Yang Zicang tore off the face of “Medwiser ” from his features on the bed, then scrambled quickly out of bed and rushed through the door.

It all came back to him now; he had no idea how many days he’d been trapped in that illusion.

The first time, he was nearly sobered up by Bai Yuxian, but at the critical moment, the sight of his parents kept him drowning in his stupor. And the second time, had it not been for the soldier chasing him, there was no way he could have woken up so easily.

“If an Army Colonel can find me, then there’s no way he can’t find Wager. “

He rushed to the door of the room next door on the fourth floor, reached out and knocked, but no one answered.

Yang Zicang then spun around and bolted downstairs, where he happened to spot He Yishu with a ‘family brother’ who had just returned to the inn, both of them charging down the corridor with weapons drawn.

“So it’s the President. “

“Follow me, fast! The auction’s about to start! “

“What’s wrong? “

“No time to explain, Wager might be in danger! “

The key to the room’s tenant absolutely could not fall into the hands of those soldiers.

And the reality was exactly as he had imagined.

In a room brightly lit by an electric bulb and candles, whose light cast long, elusive shadows from every piece of furniture, Wager was weakly bound to a chair built to restrain criminals.

Standing before him, a man with a collar and jacket seams trimmed in dark red lines dressed in grey and black tossed the documents from his hand onto the desk.

“What’s this? You really haven’t managed to invite a single person to stay in this month’s rated room at the inn? Explain yourselves. Why? “

The interrogator, Sifas Rosales, had a mane of hair stiff as bristles, and his eyes held a depth of unyielding scrutiny.

“That newcomer Fogfolk, the so-called Yang Buchen—has he truly brought you clowns to this sorry state? “

Zzzz… Ffft…

A thin electric current rose from the chair, quickly coursing through Wager’s trembling body. The Chrono-Void Flame on him flickered a few times before going out.

“You… you don’t know… how much it costs… to sustain a hotel room… “

“Hiding an inn in the mist-shrouded sea—well, that, I can understand. But I cannot understand why a team this impressive would stoop to underhanded tactics against someone who birthed a ‘Flash Light’ the moment he arrived. Is it because you despise that radiance born from a Holy Sword? “

“Heh, now I remember—you’re trying to invade my consciousness through this ‘interrogation loophole’, aren’t you, you purified offshoot of the ‘Dark Radiance’ bloodline. “

The officer lifted his eyes to take in Wager’s disheveled yet defiant face.

“Yeah, if you know that, then you’d better cooperate. Otherwise, you know exactly what the consequences will be. “

He nodded to a nearby guard, who saluted, ran over, and pulled open the door. Before long, he returned with a woman.

“Monika! “

Wager stared as his wife stepped inside, her eyes glazed, her body covered in wounds, as movable as a wooden puppet.

“Sit on the table. “

Monika climbed onto the table like a machine, obediently perching on the edge of the tabletop—thin-faced, hollow-eyed, utterly dull.

Wager struggled in his chair and yelled out, “Monika! Wake up! “

Sifas Rosales drew a dagger from his belt and handed it to her. “Carve out your left eye. “

Wager felt as though an invisible force had slammed into his entire being.

With a slight sound, a painful groan escaped the woman’s throat, yet she still handed the eyeball and blood-stained dagger to the officer of Steffen standing beside her.

Wager felt as though his entire body was burning, as if he wanted to devour the other man alive.

“Ahhhh! “

The man on the table wiped the dagger with a handkerchief. “Say what you want or not, it doesn’t matter—they’ve already told me all the intelligence. The only pity is that you really haven’t invited anyone from the hotel room to the real world this month. Quite the coincidence, aren’t we? “

With a crook of his finger, Monika stood up from the table like a pet obeying his every word.

Gazing at the model flickering repeatedly on Wager’s chest, Sifas Rosales snorted, “Stop wasting your efforts. There’s no shortage of Fokbroo locked in this chair—if not eighty, then a hundred. You’re lucky. Just wait patiently for the day your hotel room expires. Let’s go. “

Monika, blood streaming from her eye socket, was carried down to the ground by two soldiers gripping her legs. Only then did she stiffly take a step, hobbling after the officer toward the door amid Wager’s anguished curses.

The moment the door opened, the light in the room suddenly flickered.

