Duality of Shadows-Chapter 971: Real Profits

As soon as those people approached, Meru had already jumped to the side of the two brothers to protect them. With her eyes shining, she wanted to watch everything. However, the moment the whale attacked, Zian instinctively used his arms to block Meru and her little brother’s view.

Meru tried to struggle, but had to accept the situation. The whale’s movements were as fast as lightning. In an instant, more than ten King-level cultivators had their heads cut off simultaneously by a random saber that was attached to one of their waists.

Everyone around was stunned, watching the imposing figure with pure horror. He had killed people from one of the seven greatest clans in the universe inside their own ship—and even more so, he truly had the power to eliminate more than ten at once? The shock was absolute.

In fact, no one even managed to see clearly what weapon he had used. He didn’t carry anything visible, and the stealing of the saber happened in a split second. At that moment, they finally realized that this imposing man was a terrifyingly powerful being.

But why would such a scary entity lower himself to travel squeezed together with other passengers in that place?

The whale snorted with disdain, kicking the corpses into the empty space. Then, his fists subtly glowed with tattoos. The leader of the enemy group was pulled toward him as if dragged by an invisible force. The whale casually grabbed him by the throat.

"DON’T YOU DARE! AHH!!" The man tried to threaten him, but the whale tightened his grip, making him scream like a pig being slaughtered.

"Did you really think you could do whatever you wanted without facing consequences? You must be tired of living," the whale said, looking grimly at the man, whose face was contorted in pain.

"NO! MY CLAN...!" the man roared in desperation, but before he could finish his sentence, one of his arms was ripped off. It was as fragile as paper, and his sharp scream echoed, making the others tremble in fear.

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"STOP!"

Suddenly, a sharp scream echoed, and a new group of people appeared. In front was a short woman, but with a stern expression. In the next instant, an overwhelming pressure fell over the environment, forcing everyone to kneel. It was spatial law pulsing everywhere, manifested by just a thought from that woman.

"A Supreme Queen?!"

Agem exclaimed in shock. This title was reserved for the ninth level of that realm, the absolute peak of power in the universe. However, the whale just looked at her indifferently and spat a single word:

"Disappear."

This simple word made the eyes of many present almost pop out of their sockets. The pressure in the air increased, a deadly aura filling the environment. Who was that imposing man?

"Who are you?!"

She spoke, and her heart raced faster. Despite him showing no obvious sign of cultivation, his gaze conveyed an overwhelming danger. It was as if, in front of him, she was a mere insignificant ant, even at the peak of her power.

"Don’t interfere where you’re not invited. I’m dealing with a problem with this bastard here. If you try to interfere, don’t blame me for being cruel," the whale replied coldly.

"Uncle, save me—!" the captured man screamed, but his plea was interrupted when his throat was squeezed, making a cracking sound. Soon, he couldn’t make any noise.

"Courting death!"

A figure behind the woman reacted immediately. He was a relative of the captured man, a level eight cultivator in the King realm. In the blink of an eye, he charged forward with a spear in hand. Water runes flowed from the weapon, suddenly freezing the entire environment, but...

*BOOM!*

Furious winds exploded, blowing everyone around and generating screams of fear. Fortunately, these winds weren’t strong enough to kill, but still caused panic.

The smell of blood filled the place. When they looked again, they saw a scarlet mist. In the center, the whale’s figure remained still, completely unharmed, still in the same posture.

As for the attacker, his body had disappeared—only his legs remained in place. It was as if he had exploded from the inside out, leaving everyone in absolute shock.

"I won’t repeat the warning. If I weren’t concerned about the safety of the people here, I wouldn’t be this patient," the whale declared coldly.

Suddenly, nearly thirty figures advanced, surrounding the whale. This time, they were all at the same level as the man who had just died. They were armed, their armor glowing with magical inscriptions. Now, they were taking the situation seriously, although they were visibly tense.

There were many powerful figures on that ship. It was clear how formidable the power of that clan was. The atmosphere grew heavy, but the voice of the woman leading them resonated:

"Sir, has my clan offended you in some way?" She asked, trying to sound polite and remedy the situation.

Everyone, including the thirty surrounding the whale, was surprised and turned to her.

"What do you think?" The whale laughed wickedly before tossing the main offender toward the woman.

She held him coldly. He looked like a frog that had been stomped on, spitting blood, coughing, and barely able to breathe. This man, who had no true cultivation, wouldn’t survive these injuries. These people had some power because of the elements in the universe, but without Qi, their bodies were no better than mortals. With herbs and treasures, they could improve a little, but not much.

