977 Chapter 977 - Control

Shang just snorted. "What's with this question?" he asked with a bit of annoyance.

"You helped me when I was weak, even though you had every incentive not to. Not helping you back would be more than idiotic."

"I have no reason to betray you, Gregorio," Shang explained.

When Gregorio heard that answer, the inside of his chest hurt.

'That was not what I meant,' Gregorio thought

Gregorio wanted to know whether or not Shang was his friend.

And yet, Shang didn't even say anything regarding that.

He only said that he had no reason to betray him.

Sure, some people would ask such a question to see whether or not someone else would betray them, but that hadn't been Gregorio's intention.

Shang was Gregorio's friend, and Gregorio just wanted to know if Shang saw it the same way.

However, even though Shang hadn't answered the question, his answer had still given Gregorio the answer he wanted. Friendship?

Shang probably didn't even consider this a real concept.

To him, friendship was probably something from a kid's fairy tale.

Gregorio wasn't sure what he should feel.

Betrayal?

Anger?

Sadness?

Yet, one thing was sure.

Gregorio was hurt.

However, Gregorio also realized that this had partially been his fault as well. After all, Shang had never seemed like someone that put a lot of value on things like friendship.

Meanwhile, Shang wasn't entirely sure why Gregorio had asked that question since he wasn't completely sure how Gregorio's mind worked.

Shang had perceived the question as a subtle test to see whether or not Shang was about to kill Gregorio, but it could also be that Gregorio was so naive that he actually asked whether or not Shang was his friend.

But out of respect, Shang expected that Gregorio wouldn't ask about something this dumb.

"Okay," Gregorio said after a bit, his Aura having calmed down. "What's your plan now?"

Shang revealed a toothy grin. "First, I will finish my swordsmanship. Then, I will become a Sword King."

Gregorio just absentmindedly nodded. He wasn't even truly thinking about what to do next.

His feelings were distracting him.

"What about the Mana?" Gregorio asked. Shang snorted when he heard the disgusting word, Mana. "That's no longer a concern. My being is made of 70% Entropy and 30% Mana. I can advance by absorbing Abominations."

The next moment, Shang released a chuckle empty of mirth.

Gregorio had never heard Shang laugh, and he felt it sounded creepy.

"This was probably what Abaddon meant," Shang said. "Why would I need any of the disgusting Mana from this world? I can just absorb the Abominations."

Now, Gregorio actually paid attention to what Shang was saying. After all, the words Shang had just spoken were more than shocking.

"You don't need any Mana anymore?" Gregorio asked in shock.

"Right," Shang said with an arrogant smirk. "I don't need the other Emperors or Kings anymore. I can just retreat to the edge of the world and consume Abominations until I become an Emperor."

"Tournament? Inheritor Sphere? Abaddon? Kali?" Shang said before laughing.

"None of that matters."

Gregorio took a deep breath. "What about the Abominations?"

"What about them?" Shang asked, not knowing what Gregorio's point was.

"When Abomination Kings suddenly appear, everyone will immediately know that you are the Child of Calamity, and even when I say that you are dead, they won't believe me."

"They will search for you throughout the entire world, and the situation will be so dire for them that the Emperors will search the world personally. They will find you."

Shang wasn't the biggest fan of what Gregorio had just said, but he had to admit that Gregorio was right.

"True," Shang answered. "What if we preemptively bury Abomination Kings across the world? That should stop new Abomination Kings from appearing."

"That won't be easy," Gregorio answered. "I have no trust amongst the Emperors. If they found one of the small cages, they would immediately open it, and the Abomination King inside would explode, revealing their existence to everyone."

"And Kali?" Shang asked.

Gregorio blinked a couple of times in surprise.

Kali?

Right, Gregorio wasn't the only person that knew of Shang's identity anymore! Kali also knew that Shang was the Child of Calamity!

"She has the trust of them," Gregorio said. "She could take care of things. Kali could just claim that she found her own way of getting rid of Abominations, and she only needed some unsupervised time in their Empires."

"However, I'm not entirely sure if I would trust her," Gregorio said. "You would need to follow her, and you would be alone with her for an extended period of time."

"If Abaddon wants you dead, that would be the opportunity for Kali to kill you."

Shang just smirked. "That won't be a problem."

Gregorio looked with surprise at Shang. "Why?"

"Well," Shang said as he moved his black arm through his black hair. "Now that I have so much of my body and soul back, I can sacrifice it again."

"If she tries to pull anything, I can detonate 40% of my soul. I won't fall into a coma, and if she manages to survive, the other Emperors will arrive."

"At that point, I only need to say what Kali was about to do and that she already knew of my status as the Child of Calamity for a long time."

"On top of that, if something happens to me, you just release the Archivist."

Shang chuckled again.

"Killing me means killing herself and her son."

"Gregorio," Shang said as he looked Gregorio in the eyes. "We are not powerless."

"Kali and Abaddon think they are the ones in control, but they're mistaken."

"We can release the Archivist, which will result in every Emperor dying."

"I can summon tens of Abomination Kings, which will result in Aterium dying."

"We can free all the already imprisoned Abominations, resulting in the same thing."

Shang turned away from Gregorio and looked toward the direction of Aterium.

"Aterium is in our hands."

"And if we so choose to, we can clench our fists!"

"If Kali doesn't want to die, she shouldn't do anything stupid."