So, Henry Parker began to mine like crazy, purposefully and systematically, according to the requirements on the acquisition list, and finally managed to pull the team back from the brink of collapse. The happy days continued.

Money is truly of utmost importance. You can't just focus on developing military strength—without money to support it, military power is just nonsense, right? How did a certain superpower in the 20th century collapse? It went broke! So you have to make a lot of money. In other games, when players reach a high level, they naturally have money and don't need to deliberately earn it, but in ""Gods and Demons,"" that doesn't work. The higher your level, the greater your expenses—especially as a necromancer. Do you really think you can summon millions of ghost soldiers just by chanting a spell? That all costs money!

Speaking of making money, the first player to reach level 50 will be rewarded by the system with an A-rank mercenary, and the first player to level up a production skill to advanced will also be rewarded with an A-rank mercenary. For Henry Parker, who already has four S-rank mercenary death knights, an A-rank mercenary is nothing special, but it can be sold for money. At this stage, who can reach level 50 before me? Who can reach advanced mining before me? Haha, both A-rank mercenaries are as good as mine! William Clark? That guy must be grinding pirates day and night on Pirate Island right now, right? Sigh, in this life, you're destined to be unworthy of being my rival.

Why are happy times always so short?

After the acquisition list in the auction house was filled, it never appeared again. Losing a steady source of income, Henry Parker once again began a life of scrimping and saving.

On this day, with one swing of the mining pick, the historic moment was about to arrive—he would be the first player in the game to reach advanced production skills. But, unfortunately, to his shock, he found out he wasn't.

Oh, life is finally no longer smooth sailing. But it's fine, the number one spot in level is still mine. But Henry Parker was wrong. William Clark's leveling pace suddenly accelerated, putting enormous pressure on him. But it's fine, the monsters on Pirate Island give less and less experience as you go. But Henry Parker was wrong again. William Clark's leveling sped up once more, while Henry Parker couldn't speed up anymore—because of the problem of food.

""Sorry, William Clark old pal!"" Helpless, Henry Parker was suddenly filled with murderous intent, and used the advantage of his vampire's human appearance to sneak onto Pirate Island. To his astonishment, he found that the beach, which should have been littered with pirate corpses, was empty. Puzzled, Henry Parker saw a player at the entrance to the ""Pirate Secret Base"" dungeon and asked, ""Hi, um, is William Clark leveling here?""

The person glanced sideways: ""Please address him as Brother William Clark.""

No way! William Clark was a lone wolf before level 100—when did he start taking on underlings? Did history change after the time travel?

Henry Parker asked in surprise, ""So, William Clark is leveling here? Why don't I see anyone?""

The person smiled and said, ""The little monsters outside don't give enough experience. Big Brother is taking turns leading a few of us through the dungeon. You came here to admire Big Brother too, right?""

Henry Parker was shocked. Running dungeons? William Clark, since when did you become even more of a monster than in the previous life? Is this dungeon even doable at your level?

Henry Parker suddenly felt that this person looked a bit familiar and asked, ""May I ask your name?""

The person smiled and said, ""I'm just a lackey, not worth mentioning. My name is Autumn Baker.""

Autumn Baker! That thief from the A-rank club? Not much compared to myself, but in the professional player circle of the arena, he's got some fame. William Clark, I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to recruit pro players as your underlings after time traveling. As for the other brothers, Henry Parker couldn't be bothered to ask. They're running dungeons now, with even a substitute keeping watch at the entrance—no chance to kill William Clark.

Henry Parker sighed deeply and left.

Although he encountered two setbacks, it was just a loss of money and didn't affect the bigger picture. The real goal—the date to kill the guardian angel Gabriel—was approaching.

Chapter 1: If You Want to Time Travel, Just Do It

Jack Carter time-traveled. This time it wasn't a dream—it was real.

On an ordinary evening, after struggling to finish a work order, he indulged himself for once, drinking with some marinated beef, and as usual, sighed at the setting sun outside the window: If only life could start over, how great would that be, and so on.

Maybe some deity finally got fed up with him and granted his wish. After getting drunk and waking up, Jack Carter had time-traveled—he was back five years ago.