The stone coffin lid slid open slowly. The ancient, heavy metal scraped with a dull groan that echoed through the empty tomb, sending a chill down everyone's spine.
A pale, slender hand emerged first, its fingertips tinged with a cold white glow. Then, the rest of her slowly came into view.
She was impossibly tall. Even lying down, she couldn't hide her upright figure and perfect proportions.
Her golden hair spread across the bottom of the coffin, smooth strands shimmering faintly.
Her skin was fair as snow, and her delicate features were flawless. Long lashes rested against her cheeks, her nose was high-bridged, and her lips were a pale rose. She was coldly beautiful and noble.
She wore a tight black robe that outlined her curvaceous figure. Strange green patterns embroidered across the fabric glimmered in harmony with the tomb's green light. A faint green aura surrounded her, wrapping her breathtaking beauty in an eerie, intimidating majesty. The contrast was striking.
The most eye-catching thing was her attire.
She held a staff in one hand, its surface glowing with a faint green light. Runes covered its shaft, and an irregular green crystal sat at its tip, light swirling within.
On her head sat a simple yet imposing headdress. The more Fu Haoran looked at it, the more it reminded him of a simplified version of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh's White Crown. He had no idea if it was merely decorative or what, but it looked like trouble.
A thought flashed through Fu Haoran's mind. A Necron pharaoh... This look is so on point.
The woman slowly sat up, her figure fully unfolding. She towered over everyone present.
In front of her, they all looked like schoolchildren.
Ronan and the others instinctively took a step back. Yuri retreated all the way to the exit, only for the door to slam shut.
Priest Kallen's processor emitted a shrill whine. His metal eye fixed on her, pushed to the brink of overload.
Fu Haoran's first instinct was to tighten his grip on the Plasma Pistol.
His second thought was... Holy shit, she's tall.
Her height wasn't the result of Ultramarines-style muscle. It was the natural majesty of a queen looking down on her subjects. She didn't need to move to radiate an oppressive presence.
Necrons can get this big? A thought flashed through Fu Haoran's mind. Wait, haven't the Necrons all turned into metal skeletons? How does she have flesh and blood?
Below her collarbones, her curves rose and fell with shameless confidence.
A huge bust.
Fu Haoran's first thought was, Holy shit, the system didn't screw me over this time. She's got the looks and the figure... But that green glow and eerie aura—why does something feel more and more wrong the longer I look?
The next second, the system's malicious prompt rang in his mind, its tone dripping with a clear sense of revenge:
[Perfectly matched to the Reincarnator's needs. Exclusive adjutant (modified version) has been awakened!]
[Kind reminder: Since the host specified only appearance and figure, and did not mention loyalty, docility, or any other requirements, the system followed the principle of matching the reward to the request and accepts no responsibility for other factors.]
[Identity: Lucifer Farah, last pharaoh of the Nova Shadow Dynasty, Psionic Arbiter King. Time in slumber: approximately sixty-three million standard years.]
[System note: Don't ask why a Necron pharaoh has flesh and blood. The answer is "modified version." Good luck, host.]
[Triggered SSS-rank emergency mission: Conquer Ancient Overlord]
[Mission objective: Survive your first encounter and bring the target out of the tomb]
[Failure penalty: The target will fully awaken her ancient bloodlust, and the host and all subordinates will be executed.]
Fu Haoran: ...?
Fu Haoran broke down on the spot.
"You wicked system! You actually turned the tables on me? This is an adjutant? This is a goddamn menace!"
Fu Haoran wanted to yank the system out of his mind and slam it onto the ground.
Was this the hell of an adjutant?
She was a pharaoh who had just crawled out of a tomb!
While Fu Haoran cursed the system in his head, the woman slowly opened her eyes. They were green, and strikingly beautiful.
Her gaze settled on Fu Haoran. She wasn't looking at a person, but at a primitive mammal who had dared to disturb her six million years of slumber and didn't know when to quit.
"Do you know what you've done?" she asked. Her voice was low, with the distinctive, smoky huskiness of a mature woman—utterly captivating.
As the words left her lips, the green light around her surged. Yuri and the guards instinctively stepped back again, chilled to the bone. They hardly dared to breathe.
At another time and place, Fu Haoran wouldn't have minded flirting with this mature beauty. But now... the longer he looked, the more his heart sank.
"How can a beautiful adjutant trigger an SSS-rank mission?"
"System, get out here and explain yourself!"
The usually chatty system chose to clam up completely.
Fu Haoran stared at the woman before him, cursing the system for the thousandth time in his heart. You damn system, how dare you screw me over! What the hell is this thing?!
