Duolou: Reborn with reality Pen

Dugu Bo's pupils shrank as he turned his head stiffly. Behind him stood the same man he had just pierced through, unchanged, unharmed, those crimson eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.

"How…?" The word escaped his lips before he could stop it.

But then, the figure in front of him, the one impaled by his hand, began to distort. Its outline wavered like ripples on water. The body expanded grotesquely before bursting apart in a shower of black feathers.

Caw! Caw!

Dozens of shadowy crows erupted into the air, their cries echoing eerily through the poisonous valley. They circled swiftly, forming a dark vortex that swallowed Dugu Bo's vision. Before he could react, claws of pure darkness sank into his limbs. His arms, his legs even his shoulders and neck, were pinned in place, held fast by the talons of the spectral birds.

He couldn't move. Not even a twitch.

A cold voice drifted toward him, calm and polite, as if speaking about the weather.

"You gave me an excellent piece of advice just now."

The sound of footsteps approached slowly. Eren, no, the man with Sharingan eyes, emerged from the sea of black feathers, his expression as unreadable as ever.

"But I can't help but feel," he continued, his voice soft yet heavy, "that you don't follow your own words."

Dugu Bo's face flushed with humiliation. To be bound, rendered helpless in his own words, he, the infamous Poison Douluo, was an insult beyond reason. Rage boiled in his chest, but under that gaze, it turned to something colder. Something like fear.

Eren stopped just a step away, tilting his head slightly, those crimson tomoe spinning lazily as if peering into Dugu Bo's soul.

"Don't worry," he said lightly. "I have no interest in harming you. Nor do I take pleasure in pointless cruelty."

His next words carried an inexplicable weight, as if every syllable pressed against Dugu Bo's heart.

"I merely came to invite you… to join our organization. A place where power and purpose converge."

Eren's tone lowered, almost like a whisper, yet it reverberated in the old man's bones.

"We call it… Black Lotus."

The crows tightened their grip, claws pricking slightly, just enough to remind Dugu Bo of his helplessness.

For the first time in decades, the Poison Douluo felt as though he wasn't the predator, but the prey.

Eren's gaze remained calm, those crimson eyes unwavering as they locked on the old man.

"So," his voice was soft yet carried an unshakable weight, "what is your answer?"

Dugu Bo clenched his jaw, his thoughts a storm. This cloaked youth had walked into his secret garden, humiliated him with strange tricks, and now had the audacity to extend an invitation, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Eren tilted his head slightly, as though sensing his hesitation.

"How about this?" he continued, his tone polite yet firm. "Join us, and you will have an unlimited supply of garlic and soy sauce. And…" His voice lowered, sharp as a blade drawn without sound. "…you will be free from the poison eating away at you, and from the fate that will soon devour your granddaughter."

The first part made Dugu Bo's lips twitch violently. Garlic and soy sauce?

'He, a Titled Douluo feared across the continent, courted by empires, would be bribed with… condiments?'

If word of this spread, the entire Douluo Continent would laugh until their teeth fell out. The Spirit Hall itself had tried to win him over with spirit bones and treasures without success. And this youth thought to buy him… with sauce?

Yet, the taste of that roasted meat still lingered on his tongue, and for an instant, his pride fought against his stomach.' Damn it… it was good'

He resolved to refuse, at least for now. Perhaps if he waited, this strange organization would offer more. Different sauces, maybe spices…

But then came the second sentence.

The words struck like a venomous serpent. Dugu Bo's pupils shrank, a ripple of shock flashing across his eyes before he quickly masked it beneath a cold glare.

"Kid," his voice dropped to a growl, carrying a brittle edge, "what do you mean by poison? Do you even know who you're talking to?"

He tried to sound indifferent, to project the calm arrogance of a Titled Douluo. It might have worked on anyone else. But the youth before him didn't flinch.

Eren stood there, his figure framed by moonlight, expression as unreadable as a stone mask. His words came slowly, every syllable deliberate.

"Of course I know who I'm speaking to… Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo." His crimson eyes glowed faintly, as though piercing straight through the old man's soul. "And I know what you truly fear. That so-called martial soul of yours, your Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, " Eren paused, letting the name sink in before finishing in a voice soft as a whisper, sharp as a dagger.

"That is the poison I speak of."

For the first time in decades, Dugu Bo felt something he thought long buried: unease. His secrets, the curse gnawing at his body and lurking over his granddaughter's fragile life, spoken aloud like common knowledge by this enigmatic youth.

Eren took a single step forward. His aura did not flare. It didn't need to. It was the quiet, suffocating pressure of inevitability, the sense that no matter what Dugu Bo did, this youth was always three steps ahead.

"Join us," he repeated calmly. "And not only will you live free of that torment… but your granddaughter will never suffer as you do."