Chapter 26: The Snake Uncoils

“You—”

He didn’t finish his sentence, didn’t even have a chance to frown.
[X]’s venom had already spread through his body.

Lou Chen’s face flashed with clear surprise and confusion, but then his steps faltered, and everything before his eyes spun.

The instigator just watched from the side, until Lou Chen’s eyes were completely closed.

“I think you underestimated me and overestimated yourself.”

Yu Ziyu crossed his arms and snorted.

He glanced sideways at [X].

This snake, like its owner, was indifferently watching from the sidelines its own masterpiece.

Since Lou Chen had positioned himself as the protector, and also thought Yu Ziyu inherently had the true identity of the savior, then he couldn’t be bothered to hide his strength anymore.

Maybe this would make Lou Chen talk a little less nonsense.

And, most importantly—if he knew what was good for him, he would stay far away from him in the time to come.

The moment Lou Chen fell, Yu Ziyu reached out and caught him quite mercifully, preventing his body from directly hitting the hard, polished floor, instead letting him slide down gently.

For a moment, the other’s weight was entrusted to him.

The warm touch made Yu Ziyu pause.

Then, he pushed Lou Chen’s tall, slender frame aside.

He half-knelt, the hem of his windbreaker trailing on the floor.

His pure black eyes examined Lou Chen, who had been forcibly rendered unconscious.

This young man, when quiet, surprisingly wasn’t annoying.

This created a rare, harmonious silence between them.

Then, Yu Ziyu waved his hand towards the direction from which he and Lou Chen had come.

If anyone had been in the previous meeting room, they would have been surprised to find the door silently locked from the outside.

He needed to ensure no one would recklessly burst in and interfere.

And while he was doing all this, [X] raised its body beside him, watching everything unfold with those emerald green eyes, unblinking.

Its gaze first fell on Lou Chen, then lingered much longer on Yu Ziyu’s face.

Cold-blooded animals like snakes rarely had such humanized expressions.

Although [X]’s pupils were still cold vertical slits, no one seeing this look would think it wasn’t thinking.

Of course, it was indeed thinking.

Although it had been by Yu Ziyu’s side for a long time, to the point where it could intuitively understand what he wanted to do just by guessing, like now—

“Did I do the right thing?” [X] ventured, with a hissing tone.

It had originally thought Yu Ziyu’s intention was to prevent this “outsider” from interfering in their matters, so it had directly done this.

But seeing Yu Ziyu’s reaction, it was no longer so sure…

“I didn’t kill him,” after a pause, [X] continued.

Hearing a snake suddenly speak human language, the shock was no less than a corpse coming back to life.

But Yu Ziyu didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

He just said somewhat coldly, “I thought you’d forgotten how to talk.”

He changed the subject, suddenly throwing out a sentence with no apparent connection.

“Because you didn’t want me to talk,” [X] followed his topic, saying almost indulgently.

Or rather, he fundamentally didn’t allow it to do so.

“Very self-aware,” Yu Ziyu said.

“It’s just, you were so gentle just now.”

The snake continued, its voice very strange, deliberately pausing between each word, making people unable to help holding their breath to focus on what it would say next.

A snake could actually narrow its emerald eyes. “I’ve rarely seen you do that, Yu.”

Its voice carried a hint of scrutiny, as if unhappy with him for having such double standards.

“Do I need to remind you, I just caught him?”

Yu Ziyu lightly kicked it, his voice not particularly affectionate, but already much better than how he treated others.

“And it seems I still haven’t allowed you to speak.”

“But now is a critical moment.”

As it spoke, it slithered towards him, gradually shortening the distance between them, using a tone that would enrage Jealousy if he were present.

“I can do this.”

“You mean the thing I’m about to have you do next?”

Yu Ziyu simply said. “Or are you exploiting the situation and pushing your luck?”

Hearing his words, [X] chuckled softly.

Its snake body slumped down, lying on the cold floor, its voice lazy: “I don’t want to expend too much energy.

You understand why.

So, I still want to do one more thing you don’t allow me to do.”

Hearing this, Yu Ziyu raised an eyebrow.

