Reincarnated With The Degenerate System-Chapter 216: The Tower Part 4

Master Tang stiffened at the joke. What was meant as nothing more than a passing remark landed the wrong way.

"If senior wishes," he looked in pain but spoke anyway. "I can have my wives come here to serve you."

That caught me off guard.

Not because of the offer itself, but because of how quickly he bent.

This old man always acted like a tough nut to crack, but now, facing my clone, he looked like a child afraid to even breathe wrong in front of a terrifying teacher.

’What should I do? ’

I kept my expression blank and let the silence stretch. I had seen his so-called wives before, and I won’t deny it—he got very good taste.

Turning down an offer like that would be wasteful.

Damn it. My other head was running at full throttle again.

I forced the thought down and steadied my breathing. This wasn’t the time to get distracted with my worldly desires.

"Do you think I would settle for secondhand?" I set my sake cup down with a soft clack.

Tang’s face drained of color. "This junior spoke without thought. Please forgive the offense."

"How about my daughters?" he added after a pause. "I also have a granddaughter, if you want."

Wow. Just... wow.

His score as a human being dropped straight through the floor. He offered them the same way someone would offer wine.

For being a degenerate though? His score shot straight to perfection. A flawless hundred out of a hundred.

The timing, the audacity, the complete lack of self-respect—it was almost impressive.

Clearly, under different circumstances, we would have been great friends.

"Forget it. Just pour me more drink."

Relief flashed across his face before he hid it. He moved quickly, hands shaking as he refilled my cup.

I drank slowly, letting the warmth settle in my chest. When I was done, I leaned back and looked around the room.

"Introduce yourselves. Names first. Then your rank in the Order."

No one answered right away.

"I don’t like repeating myself. It makes me want to start seeing blood on the floor."

"I am Elder Qian," one man said, voice hoarse. "Executive Member of the eastern district."

Another followed. "Elder Mu. Executive Member. Southern city."

When the last man finished, I began my plan make them submit to me through fear and influence.

"And four of you aren’t from this city?"

No one denied it.

"You didn’t travel this far just to visit," I continued. "So, tell me why you’re here."

Elder Mu cleared his throat. "This city has become... the center of so many controversial things lately, so we came to check."

"Controversial," I repeated, letting the word roll slowly off my tongue. I tilted my head and met his eyes. "Go on. Does that controversy also include pressuring my disciple?"

"Your disciple?" Elder Mu asked, brows drawing together. " We are unaware of —"

Master Tang answered before I could. "We all know who he means...He is talking about Ace Mercer. Senio... is he your student?"

My lips curled. "Not just my student. My favorite one."

All of them grew tense at once, memories of their earlier words surfacing like poison.

They cursed themselves in silence for speaking so freely before, for letting their thoughts spill without knowing that the person they were badmouthing has a backer as high as Mount Tai.

The room stayed quiet, but the fear on their hearts was loud.

"I passed down my cultivation technique to him. It was a secret meant to make him unrivaled. A secret only one person was ever supposed to learn. However,..."

I let the words sink in before adding more.

"He begged me to let him teach ten girls the same method. Said they deserved a chance. Out of my favoritism... I allowed it."

The air changed.

My Qi leaked out. The floor trembled beneath our feet.

"And now," my voice turned colder. "After all the work he put in, I hear a group of old men want to steal the fruit of his labor."

No one dared to breathe. I could feel them stiffen under the weight of my Qi, as if an invisible hand was gripping their necks.

"So, tell me," I went on, eyes sweeping the room, "what should be done to thieves who take what they didn’t earn?"

The pressure doubled. Staying upright became impossible. Even drawing breath took effort. Every ounce of will they got went into staying conscious.

"Torture?" I asked.

Master Hong swallowed hard.

"Death?"

Sweat rolled down Master Mu temple.

"Or both?" I smiled, calm and patient. "Help me decide,"

Every man in the room dropped.

Mats thudded as bodies hit the floor at the same time, foreheads pressed down, backs bent low in a show of complete submission.

