Chapter 1881 - 1880: Eric

The speeding off-road vehicle stopped on the silent road.

Anke lifted his head and looked at the scenery outside the car window.

It was a beautifully exquisite old-style building, not tall, but exceptionally wide, with a lush garden in front, enclosed by a black old iron gate, looking majestic.

"Where is this?" Anke asked, somewhat puzzled, looking at the building, then glanced at the driver in front, asking softly.

"City Government," the driver turned his head, glanced at him, then got out of the car, walked around from the back, and opened the rear door.

He gazed at Anke sitting in the car, "Get out, someone wants to meet you."

"Meet me?" Anke was a little stunned, grabbing the strap of his shoulder bag as he got off the car, and asked somewhat confusedly, "Who at the City Government wants to meet me?"

"You’ll know once you go in." The driver said casually.

Bam—

The door of the off-road vehicle was closed from the outside, a soldier got into the vehicle and started it.

With a slight rumbling sound, the vehicle drove away behind Anke.

The original driver then walked to the front of Anke, leading him toward the ’manor castle.’

Anke looked at everything before him in confusion, hesitantly walking towards the tightly closed iron gate.

The guard standing in front of the iron gate glanced at them, raised his hand, and opened the iron gate.

The driver raised his head, leading Anke towards the interior of the manor.

Anke lowered his head, looking at the road beneath the massive iron gate, where between the irregular stones, there seemed to be faint traces of bright red, which seemed like some kind of ’bloodstain.’

The air was filled with a slight scent of blood, faint but discernible to Anke.

Upon entering the gate and reaching a platform, an internal auto-driving transport vehicle stopped in front of them.

The driver took Anke onto the transport vehicle, moving along the roads inside the manor.

On the transport vehicle, Anke cautiously turned his head side-to-side.

At intervals, there were sentry guards standing by the roadside, observing the vehicles passing by.

These guards had erect postures, stern gazes, carrying a slight chill of killing intent.

"This place looks like it’s just been through a war," Anke whispered softly as he withdrew his gaze.

The driver seated in front seemed to have heard something, slightly tilting his head but gave no further response.

Soon, the transport vehicle stopped in front of a white staircase, the driver got off the vehicle and walked up the stairs.

Anke followed behind him, getting off the vehicle as well.

He raised his head, glanced at the magnificent and solemn building before him, catching up with the driver’s steps heading forward.

Each side of the staircase lined with fully armed guards, observing the two who ascended the steps.

Their hands remained on the gun handles, as if ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

"What an impressive force," Anke couldn’t help but say as he glanced at these tall-standing soldiers.

The mercenaries of the West Iron and Steel Mercenary Corps couldn’t possibly achieve this level, and nor could those from the Rockville Energy Group.

Most of the City Defense Army Anke had seen also couldn’t reach this proficiency.

The person who trained these soldiers must be a very capable general.

Soon, the two ascended the stairs, crossing the corridor filled with guards.

A TV was hung in the corridor, seemingly broadcasting some ’news’ at the moment.

"... Starting now, the Temporary Military Committee is taking over all City Government functions, all city gates will be immediately closed, and Ilotan will remain in a no-fly state until the situation stabilizes..."

Anke didn’t catch the full details of the news, only seeing a handsome man standing at the podium, facing the screen, murmuring something.

The one word he could understand was ’no-fly.’

No-fly? If flying is prohibited, will flights be canceled? Can I get a full refund for the airship ticket I purchased?

His previously suppressed mood felt subtly relieved.

Soon, under the driver’s lead, they arrived in front of an old wooden door.

A sign was hung on the wooden door, [Temporary Operations Command Room]

The driver raised his hand, gently knocking on the door, "Mr. Eric, it’s me."

"Come in!" A hearty voice came from inside the door.

The driver pushed open the wooden door and looked inside the room: "The person you wanted is here."

Anke lifted his head, looking into the room, only seeing a spacious yet simple meeting room.

The broad conference table occupied most of the meeting space, cluttered with various papers and materials.

A man in formal attire stood at the end of the conference table, standing before a screen, engaging in some kind of conversation.

On the opposite side of the screen was a man in military uniform, precisely the man who had detained Anke.

At this moment, the conversation seemed to have ended, the communication cut off, and the figure of the military-uniformed man disappeared from the screen.

The man standing in front of the screen also turned around, revealing a handsome face as he looked at Anke.

It was precisely the man who had just announced ’no-fly’ in the news.

Seeing Anke, the man quickly walked over, extending his hand with a smile, "You’re Anke, right? I’m Eric, pleased to meet you."

"I am Anke," Anke said somewhat nervously, shaking hands with the man, then glanced at the driver in front, "Do you have something to ask me?"

"Just a small matter." Eric nodded, waved his hand, gesturing for the driver to leave.

Then he turned around, guiding Anke further into the meeting room.

"This building hasn’t been completely cleared out yet," Eric smiled as he walked forward, "Currently, only this meeting room is available."

He walked to a water dispenser in the corner of the meeting room, "Would you like some plain water? I only have plain water here, hope you don’t mind."

"No need, no need," Anke quickly walked over.

He vaguely realized that the man before him was certainly someone significant, the largest figure he’d encountered in his life being their district’s city councilman, and that was only because he saw the councilman from a distance during a campaign speech.

The man in front of him was clearly more powerful than the councilor. If he were displeased, it could very well cost him his life.

But Eric had already poured a glass of water, and Anke stepped forward, catching the cup Eric offered.

Thunk—

A soft sound came from behind, as Anke turned, seeing the driver had closed the door.

