“Shut up! Stop talking! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

Black Jack flew into a rage out of humiliation. The tentacles all over its body expanded again, making its body, which had been tied up by the tentacles, look tiny and even somewhat panicked.

Thousands of demonic arms attacked Theresa and knocked her away time and time again, before they launched additional attacks in midair. The storm-like attacks caught Theresa off guard. When she crashed to the ground, the liquid metal armor on her body almost collapsed.

But there was still contempt in the corner of her mouth, and the coldness in her eyes had not died down yet.

“You can kill me, but it is not the real you who kills me but the Devourer. You can conquer the entire Emerald Continent and even the entire Emerald Universe, but it is not the real you who established such a great cause but the Devourer.

Theresa sneered, “You can also enjoy yourself every night and ask so many girls to do anything for you. Wow. At first glance, it is a dream-like life that all the men in the world can’t ask for. But think about it carefully. Who is enjoying themselves every night and enjoying the girls? Or is it the Devourer? You, the real Black Jack, are nothing but a pitiful worm who is watching everything while crouching in the tentacles of the Devourer, drooling.”

“Shut up! Shut up!”

Black Jack’s face was deeply embedded in the tentacles. It was so twisted that he was about to cry. He wailed, “I am the Devourer. We are one!”

“No, you are not.”

“You were not chosen by the Devourer because of your courage, determination, charisma, or anything unique,” Theresa said coldly. “It was merely a coincidence. The Devourer can find ten thousand ‘Red Jacks’, ‘Yellow Jacks’, and ‘Green Jacks’ to replace you at any time.

“Without you, the devouring beast would still be a devouring beast and could realize its ambitions and evolve into the Master of Swallowing. However, without the devouring beast, who are you?”

“I, I…”

Black Jack’s tentacles were still trying to attack Theresa, only to be blocked by another force inside his body. He was soaked in cold sweat and breathing hard. “Who am I? Who am I without the devouring beast?”

“Every one of us is born with something that is unique and proves that we are ourselves.

Theresa said, “I believe that the real Black Jack in the past had something that no one could replace and no power could erase, too. Unfortunately, when you were willing to be the puppet of the Devourer, the ‘real Black Jack’ was eclipsed by the evilness of the Devourer. From that moment on, you lost your soul and became the puppet of the Devourer. You were no longer qualified to pursue what belonged to you.

“I—Huhu—I am not a puppet…”

Black Jack struggled to manipulate the tentacles, trying to prove that he was not.

“Maybe, the real Black Jack is a weak and sordid guy?

Theresa changed the topic and said intentionally, “You’ve always felt self-abased because you thought that you could never achieve anything with your ‘real self’, and you could never win the favor of a girl. Is that why you were willing to offer your soul to the Devourer and let it swallow you when it found you?”

“I’m not, I’m not. Stop it!”

Black Jack was greatly shocked and immediately retorted.

“Indeed, you don’t need to have such a ridiculous inferiority complex, because I believe that every man, no matter how ordinary, no matter how ugly, no matter how weak, has their own unique charm.”

Theresa said seriously, “Even if a man is born with an ugly appearance, as long as he pays attention to exercising and often takes care of his appearance, he will always be able to polish some of the sunny and refreshing charisma of a man. He will always be able to meet the one who truly likes you. Even if a man is weak in ability, as long as he is diligent enough and willing to work hard, he will always be able to achieve a small success. It doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be able to conquer the ‘great achievements’ of the entire world. Perhaps, he will just become a good warrior, a Master Forger, an excellent gunner, and a diligent and dutiful employee. But the key is, this is a success that belongs to you 100% of the time. It is a success that you have personally fought for with your sweat.

“When you have a small success that is 100% your own and a girl who truly loves you, you will create a small world that belongs to you. For a real man, is there anything in the world that is happier and more fulfilling than this?

“However, it is a pity that, Black Jack, you destroyed the possibility with your own hands. You killed your ‘true self’ with your own hands, which also killed the chance that your destined girl could find you.

“Yes. It seems that you are surrounded by so many beautiful girls who listen to your every command and are even willing to die for you. But ask yourself, is there any one of them who truly loves the real you?

“Also, maybe under the control of the Devourer, you can become the supreme ruler of the Jadeite Continent, but you will never know what kind of achievements the real Black Jack will achieve, what kind of happiness he will enjoy, and what kind of life he will have without the manipulation of the Devourer!

“Even if your true love, the girl who might fall in love with the real Black Jack, appears in front of you one day, you will never be able to recognize her, because you will never be able to tell whether she is sincere or hypnotized by the Devourer!

“Hehe. That’s why I said you were pitiful. On the surface, you are going to be the ‘King of the World’, but in fact, you have been abandoned by the entire world. But nobody is to blame for that, because you abandoned yourself first!

“Ah!”

Black Jack screamed like a flood.

Blood and tears were flowing out of his eyes.

Black Jack’s tentacles and Theresa’s flying blades collided again.

“Are you attacking me or the Devourer? Is the Devourer trying to stop me from telling the truth because it doesn’t want you to hear any more?”

Theresa gnashed her teeth. “Black Jack, you don’t have to listen to the Devourer. You don’t have to be controlled by it anymore. There’s still time. Wake up. You can turn back into the real Black Jack. You can control your own destiny like a man!”

“No… No…”

Black Jack waved his tentacles and screamed as if his soul was being touched. “I can’t… You—you’re right… Without the Devourer, I am just a weak, ugly, wretched worm… In the beginning, I was just a low-level mercenary who had lost all his assets and had nowhere to run. I was nothing without the Devourer. Nobody thought highly of me. No girl would fall in love with me like that!”

“Black Jack, you are terribly wrong!”

Theresa roared, “Even in adversity, even if the entire world collapses, a man must rely on his spine to stand up from the abyss and reverse his damn fate! It is precisely at the moment when fate is reversed that the brilliance of a man will blossom to the limit! In that case, regardless of appearance, ability, or status, it doesn’t matter. There will certainly be a girl who will fall in love with you, the real Black Jack who will fight against fate and will never yield!”

“Liar! Liar! All liars!”

Black Jack burst into fury. “You are lying to me. There is no such girl. Don’t even think that you can trick me into removing the Devourer from my soul!”

“I’m not lying to you. I swear to God that a girl will fall in love with the real Black Jack!”

Theresa shouted, “The point is, you must give yourself a chance to reveal the real Black Jack. You cannot hide in the shadow of the Devourer forever and be a spineless worm!”

“I… don’t believe it…”

Black Jack’s appearance turned extremely terrifying, as if something was really separating from his soul inch by inch. Even the thousands of tentacles behind him were attacking each other.

His bulging eyes stared at Theresa’s eyes. He asked, half in expectation and half in desperation, “Teresa, is it true that the most beautiful girl in the world will fall in love with the real Black Jack?”

“…”

Theresa felt her chest muscles tighten. “Well… Well…”