Chapter 421 - 420: Execute the Command

Chapter 421: Chapter 420: Execute the Command

Seraphina Sinclair looked at the panel and raised an eyebrow. She was the one who got to choose whether to preserve its autonomous consciousness.

She opened the selection page. There were three options in total:

Preserve all consciousness (The puppet’s abilities will remain completely intact.)

Preserve partial consciousness (Some of the puppet’s abilities that require thought will be impaired.)

Preserve no consciousness (The puppet will be unable to perform any tasks requiring independent thought.)

Seraphina Sinclair frowned after reading the three options.

’How is this even a choice I can make freely?’ If she wanted to make the most of this puppet, the best option was obviously the first one: preserve all of its consciousness!

’Was this in the original Description? This feels a bit like a bait-and-switch.’

After a moment of conflicted hesitation, Seraphina Sinclair reluctantly chose the first option. ’After all... it’s the only way to maximize its value.’

Interestingly, a line of fine print was appended to the options: "Regardless of the selection, the puppet’s loyalty is beyond question."

’Who in the world is so paranoid that the system has to emphasize the puppet’s loyalty over and over?’ Seraphina Sinclair grumbled to herself, turning to glance at Luna Jacobs, who looked no different than before.

Just as she was about to say something, the arena space finally dissipated.

In the final moments, Seraphina Sinclair glanced at Luna Jacobs. She seemed to let out a slow breath, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Seraphina Sinclair’s brow twitched, but then again, ’it made sense.’

Luna Jacobs was not only still alive, but she had also retained her own consciousness. One could say she had gotten her wish.

The moment she returned to the mobile cabin, Seraphina Sinclair’s eyes widened in astonishment at the sight before her.

The cabin floor, the Stone tabletop, and even the storage racks on the walls were covered in Expansion Crystals.

’When had she ever seen a sight like this?’

She slowly knelt, picking up an Expansion Crystal. Before she could even form an expression, she heard a scream from behind.

"Wh-what is that?"

It was Luna Jacobs’ voice.

Seraphina Sinclair clutched the Expansion Crystal in her hand and turned around. Sure enough, the one who had screamed was Luna Jacobs.

Seraphina Sinclair had seen the living creatures in this cabin. She’d seen herself, she’d seen Sunflower, which only left...

Sure enough, the Gloom Hatchling blinked, huddled in the corner with its front paws raised. It kept its claws retracted, giving Seraphina Sinclair a peculiar look that seemed to say, ’You’re the one who brought her back. Aren’t you going to handle this?’

Seraphina Sinclair looked toward Luna Jacobs.

Luna Jacobs’ face was still etched with panic, her finger trembling as she pointed at the Gloom Hatchling. "Boss, why is there a monster in your territory?"

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

After a moment’s consideration, Seraphina Sinclair frowned. "Is that any way to speak to your senior? It was with me long before you ever showed up."

Senior?!

Luna Jacobs’s expression froze.

She looked at the little thing in the corner, propped up on its hind legs with its paws raised and an especially innocent look in its eyes. Then she looked back at Seraphina Sinclair’s deadpan face and fell into a spiral of self-doubt.

"Senior?" Her voice was faint. "You’re telling me this... *thing*... is my senior?"

She retracted her hand. The Gloom Hatchling, apparently sensing the threat was gone, twitched its ears, slowly lowered its paws, and stood up from the corner.

It shook its scales, did its best to puff out its chest, and crawled toward Luna Jacobs with the air of a king surveying its domain.

It then stopped in front of Luna Jacobs, tilted its head back, and looked up at her with a condescending glare.

Despite having to crane its neck just to see her face.

Luna Jacobs looked down at the little creature, which didn’t even reach her knees. The corner of her mouth twitched.

"What... what is it doing?"

"Ignore it," Seraphina Sinclair said.

"So... just ignore it?" Luna Jacobs was still hesitant. After all, the little thing clearly seemed to be approaching her.

Just as she was wondering what to do, another thought—abrupt and incredibly forceful—surfaced in her mind. It was a simple thought, comprised of just two words—

Execute command.

Almost subconsciously, Luna Jacobs averted her gaze and, following Seraphina Sinclair’s command, ignored the Gloom Hatchling.

But while Luna Jacobs might have wanted to ignore it, the Gloom Hatchling refused to be ignored.

With a complete lack of personal boundaries, it pounced on Luna Jacobs, walking on her like a kitten until it was face-to-face with her dazed eyes.

"Boss," Luna Jacobs said, struggling to keep her voice calm, "may I ask... what exactly *is* our... senior here?"

"A dragon."

"What?"

"A dragon," Seraphina Sinclair repeated. "An SSS-level one."

The look on Luna Jacobs’s face completely shattered.

She lay on the floor of the mobile cabin with a little creature claiming to be an SSS-level dragon sprawled on top of her, her mind a complete blank.

SSS-level.

’I didn’t hear that right, did I?’

"B-Boss," she stammered, her voice trembling, "when you say SSS-level, do you mean the SSS-level *I’m* thinking of?"

Seraphina Sinclair was busy picking up the Expansion Crystals from the floor. "Mhm," she answered without looking up.

"The one... in the server-wide announcement that you killed? Was that one S-Class?"

"Mhm."

’What does "mhm" even mean?!’

Luna Jacobs was dying of anxiety. ’If that dragon was S-Class, then where did this SSS-level one come from?’

"Boss," Luna Jacobs said, her voice strained, "may I ask one more thing?"

"Go ahead."

"This... SSS-level dragon... where did it come from?"

"Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t be asking."

Luna Jacobs: "..."

She lay on the ground with a dragon on her chest and only one thought in her head: ’How can she switch moods even faster than I can?’

’Fine.’

’You’re the boss, so you call the shots.’

Luna Jacobs sighed in resignation and tried to lift the little tyrant off her and set it aside.

But the moment her hands touched the Gloom Hatchling, the little creature let out a displeased whimper and dug all four of its claws into her clothes, refusing to let go for dear life.

"Boss," Luna Jacobs said, her voice laced with desperation, "it’s latched onto me."

Seraphina Sinclair glanced over.

’It certainly has.’

’But what does that have to do with me?’

Seraphina Sinclair spared them a single glance before turning her attention back.

Neither the dragon nor her brand-new puppet could stop her from gathering Expansion Crystals!

Luna Jacobs watched as Seraphina Sinclair continued gathering crystals without a backward glance, a complicated emotion welling up inside her.

’What kind of person did I end up with?’

Luna Jacobs could swear that this thought wasn’t meant in a negative way at all.

It was just that, given the current situation...

She had an SSS-level dragon lying on her. If word of this got out, countless people would die of envy.

The problem was, this dragon was currently using her as a human cushion, while her so-called "boss" was busy scrambling all over the floor for Expansion Crystals, not even deigning to spare her a glance.

Luna Jacobs looked at the Gloom Hatchling, then at Seraphina Sinclair. After a moment of thought, she fell silent.