Chapter 132

 【Major plot change occurred. Deducting 260 action points!】

【Warning! Remaining action points: -20. Cannot sustain current action. Withdrawing!】

Under Sela’s control ability, the hundred-plus dragon-bodied humans once again lifted the demonic dragon spine and set off. This time their speed was much faster. It was so fast that the people in the canyon had no chance to intercept them again.

Sykes, the only one who had the power to stop them, saw his ability completely neutralized by Sela, who’d been lurking in the shadows, after he lashed out without thinking. Now, he could do nothing but remain rooted to the ground, his eyes wide with unrestrained fury.

While everyone else was forced to look upward, helplessly watching as the black dragon tore through the sky, Ye Zheng suddenly lowered her head. She pressed a hand against her forehead, her dark eyes narrowing into a razor-sharp focus, as though she were staring straight at something profoundly terrifying.

A sharp, abrupt voice suddenly rang out.

【WARNING! Remaining Action Points: -20. Unable to sustain current action. Ejection imminent—】

As the cold, mechanical voice declared the "imminent ejection," Ye Zheng felt an overwhelming sense of detachment wash over her. It was as if the entire world, or perhaps only she herself, was about to plunge into some unknown abyss. Her fingertips slipped instinctively from her forehead down along her cheek, as though she were desperately trying to confirm that she still existed.

"Saintess... Saintess? Ye Zheng!"

A woman’s heavy voice called out from behind her, yet Ye Zheng behaved as though she hadn’t heard a single word. Her expression remained stiff and unmoving, her vacant gaze locked onto a single grain of dust suspended in mid-air, as if she were waiting to see exactly when it would fall and where it would finally land.

Suddenly, she blinked hard. The indifferent mechanical voice in her ear was replaced by something far more familiar.

『Current Popularity: 152,839... Calculating...』

『Current Popularity: 154,728!』

『Remaining Action Points: 1』

『Ye Zheng, please keep going. They are all looking forward to the change you will bring.』

The System spoke in a soft tone.

Ye Zheng abruptly released the grip she had unconsciously tightened on her own jaw, though her expression still lingered in a daze. She slowly extended her hand forward, her slender fingers loosening and then curling again in the empty air, as though she were trying to grasp a pair of invisible hands reaching back at her.

"Thank you."

A soft laugh escaped her lips, the sound quickly swallowed by the surrounding chaos and the roar of the restless crowd.

Ye Zheng understood now that this time, it was those watching her from beyond the screen who had saved her.

If not for that sudden surge in popularity, Ye Zheng had no idea what consequences those negative action points would’ve brought upon her, but she was certain of one thing, it wouldn’t have led to any kind of good outcome.

She lifted her gaze once more, looking far into the distance and watching until the black shadow in the sky had completely disappeared, so far away that Sykes’s team would never be able to catch up to it.

Fortunately, along this glorious path strewn with thorns, she was never truly alone, even if their destinations didn’t align.

✧✧✧✧✧

Half an hour earlier.

Seizing the moment of chaos, Sela slipped away from Ye Zheng’s team and headed toward the massive, undulating dragon bone.

Before the majestic, weighty white remains, her figure looked frail and slight; yet there wasn’t even a trace of reverence on Sela’s face. Instead, she was filled to the brim with anticipation.

This was exactly what she had wanted! Ye Zheng hadn’t deceived her.

She already possessed a demonic dragon skull; if she added this colossal demonic dragon spine to it, forget some 3S-class blonde man—the entire Empire would have no choice but to kneel at her feet, wouldn’t it?

Sela climbed up onto the pale vertebrae alone. Suddenly, a dark shadow lunged toward her. She shot it a cold glare; the shadow skimmed past her side, choosing not to strike.

"At least you’ve got some sense," Sela muttered.

She struggled somewhat as she made her way to the highest point. Back in the Blood Flower Aberrant Realm, she could rely on her primary ability to manipulate blood flowers to serve her, but now she had to climb everything by hand.

