The hazy night shrouded the world, and in the distance, a tall building stood, emitting a faint glow. Figures in white robes were swiftly traversing the night.

He Ao’s gaze swept over the scene in the night; he couldn’t control the change of scenery because, at this moment, he was witnessing it all from another person’s ’perspective.’

The perspective of ’Wild.’

At this moment, Wild seemed to be in a wide square, looking down, scanning the entire square.

The rich scent of blood was spreading across the square, emanating from the ’things’ placed there.

They were the corpses of young people, masses of blurred flesh and blood. The people transporting the bodies carefully separated the remains and placed them into individual metal boxes.

Then these boxes were separated and stacked together, loaded into a waiting truck.

"Director, there’s bad news." At this moment, a middle-aged man walked over, whispering in Wild’s ear, handing him an item, which was a simple badge.

Wild lowered his gaze to the badge, "The badge of the Menshu Group Mercenary Corps? Are there mercenaries from the Menshu Group here?"

"According to the gang members who executed it at the time, they encountered fierce resistance while eliminating several members," the middle-aged man quickly said.

"So what does it mean?" Wild’s gaze lowered to the badge, seemingly frowning slightly, "Does this mean the ’rallies’ involve the Menshu Group? Or did these cultists hire the Menshu Group as bodyguards to protect them?"

"The situation is likely a bit worse," the middle-aged man raised his head, looking at Wild, carefully took out a rolled-up tablet, unfolded it, and displayed several photos, "These are the profiles of mercenaries we found based on their looks."

Wild’s gaze lifted slightly, looking at the photos on the tablet, "Interesting, these are all officers from the Menshu Group Mercenary Corps? What are they doing here? Does the Menshu Group want to side with Christos?"

"It shouldn’t have anything to do with the Menshu Group," the middle-aged man shook his head, showing rows of dense text on the tablet, "These men are now trusted followers of the First Mercenary Corps Leader, Hawke. According to our investigation, Hawke has a son,"

He raised his hand, showing a young, tender graduation photo, the young man in the photo was facing the camera with a somewhat naive yet bright smile, "This is a photo taken when Hawke’s son received his bachelor’s degree."

"So, what exactly are you trying to say?" Wild’s gaze lifted, glancing at the numerous white-robed figures wandering around the square, with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Director, it’s like this," the middle-aged man seemed to realize he was going around in circles, he raised his head, looked at Wild cautiously, "These officers are most likely here to protect ’Hawke’s’ son."

"And where is Hawke’s son then?" Wild withdrew his gaze, glancing at the corpses on the ground, "He can’t be here, right?"

The night was silent for a moment, and the middle-aged man lowered his head, saying hoarsely, "Yes, he’s right here, the 32nd body."

"32?" Wild raised his head, looking toward the center of the square not far away, at a body blurred with flesh and blood.

At that moment, the memory played in his mind paused.

He Ao glanced at the body marked with 32. In Wild’s field of view, he could only vaguely see the blurred appearance of the body, with garments mingled with flesh and blood.

After a brief silence, the memory scene continued forward.

Wild retracted his gaze, lowering his head, his voice much lower, "Can you confirm it?"

"It should be him." The middle-aged man said softly.

"I don’t want ’should,’ give me a definite answer." Wild stated directly.

"It’s him," the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then solemnly said, "We also questioned those captured ’K’ believers, and 32’s real name is Erian, the name matches."

Hearing this, Wild was silent for a moment, then he took a metal cigarette case from his pocket, with the sharp metal clicking sound of turning, he took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips, "What’s this ’Hawke’s’ background? I remember he’s a B-level, right?"

"Yes, he’s the Mercenary Corps Leader of the Menshu Group, an old B-level, practically single-handedly established the Third Mercenary Corps of the Menshu Group, holding a board seat in the Menshu Group." The middle-aged man said this, raising his head to glance at Wild.

"Does he have any other background?" Wild lit the cigarette in his mouth, smoke wafted up, covering his field of view, the intense scent filling his lungs, he continued to ask, "Speak up, hiding it now is counterproductive."

"His father used to be Vice President," the middle-aged man paused, then continued, "His brother is Adric."

At this point, Wild, who was about to reach out and take down the cigarette, paused, then he casually removed the cigarette from his mouth, asking hoarsely, "The recently stepped down interim President?"

"Yes." The middle-aged man nodded.

"Just a departed interim president, even if he’s taken considerable resources from Ains, he’s still a departed president, standing presidents can die so easily, let alone those no longer in office."

At this, Wild took a deep breath, placing the cigarette back to his mouth, again looking towards the direction of 32, "I remember Hawke is already in his eighties, this young man looks quite young, is he Hawke’s youngest son?"

"In a way, yes," the middle-aged man replied softly, "Hawke fathered him late, he’s Hawke’s only son."

Initially upon hearing this, Wild had already taken a drag on his cigarette, but at this moment, he paused, the cigarette choking in his throat, nearly making him cough.

But he quickly suppressed it, retracted his gaze, calmly saying, "Find an opportunity, get rid of all the gangs involved in this, a bunch of idiots."

The middle-aged man paused slightly, then nodded, "Yes."

He then raised his head, looking at Wild, "And about this Erian’s matter..."

"Don’t concern yourself with it, send me all the information later," Wild’s gaze lifted, watching the figures in white robes coming and going ahead of him, he took a slight breath,

"Just a common B-level Mercenary Corps Leader, not hard to deal with, let alone his son was associating with ’K’ believers, he’s got his own issues. In front of the rapidly advancing wheel of this era, even the largest insect is only an insect, only to be crushed."

