Chapter 582

Sure enough, the next second, Liguang suddenly stood up from his arms!

Her silver hair whipped through the air, and her crimson eyes flashed!

“It really is you!”

The words were squeezed out from between her teeth as she grabbed Lin Xiaoyou by the arm!

She was about to drag her back into the cabin!

“...No way! Again?!”

Lin Xiaoyou’s face instantly went pale!

“At least let me finish explaining first!!”

With her other hand, she clung desperately to the doorframe, her legs beginning to tremble again!

“Liguang! Liguang! I misspoke! You’re not the right of use! You’re the ownership! You’re the highest authority! You are authority itself! You’re my mother!”

“Senior!”

She turned her head, tears welling in her eyes as she looked toward Fang Qi.

“For the sake of the fact that I helped you before! Please! Save me!”

“You really can’t hit me anymore! If you hit me again, I’ll become the first survivor in this world with a rotten butt!”

Fang Qi: “...”

Could this girl stop cowering so quickly after courting death every single time?!

Still...

“Liguang.”

Fang Qi grabbed Liguang by the wrist.

“Let go first.”

He applied a little force and pulled her toward him.

“Let her finish.”

Liguang did not move or turn around. The two of them remained locked in place for several seconds...

In the end, the hand gripping Lin Xiaoyou’s arm slowly loosened.

Lin Xiaoyou felt as if she had been granted a new lease on life. She dropped onto the floor—and then...

“Aaagh—!”

She sprang right back up, clutching her butt and hopping around in place, her face twisted into the shape of a bitter melon.

The corner of Fang Qi’s mouth twitched.

What on earth was this genius girl trying to do?!

“Speak!”

He pulled Liguang back into the chair and sat down with her, casually trapping both of her hands in his own so she could not suddenly lash out again.

Then he glared at Lin Xiaoyou!

“If you keep dragging this out, even I won’t be able to save you!”

Lin Xiaoyou pouted as she rubbed her sore backside, looking pitifully at the two of them.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk. It’s actually very simple. Basically, it was just...”

She took a deep breath, then suddenly squeezed her eyes shut.

“At the time, I only used a tiny little trick!”

She spoke at lightning speed!

“It was a little complicated, but to make a long story short—in short, basically, back then...!”

“I secretly stripped that ‘authority’ from Liguang!”

Her eyes remained tightly shut.

“Then I gave it back to Senior!”

Fang Qi: “...”

He was even more confused now.

“Wait!”

He raised a hand in a “stop” gesture.

“Slow down!”

But Lin Xiaoyou continued shouting with her eyes closed.

“I originally wanted to take it for myself! But I couldn’t!”

She gestured with her hands as she spoke.

“Because if I took the authority, Liguang would become extremely suspicious!”

“Once she became suspicious, I wouldn’t have been able to keep stripping away her authority. I might even have been caught by her!”

“But if...”

She lowered her voice mysteriously.

“If I secretly transferred the authority to you, Senior... Liguang would...”

She glanced at Liguang and whispered:

“Liguang would let her guard down... After all, it was being given to Senior...”

...Huh?

Fang Qi lowered his head and looked at Liguang.

The silver-haired girl was glaring at Lin Xiaoyou, her eyes sharp as blades!

But she did not deny it.

She hadn’t denied it... So it was true?

...Huh?

So...

Ah!

Fang Qi suddenly understood!

Liguang’s authority was gone!

Of course!

That was why, after he rewound time, Liguang had suddenly become so agitated and said that he had “brought her authority back”!

Because the authority Liguang had lost was now inside him...?

Huh?

Lin Xiaoyou tilted her head and looked at him with undisguised contempt.

“So this time, Liguang’s authority belongs to you.”

“If Liguang wants to truly use it, she has to obtain your ‘authorization’ first.”

“And you, Senior...”

She clicked her tongue.

“You didn’t even think about it. You just gave her the ‘right of use’ outright!”

She ground her teeth in frustration.

“My perfect plan was ruined because you were too stupid, Senior!”

Fang Qi: “...”

He struggled to digest all this information. His head felt as if someone had stuffed it into a washing machine on spin cycle.

Meanwhile, the silver-haired girl in front of him was looking at him with reddened eyes. Her little mouth was pressed into a thin line, her expression both aggrieved and stubborn.

“Master, you understand now, right?”

Her voice trembled as she spoke softly.

“Liguang has already lost her own ‘authority’...”

“The Liguang now is nothing more than an ordinary AI companion...”

“Liguang has nothing left...”

Her little hands clenched tightly around his clothes.

“Liguang can’t protect Master anymore...”

“Liguang...”

Fang Qi’s gaze sharpened.

“Liguang, don’t—!”

“That’s not true!”

Lin Xiaoyou suddenly spoke up again, planting her hands on her hips as she stared at Liguang!

“Liguang, I actually think I really did save you!”

“That ‘authority’...”

“It wasn’t a good thing to begin with!”

Fang Qi froze.

“What... do you mean?”

For once, the playful smile had disappeared from Lin Xiaoyou’s face.

“Senior, Liguang, do you know...”

“Why this so-called ‘authority’ was divided into nine parts?”

Fang Qi: “?”

Why had she suddenly brought that up...?

She looked at the two of them and took a deep breath.

“It’s precisely because it isn’t something that can be possessed casually.”

“Anyone who possesses it could be devoured by it at any moment!”

“Just like Liguang before—‘a human body cannot contain the authority, and the body will directly collapse into pale-blue fragments.’”

“This...”

She stared at the two of them, her expression exceptionally serious!

“How could that possibly be a good thing?”

Fang Qi stared blankly at her.

“So...”

