Li Ke felt utterly cheated.
Once upon a time, back when he played DNF, Seria had been a massive money sink. Over a year, he would easily pour the equivalent of a full month's salary into her. If he ever got carried away and spent that entire annual amount in a single month, he'd be left completely broke.
And now? Great. He was literally being mugged by Seria in person!
He desperately wanted to know what the hell was up with his system. Everyone else's systems were insanely overpowered—either tricking the world's consciousness or completely blinding the eyes of countless high-tier powerhouse entities.
Why was it that when it came to his turn, his own system could actually get robbed by a member of his harem?!
And it wasn't just a petty theft; it was a total wipeout!
"This makes absolutely no sense..."
Li Ke glanced down at his spear, which had instantly stood at attention the moment he caught sight of Seria's legs, and began to question his reality.
He had clearly dominated Seria all night, leaving her breathless and backed into a corner. Sure, he was the one who ended up completely drained while Seria still had the stamina to make him a midnight snack. But there was no doubt about it—he had held the upper hand the entire time! When did things go so wrong?
This was completely unscientific!
"Wait... I pounded Seria all night until I was exhausted, and she still had the energy to cook?"
Hearing the faint sound of humming from the other room, Li Ke suddenly realized something.
It seemed... probably... maybe...
Seria had way more stamina than he did?
Feeling his entirely depleted ammunition depot, Li Ke recalled Seria's delicate, fragile demeanor. He fell into a silent daze, followed swiftly by utter despair.
Fortunately, Li Ke's saving grace was his past as an ordinary guy. Spending years getting beaten down by society meant he was well-conditioned to taking losses. He recovered remarkably fast. While Seria was stewing the meat, he was already checking his system interface.
This time, he actually spotted a difference.
Incomplete Power of the Primordial (LV1): A new power born from the collision between the incomplete Primordial Power of Creation and the energy of a collapsing dimension. Though nascent, it still holds immense might and can function in most worlds.
As a mortal rather than a deity, channeling the Power of the Primordial requires an exceptionally fierce will and a powerful physique.
Once awoken and successfully contained, this force will comprehensively enhance the host's natural talent, comprehension, learning capacity, combat instincts, and overall energy manipulation and affinity.
The Power of the Primordial will also drastically amplify all energies and abilities currently at your disposal, allowing your attacks to flawlessly surpass those of anyone else.
Current Status: Your body is presently too weak. The Power of the Primordial is currently waking up, providing only a minimal stat boost. As you train, the true strength of this primordial force will begin to manifest.
"So the Power of the Primordial actually got activated?"
Looking at his screen, Li Ke couldn't help but stroke his chin.
If he remembered correctly, this trait had been locked the last time he checked his stats. Now, it was fully active. Aside from that, nothing else had changed.
"That cost me tens of thousands of Energy Points... not to mention a massive chunk of World Power... It better be worth it. The name and description sound insane, at least."
Li Ke clenched his fist. He didn't feel anything particularly special. To be exact, he couldn't feel the stat boosts at all. After all, concepts like comprehension, learning speed, and raw talent were far too abstract to measure on the fly. Even when it came to energy control, he didn't notice any drastic difference.
Just as he was about to circulate his Blood-Qi and mana to test it out, Seria walked back to his side carrying a bowl of hot meat broth, a blissful smile radiating from her face.
"The soup is ready!"
The combination of a beautiful girl and a radiant smile was so perfect that Li Ke immediately tossed his grievances out the window. Besides, as long as he was with Seria, he was never going to run short on Energy Points anyway.
Furthermore, he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt like Seria had become even more captivating.
Staring at Seria's chest and lovely face, the annoyance of having his Energy Points and World Power snatched away mostly evaporated. She was his wife, after all. What was wrong with a wife spending her husband's money?
"Dammit, I'm still pissed."
Looking at Seria's radiant, blooming smile, Li Ke made up his mind—he was going to rail her until she cried later.
He had Life Return, after all!
Ultimate Life Return: 1.8 million horsepower!
Instant fluid regeneration!
A fierce glint flashed in Li Ke's eyes. He was fully prepared to go down with the ship alongside Seria today.
