226: Chapter 226 The Awakened Greedy Evil - The Sacrifice Notes!

The gunpowder smoke in the canyon had not yet fully dispersed.

Ye Qiu held purification water in her mouth and leaned down toward a female crew member with fractured ribs.

The moment the water passed from her lips, a faint green shimmer lit up at the break, and the bone began to heal visibly to the naked eye.

"Sister Qiu, you're practically a mobile Grade-A hospital."

A girl waiting in line nearby gave a thumbs up.

The Captain's Quarters.

Chen Du tossed his trench coat onto the sofa and flopped onto the circular bed.

Driving the Relic Power of the Tyrant's Palace consumed far more mental energy than expected.

His temples throbbed incessantly.

Tap, tap, tap...

Small, light footsteps came from behind him.

Xia Mo walked out from the bathroom.

She knelt on the circular bed, placed her fingers on Chen Du's shoulders, and began to massage them.

"Does it hurt?"

"It's alright."

Chen Du closed his eyes, enjoying the cool, gentle touch from her fingertips.

Xia Mo's body temperature was always on the low side, especially after awakening Shadow Pierce; her palms felt like cool jade.

Pressed against his burning muscles, the sensation was indescribably comfortable.

"Your nose bled when you were driving the palace."

Xia Mo's tone was flat, but her pressure increased slightly. "Don't think I didn't see it."

Chen Du opened one eye. "Worried about me?"

"Nonsense!"

The corners of Chen Du's mouth curled up as he reached out and pulled the girl into his arms.

Just then.

There were three knocks on the cabin door.

"Captain! The battle damage statistics are out!"

Xia Lai's voice came through the door panel, her tone excited.

Before Chen Du could respond, the door was pushed open.

Xia Lai was holding a glowing data panel.

She wore a form-fitting jumpsuit, with the zipper only pulled up to her collarbone.

As she spoke.

She sat down by the bed and handed the panel to Chen Du.

Her full chest, separated only by the jumpsuit fabric, intentionally or unintentionally brushed against his arm resting on the edge of the bed.

"One ship was crushed by ice and is difficult to recover, but the power modules of the other two are intact. Including the parts scavenged from the ground battlefield, the total is—"

She held up three fingers.

"Thirty-seven tons of high-grade materials, plus twelve complete energy cores!"

Xia Lai grew more excited as she spoke, and the pressure from her chest became more pronounced.

Xia Mo lifted an eyelid in Chen Du's arms and glanced at her second sister.

"Second Sister, your zipper is open."

Xia Lai looked down; the zipper had indeed slid down a bit, revealing a portion of her fair, large curves.

"It's fine, it's fine~ It's not like he hasn't seen it before~"

She giggled and gave it a tug, but only pulled it back to its original position.

Not an inch more.

Chen Du's gaze swept over the gap, his expression unchanged.

At that moment.

A third set of footsteps appeared at the door.

Li Yaozhi leaned against the doorframe, her long, straight legs crossed as she stood there, twirling a coin in her hand.

"The divination results are in."

"No new threats in the short term. But after that..."

She walked in, leaned over in front of Chen Du, and placed the coin on the nightstand.

"The cards are incredibly blurry, as if they're being interfered with by something."

Chen Du naturally placed an arm around Li Yaozhi's waist and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed.

"No rush, we'll talk after we've rested enough."

"If you're not in a rush, why should I be?" Li Yaozhi turned slightly, leaning into the crook of his arm.

Xia Lai let out a scoff.

"Well now, Yaozhi, didn't you pick this exact time to report on purpose?"

"Didn't you?"

The two looked at each other and then turned their faces away.

Sandwiched between the three women, Chen Du's every breath was filled with different notes of body fragrance.

Cool, rich, and lively.

He cursed inwardly: This life is worth it!

...

Three hours later.

Chen Du straightened his clothes and walked out of the Captain's Quarters.

Most of the fatigue on his face had faded.

All thirty-seven tons of metal materials had been recovered, and the twelve complete energy cores were placed separately on an anti-static mat.

The female crew members gathered around, their eyes burning with anticipation.

After several battles, they all knew—the Captain was about to perform a Sacrifice!

Every Sacrifice was the beginning of a massive windfall.

"Mao Mao, come here!"

Chen Du snapped his fingers.

Awooo—

The Ghoul leaped up from the bottom of the canyon and landed on the rear deck.

It still had an unchewed Orc thigh in its mouth, with green slime dripping all over the floor.

"Go fetch the scattered core fragments for me too."

The Ghoul obediently dropped its snack and turned to run.

Chen Du walked to the materials and placed one hand on the largest piece of mothership engine wreckage.

Shadow Power seeped from his palm, covering the metal surface.

He closed his eyes.