Having said that, [X] seemed to realize Yu Ziyu wasn’t angry with it, and had also gotten the answer he wanted through his actions.

So, after a pause, a strange and bizarre thing happened.

This pure-colored venomous snake’s body continuously twisted and expanded.

It was like countless black whip shadows cast on the wall from lashing in the light.

But then, it shriveled, rapidly melting and converging into a pool of thick, dark green liquid.

Like a pool of boiling chemical waste, through the constantly bubbling, viscous surface, one could easily see its corrosive and dangerous nature.

Without a doubt, the aura emanating from this pool of liquid was deadly and evil.

It didn’t spread outwards, seeming to be recalling the human form it had long forgotten.

Yu Ziyu looked down, expressionlessly observing all this.

Soon, [X] seemed to find those distant memories, and the pool of liquid began to mold a new shape.

“You’re no longer my favorite now.”

Yu Ziyu watched this happen, saying coldly.

“Don’t let me hear that.”

“Or else?”

“Or else, I’ll have to kill your favorite and take back my place.”

As the cold, lazy words fell, a human figure completely appeared before Yu Ziyu.

He had a face with half-closed eyelids, seeming to be a young man in a drowsy state.

His black hair was fluffy but not messy.

His emerald green eyes were warm.

His limbs were long and slender.

Just looking at him gave one a comforting, relaxing illusion, even carrying an urgent desire to get close to him.

Without a doubt, although his features were delicate and handsome, and he looked easy to get along with—but it was only appearances.

One had to be clear: he had no difficulty in playing the role of a real snake.

So this indicated he was absolutely not as simple as he appeared.

To them, these bosses, appearance was just a cheese trap.

Beneath the boots of this monster who was once a snake, the remaining dark green liquid was like being sucked into a black hole by an unknown force.

The pus seeped into the floor, but then disappeared, leaving only the sizzling groan of the floor being corroded.

If that clock hadn’t been sealed by Yu Ziyu’s power, it would have sounded another piercing alarm, even surpassing Gluttony’s intensity, making the situation slide towards an even more terrifying side.

Because this was not just a low-profile pet following Yu Ziyu.

“I don’t care if your favorite is a monster or… a human.”

[X]—or rather, Sloth, his gaze fell on Lou Chen, obviously implying something.

“I just wish I were the only one by your side, even as a snake, unable to speak, unable to maintain human form.”

Having said this, Sloth made a face, gently complaining to Yu Ziyu about his dissatisfaction.

Unexpectedly, when he made such a childish expression, it didn’t seem incongruous at all.

He was like a big boy you might see on the street.

However, his emerald eyes were gloomy, forming an extreme contrast, making people dare not look him in the eye.

As his words fell, the elevator indicator not far away jumped, the numbers continuously approaching.

“Ding.”

The sound spread through the silent corridor, heralding the arrival of a visitor.

The elevator had finally reached the floor it should have reached minutes ago—the second floor.

This delay made Yu Ziyu feel impatient.

So he casually beckoned to Sloth, the hem of his windbreaker sweeping an arc.

“Feels like calling a dog,” Sloth just smiled, covering his face with his hand and yawning, saying softly, “Should I turn into a dog next time?

Able to fetch Frisbees for you, sleep by your bed?

But I don’t really like exercise—”

“Come here,” Yu Ziyu commanded coldly, directly ignoring his complaints.

A flash of deadly scarlet passed through his eyes—this was his sign before getting serious.

Sloth immediately fell silent.

Yu Ziyu didn’t need Gluttony to know his current human identity; otherwise, the grotesque show in three days would lose its meaning.

Obviously, he wouldn’t let others disrupt his retirement plan.

Of course, Sloth was an exception, because he was obedient enough.

Sloth was a virtue; he couldn’t go against his own nature.

So for Yu Ziyu, his pestering was barely tolerable—however, this privilege was for a pet.

Once Sloth regained human form, his patience towards him would drop several levels, relegating him to the same treatment as the other bosses.

“Of course, whatever you say goes.”

Sloth immediately complied, turning sideways to look at the elevator, silently shaking his head.

