Obediently listening to Rhode's command, the woman tentatively ordered the black ghost.
"Stop, no attacking!"
The winged black ghost immediately stopped moving, retracted its wings, and stood back beside the woman, quietly looking at Rhode.
Then the woman felt her slender, cold hand being gently but firmly held.
Rhode's tone was flat but undeniable.
"Very good, from today onwards, you are my person."
Authority · Absolute Contract, activate!
The content of the contract appeared in her mind, and the woman was startled.
After curiously reading it, she found that one clause in this almost harsh mandatory contract was, "The contractor must fully demonstrate her value."
The woman couldn't help but blush as her mind wandered.
Nearly thirty years old, but due to her somewhat reclusive personality, she had never had a lover.
She had originally thought that she would eventually give in and spend her life with a boring, uninteresting man, but now such a sudden development, which would seem abrupt even in a novel, had occurred.
Fate is truly playful....
The woman slowly closed her eyes, imagining the murder scene as a church blessed by elders and relatives.
And she, dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress, was shyly and joyfully about to marry the handsome, domineering, and highly possessive young man in front of her.
A happy smile appeared on her face, and sparkling tears escaped the confines of her eyes.
The woman sighed, accepted the contract, opened her eyes, and chuckled softly.
"I do~"
Rhode raised an eyebrow in surprise, gazing at her staring blankly at him, and remained silent for a moment.
He chuckled softly, then suddenly pinched Suzuki Jun's delicate little chin, brought his face closer, and said indifferently.
"Although it might be different from what you imagined, the women around me are all like companions to me, so..."
Suzuki Jun's eyes widened.
My first kiss...!
But then, her hands involuntarily wrapped around Rhode's neck, and she became immersed in the kiss, completely surrendering her heart to him.
After that, Rhode set the entire theater on fire and, using Kamui Space, took Suzuki Jun out to stand at a street corner not far away.
They quietly watched as panicking police called firefighters to control the blaze, then silently departed.
In a cozy little room, space twisted.
Suzuki Jun, holding Rhode tightly, carefully walked out.
"Ugh... although it's amazing, I still feel scared no matter what."
Perhaps having arrived in a familiar environment, Suzuki Jun appeared much more relaxed.
She spun around in a good mood, finally shyly standing in front of Rhode, occasionally stealing a glance at him, and spoke somewhat awkwardly, clutching the hem of her clothes.
"Um... I want to take a bath first, you're not in a hurry, are you?"
Although demi-humans have regeneration, her clothes were dirty and stained with blood, which an cleanliness-loving person like her couldn't stand!
Rhode laughed heartily and flicked Suzuki Jun's forehead.
"What kind of person do you take me for? Go take your bath. It just so happens I need to go out again first; I'll be back when you're done."
"Of course, you're domineering, greedy, extremely possessive... but also a gentle angel who saved me~ My Master~"
Suzuki Jun, who had initially put on an angry expression, couldn't help but burst into laughter as she spoke, walking over to Rhode and thoughtfully taking off his coat.
"This is also stained, I'll wash it for you too."
Holding Rhode's coat, she walked happily into the shower room, but in a moment, she suddenly poked her head out with a serious expression.
"Master, if the police find recent traces of use here, won't they suspect me?"
Rhode stretched, pleased with Suzuki Jun's carefulness.
His requirements for a woman were that she had to be both capable and capable.
"Don't worry, don't think of the police here as being as responsible as they are in American dramas."
"And even if they do find out, it won't matter as long as you never appear in this world again."
"Your family will be troubled at first, but eventually no outsiders will disturb them again."
Suzuki Jun silently clutched Rhode's coat, lowered her head, and murmured.
"That's good, that's enough...."
"Then I'll go out now."
After saying that, Suzuki Jun heard the sound of the door gently closing.
The loneliness of being abandoned by the whole world struck again, and Suzuki Jun slid weakly to the floor, leaning against the wall.
Rhode's coat was held tightly in her arms.
She subtly sniffed it, feeling a sense of guilt that she was doing something strange, but the sense of security born from that scent made her unable to extricate herself.
"Master's scent, mixed with my own... ugh...."
Suzuki Jun's eyes were sometimes hazy, sometimes lost in thought, a little sad.
"My world, only you are left, my Master..."
Sadness, fear, unease, restlessness, shame, guilt... eventually, after some time, her blank mind regained its rationality.
Suzuki Jun, with a flushed face, propped herself against the wall and stood up, putting her clothes and Rhode's coat into the washing machine, turning on the showerhead to aim at the water stains on the floor, and quietly mumbled.
"It's all your fault, you made me strange!"
A little while later, a soft sigh echoed from the shower room.
