167: Shadow Authority

"That's more like it!"

Xia Lai snapped her fingers and casually slapped Xia Mo's perky buttocks again.

"Tsk, my little sister's feel is still the best."

"For the sake of the materials, I won't fight you guys for this three-meter bed tonight."

She stowed the box of mechanical parts into her dimensional toolbox.

Then she whistled and walked toward the bathroom with a swagger.

"I'm going next door to soak in the tub and wash off this sewer smell."

"You two... take it easy, don't shake the floorboards down."

"Second Sister! What are you talking about!"

Xia Mo jolted from the slap, her cheeks flushing red again.

The bathroom door closed.

The sound of splashing water began.

Only Chen Du, Xia Mo, and Ye Qiu remained in the room.

Under the glow of those cyan light wings, the ambiguous atmosphere grew even thicker.

But Chen Du's mind had drifted elsewhere at this moment.

Deep within his sea of consciousness.

The sacrifice notebook was floating in the void.

A layer of fine black scales had actually grown on the parchment cover.

The texture was like the skin of an ancient abyssal creature.

It was still pulsating slightly, radiating a heart-palpitating divinity.

Was this the evolution after devouring the remnants of the 'False God's Heart'?

Chen Du clenched his fist.

He felt that his connection with the shadow beneath his feet had never been so close.

"Xia Mo, Ye Qiu, let me show you something big."

Chen Du revealed a mysterious smile and tilted his chin toward Ye Qiu, who was sitting on the sofa organizing a first-aid kit.

"What?"

Ye Qiu didn't look up. "If it's your physical data, I'm already very clear on that."

"Something even more explosive than that."

Chen Du raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Snap!

The shadow that had been submissively spread on the carpet suddenly surged like boiling oil!

Hiss hiss hiss—

After a burst of tooth-aching friction, the black shadow writhed and reorganized frantically, its metallic texture rapidly hardening.

In just two seconds.

A six-barreled Gatling machine gun, its barrels glinting with a cold black light, 'grew' directly out of Chen Du's shadow!

A long ammo belt hung from the gun's body, each bullet condensed from highly compressed shadow energy.

"This..."

The Swiftwind Wings Xia Mo was playing with almost fell to the floor.

Her beautiful eyes widened. "Is this... a shadow? A physical one?"

"Not only physical, it can also rotate."

With a thought from Chen Du.

Vroom—!

The Gatling barrels began to spin idly, emitting a low buzzing hum.

"This isn't scientific!!"

The always-calm Ye Qiu suddenly stood up, the bandage roll in her hand squeezed into a crumpled mess.

She stared fixedly at the machine gun, her eyes filled with disbelief:

"How can a shadow have a metallic texture? And this structure... how did you create it?"

"It's not scientific, right?"

Chen Du let out a chuckle and lightly flicked his finger.

The Gatling gun instantly disintegrated, turning into thousands of black threads that wove themselves back into a massive black war hammer.

"As long as I wish, it can be ethereal smoke or hardened steel."

Chen Du picked up his red wine glass and took a sip, his golden eyes flashing with a tyrant's arrogance.

"This is what they call—Divine Authority."

"Even a Gatling..."

Xia Mo murmured to herself.

Looking at Chen Du, her eyes held more than just love; there was a hint of worship. "With this kind of ability, who can even get close to you anymore?"

"Get close? That depends on what kind of 'getting close' we're talking about."

Chen Du gave a wicked smile. "For example, Third Sister, you are welcome anytime."

"Rogue!"

Just then.

The mahogany door of the presidential suite was pushed open.

"Wow!"

A piercing cry of exclamation rang out.

An Nuonuo rushed in like a little rabbit that had found a pile of carrots, clutching a large bag of snacks.

Looking at the unbeatable ocean view outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, her eyes nearly popped out.

"This is way too luxurious! There's even a pool! And a giant bathtub!"

Behind her.

Tang Ran was still dressed in her cool and tough style.

On her shoulder, she carried a case of beer that was still emitting cold mist and a row of high-explosive grenades.

"Stop shouting and put the food down already."

"I'm starving. I walked around for a bit and it was all junk; it's really hard to find a decent stall."

Wang Jia and Zhou Qian entered next.

It had to be said that clothes make the man—or woman.

Zhou Qian had changed into a proper black high-slit dress and washed the dust from her face.

Though she still had a submissive look, that nightclub vibe had faded significantly, replaced by a bit more of a mature woman's charm.

Upon seeing Chen Du, Zhou Qian's knees went weak.

She reflexively bent her waist. "Mas—"

"Stand up straight."

Chen Du didn't even lift his eyelids, his voice cold. "When we're outside, don't embarrass me."

"We don't need slaves here, only people who work hard."

"Yes, yes!"

Zhou Qian trembled and quickly straightened her back.

She tightly gripped the card Chen Du had given her earlier, as if it were a life-saving straw.

A moment later, the other girls returned one after another.

In the living room of the presidential suite, an outsider would have thought a beauty pageant was being held!

"Since everyone is here, then we..."

Chen Du was about to announce the next arrangements.

Bang!

The door was heavily slammed open, bouncing off the wall.

Two figures rushed in, bringing a chill with them.

It was Lin Keke and Xia Xin.

This time, Lin Keke didn't have that 'late-stage eighth-grader syndrome' smile on her face.

Xia Xin, meanwhile, was pale, her chest heaving.

"What happened?"

Chen Du cast aside his laziness and gently set down his wine glass.

He knew this group of women too well.

To make Lin Keke—who usually only cared about eating, playing, and 2D memes—show such an expression, something had definitely happened.

"Captain, there's big trouble."

Lin Keke took a deep breath and placed a miniature camera on the coffee table.

Click.

"We snuck into the underground black market. On the auction list..."

She gritted her teeth, her voice laced with fury.

"We saw an acquaintance."

That one sentence.

Made the originally relaxed and noisy room fall silent.

An Nuonuo, who was opening a bag of chips, let her hand slip, and chips scattered all over the floor.

"An acquaintance?"

Ye Qiu's brow furrowed. "You mean... someone from our school?"

Lin Keke didn't speak; she just clicked the playback button on the camera.

On the screen, the iron cages were cold.

Several girls covered in bruises huddled in a corner, their eyes hollow.

Though their faces were stained with blood and dirt, everyone immediately recognized the girl wearing black-rimmed glasses.

"Liu Ting?!"

Tang Ran stood up abruptly. "That's Liu Ting from our school!"

"She even helped treat my wounds at the last sports meet! Dammit! These bastards are selling her like livestock?!"

Xia Xin stood to the side, her eyes red. "It's not just them. That Wang Ce is there too!"

"He was boasting in a private box... saying he'd catch us too and play us all to death, and that he'd skin the Captain alive."

"Heh."

A light chuckle broke the dead silence.

Chen Du leaned by the floor-to-ceiling window, picking up his wine glass again.

Outside was the debauched neon glow of Blackgold Harbor,

Reflected in his gradually slitting golden eyes, it looked exceptionally eerie.

"Wang Ce? That trash who knelt and begged for my forgiveness at sea?"

Chen Du tilted his head back and drained the pungent wine.

As the wine hit his throat, killing intent rose.

"I originally just came here to stock up on goods and ask around for news about this world."

He set down the wine glass.

The glass base collided with the tabletop, making a crisp clinking sound.

"Since he's come to deliver supplies again, I'll have to thank him properly this time!"

"Notify the hotel butler."

"Bring me their most expensive formal wear, the best stylists, and the top-tier motorcade—call them all here!"

Chen Du turned around, his gaze sweeping over every battle-ready woman.

"Tonight, we are going to outshine everyone."