Although the climb itself was rather pitiful, Sela adored the sensation of standing at the summit and looking down over everything. She instinctively spread her arms wide, breathing deeply and freely.

She could feel that familiar, overwhelming power surging within her. Having lived alongside this power day and night since she was seven, no one understood how to tame the strength of the dragon bone better than she did not even Ye Zheng.

As the limitless power flooded into her, Sela thought with obsessive intensity: If I held this unmatched power, no one in this world would ever be able to force me to bow again!

Sela’s senses sharpened dramatically. In the distance, she caught sight of a flash of striking golden hair. That was the Crown Prince, the most exalted figure in this nation. They both possessed brilliant golden hair, so why was he the one who got to bask in endless luxury, admiration, and fear?

Her crimson pupils shifted slightly, catching sight of the black-haired girl standing opposite the blonde man. A stronger, more turbulent emotion surged up within her, and her already disheveled blonde hair grew even more chaotic in the wind.

And this was Ye Zheng—a person who schemed to control everything, someone more detestable than anyone else. She was so kind, so noble, and so fortunate that her very existence in this filthy world was nothing short of an eyesore!

She would break free from Ye Zheng’s design and make her crash down spectacularly. That would definitely be amusing, wouldn’t it?

Sela’s red eyes trembled with excitement. She dropped to one knee atop the dragon bone and slammed her palm heavily against the rigid, chalk-white surface, producing a dull, resounding thud.

The dragon-humans nearby, who had been locked in fierce combat with the human knights, paused momentarily as if they had all received the same command at once. Soon after, their movements became even more frenzied.

Looking down at the increasingly chaotic battlefield, Sela failed to notice her pupils darkening. Her body was being overtaken by her wildly surging emotions; she simply reveled in it all with exhilaration, completely unaware of the fine rain tapping softly against her.

Suddenly, amid the tangled screams of humans and monsters, Sela picked up on the sound of something detonating.

She lifted her gaze toward the horizon. In the dim, rain-soaked sky, a blue firework had blossomed.

The crimson pupils reflected that faint, watery glow, and the excitement on Sela’s face slowly began to fade. She remembered this was the signal she had agreed upon with Ye Zheng.

But she had intended to betray Ye Zheng from the very beginning. She wanted to show her what became of those who placed their trust in someone like her. Why should she obey and lead these monsters elsewhere? She wanted the dragon bone for herself, and she would take it... wait, how exactly was she supposed to take the dragon bone away?

Sela suddenly bit down on her fingertip, her expression contorting.

Damn it. Even if she used these monsters to slaughter everyone on the battlefield, if she wanted to leave with that enormous dragon bone, she still had to rely on her control ability. She’d have to command these monsters to carry the bone away and retreat but by doing so, wouldn’t she be fulfilling Ye Zheng’s wish for her to lead them away?

Damn it, Ye Zheng hadn’t asked for her help because she trusted her; it was because this was the only path left open to her!

Sela ground her molars in frustration, shot a glare at a certain black speck in the distance, and pressed her palm against the dragon bone once again.

This time, hundreds of dragon-humans were flung backward almost in unison. They beat their wings, blotting out the sky, and hoisted the continuous white mountain of bone in a precise, orderly formation. With a thunderous roar, they surged upward into the high heavens.

Controlling them wasn’t actually that difficult. Sitting atop the dragon bone, Sela wondered: Is it because I’m not entirely human either that I can somehow understand these creatures? Just like her, they were obsessed with the dragon bone; as long as she issued a directive, they would gather and move as one.

But where should they go next? Sela recalled Ye Zheng’s instructions. She had warned her not to cross the canyon into the Northern District, as there might already be forces stationed there lying in wait.

Now that she had calmed down, Sela had to admit that Ye Zheng’s reasoning made sense.

"Take them to the street where Zhou Yun lives. Someone there will tell you where to go next."

In her memory, Ye Zheng had spoken with a faint smile, her words layered with hidden meaning.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the grey street, causing the windows to creak.