"...When will Master come back? I miss you."
At this moment, Rhode was walking on the streets of California, passing a giant poster for "Pirates of the Caribbean 2."
This world was currently in mid-2006, and the subprime mortgage crisis had made the entire society seem dangerous and volatile.
As an East Asian man, he had only been walking on the street for less than ten minutes when ten Black men had already been kindly offered the chance to reincarnate by him.
Rhode was currently thinking about demi-humans.
About 16 years ago, in the 1990s in Africa, the first demi-human was discovered.
Although that guy was called a divine soldier locally, he was eventually arrested by the US military.
Since then, rumors have circulated that one could get a large bounty by capturing a demi-human.
The discoverer could claim ownership of a demi-human, treating them like hunted prey.
This was also why Suzuki Jun felt no joy after learning she was a demi-human.
After more than a decade of research and development, the demi-human underground industry was now very rich.
Using the demi-humans' immortality for car crash tests, clinical trials for new drugs, organ transplants, cave exploration....
In the hands of capitalists, one demi-human could generate economic benefits comparable to a small country.
"The demi-humans in this world are truly pitiful."
While saying this, Rhode showed no sign of pity, his mind entirely focused on how to make those guys quickly drop gold.
So far, he still hadn't fully understood the mechanism by which wishes were born.
But one thing Rhode was very clear about.
If someone sincerely cried for help with extremely strong emotions in person, it would definitely trigger a wish, and if it involved their own life and safety, it would definitely be an A-rank wish!
And those demi-humans who were tormented to a state of neither living nor dying were simply his biggest ATMs!
Currently, there were 46 confirmed demi-humans worldwide, at least four-fifths of whom were secretly enduring inhumane torment.
Adding in those who were forced to hide due to their demi-human identity and had not yet been discovered, there were at least a hundred demi-humans who could trigger wishes!
Rhode narrowed his eyes slightly.
"The difficulty lies in how to locate them."
Recalling the figure of Sato, the villain of this world, in his mind, Rhode turned and walked into an empty alley, then softly chanted.
"Your imprint belongs to me, and my imprint still belongs to me~"
After transforming into Sato, Rhode took out a dark green beret from his Kamui Space and put it on his head, a pleased smile on his lips.
"Now it's time for some serious shopping~"
Over the next few hours, a mysterious event that shocked the entire world occurred!
Countless shops, bookstores, car dealerships, gun stores, large supermarkets, hospitals, factories, and even warehouses at US military bases across America all vanished into thin air in an instant!
The President of the country threw a fit in the White House, the FBI and CIA were in a frenzy, and after half a month of fruitless investigation, they shifted their focus, announced the declassification of alien files, and barely managed to guide public opinion towards alien technology.
But behind the scenes, experts from special departments had been investigating and, based on street cameras, discovered the same man's figure near all the locations where items disappeared.
His appearance was identical to a former US military elite who had served in the Vietnam War!
And that man's name was Samuel T. Owen.
Of course, these were all things that would only be discovered at least a week later.
Rhode was now lying in a spacious corner of Kamui Space, panting heavily.
His magic was depleted, and he was physically exhausted.
His face was pale, cold sweat constantly streamed down his forehead, his eyes couldn't even open the Sharingan, and just moving his limbs required all his strength.
Rhode gasped for air.
"Hoo... hoo... even in the Dungeon, I never drained my magic and stamina... to this extent, not a single drop left...."
Although it was intentional, Rhode still wore a bitter smile.
The physical and mental pain was bearable, but this state of utter helplessness made him feel completely insecure.
Under normal circumstances, he would never let himself fall into such a predicament.
However, starting today, everything would be different.
He looked up at the system panel, a excited smile on his face.
"A-rank wish has been completed."
"Reward level judgment is normal."
"Task completion is normal, wish-maker satisfaction is over-fulfilled."
"Congratulations! You have received an A-rank reward!"
"Congratulations! You have obtained Suzuki Jun's ability: Ajin!"
"Congratulations! You have obtained 1000 Wish Points. Current balance: 7000 points."
Rhode forced himself to use his last bit of strength, gripping the pistol in his right hand and aiming it at his temple, glancing at the pile of supplies in the distance that was almost becoming a small town, and twitched the corner of his mouth.
"See you later~"
Bang—
The bullet pierced Rhode's brain.
Rhode's eyes lost focus, his right hand dropped limply, and he completely lost his breath.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Rhode suddenly sat upright.
Having resurrected again, he widened his eyes, quietly feeling the completely replenished magic power within him and the vitality so full it was almost overflowing. This somewhat peculiar experience made it difficult for him to snap back to reality for a moment.