His gaze fell on a wisp of darkness at the end of those white-robed figures, he slowly walked forward into that darkness, "Alright, I understand, this whole thing was initiated by our ’friends’ after all, I’ll just ’share’ it with them, see what they think."

His gaze focused on the darkness behind the white-robed figures, as though someone stood within that darkness.

But in the ’scene’ seen by He Ao, there was only a mass of hazy darkness.

And it was at this moment, that in the darkness, it seemed a certain unseeable eye opened, looking at ’Wild,’ and at ’He Ao’ who was sweeping through Wild’s memory.

He Ao also lifted his head, meeting the gaze from that eye.

Then, at that instant, the fragments of memory shattered, leaving only muted void.

······

In the midst of the surging flames, He Ao’s vision returned, and he lowered his head, scanning his palm.

Wild’s soul had been completely incinerated at this moment, leaving only the surging flames.

Quickly, the flames coalesced, revealing the illusion badge held in He Ao’s hand.

In that instant, the flames that covered the entire warehouse retreated, and the remnants of small skeletons still struggling within the fire were thoroughly burned, turning into drifting ashes.

White curls and golden pupils emerged within the receding flames, and as the last wisp of flame faded into darkness, He Ao fully regained his form.

Ding—

A crisp sound echoed through the silent darkness of the warehouse.

He Ao reached out, picking up the spike on the ground, now only a tenth of its original size.

On the base of the spike was engraved an eye, wide open, appearing to be both angry and frustrated.

A strange power entwined this eye, and the area under its gaze seemed to undergo subtle changes.

But when He Ao looked at the eye, it naturally contracted, diverting its gaze as if nothing had happened.

He Ao raised his hand, placing the spike into his palm.

Then he walked to the other side, picking up a bone flute nearby and slipped it into his pocket—relic of the Death God Priest.

He lifted his head, taking in the surroundings in the dark.

Shelves stood within the darkness, some melted by flames into lumps of metal, with the metal boxes on them showing varying degrees of melting.

However, some shelves were only partially melted, and those near He Ao were untouched, as if the recent inferno had never occurred.

The runes on the ceiling had already shattered, and He Ao glanced at the illusory badge in his hand.

The Death God Priest wielded the power of this badge not through ownership rituals but by a special method of energy flow.

Through this method, akin to inputting a password, one could briefly stimulate and control the badge’s power.

He Ao’s grip on the badge and his struggle with the Death God Priest was actually a way to compel the Priest to use the badge’s power and learn their usage method.

This badge appeared usable not just by the followers of the Grim Reaper.

He Ao could borrow the badge’s power using the same method, though less powerful and extensive than the Priest’s.

With the badge’s blessing, He Ao could completely transform and spiritualize the flames of Hell’s manager.

The warehouse’s burning flames and the fire whip that only harmed the soul without damaging the body were the results of this power.

Despite the vastness of the blaze, it only incinerated spiritual bodies and souls, without even igniting Wild’s clothing.

Initially, He Ao was somewhat unskilled, leaving marks on Wild’s body with the fire whip, but he gradually grew proficient.

This badge likely has other uses, which he currently doesn’t grasp or might can’t utilize.

He Ao tucked the badge into his pocket.

Counting this badge, he now had two of these illusion badges.

It seemed to be not a ’unique’ transcendent item.

Securing the badge, He Ao raised his gaze, scanning the surroundings.

He could faintly hear hurried footsteps from outside the door nearby.

He lowered his head, moving toward the wall where Wild had arrived, striking it forcefully and shattering it.

What unfolded was merely an enclosed space.

The ’escape passage’ Stars Pharma informed Wild about was merely a grave.

He Ao shook his head and, before the footsteps grew dense, returned to the entrance, reopened the iron door, and left.

——

Dawn City · Glorious Palace

"Two divisions of the Federation Central Army have reached the vicinity of Dawn City, stationed between Monite City and Keka City to the north. Three mercenary corps of major consortia have also completed their setup in the wild west of us. According to our received intelligence, at least six more mercenary corps are on their way."

A man in military uniform sat on the sofa, slowly saying as he looked at Christos behind the desk, "The three consortia mercenary corps have just arrived and are in the midst of setting up.

If we wish to attack now, we only need two mobile groups to launch a nighttime ambush from the West Gate.

Consortia mercenaries are profit-driven and generally not very skilled, capable in favorable situations but prone to collapse when encountering ambushes and adversity, especially now when they’re not fully rested. A collapse at one point will inevitably cause a collapse within the entire large troop.

We can then create an illusion of a large follow-up force exiting the city. These mercenaries, unable to distinguish between real and fake in the darkness, combined with the shock of the ambush, may likely be defeated by us in one strike."

He raised his hand, took a sip of coffee from the table, "Meanwhile, we can contact the Nolanka Group, mobilizing their mercenary corps stationed near Yilan City. The terrain from Dawn City to Yilan City is flat, most of those fleeing soldiers will take this route to retreat.

At this time, a Nolanka Group’s mercenary corps launching a raid to harass them on the road will surely shatter their final organization, destroy their last combat strength, preventing their recovery and comeback."

He raised his head, looking at Christos behind the desk, "Consortia mercenary corps are largely driven by interest. Seeing those three mercenary corps so easily defeated, follow-up corps are likely to hesitate and watch."

His tone paused slightly, slowly stating, "Thus, the siege of Dawn City can be two-thirds relieved, leaving only the northern Federation Central Army to confront."

"General Vislo really has a solid plan," said another man on the sofa, applauding, "But if we take the initiative to start the war, don’t we become the initiators of civil war?"