On the wide road, He Ao raised his head and looked at the road ahead, which had been repaired and then further destroyed, and frowned slightly.

Those who attacked the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravans did not just trade with one Wilderness Wanderer, but these wanderers either never returned, or mysteriously disappeared shortly after coming back, never to be seen again.

The attacking team seemed unusually ruthless and decisive, clearing out everyone who saw them, so much so that He Ao could not find a single living person to tell him what the attacking team looked like and what characteristics they had.

However, He Ao managed to piece together some information from the families of these slain Wilderness Wanderer traders. He learned that this team came from the south-west and was very cautious, unwilling to directly enter the Wanderer Camp to purchase supplies.

And the south-west is the direction where Konovi City is located, and the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravans also came from there.

In other words, this attacking team likely followed the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravans all the way here and launched the attack.

But why here?

He Ao raised his head and looked behind him.

Is it because the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper is nearby?

However, when He Ao left, he explored the roads leading out of the Church of the Grim Reaper’s headquarters.

The Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan had actually passed the junction leading to the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper.

So, the destination of this caravan was likely not the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper.

And if the attackers knew the location of the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper and happened to know the source of the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan, they would likely have launched an attack before the caravan reached the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper.

But as it turned out, they did not take action.

Either they knew this caravan was not headed to the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper, or they did not know the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper was nearby.

Of course, it could also be both.

Sometimes fate is like a math problem; not knowing some important premise conditions can also accidentally lead to the correct answer.

If that is the case, He Ao turned his gaze back onto the road, looking ahead.

If you continue down this road, there is only one city, and that is Ains.

If the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan has a destination on this route, it is likely to be Ains.

Even if their ultimate destination isn’t Ains, taking this road will inevitably lead to Ains.

And Ains is filled with angels and powerful Extraordinary Strong People and is the most strictly monitored place by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Especially after Kemingda was assassinated, Skewis further raised the alert level. From Wild’s memory, the wilderness around Ains is now under the surveillance of the intelligence and investigation bureaus.

Skewis even deployed a Federation Central Army elite unit to guard near Ains for mobile support.

Calculating the distance, this place is just outside the edge of the surveillance range, beyond which is within the field of view of the Federation intelligence agencies.

Those attackers trailing the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravans are very likely aware of this and launched an attack just before the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan entered the vicinity of Ains.

If that is the case, why didn’t they attack earlier?

Was it simply because they couldn’t catch up, or were there certain hesitations and concerns? Were they afraid that the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan was too strong and the attack would not succeed?

Looking at it this way, the commander seems to have a hesitant and indecisive character, or they might be an inexperienced rookie commander.

But their silencing is quite professional, and also ruthless.

Shaking his head to dispel the fog in his mind, He Ao reached out to stroke the Red Ruby Ring on his hand.

A faint stream of life force flowed into his body, repairing the tears caused by his forcible use of Angel Power.

Though he had healed the old wounds on his body with his own recovery system, he was well aware that as his tasks increasingly involved higher-level powers, he would inevitably have to use Angel Tier powers a lot, which would inflict irreversible damage on his body.

Therefore, he obtained the Blood Surge Ring not only to lure Wild out but also because he indeed needed such healing Extraordinary Items.

He lowered his head and looked at the Wilderness Wanderer Camp behind him.

However, pursuing the investigation to this point did help clarify another matter.

That is, the one who initially guided the high-ranking existence of Morolin was likely people from the Church of the Grim Reaper, staying in that already collapsed headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper.

After all, the only place where a higher being can emerge without being discovered by Ains is the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper, hidden between reality and the Netherworld.

Combining this with the background of the disappearance of the ’Hell Manager’ Talent Sequences materials from the Church of the Grim Reaper.

He Ao raised his hand, and a wisp of flame ignited in his palm.

In other words, Hawke’s ’Hell Manager’ likely came from the Church of the Grim Reaper, ’given’ to him by the high-ranking existence of the Church of the Grim Reaper.

Then, why?

He Ao looked at the flame in his hand, its edges flickering with a barely perceptible ghostly light.

The Talent Sequences indeed have issues; as he deepens his control over these Talent Sequences, he begins to acquire powers that can influence the soul.

For example, forcibly driving the recently deceased undead, even commanding their lifeless corpses.

For instance, manifesting the fearful visions within people’s hearts, creating illusions that blur the line between reality and imagination.

This kind of ability seems to have gone beyond the realm of a ’Hell Manager’.

Moreover, He Ao can distinctly feel that his own Angel Designation ’intensifies’ these abilities.

Under the blessing of his Angel Designation, these ’new abilities’ can gain a proportional enhancement, even showing signs that surpass ordinary B-level.

For example, ’creating fear illusions’, He Ao has a feeling that if he is willing to pour his designation and power into it, at any cost, he could even use these fear illusions to intervene in reality, creating scenes in reality that mirror those in the illusions.

