknown."

These four words were enough to make Jiang Ming keep a respectful distance from it.

The greater the causality twisted, the more terrifying the backlash.

If he used it to erase an important figure, the backlash might result in the death of someone close to him, or even his own collapse.

What's more, this was only a "prototype."

Unstable.

Jiang Ming's attention finally focused entirely on the third option.

【Artifact Crafting】.

Creating "conceptual armaments."

Setting a blueprint himself, investing emotion points, and turning it into reality.

The strength was proportional to the emotion points invested, with no theoretical upper limit.

Regarding this, Jiang Ming couldn't help but have a thought.

A "Holy Grail War" without a final prize would be incomplete.

One could deceive for a moment with the lie of an "Omnipotent Wish-Granting Machine," but not for a lifetime.

As powerful Servants like Saber, Berserker, and Ruler appeared one by one, and when the whole world believed this war was real, their eyes would inevitably focus on that ultimate reward.

So... the Holy Grail must truly exist.

A truly Omnipotent Wish-Granting Machine that could realize the winner's wish.

And the 【Artifact Crafting】 before him was the only answer that could make this "truth" established.

Jiang Ming no longer had any hesitation.

In his heart, he made his choice.

"I choose C, 【Artifact Crafting】."

The moment the words fell, the two clusters of golden light representing 【Astral Projection】 and 【Causality Weapon】 instantly dimmed, crumbled, and vanished.

Only the cluster of light representing 【Artifact Crafting】 suddenly exploded, turning into a vast and boundless golden data stream that flooded into the depths of Jiang Ming's memory.

How to set "concepts," how to construct "rules," how to use emotion points as a core for "forging"... all relevant knowledge and usage methods were thoroughly mastered by him as if they were innate instincts.

Jiang Ming pulled up his personal panel.

At the end of the "Abilities" column, a brand-new entry had quietly appeared.

【Artifact Crafting (Special)】

"Well then, the first step is to make a Holy Grail."