Suddenly, the woman moved.
Without any unnecessary motion, she raised a hand and swung it at the guard beside her. The force was absurd. He went flying and crashed into the stone wall, unconscious.
The other guards immediately raised their guns and fired. Bullets whistled toward her, only to be stopped by the faint green aura about a meter from her body. They ricocheted away, never even brushing her clothes.
She advanced at a leisurely pace, graceful yet brimming with murderous intent. Barehanded, she struck down several people in succession. Yuri cowered in a corner, not daring to make a sound, while Kallen remained frozen in place, his processor whining without pause.
Watching this, Fu Haoran's mind raced. Necron hyperalloy skeletons... No, she has flesh and blood, but her strength is still on a Necron level. What the hell did the system put inside her?
In the blink of an eye, all the guards were down. Fu Haoran was the only one left standing in the middle of the tomb.
The woman walked up to him and reached out, gripping him by the throat. Her fingers tightened gradually. Fu Haoran's feet left the ground, his breathing grew labored, and his face flushed red.
"Tell me, who are you?" she asked coldly, murderous intent churning in her eyes, with a trace of confusion buried beneath it.
As she choked him, Fu Haoran's body went limp. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the confusion in her gaze.
No. I have to take a gamble!
Summoning the last of his strength, Fu Haoran forced out his words, wrapping them in the most sincere emotion of his life.
Fu Haoran was sure that even when he'd been caught skipping class to go to an internet café in high school and hauled in to confess his wrongdoing, he hadn't been half this sincere.
"D-Darling, don't you remember me?"
"I... I'm your lover! I came here to wake you up!"
From his corner, Yuri stared at Fu Haoran as if he'd seen a ghost, his mind racing with disbelief. Holy shit, has the governor gone crazy? She could kill every one of us, and he actually dares to claim he's her lover?!
He clamped a hand over his mouth and didn't dare so much as breathe, afraid the woman would notice him and take him down with the rest.
The woman's grip on Fu Haoran's throat loosened slightly.
The confusion in her dark green eyes deepened, and a faint ripple stirred in her cold gaze.
It wasn't belief.
It was a conflict in logic.
She vaguely remembered that before she fell asleep, she had already possessed a cold, metallic body, with no flesh, no heartbeat, and no such thing as a "lover."
But now.
A heartbeat, warmth, touch.
The carotid artery in the primitive mammal's neck before her was pulsing beneath her fingertips.
Two sets of memories clashed in her mind.
One was metallic and cold, filled with six million years of solitude.
The other was made of flesh and warmth, along with... vague fragments of a bond implanted by the system.
She couldn't tell which was real.
But she faintly remembered an emperor who had erased the memories of a portion of the nobility on a vast scale to consolidate his rule.
It was the last fragment from before she fell asleep. The emperor had been wrapped in a cold metallic sheen, and the chill of his voice still lingered in her consciousness.
Perhaps her memories had always been false.
She stared at Fu Haoran and let go.
Not because she believed him.
But because she couldn't prove he was lying without breaking the bounds of logic.
Fu Haoran dropped to the ground and coughed violently.
"Cough, cough, cough—"
The woman looked down at him. Her voice remained cold, but held less murderous intent. "I don't remember you, or any promise."
"But I can spend some time with you. Perhaps I can recover some of the memories I've lost by being near you."
"I am Lucifer Farah, pharaoh of the Nova Shadow Dynasty, Psionic Arbiter King."
As she gave her name, a faint, fleeting look of bewilderment crossed her eyes, as if she herself hadn't spoken it in a long time.
Fu Haoran's heart lurched. Nova Shadow Dynasty... Never heard of it, but "pharaoh" and psionics... She's definitely a Necron.
Fu Haoran got to his feet and rubbed the marks on his neck, answering with difficulty. "Fu Haoran."
She looked at him.
"I can't be certain whether what you've said is true."
She paused, then slowly bent down. Her cold, pale fingertips seized Fu Haoran's chin with precision. Her grip wasn't hard, but it carried an oppressive force he couldn't resist. Her voice was icy.
"Until I verify it... your life is protected by the laws of the Dynasty, and I will be the one to pass judgment on you."
She let go and turned away. The hem of her black robe swept across his knees.
"Let's go."
Fu Haoran stiffened, then hurriedly nodded. His chin still stung where she had gripped it, and he cursed the system for the thousandth time.
How is this supposed to be an adjutant I have to win over? I've clearly signed away my freedom!
And she's a Necron pharaoh who just crawled out of a tomb after sixty million years...
System, just you wait.
Before you continue