Meanwhile, Eric had already poured another full cup of water, looking at Anke, "I heard that when the underground collapse happened, you were on the scene? Do you know what happened?"

Anke was taken aback, casting a glance at Eric.

"You can speak of anything except matters concerning me," a faint voice echoed in his consciousness.

Anke pretended to exhale breath, masking his confusion, and replied slowly, "There are cultists below, the Witch Sect."

"Witch Sect?" Eric paused briefly, "Go on, are they performing sacrifices below?"

"Yes, they’re capturing ’K’ believers from other cities," Anke said slowly, "gathering them in Ilotan, preparing to sacrifice them."

"What are they plotting?" Eric asked quietly.

"I don’t know," Anke shook his head, "I couldn’t figure out what they were doing, so I ran away."

"It must be very dangerous down there?" Eric took a sip of water, continuing.

"Yes, very dangerous," Eric nodded in agreement, "I was close to dying there."

"How did you manage to escape?" Eric asked curiously, "Our people noticed some spatial distortion or anomalies near the area where you appeared, but the building’s surveillance only shows you entering, not leaving."

"Well," Anke said naturally, "the underground space and the building are connected. I initially aimed to reach the 35th floor to access that underground area, thinking it was at the top of the building, but later discovered it was underground."

"According to the survivors from the building," Eric nodded, continuing, "this building has no 35th floor?"

"That’s why it’s abnormal." Anke nodded.

"How did you find this abnormal 35th floor, and how did you get up there?" Eric followed up.

Anke was momentarily stunned, realizing he’d stumbled into Eric’s verbal trap.

He paused briefly, continuing, "There were some setbacks, but you could roughly understand it as someone from within the building taking me up."

He then roughly described the story of rescuing the girl in the white dress.

"A great story," Eric nodded.

"But it’s what truly happened." Anke shrugged helplessly.

"I believe you," Eric smiled, reaching into the pile of documents and pulling out a photo printed on paper, "This is from inside the building."

Anke lowered his head to look at the photo, which showed a man lying on the ground, seemingly struck down from behind.

"Actually, floors above the 25th are all underground," Eric looked at him, "Our people followed that underground passage to the 35th floor, rescued those K believers, and went on to find the ’guests’ imprisoned on the high floors."

He placed the photo in front of Anke, "This photo was taken on the 34th floor."

"So I wasn’t lying." Anke said sincerely.

"But you didn’t share the whole truth," Eric gazed at Anke, smiling, "You didn’t say how you left the dangerous 35th floor. According to our estimates, there’s likely a very powerful Transcendent on that floor, and you,"

He glanced at Anke’s physique, "You look strong, but you’re not a Transcendent. How did you, with a mortal body, overcome those terrifying beings?"

"Your questions seem like they’re trying to force me," Anke looked at him, "to admit some of your assumptions."

Eric smiled at him, "So, are you going to admit it?"

Anke slightly opened his mouth, many things he indeed couldn’t explain, far beyond the norm.

But admitting He Ao’s existence would mean exposing him.

"You have an elder," He Ao’s voice sounded in Anke’s ear.

Anke instantly understood, looking at Eric, he quickly said, "I have an elder who saved me."

Eric raised his head, glanced at Anke, then swiftly and naturally asked, "Is your elder still in Ilotan?"

Anke paused momentarily, not receiving He Ao’s response, so he directly said, "I don’t know either."

Eric raised his head, gazing at Anke, smiling, "You don’t need to be so tense,"

He straightened up, slowly walking toward a giant screen aside, "My invitation this time is truly to thank you."

Anke looked at him, bewildered.

"See, this is Ilotan’s social report." Eric handed him a document.

Anke took the report, bewildered, and started flipping through it, filled with professional jargon and complicated charts, only making Anke feel overwhelmed.

But to avoid appearing timid, he forcibly kept reading, pretending to seriously review the information.

"I believe you’ve seen," Eric saw his actions, still not suspicious, and continued softly, "Ilotan is currently in a particularly dire state."

He reached out, opened the giant screen, revealing its contents one by one, projecting photos onto the screen.

Anke raised his head, glancing at the screen’s photos.

They were dilapidated streets, tents in the snow, bodies tossed carelessly into ditches.

Among the pictures was a girl reminiscent of a sister holding her younger brother, the child’s skinny frame revealing bones, mud smeared over his body, staring blankly at the camera.

And the last photo depicted a mother-like figure, gravely ill, sitting or lying in a hut, with her helpless children standing at her side.

Anke gazed at these, entering a brief silence.

"The Rockville Energy Group, and its associated companies, control over 80% of Ilotan’s industries," Eric turned towards the silent Anke, "Ilotan people, from birth to death, are inseparable from Rockville Energy Group, the corporation is closer to every one of us than the city government and police."

Eric raised his hand, switching the screen’s photos, "Using their monopolistic status, they aggressively increase product prices, promote installments, create debts. Do you know how much total assets the bottom 50% of Ilotan families represent citywide?"

Anke shook his head, perplexed.

"-10%." Eric chuckled softly, switching a photo, continuing, "They have no net assets; all assets are debts. Many children, from birth, bear heavy debts because their parents can’t afford their birth costs."

He turned around, looking at Anke, "And the top tiny fraction, less than 2% of people and the consortium, have taken the city’s entire wealth."

He switched photos again, showing a deserted street, "Do you think this is reasonable?"

Anke slightly shook his head.

"We feel the same way," Eric looked at Anke, gently stating, "And that’s why we’re doing all this."