In a small villa, Paul was watching TV out of boredom.
Ever since Han Qiu handed him over to Bruce, aside from making him do a simple ability test on the spot in the parking lot with Joiessen, Bruce hadn’t seen him again.
He had been brought to this small villa by agents for several days now. Although he hadn’t found any, he knew the place must be filled with hidden cameras, and there were active barrier tools preventing him from using teleportation-type items to escape.
In truth, he thought Bruce was being completely overcautious.
Even without these arrangements and no guards, he wouldn’t flee.
Because he understood very well that the current international situation was completely different from the early days of the Doomsday Rules era.
Back then, he could control a large group of people, hide in some city, and slowly develop. Other nations had more important things to do and no time to deal with him, which allowed his Fire Thief Worship Cult to grow.
Later, when he went too far and the Human Consortium got serious, deploying modern weapons to bomb the hell out of Lianluo’an City, most of his followers were blown to pieces.
This was enough to show that unless he could control the Higher-ups, once exposed, he would suffer devastating blows.
In the past, using his abilities secretly to control some Higher-ups and quietly take over a small country might have been somewhat feasible,
But now that path was completely impossible.
After the last rule, the Human Consortium was left with only eight nations, with populations highly concentrated in just a few cities. Under these circumstances, he had almost no loopholes to exploit.
This made him start thinking Han Qiu might have been right.
Surrendering to a strong power might still offer a way out, just like how he was now attached to Bruce.
But the image of Joiessen’s expression and his final words before his [Absolute Will] ability took effect in that dark parking lot kept surfacing in his mind.
If his value were drained dry, would the result be the same as Joiessen’s?
Paul’s heart tightened, but he quickly comforted himself, “No, I won’t end up like Joiessen. My ability is too unique, too rare—there’s probably not a second one in the whole world. If Bruce gives up on me, he’d be an idiot.”
He also thought of what Han Qiu had said to him, about investigating Bruce’s secrets. He had agreed to Han Qiu back then, but now he was having second thoughts.
If he told Bruce about this, would it make him more trusted? If he couldn’t be the “Your Holiness,” becoming an official Ascendant of Suroma didn’t seem bad either…
“Paul.” At that moment, an agent appeared at the door. “Let’s go. His Majesty wants us to bring you over.”
“What’s the matter?”
Paul stood up nervously, not expecting anything to come up today.
“No idea. Let’s go.”
……
Paul followed the agent into a car. The windows were completely blacked out; he couldn’t see anything. When the car stopped, a young man in a white lab coat took over from the agent.
“Where are we going? What are we going to do?” Paul asked curiously, looking around at what seemed like laboratories. Without a doubt, he had been brought to a large research base.
The young man in the white coat said, “You’re going to see Dr. Haisen. You’ll be the doctor’s assistant.”
“Dr. Haisen?”
“Yes.”
Paul nervously followed the young man to a laboratory.
It was a large lab, filled with all kinds of equipment. What shocked Paul the most was a huge cage in the corner of the room, lying inside were many comatose people.
“Doctor, he’s here,” the assistant said.
“Oh!” Dr. Haisen, who was adjusting some data at a computer, looked up at the sound. When he saw Paul, his face lit up with excitement, and he strode over.
“Paul! Your ability is really impressive. I was very interested when His Majesty mentioned it, and today I finally get a chance to meet you.”
Dr. Haisen grabbed Paul’s arm as he spoke, beaming with enthusiasm. “Come on, we’re going to be spending the whole day together!”
Paul asked in confusion, “What are we going to do?”
“You’re going to cooperate with me on some detailed ability tests,” Dr. Haisen said with a smile. “That’s your task for today. See that cage over there? Those are today’s test subjects, specially prepared for you by His Majesty.”
……
Paul looked again at the cage in the corner of the room. There were at least a few dozen people inside.
In an instant, Bruce’s oppressive, overbearing authority seemed to lose its psychological grip on him.
A thought popped into his head: What king and majesty? He’s just a bigger version of the “Your Holiness”…
……
Paul wasn’t the only one lying low in a villa. There was another person too: Scarface.
After he returned from Lianluo’an City, so many days had passed, and no one had contacted him.
He stayed alone in the villa. Though he didn’t have to worry about food or drink and faced no survival pressure, the frustration in his heart wouldn’t go away.
Rather than loafing around like this, he’d rather find something to do—even if it meant forming a mercenary group.
