Chapter 31
"Devour" effect activated. Gained ability:
Abandon Death, Shed Life: When receiving fatal damage, within an extremely short activation window, you can transfer the damage to any organ in your body and then discard that portion of the organ to nullify the injury. (The higher the fatal damage output, the larger/more important the proportion of organ that must be sacrificed.)
A very underwhelming ability—even lacking any growth potential.
But that's normal. After all, it only came from a weak devil he casually kicked to death.
After canceling the transformation, Denji prepared to leave the alley.
He hadn't taken two steps before he felt a strange chill.
He looked down.
"Fuck! Where the hell are my clothes?!"
Gone. Obviously melted away by the "blood."
Different transformations have different effects. The Chainsaw's "Weapon Human Form" only sprouts from the corresponding limb.
"Black Chainsaw Form" is full-coverage armor.
But "Royal Blood Handle · True Blood Devil Form" is a refined fusion transformation—her "blood" isn't gentle enough to spare the clothes.
So annoying.
After mentally grumbling, instinct made him look up.
Sure enough—on the rooftop edge of a high-rise, silhouetted against the "boundary" of the sky, that crow with the weird gaze had flown over and perched there.
No doubt about it.
100% a creature under Makima's control.
He'd originally planned to "streak" home at maximum speed to change clothes.
But since Makima saw… if she already knows, maybe there's no need to go through all that trouble.
Even if his speed was too fast for normal eyes to track, Denji still felt weird about it.
No way he's doing a naked sprint!
Looking up at the crow, Denji called out in a suppressed voice:
"Send me a set of clothes."
The crow tilted its head slightly—looking like it was playing cute and confused, pretending not to understand.
Denji couldn't hold back—he flipped the bird directly at the crow in the sky.
Seeing Denji's amusing gesture, a trace of "human-like amusement" flickered in the crow's eyes.
It gave a nod-like motion, then flew away.
Denji gritted his teeth. Mental note added—revenge pending.
Looks like last time was too "gentle." Next time you'll taste this kind of humiliation too!
Not long after, from his spot crouched in the alley corner, Denji heard a dog bark.
"Woof woof—"
Peeking out, he saw a Golden Retriever with a bag strapped to its back.
The dog's eyes were bright and lively; its aura full of vitality.
Not a dominated animal—this one was properly trained.
A thought flashed through his mind, but he set it aside for now. Denji waved.
The Golden immediately bounded over~
It licked his palm.
Then turned around, backing up to "deliver" the bag on its back to him.
Opening it: one brand-new unopened pair of underwear, a pair of shoes, socks, a complete Public Safety uniform set, a small bag of freeze-dried kibble, and a note.
Ignoring the rest for now, Denji changed into the clothes, pants, and shoes.
He opened the note:
"The snacks are for 'Lady' (the Golden Retriever who brought you the clothes). Feed her by hand~"
Opening the note revealed another layer inside:
Denji really is both cute and terrifying~ Like a wild beast—savage and brutal, yet still retaining the gentle beauty necessary for biological evolution.
—Makima
What a massive loss—
But damn, this Makima really needs some discipline!
Denji mentally added another entry to his little black book against her.
After thinking for a moment, he used "Manifestation" + enhanced blood control to write something on the note, then stuffed everything back into the bag.
He fed the freeze-dried kibble to "Lady."
After finishing, the Golden licked his palm again, then kept circling and rubbing against his legs—sniffing deeply, reinforcing her memory of his scent.
With two final "woof"s, the Golden left the same way she came.
Denji also retraced his steps.
On the way back, he mulled over some details.
Weird. If it's not dominated, how did that Golden find me?
By scent?
Then how did she know my scent in the first place?
No need to overthink it. With Makima's methods, obtaining something with his scent is trivial—just didn't expect her efficiency to be this high, this fast.
Back at the car.
Aki was still there, leaning against a trash can, sullenly smoking.
His face still wore that stiff, expressionless mask—but now with a few layers of inexplicable frustration even normal people would struggle to read…
"Yo, all done, Aki."
Aki nodded. He took a few quick drags, then pulled a pack of tissues from his pocket, drew one out, unscrewed a spare water bottle, and soaked the tissue.
He crushed the cigarette butt hard into the wet tissue until it was fully extinguished, then wrapped and tossed the whole thing into the trash.
They got back in the car.
The moment Denji sat down, he saw Power—head deliberately turned away, refusing to look at him, clearly signaling she was still mad.
Power: He said it'd be quick! Took so long! This great one is angry! No kisses or hugs from Denji—no way I'm forgiving him!
She actually looked kind of convincing. Denji reached over and patted her head.
"Hmph~"
A dissatisfied, spoiled little huff from her mouth.
But her head didn't dodge at all—the instant he touched, she melted into enjoyment mode.
After two pats, Denji withdrew his hand.
The pleasant sensation on her scalp vanished almost immediately. Power sneaked a sideways glance with her peripheral vision at Denji—who had already closed his eyes to rest.
She thought:
This isn't right! That's not how it goes in Gal Games!
You made this great one mad—shouldn't you keep coaxing me non-stop?
If one round of coaxing isn't enough, you have to prepare surprises and gifts.
While successfully coaxing this great one, raise my affection level.
Finally, when it's just the two of us—use special interactions to max out my affection~
Then this great one shows you my special CG!
How can you give up after just two head pats?!
That's not how Gal Games work! This great one refuses!!
Clearly the love advice column in that gaming magazine isn't reliable… right?
Power rubbed her chin, activating her "Hell-shocking wisdom"!
Wait… maybe the plot direction is reversed?
This great one should be the one conquering Denji.
Talk to Denji more → raise affection.
Occasionally give gifts, then on special holidays (crossed out)… every night have special interactions with Denji.
Then every day confess, every day unlock a new special CG of Denji.
Hehehe, special interactions, special CGs, special interactions, special CGs…
Denji still hadn't figured out why Power suddenly started rubbing his chin when he heard a slightly lewd giggle coming from her.
Oh no—the kid's gone full idiot. Did she really get so mad she short-circuited?
He didn't know what Power was scheming, but out of basic human(itarian) concern—love and care for the (dumbass) Power—
Denji leaned over, pulled her into his arms, and gave her head a few more gentle strokes.
The weird giggling quickly stopped. Instead came the contented purring from his chest.
Denji finally relaxed.
But before he could fully let go, Power suddenly spoke from his embrace:
"Denji Denji When are you gonna show this great one your special CG?"
"???"
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