The corrosive pain surging from his throat and abdomen made Joseph's face pale, but compared to the physical agony, what he feared more was the brown-haired girl before him with her angelic features and smiling face.
No, that wasn't any girl, but a monster - that monster from the Hidden Management Department!!
"How did you do this..."
Joseph managed to ask through the pain:
"We clearly confirmed it - we definitely teleported you back to the present world!"
"Facing the power left by the True Dragon, you couldn't possibly have escaped!!"
"Then I should ask you instead."
Sun Seto's eyes held no emotion as she looked at Joseph:
"When did you get the illusion that I was teleported away?"
Hearing this, Joseph's pupils contracted violently, his mouth gradually falling open. For a moment, he seemed to have his throat constricted, emitting hoarse, gasping sounds.
On the other side, Rad, who was relatively calmer, frowned and said:
"At only Demigod Rank, it's impossible for you to withstand the power of a True Dragon..."
"That's it! You were indeed teleported away, but it was your true body that was teleported. Now you've descended in some special state, which is why we couldn't detect your traces in the Abyss world!"
Thinking this, Rad couldn't help but furrow his brow tightly:
"When did this happen?"
"You're asking when?"
Luo Shu, who was possessing Sun Seto, smiled faintly:
"From the very beginning, of course."
"From the very beginning?"
Rad's eyes widened in disbelief:
"You've been possessing this girl from the start, all the way until reaching here?!"
Understanding everything now, Rad couldn't help but say:
"You're already this powerful, yet you're still so treacherous..."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Wearing Sun Seto's face, Luo Shu smiled while looking at the two of them, his gaze carrying a probing tone:
"Now, as payment for my earlier answer, there's something I'd like to ask you both."
At this point, Luo Shu put away his smile and said calmly:
"Do you still remember who you are?"
"What do you mean?"
Joseph clutched his stomach, painfully kneeling on the ground. The gastric acid he had just swallowed had now transformed into small grey crocodiles that were chewing through his stomach.
Yet despite the pain, what shocked him more was Luo Shu's statement.
What did he mean, did they still remember who they were?
How could they not be themselves?
It was at this moment that Luo Shu asked calmly:
"Before reaching this core area, I travelled throughout this entire Abyss world."
"Heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, stomach, small intestine, gallbladder, large intestine, bladder, thoracic cavity, abdominal cavity... I visited every location, spending considerable time doing so, which is why I arrived at the heart position so late."
"But precisely because I explored this Abyss world, I became puzzled by the power you possess."
At this point, Luo Shu looked meaningfully at Joseph and Rad as he inquired:
"I've seen intelligence reports on both of you."
"Whether it's the director of America's Union Central Investigation Bureau, or the youngest general in Thailand, your records are indeed impressive, but none of them exceed human limits."
"Since you haven't exceeded human limits, then the question arises."
"How did you manage to control a True Dragon's corpse as humans?"
"Don't tell me that with treasures left behind by the True Dragon, given that you haven't even reached Hero Rank, you could at most control some suitable Demigod Rank Abyss Artefacts. You'd struggle even with Apostle-level items, let alone an Angel's body."
"That's why I want to ask you."
Luo Shu said this while looking calmly at the two sweating profusely:
"Are you really still Rad Maurer? Are you really Joseph Karl?"
Hearing such questions, Joseph and Rad simultaneously fell into speechless terror.
Indeed, although they were considered high-ranking officials in their respective countries, the so-called elites of their nations, in reality, neither of them even had a Class - they were merely ordinary people.
How did they manage to freely manipulate the corpse of a True Dragon, conceal themselves before a Demigod, and even banish a Demigod?
At this moment, the same question surged in both their hearts.
Were they still themselves?
The very instant they realised this.
The pain vanished from Joseph's face. The greyish-white crocodile devouring his internal organs seemed to encounter something terrifying, instantly reverting to greyish-white mucus that merged into his stomach.
Simultaneously, greyish-white dragon scales emerged across Rad's body, transforming him in an instant into a massive six-metre-tall draconian.
