Peerless Douluo: Blood of the Black King Nidhogg!

Chapter 176 The Fate of Trading (4K)

"Damn it... don't tell me this monster was hiding right under our feet the whole time..."

Commander Lin looked up at the sky, trembling as he murmured in a low voice. His back was already soaked with cold sweat. He really wanted to slap himself hard to see if he was still dreaming. How could he have seen such a terrifying monster in broad daylight?

The appearance of Apophis brought them not hope, but even greater despair. They were not foolish enough to think that this strangely-looking black dragon had come to save them.

While some rejoice, others grieve, and vice versa. The Demon Emperor is currently overjoyed; her intuition is correct—there truly is a being here that can allow her to achieve a life leap!

"What a perfect body... Even with scales blocking my view, I can still smell that delicious aroma that's enough to drive anyone mad..."

The Demon Emperor's face was flushed, his eyes were glazed as he stared at Apophis's golden eyes, and his face was twisted into a mad, sickly smile.

This is the allure of dragon blood to lower-class beings; the stronger they are, the less they can resist it.

A premonition arose in the Demon Emperor's heart once again: if she could devour Apophis, she might even be able to reach the divine enlightenment she had always dreamed of within a hundred years.

With this in mind, the Demon Emperor immediately launched an attack on Apophis. With a wave of her hand, endless seawater poured into the sky, and dark purple soul power burst out of her body and mixed with it.

Under the immense compression of soul power, the seawater, which was enough to submerge a small town in an instant, was condensed into a blue-purple ball of light the size of a house. The violent and evil aura raged between heaven and earth, and its power overwhelmed all directions. Even titled Douluo could only retreat.

Apophis could not retreat, nor did he need to. Whatever the Demon Emperor's purpose, it had ultimately affected Mo Yuan. Therefore, as a dragon servant, he had the duty to kill the Demon Emperor.

Ancient and mysterious dragon patterns bloomed between heaven and earth, and Apophis's body became more and more powerful. Its black scales made a soft 'crackling' sound and shimmered with a bronze luster.

Word of Power: The Bronze Throne!
He is a pure-blooded dragon! A peak second-generation species! And will later become the Black King's dragon servant!

Faced with a traitor who dares to usurp the throne, He should use His sharp teeth and dragon claws to make them pay a bloody price!
"Roar!!!"

A furious roar echoed across the seas. Apophis flapped its wings, opened its blood-red maw, and charged toward the Demon Emperor. Kingly fire rose from beneath its wings, billowing smoke filled the air, and scorching flames burned the void.

"Come! Be the final step on my path to godhood!"

The Demon Emperor roared with a maniacal look in his eyes, hurling out the light sphere in his hand that was enough to kill an ordinary level 95 Title Douluo. Then, amidst the dazzling black and purple light, he re-revealed the body of the Deep Sea Demon Whale, in order to mobilize even more immense power.

The blue-black orb of light exploded violently under Apophis's bite, bursting in mid-air like a nuclear bomb. Rolling heat waves crashed onto the sea surface, creating wave after wave that were tens of meters high.

Hot dragon blood rained down, Apophis's eyes were fierce and brutal, his wounds healed in an instant, and the dragon claws at the ends of his membranous wings fell hard with a sonic boom, leaving deep, bone-deep bloodstains on the Demon Emperor's massive body.

"what!!"

The Demon Emperor let out a painful roar, his ferocity fully unleashed. Before he could retaliate, Apophis crashed into the sea like a meteorite, pinning the Demon Emperor beneath him and heading towards the depths of the ocean. The flames swirling around his wings continuously steamed the seawater, creating a sky full of white mist.

The dragon pattern bloomed once again between heaven and earth. The clear sky was soon covered by heavy dark clouds. The fierce wind howled on the sea and lightning snaked in the clouds. When the first thunder roared, a torrential rain fell.

Apophis and the Demon Emperor fought from the seabed to the surface and then to the sky, leaving countless afterimages in the blink of an eye. Each collision of their massive bodies produced a roar like a volcanic eruption.

Blackwing raged across the sea, lightning transformed into a scepter, and hurricanes solidified into a shield, blocking attacks time and time again, leaving wounds and blood on the Demon Emperor's body time and time again.

They are roaring, they are fighting, this is the battle between monsters!
When gods fight, mortals suffer. Even though Apophis and the Demon Emperor did not intentionally attack the Sun Moon Empire's Royal Navy fleet, even the aftershocks of a casual attack or the waves they stirred up were enough to bring them annihilation.

In just a few brief encounters, the entire naval fleet was almost completely annihilated, leaving only the number one warship at the farthest point still struggling to survive on the sea. As for the Sunny Thousand Miles, it had long since disappeared from the sea without a trace, without attracting anyone's attention.