Rhode covered his forehead and remained silent for a long time, finally unable to resist bursting into laughter.
"Hahahahaha, my guess was correct after all!"
The Ajin's ability to forcibly resurrect, ignoring all obstacles, was indeed the fallback skill Rhode needed.
However, its mechanism of restoring to peak condition after resurrection underwent a qualitative change when applied to Rhode!
The Ajin of this world could at most only recover stamina after dying and resurrecting, but he could restore all his powers, including magic power, mental power, stamina, and even ocular power!
"Since that's the case, I can try this skill now."
"Third Power: Susanoo!"
The azure Full-Body Susanoo soared into the sky!
Rhode, inside the Susanoo, felt the rapid consumption of his ocular power and magic power without a hint of tension. Instead, he observed this body, which was slightly different from the original Kamui Susanoo, with great interest.
"It seems I can do this...."
He plunged his right hand into his left wing and slowly drew out a sword, while his left hand extended forward, forming a spiritual tool resembling a shield.
Rhode was so shocked he was speechless.
"Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, Yata no Kagami? When did these arrive?!"
These two divine artifacts, which were only controlled by the filial son in Naruto, were actually materialized by his Susanoo at this moment!
The Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, which could seal everything, and the Yata no Kagami, which could convert the properties of an attack to negate it.
These two divine artifacts would definitely come in handy.
It had to be said, this was a pleasant surprise!
But materializing two divine artifacts at once made the consumption of magic power even faster!
The Full-Body Susanoo only lasted for less than two and a half minutes before automatically disbanding. Rhode hadn't even begun to test its offensive capabilities.
Landing on the ground, Rhode once again took out his pistol, aimed it at his forehead, and smiled faintly.
"But it doesn't matter, I can still reload."
Bang—
Three seconds later.
"Susanoo!"
After Rhode continuously used various skills of Susanoo in a short period, his understanding of this technique deepened, and he also roughly ascertained the limit of his magic power's current usage.
The initial purely defensive stage, if it did not endure any attacks, could last for thirty minutes.
Subsequent stages almost halved, with the first stage reducing to fifteen minutes...
But overall, Rhode was still quite satisfied.
Especially when combined with the Ajin's post-death refresh mechanism, it was tantamount to infinite duration!
The only thing to be careful of was to avoid the possibility of being sealed during resurrection.
"But I still need to acquire more magic power..."
After the test, Rhode pondered ways to increase his magic power capacity and teleported back to Suzuki Jun's residence.
As soon as Rhode entered the door, Suzuki Jun, wearing a thin silk nightgown, pounced on him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, holding on tighter and tighter.
Rhode casually placed the roses he bought on the shoe cabinet, then hugged Suzuki Jun back, resting his chin on her forehead, inhaling the faint scent of shower gel.
The two of them embraced in silence.
After a long while, the strength in her arms loosened a little, and she looked up, pouting in a wronged manner.
"Why are you back so late, I thought you forgot about me and didn't want me anymore."
Rhode chuckled, stroking her cheek.
"You're my useful little slave, you know. I took the trouble to sign you, so I need to properly develop your value."
Suzuki Jun glanced at the vibrant red roses on the cabinet, feeling secretly delighted. She buried her head in Rhode's embrace, whining playfully.
She was actually clearly aware of her position and had no intention of monopolizing Rhode or becoming his official girlfriend or anything like that.
But... once a girl develops feelings, she can't hide them, right?
"Then... do you have time to develop me now?"
Rhode didn't answer, merely took her earlobe into his mouth, his right hand on Suzuki Jun's fair neck, gently pulling her collar to slide down her shoulder.
A moment later, Suzuki Jun, who was already prepared, could no longer bear it and whimpered.
"Master... carry me to the bed~"
And so, outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and inside the house, heavy rain began to fall.
The next morning
Rhode yawned and opened his eyes.
Having a rare chance to enjoy modern bedding, he was a bit reluctant to get out of bed.
Suzuki Jun had woken up earlier than him and was busy with her head down, her crimson lips occupied and unable to speak. She could only look up at him with her watery, sparkling eyes, greeting him.
Rhode let out a long sigh of relief, comfortably stroking her soft hair. Only then did Suzuki Jun pick up the water glass from the bedside and take a big gulp.
She rubbed her sore jaw, her eyes carrying the charm of a married woman.
"You certainly have a lot of energy early in the morning."
Rhode gave a thumbs-up.
"Giving your service a perfect score."
The thirty years of accumulated challenge was not a simple and easy journey of exploration.
Rhode had to use all his skills to overcome this challenge.
Later, he even considered using the Ajin ability to reload and cheat, but Suzuki Jun retorted that if he did, she would also reload and start over!