384: Green Head Crisis and Blood Cocoon

Laroche adjusted his cuffs, his expression indifferent: “The number of Spirit Puppets is still too small, only a dozen or so. But it’s enough; the seeds here have been sown and will grow on their own.”

"We should set off for the Frost Luo Duchy now. There are more suitable 'materials' among the nobles there for transformation."

Sebastian's throat tightened, his voice extremely hoarse: "Go to Frost Luo Duchy now?"

"That is the territory of the God of Winter. Even if He is only a Seventh-Tier deity, His annual festivals cause a huge stir, and Divine Edicts are thrown down as if they were free."

"If we run into them now, aren't we just asking for trouble?"

Laroche sneered, pinching the dark red earring on his left ear, looking completely unconcerned: "What is there to fear? Everything is handled by the Great Saint..."

"Boom!"

An earth-shaking bang suddenly erupted, abruptly cutting off his sentence.

Laroche's head, still bearing a sinister smile, instantly exploded like a smashed watermelon.

Red and white fluids splattered all over the expensive velvet carpet behind him.

The headless corpse swayed, its fingers still in the motion of touching the earring, before falling straight to the ground.

A large hole was blasted through the window and half the wall on the fourth floor of the Nightingale Club; the night wind, mixed with the bloody stench of the city, whistled inside.

Shang Wan Ning held a several-meter-tall, continuously squirming Evil God Blood Cocoon in one hand, her figure suspended in mid-air outside the hole.

In her other hand, she held a 'star shatterer', the muzzle still emitting wisps of smoke.

Her Majesty the Empress casually blew on the muzzle, as if merely dusting off some trash.

"Tudor, seize the soul. Killing this bastard with one shot is too cheap. Big Dog happens to need a new toy; take it back and let him have some fun with it."

Her voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly pierced the ears of everyone downstairs who was still capable of thought.

Isabella and Sebastian felt their entire bodies go cold, their minds completely blank.

Laroche... the strongest High-Tier Vassal beneath the Great Saint, was just... just instantly head-shot by that woman using a thing like a fire poker from a distance?

There was no time to even react.

There was absolutely no way to fight this.

Escape, they must immediately use Blood Transformation to flee.

Survival instincts screamed wildly, veins under their skin bulged hideously, and their bodies began to twist and fade, attempting to merge into the shadows... "Clang!"

The sound of metal grinding rang out.

Two chains drilled out of the void, wrapping around the bodies of Isabella and Sebastian, who were about to undergo Blood Transformation, at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

The chains tightened, the Runes on them glowing brightly, instantly suppressing and sealing their surging Flesh and Blood Power along with their Souls.

Their swollen, distorted bodies rapidly deflated like leaky balloons. Their eyes dimmed, and like puppets that had lost control, they were dragged by the chains and vanished into the Ghost Gate opened by the Judge.

Shang Wan Ning slowly landed in the ruined room.

She placed the large Blood Cocoon she was holding onto the floor; its heavy weight shook the floorboards, causing dust to fly everywhere.

After doing this, the terrifying Killing Intent around Her Majesty the Empress subsided by about thirty percent, replaced by a surge of almost blackening Resentment.

[This damn Side Quest.]

In her Sea of Consciousness, Shang Wan Ning's Divine Sense avatar was fiercely poking a Small Ball of Light that was constantly trembling in the corner.

Just last night.

She had finally managed to get Chief Assistant Lin to change into a specially customized "Work Uniform," and the Secretary-General was cooperating by playing the "strict superior."

The three of them were engaged in a scenario involving deep communication.

The atmosphere was perfect, the plot was reaching a climax, and she was just about to successfully "cosplay" with her two capable subordinates.

Ding!

Detected special item [Unhatched Evil God Blood Cocoon]'s Resentment is about to be depleted, hindering the incubation process. An emergency Side Quest is now issued.

Mission objective: Replenish the required 'High-Purity Filth Origin' for the [Unhatched Evil God Blood Cocoon] to help it complete its final incubation.

Mission time limit: 24 hours

Mission Reward: 10 million incense points.

Mission Penalty: Host's hair will be forcefully turned emerald green for a duration of two years. This effect ignores any Divine Arts or Spirit Artifact defenses below Tier 10.

The mechanical System prompt sounded like a basin of wangchuan water mixed with Ice Thistle Grass, extinguishing all her enthusiasm.

Shang Wan Ning, who was thoroughly enjoying the performance, watched her distressed and pitiful superior and doctor opposite her... In that moment, Her Majesty the Empress felt like strangling the System.

She fiercely poked the System panel, her Divine Sense roaring: "Xiao Si, do I lack your ten million incense points?"

"Ah ah ah..."

Xiao Si shrunk into the deepest part of the System Space, its electronic voice laced with a sob: "G-great host, spare my life."

"This mission was forcibly triggered, it has nothing to do with Xiao Si!"

A vein throbbed on Shang Wan Ning's forehead.

Two years, green hair, and it ignores defenses.

Just thinking about going to meet her subordinates and fight her old rivals with a head full of emerald green hair for the next two years... the image was too beautiful to dwell on.

Her enemies would probably laugh until their Godhood shattered; a single line, "Netherworld Empress, your hair is truly green," would be enough to break Shang Wan Ning's defense and destabilize her Dao Heart on the spot.

She could accept becoming a girl, and occasional fencing... was also negotiable, but becoming a Green-Haired Turtle was absolutely unacceptable!!!

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Tudor, who was far away on the Ativi Continent arranging follow-up plans, sent an anomaly report about Veloria, which specifically mentioned the unique "Filth" aura on the "Blood Elves."

It was like someone handing you a pillow just as you were about to fall asleep.

Shang Wan Ning immediately tore open space, bringing the Blood Cocoon that she had thrown into the bottom of the Wangchuan River decades ago like trash, and rushed straight over.

The goal was clear—seize the Filth and save her dignity.

Tudor's figure condensed into form in the corner of the room, reporting: "Your Majesty, the Souls of the three Main Culprits have been seized. The residual Filth concentration in Veloria is sufficient to meet the needs of the Evil God Blood Cocoon."

Shang Wan Ning hummed in acknowledgement, her expression still rather displeased.

She lifted her foot and gave the continuously pulsating Blood Cocoon on the ground a moderate kick.

The dark red patterns on the Blood Cocoon's surface glowed, transmitting a faint consciousness of 'urgency'.

"You ruined my good time for this broken thing," Her Majesty the Empress said with a sinister tone. "If what hatches doesn't satisfy me, I'll stuff you back to the bottom of the Wangchuan River and hold you down for another five hundred years."

The Blood Cocoon seemed to understand, its pulsations sped up, transmitting Mental Fluctuations similar to "obedient" and "definitely useful."

Xiao Si timidly interjected: "great host, the High-Purity Filth has been detected and is in place. Should we guide its absorption to complete the incubation?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Shang Wan Ning replied testily, "Are we saving it to spawn babies?"

Xiao Si continued chattering: "Actually, if you wait another half hour, until the Grand Cathedral of Holy Radiance falls, the Blood Cocoon's hatching potential will be even better."

Shang Wan Ning: "Are you the King of Hell?"

Xiao Si: "Xiao Si is not, but the System is the beloved System of the King of Hell's superior."

"Heh, you really know how to flatter yourself."