"Sacrifice."

Pitch-black devouring light exploded from his palm!

The metal dissolved, the energy cores collapsed, and all matter was frantically absorbed by an indescribable force.

The female crew members instinctively took two steps back.

They had seen this sight several times, but every time they watched, it made their scalps tingle.

Ten seconds passed.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

The black light slowly dissipated.

Chen Du opened his eyes.

No notification popped up.

"What's going on?"

The monstrous mouth full of fangs on the cover of the notebook was slowly chewing on something.

"What are you doing?"

Chen Du frowned.

The monstrous mouth smacked its lips.

[Hmm... I suppose this is barely enough to get stuck in my teeth.]

The monstrous mouth let out a disdainful burp.

[Scrap metal, not even worthy of being called a dessert. You're trying to fool this Great One with this kind of junk? Do you think I'm a pushover?]

Chen Du remained expressionless.

"Say that again?"

Shadow Power seeped from his mind, turning into a giant hand that squeezed the notebook's cover.

The monstrous mouth let out a hiss.

[Ow, ow, ow! Let go! You brute!]

"You say these things are just to get stuck in your teeth?"

Chen Du's voice was very soft. "Then spit them back out for me."

[...]

The monstrous mouth fell silent for three seconds.

Then its tone did a complete 180-degree turn.

[Fine, fine, I misspoke. But I really can't give you a decent settlement; I'm not what I used to be!]

It paused, and a strange black mist billowed from between its fangs.

[...Considering you've inherited that person's authority, I'll give you a piece of intelligence for free.]

Chen Du let go and raised an eyebrow.

"Speak."

[Do you know where the most critical thing went after the Tyrant was jointly slain by the two Great Main Gods?]

[The true Source Divinity was sealed by the Heavenly Dao and the god of fear together.]

The monstrous mouth's voice grew lower and lower.

[It's right under the headquarters of the Mechanical Divine Court—three thousand meters below the Holy Mountain in the Core Forbidden Zone.]

[The god of machinery? Ha! Just a parasite who has lived for countless eras by gnawing on the Tyrant's corpse!]

Chen Du's pupils suddenly constricted.

He remembered the female survivors in the hydraulic cylinders at Outpost 17—

Having their talent source extracted and sent underground through pipes.

If even the Tyrant's Source Divinity was being extracted in the same way...

"So the Mechanical Divine Court didn't build those outposts for defense?"

Chen Du's voice was cold.

[Smart!]

The monstrous mouth licked its fangs. [That's why beneath that Holy Mountain, there's a scent of my own. I was a personal item stripped from the Tyrant's body; an object can sense it!]

Chen Du stared at the notebook for five seconds.

"You mean, if I go and take back the Source Divinity, you can also become stronger?"

[Jiejiejie! Mutual benefit!]

"Then first, settle the things you just swallowed."

[...How are you even stingier than the Tyrant?]

Ding—!

[Sacrifice settlement complete!]

[Obtained: 2000 units of life essence, 5 tons of Repair Alloy, 1 Power Core Blueprint!]

Chen Du satisfiedly patted the notebook's cover with a Shadow Hand.

Then he turned to look toward the mast.

The Archbishop was chained there, and the Little loli was sitting nearby with a wrench.

The Archbishop had watched the whole time as Chen Du spoke to thin air, made expressions, and even used his hands.

Is this man insane?

"What are you looking at?"

Chen Du walked over and crouched in front of him.

A Shadow Hand reached out and grabbed him by the throat.

Divided shadow threads pierced into his skin, stimulating his pain nerves.

The Archbishop's whole body stiffened; his mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't let out a scream.

"From now on, you will be my guide!"

Chen Du's voice was as calm as if he were chatting about the weather.

"To the Mechanical Holy Mountain. No detours."

The Archbishop's pupils shrank to pinpoints.

He nodded frantically.

Chen Du stood up and tossed the chain to An Nuonuo.

"Nuonuo, if he doesn't behave, just call Mao Mao."

"O... Okay, Captain!"

An Nuonuo gripped the chain, her small face tense. "Don't you go running off! I don't want to feed you to Mao Mao... that would be so gross."

Her milky-fierce tone was paired with innocent big eyes.

The Archbishop closed his eyes again.

He had lived for hundreds of years.

He had never been so humiliated.

Chen Du went back to sit by the circular bed, where the three beauties were still resting.

He suddenly remembered something.

He reached into the inner pocket of his trench coat and pulled out two fist-sized cubes.

Xia Lai rubbed her eyes and leaned over.

"Are these... blind boxes?! When did you get these?"

"Back in the C3 Sea Area, they were left over after sacrificing the Overlord Troll."

Chen Du placed the two blind boxes on the bed. "I just never got around to opening them."