Inside the villa, Lu Qi was clutching a pile of white bones, hurriedly trying to stuff them into a large backpack.

Zhou Yun had vanished like mist, leaving behind not even a single thread of clothing. When Lu Qi glanced toward the spot where she had been sitting, all that remained was a heap of white bones of varying sizes.

They were not human bones.

"...Dragon bone."

This was Lu Qi’s first encounter with a dragon bone. Her fingers brushed against it almost on instinct; it felt as though a faint warmth still lingered on its surface, and she jerked her hand back at once, as if she’d been scorched.

If Ye Zheng hadn’t arrived in time back then, she too would’ve had the legendary dragon bone implanted into her, slipping toward an unknown and irreversible fate. Just thinking about that possibility made Lu Qi’s body shrink back on its own.

Those mutated women, Zhou Yun, and even Ye Zheng, they all carried these ice-cold things inside them.

Lu Qi fixed her gaze on the dragon bone, a sudden impulse surging up from within her. Should I try it? Maybe she’d gain even greater power, just like Ye Zheng, becoming someone who could always say, “It’s okay, I’m here,” no matter what happened, and then gently wipe away the sorrowful tears of those who wept.

Her grip on the dragon bone tightened unconsciously. In that instant, countless thoughts raced through her mind, only to be abruptly cut off by a sound from outside.

Once again, Lu Qi heard the howl of the wind. She quickly stuffed all the bones into her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and headed straight for the door.

The moment she pushed it open, she froze, caught off guard as she came face-to-face with a figure both familiar and strangely unfamiliar.

Those frenzied crimson pupils were impossible to forget, especially since Lu Qi had gone through such a grueling and humiliating battle because of her back in the Blood Flower Aberrant realm.

“Sela?”

Lu Qi leapt back warily, but her collar was suddenly seized by the other girl. She was yanked right back to where she’d stood as Sela leaned in close, those burning red eyes examining her without the slightest restraint.

“Ye Zheng said you know where to go next, Shorty Orange.”

“What do you mean ‘Shorty Orange’? You rude brat!”

Lu Qi couldn’t stand being called short, and besides, this Sela wasn’t much taller than her anyway. Mirroring the other’s actions, she grabbed Sela’s collar and shoved her back.

With the obstruction gone, Lu Qi’s field of vision suddenly cleared. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the massive black shadows looming behind Sela.

Wait… weren’t these the Fallen Ones who’d fled to the north?

Lu Qi looked at the dragon-humans perched atop white bones, radiating an overwhelming pressure, then at the sullen and visibly displeased Sela. She didn’t understand why Ye Zheng would choose to cooperate with such a strange and terrifying girl, but the moment Lu Qi saw those dragon-humans, she understood what Ye Zheng needed her to do.

“They all listen to you?”

Lu Qi remembered that Sela had even controlled Sykes in the previous realm; her dual abilities were terrifyingly powerful.

“Of course. Otherwise, they would’ve already pounced on you and devoured you,” Sela replied coldly.

Lu Qi, however, shook her head. She wasn’t afraid in the slightest. Carrying the backpack filled with Zhou Yun’s dragon bones, she walked past Sela and approached the towering dark figures.

Facing those pairs of pitch-black, icy eyes, a trace of fear flickered in Lu Qi’s heart but it was quickly swallowed up by something far more complicated, and far more sorrowful.

Aunt Zhou Yun’s child… had she died looking like this?

It was already heartbreaking enough to see her reduced to such a state. To lose her precious life on top of that had been far too cruel, both for Aunt Zhou Yun and for the child named Yuan Yuan.

“I know where we can take them.”

She’d once told Zhao Mei that her hometown lay at the farthest western edge of the Western District. There stretched an immensely vast grassland, so boundless that she’d never been able to find its end.

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Authors Note  

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A well-behaved Shiba Inu, and a Beagle that’s always itching to stir up trouble ().