After the bell tolled, all the lights in the auditorium lit up once again.

Then, the large doors on the auditorium's second floor opened, and the second bell tolled—this meant it was time for Sleepless Sky Huoxing to make her entrance.

"Dang—"

The bell's chime echoed through the auditorium, yet what appeared before everyone was a scene even more shocking than Furbollo being taken away just moments before.

Behind the doors, the figure of Sleepless Sky Huoxing did not appear. What took her place was...

a tumbling pile of corpses!

Approximately a hundred already-dead corpses rolled out from behind the doors, tumbling over the railing and falling to the first floor—all of these corpses, regardless of gender or age, were dressed in magnificent formal attire and wore exquisite makeup.

The nobles filling the venue screamed, descending into panic and terror.

"What is this situation?!"

"Why are there so many dead people?"

When "death" is presented so directly and impactfully before people's eyes, no matter how noble their identity or status, no matter how formidable their strength, they will feel a primal, instinctive fear!

However, after a brief period of chaos, the elites among them managed to regain their composure.

It's just that in this situation, even while maintaining their calm, their first reaction was...

self-preservation!

"There's an attack—protect me!"

The dignitaries and nobles immediately began ordering their servants to protect them.

Sleepless Sky Huole, who had just returned to the second floor and hadn't even settled back into her seat, stood up again and began directing the scene.

"Paris, have your people go check the situation in the second-floor dressing rooms! Unlock all weapon permissions; if necessary, eliminate any suspicious targets."

"Security personnel from the outer area, withdraw teams one and three to the inner area to protect the guests."

Stiller immediately led his team up to the second floor, then promptly reported via communication.

"The corpses have all been dead for a long time. The servants have been tied up and gagged, but there's no sign of Her Excellency Sleepless Sky Huoxing... Suspected to have been kidnapped."

Sleepless Sky Huole fell silent for a long moment. "Find her. We must find her!"

"Untie the servants first and ask them what they know!"

As she spoke, a mechanical sound and Stiller's exclamation came through the communication channel.

"Click!"

"Your Excellency Sleepless Sky Huole, while untying the servants, we seem to have triggered some mechanism."

"Mechanism?"

Sleepless Sky Huole was stunned. Then, the auditorium's loudspeakers suddenly emitted a burst of chaotic static.

"Bzzz—"

The guests present felt a sharp pain in their eardrums. Sleepless Sky Huole frowned slightly.

At that moment, the voices of the servants also came through the communication channel.

"Respected Lady Huole, there were no external attackers... Her Excellency Sleepless Sky Huoxing attacked us herself and then escaped!"

"What?!"

An expression of utter disbelief appeared on Sleepless Sky Huole's face.

And at that moment, the voice of Sleepless Sky Huoxing also rang out within the auditorium.

"Good evening, everyone! I am the Main Course of tonight's banquet, the delicacy you've all been drooling over, and also your dearest... Sleepless Sky Huoxing!"

"I regret to inform you all that I will not be attending tonight's banquet and ceremony... However, as compensation, I've left you all my long-cherished 'dolls.' I hope you like them!"

"In short—goodbye, you hypocritical, idiotic, nauseating nobles. I'm delighted that you've wasted your time coming all the way here for nothing tonight!"

"By the way, besides those lovely dolls, I've prepared an extra gift for you all... Hmm, I've been recording for so long, the timing should be about right. Anyway, time to reveal the answer. I've been talking for this long just to cover up some... unusual sounds. Now, if everyone stays quiet, you'll find out what gift I've prepared for you."

The broadcast sound cut off abruptly, and then the venue fell into a deathly, silent stillness.

Soon, everyone heard a faint sound—a hissing, air-intake sound coming from beneath their feet.

Sheng Lan Lai's face slightly changed, and he spoke up. "It's Isomer Phlogiston Gas... Everyone, please immediately deactivate all alchemical artifacts on your persons. Those who have undergone alchemical implantation or modification surgeries, please immediately adjust to minimum power output."