Either he completely stuffed Seria to the brim, or she squeezed him completely dry! There was no middle ground!
Still, despite his irritation, he didn't dwell on it too much. Arad had no shortage of powerful, high-tier women, so he wouldn't run out of Energy Points.
Besides, he could just test things out later. If Seria could keep generating Energy Points for him, he'd act like nothing happened. If she couldn't, he'd just consider it the price for activating the Power of the Primordial—after all, that new skill looked incredibly appealing.
However, just as Li Ke was working hard on the meat broth in his bowl, planning to direct all his resentment over his emptied wallet right back into Seria's hidden depths, she suddenly leaned in close with a look of pure anticipation.
"Um... so..."
Hesitation covered Seria's face, but the sheer expectation in her eyes gave Li Ke a very bad feeling.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Seria set down her soup. To be honest, she wasn't very hungry. Li Ke had already fed her plenty of "broth" earlier; her stomach was completely full, and her hair was even a little sore.
A peculiar sense of satisfaction was continuously working through her body, making her feel incredibly comfortable and leaving her wanting to keep doing that sort of thing with Li Ke.
But...
"It's just... what should we name our future children?"
Seria brought up her thoughts with infinite bashfulness, looking at Li Ke expectantly.
Hearing this topic, Li Ke almost spat out his mouthful of meat broth. He barely managed to hold it in, keeping his face perfectly calm and collected on the outside, acting as if he hadn't been fazed at all.
"Oh, that..."
Li Ke had to admit that he truly hadn't thought about having children. For someone like him, he used to worry about whether he might suddenly die in some random world, so he had never considered leaving behind descendants.
As for the situation on 2B's side, he hadn't had a choice. Since 2B's absolute primary directive was ensuring the continuation of humanity, his hands had been tied.
However, he didn't think Seria was actually pregnant yet. After all, it had only been a few days since he last left her. No matter how fast it happened, it couldn't be that fast.
Furthermore, he was absolutely certain that when he filled Seria up, she wasn't even in her fertile window!
"Yes, that is indeed something we need to think over carefully."
Li Ke calmly set down his bowl. In times like this, maintaining absolute composure was key. Even if you absolutely didn't want kids right now, you had to act the part.
Otherwise, Li Ke's instincts told him that things would completely blow up in his face. Especially for a harem protagonist like him, the chances of a total disaster were incredibly high!
Therefore, he chose to flip the question!
"Seria, do you have any names you like?" Li Ke asked smoothly.
Seria happily hugged his arm. Li Ke's reaction told her that he wasn't against the idea of having children with her at all!
But then...
"Well, I want you to name them, Li Ke... After all, Lord Li Ke, you're bound to have many wives in the future, right?"
As Seria spoke, a trace of melancholy crept into her tone. Li Ke could practically see a dark aura starting to manifest around her.
He immediately let out a couple of hasty coughs.
"In that case, we really do need to give it some proper thought... Hmm, but I honestly can't think of anything right now... If I had to choose, a boy could be named Lieber, and a girl could be named Loran."
Li Ke accepted his own incompetence; he was completely useless when it came to naming things.
"Oh? Why those?"
"I met you at the Bel Myre line in the Grand Flores Forest—the Loran Forest! So it only makes sense to name our children after it!"
Li Ke spoke with absolute righteousness, causing Seria to happily cover her blushing face.
Right now, Seria felt overwhelmingly happy. She couldn't help but press her body even closer to Li Ke, her hands naturally sliding across his arms and chest.
At this moment, Seria looked exactly like an innocent country girl. In fact, to most people, she truly was just a lovely little village maiden.
Even she believed that about herself!
Seeing Seria like this, Li Ke naturally wasn't about to hold back. He devoured the rest of his food in one breath, stripped her clothes off again without a second thought, and pressed her down into the bed!
The constant creaking of the mattress, paired with Seria and Li Ke's heavy breathing and cries, echoed clearly through the night. While the neighbors outside weren't bothered, the same couldn't be said for the other residents inside the building.
"Ugh, Li Ke just doesn't know when to quit."
Spreadeagled across her bed, the red-haired loli mage who had traveled here with Li Ke spoke up in utter exasperation.