Gold and red hues shimmered in both their eyes.
Splash!
The sound of liquid splattering on the ground echoed.
Yet what fell wasn't water, but the grey mucus they had melted into.
The grey mucus pooled on the ground, coalesced, then rose to form a grey-scaled draconian standing over 1.8 metres tall.
The draconian opened its eyes, brown beast-like pupils reflecting Sun Seto's calm countenance.
After a long stare, the draconian spoke in a deep, aged voice:
"An Angel's Possession?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's gaze grew meaningful as he said:
"It seems we've finally encountered the real master."
After examining the grey draconian, Luo Shu remarked with surprise:
"Splitting the residual consciousness into two parts—no, likely more fragments—forming spiritual eggs that overwrite the host's personality to achieve rebirth through possession?"
"Truly worthy of being an Angel who commands death, to conceive such a method to evade destruction."
Then, Luo Shu narrowed his eyes:
"Though, in your current state, how much of your peak power remains?"
Faced with this pointed question, the draconian fell silent before sighing with profound emotion:
"To think a native Angel exists in this sealed world."
Its brown draconic eyes then reflected not Sun Seto's face, but the visage of Luo Shu's spiritual entity possessing her:
"Deliberately reviving me at my weakest state, then appearing through a subordinate's Possession... Heh. Quite the cautious fellow..."
Maintaining his smile, Luo Shu declared in a victor's tone:
"I believe we can have a proper discussion."
The draconian responded only with cold indifference:
"There is nothing to discuss between us."
"A fragmented Angel's only fate is to become nourishment for the victor!"
"But temporary victory does not mean eternal triumph!!"
Luo Shu's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could act, the draconian's body began crumbling.
From feet to torso to head, until even its eyes nearly vanished, the draconian remained calm as it gazed at Luo Shu:
"I await your arrival in the eternal Abyss!!"
"That old creature..."
Realising the implication, Luo Shu's expression darkened instantly.
Within the sea of subconsciousness, Sun Seto watched the restless dark clouds above with confusion, unable to resist asking Luo Shu:
'Has something happened?'
After a moment of silence, Luo Shu finally replied:
"This old dragon, before dying, used its final strength to broadcast the coordinates of reality to the Abyss in a full-scale transmission..."
"Such efficiency - was this a pre-arranged method?"
Luo Shu's expression immediately turned grave:
"If I am captured by other Angels, immediately send a signal to the Abyss world..."
"What reason drove him to be so resolute?"
"An incomplete Angel would only become nourishment for the victor? Could it be that for an Angel to advance further, they need to devour other Angels?"
Just as these heavy doubts surfaced in Luo Shu's heart.
Where the vanished dragon-man had been, a greyish-white scale materialised out of thin air and fell to the ground.
In an instant, the entire ground turned ashen white, visibly, losing all signs of life.
Seeing this, Luo Shu furrowed his brow, enveloped the greyish-white scale with the power of his Divine Kingdom, and gave it a brief appraisal.
[Death Authority (Angel Rank)]
[A crystallised authority left behind after an Angel's fall, containing all the symbols mastered by that Angel.]
After glancing at the dragon scale, Luo Shu sighed and shook his head:
"What a mess this has become... the amusement just keeps growing."
Publicising the world's coordinates to the Abyss... that old dragon who didn't even leave a name behind really knew how to cause trouble for him.
Well-versed in the dark forest theory, Luo Shu understood perfectly what kind of disaster revealing one's location would be in the vast dark forest of the Abyss.
The present world already frequently suffered invasions from all sorts of strange entities from Abyss worlds; now, with the coordinates publicised, it was adding frost to snow.
Perhaps before long, inter-world exchanges, even large-scale invasions, might become the norm.
Thinking this, Luo Shu couldn't help but mutter:
"It's almost like a new Age of Discovery..."
The moment he finished muttering, Luo Shu felt a sudden clarity as a force began coalescing within his heart.
It was an aggregation of calamity, a symbol of order turning negative.
In that instant, Luo Shu realised one fact.
His Authority Prototype had taken initial form!!