Chương 121: Chapter 121: How Terrifying is a Highly Disciplined Shadow-Eater Ninja? 

While leisurely enjoying his lunch with Galacta, Luke opened the System's Conversion Module to check on the progress of the 'Shadow-Eater Ninja.' 

Seeing that the conversion process was finally complete, Luke immediately summoned his newest, ultimate unit. 

A tiny, pitch-black, perfectly spherical object—roughly the exact same size and shape as a baseball—silently materialized on his dining table. 

Luke frowned deeply, staring at the tiny sphere. I mean, I knew from watching the 'Jackie Chan Adventures' cartoon that the Shadow-Eaters started off relatively small... but this is absurdly tiny! 

Luke compared his own hand to the Shadow-Eater, then reached out and casually grabbed the little creature. 

The Shadow-Eater's body was incredibly soft, squishy, and highly malleable. It literally felt exactly like holding a slightly under-filled hacky sack or a stress ball. 

Luke casually squished it a few times in his hand, then flipped it over. He finally spotted two minuscule, incredibly stubby little legs dangling helplessly from the bottom of the sphere. 

Hiss. I definitely don't remember the ones in the cartoon being this incredibly round and fat? Or maybe the Shadow-Eater tribe has diverse genetic traits, and I just randomly summoned a highly localized, overweight variant? 

Luke casually tossed the squishy little ball into the air a few times, catching it effortlessly. 

Well, even if it's currently incredibly weak and pathetically small, as long as I aggressively feed it biological shadows, it will rapidly grow to an apocalyptic size. 

But where exactly was he supposed to find thousands of organic shadows to feed it? Should he formally request that all national governments surrender their death-row inmates to him just so his pet could eat their shadows? Even if I did, that wouldn't nearly be enough. 

In the original cartoon, the Shadow-Eater had consumed the shadows of several dozen people in a subway station, and later absorbed roughly a thousand more while chasing Jade through the city. Despite eating over a thousand shadows, it had only grown to roughly the size of a two-story house—maybe five or six meters tall. 

However, Luke's ultimate, grand vision was to aggressively cultivate this specific Shadow-Eater until it was massive enough to literally swallow small asteroids whole! If he actually wanted to achieve that apocalyptic scale, feeding it the shadows of the entire human population might not even be enough. 

Speaking of massive, highly concentrated populations... Luke suddenly remembered the Chitauri armada. 

The Chitauri were essentially Thanos's endless, disposable cannon fodder. They possessed incredibly aggressive, rapid biological cloning and reproduction capabilities; they could easily generate thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers in a matter of weeks. If I could somehow manage to capture an entire Chitauri hive-ship and force them into a highly concentrated, industrialized breeding program... wouldn't I essentially possess an infinite, stable, highly renewable food source for my Shadow-Eater?! 

And what about the other dimensions?! Luke suddenly recalled the numerous epic, high-fantasy novels he had read. 

Imagine an entire, massive dimensional plane populated exclusively by millions of aggressive Orcs! If I fed a million Orc shadows to this little guy... 

Luke's eyes burned with intense excitement. Capturing a Chitauri hive-ship was a long-term goal, but he currently possessed the ability to actively explore and conquer countless minor dimensions right now! 

He quickly placed the squishy Shadow-Eater back onto the table and eagerly opened the System's Dimensional Exploration Module to scan for new, populated dimensions. 

Meanwhile, Galacta had quietly, efficiently swallowed every single remaining morsel of food on the table. She looked down and noticed the tiny, squishy black ball Luke had just placed down. 

She curiously poked the little creature with her index finger. To her surprise, her finger sank deeply into the incredibly soft, yielding material. 

Wow, it's so incredibly squishy! 

Her eyes lighting up with genuine amusement, Galacta immediately picked up the Shadow-Eater. Just like Luke, she began casually squeezing and kneading it in her hands. The more she squished it, the more profoundly she enjoyed the texture. Completely ignoring the Shadow-Eater's frantic, tiny struggles, Galacta began actively molding it into various geometric shapes, having the time of her life. 

Across the table, Luke was completely absorbed in the System interface. 

The Exploration Module had successfully charted numerous new dimensions over the past few days. However, the vast majority were completely barren 'Micro-Dimensions,' with only a handful registering as populated 'Minor Dimensions.' 

Luke rapidly initiated the Dark Dimension's 'devour' protocol, instantly consuming all the barren Micro-Dimensions to slightly increase his maximum energy capacity. He then eagerly selected one of the populated Minor Dimensions. 

