Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation-Chapter 544: Survival Instinct

That single sound earned him a barrage of narrowed glares from at least five different directions.

Lux sat there on the couch, surrounded by towels, steaming basins, open potion bottles, and high-level women who looked like they were one gust of emotion away from staging a hostile takeover of Hell, Heaven, and every hospital in between.

The pain still pulsed. Deep in his ribs. It didn't just sting like a cut. It ached through his blood. Like something old had been stirred up. Something familiar.

The system pings floated in his periphery, but even they seemed cautious.

The worst part?

The girls weren't even yelling anymore.

They were worried.

Far worse.

Lux exhaled slowly and raised one hand.

"Okay. Calm down, guys."

He activated his skills, his fingers glowing faint black. A pulse of corrupted healing magic lit across his chest like smoke hugging the skin.

[Skill Activated Dark Healing]

[System: Recalculating Recovery Rate… Boosting healing speed to 62%. Mana cost 14% per minute.]

[Recommended: Do not exceed 70% threshold without rest.]

The ache dulled. Slowly.

The steady throb behind Lux's ribs faded to something bearable, like background static after a storm. The searing line down his thigh cooled first, soothed by the dark mana humming beneath his skin. His bruised jaw loosened. Even the cut on his cheek, it stopped leaking blood.

The bleeding stopped.

Bit by bit, the deeper gashes began to close, the torn edges knitting together. Mana-fueled steam curled off his skin as old blood flaked away, replaced by freshly sealed flesh. It wasn't perfect. Not yet. But the worst of it was over.

The torn side of his shirt clung to his skin, still stained with blood, but no new red spread across it now. His pulse, though still too fast, wasn't screaming anymore. The tension in his back eased. His fingers stopped twitching.

The wounds started to close.

Tired eyes flicked down to his chest, watching as the deep gash from Zoltarin's claw smoothed over. Scar tissue. Fresh, faint lines. But no longer torn open.

Lux exhaled. Just once. And finally leaned back into the couch with a little more weight in his body.

Still a mess.

But no longer bleeding out.

"See?" Lux muttered, forcing a grin. "There. I won't die."

He snapped his fingers again.

"System. Raise healing protocols. Push to threshold."

[Boost Confirmed. Recovery Enhancement Engaged.]

Still, even with the glow of magic curling around his bruises and sealing small cuts, the worst of it didn't go away.

Not completely.

Because Zoltarin's wounds… they weren't just wounds.

They were legacy scars.

Same blood. Same house. Same sin. Same damn signature.

They'd fought inside the network, yeah. But that place? That wasn't just some standard server or cursed hub. That was the Mammon Field.

The original Greed domain. Legacy code layered with the bones of the first sin.

Mammon's field.

That's what made it worse.

Lux clenched his fists as the burn in his ribs pulsed again. Deep. Deeper than it should've been.

It was like his body knew.

Knew this wasn't just some rival.

This was family.

And it was real.

But he didn't say any of that.

Instead, he exhaled again, leaned back, and smiled weakly.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I've had worse."

Nobody bought it.

Not a single one.

Naomi, still on the phone, snapped her fingers in the air to cut the call. "Cancel the request. Yeah. I'll have my assistant prep the tonics. Yes, those ones. The expensive ones. The ones I wasn't going to use on anyone but my future husband. Yeah. Those."

Lux blinked.

"Wait—"

Mira's voice slid in from the other side of the couch. "And get me my gold acupuncture set. Yes, the whole case. Including the ones carved from phoenix feather quills. What? Of course, I'm serious. You think I play around with internal vein trauma?"

Lux flinched. "Please don't stab me."

"You'll thank me," Mira said, already opening a linen-wrapped package. "Or cry. Both valid."

Rava kicked her legs off the coffee table and stood. "I'm putting in an urgent call to the coast market. I want black-tide sea cucumbers and blood coral mushrooms shipped now. Tell them it's for the CEO of Kraken Development. Use the offshore seal if they question it."

"Sira," Lux turned with hope, "tell them this is too much—"

She was already glowing.

Her hands itched, and her pupils were slits.

"If I wasn't here," she said darkly, "I would've already opened a portal and torched the remains of that tower. Or dragged you into the vault and chained you there until your wounds closed."

Lux's mouth moved, trying to find a rebuttal.

None came.

He sighed.

"Okay. That's… fair."

He muttered under his breath, "This is why Dad only married Mom."

Lyra chose that moment to return with another glowing potion. "Sir," she said firmly. "Drink this."

He reached out, took the flask, and drank the whole thing in one go. It burned like liquid gold down his throat. Bitter and thick and ancient.

A soft chime pinged beside his ear.

[System Notice: Potion of Abyssal Restoration consumed. +65% Recovery Boost applied. Accelerated regeneration of internal and external wounds active for 15 minutes. Warning: Greed-based lineage interference may reduce effect by 20%.]

[Remaining Health: 78%]

[Auto-Heal engaged. Mana Reservoir rerouted to Vital Organs.]

"Right," Lux muttered. "That'll do."

As soon as he lowered the bottle, he sighed again. Quieter this time. Then wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist.

"System," he said, ignoring the death stares surrounding him. "Track Zoltarin's network again. If there's another door—" he paused. "Inform me. Only."

Not take me in.

Inform.

[Understood.]

[Tracking ghost-tier remnants. Will inform you upon reactivation. No breach attempt will be made until requested.]

He didn't miss the way Naomi's eyes flicked toward him, or how Mira narrowed hers, or how Sira's tail whipped once with suspicion.

Corvus let out a low caw from the side table. "Nice. You figured out how to protect yourself from Zoltarin and your harem."

"Survival instinct," Lux muttered. "You learn it fast around strong women."

Naomi came closer, arms crossed now.

"Look at you," she said softly. "Bloodied. You messed up, Lux."

He tried to smirk. It wobbled.

"Well… not as bad as when you messed me up. Like last night."