She had originally planned to study a few more spells, but the noises from Li Ke and Seria completely shattered her concentration. It had only just paused a moment ago. Now, just as she was finally about to drift off to sleep, Li Ke had started up all over again.
"They're so loud. And they didn't even leave me any midnight snacks."
Hearing the noises from next door, Roche didn't feel anything particularly unusual. She was just annoyed. Patting her stomach, which was growling from the lingering scent of the meat broth, she pulled the pillow over her head in frustration and forced herself to sleep.
Since there was nothing to eat, sleeping was her only option.
Only when Seria cried out in a high-pitched, ecstatic climax would Roche give a tiny shiver under her small blanket.
However, the person in the other adjoining room wasn't handling it nearly as well.
"Damn it..."
Miss Ruohua tossed and turned irritably on her bed, her heavily scarred hands unconsciously gripping the bedsheets tightly.
Because Roche was simple-minded, she was merely annoyed, and her appetite always came before everything else. But for Ruohua, things were entirely different.
Fighters naturally had to push their bodies to the absolute limit, constantly honing themselves through the thrill of life-or-death combat. Under such intense physical stimulation, the private lives of most Fighters weren't exactly pristine.
Their physical desires were incredibly powerful. Usually, a man who teamed up with a female Fighter for the long term would either end up as her bed partner or her outright lover.
Of course, true Fighters who solely pursued absolute strength would learn to conquer these desires. Nen Masters, in particular, could suppress these urges through deep meditation and cultivating their Nen.
Yet, no matter how much one suppressed it, a physical impulse remained a physical impulse.
Suppressing a desire didn't mean entirely ignoring the body's natural demands. Like eating or drinking water, it was a biological reality shared by any normal human. True suppression meant exercising self-control so as not to become hopelessly addicted.
Because of this, many female Fighters who dedicated their lives to getting stronger would still find someone they liked to hook up with when necessary. They treated it as a way to decompress and relax, without ever intending to get married or even stay together.
But Ruohua had never done that. Her mind was entirely consumed by the desire to grow stronger so she could slaughter more monsters.
Even so, she knew deep down that while she was determined to kill off her own fragile weaknesses, she was still a woman. That was an undeniable fact. If she didn't even have the courage to acknowledge her own womanhood, her fists would only grow weak and hollow.
Acknowledging one's vulnerabilities and biological nature was nothing to be ashamed of.
But...
"Bastard..."
Feeling the heat building up inside her body—an urge that was rapidly becoming impossible to suppress—Ruohua couldn't help but slam her fist against the bed frame.
"How the hell does this guy last so long?!"
Standard physical conditioning rarely trained that specific part of the body. Most powerhouses lasted about as long as a normal human; they were simply better at enduring discomfort.
But Li Ke's situation went way beyond the boundaries of mere endurance! This was the kind of performance that required dedicated, specialized cultivation!
Desperately fighting the urges wracking her body, Ruohua—who slept completely naked—couldn't help but clamp her legs tightly together. Her athletic, shapely legs rubbed against one another in a highly enticing display.
Her resentment toward Li Ke ran deep. She unconsciously bit down on her lip, accidentally catching a few stray strands of her own hair.
Without even realizing it, a fine layer of sweat had broken out across her head and body, leaving her shivering continuously. It was obvious that hours of listening to those sounds had pushed her past her breaking point.
"Does that guy have absolutely no self-restraint? It looks like I can't team up with him after all. There's no way to get stronger around someone like that."
Gritting her teeth as she muttered those words, Ruohua fiercely pulled the blanket over her head, determined to completely ignore the noise.
Yet, the more she tried to block it out, the clearer the sounds became! Like a hypnotic curse, it drifted around her ears and burrowed deep into her mind, forcing her to constantly picture exactly what was happening next door.
To make matters worse, her ability to track movements through sound was exceptionally sharp. Based on the shifting positions of their breathing, she could effortlessly visualize exactly what position Li Ke and Seria were using!
During this lonely, blistering hot night, it was glaringly obvious that Miss Ruohua wasn't going to get a single wink of sleep.