233: Chapter 233 The Tyrant's Successors

Shadow Power continued to overflow!

The shadow beneath Chen Du's feet had already expanded to cover half the deck, its shape changing every second.

One moment it was a long spear, the next a giant hand, then it shattered into hundreds of bats flapping their wings.

"Xia Mo... take everyone back to the Palace."

Xia Mo didn't ask why.

She draped Chen Du's arm over her shoulder and hoisted him up with all her strength.

The moment they touched, Shadow Power poured into her body through her skin.

Xia Mo's pupils constricted sharply, her ice-blue superpower provoked into exploding with a layer of frost.

She gritted her teeth and didn't let go.

"Second Sister! Enter the canyon at full speed!"

"Received!"

Xia Lai's voice came from the main control room.

The four giant mechanical legs of Fortress No. 0819 exerted force simultaneously; the entire fortress shuddered and began to sprint toward the canyon.

The collapsing Holy Mountain grew further and further away behind them.

At the end of the canyon, two giant bronze doors carved with ancient totems swung open with a boom under the resonance of the tyrants authority.

Just as the bow of Fortress No. 0819 squeezed in, the giant doors slammed shut behind it.

Boom—!

The dark gold totems lit up, and a warm, dim light poured down from the ceiling.

From the outside, the canyon appeared empty.

Fortress No. 0819, along with everyone on board, was like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

It vanished.

...

Captain's cabin.

By the time Chen Du was moved onto the round bed, his body temperature was hot enough to fry an egg.

Ye Qiu took mouthfuls of Purified Water and transferred them into his mouth three times, barely managing to lower his surface temperature by a few degrees.

"It's not working!"

"The divinity energy is burning from the inside; my healing can only fix the surface, it can't suppress the source!"

Thirty-five girls crowded inside and outside the captain's cabin, their expressions varied.

Lin Keke bit her nails, An Nuonuo's eyes were rimmed with red, and Tang Ran gripped the handle of her sickle, staring intently at the person on the bed.

Just then.

Deep in his mind, the strange mouth of the sacrifice notebook spoke weakly.

[Stop struggling, kid. Even the Tyrant back then couldn't withstand a complete divinity.]

"...Then what did he do?"

[It distributed the power to its Followers.]

[Through the most primitive... Life Bond.]

Even in a semi-conscious state, Chen Du's mind was still working fast.

He struggled to open one eye and scanned the many pretty faces surrounding the bed.

Beautiful ones, cute ones, cool ones, flirtatious ones...

They were all there!

"...So you mean."

[Hehehe. You're not losing out anyway, right?]

Chen Du closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"I'm doing this to survive."

"Who would believe you!" Xia Lai was the first to shout.

But the tips of her ears turned red.

Xia Mo sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at Chen Du's flushed face, and remained silent for three seconds.

Then she reached out and brushed away the stray hairs on his forehead.

"...Idiot."

Her voice was very soft.

But everyone heard it.

...

One year later.

Deep in the canyon.

The dark gold totems on the giant bronze doors extinguished one by one.

Rumble—

The two giant doors slowly slid open to either side.

The moment the sunlight flooded in, golden dust filled the air between the doors.

The mechanical giant legs of Fortress No. 0819 stepped over the threshold.

The withered ground cracked with spiderweb patterns.

The entire canyon was shaking.

At the top of the island.

An old rattan chair let out a creak.

A man leaned back in it, legs crossed over the armrest, a cigarette between the fingers of his left hand; the smoke he exhaled was laced with threads of dark gold light.

Chen Du had changed.

Dark gold patterns extended from his collarbone to his jawline, the lines flowing smoothly like totems grown into his skin.

His entire aura was different.

He stood up and stretched, his shoulder joints popping twice.

"It's been a year."

No sooner had he spoken.

"Chen Du—!"

Voices surged from all directions of the deck.

Before he could turn around, he was surrounded by a colorful blur of figures.

To be precise—

It was a group of women with protruding bellies who surrounded him.

Lin Keke rushed to the front, hands on her hips, her six-month-old belly bulging roundly.

"Chen Du, you big jerk! What do you mean by 'distributing the divinity power'! You were just taking advantage of the situation!"

"Why didn't you digest it yourself? Are you a tyrant or a stallion?!"

An Nuonuo hid behind Lin Keke, her small face so red it looked like it could drip water.

"Captain... you're too much... coming to distribute power every single night... without missing a single time..."

Tang Ran supported her belly with one hand, her expression one of deep remorse.

"My abs! The V-line I trained three years for! It's all gone!"