But before he left Lianluo’an, Guan Tong had left a mark on him. As long as that thing wasn’t removed, he couldn’t relax for a single day.
Now, rolling up his sleeve, he looked at the pattern of a “double black triangle overlapping” on his shoulder and cursed, “Damn death warrant! So many days, and there’s not even a hint of it fading!”
He could feel the Mind Power fluctuations on the pattern and had tried using his own Mind Power to counter it, seeing if he could erase it. But it was completely useless.
According to Guan Tong, only if he provided Han Qiu’s location would the mark be removed. But the problem was, ever since he got back, Han Qiu hadn’t shown up at all!
“Buzz buzz buzz…”
At that moment, the phone on the coffee table vibrated. Scarface picked it up in surprise. The caller ID showed “Unknown Number.”
Frowning, he answered, “Who is this?”
“Brother Scarface, did you miss me?”
As soon as that voice came through, Scarface shot to his feet: “Han Qiu!”
His first instinct was to use the item to contact Guan Tong as agreed. But on second thought, he hadn’t seen Han Qiu face to face—Han Qiu had called him.
Under these circumstances, since he didn’t know Han Qiu’s location, even telling Guan Tong would be meaningless.
Scarface asked calmly, “Han Qiu, what the hell? Why haven’t you contacted me for so long?”
Han Qiu chuckled over the phone, “Brother Scarface, I’ve been pretty busy lately and really didn’t have time to come find you. Please forgive me.”
“Busy with what? Where are you now?”
Han Qiu didn’t answer the second question, only addressing the first: “When you’re getting married, there’s a lot to take care of.”
Hearing Han Qiu talk about getting married, Scarface’s brain short-circuited for several seconds.
After all, in this Doomsday Rules era, many people hadn’t heard of “getting married” in a year or two.
Even if couples were in love, they basically never formally married. Everyone was afraid that right after the wedding, a rule might take one of their lives.
That would only bring the living more pain, so even if two people loved each other, they mostly just dated and never talked about marriage.
Then, something clicked in Scarface’s mind, and he asked, stunned, “You’re not… marrying Bruce’s daughter, are you?”
“That’s right, Miss Yishan,” Han Qiu said. “I’m calling you this time to invite you to my wedding.”
“Han Qiu, what the fuck are you up to?!”
Though Scarface knew Han Qiu had been pursuing Yishan before, he never imagined they’d actually end up getting married. Someone as controlling as Bruce—how could he let his only daughter marry a Beixing man?
“October 20th, at Wensilisa Castle. Remember to come,” Han Qiu said, then hung up.
“Han Qiu?”
Hearing the dead tone, Scarface called back, only to hear, “The number you dialed is switched off.”
“Damn it…”
Scarface hadn’t even had a chance to curse Han Qiu out for what happened last time, and he was already fuming.
Phone in hand, he paced the living room a few times, then his eyes lit up: “Wait! October 20th, Han Qiu’s wedding at Wensilisa Castle—now we’ve got both the time and the place!”
Without a second thought, he immediately contacted Guan Tong and relayed everything.
After speaking, he added, “This is Han Qiu’s wedding. He’ll definitely show up then. That means I’ve completed the task you gave me, so you’d better remove that mark from me!”
Guan Tong was silent for a moment before replying, “After the 20th, once I confirm there are no misunderstandings, I’ll remove the mark for you.”
After the call ended, Scarface burst out cursing, “Damn it, Han Qiu and Shadow—neither of them is any good! I hope both of them kill each other and die!”
He had almost immediately made up his mind to go to the wedding on the 20th and see if Guan Tong would take the chance to find Han Qiu.
On the other side, after learning of this, Guan Tong contacted Adam through the Mind Network.
After relaying Scarface’s words, Adam didn’t hesitate for even half a second before saying excitedly, “This is a golden opportunity!”
Guan Tong said calmly, “Adam, listen to me. This is a hundred percent a trap set by Han Qiu. He knows Scarface is a spy, so he contacted him by phone to tell him this, not in person. He knows Scarface will definitely leak it to us.”
Adam said, “I know, but Wemban’s Intelligence confirms that this wedding is indeed happening! The bride is Yishan. Shadow, do you understand what that means? It means the bride’s father, Bruce, will definitely be there!”
Guan Tong: “…”
Adam’s voice sounded resolute: “Bruce never leaves the Hall of Halls, that fortress of tight security. This chance to attend his daughter’s wedding might be my only opportunity… No matter what, I have to go on the 20th!”