Even if it survived by sheer luck, the warship was beyond repair. Its sides were riddled with holes, and boiling seawater poured in, cooking the soldiers who couldn't escape into the swarms of meat, which emitted a nauseating stench.

The top-floor conference room wasn't much better; seawater churned on the floor, and the walls were riddled with holes, clearly revealing the scene of two ferocious beasts battling in the distance.

"Cough cough..."

Commander Lin knelt on the ground, blood gushing from his mouth and nose. A piece of steel wrapped in flames pierced his chest. Ju Zi slumped in front of him, seemingly because Commander Lin had become like this while protecting her.

Commander Lin's breathing grew weaker and weaker, and his eyelids drooped uncontrollably as if filled with lead. With his last bit of strength, he handed a flying soul tool to Ju Zi.

"You must... survive..."

After saying that, Commander Lin lowered his head, closed his eyes, and fell straight into the seawater that was already above his ankles.

Orange stood up, her hand trembling as she reached out to take the flying soul tool, intending to wear it on her body. But just then, another wave crashed heavily against the swaying ship.

The violent tremors caused Ju Zi to lose her balance and fall to the ground again. Her orange-red dress was soaked, and her flying soul tool flew backward, sliding through the broken door and into the sea.

Orange was stunned for a moment, then she smiled, a sorrowful smile. The torrential rain splattered like silver spiderwebs on the windshield, and the howling sea wind whistled through the holes in the ship's hull like the roar of a vengeful ghost from hell.

In the distant sea, Apophis and the Demon Emperor fought fiercely in the water, their crimson blood staining vast areas of the sea. The roars and howls were deafening, and the somber, gray sky created a scene reminiscent of the apocalypse.

The damaged warship began to rock violently again, its instrument panel gleaming with a ghostly blue light, like a jellyfish shining in the deep sea.

Another broken, sharp iron rod hurtled towards them from afar, carried by the crashing waves. Without needing to measure or think, Orange knew that the iron rod was aimed at her.

If nothing unexpected happens, this iron rod will precisely strike my heart within a breath, taking my life like the Grim Reaper...

As Ju Zi thought this, she closed her eyes. After all this ordeal, she had no strength left to move. If it weren't for the imminent threat of death, she might have fallen into a deep sleep the next second.

A breath passed in the blink of an eye, and Orange's body trembled slightly, perhaps from the biting wind, or perhaps from the fear of death.

However, the next moment, there was no excruciating pain in his chest, nor the clanging of metal clashing. Even the sounds of waves, wind, thunder, and the roar of a giant beast vanished without a trace in an instant.

The world fell into a deathly silence. Apart from the sound of her own heartbeat, she could hear no other sound, as if she had been separated from her original world.

So death isn't painful after all... Let me think... I must be in the world of the dead right now, right? What's here? Will I be able to open my eyes and see my father and mother coming to take me away?
As Ju Zi pondered this, her eyelids trembled slightly, and her long eyelashes, glistening with raindrops, fluttered like butterfly wings.

She opened her eyes, but what she saw was neither her parents who had come to pick her up, nor the heaven or hell she had imagined.

Nothing has changed; this is still the same ocean that resembles the end of the world. Yet, everything has changed as well.

The dense raindrops hung suspended in mid-air, each droplet enveloped in tiny rainbows, like the most beautiful gems in the world.

The sharp, gleaming iron rod froze in absolute silence before him, less than a centimeter from his chest, the raindrops from its impact scattering like blooming flowers. Further out at sea, the dragon-like monster and the deep-sea whale continued their fierce battle, biting and tearing at each other, every scale, every detail, every drop of crimson blood clearly visible.

The entire world seemed to be enveloped by an infinitely large piece of transparent amber, or perhaps paused by a great god who controls time.

Suddenly, Ju Zi felt someone counting down in his ear. When he counted to zero, a crisp footstep tore through the frozen space and time.

A young man dressed in a well-tailored black suit walked from afar, holding an umbrella and stepping through the air. The ribs of the umbrella were made of the pale white toe bones of a dragon.

He walked very slowly, but each step he took covered hundreds of miles in an instant, as if space and time were toys that he could play with at will.

Wherever he went, the raindrops frozen in mid-air would mysteriously part to make way, as if afraid of getting his clothes wet.

The young man entered the broken conference room. The shadow of the umbrella made the light even dimmer, and Ju Zi couldn't see his face. The only thing she could see was his eyes, which shone with a molten gold light.

"Want to make a trade?" the young man asked softly, his voice devoid of any emotion, like a demon from legend who trades souls with humans.

"Exchange what?" Orange asked subconsciously, already somewhat delirious from the torment of these bizarre events.

"Trade your fate for your life." The young man's answer was still very brief.

Why not the soul? Isn't that how it's always described in fairy tales?
Orange really wanted to ask that question, but she didn't dare, because she still didn't know what kind of being was standing in front of her.

