Chapter 123: Brother Xi, I Want to Eat Ice Cream

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Brother Xi, I Want to Eat Ice Cream

They stepped out of the Ferris wheel’s gondola.

Chu Nai swayed a little as she walked.

Her face was flushed, and her forehead was beaded with sweat. Wang Xi could even see a faint wisp of steam rising from her head.

He was taken aback.

’I was just being a little direct. How did that get her so flustered she’s practically steaming?’

"Xiao Nai, are you okay?"

Wang Xi asked with concern.

"I-I’m fine..."

Chu Nai brushed back her slightly damp silver hair, revealing the "Holy Mark" behind her ear—it was shining with a faint golden light.

She forced a smile and said apologetically,

"Brother Xi, I’m just a little hot."

Wang Xi focused his gaze.

He hadn’t noticed it before when it wasn’t glowing, but now he could see it clearly. The scar-like "Holy Mark" was shaped like a crescent moon, with a smaller ring in its center.

——「Eye of the Burnt Offering」

This was a Seal, a very high-level Seal.

It even surpassed Li Xingduan’s "Crimson Phoenix with Jade" and "Cloud Dance Colored Clothes." Even Kaos couldn’t retrieve any specific information about it.

This was actually related to Wang Xi’s own strength. Kaos’s detection ability seemed to use him as a baseline, making it unable to probe powers that were much stronger than his own.

「Chu Nai (Friendly/Skull/Hero)」

A silver-bordered entry appeared above the silver-haired girl’s head.

Wang Xi had still underestimated his childhood friend’s strength.

From the very beginning, he’d had a feeling Chu Nai was more than she seemed, but as his own strength grew, he found he could see through her even less.

She had surpassed the "Upper Rank" and reached a new, unknown realm—just like the Ice and Snow Queen, Isabella.

"I’ll go get you a bottle of water."

Wang Xi wasn’t sure what was wrong with her and didn’t dare rashly use his Ice Magic to cool her down, so he made the suggestion.

"I don’t want any." Chu Nai shook her head, then lifted her eyes and said, "Brother Xi, I want to eat ice cream. Is watermelon flavor okay?"

Naturally, Wang Xi wouldn’t refuse.

He had Chu Nai rest for a bit on a bench while he turned and walked quickly toward a small shop in the distance.

When he returned with the ice cream, he saw Chu Nai sitting on the bench under a streetlamp, talking on the phone.

Her pretty brows were slightly furrowed, her gaze cold and clear.

’Trouble from work?’

Wang Xi wondered.

Chu Nai’s phone had rung more than once today. Apart from a quick glance at it by the carousel, she had pretended not to hear it.

It seemed she didn’t want it to interrupt their date.

After a moment’s thought, Wang Xi quietly activated "Mud Howling Dark Frog." He silently drew closer and faintly overheard Chu Nai’s flat voice:

"...Century Trade Square, correct?"

"Business Center, Black Steel Mansion... Understood. When do we move?"

"Mm, I know."

"Tell your people not to alert the target. I’ll head over on the morning of the 25th... Don’t worry, I have a way."

"Thank you for the intel, Inspector Yu."

After hanging up, Chu Nai put her phone away and sat there in a daze, lost in thought.

Wang Xi deliberately waited a few more minutes before walking over.

"Sorry for the wait, Xiao Nai."

He handed her the ice cream.

The weather was hot, and the air was especially stuffy now that night had just fallen. To keep the ice cream from melting, Wang Xi had already used his Ice Magic to keep it cool, so it looked exactly as it had when he first bought it.

Because of this, Chu Nai didn’t suspect a thing.

"Thank you." She gave a sweet smile, accepted the ice cream, and began to eat it in small bites. "Brother Xi, what took you so long?"

"It’s crowded at night. I had to wait in line for a bit."

Wang Xi casually made up an excuse.

CLICK... CLICK... CLICK...

The sound of gears turning rang out.

「You have lied.」

「Experience Points +50」

A sharp, twisting pain shot through him, and his breath hitched. But he endured it, using the "Life is like a play" Seal to perfectly control his facial expression, keeping the smile on his face.

This was the second time today he had used "Pinocchio’s Heart." Even for such an insignificant little lie, he received a reward of 50 Experience from Chu Nai.

It was a testament to how terrifyingly powerful she was.

「The Gear Seal has been corrupted!」

「Current Corruption Progress: 2/100」

Wang Xi had lied twice today, gaining a total of 100 Experience.

’It seems the corruption limit is probably 5,000 Experience Points. If I tell a massive lie and get more Experience Points than that in one go, it’ll probably trigger an instant death. Game over on the spot.’

Wang Xi thought, enduring the intense pain.

Having figured out this crucial piece of information, he finally had a better sense of his limits. At the same time, he secretly warned himself not to get too greedy, or it would lead to a disaster he’d regret when it was too late.

The stabbing pain in his chest made it hard to stand, so he sat down on the bench as gently and naturally as he could.

He endured it in silence, waiting for the pain to fade on its own.

’Was Chu Nai on the phone with Yu Zizi just now? A joint operation between the Overlook Bureau and the Security Bureau?’

Wang Xi wondered.

’The 25th, that’s the day after tomorrow. Central District Century Trade Square, Black Steel Mansion...’

He memorized the information, planning to head over then and see if he could help Chu Nai.

Wang Xi wasn’t one to meddle, but as an active "Professional Four Stars" Hero, assisting in an official operation was both his duty and perfectly reasonable.

He was fairly confident in his current strength; at the very least, he wouldn’t be a hindrance.

Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a slight weight on his shoulder.

He turned his head and saw that Chu Nai had finished her ice cream and was gently resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Brother Xi," the silver-haired girl said softly, her eyes closed. "I feel much better now."

CLICK... CLICK... CLICK...

「The Gear Seal has been healed!」

「Current Corruption Progress: 0/100」

...

...

「Valley City Central District.」

Century Trade Square, Black Steel Mansion.

The 30th floor, the top floor.

Behind a partition wall inside an office, a spacious, dim hall lay hidden. The baseboards of the steps and a massive, floral chandelier cast a dreamlike glow, barely illuminating the space.

In the center of the hall were a glass coffee table and a red leather sofa. A dozen or so figures exuding murderous auras were scattered about, sitting or standing, their gazes all fixed on the burly back of the man standing before the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Boss."

A young man with short hair by the sofa said in a low voice.

"Two days ago, Javen, Lindsay, and Number Sixteen were wiped out by the Security Bureau... This is the third loss this month. If this keeps up, our manpower won’t last, and the mission is probably going to fail."

His peaked-lapel black suit jacket was open over a bare chest. In the shadows, the blue lights of a few implant ports and cybernetic circuits flickered.

On his exposed neck was a tattoo of a grid-like skull. The skull’s open mouth held the number "9."

"I know."

The long-haired, middle-aged man they called Boss, dressed in a black-and-white striped coat, spoke nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets as he gazed out at the cityscape.

"For the past month, the Security Bureau’s investigations and raids have grown increasingly meticulous. The ’Ghost Grid’ has lost more than a third of its members."

He sighed, then sneered.

"Yu Zizi is a smart woman. She knows we’re desperate outlaws backed by a conglomerate, so she never dared to go too far... But this time is different. That new Section Chief Chu who just transferred to Valley City has emboldened her. Now she’s decided to play hardball."

"Overlook Bureau, Disenchantment Class, Section Chief Chu Nai."

The man murmured, his tone grave.

Using his organization’s intelligence network and the resources of the conglomerate behind them, he had viewed some law enforcement recordings. Nine of their members had died at the hands of this young section chief.

Every time, it was a single, fatal blow.

Only by slowing the footage down ten times could he barely make out the trajectory of her attack—she merely lifted a finger, a blinding golden light flashed from its tip, and without exception, the organization’s elite members instantly dropped dead.

Their heads were obliterated by the light, leaving the stumps of their necks charred black.

"She is not someone we can fight head-on."

The man turned around, pulled out a leather cigarette case, and lit a cigarette. He took a long drag before slowly exhaling the smoke and saying in a heavy voice,

"The heat is on. All of you retreat beyond the high walls and lay low. While you’re at it, move the task Lord ’Priest’ assigned us to outside the city—placing the ’Holy Mark’ in the city was already troublesome enough, and now the Security Bureau is on our tails like a pack of mad dogs. If we delay the grand plan from the higher-ups, none of us will make it out of this alive!"

Upon hearing his words, the expressions of the "Ghost Grid" members present shifted.

The "Priest" their boss had mentioned was clearly a terrifying figure. Even for a group of lawless desperados like them, the mere mention of his name made them involuntarily tense up.

The same name, one soaked in blood, surfaced in all of their minds. It was a mysterious society infamous throughout the Mountain and Sea Federation and even across the world’s Five Great Countries—

The 「Erosion Holy Mark Association」

Here, "Erosion" had a double meaning.

It referred both to the act of using some mysterious means to imprint a Holy Mark, artificially raising reality distortion to bring about disasters and destroy cities... and also to the eclipse that symbolizes the end of the world.

Without a doubt,

this society was an extremist terrorist organization.

According to reliable intelligence, they were directly responsible for the destruction of over ten urban centers. If suspected cases were included, the number rose to several dozen.

The Five Great Countries had designated the "Erosion Holy Mark Association" as a top-priority S-class target, deeming them an enemy of all humankind.

And that "Priest" was a member of this very society, as well as the Ghost Grid’s contact and superior.

Everyone present had already received their orders through the Boss: they were responsible for placing the "Holy Mark" in Valley City.

The implication was self-evident—

Destroy Valley City!

Before this, the "Priest" had also done something else.

He had erased the fixed entrance to the Profound Mystery Series, Ace of Clubs ♧, "Qilin’Er" Maze near Valley City!

In doing so, the Overlook Bureau had completely lost its ability to monitor it. Once the "Holy Mark" was imprinted and the reality distortion level continued to climb past the suppression threshold of the power pylons, it would, in all likelihood, trigger an orange-level disaster from the "Qilin’Er" Maze. It could even escalate into a red-level cataclysm capable of destroying Valley City!

The Overlook Bureau had already found clues and was now in hot pursuit of the "Priest." But this was also part of the "Priest’s" plan: to draw the authorities’ attention and buy the "Ghost Grid" the time and opportunity to place the "Holy Mark"...

However, who could have predicted that at this critical juncture, Section Chief Chu of the Disenchantment Class would step in to help the Security Bureau hunt down the "Ghost Grid"? It had left them so pressed they could barely protect themselves, let alone find an opening to carry out their mission.

"I will ask President An of the Shanshan Conglomerate for help. He can get you out of the city."

The Boss said in a low voice, breathing out a cloud of smoke.

"President An also knows a Mr. Tao on the Valley City Council. If we can get the councilman’s help and have him impeach Section Chief Chu for overstepping her departmental jurisdiction, it might ease our current predicament."