Chapter 12: A Tragic Loss No Man Can Accept

With one hand gripping the edge of the pool.

Ye Chen slowly pulled himself out of the blood-red water.

Several dead sharks floated behind him.

Some had shattered skulls.

Others had been torn apart by violent bursts of Qi.

Ye Chen remained completely silent.

Too silent.

Water dripped from his soaked clothes as he slowly lowered his head.

He looked downward.

A second later...

His face twisted violently.

Because below his waist...

Something was missing.

"...No."

Ye Chen’s hands trembled slightly.

"No no no no—"

He immediately circulated Qi throughout his body, desperately stopping the bleeding while sealing damaged nerves and blood vessels with cultivation techniques.

Thankfully, as a cultivator, he wouldn’t immediately die from blood loss.

But that wasn’t the important part.

The important part was...

His little brother was gone.

For the first time in his entire life.

Pure terror appeared on Ye Chen’s face.

Slowly, he turned toward the shark-filled pool.

Then his expression became demonic.

Without another word.

Ye Chen jumped back into the water.

One by one,

He began dragging the dead sharks onto the floor.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

Their massive corpses lined up beside each other like victims at a butcher shop.

Then Ye Chen began cutting them open frantically.

Blood and organs splattered everywhere.

His hands shook harder and harder as panic consumed him.

"Where is it...?"

"WHERE IS IT?!"

Finally...

After ripping open another shark.

Ye Chen froze.

There it was.

Half-chewed.

Covered in blood.

His precious little brother.

For several seconds.

Ye Chen simply stared at it silently.

Then slowly fell to his knees.

"...."

Tears began streaming down his face.

The mighty Son of Destiny looked like a man whose entire worldview had collapsed.

Carefully holding the injured remains with trembling hands, Ye Chen’s body shook with overwhelming grief and rage.

"Shen Tian..."

His voice sounded hoarse.

"This is all your fault..."

His bloodshot eyes slowly lifted upward.

"I swear to the heavens..."

"I will kill you."

"I will destroy your entire family!"

A terrifying killing intent exploded outward violently.

Ye Chen slowly stood back up.

With the expression of a man who had lost everything.

He carefully placed his precious ’little brother’ into his wet pocket.

Thankfully...

With cultivation techniques and medical arts, reattachment was still possible.

However...

After glancing downward briefly..

Ye Chen’s face twitched violently again.

Because unfortunately..

He had clearly lost some length in the process.

"...Shen TIANNNNNNN!!!"

. . .

[Host has successfully angered the protagonist.]

[Ye Chen has lost 2000 Fate Value.]

[Remaining Fate Value: 7800]

Hearing the system, Shen Tian honestly didn’t know what to say.

He had barely done anything yet.

He hadn’t fully stolen Ye Chen’s women.

Hadn’t slept with them.

Hadn’t even kissed them.

And he hadn’t started stealing the protagonist’s major opportunities or treasures either.

Yet simply angering Ye Chen repeatedly had already caused him to lose a shocking amount of Fate Value.

Honestly?

Shen Tian wasn’t about to complain.

The faster Ye Chen lost fate, the better.

"This is good..."

Shen Tian was currently in an extremely good mood while eating a burger and chicken nuggets.

Bai Xue looked completely different from her terrifying underground boss persona.

Her eyes sparkled brightly while she aggressively attacked a large pile of chicken nuggets.

At the same time, she happily sipped on a massive milkshake.

She looked absolutely obsessed.

"Hey," Shen Tian said while chewing casually, "slow down."

"At this rate you’re gonna get fat." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Bai Xue immediately let out an offended humph.

Her cheeks puffed slightly as she looked away while still stuffing nuggets into her mouth.

"Impossible!"

She swallowed dramatically before proudly showing off her figure slightly.

"Whenever I gain weight, it all goes into my chest, thighs, and butt!"

Her tone sounded incredibly smug.

Shen Tian immediately laughed.

"Lucky you."

