God's Atlantis

"Yujin… just how strong are you?"

Li Mei asked in a tone thick with disbelief. Before her eyes, the cracked earth still burned with residual current, searing the ground. It was a sight that defied all common sense.

That current itself isn't ordinary electricity — that's what makes this possible.

The electricity flowing through the ground was gradually fading. At this rate, it would leave nothing but faint traces and vanish within three minutes.

"This isn't my power. I temporarily borrowed it from the Lord of the Sky."

Thirty seconds had passed.

The overwhelming force that had seemed endless vanished. I felt a slight sense of deprivation and emptiness.

"The Lord of the Sky?! Your contracted constellation is the Lord of the Sky?!"

"So you know who the Lord of the Sky is."

"I'm from modern Earth civilization. It'd be weirder if I didn't. So that's why you're so strong."

Li Mei's eyes sparkled. I could guess what she was thinking. Even as a low-ranking officer, she was still an executive of the Black Pillar Alliance. She had her methods. Right now she was probably calculating how best to use me.

As long as it isn't too extreme, I'm willing to hear her out.

Setting her aside, I turned my thoughts to Astrape.

The Astrape I'd used by borrowing Zeus's power had been far more powerful than I'd expected.

The Astrape I just used had mass.

Electrons have mass. It's simply so small that it's meaningless. But the Astrape I'd just unleashed had weight.

Maybe it wasn't weight but something else. I only used it once, so I can't say for sure.

That was the Astrape skill I possessed. I'd thought of it as a simple enchantment type, but my understanding had just changed.

Astrape. As the lightning of Zeus himself, it was bound to hold hidden power.

There are skills like that. Trash at low ranks, absolute broken monsters once the rank climbs high enough.

I sank into thought for a moment.

If I used Time of the Genius and fired it off one more time, I might get a feel for it… but that'd be a waste of AP.

Truthfully, borrowing a portion of a constellation's power for 300,000 AP the way I just had was on the lucky side. More often than not, issues of balance and fairness meant you simply couldn't borrow a god's power at all. If you could call on divine strength the moment you were in real danger, wouldn't that just be a cheat key?

This is my territory, so it was more or less acceptable. And the system didn't judge my situation as particularly serious.

Somewhere else, under different circumstances, 300,000 AP might not have bought me even ten seconds of the Lord of the Sky's power.

The power I just used was probably only as much as my current stats can handle. The real Zeus would be far, far stronger than this.

I swallowed the sigh rising in my chest.

The Lord of the Sky felt impossibly distant. Even accounting for the fact that he was one of the highest-ranking constellations, the gulf between god and man was staggering.

"Come on, Yujin. Don't just stand there zoning out. Objectively speaking, our situation isn't great. What do we do next?"

"Next?"

"The Black Pillar Alliance isn't stupid. They'll figure out within a day that Zhang Chao and his men were wiped out. Then they'll put together a much stronger extermination squad and send it our way."

"Dig a trap or something?"

"You're joking, right? There's a limit to the traps the two of us can set. And the Black Pillar Alliance already knows where we are, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it wouldn't mean much anyway."

"Taking over the Black Pillar Alliance while we're at it doesn't sound half bad."

My other identity was the Heavenly Demon. Absorbing a thoroughly broken Black Pillar Alliance into the Heavenly Demon Cult didn't seem like a bad idea at all.

"Even so, that seems difficult… You don't have any foundation, Yujin. Even if you kill the Black Pillar Alliance's leader, his underlings aren't going to follow you with wholehearted loyalty. They'll run."

"Li Mei. Couldn't you do it? You take the seat and claim the Black Pillar Alliance."

"…Me?"

Li Mei's eyes wavered. I thought I could see the black greed and ambition swirling inside them.

"I'm busy with all sorts of things. And you're my cock sleeve. My woman."

I carefully took a lock of the hair facing me between my fingers. Her pink hair was soft as silk thread. Color rose in Li Mei's face.

"Really. Can you really give me the Black Pillar Alliance?"

"Of course. You're my cock sleeve. I can trust you. You wouldn't take the Black Pillar Alliance and immediately betray me, would you?"

"Come on. As if. I'm Yujin's cock sleeve. I've completely accepted my place. …But do you really have to call me cock sleeve? Can't you just say 'my woman'?"

Li Mei smiled brightly and guided the hand toying with her pink hair down to her chest. Softness filled my palm. It was hard to believe this was a woman who'd only lost her virginity today. I slowly kneaded her breast.

"No. Cock sleeve is hotter."

"Ah… fine. But when other people are around… don't call me cock sleeve. Please preserve the dignity of the Black Pillar Alliance's leader."

"Already fretting over face as the Black Pillar Alliance's leader, huh… Well, it's not a request I can't grant."

The hand working her chest grew steadily more blatant. Her breathing roughened little by little.

"If I'm going to become the Black Pillar Alliance's leader… just killing the current one won't be enough."

"I figured as much. You've got a method, right?"

"The Black Pillar Alliance looks like one massive pillar, but the truth is all sorts of things are tangled around that pillar. The entanglement among the executives is big enough… but behind that, outside forces are tangled in as well."

"Outside forces? I don't like the idea of this getting any bigger."

I frowned. I'd known, roughly. I'd heard it in passing while interrogating Li Mei. At the time, though, I'd let it slide and forgotten to pin down the exact identity of those outside forces.

