The sound of Shaan and Sebastian’s footsteps echoed clearly as they slowly descended each step, one by one. To be honest, the atmosphere here felt very quiet and quite eerie. Thick clouds of pink fog drifted through the area, even denser than the fog above, making the surroundings feel far more tense.

"Shaan, watch your step." Sebastian glanced over his shoulder to make sure Shaan stayed close behind him. "We have no idea what’s waiting for us down here. Don’t let yourself—whoa!"

"Sebastian!" Shaan quickly grabbed his arm before he could tumble down the stairs. "That was close."

"Shaan, thank you."

"No problem." Shaan nodded. "But honestly, Sebastian, I think you’re the one who needs to be more careful."

"Yeah, I’ll admit that." Sebastian chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I’ve been a little careless lately." He pointed farther down the staircase. "Anyway, we’re almost there. Just keep following me."

"I understand."

A few moments later, they finally reached the bottom floor. Sebastian immediately slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and carefully reviewed the list of ingredients Miss Daisy needed.

"One hundred kilograms of dark creature bone ash and one hundred forty-five kilograms of black tree resin," Sebastian said as he ran his finger across the list. "That’s a lot, but fortunately, there are two of us. We should be able to carry it."

"You’re right," Shaan replied. "Hopefully, we can get everything out of here without any trouble."

"Actually, there are other materials as well, but Miss Daisy and the other Daemonists are handling those." Sebastian folded the paper and put it back in his pocket. "It’s just, how are we going to carry—Ah, wait a moment." Sebastian quickly walked over to a medium-sized metal handcart that stood beside the staircase. "Here it is. At least we can use this to transport the materials."

"Yeah, that should make things a lot easier." Shaan nodded without hesitation. "But how are we supposed to find the materials through all this fog?"

"Just follow me." Sebastian grabbed the cart’s handle and started pushing it forward. "I know exactly where they keep them."

***

As they walked through the storage aisles, Shaan stared in amazement at the countless sacks lined up before him. The storage room held not just dozens, but hundreds of sacks arranged neatly in long rows, their different colors making them resemble a giant bookshelf. What surprised him even more was the organization. Every sack carried a label that listed both its contents and weight, making it much easier to locate specific materials.

’I never expected this place to be so spacious and organized.’

"The materials should be somewhere around— Ah, here they are." Sebastian stopped in front of one of the shelves and carefully examined the labels on two sacks sitting side by side. "Dark creature bone ash and black tree resin. These are the materials we need."

"Hmm... each sack contains fifty kilograms." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That means we need two sacks of bone ash to reach one hundred kilograms. As for the black tree resin, we’ll need three sacks to get close to one hundred forty-five kilograms. Right?"

"Exactly." Sebastian rolled up his sleeves, revealing his slightly veiny biceps. "In that case, it’s time for us to get moving and load all these materials into the iron cart before anyone sees us."

One by one, they hauled the sacks with all their might and placed them on the metal handcart they had prepared. The first, second, and fourth sacks—it seemed the two of them could still manage to lift them. However, when Shaan tried to lift the final sack, exhaustion finally caught up with him. His arms trembled, his legs gave out, and he dropped onto the floor with a heavy sigh.

"Hey, Shaan, are you okay?" Sebastian asked curiously. "What’s wrong with you?"

"Ah, I’m fine." Shaan waved his hand dismissively. "I’m just a little tired. If I rest for a minute, I’ll probably feel better."

Sebastian sat down beside him and stretched his arms above his head. "Alright then. We’ll take a short break and leave afterward."

For a few moments, neither of them spoke. Then Shaan suddenly turned toward him."Sebastian, how long have you been Miss Daisy’s secretary?"

"Huh?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"Ah, nothing." Shaan shook his head quickly. "It’s just that you seem to be able to pinpoint the exact location of the materials we need right away," Shaan said admiringly. "You can even find them in foggy conditions like this. That’s amazing."

"Haha, it’s been a long time. Honestly, I can’t even remember when I started." Sebastian laughed softly. "Besides, taking care of this place has always been part of my job. A few members of the Twilight Codex and I regularly organize these storage rooms." He glanced around the warehouse.

"Miss Daisy stays busy almost all the time, so she rarely gets the chance to handle any of this herself." A faint smile appeared on his face. "To be honest, working alongside Miss Daisy and the other members of the faction has made me genuinely happy."

Shaan nodded before asking another question. "Then have you ever thought about going back? Back to the human world?"

"Hm..." Sebastian stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Eline actually brought that up before. She keeps telling me that I should return to the human world someday." A small chuckle escaped him. "That spoiled girl desperately wants to see what the human world looks like. She was born and raised in the Dark Realm, so she’s never seen it for herself."

His smile slowly faded. "However..." Sebastian fell silent for a moment and lowered his head. "There’s still a problem I haven’t resolved. That problem keeps me from returning to the human world."

’I’m just curious—what problem did Sebastian get himself into that he doesn’t want to go back to the human world?’

Before he could ask another question, Sebastian suddenly stood up and stretched his arms again. "Alright, that’s enough resting." He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Let’s finish our job and get out of here as quickly as possible."

"Right."

Without wasting any time, they once again mustered their strength and managed to load the last sack into the iron cart. Good, at least all the materials have been gathered now.

"Ah, finally." Shaan let out a long sigh. "So, how are we going to get it out of here now?"

"Calm down, just follow me," Sebastian said confidently. "I’ll show you another way out of here."

They immediately pushed the cart with all their might until they finally spotted a large door (similar to a garage door) at the far end of the room. Sebastian quickly opened the door, and it turned out the place was actually connected to the back of Miss Daisy’s yard.

"Safe." Sebastian scanned the area, making sure no one was watching them. "Come on, we have to hurry and push this thing out of here."

"Alright."

Quickly, they worked together to push the cart through Miss Daisy’s backyard until they finally managed to get out of Miss Khaya’s house and onto the main road. Good. At least they’d managed to get out of Miss Daisy’s house without being bothered by the Resistance or anything like that.

However, neither of them realized that behind the thick fog surrounding them, a mysterious figure had been watching their every move the whole time. Neither Shaan nor Sebastian noticed the pair of glowing eyes hidden deep within the pink fog. The mysterious figure watched them silently. And a faint smile slowly appeared on its face.