Without hesitation, he casually placed a hand onto her thigh and squeezed lightly.

"...Wow."

He raised an eyebrow.

"You really are soft like jelly."

Feeling his hand on her thigh made Bai Xue blush faintly.

She didn’t stop him.

Partly because he had saved her life earlier.

And because...

Well...

He was ridiculously handsome.

Life really was unfair for unattractive people.

Eventually, Bai Xue finished swallowing the rest of her nuggets before immediately leaning backward again excitedly.

"Anyways!"

Seeing Shen Tian finally done eating, her eyes lit up.

"Can you tell me about my future now? What happens to my organization?"

Shen Tian casually wiped his hands clean with a napkin.

Then, after glancing toward the front seat, he pressed a button and rolled up the privacy divider between the driver and the back seats.

He didn’t trust his driver not to listen in.

Once the divider fully closed, Shen Tian leaned back comfortably.

"Alright... You wanted to know what happens to your organization, right?"

Bai Xue immediately nodded seriously.

The playful expression from earlier disappeared completely.

Shen Tian rubbed his chin slightly while organizing his thoughts.

"Well... After joining Ye Chen’s harem, things start going downhill for your underground force."

Bai Xue frowned instantly.

"What do you mean?"

Shen Tian sighed.

"Ye Chen treats your men like disposable cannon fodder."

"He constantly throws them into dangerous situations as human shields while handling his own enemies."

"And because of that..."

"Most of your trusted subordinates eventually die because of him."

The atmosphere inside the car became colder.

Bai Xue’s fingers slowly tightened slightly.

Shen Tian continued calmly.

"And once your manpower weakens, rival underground organizations begin taking your territory piece by piece."

"You eventually beg Ye Chen for help."

Bai Xue’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

"And what does he do?"

Shen Tian laughed dryly.

"He says he’s too busy cultivating."

"He was trying to save the grandfather of another heroine at the time."

"And he promised he’d help reclaim your territory later."

A brief pause followed.

"But..."

"About nine hundred Chapters later, the author completely forgot your underground plotline existed."

Silence.

Shen Tian coughed lightly.

"I mean..."

"The protagonist forgot about it."

"And your entire organization basically disappeared from the story forever."

Bai Xue slowly placed one hand against her chest.

Her expression looked genuinely shaken.

"So, If I got involved with that man... I would’ve lost everything I built?"

Shen Tian gave a half nod.

"Yep. It was honestly pretty brutal."

Bai Xue immediately clenched her fists.

"No."

Her tone became cold.

"I refuse to let that happen."

Then she grabbed Shen Tian’s sleeve.

"So how do we kill him? I don’t even want to imagine that future."

Seeing her reaction, Shen Tian rested a finger under his chin thoughtfully.

"Well..."

"First rule."

"Don’t go near Ye Chen alone."

"Second..."

His eyes met hers calmly.

"Stay close to me."

"Third, we need to gather all the heroines onto our side. We cut off his emotional support, resources, opportunities, and growth stage before he fully develops."

As Shen Tian continued explaining his plans—

Bai Xue had already stopped listening.

Because her mind became completely stuck on one sentence.

Stay close to me.

Hearing those words made her heart feel strangely warm.

Slowly, Bai Xue closed her eyes for a brief moment.

Then quietly muttered:

"...Alright. I’ll marry you."

Shen Tian instantly stopped talking.

"...Huh?"

Even he looked caught off guard.

He didn’t mean it that way.

At all.

Yet after seeing Bai Xue’s serious expression.

Shen Tian ultimately didn’t reject her either.

Because from a strategic perspective?

The more heroines emotionally sided with him.

The weaker the protagonist became.

And besides...

Unlike Ye Chen.

Shen Tian knew he could keep a harem functional without turning everyone into neglected background decorations.

--------------

(Author: Thank you so much for reading! Every Powerstone, comment, and review truly helps support the novel, and the more Powerstones we get, the more Chapters I’ll release!)