"Alright, little guy! Where are you? We're going to an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Luke announced excitedly, looking up. 

"Eeeeeeee-ya!" a tiny, highly muffled, desperate squeak echoed from across the table. 

(Author's Note: The Shadow-Eaters are capable of producing various expressive, onomatopoeic sounds, such as 'Eee,' 'Ya,' or 'Ah!' Furthermore, their glowing red eyes can shift into various expressive shapes to convey emotion. Bizarrely, however, once they grow to a massive size, their eyes completely disappear.) 

Luke followed the sound and stared in absolute disbelief. 

The Shadow-Eater was currently trapped in Galacta's hands, actively being kneaded and rolled back and forth exactly like a lump of pizza dough! 

Luke aggressively slapped his forehead. He stared at the Shadow-Eater, which had now been molded into a perfectly smooth, completely featureless sphere. 

"Galacta, could you please stop torturing my ultimate, apocalyptic biological weapon?!" 

Galacta, who was currently thoroughly enjoying squishing the 'dough,' paused and looked down at the tiny, helpless creature. 

"Are you absolutely certain this is an 'ultimate weapon'? I'm pretty sure this thing literally couldn't even defeat my pinky finger." 

To mathematically prove her point, Galacta placed the perfectly spherical Shadow-Eater back onto the table and casually flicked it with her finger. The tiny creature went tumbling across the table, sliding directly in front of Luke. 

"Eeeee!" The Shadow-Eater face-planted onto the table, aggressively scrambling to its tiny, stubby feet. However, because it could only communicate via high-pitched squeaks, it completely failed to convey its profound, murderous indignation. 

Instead, the aggressive little squeak just made it sound incredibly, overwhelmingly cute! Galacta's eyes practically turned into literal stars. Even Luke felt a sudden, incredibly strong urge to pick it up and aggressively squish it again. 

"Stop trying to act cute!" Luke grabbed the Shadow-Eater, forcing himself to remain professional. He noticed it actually felt significantly smoother and rounder after Galacta's 'massage.' He grabbed both sides and attempted to forcefully stretch it out, hoping to make it look slightly more intimidating. However, the moment he let go, it instantly snapped back into a perfect, squishy sphere. 

Whatever. I guess it's just going to be incredibly fat for now. 

Luke sighed helplessly. He prepared to take the creature into the Dark Dimension to launch an invasion and hopefully feed it enough shadows to make it less pathetic. 

"Where exactly are you taking it?" Galacta asked, her eyes still completely fixated on the squishy little ball. 

Luke glanced at her. "Just like you, this little guy is currently starving. I'm taking him out to get a massive meal." 

With that, Luke gripped the Shadow-Eater, instantly merged with the shadows, and teleported directly into the Dark Dimension. 

Standing in the absolute darkness of his domain, Luke held the Shadow-Eater, unconsciously gently kneading it with his thumb. 

Okay, I have to admit, Galacta was absolutely right. The tactile sensation of squishing this thing is incredibly satisfying. 

Previously, Luke had only focused on the terrifying, late-game combat potential of the Shadow-Eater. But now, experiencing the immense, stress-relieving joy of squishing it, Luke actually felt a brief, highly irrational reluctance to let it grow up. 

Ah well. Since Galacta's Cosmic Tapeworm is actively regenerating, I can just extract more Essence of Devouring later and synthesize a few more purely to use as stress balls. 

Having finalized his highly unethical plan, Luke initiated a direct dimensional breach, violently connecting the Dark Dimension to the populated Minor Dimension he had selected earlier. He immediately ordered his massive Shadowkhan army to launch a full-scale invasion! 

Having successfully subjugated multiple 'Mid-Tier Dimensions' in the past, his elite Shadowkhan army was vastly overqualified to completely steamroll a primitive Minor Dimension. 

However, today, the Shadowkhan weren't the primary damage dealers. Luke explicitly ordered the Ninjas to strictly focus on capturing the enemy combatants alive. 

To his mild disappointment, the moment the dimensional breach opened, the ruler of the target dimension—sensing the terrifying, overwhelming, apocalyptic scale of the invading Dark Dimension—instantly realized resistance was completely futile. The coward immediately abandoned his dimension and fled into the material plane, completely abandoning his entire army! 

Because the dimensional ruler fled so rapidly, before the rift was even fully stabilized, Luke had absolutely no way of tracking or capturing him. 

