Chapter 143: The Reappearance of -999999!

The Ultraman in midair vanished instantly, leaving only the dying Chen Yun, who was coughing up blood as he plummeted. Had Bilian not caught him, Chen Yun would have been sent straight to the underworld.

"Tsk tsk, so this is the thing that can turn into Ultraman? Not all that impressive. It couldn't even withstand a single punch of mine; His Majesty is likely to be disappointed," the Shadow said, flying down while shaking her head and looking at the Ultraman transformation device in Chen Yun's hand.

"Not necessarily. Your attack happened to coincide with the time limit running out, which is why it disappeared. Besides, I reckon the strength after transforming into Ultraman scales with the user's own power," Bilian said as he tossed Chen Yun onto the ground. "I'll leave the rest to you. There are two little rats outside; I'll go take care of them."

"System alert: Player Chen Yun's backup health pool is at maximum capacity. Do you wish to activate the backup health pool to restore health?"

Chen Yun was momentarily stunned, followed by a surge of elation. He had been fretting over how to use restorative items without arousing suspicion, but the system had delivered just in time.

"Yes!"

"Backup health pool emptied, player health fully restored, near-death status removed."

"Understood, Grand General." The Shadow nodded, squatting down to look at Chen Yun, who was still coughing intermittently. With a smiling expression, she said, "Chen Yun, tell me, where did you get this gadget that lets you turn into Ultraman?"

Where did I get it? Would you believe me if I said I looted it from a boss?

Chen Yun curled his lips and asked, "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" The Shadow chuckled softly. "You don't need to know who I am. Just answer my question: where did you get this item?"

"Found it," Chen Yun replied, mixing truth with falsehood. It was indeed found; he had picked it up from the ground where the boss dropped it, perfectly legitimate.

"Found it?" The Shadow was taken aback. She hadn't expected such an answer and felt a sudden urge to torture him. Unfortunately, seeing that Chen Yun had only half a breath left, she shook her head in disappointment. Better not; if she accidentally killed him, His Majesty would place the blame on her.

"If you don't want to talk, fine. I'll ask you another question, and you'd better think carefully this time. This concerns your life."

Chen Yun was startled. What did that mean? Was this person about to silence him? No way, he had to find a way to escape; dying here meant true death.

Yet, how could he escape? The person before him was at least close to a Tier 10 cultivator, and there was a peak Tier 10 cultivator outside. To escape from their grasp, he needed a speed of at least 1,000 meters per second. With his current agility of 60, his base speed was $60 imes 2 = 120$ meters per second. Factoring in the 7x speed multiplier of the aerospace combat vehicle's ultimate acceleration skill, he could only reach 840 meters per second—not nearly enough to get away.

Could it be that today was truly his doom?

Chen Yun was lost in anxious thoughts when the Shadow spoke again.

"I ask you, are you willing to swear allegiance to His Majesty the Emperor? Do so, and you live; refuse, and you die."

Huh? Chen Yun was stunned. Was this force allegiance?

The Emperor truly stopped at nothing. Stealing his item wasn't enough; now they wanted to claim him body and soul, threatening death for non-compliance. No wonder Captain Li had said those words last time. This truly was a world where the strong preyed upon the weak: those who submit live, those who defy perish!

How could someone like that ever be worthy of his loyalty? In this world, not a single person deserved his allegiance. However, to save his skin, he would feign surrender for now. Once he grew powerful enough, he would return to slaughter the dog emperor and eradicate these tyrants!

"Since you've put it this way, do I have any other choice? I pledge my allegiance," Chen Yun said, struggling to his feet with feigned difficulty.

"Heh, insincere, but it doesn't matter." The Shadow stood up, produced a pill, and handed it to Chen Yun. "Eat it. The Emperor truly values you, actually willing to give the imperial treasury's last Grandmaster-grade pill to a mere Master-grade chef. You should consider yourself honored."

Chen Yun gazed at the pill. With just a single glance, his complexion turned ashen.