The expressions of everyone from the clan sank. This figure wasn’t paying any attention to them. It was a slap in the face to those arrogant enough to think they were above everyone else. They stared at the whale, wanting to attack immediately, but they didn’t dare.

"What happened here?" The leader looked at the whale and asked seriously.

"Now you come with this? I bought a ticket for the upper level, but it was turned into a lower level while he tried to extort me. Is this how your magnificent clan behaves?" The whale mocked.

She snorted dryly, looking at the man. "This greedy bastard!"

*BANG!*

She angrily crushed his stomach, ending his life instantly.

The whale just scoffed. He said nothing and only watched indifferently. Killed someone who was already dead? What a ridiculous act.

She apologized, bowing slightly in his direction. "My orders were ineffective, and I ended up creating an ingrate. He was a rotten fruit that, because of my fault, caused trouble. I apologize for that."

Everyone fell into a dead silence, staring at her in shock. Most people on this ship had never seen a Supreme King before. A figure of that level was literally supreme to them. But she chose to swallow her pride and admit her failure?

"I’ll take responsibility for this ingrate showing up on my ship. I apologize to everyone." She really bowed to all of them, scaring them. "Please give me a few days, and I will investigate this matter from start to finish. I will definitely give everyone an explanation and compensate you. What do you think about that?"

The last question was directed at the whale. He answered indifferently, "I don’t care. None of this means anything to me. As long as I can reach my destination peacefully, I can treat it as if nothing happened."

The woman nodded and left with the others. As soon as these people left, everyone looked at the whale with reverence. They hadn’t expected such a terrifying existence to be hidden among them. Even a Supreme Queen was intimidated by him.

Seeing that even the people from the clan didn’t dare pressure the whale, Zian was delighted. This time, she had really found a reliable supporter.

In the following days, the people from the clan returned the crystals that people had paid. Not only the ones given to activate the defenses, but the ones paid for the tickets were also returned as compensation.

At the same time, they activated the ship’s inscriptions to expand the space on the lower level. The space distorted, and the area was now ten times larger than before.

To pressure everyone, that swindler had compressed the space. This way, those who couldn’t bear living like this would pay more crystals for a better place. All that money went into the swindler’s pockets.

Because of the increased space, beds and tents were brought out so everyone could truly rest. There were no more dangers, and the place became comfortable. Compared to the previous environment, it was like hell had turned into heaven.

But, although the whale had scared the other side, he still warned the brothers not to leave his sight.

Meru was quite irritated for not being allowed to watch the fight. ’Damn... that woman seems smart, and now things will be calm. I’m already bored of seeing the same scenery.’

Bruno comforted her lightly. This place got boring after a while, and she couldn’t cultivate or explore, staying away from them. Alm just sighed; she was still too young and innocent.

’Don’t worry too much. They probably have a trap waiting for us.’ Bruno said mentally to her, leaving her confused.

’You really believed her?’ Seeing her confusion, Alm spoke lightly: ’Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. An out-of-the-ordinary idiot is automatically excluded by his own people; at the very least, he would have many conflicts. He wasn’t the exception; everyone wanted to avenge him because they were like him. If he was an exception, he’d certainly have enemies and people willing to listen to what those from here had to say. But, to them, those people were only worth robbing. They only listened to me after I attacked.’

’But that woman...’ Meru murmured.

’In the world of cultivation, or in all areas of life, people who think they’re smart want to do everything more safely and with greater profits. Pretty words, pretenses, and all that don’t matter. She only did that to buy time and set a trap because I showed myself to be hard to kill. Would she risk losing many people for my life? And if I were someone important hidden? Anyway, you should never believe words. Even actions show only a part of a person. Always look inside each one.’

Meru nodded and asked, ’So why did daddy let her go?’

’Because I want to see how this clan truly earns crystals. A big clan doing small things like robbing poor souls? That’s just pocket change for them. The real profits come from something much more sinister. Also, their goal wasn’t just to profit a little, but to attack the brothers... Anyway, you’ll see everything soon.’ Alm finished, leaving Meru deep in thought.

The next days passed very calmly. The ship traveled for three weeks until huge ripples appeared in space. Soon, the entire ship began to shake violently.

As a result, people on the ship screamed in shock. They also saw countless lantern-like eyes surrounding the ship from all directions.

"What is that?!" Zian screamed, terrified.

"Demons." Someone nearby replied trembling.

It seemed they had gotten too close to the galaxy where the sect lived. After crossing the universe, they arrived in a region where the laws were much denser than everywhere else. It was the true place where everyone who lived had some relevant cultivation.

But as soon as they arrived, countless giant black things crawled onto the ship, terrifying everyone.