"Ahh, that felt good!"
After Siphoning the demon, Quirk stood there blankly for a moment before his body suddenly shuddered, and he let out a cry of pleasure.
The blood vessels embedded in the ground like pipes retracted back into his body.
The mechanical gears on his lower body, tangled together with flesh and blood, were covered by spreading, growing flesh, barely concealing part of them.
The trousers scattered across the floor repaired themselves, covering the gears whose edges were still exposed.
Budiman also withdrew his tentacles into his body, his arms returning to normal. He lowered his head to look at his daughter and found her staring at him timidly, seemingly afraid.
He hurriedly crouched down, cupped his daughter's face in his hands, stroked her head, and smiled. "Celia, it's okay. I'm Dad!"
Seeing the familiar, scruffy-bearded man before her and his kind smile, the little girl gradually relaxed. Then, with a wail, she burst into tears and threw her arms around Budiman, her body beginning to tremble.
Only now did she have someone to rely on, only now did she know to cry aloud and vent her fear.
And believe that her father would not hurt her.
Budiman carried his daughter out of the basement with Quirk. A middle-aged woman in business attire parked a beige pickup by the roadside and walked over.
"You really treat me like your nanny, huh? Making me watch your daughter again."
Then she saw their condition, the dust on the little girl, and her tear-streaked face. Her expression immediately changed, and she asked sternly, "What happened?"
"It was those people. They took revenge on my daughter. Our publishing house was too sensitive, after all."
"Please take care of Celia for now. I need to handle something. Here's my bank card—the password is