Chapter 94: Divine Fruit
While the auction hall began to clear, the backstage VIP terminal became a hive of high-clearance activity.
Xavier moved toward the primary real estate office to finalize the architectural plans for Lot Thirteen, while Nat strolled off toward the main registry to authorize the two-billion-dollar wire transfer and secure the deed for Lot Fourteen.
For the first time in his entire life, Nat Collins felt a strange, electric buzz of excitement simply from spending money.
Usually, the thrill only came when he was bleeding his rivals dry or watching his revenue streams multiply down in the underground ports.
But as he stood at the counter, watching the legal documents being drawn up, a sudden realization hit him.
The registrar pushed the ownership forms across the glass desk, pointing to a blank line. "Please provide the legal name of the primary beneficiary for the title, Mr. Collins."
Nat paused, his pen hovering in the air. A sharp, genuinely surprised grin broke across his face. He didn’t know her full name.
It was a bizarre, unprecedented moment for the Golden Dragon. For the first time since he took over the city’s underbelly, he hadn’t ordered a thorough, intrusive background check on someone who had completely caught his interest.
He had just dropped two billion dollars on a woman whose surname he hadn’t even bothered to look up.
He chuckled deeply, his chest vibrating. Now this was indeed interesting.
Leaving the form blank for the moment, he picked up the land deed and walked back toward the high-security holding bays where the assets were being processed.
He found April, Samuel, and Alexander standing in front of a heavily reinforced titanium enclosure. Inside, the massive canine—which everyone else in the building still firmly believed was a hyper-aggressive, un-tamable German Shepherd—was sitting with dynamic, flawless posture.
Under the harsh fluorescent lights of the holding bay, its sleek midnight-black and silver coat gleamed with an ethereal, moonlight-colored fur that made it look less like an earth-bound dog and more like an alien creature out of this world.
It was completely calm, its golden eyes locked entirely on April.
"Hey, whatcha doing?" Nat asked, his heavy boots echoing as he approached.
Alexander immediately threw his hand up, frantically signaling him to stay quiet for a second. "Shh! Don’t startle it, Nat! The handlers said this thing is incredibly prideful and has bitten three trainers today. It listens to absolutely no one."
But the warning was entirely unnecessary. April casually reached her small hand through the secure gap in the partition. The moment her skin neared the cage, the magnificent creature didn’t growl or snap; it smoothly lifted its massive, silver-furred paw and pressed it perfectly against her open palm.
The head security handler stood a few paces back, his jaw dropping in absolute shock.
"It seems the dog likes you." They said.
April let out a soft, knowing smirk. Of course the divine beast liked her. She had just bribed it with an expensive luxury asset from the heavens.
Earlier, the very moment she had stepped up to the enclosure, the system interface had flooded her vision, opening up a specialized, hidden branch of the network.
[System Notice: Divine Beast Taming Protocol Initiated.]
Condition: To secure the interest and lifelong fidelity of the Canis Divinus, the Host must provide a compatible catalyst. In other words, a bribe.
Available Item: [Divine Fruit] — Cost: $1,000,000 USD.
April had been very confused about how she was supposed to physically swipe her banking card over a floating neon system interface that had no physical form, but the ticking clock left no room for hesitation.
The moment she thought the word Authorize in her mind, a crisp, sharp ping echoed from her evening purse.
She reached in, pulling out her Titanium Pro only to see a real-time banking alert showing a clean, instantaneous debit of exactly one million dollars from her account.
She had blinked in profound amazement. What on earth? This means I can buy supernatural supplies directly from the system using my actual, physical earth currency?
Why didn’t it tell her any sooner?
The implications hit her like a train. If her digital wealth could be directly converted into system-grade assets, it meant she would have to hoard as much physical cash as humanly possible before the apocalypse hit.
Even after the world collapsed and society’s financial institutions turned to literal ash, she would still be able to use her accumulated capital to purchase any resource she might need from the system store.
Leaving that massive discovery to be analyzed later, she had manifested the glowing, fragrant Divine Fruit in her palm and slipped it through the cage.
The beast had sniffed the celestial aroma once before eagerly taking it from her fingers.
Now, it was entirely obsessed with her.
But just as Nat stepped up to the edge of the enclosure, the dog suddenly opened its jaws, its sharp canine clamping firmly down on the side of April’s hand and April twitched by the sudden pain.
Nat’s chaotic eyes violently widened behind his shades. Every single muscle along his jaw and forehead instantly contorted into a terrifying mask of pure, lethal rage.
The playful, casual aura vanished in an instant, replaced by the suffocating pressure of a mob boss ready to paint the room red.
"That fucking mutt," Nat hissed, his knuckles cracking as he aggressively marched forward, his hand reaching toward his waistband. "I’ll kill it right now."
"No, stop! I’m perfectly fine," April commanded flatly, her voice sharp enough to halt his momentum. She didn’t pull her hand back. It took her by surprise but that was all.
Her eyes were fixed on the floating neon screen flaring to life in her vision.
[System Update: User Profile Modified.]
Name: April Gabriel
Age: 26
Sex: Female
Birth Date: April 7th
Status: Healthy
Title: [Legendary Seer] / [Divine Beast Master]
April looked at the sleek, upgraded title glittering in deep gold text. Wow. A legendary seer and a Divine beast master. It looked incredibly clean, exceptionally structured, and entirely powerful.
She let out a rare, quiet chuckle, the tension entirely draining from her shoulders.
"It seems you’re already bringing me exceptionally good luck," she murmured softly, reaching down with her free hand to gently scratch the thick fur right beneath the dog’s chin.
The canine immediately released her hand, leaving zero broken skin or blood—only a faint, glowing silver mark that immediately dissolved into her wrist.
It sat down, its heavy tail thumping against the floor as it let out a soft, content huff.
Nat stood frozen beside her, staring down at the interaction with a look of profound bewilderment.
His brain entirely failed to process how a woman could genuinely smile at a dangerous beast that had just clamped its jaws around her flesh.
"Sweetheart, are you out of your mind? That thing just bit you." He hissed. "And do you know what happens to a dog who bites its master? You get rid of it or it’ll end up eating your head off."
April understood that he carried the logic of betrayal even to animals but he was reading too much into it because he couldn’t see the system window.
"It’s fine actually, Mr. Collins," April remarked, not looking up as she continued to stroke the moonlight fur. "The beast wasn’t attacking. It was simply saying hello and permanently marking its master. It is a highly specialized breed; its compliance operates on a completely different level than a common pet."
Nat ran a hand through his vibrant red hair, letting out a rough, defeated sigh, though the lethal tension in his chest finally dissipated. "Right. A specialized breed. You’re both completely nuts."
