Chapter 104: The Black Rose Special Forces

The bedroom was silent, save for the sound of Luke’s slightly ragged breathing.

He stared blankly at the skill book in his hands, his mind momentarily stalled, his small face filled with disbelief.

After a long while, Luke steadied himself and quickly flipped through the pages. The book’s cover was exceptionally exquisite—jet black with gilded accents, featuring a blooming purple rose on the front.

With wide eyes, he read every word, his expression shifting between joy and puzzled contemplation. Finally, he let out a long, slow breath and muttered to himself:

"Strange, this is far too strange... It’s definitely the First Awakening skill for a Male Spitfire, no doubt about it. To think I’ve pulled two Awakening skills in a row—my god, is this real? Am I dreaming?"

He had learned over the past year of opening magic boxes just how rare powerful skills were. Awakening skills, in particular, were the rarest of the rare. In the entire year prior, he had only managed to obtain one, *War Lord*.

To have received two at once was almost beyond his belief. In his past life, his luck had been notoriously abysmal; he was the type for whom nothing ever went right, and any attempt at success was destined to fail. To describe him in one sentence: his "non-African" efforts never changed his "African" fate, and his "pay-to-win" efforts never changed his destiny.

Yet, his recent run of luck had reached a point where Luke felt a sense of unease. As the saying goes, when things are too strange, there must be a demon at play. His inner "Black Chief" intuition was sounding a frantic alarm: *You’re in trouble, kid!*

Luke nodded, then shook his head. His "Spidey-sense" remained silent, suggesting no immediate threat to his life. Regardless of what force was behind this, he was at least safe for now.

"Maybe I’m just overthinking it. Perhaps after being reborn, my 'smuggling' operation succeeded, and I’ve become a 'European'—no, wait, I should call myself a 'European Emperor'."

Luke decided to set his worries aside for now. To be easygoing and enjoy the moment—that was the nature he had carried through both his lives.

"The Black Rose Special Forces, huh? Let’s study how this skill works. Could it be that it summons four beautiful, long-legged support soldiers? Or perhaps it’s another type of blueprint manufacturing skill?"

As he spoke, Luke gently patted the black-and-gold book with his small hand. The book reacted immediately.

Unlike previous times, when books would dissolve into a crystalline stream of energy to be absorbed into his body, this time, nothing of the sort happened. To Luke’s astonishment, his hand felt lighter, and in the blink of an eye, the book melted into a pool of black liquid. It then rapidly contracted and solidified into a pitch-black, translucent sphere the size of a tennis ball.

The sphere, which seemed weightless, drifted upward until it reached the ceiling.

Suddenly, like a sponge soaking up water, the black sphere began to expand. When it grew to about a meter in diameter, it was flattened by an invisible hand and stretched out, instantly forming a thin, black circular disc.

The disc was about two or three meters in diameter, its surface a void that clung to the ceiling like a hole punched into the room—a hole so deep and dark that even light could not penetrate it. Suddenly, a crack appeared in the center of the disc, and Luke could see a faint, glimmering light shining through.

"Is that... a tunnel?"

Luke stared upward, his surprise turning into realization. Before he could react, four soft cries echoed in succession:

"Ouch!"
"Whoa—so high!"
"Huh?"
"Help me!"

Four figures tumbled one after another from the black passage.

They landed on Luke’s bed, one by one, right on top of him. Luke felt a soft weight hit him, then another, then a third, and a fourth, until the combined mass pinned him down completely.

In an instant, the black passage closed and vanished.

Luke was trapped at the very bottom, buried under four soft bodies. Only one of his small hands could be seen flailing and grasping at the air: "Mmph, mmmph..."

Something was tightly blocking his nose and mouth, and he was struggling to breathe.

"Hey, where is this? How did we get here?"
"Where is the General?!"
"..."
"Rozanna, you’re squashing me, move, move!"
"Whoa! There’s someone underneath us. Amy, Amy, you’re sitting right on his face! He can’t breathe!"
"No wonder it felt so warm down there..."

Only then did the four of them realize that they were pinning a living person beneath them—a small child, with short limbs, looking incredibly cute.

Once the four of them scrambled off, Luke finally managed to catch his breath. He gasped for air, his little face flushed bright red.

"Hey, isn't that the General?"
"General! We finally found you!"
"Why has the General become so small? Whoa! Why have you all become so small too? Amy, Roro, Obi, what’s going on? Why are you all children? Whoa! Even I..."

Amidst the chatter, Luke finally saw the four people sitting on his bed: four little girls. Without exception, they were all around his age.

Luke’s mouth hung open of its own accord. He stared blankly, like a rutting hippo, his eyes sweeping from left to right.

The first girl on the left had short blonde hair and a delicate face. She wore small studs in her adorable ears, and her large, curious eyes were filled with an intense, burning gaze as she looked at him.

The second girl had an equally exquisite face, topped with a dark green beret. Her short brown hair clung to her ears, and she stared at him with a look of pure bewilderment.

The third girl had a rose-colored ponytail tied high, with pilot goggles resting on her forehead. She looked spirited, her eyes bright and filled with surprise as she scrutinized him, looking ready to pounce at any moment.

The fourth girl on the far right—the one who had just been sitting on his face—had orange hair and a beautiful orange headscarf. She looked around the room, her expression thoughtful; she seemed to be the calmest of the bunch.

Luke was stunned: "One book turned into four living people? Is this how the Male Spitfire’s First Awakening manifests? Are these four undeveloped little girls the Black Rose Special Forces? Well, the advantage is that it doesn't cost as much as the first two Awakening skills. I can get them for fre—*cough, cough*. But why do they call me 'General'?"

Staring at the four strange little girls before him, Luke’s mind raced. Meanwhile, the girls on the bed began to chatter once again.