A few minutes later, after I had explained everything to the girls — what happened, why I fell unconscious, etc. — they all settled down. Mei Gui returned to the room soon after, a satisfied expression on her face.

Never again will that man complain.

She locked the door and cast a Sound Element spell to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, then crawled onto my bed and slipped under the covers beside me, with Qing Yue on the other side. Both hugged me tightly, as if fighting over my body. Amane rested near my feet, wagging her tail happily.

There was no more space on the bed, much to the other girls' dismay. Any more people and the whole bed frame would break down.

"Now then… Mei Gui, mind explaining to me what this ring really is?

"

She nodded.

"Master, you know what a Realm is, correct?

"

"Yeah. That's the thing An Xue was talking about earlier, right?

" I asked, and Yu An Xue nodded.

"The talismans I gave you all… they act as a token… to the Void Realm… where we can cultivate.

"

"Precisely,

" Mei Gui said.

"The ring on your finger, Master… serves in a similar manner.

"

"What? You mean… it's also a token to enter some realm?

" Yu An Yan asked.

Mei Gui's eyes narrowed.

"Indeed… the Chaos realm.

"

At this, all of us were shocked.

"The Chaos realm… that's got to be incredibly useful right?

" Feng Mian blinked. Luckily, the relationship between her and I was back to normal… there wasn't that awkward air between the two of us anymore.

"To Master, Obsidia, Flaria, and I — yes,

" Mei Gui replied.

"To the rest of you… no.

"

"So only people afflicted with Chaos can enter, is that it?

" I asked, rubbing my chin.

"Correct. The secrets of the universe lie within… and so does the Primordial Chaos.

"

My eyes widened.

"The Primordial Chaos… the creator of everything, and the origin of all existence…

"

"To fully activate the ring, you must reach the second-highest achievable rank, Master. And then… to break through once more, you have to venture deep into the Chaos Realm and locate the Primordial Chaos. Then, and only then, will you have mastered the power you have. By that time, no existence will be able to match your strength.

"

"I see… but with my current strength, I'm already doing fine. This is not an urgent matter.

"

"Yeah, but… the Midnight Syndicate may start sending the big guns after you now,

" Xiang Peng chuckled.

"I mean, they tried to kill you at the tournament and ultimately failed, right? They'll know just how dangerous you are now. They won't underestimate you again.

"

I sighed.

"That's true. But we're entering Fragment soon, so we can afford to relax a little. The Midnight Syndicate will have a difficult time trying to reach me there.

"

"Fragment is the true headquarters of the IMF,

" Xiang Peng explained.

"The Midnight Syndicate won't be able to infiltrate.

"

"I wouldn't be too sure… but speaking of, we should tell Xuan Kai about what's going to happen next,

" Yu An Yan said, turning to the other girls.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What?

"

"It's about Fragment — we'll be entering on April 2nd, exactly three days from now. All of us managed to make it in, but until then… what do you want to do?

"

"Hm… why don't we give the Void Realm thing An Xue has a try?

" I suggested.

"Three days… that's 72 hours, and if one hour here is equivalent to a month in the Void Realm… that's 6 years of cultivation.

"

"We can't stay in there forever though,

" Qing Yue noted.

"We still need to sleep, eat, drink, all that.

"

"Assuming we take 8 hours of sleep and 3 hours of mealtime everyday for those three days… that's a total of 39 hours still, equivalent to 39 months in the Void Realm. That's over three years!

" Lan Xiao Su exclaimed.

"So we'll essentially be over 18 by the time these 3 days are over…?

" Xiang Peng laughed evilly.

"Which means, we can do naughty-naughy things, heheh~

"

At this, most of the other girls' faces turned red.

"N-Now hold on a minute!

" Flaria interjected, her tiny figure shorter than everyone else making it difficult to take her words seriously.

"You guys will all go in there and come out over 18, but what about me?!

"

"… How old are you anyway, Flaria?

" I asked.

"856!

" Flaria replied confidently.

