Lu Yingheng eventually grew tired of walking and decided to have his driver come pick him up.
He sat in the car, his golden eyes fixed on the view outside the window, unusually quiet.
The little girl was still on his shoulder, murmuring, "Host, your Vivian is so attached to you. If she suddenly found out you'd died..."
Lu Yingheng waved a hand. "I have a plan of my own. I've already arranged everything."
"Besides, aren't you a little too useless for a system? If I hadn't happened to run into a transmigrator a few days ago, who knows when I would've been able to make you complete?"
Lu Yingheng gazed out the window, his thoughts drifting back to a few days earlier.
A Hollow disaster had broken out in the city's outskirts. As a Void Hunter, Lu Yingheng had rushed over to save people at once.
Lu Yingheng had arrived extremely quickly and immediately witnessed the scene.
Foul black mist churned at the mouth of an alley. Thanatos's blade scraped along the ground with a piercing shriek, and the chill of death gripped a man.
He had nowhere left to retreat, his back pressed against a cold wall. A savage maw was inches away, ready to tear him apart and devour him the next second.
Overwhelming terror crushed every shred of his conscience. In his panic, he caught sight of a mother and daughter hiding behind him...
The little girl clutched her mother's clothes, her eyes full of fear.
Without the slightest hesitation, the man suddenly turned and shoved the unsuspecting mother and daughter forward with all his strength.
Their soft bodies were instantly thrust into the monster's attack range, and piercing cries erupted.
The monster's movement was suddenly blocked, and its sharp claws and fangs turned on the innocent mother and daughter.
"Sorry! For the sake of this world! For the sake of my future harem! You NPCs can die for me!"
The man roared like a madman and sprinted away in the other direction.
Just as Thanatos's blade was about to fall, the mother and daughter shut their eyes in terror. But the next second, a spear pierced straight through Thanatos, pinning it to the wall.
After a few seconds, the mother and daughter realized they felt no pain and slowly opened their eyes, just in time to see a dark figure descend from the sky.
The dragon wings on Lu Yingheng's back had spread open, their fully manifested forms seeming to blot out the sky.
He gradually slowed his dive, his wings beating gently downward. A gale swept across the ground, whipping stones and dust into the air.
His feet landed heavily, and the ground jolted. Cracks spread outward beneath him.
"You're safe now, little one," Lu Yingheng said gently. "As for that man who pushed you toward the Ethereal just now, how about I punish him for you?"
The little girl held tightly to her mother's clothes and looked up at him with bright eyes. "Mister... did you come to save me and Mommy?"
The mother seemed to recognize Lu Yingheng and hurriedly bowed in delight. "Lord Dragon Emperor! Thank you for saving us!"
Lu Yingheng crouched down and stroked the little girl's head.
"That's right, I came to save you. But let's wait a little before we chat, okay? I need to go catch that bad man and bring him back."
In an instant, Lu Yingheng vanished.
Before the mother could even react to his disappearance, a figure came hurtling down from the sky.
It was the very man who had pushed the two of them toward Thanatos.
Lu Yingheng instantly reappeared in front of the little girl. He showed her his empty hands, then clenched them into fists.
"I'm back! Little one, do you think I can make two candies appear?"
"Um... I don't know. Do you really have candy?"
The little girl stumbled over her words.
Two candies appeared in Lu Yingheng's hands as if by magic.
"Look! How about this, little one? Turn around with your mother, and I'll give you the candy, okay?"
Lu Yingheng was in the habit of carrying a few candies with him. For one thing, he could use them to comfort children affected by Hollow disasters; for another, sugar was a source of energy people could quickly obtain after being injured.
The little girl happily took the two candies. "Okay!"
The mother seemed to realize something and immediately picked up the little girl and turned around. "Thank you..."
Lu Yingheng said nothing. He simply turned and walked toward the man he had just thrown to the ground.
The man had been cursing nonstop, his mouth unbelievably foul, and he had also been saying some "bizarre" things.
"Damn it! You lousy NPC! They're just two pieces of data! I'm the only real person!
"As long as I lie low for another year, once the main plot officially starts, I can tag along for a few main story events. My strength will soar, and won't I be able to crush the Hollows whenever I want?
"Just you wait, you lousy NPC! Once I get my system rewards, I'll fucking kill you!"
Lu Yingheng froze. Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
What the hell is this guy talking about?
A system?
Isn't that a must-have for transmigrators?
Just then, the little girl's voice came from his shoulder.
"Host! Host! This guy has a system too! As long as we can devour his system, the system modules I'm missing can be filled in!"
Lu Yingheng stopped and turned to look at the little girl on his shoulder.
"Didn't you say before that my bloodline was stuck at fifty percent because you were missing system modules? Once you devour his system, will I be able to fuse with it completely?"
The system's soft, sweet voice came again. "Yes, Host!"
The man in front of him listened to Lu Yingheng talking to himself, his expression growing more terrified. "Transmigrator! System! You transmigrated here too!"
Lu Yingheng summoned back the Gungnir he had just thrown. "Correct, Mr. Transmigrator. Do you have any last words before you die?"
The transmigrator grew increasingly frantic.
"You can't kill me! My Plot System is powerful. I'll definitely become the strongest in the future! I'll have countless members in my harem too!
"How about this? As long as you promise not to kill me, once I become the strongest, I'll join hands with you and share the world!"
Lu Yingheng's expression darkened further. "Share the world... Hahahahahahaha!"
Lu Yingheng grew angrier still. "Share the world, you say. There's no need to say any more. You pushed that mother and daughter toward the Ethereal to save your own life just now, didn't you?"
The transmigrator struggled to move his gravely injured body, trying to crawl backward.
"No, no, no! They're just two clumps of data! To exchange them for a transmigrator like me who knows the entire plot-isn't that worth it?!"
Lu Yingheng's golden eyes shone with frightening intensity. "You admit it, then?"
He raised the Gungnir in his hand. "Spear of fate, pierce through cause and effect."
"My dear Mr. Transmigrator, if you can still use your system to cling to life, please remember the man who killed you. My Void Hunter title is Dragon Emperor!"
The Gungnir pierced straight through the transmigrator's heart. All cause and effect vanished completely, and the transmigrator's body gradually dissolved, turning entirely to dust.
The little girl's excited voice rang out. "Host! The Strongest Dragon Emperor System is beginning to devour the Plot Role-Playing System!"