Chapter 241

Neo stood in the quiet of the Nyx tribe’s central hall, the weight of recent days pressing on his shoulders. The dragon queen remained his woman, bound by more than words or titles. After a long stretch of planning and waiting, the idea settled in his mind with sudden clarity. He could propose something practical to her. Offer a share of his resources in exchange for what they both needed. It was not just strategy. It kept the bond alive without forcing anything false.

He turned to Veya, who waited nearby with her usual sharp focus. "Give me a blueprint," he said, voice steady. "And the size of land you need to build the devices for both the barrier and the array. Tell me how much mana it will take."

Veya nodded once. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded set of plans. The paper showed every detail of the two devices, lines clean and precise. "Everything is here," she said. She held up the blueprints so he could see. "It depends on the unit you have."

Neo took a mana block from his inventory and handed it over. The cube sat solid in her palm. Veya lifted it, turning it under the light, inspecting the glow and the density. After a moment she looked up. "I would need one million of those."

Neo nodded. The number was not impossible, but it was far from easy. He would have to gather a massive store of mana stones, piece by piece, without wasting time or lives. The thought sat heavy in his chest. He needed those stones, and the path to them would demand everything he had.

Veya watched his face and grinned. "You’re making the same face you make when you’re short on mana stones."

"Because I am," Neo answered. "I need them."

She rubbed her chin, eyes narrowing as she thought. "There is a new place that appeared just now in the forest. A massive mana spring. It’s full of high-quality mana stones of every kind. But..."

"But what?" Neo asked, looking straight at her.

"The spring is packed with dangerous monsters," Veya said. "All of them twenty-five stars and above. Some hit thirty. I hope you’re ready for that."

Neo nodded without hesitation. He met her gaze. "Veya, can you come with me? I need your help clearing those monsters."

"Of course," she replied. "You asked, so I’ll come. What kind of device do you want me to bring?"

Neo paused for a second, weighing the options. Then he spoke clearly. "Bring the strongest, most dangerous weapon you have."

Something shifted behind his eyes in that moment. He carried one deep drive: to give meaning to everything he had suffered. The flaw that followed him was the way he clung to the identity built from that pain. Part of him wanted to heal. Another part feared that healing would make the suffering feel empty, as if the scars had never mattered.

Veya laughed loud at his words. A dangerous gleam lit her eyes. "Since you said it yourself, I hope you don’t end up regretting that wish."

Neo nodded. She spun and ran hard toward her laboratory, boots striking the ground in a rapid rhythm. He realized he had nothing else to do in that moment, so he followed. He pushed through the doorway right behind her and stopped short. His eyes widened as he took in the room.

The laboratory was a weapons specialist’s space. Every wall held racks of arms—massive plasma rifles, compact cryo pistols, blades edged with energy, launchers that hummed with stored power. Each weapon carried one shared detail: a small purple piece set into the frame or grip.

Neo pointed. "What is that purple piece?"

"A new modification I designed," Veya said. "These weapons only answer to me or to the tip of your finger. No one else can fire them."

He nodded, satisfied. "Where is the weapon you meant? And what is this mana spring called?"

Veya laughed again. "You won’t believe what that spring used to be."

She had her own driving need: to look back on her life without shame. The flaw that haunted her was an obsession with avoiding embarrassment. She wanted a life she could respect, yet she shied from the risks that might make that life truly count.

"It is the same mana spring you found when you hit your head," she continued. "Martha told me the story. I took the location she gave me, matched it with what the other tribesmen said, and confirmed it. Time made the spring richer with mana. That draw pulled strong monsters from across the continent until it became what it is now."

Neo nodded slowly. He could not quite believe it. The same place where everything had started. He would return to it now, under far different conditions. Veya kept speaking as she stepped deeper into the room. "As for the most dangerous weapon you asked for—it’s here."

She reached for a small handgun resting on a side rack. The weapon looked almost ordinary at first glance, compact and dark. "Don’t be surprised," she said. "This thing fires a wave of dark energy. It spikes the target’s blood pressure until they die on the spot."

She turned it in her hand so he could see the lines. "The crazy part is the design. It ignores strength level. As long as the target has a physical form, it works. No matter how high their star rank."

Neo took the gun when she offered it. He held the weight, checked the balance, and ran a thumb along the grip. "What’s the fire rate? How many rounds can it put out?"

Veya grinned. "Ninety rounds a second. Ammo is infinite. It pulls mana straight from the environment around it."

He nodded and handed it back for a moment so she could secure it. Then he met her eyes again. "How about we go alone, just the two of us? To the mana spring. We could also fuck."

Veya laughed, the sound bright and rough. "Fuck yeah. My back is killing me from sitting at that desk all day coding. Your dick would fix it."

Neo slapped her ass, the solid crack of palm against firm flesh loud in the quiet lab. He reached for two more guns he favored. One was a magma weapon, heat radiating from the barrel even at rest. The other held hydro acid. When he lifted the acid gun, Veya’s grin widened.

"That acid won’t hurt living skin at all," she said. "But throw it on a woman’s clothes and it melts every thread. Leaves her naked."

Neo’s cock throbbed hard at the image. He stored the acid gun in his inventory at once, the weight vanishing into the space he controlled. Then he took the magma weapon in his free hand. Together they left the laboratory. They walked out of the Nyx tribe grounds and climbed into a waiting carriage. The vehicle carried them along the forest roads until the mana spring drew near. Neo stepped down first. He held Veya as she followed, steadying her descent. The carriage turned on its own and rolled back the way they had come.