These Dimensional Lords are incredibly slippery. 

However, looking at the several thousand primitive, highly confused enemy soldiers who had just been completely abandoned by their god, Luke offered a sinister smile. He ordered the Shadow Ninjas to swarm forward and violently subdue every single one of them. 

The Shadow-Eater, which had remained perfectly silent and motionless in Luke's hand, suddenly realized Luke had stopped squishing it. It tilted its tiny, spherical body upward, staring at Luke questioningly. 

"Alright, buddy! Go! Consume their shadows!" Luke smiled encouragingly, gently tossing the creature toward the subdued prisoners. 

YES! The Shadow-Eater thought aggressively. Once I grow massive and terrifying, those two annoying giants will never be able to squish me again! 

I shall demonstrate the terrifying, absolute power of a highly disciplined, ravenous Shadow-Eater! 

The tiny creature bravely turned around, locking its gaze onto the thousands of bound prisoners. It aggressively prepared to lunge forward... and then instantly froze completely in place. 

Luke watched the thousands of enemy soldiers being firmly pinned to the ground by his ninjas, then looked at the completely paralyzed Shadow-Eater. 

"Hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you attacking?" 

The Shadow-Eater slowly turned its tiny body, looking down at its own feet, then back up at Luke. Its tiny, glowing red eyes formed two massive, highly expressive question marks. 

? 

Luke frowned and looked down. What's wrong? The ground looks completely normal... 

Wait a minute! 

Half an hour later, Luke was standing awkwardly in the center of the primary courtyard in Kamar-Taj, wearing an incredibly embarrassed, deeply sheepish smile. 

He had completely, entirely forgotten a fundamental law of physics: Because the Dark Dimension possessed absolutely zero localized sunlight or natural illumination... nothing inside the dimension actually cast a shadow! 

He had been forced to awkwardly draw massive portals and physically transport thousands of highly confused, bound enemy prisoners from the Dark Dimension directly into the sunlit courtyards of Kamar-Taj, just so the Shadow-Eater could actually consume their shadows! 

Over the past two days, the System's Exploration Module had successfully located three populated Minor Dimensions. Unfortunately, in all three instances, the cowardly Dimensional Lords had instantly sensed the overwhelming scale of the Dark Dimension and immediately fled the moment the initial spatial contact occurred, completely abandoning their realms. 

It seemed that unless the opposing Dimensional Lord was either incredibly arrogant, incredibly stupid, or Luke's personal power grew to the point where he could physically navigate the chaotic dimensional void to chase them down, capturing the actual Lords during these overwhelming invasions would be highly difficult. 

However, on the bright side, because the cowardly Lords fled so quickly, they didn't bother taking their armies with them. Over the three invasions, Luke had successfully secured over ten thousand abandoned enemy combatants. 

Currently, hundreds of Shadow Ninjas were forming a highly efficient assembly line, aggressively dragging the terrified prisoners through the portals into the sunlit Kamar-Taj courtyard. The Shadow-Eater would instantly violently consume their shadow, and the ninjas would immediately hurl the now-comatose prisoner back into the Dark Dimension, where their physical bodies would be slowly digested to increase the dimension's baseline energy capacity. 

Luke checked the System interface and sighed heavily. Even after physically devouring the bodies of over ten thousand biological entities, his Maximum Energy Capacity had only increased by a few hundred points. 

Unless I can find a way to instantly swallow an entire, massive planet directly into the Dark Dimension, utilizing this specific method to increase my capacity is incredibly slow and highly inefficient. 

Thinking back to the 'Impression Score' system he had just established for the United Earth Federation, Luke suddenly had a brilliant idea. 

What if I explicitly created a highly lucrative 'Waste Disposal' reward tier? I could establish permanent, localized portals connecting directly to the Dark Dimension in major cities, allowing the governments to simply dump all their un-recyclable, hazardous waste directly into my dimension in exchange for points! 

The governments will absolutely love it, believing I am benevolently solving their global pollution crisis, thereby significantly increasing their loyalty and reverence toward me. Meanwhile, I will be actively re-absorbing the very points I awarded them, while simultaneously passively increasing the baseline capacity of the Dark Dimension! 

A flawless, absolute triple-win scenario! 

Luke smiled broadly, highly satisfied with his own genius. He turned his attention back to the Shadow-Eater, which had just finished consuming the final shadow. 

After aggressively consuming over ten thousand shadows, the initially tiny, baseball-sized creature had undergone a massive, terrifying metamorphosis! 