She lowered her head and remained silent. After a long while, she looked at the young man again and said, "I choose... to exchange."

She still has so much to do, she hasn't taken her revenge yet, so she can't die. As for what will happen after she trades her fate, we'll see later. At the very least, it shouldn't be worse than it is now... right?

Orange clearly sensed the young man chuckle silently. The next moment, all the glass around them, whether broken or intact, shattered instantly.

Countless eyes opened simultaneously from the shards of the mirror, their identical, brilliant golden pupils illuminating the world.

"Deal done."

The youth vanished in the blinding golden light, his voice transforming into the booming of bronze chimes.

Orange felt her body burning, starting from her spine and spreading to every part of her body. Her vision blurred, and countless images that had never existed in her memory appeared one after another like a revolving lantern.

A towering bronze pillar beneath a dark, icy sea; the Black Moon Tide; an epic kingdom connected by a colossal road; and a black dragon seated on a black-gold throne…

Finally, all the images disappeared, leaving only darkness that surged in like a tide.

…………

After an unknown amount of time, Orange, whose consciousness was sinking into darkness, suddenly smelled a familiar scent—a unique aroma that was a mixture of midday sunlight and the salty smell of the sea breeze.

The sound of the waves, so soothing and relaxing, reached my ears, interspersed with two indistinct voices talking.

Where am I? Am I still at sea?
Orange thought this in a daze. As her consciousness gradually returned, she regained her sense of the outside world. The surroundings were soft, and she was covered with a blanket. It was neither hot nor cold, and there was a slight swaying.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and Orange slowly opened her beautiful eyes, which were filled with confusion. Then, the clean white ceiling came into view.

Just as she suspected, she was indeed lying on a bed, the blankets were clean, and there was a faint scent of some unknown flower still lingering on them.

"Well……"

Orange sat up in bed, a feeling of comfort flowing up her spine, and she couldn't help but stretch deeply, revealing her perfect body.

She was then surprised to find that she was in an exceptionally good physical and mental state, feeling refreshed and invigorated like never before.

As usual, she rubbed her eyes and lazily exhaled, exuding a kind of innocent and dazed air. But the next moment, as her mind gradually cleared, she suddenly froze, and memories from before kept surfacing from the depths of her mind.

"Wait, where am I right now? Was I rescued by the Empire's fleet, or am I somewhere else...? And is that memory real? Was my fate really traded?"

The more Ju Zi thought about it, the deeper her brows furrowed. She lifted the blanket to look at her body, then immediately breathed a deep sigh of relief and patted her chest in lingering fear.

"Thank goodness, my clothes haven't changed. It seems the person who saved me probably doesn't mean me any harm."

The fear of the unknown made Orange want to stay in the room forever, but she knew that was impossible. After thinking it over, she got out of bed and carefully walked towards the closed door on the smooth floor.

Opening the door, an empty corridor came into view, with bright sunlight streaming in from the stairwell at the end of the corridor.

Orange narrowed her eyes and quietly walked towards the end of the corridor. The closer she got to the end, the clearer the faint conversation became, but unfortunately, she still couldn't hear it clearly. She could only tell that it was a man and a woman.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Orange hesitated for a moment, preparing to peek out first. But as soon as she looked up, a beautiful, aloof face rushed into her view.

Looking at the dazed Ju Zi, Ye Guyi frowned slightly and said in a calm tone, "No need to hide anymore, come on up. I knew you were awake."

After saying that, Ye Guyi turned around and left the stairwell, heading towards the deck not far away. Clearly, she didn't like having another beautiful woman in her world with Mo Yuan.

Coming to her senses, Orange shook her head slightly, thought quickly for a moment, and then followed. She felt that the person who had saved her was most likely the mysterious young man with whom she had made a deal.

Thinking of this, Orange's heart began to pound violently. Recalling the scene where the world seemed to freeze, and the epic, mythical images that flashed before her eyes, she became increasingly curious about who that young man really was.

Reaching the stern and walking along the side of the yacht, Orange finally saw the specific scene on the deck. But that one glance struck her like a thunderbolt, and she froze on the spot.

The blonde woman I had just seen was lounging on a beach chair, her face covered by an old book, as if she didn't want to see what was about to happen and preferred to avoid the sight altogether.

A tall, imposing figure in a black suit stood by the railing beside the deck, perfectly matching the mysterious young man in my memory. If I'm not mistaken, it's the same person.

If that were all, she wouldn't have reacted so strongly. What truly terrified Orange was the black dragon-shaped behemoth emerging from the sea in front of the young man.

Its golden eyes, as black as ink, its scales, its sharp bone spurs, and its ferocious dragon horns—all these features constantly reminded Orange that the nightmarish monster was right before her eyes…

(End of this chapter)