Puppet Pill: A one-time Epic-grade item. Upon consumption, loyalty to the NPC Long Zheng reaches the absolute devotion status, guaranteeing eternal allegiance.

True to its Epic grade, the effect was brutally absolute. Absolute devotion, eternal allegiance—these two traits completely eliminated any possibility of a fake surrender. Gritting his teeth, Chen Yun stared at the Shadow and growled, "Have you people no shred of humanity?"

"Humanity? Ha! What is humanity? Can humanity grant me eternal youth? No! Can humanity bring me wealth, status, and power? No!" The Shadow narrowed her eyes and said darkly, "In this world, the strong survive and the weak are eliminated. Will you eat it or not?"

"Eat your fucking ancestors!" Enraged, Chen Yun whipped out his fatal pistol and fired straight at the Shadow.

Rather than becoming a puppet, he would rather die. He would never let the dog emperor make a slave of him!

Chen Yun was standing extremely close to the Shadow, giving her no time to react before the fatal bullet struck her.

-38,942!

A fatal bullet forged by a Tier 10 cultivator was terrifying; this single shot instantly shaved off one-tenth of the Shadow's health.

Chen Yun knew this shot wouldn't kill her; its sole purpose was to buy him enough time to summon his mount and initiate its transformation.

"Summon Mount!"

"Password: Begging the readers for favorites, recommendations, and tips!"

"Enter Optimus Prime mode! Confirm consumption of Heavenly Crystal Coins!"

Chen Yun's 60 points of agility were more than enough for him to dive into the vehicle the moment it materialized. In the blink of an eye, the aerospace combat vehicle shifted from its Maserati GT form into a 150-meter-tall, 2,000-ton Optimus Prime wielding the Sword of Judgment!

"Fuck your mother! You want to force me to pledge allegiance to the dog emperor? I'm going all-in today! I'll kill you first, then Bilian, and then march all the way to the imperial capital to kill the dog emperor!" Chen Yun was driven mad by rage. Never in his life had he suffered such grievance. Prince Long Fei had already provoked him enough last time, but this time was far worse—the Emperor actually intended to turn him into a puppet. This was utterly intolerable!

Staring in utter astonishment at the colossal 'Transformer,' the Shadow shrieked out, "Optimus Prime from the Star Empire movie 'Transformers'! You even have this!"

"Damn it, the system is acting up again," Chen Yun muttered internally, his thoughts shifting instantly. Optimus Prime swung the Sword of Judgment and brought it down upon the Shadow.

Bilian had just finished disposing of Wang Lihong and Wang Jiong, those two little rats, when he heard gunfire echoing from the manor. He let out a sigh, secretly lamenting that a Master-grade chef capable of preparing Grandmaster-tier dishes was about to perish. However, immediately afterward, a furious roar reached his ears, causing him to look up and behold the unbelievable sight of 'Optimus Prime'!

"Impressive kid. Just how many hidden cards does he have? First Ultraman, and now Optimus Prime. This fellow is far too dangerous; he cannot be left alive!"

After a momentary shock, Bilian regained his composure. As a top-tier cultivator, he could adjust his mental state at will. He watched as Optimus Prime swung his greatsword down toward the Shadow, knowing full well that the Shadow could never block this strike. Yet, he made no move to intervene. The Shadow was a die-hard loyalist of the Emperor and the Dragon Empire's most promising candidate to break through to the fourth Tier 10 cultivator, posing a threat to Bilian's own status. If Chen Yun could injure or even kill the Shadow, Bilian would be more than delighted.

Optimus Prime's attributes were 1,500 times that of Chen Yun, and its agility had reached a horrifying 90,000. Watching the giant sword hurtling down toward him, the Shadow knew evasion was impossible. In sheer despair, she glanced at Bilian, who was standing on a nearby wall with a serene smile on his face. Her heart skipped a beat as the realization struck her: she had already become a threat to his position, and Bilian had no intention of saving her.

"This is a world devoid of humanity..." As the colossal blade descended, the Shadow closed her eyes.

-999,999!

One-hit kill!