The dungeon was dark, damp, and stuffy.

Zhou Huai stood quietly in place for a long time before gradually coming ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) back to his senses.

The eerie, cross-time gaze they had just exchanged, and the man's look of looking down upon all living beings, still lingered in his mind.

"That man... is that Mr. Duan?"

"His own uncle?"

I never imagined that I would have my first meeting with the other person in such an unbelievable way.

With just one glance, Zhou Huai felt his scalp tingle and his soul tremble.

He calmed down and analyzed everything that had just happened.

Chu He and Mo Hen, these two S-rank powerhouses, were not as loyal to the Dawn Guild's beliefs as Zhou Huai had initially thought.

Their fervent obedience to Mr. Duan, even to the point of worshipping him as a god, is likely largely due to some kind of hidden manipulation by him. It could be some kind of high-dimensional spiritual imprint, or perhaps a soul-binding technique similar to their own 【Demon Lord Contract】.

Just now, relying on the power of Li Er's rule that words become law, I forcibly severed that invisible control line.

This subjugation operation, however, also led to a fatal consequence—completely exposing themselves to Mr. Duan!

The opponent's hidden trick left deep in their souls was triggered, thus locking them in.

This is a warning, and also a gaze.

"The pressure is too much..." Zhou Huai took a breath.

The sense of oppression that Mr. Duan exerted on him was far greater than that of the once arrogant SSS-level Amaterasu, Kujo Naruya.

Zhou Huai had a strong premonition that the other party had developed a strong interest in him.

I believe that it won't be long before this mysterious Mr. Duan comes to find me in person.

This is not good news for Zhou Huai right now.

Even though he now possesses two SSS-level combatants and numerous SS-level clones as trump cards, he still faces the mysterious and ruthless Mr. Duan.

Zhou Huai had absolutely no confidence in being able to fight against him.

"We need to think of a strategy in advance; we can't just sit and wait to die." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

However, before that, he had to figure out what the Dawn Guild was up to.

Zhou Huai glanced at Chu He and Mo Hen, who were still in a deep coma and starved to the bone, and with a thought, he issued an order to Gabriel outside through the soul link.

"Gabriel, go to the kitchen and get some high-calorie food and bring it over."

Before long, the heavy iron door of the dungeon was pushed open again.

Gabriel, a six-winged angel radiating holy light, entered. His handsome face was expressionless, and he carried a huge metal tray piled high with freshly roasted beast meat. The fat sizzled on the surface, emitting a rich and mouthwatering aroma.

This aroma was both poison and antidote for Chuhe and Mohen, who had been starving for more than ten days.

"Um......"

The intense aroma of the food caused their emaciated bodies to twitch for a moment before they slowly regained consciousness.

Chu He opened his eyes, and his dull pupils brightened. He stared at the tray in Gabriel's hands, his eyes gleaming, and a beast-like growl escaped his throat.

"Meat! It's meat!"

He disregarded any semblance of dignity as an S-rank expert, and even less about the heavy magic-suppressing chains on his wrists. Chu He scrambled forward, grabbed a piece of scalding hot roasted meat, and stuffed it directly into his mouth, swallowing it without even chewing.

"Hot! Hot! Hot! Delicious! So delicious!" He gasped for breath as he ate the food on the ground, stuffing it into his mouth with both hands, his face covered in grease as he wolfed it down.

Although Mohen next to him was also starving and his long fingers were trembling, he still managed to maintain his last shred of rationality.

He struggled to sit up, picked up a small piece of roast meat from the tray, blew on it to cool it, and then chewed it in small bites. Although his movements were quick, he still tried to maintain a gentle and elegant manner while eating.

"You uncouth wretch, eat slowly, or you'll stuff yourself to death." Mohen chewed slowly, not forgetting to deliver a sarcastic remark to Chuhe in a hoarse voice.

"You know nothing! I could eat a whole cow right now!" Chu He retorted vaguely, without even raising his head.

A full half hour later.

The mountain of roasted meat on the tray was devoured by the two of them in no time.

Chu He finally regained a lot of energy. He lay sprawled on the ground, opened his mouth wide and let out a loud burp, patted his obviously bulging belly, and his face was full of satisfaction.

Mohen sat there, gently picked up his sleeve, wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, and then straightened his tattered clothes.

The two looked at each other, their eyes no longer filled with the fervor and resistance of before, but with absolute submission from the depths of their souls.

The 【Demon Lord's Contract】 has completely changed their beliefs.

Then, the two of them struggled to their feet and faced Moria, who was controlled by Zhou Huai. They knelt down, buried their heads in the dusty stone slab, and bowed deeply to Zhou Huai.

"Thank you for the food, my lord," the two said in unison.

Chu He raised his head, patted his chest, and said loudly and confidently, "My lord! Just ask me whatever you want! I, Chu He, will answer everything I know! Even if you asked me right now to dig up the ancestral graves of the Dawn Guild, I wouldn't even flinch!"

Mohen was not as excited as Chuhe, but he lowered his head and respectfully added, "My lord, we will do whatever information we have is at your disposal."

The contract worked perfectly, and Zhou Huai'an felt somewhat reassured.

He controlled Moria, looking down at the two of them, his voice ethereal: "Tell me. What exactly is this Dawn Guild trying to do?"

Upon hearing this question, Chu He scratched his messy hair, frowned, and tried to recall.

“My lord, the tasks we usually receive are actually very simple,” Chu He reported truthfully. “We are just following Mr. Duan’s instructions to constantly search for professionals with great potential or high professional rank from all over the world, and then use various means to win them over and make them members of our Dawn Guild.”

"For example, we have spies in the Great Xia Kingdom, the Cherry Blossom Kingdom, and the Free Federation. As long as they are A-level or above, we will try our best to make contact with them."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Huai astutely seized upon the suspicious point in the words and coldly pressed, "But what is the reason for doing this? Is it merely to strengthen the guild's power?"

Faced with Zhou Huai's barrage of questions, Chu He was stunned and scratched his head awkwardly: "This... I really don't know."

Mohen, standing to the side, shook his head and chimed in, "Master, we don't know the specific reasons. In fact, the two of us are just the lowest-ranking executors in the organization."

"The true core secrets of the Dawn Guild are known only to Mr. Duan and those dozen or so high-ranking officers. We only need to obey orders absolutely; we have no right to inquire about the reasons."

At this point, Mohen paused slightly, then suddenly seemed to remember something and said:

"However, when Mr. Duan recruited us, he blessed us and told us the ultimate purpose of doing so at that time."

"That is to reshape a new world."

"A new world?" Zhou Huai raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, a perfect new world.” Mohen’s tone became somewhat ethereal. “Mr. Duan said that in that new world, there are no wars between countries, no exploitation of civilians by high-level professionals, and no brutal alien beasts.”

“There are no professionals there.”

"Everyone is an equal ordinary person. Everyone can live and work in peace under the sun, following the natural laws of birth, aging, sickness and death. No longer need to worry about the invasion of alien beasts, nor need to suffer humiliation because of differences in rank and talent."