“Miss Eyeliner already told me!”

Lin Xiaoyou continued explaining with her hands on her hips!

“She told me that every being possessing this so-called ‘authority’...”

“Ultimately has only one destination.”

She looked at Fang Qi and enunciated every word:

“And that is—to offer up their souls for our ultimate goal!”

Fang Qi: “...?”

Wait...!

The ultimate purpose of the authority was...!

He was still dazed when suddenly, his chest grew heavy!

“No!!!”

The soft, warm body in his arms suddenly threw itself against him! Both hands seized his clothes in a death grip!

Her crimson eyes flashed fiercely as she stared at Fang Qi, her gaze filled with panic!

“Master, give the authority back to Liguang! Give all of it back to Liguang!”

“Liguang won’t let Master offer up his soul! If someone has to offer theirs, then it will be Liguang!”

“Master, you’re not allowed to...!!”

Fang Qi immediately panicked!

“Wait, Liguang, I...!”

No, what?! When had he ever said he was going to offer up his soul?!

He didn’t even know how to use this blasted authority, so how had things suddenly jumped straight to offering up his soul?!

“Hey, hey, hey!”

Lin Xiaoyou hurriedly waved her hands, clearly not expecting Liguang to react so strongly.

“Liguang, don’t panic! I haven’t finished explaining!”

But Liguang abruptly turned her head. Her crimson eyes were blood-red as she glared straight at her.

“You knew perfectly well that this authority wasn’t a good thing...”

“And you still dared to give it to Master...”

“Lin You! You...!”

“No! You’ve misunderstood!”

Lin Xiaoyou took a step back in fright and almost lost her balance and fell straight into the sea!

She flailed around as she steadied herself, then quickly shouted:

“Your Master isn’t like us!”

“He doesn’t have to offer up his soul!”

“Even with three authorities bestowed upon him, isn’t he still an idiot who doesn’t even know how to use them?”

“Someone as hopelessly stupid as him—how would he ever offer up his soul? Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t know how!”

Fang Qi: “…”

He stared expressionlessly at Lin Xiaoyou.

He really wanted to feel touched. After all, Lin Xiaoyou was trying to reassure Liguang on his behalf.

But damn it…!

“Master, he isn’t going to offer up his soul?!”

Liguang suddenly turned toward Lin Xiaoyou!

“Of course not!”

Lin Xiaoyou rolled her eyes, speaking in a tone that clearly said, “You’re worried about even that?”

“He doesn’t even know how to use his authorities. What soul could you possibly expect him to offer? At most, he’d be offering up nothing!”

“Besides, Senior has three authorities now and nothing has happened to him. Who in this world could possibly do anything to him?”

“He’s as safe as safe can be, all right?”

Liguang’s crimson eyes trembled faintly. She stared blankly at Lin Xiaoyou, and then…

She gently leaned against Fang Qi’s chest. Her small hands clutched his clothes tightly as she murmured, as if still shaken:

“That’s good… That’s good…”

Fang Qi could feel her body still trembling slightly.

He gently stroked her back, again and again.

Although he really wanted to know what this “offering up one’s soul” thing was all about, looking at the girl in his arms…

Forget it. He could take his time.

“Don’t be afraid.”

He leaned close to her ear and spoke softly:

“Master isn’t going to leave you.”

“And I’m not going to offer up any soul, either.”

“Master only wants Liguang. I don’t want anything else.”

Liguang raised her face to look at him. Her amber left eye was moist, like a jewel dampened by morning dew.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Master swears?”

“I swear.”

The corners of Liguang’s mouth curled up slightly.

She buried her face against his chest again, wrapped both arms around his waist, and melted into a soft little bundle.

Fang Qi let out a faint sigh of relief.

But just then—

“Crash—!”

A tremendous roar of waves suddenly exploded!

The entire offshore platform lurched violently!

It was as if something unimaginably enormous was rushing toward them at incredible speed from the depths of the sea!

“What…?!”

Fang Qi instinctively tightened his arms around Liguang and whipped his head toward the ocean!

The sky at the horizon had already begun to brighten. The morning sun was slowly rising from the sea, dyeing the entire ocean a deep crimson.

But beneath those blood-red waters…

Something was moving swiftly.

A massive, distorted shadow whose end could not be seen.

It felt as though the entire seafloor were moving!

Two dark-red points of light slowly lit up beneath the surface.

Like a pair of eyes that had slept for millions of years, slowly opening from the abyss!

Fang Qi: “?!”

Wait, could this be…?!

“It’s that thing again…!”

Liguang instantly sprang out of Fang Qi’s arms. Crimson light blazed in her red eyes as she stepped in front of him!

“Master, don’t be afraid. Liguang won’t let it hurt you!”

Her voice trembled, yet she still stood ramrod straight, her silver hair whipping wildly in the sea wind!

Looking at her back, Fang Qi suddenly…

wasn’t afraid at all.

Instead, his heart filled with both ache and warmth.

This silly, crazy girl.

Even without her authorities, she was still thinking about protecting him.

And Lin Xiaoyou…

At some point, she had already taken shelter by the cabin door. Only half her head was visible, and she was rubbing her backside—yet somehow, she was still grinning!

“Hey, hey, don’t get so tense, Senior, Liguang!”

She shouted toward them:

“That isn’t some unwelcome guest!”

She blinked, her smile suddenly becoming suggestive.

“It’s a huge gift package here to deliver ‘authority’ to Senior!”

Fang Qi: “…”

For me?

You mean me?

He lowered his head and looked at himself.

Then he turned back toward the ever-approaching shadow beneath the sea—an utterly terrifying mass large enough to swallow the entire ocean.

No…

What in the world was going on…?