I Can Be Your Spokesman!

[Ding! Your second-stage advancement has reached 100%. Your metamorphosis is complete. All your abilities have undergone a qualitative leap.]

[Ding! You have unlocked a brand-new calamity ability. Please check your panel for details.]

Gurgle, gurgle-

At that moment, the cocoon burst apart with a thunderous crash.

Amid the countless splashes of fluid, tentacles spread outward and a massive eyeball rumbled open. Lin En could clearly feel his power rapidly condensing and growing.

He had fully completed his second-stage advancement.

But this also served as a reminder.

Whenever he advanced in the future, he had to return to the [Warp] first, rather than starting the process while he was down below.

"Still, thank goodness. If my body had really burst, descending again would've been a bit of a hassle."

Without any hesitation, he immediately looked at his new form, brimming with confidence.

After all.

His first stage had been an aberrant tadpole. Even if his second stage couldn't evolve into a human, it should at least have been...

"..."

"A bigger aberrant tadpole!"

Lin En laughed.

He had thought the tentacles that burst out earlier had only appeared because his body couldn't withstand his power.

It turned out that was simply what his second stage looked like.

Still, he had to admit.

Lin En plucked out his eyeball and admired his dozens of thick, enormous tentacles.

No matter how he looked at it, this second-stage body was utterly sanity-draining. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was an indescribable creature born after someone caught a female octopus and forcibly mated her with all sorts of other species.

What an absolute delight!

Fuck!

(Clown smashes cup)

Lin En hurled his eyeball to the ground and furiously stomped on it over and over.

But just then, a trembling voice rang out.

"Esteemed... esteemed Lord of Crawling, Your Majesty... supreme venerable one... evil god from beyond..."

Lin En froze.

An eyeball bubbled up among his tentacles and looked down beneath him.

Right in front of him, a clump of ghostfire blazed away, seemingly clinging to a vague humanoid outline. It lay prostrate with a (.;ﾟ;:rage:;ﾟ;.) expression, kowtowing to him.

"Huh? What are you?"

Lin En was puzzled.

The clump of ghostfire immediately trembled.

"It... it's me! That little skeleton you just crushed. You... you don't remember me?"

Lin En froze again.

His massive eyeball instantly whooshed up to Salgon's face to inspect him closely, frightening the clump of ghostfire so badly that he nearly went out on the spot.

[Ding! Skeleton Lord Salgon's fear of you +30!]

Lin En studied him dubiously and said:

"You actually survived? Didn't I just crush you to pieces? How did you follow me up here?"

The clump of ghostfire immediately went (((;꒪ꈊ꒪;))) and said:

"Well... because I'm undead, my sk... skeleton is only a vessel, so I'm not dead yet... As for... as for how I got here... I... I thought you brought me up..."

Lin En turned his eyeball toward the enormous rift.

Then he opened his panel and checked the earlier system log.

[2:21: You have been forcibly returned to the Warp. Items currently carried: origin substance x3, soul x1]

Holy crap!

Lin En froze.

So he could bring things back with him?

That really was an unexpected discovery.

Lin En's eyeball turned toward Salgon, and he said:

"Well, aren't you something? You actually got brought up here as one of my belongings. In that case, you can just die."

Whoosh-

Lin En instantly raised his thick tentacle.

But right at that moment.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud-

The humanoid outline carrying the ghostfire began kowtowing to Lin En at an unimaginable speed, so fast that his movements left afterimages.

"Exalted Outer God, Your Majesty! Please hear me out!! Once I'm finished, if you still want to kill me, you can do it whenever you please!! Please grant this lowly ant before you a chance!"

Lin En's eyeball looked down at him with interest.

"Oh? What do you want to say?"

Salgon immediately knelt and said shakily:

"First, I must apologize to you. Had I known you were a... a supreme venerable one from the Warp, I would never have dared offend you, even with a thousand times the courage! Lowly as I am, I failed to recognize a god before me. I had no idea such a great being as you had descended upon this world! I truly deserve death!"

"But! Your Majesty! Killing me would take no more than a flick of your hand, like crushing an ant. But look at it another way: if you spare this ant, he might bring you all sorts of unexpected benefits! That would absolutely be far more worthwhile than killing him!"

At that moment.

He practically trotted out every flattering phrase he had ever learned in his life. His will to survive had reached max!

Lin En rubbed his eyeball and said:

"Really? What benefits?"

Salgon immediately raised his head and said urgently:

"First, I can serve as your guide in the Spirit Realm and the real world! Though my strength is no greater than an ant's, I can guarantee that throughout Clockwork City, whether on the first or second layer of the Spirit Realm, you won't find many who know the place better than I do! After all, I'm undead, and I've been here for three hundred years! As a local ghost, whatever you wish to do, I can absolutely provide you with the freshest firsthand information!"

Lin En sounded a little interested.

"And second?"

Salgon immediately spoke as fast as he could:

"Second, please forgive my stupidity and impertinence, but I dare to guess that a great being such as yourself chose to possess a human through a projection rather than immediately invading that world because you wish to gather more information about it. And that is something I'm very good at!"

"Third, although this era no longer has gods, there are still many top-tier ability users approaching godhood in both the real world and the Spirit Realm! Of course, I know they're no match for you, but if they gather and form an alliance against you, they would certainly pose an irritating challenge to your grand designs."

Grand designs?

Lin En went (O_O)??

What grand designs? Did he even have grand designs?

Salgon trembled all over and said:

"Fourth! And lastly, if you're willing to take me as your servant, I will spare no effort in recruiting an army of servants in the Spirit Realm who answer only to you! With your fearsome reputation, countless evil spirits and ghosts who wish to invade the real world will surely flock to your banner! There are even many long-lived beings who have been waiting for the return of the Outer Gods. When the time comes, at a single command from you, we will follow you into reality and slaughter the entire world!"

Lin En: "..."

What was he talking about?

Lin En said impatiently, "Explain it in one sentence! What can you do?!"

Salgon immediately stiffened with a (.;ﾟ;:benefit:;ﾟ;.) expression and said:

"Your guide! Your spokesman! Your spymaster! Anything you don't wish to do yourself in the human world, you can leave to me! I can be the perfect proxy for your dirty work!"

Lin En said dubiously, "Such as?"

"Human trafficking! Smuggling origin substance! Establishing cults! Abducting and selling..."

He suddenly remembered the girl who had always stayed by this great Majesty's side in the human world.

His eyes widened, and for some reason, he instinctively blurted out:

"Abducting and selling little girls..."

"..."

"..."

For a moment, an eerie silence fell over their surroundings.