After Ethan firmly shut the vault door behind him, the bearded master outside nearly exploded with rage. He looked so angry it seemed like he might break the door down with his bare hands.
Five minutes passed.
Kacha~
The vault door creaked open. A shadow darted out—quick as lightning—but then instantly vanished into the darkness.
Boom!
It turned out to be another one of Ethan's fake-outs. He closed the door again right after the figure slipped out. The bearded master clenched his fists, ready to unleash a tirade, but before he could even shout—
A sharp blast of energy sliced through the air.
Chi-la~
It was like a hot blade cutting through butter. The energy attack hit Da Dao Zai's clone, slicing it cleanly in half. The clone disintegrated into glowing particles.
The bearded master blinked.
"Huh? What the hell did I just cut?"
Only then did he realize—the old housekeeper hadn't actually left yet. He'd been hiding nearby, clearly a cunning old fox. And Ethan, who was locked inside, wasn't half-bad either.
The hidden man must've realized someone else had made the move, so he finally vanished completely.
Still ready for a fight, the bearded master stood in place... but no second attack came. It was as if he had figured out Ethan's personality and decided to stop wasting energy.
Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground and waited quietly.
Time passed slowly.
Eventually, the vault door opened again. Ethan stepped out—along with Fairwind.
And beside them stood a man who could only be Fairwind's father—the City Lord of Ravenshade City.
He looked refined and gentle, as if he were in his early 30s, with a clean face and gold-rimmed glasses. Ethan recognized him immediately from TV broadcasts.
Ethan greeted him with a bow. "Hello, City Lord!"
The man smiled. "You must be Ethan, Fairwind's friend?"
"That's right."
"Not bad. You look like a bright young man."
Fairwind, standing nearby with a cold expression, muttered, "Hello, City Lord."
"City Lord?" His father raised an eyebrow and chuckled awkwardly, clearly expecting Fairwind to say "Dad" instead.
Then the City Lord looked over and noticed the masked bearded master, but he didn't seem surprised.
"Thank you for your organization's help," he said politely. "We'll take it from here."
Clearly, he wanted the bearded master to leave. But the man didn't move.
Fairwind glanced down at the two corpses on the ground. "Who are they?" he asked. "Why did they try to break into the vault? What were they after?"
The bearded master answered quickly. "They're not humans anymore."
Ethan's eyes widened. "What do you mean, not human?"
The bearded man sighed. "They used to be. But to gain power, they chose a darker path."
Ethan frowned. "Wait, there are other ways to gain power besides leveling up?"
That thought immediately made him think of his own unique talent. Unlike others, Ethan didn't rely on leveling up—his summoned beasts got stronger instead, which boosted his overall strength.
At this point, the City Lord added a cryptic question, "Who do you think in this world has the strongest desire for power?"
Ethan's skin prickled. "You mean... ordinary people?"
The bearded master nodded. "Correct. Especially those who failed to awaken powers. They're desperate. Some of them find other ways—dangerous ways—to grow stronger."
"And one of those ways," he continued, "is to sign a contract with an evil god and become a 'foreigner.'"
"Foreigners?"
"Yes. Once transformed, they get power similar to ours. But they don't need to fight monsters to level up."
The bearded master stepped closer and smiled like a teacher. "Tell me, since they're no longer human, how do you think they gain levels?"
Ethan stiffened. "Killing people?"
"Exactly. They hunt humans—especially professionals. Some contracts even allow them to absorb abilities from the people they kill."
The atmosphere turned heavy.
After a moment of silence, Ethan asked, "Are there... many of these foreigners?"
The bearded master scoffed. "Plenty. You've seen the low success rate of awakenings. Do the math."
Ethan's nervousness was easy to see, so the City Lord added, "Don't worry. Most of them don't act openly. And low-level foreigners like these two are easy to spot."
"They usually hide in sewers," he added casually.
Ethan nearly choked. "This is low-level? One of them nearly crushed me with his bare hands!"
The bearded master grinned. "Well, at least killing them gives good experience points. Much better than regular bosses."
"Consider this a free lesson," he added smugly. "No need to thank me."
Excited by the mention of experience, Ethan walked over to the tall corpse that had been beaten by the bearded master earlier.
He cast "Decompose."
A beam of light passed over the corpse, breaking it down into raw materials.
"You've obtained: 'Dark Gold Grade Shark's Tooth.'"
"Nice!" Ethan exclaimed, quickly collecting the item.
But when he turned around, both the City Lord and the bearded master were staring at him in disbelief.
"What?" Ethan asked.
The City Lord chuckled. "You're certainly... unique. These people may have become monsters, but they were once human. Out of respect, we usually burn the bodies."
Ethan tilted his head. "But they're not human anymore, right? Why waste useful materials?"
The bearded master roared, "I was going to take it back for autopsy, you brat! And you just turned it into scrap?"
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Autopsy what? You already blew him up."
Grumbling, the bearded master rushed to collect the remaining short man's body.
Then, he marched over to Ethan and growled, "Where did you get that summoned beast earlier?"
Ethan answered honestly, "From Darunhua! Cost me 2 million. I had to borrow money from a big shot to buy it."
The bearded master froze.
That shopping guide from Darunhua... wasn't he the one who sold that beast egg?
And now it was Ethan who bought it—using money the bearded master lent him!
"Wait a second…" his mind reeled.
Did I… just fund this kid to buy something I sold… back to myself?
He was speechless.
He'd lost a beast egg, lost 600,000 yuan, and now had to deal with this cheeky brat mocking him.
The bearded master took a few deep breaths to calm down.
"Nope, nope—don't blow your cover. Breathe. Breathe."
But Ethan had already figured it out. That "free lesson" earlier gave him the final clue.
This masked bearded master… was the same guy who sold him the beast egg.
Smirking, Ethan chose to poke the bear a little more, just to see how far he could push him.
Watching his flustered expression, Ethan was now 100% sure of the man's identity.
And the master finally snapped, "City Lord, nothing else here for me. I'm leaving!"
"Take care!" the City Lord replied politely.
Once the bearded man left, Ethan turned to follow—but the City Lord stepped forward and held out his hand.
"Wait."
"!?"
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