"This one was wrong!"

"We failed to see how high the mountain was."

"Please forgive our ignorance!"

The voices overlapped, rushed and desperate. Pride vanished in an instant. Authority meant nothing under the threat of death.

Wealth followed them wherever they went. Power, status, bloodlines, legacies—each of them had too much left to lose.

Elder Mu’s voice cracked. "We had no intention of stealing anything. This one swears it."

Elder Qian followed, breath uneven. "It was a misunderstanding. A grave one. We apologize."

Even Elder Hong bowed until his forehead scraped the mat. "This one spoke out of turn. Please spare us."

I let them keep going, bowing and apologizing, tripping over their own words as they scraped what little dignity they had left across the floor. The longer it lasted, the smaller they became.

When I was finally satisfied, I reached for the sake.

It wasn’t even about the drink.

Holding the cup like that, unhurried, while they stayed frozen in fear—it made the moment settle. It made it clear who was in control.

And yes, it made me look cool.

"Juniors," my voice was calmer this time. " I’m not unreasonable." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

I let the pressure fade completely before continuing.

"I came in too strong earlier. That was my own emotion getting the better of me. You see, I treat Ace like my own son."

I let my gaze move across them. "If someone tried to take what your child earned, you would be furious too. Probably worse. Am I wrong?"

"No, senior. You’re absolutely right." they answered in unison.

Their timing was perfect. Too perfect.

"Good that you people are quick to understand" I nodded lightly. "I’m rarely wrong to begin with."

A chuckle slipped out of me, casual and unrestrained.

"That’s the curse of being a Master Teacher," I went on. "Being right all the time is carved into my DNA."

I laughed openly, as if I hadn’t pinned them to the floor moments ago or weighed their lives like options on a list.

That sudden change in my persona caught them off guard. They didn’t know how to respond, whether to laugh along, stay silent, or bow again.

That was exactly what I wanted.

Once they started overthinking, asking themselves what I might do next, demanding what I wanted would be easy.

"Speaking of me always being right," I said, lifting the cup and giving it a slow turn, "I warned the people of Darkness that human experiments were wrong. Care to guess what happened to them?"

They all swallowed hard, their Adam’s apples moving like trapped birds.

"Senior..." Master Tang forced the word out. "Were you the one responsible for the destruction of their laboratory here?"

No one else dared to breathe, let alone interrupt.

"Well," I said lightly, swirling the sake in my cup, "I did tell you that I’m always right.

"When they insisted, I was wrong, I decided to teach them a lesson, and somehow that facility ended up burning to the ground, along with their research and a bunch of dead S‑Ranks."

My smile widened as I watched the color drain from their faces. They were probably imagining how easily the same thing could happen to this mansion.

"Let’s stop talking about depressing things," I said, shifting my tone. "Let’s focus on the present and figure out what we should do to satisfy both parties."

"What do you propose, Senior?" Elder Mu asked.

Everyone knew I wasn’t just here to talk about the girls. Whatever I had in mind, they suspected, would decide the fate of more than just their life.

I let out a low chuckle. "Do you know the saying. The enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

They all nodded.

"You made a grave mistake earlier. That much is true. Still, you are part of the Order, and you stand against Darkness. You want that evil organization destroyed. So do I."

My words made them relax a little more. The tension in their shoulders eased, and their breathing steadied. They were already convincing themselves that I had come to work with them.

Well, they weren’t far from the truth.

"We would be honored to have you as part of us, Master Cheng," Hong spoke up.

"Part of you?" A soft laugh left me as I shook my head. The smile on my face didn’t reach my eyes, and the way I looked at him made him regret speaking.

"Why would I work for a group that barely does anything? Don’t misunderstand me. Your intentions are right."

I paused, letting the words sink in.

"But your pace and efficiency are far too slow my liking."

Master Tang spoke up.

"Senior. The Order has been doing its best to stop the expansion of Darkness. But we must be cautious. They are backed by the government and other powerful figures. One wrong move, and—"

"And why should I care about that?" I interjected.