Sifas Rosales’ eyes stirred slightly, and a soldier inside said, “Unstable voltage? What’s going on? “

“Quick, everyone, find some candles! ” the interrogator yelled. “Forget the voltage—light anything that can be lit! All eyes on the prisoner, and don’t blink! “

However, it was too late. The lights flickered again, and Monica’s silhouette loomed ominously in the flashes. The faint, pained groans that constantly escaped her throat filled the air. The already sparse soldiers in the room quickly and methodically tended to the candles, which sputtered and flared with the wavering electricity.

In the dim light, ripples of distortion appeared several times around Wagner’s body.

Just as he urgently tried to respond to the “bid ” and go to the inn, but repeatedly failed, the room suddenly blazed with light. A familiar, curved silhouette miraculously rushed before him. “Go…back… “

Wagner stared in shock at the face that would be the last one to fix itself in his eyes.

She already bore no trace of her usual beautiful appearance. Yet, just as she used her slender body to shield him and closed her eyes to block the light, a deafening thud resounded, and the woman’s entire body exploded.

But in that very instant, Wagner was finally enveloped by ripples.

As the inn room flickered into existence amidst overlapping dimensions, amidst the soldiers’ shock and the raging Sifas Rosales surging forward, the ice-cold Wagner glared indifferently at the face that looked distorted like water ripples, as if to sear its features into his memory forever.

With a thud, Wager, covered in blood and fragmented flesh, collapsed onto the carpet of the hotel room. Without a word, he scrambled up, rushed to the door, propped his bloodstained hand against the doorframe, and only then did his throat tremble as he spoke.

“Yang Buchen, I know you’re outside. I was going to give you the entire… “

After a brief two-second pause, “I can give you all the rooms on the four floors, but please leave me just one floor. I need to avenge my wife. “

With that, he pulled open the door, revealing “Yang Buchen ” and several others outside. Among them was a man so tattered and worn he looked like a “beggar ” who hadn’t had a full meal in days.

Yang Zicang stared at Wager, who reeked of a heavy, bloody smell.

“What I want is the entire hotel. “

“I’m not afraid to tell you: to prevent this very situation, I’ve already split up parts of the key. If you want to disrupt the bidding, just go ahead and try. “

Yang Zicang’s gaze was fixed on the sullen Wager. “Oh? So what about the fourth floor you promised? Can you give it to me now? “

“The fourth floor, ” Wager nodded, then his expression changed slightly. “Except for Room 410. That’s a very powerful figure we value most, so temporarily, only that one room on the entire fourth floor has been given away. “

Yang Zicang slammed his palm against the doorframe.

“How strong is that person? “

“Very strong—about as strong as 0.78 of a Soldier. And he’s a perfect fit for the story trait of that room. “

Yang Zicang felt like his heart clenched tightly.

“You’re a real piece of work, you bastard! “

……

Southwest of Bleak Corde de l’Ombre, through the heart of the continent and further west, past the Jisom Mountains that block the biting wind, lies a country plunged into chaos.

The pitch-black, freezing wind howled through the hard rock buildings of Kurashiki City.

Two figures in black trench coats emerged from the entrance of the Neutriz Grand Hotel. They casually handed a bellhop a banknote as a tip, then turned back to bid farewell to an elegant lady who had followed them out.

“Manager Van Delong, I truly would have liked to chat more with you about the real estate left behind by the withdrawal of troops. It’s a shame your business seems to be thriving too much. “

“Another day, perhaps, madam. These days have indeed been nerve-wracking. If it weren’t for Mr. James Zhan’s introduction, we might have had to postpone even this meeting. “

“Hehe, ” the woman in the veiled hat covered her mouth with a chuckle, “You flatter me, Manager Van. We shall meet again another day, then. “

Van Delong nodded to his assistant beside him and left, as this unexpected cold wind descended.

As they walked, the assistant took a document from the briefcase. Unbuttoning the assistant’s overcoat, (he/she) removed a small perfume bottle from a breast pocket, poured out a bit of liquid, and evenly applied it with a leather glove onto the opened file.

Upon the overlapping characters on the page, a map appeared.

“This is the information she was supposed to hand over to Van Delong. Let’s hurry. “

The two rushed into a fastback car on the street. Stripping off the makeup on their faces and tearing off false beards, ‘Van Delong’s’ middle-aged face became young and handsome.

The scar on this young man’s forehead had faded significantly—he was none other than “Zorro, ” Luo Su.

-｛Distributor Mayus Fanye expects my delivery.｝

The car roared to life and sped off. In the passenger seat, Zorro tucked the crucial intel from the document bag close to his body, stripping off his exchanged coat and tossing it onto a shivering homeless man they passed in the icy wind.

“Get ready, Mr. Distributor. We’re on our way. “