"Huh?!"
"What does that mean?!"
The sloppy old man and the dominant-looking woman froze in shock.
Then, they saw a magnificent golden light flare up in Shen Ning'Er's hand, blindingly brilliant. A golden liquid gushed from the light like a fountain.
"G-Gold Energy!!!"
"Quick, run!"
The sloppy old man's face contorted in horror.
As for the dominant-looking woman, she spun around and bolted instantly, all her previous haughtiness gone. She looked as if she had just seen a demon.
"Trying to run? Too late." A faint smile played on Shen Ning'Er's lips as she thrust one hand forward. As if on command, the golden liquid rapidly solidified before her.
"ROAR!"
An enraged beast's roar echoed out, shaking the entire factory.
Then, a massive arm forged of pure gold reached out from the yellow sulfur mist, covered in a dense coat of visible golden fur.
"Shield!" The dominant-looking woman's face was pale. She clapped her hands together in front of her, and four copper bands materialized, fusing into a copper shield as smooth as a mirror.
BOOM!
The pure gold arm crashed into the copper shield.
The mirror-like shield offered a moment of resistance before it was shattered into fragments.
The dominant-looking woman shot backward, but a fragment still struck her foot. With a cry of pain, she tumbled headfirst and landed between Gao Neng's legs.
"..." Gao Neng stared at the woman.
"..." The woman also saw Gao Neng.
Their eyes met. Gao Neng desperately pushed off the ground, scrambling backward. The woman did the same.
'Huh? This woman seems a little afraid of me. Don't tell me she thinks I'm an Energy Warrior like Shen Ning'Er?' The thought flashed through Gao Neng's mind. He was just about to shout, "Don't move! Hands up!" when another tremendous roar assaulted his ears.
"ROAR!"
The beast roared again.
Within the sulfur mist, a giant golden ape a full eight or nine meters tall stood firm. Its thick arms, dense golden fur, and a pair of sharp tusks were a testament to its fury.
Meanwhile, Shen Ning'Er was now covered in a golden feathered mantle composed entirely of individual golden feathers. It enveloped her whole body, and a golden mask concealed her face.
It was an incredibly imposing sight.
Gao Neng watched the scene, somewhat speechless.
'What a massive pile of...'
'Gold!'
'And it's pure gold at that!'
'That's right. Shen Ning'Er has a hidden gold-type talent. Gao Neng remembered that before he copied her talent, his own hidden gold talent was at 0%.'
'Then, after enhancing it, his hidden gold talent became 100%.'
Gao Neng didn't know exactly how powerful Gold Energy was, but he knew that the number of Alliance Coins required to gather enough material for such a massive Furious Golden Ape had to be astronomical.
'Impressive!'
'She's a true pay-to-win goddess!'
However, this wasn't the time to be concerned about that. An intense sense of danger was washing over him.
The woman was drenched in sweat. With Gao Neng in front of her, Shen Ning'Er behind her, and the wound on her foot, she was preparing to make one last, desperate stand.
And the target of this desperate move...
...was obviously not going to be Shen Ning'Er.
'Oh no, this is bad!' A chill ran down Gao Neng's spine. He wanted to run, but he couldn't get away. The iron ring was still clamped on his ankle, making it hard to even stand up.
"Major Shen, your subordinate has subdued these two. They are now yours to deal with!" Just then, Shen Ning'Er's voice suddenly rang out.
"Major Shen?" Gao Neng's intelligence was as high as his name suggested. After a moment's hesitation, he realized Shen Ning'Er was actually trying to save him.
Then he thought back to how Shen Ning'Er had used his name...
What?!
Gao Neng suddenly felt a surreal sense of dislocation.
He had originally thought Shen Ning'Er was just speaking off the cuff. Now he understood the true depth of her scheme; it was a move calculated at every step. By pretending to be him, she could test whether he actually knew the people in the factory. At the same time, it allowed her to save his life at the critical moment by revealing her identity as "Major Shen."
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Gao Neng's forehead.
'I've really met my match this time,' he thought. 'This Shen Ning'Er's intellect is nearly on par with my own!'
"Lieutenant Gao, you handle the old man. Leave this woman to me," Gao Neng coughed, forcing himself to his feet.
The faces of the woman and the sloppy old man changed drastically. When they looked at Gao Neng again, there was a clear look of dread in their eyes.
'This Gao Neng, who can wield Gold Energy, is just an Alliance Lieutenant?!'
'Then this Major Shen...'
'Just how powerful is she?!'
"Old man, save me! If I make it out of this alive, I'll sleep with you tonight!" the woman shouted, quickly absorbing the copper fragment lodged in her foot.
"What the fuck are you talking about! If *I* can survive... hell, you can have your way with me!" The sloppy old man's face was just as sickly pale.
...
「In the factory's security control room.」
Huang Ya and Fatty were frozen in stunned silence.
Although they couldn't make out what was being said on the factory floor, the moment they saw the Furious Golden Ape, they knew the fight was over.
"Brother Huang Ya... Wh-what do we do?! That woman is... she's too strong!"
"Quick, make a call!" Huang Ya fumbled for his phone, but his hands were shaking so badly he dropped it. "Your phone! Give me your phone, quick!"
"Y-yes, sir, here's my phone!"
RING... RING...
The call connected.
An angry yet seductive voice came from the other end.
"It's the middle of the damn night. Who has a death wish, interrupting me while I'm creating art?"
"Boss Lady, it's bad! Real bad! There's a psycho woman in the factory! She... she can use G-G-Gold Energy! She materialized a huge golden ape, it's almost ten meters tall!"
"What did you say? Gold Energy materialization?!" The seductive voice instantly turned ice-cold.
"Yes! Ito Sei is already dead! Uncle Yitutu and Sister Meimei are fighting her now, but I think... I think they're about to die too!"
CLICK.
The line went dead.
「In Tang De's old villa, within the Forgotten Land.」
The woman with elven ears leaped off Tang De's body. She quickly draped a sheer robe over herself, her eyes glinting with a faint blue light.
"What is it? Did something unexpected happen?" Tang De slowly sat up, took a sip of red wine, then casually picked up a cigar from the table and struck a match.
"There's a problem at the factory. A man and a woman broke in. They say the woman can materialize Gold Energy. If I'm not mistaken, that Alliance Major you told me about before is probably at the factory right now!" The woman's eyes narrowed, her tone frigid.
"What did you say?!" The cigar in Tang De's hand dropped to the floor.