It was no longer a squishy, cute little ball. It was now a colossal, terrifyingly massive, pitch-black sphere standing over twenty meters tall! Furthermore, it had finally lost its excessive, comical roundness. The massive, shark-like dorsal fin—its signature feature from the cartoon—had finally fully manifested on its back. 

Additionally, the two tiny, pathetic stubby legs had aggressively evolved into four massive, highly muscular, incredibly terrifying, pillar-like legs! 

The colossal Shadow-Eater looked down at its massive, highly intimidating new form and shivered in absolute, profound satisfaction. 

Yes! My extreme dietary discipline has finally paid off! There is absolutely no way that terrifying woman can squish me in her hands now! 

As for my Master... well, he is the Master. If he wants to use me as a twenty-meter-tall bouncy ball, I suppose I cannot object. 

Luke nodded in immense satisfaction, staring at his massive, terrifying new unit. This was exactly the apocalyptic biological weapon he had been eagerly anticipating! If he continued aggressively feeding it, one day, this creature would literally be capable of casually swallowing small planets! If Dormammu ever dared to attack Earth again, Luke would simply sic his pet on him! 

Just as Luke was preparing to dismiss the colossal Shadow-Eater back into the Dark Dimension, he suddenly felt a familiar, powerful magical presence materialize directly behind him. 

"Your... 'pet' completely and utterly violates every single established law of natural biology. Furthermore, its very existence actively, aggressively disrupts the delicate balance of chi and magical energy within this sector." 

Luke turned around with a bright smile. "Does that mean you intend to eradicate it?" 

The Ancient One offered a calm, slightly amused smile, looking up at the towering, twenty-meter-tall monstrosity. 

"It certainly grows incredibly fast. However... it is significantly less endearing than it was this morning," she noted, frowning slightly as the massive Shadow-Eater unconsciously opened its colossal, terrifying maw, revealing thousands of jagged, razor-sharp teeth. 

Luke looked up at his pet and nodded in agreement. "True. When it was the size of a baseball, it was incredibly cute and highly squishable." 

"But now..." Luke sighed helplessly, looking at the terrifying maw. "Anyone who looks at those teeth is going to have nightmares." 

The Ancient One shook her head, turning to leave. 

"Oh, by the way," she added casually, as if just remembering a minor detail. "Asgard recently established an elite Royal Sorcerer Battalion. Princess Sylvie is currently serving as their Chief Sorcerer. Currently, their entire delegation is residing within Kamar-Taj to participate in a joint magical exchange program. Your mechanical subordinate, Megatron, is currently actively participating in their discussions." 

With that highly specific, deliberately detailed information drop, she pointed gracefully toward the Grand Library and calmly walked away. 

Luke stared after her, his brow twitching. Could you possibly be any more obvious in hinting that you want me to go over there? 

With a wave of his hand, Luke dismissed the massive Shadow-Eater back into the Dark Dimension and casually flew toward the Grand Library. 

Sure enough, before he even reached the building, he saw a massive crowd gathered in the primary courtyard. Megatron was sitting comfortably in the center. 

Yesterday, when Luke had ordered Megatron to transport the Shadow Ninjas to intercept the black-site surveillance teams, he had utilized the System to temporarily restore Megatron to his massive, towering Cybertronian form. After completing the mission, Megatron had intelligently decided not to return to the deserted island, and had instead flown directly back to Kamar-Taj, thereby retaining his massive size. 

Currently, Megatron was sitting in the courtyard, projecting a massive, highly complex holographic magical array from his optics, deeply engaged in a heated debate with the surrounding crowd. 

The crowd wasn't solely composed of Kamar-Taj sorcerers wearing their traditional robes. Nearly half the crowd was wearing identical, highly ornate, golden robes. The sheer amount of gold instantly reminded Luke of Asgard's primary aesthetic. 

Ah, so these are the new Asgardian Royal Sorcerers. 

Luke observed them closely. He noticed they all wore small, enchanted badges indicating their specific realm of origin. Scanning the crowd, he realized very few of them were actually native Aesir; the vast majority were Light Elves from Alfheim and Vanir from Vanaheim. Currently, they were engaged in a highly aggressive, deeply passionate debate with the Kamar-Taj sorcerers. 

Luke discreetly blended into the back of the crowd and listened to the argument. He quickly realized they were aggressively debating the optimal structural methodology for linking magical nodes: Should the nodes be structurally optimized to maximize mana efficiency, or completely overcharged to maximize destructive output? 

