Seeing 'D's' smiley face, Jean was speechless for a moment, but still greeted, "I'm back."
"Yo, welcome back."
At this time, Frostnova, who was in Jean's arms, also slowly woke up. The Light Rain and being carried for this period of time had given her a good recovery, and she now had a bit of energy.
Seeing the woman before her, who could be described as ethereal and exquisitely beautiful, Frostnova also greeted her somewhat nervously, "Hello."
'D' did not respond directly to Frostnova, but said to Jean, "Not bad, returning with a beauty in your arms."
Jean also nodded and said to 'D', "All contract distributions are a 70/30 split, settled in points as an indivisible unit. So, I want full ownership of Frostnova. How many points will it take?"
As if she had expected this, 'D' giggled and then said to Jean, "Splits, points... none of that is important. Let me ask you, how much is she worth in your heart?"
"!!" This shameless question immediately stumped Jean.
But with Frostnova's curious gaze and 'D's' mocking gaze intertwined, she eventually spoke the answer in her heart: "A Priceless Treasure!"
After saying it, although her heart felt clear, it was also truly bleeding. It seemed that being scammed once was inevitable.
"Just say it, what do you want?" Jean asked weakly.
"Hehehe, don't think of me as so bad. As they say, life is priceless, and she is also priceless, so how about you go die once?"
"!!!"
Frostnova grabbed Jean's clothes with a worried look, but Jean thought of more.
"Wait! You don't mean..."
"The 24-hour Tentacle Little Black Room package, please."
"Sister, can we negotiate?"
'D':(＾ω＾)
Jean:∑(´△｀)?!
'D':(〃^ω^)
Jean:∑(O_O;)
'D':ヾ(^Д^*)/
---
Ultimately, after 180 rounds of emoji-based bargaining, Jean still failed to exchange for any other conditions.
"Don't worry, this can be considered a beneficial thing for you. In life, the focus is on the experience."
"But Frostnova..."
"Oh, I forgot to mention, 24 hours inside is only about an hour outside, so it's no problem."
Hearing this, Jean also gave up her final resistance. In fact, she had already prepared herself mentally for this ordeal, but she hadn't expected to have her first attempt under these circumstances.
Grabbing Frostnova's small hand, she said with deep emotion, "Wait for me, I'll be back soon. If that Evil God tries to do anything to you, just shout loudly, and I will come to save you."
Frostnova nodded with a look of utter confusion.
"You should worry about yourself instead." After saying that, 'D' grabbed Jean by the back of the collar and threw her into a pitch-black space.
Then she glanced at Frostnova and said, "Take a seat anywhere, it'll be over soon."
Then she returned to her desk to struggle against a large stack of documents.
On the other side, as soon as Jean entered the little black room, she felt her limbs being wrapped by something. With her excellent vision and the faint light, she could see it was something like a transparent gel.
Then she saw several similar tentacles reach out in front of her eyes, and then they revealed—several feathers.
...
—24 hours (72 minutes outside) later—
A physically weak Jean crawled out of the black space step by step.
And her first words were: "Stupid Evil God! Evil God profanity"
"How was it? Felt pretty good, right?"
"I'm like, damn, I was prepared to come out with an Ahegao face, and you just used a few feathers to tickle me for 24 hours! Are you out of your mind!"
"I'm really sad to hear you say that. You should know that this was also a deep physical exam."
"Ah, that..." Hearing it was a physical exam, Jean immediately fell silent.
"Look at this data, you're really reckless. You actually swallowed energy that was more than 10 times your own in both quality and quantity, and you even forcibly absorbed the accompanying Talent Instinct."
"Hehe (^▽^)."
"I'm not praising you. To think you wanted to directly seize energy that is over a hundred times yours when simply multiplied—as expected of someone who awakened the Greed characteristic from the start, you truly are greedy enough."
"Hehe (^▽^)."
"Stop laughing like an idiot."
"No, this is a side effect."
"..." 'D' acted as if she didn't see it and continued:
"This time, fortunately, when the battle began, those Infected took you as an object of faith and prayed to you. Although you are an Evil God Cub, you are still a god, so you absorbed these prayers and ultimately succeeded. To put it bluntly, it was all a coincidence."
"Hehe (^▽^)."
"Ugh, forget it. You gave back to them directly in the end, so you don't owe anything. That's good; using the Power of Vows will eventually lead to being weighed down by them. However, this wave of forced elevation also raised you by a level. Remember to adapt well when you go back to avoid any mistakes. Also, I assume you won't listen even if I tell you not to act recklessly, but remember not to let the people who care about you worry too much."
Jean nodded seriously.
"Thank you (^▽^)."
Just then, Jean seemed to suddenly remember something and asked 'D', "Can I ask? What direct connection is there between a physical exam and tickling?"
"None, it was just more interesting that way."
Jean directly grabbed 'D's' shoulders and shook her: "Give me back that 0.1 milligrams of gratitude I just felt!!!"
---
Under 'D's' shameless smile that showed she didn't care at all, Jean finally set the matter aside for now. Next, she found an open space near the desk and released Talulah's body.
"How can she be saved? By the way, where is her soul?"
"Her soul is currently being purified in the bottom layer of the Underworld. After all, she suffered that level of Deity Pollution."
"How long will that take?"
"That's hard to say, it all depends on her own will. However, in terms of soul purity alone, there won't be a problem. Alright, you should take your White Rabbit and go rest. As for treatment, just continue with your current method and it will be fine."
Jean also looked toward Frostnova, who was watching with a worried face, and nodded to her to reassure her.
At this time, a woman wearing a maid outfit stepped forward, placed Talulah's body into a Crystal Coffin, and opened a spatial window to send the Crystal Coffin inside.
"Nice to meet you, Lord Jean. I am Meido, Lord 'D's' maid, and also the integrated manager of this United Underworld."
"Ah, nice to meet you, Miss Meido. I am Jean. Meido... Maid..."
"Yes, it is indeed a low-tier old pun. The guy who came up with the name back then was a complete idiot," Meido said bluntly.
"Cough, cough, cough." Over there, 'D' seemed to suddenly choke and started coughing.
"Alright, Lord Jean, Miss Frostnova's body needs more rest. The Universal Portal is not far outside the door. From there, you can return directly to your room, and you can also come here through your room door later."
Jean nodded, picked up Frostnova, said "Don't worry" to her, and after bidding farewell to Meido and 'D', she hurriedly returned home.
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