"This gas is harmless if inhaled and won't react with the human body, but the moment it encounters any alchemical activity, it will immediately explode!"

Most of the nobles present possessed extremely high alchemical knowledge and skill. Merely hearing the gas's name called out by Sheng Lan Lai, they had already begun deactivating their alchemical artifacts.

Even those who didn't know what this gas was didn't think Sheng Lan Lai was joking.

Just as everyone was deactivating all their alchemical artifacts, before Sleepless Sky Huole could even issue the order to evacuate the venue, alarm sounds erupted from the exhibition hall.

"Beep— Beep—!"

"Crash!"

The sound of display case glass shattering rang out. Then, everyone saw that inside the gift exhibition hall, a group of wild, ruggedly dressed individuals with their faces covered were using roughly polished bone-handled metal hammers to smash the glass of those display cases.

The woman leading them had fiery red hair, a fierce gaze, and was clutching a beautiful wooden box in her hand.

Qiu Xinliu rose to his feet in great alarm. "Where did these Great Wastelanders come from?! She's going to steal the Jadeite Laurel!"

"Could this also be Sleepless Sky Huoxing's doing?"

Sleepless Sky Huo Xian stood up and spoke. "Bullshit! How could anyone from our Sleepless Night Family collude with Great Wastelanders? Qiu Xinliu, watch your damn mouth when you speak to me!"

Larry Sorenson quickly stood up. "Brother Huo Xian, no need to go that far... This is probably just a coincidence, right?"

Eris Mercury watched the robbers' actions. "Wait a minute... among those gifts, isn't there a sacrificial sculpture from a Great Wasteland tribe? Could they have come for that?!"

This time, it was Sheng Lan Kui who couldn't hold back. "Eris, screw you! That's a sculpture of Miss Huoxing that I carved!"

But regardless, for these nobles who had lived in the inner layers for years... Great Wastelanders were undoubtedly an even more dangerous presence than Isomer Phlogiston Gas!

Laboratory leak accidents were common, but Great Wastelanders who could make it into the Inner City were a rare sight!

Fortunately, as the alarms sounded, a transparent Barrier descended between the exhibition hall and the auditorium, blocking these looting Great Wastelanders from charging into the auditorium.

The Sleepless Night Family's "Alchemy Array" was still functioning normally—and since the active alchemical circuits that powered this array were deeply embedded within the walls, they wouldn't trigger an explosion of the Isomer Phlogiston Gas either.

But the bad news was... for some unknown reason, this array had sealed off all entrances and exits between the auditorium and the exhibition hall! 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Not just between the exhibition hall and the auditorium; at the auditorium's exit doors, a transparent Barrier had also descended, blocking those who had originally prepared to evacuate.

"Your Excellency Sleepless Sky Huole, quickly deactivate the array—although these Great Wastelanders are trapped, the Phlogiston Gas is still being pumped in continuously."

Sheng Lan Lai looked towards Sleepless Sky Huole on the second floor—the control privileges for the Alchemy Array should currently be in her hands.

And by now, a look finally appeared on Sleepless Sky Huole's face, one with beads of cold sweat trickling down.

"I've lost control privileges over the Alchemy Array!"

"What?!"

"Someone with higher privileges is manually controlling the array. This place being sealed isn't due to a malfunction... but within the Sleepless Night Family, the only person with higher privileges than me is... only Mother!"

A wave of uproar swept through the guests. Some voices cried out in terror.

"What in the world is going on?!"

"Is a god trying to kill us all here?!"

"Sleepless Night Family, you owe us a reasonable explanation!"

Under the relentless, successive impacts of corpses, Phlogiston Gas, Great Wastelanders, and an out-of-control Alchemy Array, these dignitaries and nobles finally lost their composure and elegance, plunging completely into madness, chaos, and Fear!