The four-winged angel held his reddened cheek and stared at the manager in disbelief. He couldnât believe that the manager had slapped him for a non-angelâs sake.
âHurry up and apologize!â The managerâs voice was stern and authoritative.
The four-winged angel shuddered, then reluctantly turned toward Han Wu.
âSorry...â His voice was as quiet as a mosquitoâs buzz.
Han Wu heard the apology, but only faintly. Still, he pretended that he hadnât heard a thing. âWhat did you say? I canât hear you.â
The four-winged angelâs face flushed with anger, and he leered at Han Wu. He wouldâve lunged at him on the spot if he werenât weaker than he was.
Han Wuâs act didnât fool the manager, but unfortunately, the fault lay with the auction house. With no room for compromise, he ordered, âApologize!â
The four-winged angel trembled because he felt Han Wu grinding his reputation into the dirt, but he had no choice but to obey the manager. His voice rose an octave as he stammered. âI. Am. Sorry!â
âWhat was that? I donât understand you.â Han Wu played the fool again.
The four-winged angel ground his teeth until blood welled up. He wanted to eat Han Wu alive.
The manager shot him another warning look, and he had no choice but to apologize again.
âIâm sorry!â This time, the words came out clearly.
The manager stepped forward to close the matter. âSince he has already apologized, I hope that you will let this issue rest for the sake of our reputation. Letâs talk about the auction instead.â
He then turned his attention to the Light Stone. As a light life form, he felt its pull immediately. Beyond its exquisite appearance, the manager could sense that it possessed something special.
Han Wu could humiliate the four-winged angel in public, but not the manager. His goal was to put the Light Stone up for auction so he could get close to Seraphim Aisha.
He glanced at the four-winged angel before turning toward the manager to discuss the itemâs auction. He plainly stated that the auction house had to promote the Light Stone as widely as possible. In the best-case scenario, everyone in Yenom would hear of it. He also made it clear that he didnât care about the final auction price.
The manager noticed Han Wuâs nonchalant attitude toward the Light Stone and asked, âDonât tell me... You still have more of it?â
Han Wu smiled. âI have enough stones for every single angel to own one.â
The manager shuddered because he had already learned of the Light Stoneâs effects from Han Wu. If every single angel had one, then the entire Angel Civilization would rise to a new level.
Excitement took hold of him, and his breathing quickened. This matter concerned the Angel Civilizationâs future, and he had to offer a price that would be worthy of its value.
After a few rounds of negotiations, the two reached a satisfactory agreement. They also finalized several specific terms for the auction. The manager was confident that this event would be extremely lively and exciting.
Han Wu left in high spirits. Night had already fallen by the time he walked back. A trace of nervousness crept in, since half a month remained before the White Mane God Kingâs deadline. Nevertheless, he was confident that he could obtain the batch of elixirs from Aisha within that window.
Han Wu was still reflecting on how smoothly everything had progressed when someone blocked his path.
From the hooded figureâs bulging back, Han Wu could tell that the other party was an angel. He hadnât been here for long and hadnât interacted with a lot of people, so he didnât even need to think hard to guess the foeâs identity. It was most likely the four-winged angel that he had offended earlier in the day, or someone associated with him.
The hooded figure attacked him without warning. Han Wuâs gaze saw a short blade flash into view, its surface saturated with Dark Energy.
At first, Han Wu assumed this was a calculated attempt to frame the assailant as a dark life form, which would give the four-winged angel an alibi. However, once they clashed head-on, Han Wu confirmed that the assailant was indeed a dark life form.
I thought all angels fall into the light attribute? Since when did dark-attribute angels exist?
Han Wu quickly racked his brain and finally remembered a rare mutation: the Fallen Angels.
Fallen Angels were extremely uncommon, to the point that almost no one knew of their existence, especially within the noble Angel Civilization that worshipped the light.
Han Wu growled, âWho sent you here?â
The Fallen Angel remained silent and only pressed the attack with greater speed. It was an intermediate Earthsunder life form, and Han Wu struggled to fend off its attacks.
After confirming that he couldnât defeat the Fallen Angel with his standard techniques, he used Replicate instead. Night Terrorâs powers were available to him now. He fused the powers of petrification, nightmare, Light Aspect, and Dark Aspect into a single lance, then hurled it at the Fallen Angel.
The Fallen Angel tried to evade it, but Han Wu activated Famine. In that instant, a terrible hunger seized the Fallen Angel, draining all strength from its limbs. It attempted to counter the debuff with the power of darkness, but the lance punched straight through its skull.
Its control over darkness shielded it only briefly. The Light Energy within the spear shattered the shield and penetrated the Fallen Angel. The power of nightmare and petrification erupted and erased the Fallen Angelâs soul.
Han Wu let out a breath of relief and quickly jumped toward the Fallen Angelâs back to tear off its four black wings before full petrification set in. An angelâs wings were a rare artifact that contained their angelic power, and a Fallen Angelâs wings were rarer still.
He secured the wings and tossed the Fallen Angelâs corpse into his divine realm to serve as food for his units. He then fled the scene. Soon, the street returned to its former calm, as if no one had fought there before.
Han Wu returned to his hotel, where Akanzor and Bart greeted him warmly. He gave them each a pair of the Fallen Angelâs wings as his second gift.
Their eyes lit up with excitement. Angel wings of the dark attribute were exceedingly rare, and they wanted to return to the divine realm at once to have the Origin of Mutation graft the wings on them.
Han Wu understood their eagerness but didnât open the rift to his divine realm. This wasnât the Divine Civilization. Storing inanimate objects posed little risk, since he could mask the traces by saying he used something like a Storage Ring. However, transporting living beings would easily draw the Will of the Angel Civilizationâs attention. Before he was completely exposed, Han Wu had to remain extremely cautious and take every necessary precaution.
After dealing with everything, Han Wu decided to rest. He needed to be prepared for the upcoming auction.