Maybach and Shawn received the Red Packets sent by Ian.
Late at night, Shawn quietly left his home and headed toward the artificial lake in the park.
Upon reaching the lakeside, and confirming that no one was around, he took out the Energy Collector in mid-air and let it drop into the water.
He did not want to place it directly at home. First, his house was too small, his room already cramped, with no space for a one-cubic-meter item. Second, it would be difficult to explain to his family.
In the Dragon Raja world, Maybach waited until the dead of night. When Chu Tianjiao was asleep, it secretly started its engine. The driverless vehicle drove to a nearby abandoned warehouse that it had spotted earlier. It found a corner in the warehouse, carelessly placed the collector there, and then revved its engine to blow dust onto the cube. After observing the Energy Collector blend in with the surrounding environment, it drove back, satisfied.
It was late. Shawn lay in bed, and Maybach 'lay' on the ground—which was all it could do. At this moment, both were filled with hope and expectation for their future lives.
Shawn was fine; after all, he had transmigrated as the overpowered protagonist, and now with the chat group, things could get even better.
Maybach, however, was in a different boat. Its original ending was to be scrapped and towed away, but now that it was in the group, its future would be different.
After both of them had placed their Energy Collectors, the Interdimensional Energy value on the Transmutation Tablet suddenly changed, jumping up a segment. In particular, the energy value from the Solo Leveling world, where Shawn was located, surged significantly.
"Hmm? That's possible?" Ian looked at the suddenly fluctuating numbers and wondered, 'Could it be that the transmigrated protagonist and plot characters, by making changes, can also generate energy value?'
To verify his hypothesis, Ian decided to conduct an experiment and opened the chat group.
[Super Block Man]: @Shadow Monarch @Maybach, it seems both of you have installed the Energy Collectors.
[Super Block Man]: I detected an anomaly in the Interdimensional Energy and want to conduct an experiment. Please receive this Red Packet.
Ian then took out two items from the Transmutation Tablet.
He sent the Body Stone to Shawn. In the original work, Shawn's family member was often sick and bedridden for a long time, eventually draining the family's savings and forcing him to enter Dungeons. Shawn had to bear the burden of supporting his family and endure the pressure. Ian believed this item could influence the plot.
Next, Ian sent a Repair Talisman to Maybach, and briefly explained the function of both items.
Upon learning their effects, both expressed their gratitude to Ian.
As soon as they finished speaking, the Interdimensional Energy in both worlds began to rapidly increase. The energy bar for the Solo Leveling world was instantly filled, while the Interdimensional Energy value for the Dragon Raja world also reached over 90%.
[Ding... Interdimensional Energy collection complete for the Solo Leveling world. An Interdimensional Teleportation Portal can be opened for 2,972,989 EMC.]
"Open!"
[Confirming consumption of EMC. Interdimensional Teleportation Portal is opening... Interdimensional Teleportation Portal opened successfully.]
After Ian opened the Teleportation Portal to the Solo Leveling world, the Interdimensional Energy value for that world continued to rise.
"There's more?"
As expected of a protagonist, the Interdimensional Energy provided by Shawn not only filled the Teleportation Portal's energy bar but also charged a new Mod for Ian.
[Solo Leveling world energy value charged successfully, received Mod *1]
"Draw Mod."
[Drawing Mod... Mod drawn successfully]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Mod 'Solo Monarch']
(Note: This Mod is based on a concept from another work, as I haven't played the specific Mod being referenced, so I will use the Shadow Monarch's template.)
[SOLO MONARCH] Mod activated!
Ian opened the Mod interface and began reviewing the Mod's description.
[Mod Description: You shall become the Shadow Monarch. By consuming energy, any creature you personally kill can be summoned as its shadow near its corpse to fight for you. Shadow battle strength is close to the creature's living state. Special individual shadows can be upgraded through combat.]
[Current Maximum Limit for Summonable Shadows: 10 (Upgradeable)]
Suddenly, the Mod interface displayed a burst of garbled text. When it returned to normal, a new value was shown.
[Maximum Limit for Summonable Shadows: 32,778 (Upgradeable)]
'Hmm, a shadow is considered a summon. It's completely reasonable that the summon limit can be increased by the Infinite Summoning Module.'
Since he had acquired such a cool new ability, Ian naturally wanted to try it out immediately.
He flew directly toward Dragon Island and found the territory of a Level Five Lightning Dragon.
In the distance, a Lightning Dragon, several tens of meters long, was sprawled in its nest. Its scales shimmered with a dazzling luster in the sunlight, and with every breath, electric arcs sprayed from its nostrils, crackling loudly.
Ian casually pulled out a fully enchanted, Legendary Zenith Sword and slashed toward the gigantic dragon.
Waking from its sleep, the Lightning Dragon sensed the danger and quickly rose, spitting lightning to try and kill the intruder.
When it opened its eyes, it saw only sword shadows filling the sky.
The sword light flashed, and the Lightning Dragon immediately fell back into 'sleep.'
The massive body lay back down, stirring up a small amount of dust.
Ian stood beside the dragon's corpse, placing his right hand on its scales.
Black energy surged within him, gathering in his palm.
"Arise!"
The voice was not loud but seemed to carry a mysterious power.
Instantly, the sky darkened, and shadow obscured the sun. The surrounding temperature began to drop, and a fierce wind whipped the trees and grass into a frenzy.
Ink-black energy slowly enveloped the entire dragon corpse.
"ROAR—!"
Then, an earth-shattering dragon roar erupted, and a brand-new entity slowly stood up from the corpse.
It was wreathed in black flames. Its belly and head flashed with an eerie blue light, and its eyes were like two burning blue fires. As it moved, electric arcs flickered at the corners of its mouth and the edges of its wings.
The Shadow Dragon looked around and finally saw Ian.
It slowly lowered its massive body, its head pressed close to the ground, bowing to Ian.
"Hail, My King!" Its voice sounded like grinding metal. "I shall forever follow the King's steps."
Ian was very pleased looking at the prostrate dragon. Then, his long hair fluttered without wind, slowly dissipating from the tips and finally transforming into a semi-long, messy hairstyle. At the same time, black flames ignited around his body, writhing and morphing, gradually changing into a fitted black trench coat.
Then, Ian leaned backward directly off the cliff behind him, falling into the bottomless abyss below.
Immediately, the dragon's form also vanished. A few seconds later, a dragon roar came from below the cliff, and the Shadow Dragon flew down, catching him steadily.
Ian stood on the dragon's back, his black trench coat flapping violently in the airflow, as shadow and lightning intertwined around him.
"Next, we go collect more shadows."
The Shadow Dragon heard its King's command, let out a long cry, and flew, carrying its King toward the other dragon nests.