The Abyssal Knight’s Unconventional Debut

Li Chunsheng scratched his chin, suddenly seizing upon a crucial point: “‘It just becomes unstable and fails to activate? The consequences don’t seem that dire, do they?'”

Liuxia shot him an exasperated glare with her beautiful eyes, retorting, “‘Spending money only for it to have no effect—is that not dire enough? Moreover, standard Authority Artifacts possess another distinctive feature: their automated protocols. Once it detects that an Authority has failed to activate, it will relentlessly siphon your essence, repeatedly attempting to deploy it.'”

“‘Failed activations still consume essence. What difference is there between wasting money like this and courting death?'”

‘Wasting money?’ Li Chunsheng mused. ‘I’d like to experience firsthand just how this ‘wasting’ truly unfolds.’

With this thought, he utterly disregarded Liuxia’s astonished gaze beside him, nonchalantly activating the Bronze Rod on himself.

In the very next instant, his seemingly solid, insectoid black armor began to undulate violently, much like a tempestuous, boiling sea.

Immediately after, dense plumes of black mist, composed of countless dark particles, billowed uncontrollably from the armor’s surface, dispersing into the air as if possessing a life of their own.

Gradually, the black mist in the air grew denser and more pervasive…

Concurrently, the black cube faithfully executed its automated protocols.

Upon detecting the failed activation of the armor Authority, it began frantically siphoning Li Chunsheng’s essence, striving to repair and reform the new armor.

Consequently, Liuxia witnessed an utterly bizarre spectacle: Li Chunsheng’s black armor was simultaneously collapsing and regenerating, in a constant state of flux, appearing as though it might disintegrate entirely at any moment.

“‘You—you—you… Chunsheng, what are you doing?'” Seeing this, the young woman truly panicked. “‘Stop it at once! Don’t waste any more money!'”

Li Chunsheng, however, chuckled softly, waving a dismissive hand. “‘Don’t fret, Senior. I still have plenty of money on my card. Since it won’t directly kill me, just let me play around a bit longer.'”

It was at this precise moment that Li Chunsheng stumbled upon a most intriguing discovery.

He realized that he could, it seemed… bypass the black cube’s rigid automated protocols and directly manipulate, with his mind, the ‘black smoke’ that had escaped the armor and was now in a free state.

Concurrently, the fluctuating black armor also appeared capable of instantaneous shapeshifting, to a certain extent, in accordance with his will…

“‘Could it be… that the essence particles outside the automated program’s control are no longer affected by it?'”

“‘And as the Authority user, do I still retain control over these dispersed essence particles?'”

“‘[Essence Control] and [Form Convergence]… I can now actually break free from the program’s constraints and utilize them freely according to my own will?'”

“‘Meanwhile, the Bronze-tier [Physical Augmentation] Authority operates completely unimpeded.'”

Li Chunsheng swiftly recognized the ‘bug’ he had inadvertently triggered.

“‘If that’s the case…'”

A thought sparked in Li Chunsheng’s mind, abruptly bringing to remembrance a classic anime he had watched in his previous life.

He extended his hand towards the empty air, murmuring, “‘Unhallowed Lake Light…'”

In the very next instant, a long black sword, forged from surging black mist and imbued with an ominous, destructive aura, materialized starkly in his grasp.

He had a premonition that these pervasive black mists would possess capabilities far exceeding his wildest imagination.

Simultaneously, with a mere flick of his thoughts, the insectoid armor he wore swiftly reshaped and transformed according to his will, becoming a fearsome yet magnificent black knight’s suit.

Yet, both the black mist longsword and the black knight’s armor continuously diffused copious amounts of black mist, which only served to heighten their sinister aura.

‘It truly… works!’

[ -1060, 10, -1060, 10, -1060, 10… ]

Nevertheless, observing the essence that was rapidly depleting and then instantly replenishing each second, Li Chunsheng couldn’t help but wear a peculiar expression.

“‘Hiss… an ordinary person truly couldn’t afford to play like this.'”

By now, Liuxia, standing beside him, was on the verge of tears from sheer anxiety.

She began to forcefully slap the mist-shrouded armor encasing Li Chunsheng, tears even welling in the corners of her eyes from overwhelming agitation.

Her voice thick with sobs, she cried out, “‘Stop playing! Chunsheng! Stop it right now! Wasting so much money… do you also want to become a goblin?!'”

Li Chunsheng’s profligate spending clearly triggered the young woman’s PTSD concerning debt.

Liuxia finally burst into anguished sobs. “‘Why are you always like this… never listening, squandering money… boo hoo hoo…'”

In the past, the young woman had been far more tolerant of Li Chunsheng’s extravagant habits, but ever since her own ordeal began, she could no longer stand idly by and watch such behavior.

She genuinely did not want her own misfortunes to befall her junior as well.

Seeing that his Senior was truly distressed, Li Chunsheng dared not continue, immediately deactivating his current form.

“‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry!'” he stammered, profusely apologizing to the red-eyed Liuxia, who looked at him as if he were a prodigal son. “‘I absolutely won’t do it again!'”

“‘Honestly… don’t scare me like that again…'” Liuxia said, sniffling.

‘Sigh, it’s probably best not to do such things in front of Senior anymore,’ Li Chunsheng thought to himself.

‘I wonder about the strength of this form… I definitely need to find an opportunity to properly test it out later…’

‘As for its name… I’ll call it [Abyssal Knight: Lancelot].’