"It was an unavoidable choice. The Black Pillar Alliance's history is relatively short. To grow that fast, they needed outside help. Right now the Black Pillar Alliance's leader is preparing to cut those outside forces off."

"Who are these outside forces?"

"Helten."

"……"

"A famous criminal organization. Some people ask if it's just a made-up group people joke about, but those people are idiots. Helten actually exists."

I belonged to that Helten.

So the Black Pillar Alliance and Helten had this kind of relationship. Not that strange. In the original story, the Black Pillar Alliance suddenly collapsed and vanished… chances are high that was Helten's doing.

From Helten's perspective, there was no reason to keep a dog that bared its teeth at its master. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Black Pillar Alliance was just one of the dogs they kept.

"You know quite a lot, don't you? That's not low-ranking executive level."

"I never planned to stay the manager of Area 4,344 forever. I gathered a lot of information. A few of the executives are already my slaves."

"Using that charm ability of yours?"

"Yes. I put a lot of work into it over a long time. I was just waiting for a chance to climb… I never imagined things would turn out like this. The world really is full of surprises."

At my gesture, Li Mei hiked up the hem of her qipao and spread her thighs to either side. I pulled her black panties down.

The inner fabric that had been pressed against her sex was white — sticky with the cum I'd pumped into her. Breathing in the familiar night-bloom scent, I parted her pussy with my fingers. Pink flesh opened, and cum welled out and dripped to the floor.

"Haaang… So… the plan is to kill the Black Pillar Alliance's leader, seize every interest he holds, then contact Helten, inform them of his betrayal, and negotiate. That's how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it sounds, but the first thing we actually need to do is make contact with Helten. And the one we have to watch out for is the vice-leader, Qing Guoli."

"Qing Guoli?"

"Yes. The Black Pillar Alliance leader's right hand. A thoroughly… scheming bastard. There's not much information on him. The one thing that's certain is that he's a lunatic who believes he's a strategist on the level of Zhuge Liang."

"Hmm. I see."

Still working her pussy, I freed my cock. Li Mei drew a sharp breath at the sight of it standing rigid.

"…It's just as vicious no matter how many times I look at it. To think something like this went inside me…"

"You'll get used to it. No — you already are."

I pushed my cock into her pussy.

"Haaauuung…!"

Li Mei clutched my shoulders and trembled. I wrapped my arms around her waist. With a wet sound, my cock slid fully into her.

"Li Mei. What are you to me?"

"I-I'm… Yujin's cock sleeve."

We spent about two hours lost in pleasure, then left Area 4,344.

The Ragged Laboratory — Area 4,344 — was a little special. Without my permission as its ruler, no one could enter. That meant the Black Pillar Alliance couldn't forcibly occupy it. There were exceptions, of course, but for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the time being it would be fine.

They won't trash the Ragged Laboratory and tank its value. It'd be a loss for the Black Pillar Alliance too.

There were any number of ways to seize control of an already-cleared area. The Black Pillar Alliance would choose the most convenient and efficient method among them — namely, killing me and taking the dominion rights.

"Hey, Yujin. Where are we going right now? We're not heading straight for the Black Pillar Alliance's leader, are we?"

She asked after showering and freshening up. The pink qipao she'd put back on suited her remarkably well.

"We're going to meet Helten."

"…You know about Helten?"

"Know about them? I'm an executive of Helten. Well — a low-ranking one, like you."

"…What?"

???

I wasn't going to meet Samuel, Helten's boss, directly. Even I couldn't just barge in and see him that easily.

Among the other executives, the only ones I have any real connection with… other than Elena, would be Harmo.

Harmo, the Merchant of the West.

We were still doing business. The problem was that the regions where the Black Pillar Alliance operated and where Harmo operated were completely different.

So it has to be Elena.

I took out the conch shell and contacted Elena.

"…What is it?"

The voice was so thick with exhaustion that I flinched.

"Why do you sound like that? That busy?"

"Busy. Even thirty bodies wouldn't be enough. Damn it all — I came back to the family and found a complete mess. Looking closer, it wasn't just a mess. It was a shitshow. One or two. Which is better?"

The question came out of nowhere. Wondering if it was some kind of psychological test, I answered.

"Two."

"Right. Two relatives are plenty. So what do you want?"

I felt like I'd just heard something chilling. I made a point of ignoring it. Family affairs were Elena's reverse scale. An outsider like me had no right to stick his nose in.

"Do you know about the Black Pillar Alliance?"

"The Black Pillar Alliance? One of the organizations that came up as a disposal candidate this time."

"What. So you do know. Are you the one handling it?"

"I manage the subcontracted organizations operating in the central continent. What about the Black Pillar Alliance?"

"I'm thinking of swallowing the Black Pillar Alliance this time… Calling them a subcontracted organization is a bit much, isn't it? An outfit the size of the Black Pillar Alliance has some real bulk."

"There's a reason they say empty carts make the most noise. From Helten's perspective — and mine — they're an organization with no real substance. Take them if you want. We were going to dispose of them anyway. Just don't get careless."

"Okay. Thanks!"

"And who is it?"

"Huh?"

"There'll be someone managing the Black Pillar Alliance in your place, won't there? I need to know so I can extend them courtesies later, or whatever else."

"Ah. Li Mei."

"A woman. Understood."

Click.

The connection cut.

I stared at the conch shell in bewilderment. Even when I tried reconnecting, Elena didn't pick up. After a moment's thought, I broke into a grin.

"Heh. Her jealousy is cute."