Xia Lai leaned against a steel pillar of the island, her belly bulging, but she looked quite composed.

"But seriously, this past year has indeed..."

"Second Sister!"

Xia Xin rushed over with a flushed face and covered her mouth, "Can you please not blab about everything!"

Xia Lai pushed her hand away and giggled, "Big Sister, what are you blushing for? It's not like we haven't done it together!"

"Shut up!!"

Xia Xin wished she could shove her head into the barrel of the Storm Ripper.

Xia Mo stood closest to him.

Her waist was still slender, with a slightly protruding lower abdomen, the curve just right.

She didn't make a fuss, she just reached out and gave the back of Chen Du's hand a pinch.

"You promised to only distribute it to me."

"In the end, it was distributed to the whole ship."

Chen Du winced from the pinch.

"Not the whole ship... isn't there still Mao Mao?"

"Awoo?"

Mao Mao pricked up his ears in a corner of the deck.

Ye Qiu stood on the periphery holding a medicine box, smiling gently.

Her belly was already very prominent, but she had never put down the medicine box in her hands.

Over the past year, the prenatal checkups for all thirty-five pregnant women relied entirely on her.

The "Mobile Grade 3A Hospital" truly lived up to its name.

Li Yaozhi leaned against the doorframe, her posture with a protruding belly still pleasing to the eye.

She flipped through her Tarot cards and drew one.

"I divined this outcome a year ago."

"I just didn't expect... the scope to be so wide."

Chen Du scanned the surroundings.

Various oversized crew uniforms were drying on the deck's clothes rack.

On a folding table sat nutritional soup prepared by Ye Qiu and An Nuonuo's snack basket.

The whole scene was so heartwarming it didn't seem like the apocalypse.

He gave both Lin Keke's and An Nuonuo's butts a squeeze, one on the left and one on the right.

"Ah—!"

"Rogue!!"

"You're getting a bargain and still acting like the victim."

Chen Du dangled a cigarette, his tone lazy, "What are you complaining about? Haven't you all become stronger too?"

This was true.

After a year of secluded cultivation coupled with the continuous nourishment of the Source Divinity, the thirty-five female crew members had undergone earth-shattering changes.

All the girls who originally had no talent had awakened superpowers.

All those who originally had talent had broken through their bottlenecks.

Lin Keke's Old Dreamer broke into S-rank, An Nuonuo's Child of the Weather leaped to A+ rank, and Xia Xin's Archer talent jumped from C-rank straight to A-rank.

They were all powerhouses.

Mao Mao crouched in a corner of the deck and nudged An Nuonuo's belly with his nose.

Awoo?

An Nuonuo jumped half a step back in fright.

"Mao Mao, no sniffing!"

Mao Mao withdrew his paw aggrievedly, then turned to nudge Lin Keke.

Slap!

A palm smacked onto his forehead.

"Scram! You're even jealous of pregnant women?"

"Awoo!"

Mao Mao was dazed by the slap and scurried to Chen Du's feet to crouch down, covering his face with his paws.

Tang Ran gave him a kick, "Enough, go gnaw on a bone over there."

Mao Mao picked up a femur in his mouth and crouched at the stern to chew on it alone.

An Nuonuo chased after him with a mop, "Don't run around! I just mopped the deck!"

"Awoo..."

Mao Mao tilted his head to look at her with the bone in his mouth, then used his paw to press the drool back into his mouth.

An Nuonuo: "...Even more disgusting."

Chen Du watched all this and flicked his cigarette butt over the side of the ship.

His dark gold pupils looked past everyone on the deck toward the vast world outside the canyon.

A year's time.

He didn't know what the world outside had become.

But there was one thing he was certain of.

Not a single debt that needed to be repaid had been forgotten.

"Alright, enough resting."

"It's time to collect some debts!"

The deck went quiet for a second.

Xia Lai was the first to approach, her eyes frighteningly bright.

"Where are we going to collect debts?"

Chen Du looked back at her.

"First, we're going to the Sleepless City."

Xia Xin was stunned.

"Sleepless City? Isn't that... at sea?"

Chen Du gave a faint smile.

"Correct. And we'll drop by to see an old friend... the god of fear."

He raised his right hand.

"It's been a year; I wonder if it still remembers me."

He snapped his fingers.

Shadow Power suddenly exploded from beneath his feet!

Thick shadows surged like a tide, completely enveloping the entire Fortress No. 0819.

And then.

The canyon was empty.

Fortress No. 0819 vanished from the spot, not even leaving a single shadow behind!