His gaze held a trace of amusement, and also a bit of annoyance, because he knew very well what would happen next.

Yu Ziyu turned and walked towards the elevator.

Without needing further instruction, Sloth obediently followed behind him.

At the same time, the elevator door slowly opened.

In the narrow space between the two mechanical doors gradually sliding apart, a stomach-churning scene slowly came into view—

The metal compartment inside the elevator showed a dull dark red.

It was completely covered in blood, handprints everywhere, as if some creature had struggled inside.

Obviously, Gluttony also had the bad habit of a cat toying with its prey.

But the elevator was empty.

Except in the corner, curled up a familiar lump of flesh… it was the sacrifice that had just been locked inside.

Gluttony hadn’t eaten it.

What did this indicate—it was a provocation towards Yu Ziyu, because it could feel that Yu Ziyu had comforted it.

Yu Ziyu’s eyes flickered.

Then he looked up, again towards the center of the elevator.

Sure enough, a figure had materialized there.

Gluttony wore ill-fitting clothes, as if stripped off randomly somewhere.

But despite this, it still highlighted his good figure.

A few drops of blood stained his outstanding features, slowly sliding down his jaw.

At the same time, he was staring at Yu Ziyu unblinkingly.

“Savior?”

He smiled.

“Satisfied with what you see?”

He scanned Yu Ziyu up and down, as if he were a delicious dish placed on a plate.

His eyes gradually took on a certain dark desire.

He stuck out his tongue and licked his dry lower lip, saying slyly, “You look delicious.”

Yu Ziyu’s expression didn’t change, just showed a look of disgust.

“No trump cards prepared?

Even though I gave you time, does that mean you’ve accepted your fate?”

Gluttony laughed again, as if Yu Ziyu’s expression amused him, making him a bit smug.

“If I eat you now, maybe when the master sees me, he’ll reward my loyalty, because you look so—”

Yu Ziyu remained expressionless.

Gluttony was the least loyal to him among the bosses.

Yu Ziyu had no doubt that his words were pretending to be close.

He didn’t think Gluttony came to face the savior for his sake, but because of his own pursuit of delicious food.

Judging by Gluttony’s usual behavior, he believed he had not a shred of reverence for his identity as Pride.

So when he saw Sloth appear, he would definitely immediately switch sides, instantly choose betrayal, and pick the most sensible path.

After all, Sloth’s strength far surpassed his.

Gluttony’s nature of self-preservation would make him immediately realize that fighting Sloth was unnecessary.

So essentially, this required the least effort, saving more energy.

“You talk too much,” Yu Ziyu said coldly.

Gluttony smiled cruelly, kicking the still-writhing lump of flesh aside. “I just like my food to feel fear first.”

Then, soon, catching sight of a familiar figure, his smug expression changed—

“I don’t think so.”

Sloth slowly stepped forward from behind Yu Ziyu.

Under Gluttony’s incredulous gaze, his hand rested on Yu Ziyu’s shoulder.

This was an obvious protective posture.

As a boss, he was actually standing beside the savior.

In Gluttony’s confused and chaotic line of sight, Sloth said in his characteristically slow voice: “Interrupting here, just regarding what you said just now.

For some reason, I can’t let you have your way—”

But before he could even finish, Gluttony had roughly interrupted him.

Having figured something out, he immediately shouted with disgust, his tone filled with anger and hatred: “So, you’re a traitor.”

“Oh.”

Sloth paused, ethereally.

“I thought you weren’t loyal to the master either.”

Hearing this, Gluttony gave him a gloomy look.

Yu Ziyu suddenly had a ominous premonition in his heart.

—And it was immediately confirmed.

What happened next was so sudden and unexpected.

In an instant, at Gluttony’s side, the blood color in the elevator surged.

Gory pus dripped from the elevator.

The whispering grew louder and louder.

A scarlet wave rolled and crawled out of the elevator—

Gluttony actually ignored Yu Ziyu, who was supposed to be the savior, and chose to launch an attack directly at Sloth without hesitation in the Supernatural Management Bureau headquarters—just because Sloth had betrayed him.