Naturally, the Asgardian delegation was violently advocating for maximum mana efficiency. Their entire magical paradigm relied exclusively on drawing mana from their own internal, biological reserves. Therefore, conserving energy was absolutely critical for their survival in combat. 

Conversely, the Kamar-Taj sorcerers—who didn't actually produce their own mana, but rather acted as highly efficient conduits, aggressively siphoning limitless dimensional energy from various cosmic entities—were passionately screaming: SCREW EFFICIENCY! OVERCHARGE THE ARRAY AND BLOW IT TO PIECES! 

After watching the highly entertaining, purely ideological clash of magical cultures for a few minutes, a familiar, portly figure materialized beside him. 

"Why are you out here?" Luke smiled at Wong. 

"I was attempting to quietly read in the library, but these idiots are arguing so loudly I couldn't concentrate. I came out to see what the commotion was," Wong said, staring at the aggressively debating crowds with profound exasperation. 

They operate on fundamentally, biologically different magical paradigms, and they face entirely different tactical realities! Why are they even arguing?! 

"So, out of curiosity, which methodology would you choose?" Luke asked Wong playfully. 

Wong glanced at him. "I would choose both." 

Wong raised his hand, slowly clenching it into a fist, projecting an aura of absolute, unshakable confidence. 

"The only reason they are arguing over which array to link is because they lack the raw magical dexterity to link both simultaneously! I, however, have thoroughly mastered this specific incantation! I would simply link the nodes for both maximum efficiency AND maximum destruction!" 

Luke offered him a highly respectful thumbs-up. Suddenly, he remembered something important. 

"Oh, by the way! Did I ever mention to you that I intend to establish a massive, dedicated magical armory within Kamar-Taj to mass-produce enchanted weaponry for my Shadow Ninjas?" Luke asked. 

Wong shook his head. "I can absolutely, unequivocally state that you have never mentioned that to me. Perhaps you discussed it with someone else?" 

Luke nodded. "Well, I'm telling you now! Could you possibly organize and manage a dedicated division of sorcerers to actively forge and enchant equipment for me? I am fully prepared to offer highly competitive salaries! We could operate on a piece-rate compensation model?" 

Wong thought for a moment. "Mass-producing and applying basic elemental enchantments to weaponry is well within the capabilities of our intermediate-level sorcerers. Given the prospect of actual financial compensation, I am absolutely certain many of them would enthusiastically volunteer." 

Luke nodded eagerly. "Excellent! I'll leave the organizational details entirely in your capable hands! I'll even guarantee you a highly lucrative management commission!" 

"While the offer of a management commission is incredibly tempting, I must respectfully decline," Wong said, adjusting his robes. "I am now the official Chief Librarian of Kamar-Taj. I simply do not have the time to micromanage an armory division. You should speak with Mordo regarding that." 

Luke paused, genuinely surprised. "You're the Chief Librarian now?" 

Wong nodded, his expression turning grave. "Indeed. A few days ago, while we were visiting Asgard for the banquet, Kaecilius actively manipulated and corrupted several highly skilled disciples, inciting them to launch a coordinated, violent assault on the Grand Library to steal forbidden texts! Fortunately, Master Lucian intercepted them and brutally subdued the disciples. However... Kaecilius managed to escape. During the skirmish, a highly volatile, ancient grimoire was severely damaged! It was an original manuscript!" 1

Wong's voice was filled with profound, genuine heartache. 

Certain ancient grimoires possessed terrifying, inherent cosmic power; they were entirely unique entities that could not be replicated. Even casually reading them without proper psychological shielding could cause catastrophic mental corruption. Therefore, the Ancient One strictly forbade anyone from even looking at specific texts without her explicit, personal authorization. 

Previously, when the Ancient One had granted Luke unrestricted access to the Library, she had deliberately excluded those specific, mind-corrupting grimoires. The Decepticons hadn't scanned them, so they had absolutely no digital backups. 

Wong sighed helplessly, continuing his report. "Following the incident, the Ancient One severely reprimanded Master Lucian for failing to secure the perimeter and formally stripped him of his title. She immediately appointed me as the new Chief Librarian." 

Luke nodded slowly, absorbing the information. He hadn't expected such a massive, plot-critical event to occur while they were busy partying in Asgard. 

But the most crucial detail for Luke was that Kaecilius had officially defected! 

Does this mean... I finally get to help the Ancient One violently purge her rogue disciples?