All of us were knocked speechless.

"D-Did you just blurt out a random number, or is that your real age?

" Yu An Yan confirmed hesitantly.

"That is my real age!

" Flaria snorted, leaving all of us unsure of how to feel about this.

Luckily, Obsidia was there to explain.

"Phoenixes mature quite slowly. Roughly, every 100 human years is equivalent to 1 phoenix year. In other words… Flaria is 8 and a half, for a phoenix.

"

"W-Wha, you damn lizard! Why did you have to tell them that!

"

Obsidia snorted and didn't bother replying, closing her eyes calmly.

"I… don't have another… talisman for her,

" Yu An Xue murmured faintly, as if apologetic.

"Yeah. So, uh… Flaria, sorry, but you're going to be staying out here. You can hang out with Old Man Leng or something.

"

"Not him again!

" Flaria pouted like a little child.

"He's so boring, always going 'back in my day' and stuff like that!

"

I chuckled.

"Well, it'll only be for three days. Once the time comes, you can enter Fragment with me as my 'pet'. Oh, but speaking of Old Man Leng… did they hear the news about us already or no?

"

"The winners were announced to all of Shanghai, so yeah, I'm assuming he did. They probably just haven't visited because you were still unconscious.

"

"I see… let's pay him a visit later then,

" I replied.

"But for now… Mei Gui, do you know where Lin Luo is?

"

"The half-Celesticus is resting at the same inn we are in right now, Master. I know the room number. Shall we go?

"

I nodded.

"Is she alone?

"

Mei Gui replied.

"She should be.

"

"Alright. Then… let's go.

"

Slowly, I got off of my bed, body still feeling weak. Still, I was somewhat able to walk, with Mei Gui and Qing Yue supporting me on both sides.

The rest of the girls followed us out, confused, but they didn't pry.

*****

Mei Gui led me towards a room further down the hallway, not too far away from my own. She prepared to knock, but I stopped her.

"There's… voices…?

" I murmured quietly, then used Blessing Magic to enhance my hearing abilities and leaned in closer to the door. I could hear a faint male voice on the inside… who appeared to be talking to himself.

"S-Should I do it… she's unconscious… this is my chance… once she wakes up, I'll never get to have my way with her ever again…

"

At this, I narrowed my eyes.

Just what are you planning on doing, you sick bastard…?

I didn't care about Lin Luo as a person one way or another, but she was now my pawn. And no one harms my pawns.

"Mei Gui,

" I ordered.

"Kick open the door.

"

"Understood, Master.

"

Immediately, she sent a powerful front kick into the door, smashing it straight open.

Inside, a boy had crawled onto a bed, Lin Luo resting peacefully on it. His hands were on her collar, as if preparing to take her clothes off. I recognized him as being one of the contestants from Lin Luo's team, who had gotten utterly destroyed by Amane in the second set of battles.

"Wha…

" his eyes widened and seized in fear after seeing us.

Mei Gui immediately jumped in and went straight for the man's throat, throwing him off the bed and back onto the ground in one swift motion. She continued choking him as I calmly walked in.

"Now, now… what were you planning on doing just now, I wonder?

"

Faced with a look of disdain coming from all the other girls and a neutral expression from me, the man began to panic.

"W-Who are you guys?!

"

"Woah, woah… relax. If you're that loud, you'll wake Lin Luo up. Once that happens… you won't get to force yourself on her anymore, will you? She's far stronger than you, after all.

"

"W-What are you talking about?! I wasn't trying to force myself on her- I was, I was cleaning her body!

"

I whistled.

"Cleaning her body, eh? So you could jack off while doing it? Are there no girls on your team who could do this?

"

"T-That's… not the point! I wasn't- KUH!

"

He coughed loudly as Mei Gui tightened her grip on his throat, threatening to choke him alive. He tried prying her hand off using his own, but it did not work.

However, the loud noises did make a certain someone on the bed open her eyes slowly.

"What is… going…

"

She turned her head… and the first thing she saw, was me.