Such a degree is already something that B-level abilities are unlikely to achieve.

However, these abilities did not manifest when Hawke was in possession of the Talent Sequences.

He Ao wasn’t sure whether it was because he discovered a new method to master fear, or if his own Angel Designation stimulated this Talent Sequence.

Of course, it could also be a combination of both, after all, when the Copy World first opened, He Ao had the Angel Designation but didn’t possess these abilities.

From this perspective, Hawke’s Talent Sequence is indeed special. It’s likely that the main material he got from Morolin had added something extra.

Thus, the Church of the Grim Reaper targeting Hawke might not only be because of Hawke’s son, but also because of Hawke himself.

He Ao didn’t believe that the Church of the Grim Reaper would be so generous as to give a powerful B-level Talent Sequence away for free.

Of course, neither did Hawke, otherwise the Church of the Grim Reaper wouldn’t have gone through such lengths, using Morolin’s hand to give the main material of this Talent Sequence to Hawke.

He Ao was more inclined to think of another explanation, which was that the Church of the Grim Reaper, in essence, was using Hawke to cultivate their own Talent Sequence.

They planted this special Talent Sequence inside ’Hawke’, waiting for Hawke to complete a certain transformation before harvesting.

It’s like planting crops in the land; once the crops are mature, they can be harvested.

Therefore, the Church of the Grim Reaper was so eager to kill Hawke, even willing to offer some ’benefits’ that could tempt the Menshu Group.

Because to them, Hawke wasn’t just a potential threat; he was a mature, fleshy ’fruit’.

However, Hawke’s Secret Medicine formula was found at a Witch Church stronghold.

What role did the Witch Church play in all of this?

Blowing away the flames in his hand, He Ao lifted his head, his gaze following the broken road and the sun hanging between the mountains, continuing forward, as if he could see the majestic Federal Capital at the end of the road.

He had already unraveled part of the puzzle surrounding Hawke; next, it seemed he should continue following the trail of the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan.

Judging by the attack’s situation, those attackers shouldn’t be able to win against the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan.

According to the original path of the Church of the Grim Reaper’s caravan, they should have already gone forward along this road and reached Ains.

And those missing people from the headquarters of the Church of the Grim Reaper might also be in Ains, plotting something.

From the current situation, it seems he should head to Ains immediately.

Calculating the time of the attack, it seems he’s already running out of time.

But···

A gentle breeze blew against the blades of grass by the roadside, also brushing past He Ao’s cheeks.

Vaguely, he always felt that something was amiss.

——

Dawn City

The bustling streets were lit with dim lights, crowds previously bustling now seemed much more sparse.

Christos sat on the long iron bench by the street, lifting his head to look at the sky.

The lights of this glorious city had already lit up, turning the sky into a blurry white, thin white fog shrouding the sky, obscuring the dim sunset and leaving only a round, bright outline that appeared intermittently.

"People are still somewhat panicked," a young man in work clothes walked out from the edge of the street, sat next to Christos, and also looked up at the sunset in the sky, saying slowly, "The information can’t be fully controlled, not to mention, most of the media isn’t actually under our control."

He turned his gaze towards Christos and said in a low voice, "So, Mr. Mayor, what exactly are you thinking?"

"What am I thinking?" Christos asked gently.

"About this ’siege’, or rather, this ’war’." The young man’s gaze suddenly sharpened, he quickly said, "The mercenary corps from the consortium have completed their stationing, we’ve already lost the best chance to break the situation. Now, we’re surrounded by the Central Army and the consortium alliance forces, just like fish trapped in a fishing net, about to lose all opportunities."

He gazed at Christos, "What exactly are you waiting for, Mr. Mayor?"

"You see, this city, she’s one of the oldest cities in the Federation," Christos didn’t answer him but instead turned his gaze to look at the surrounding towering buildings, "She’s stood here since before the Federation existed, even the darkness of the Era of the Great Cataclysm couldn’t destroy her."

"What do you mean?" The young man looked at Christos, "Do you still want to keep waiting?"

He paused for a moment, then said, "They say you don’t want to resist anymore, you don’t want to be the criminal who incites ’civil war’."

His gaze lifted, staring intently at Christos, "Is that true?"

Christos silently looked at him, neither confirming nor denying.

The young man looked at Christos’ reaction, his face slightly flushed, "I listened to your speech, listened to your call, ran for the city council, joined the Cabinet. Now you’ve come this far, what are you still waiting for?"

"Are you waiting for the consortium’s army to breach the city gates, to surround the Glorious Palace, gather you and us together, and execute us one by one on the square in front of the Ellenska statue, will you be satisfied then?"

He slightly stood up, staring at Christos, "Christos, do you know what we’re facing? Our policies, our healthcare bill, our labor protection bill, our anti-trust bill, everything we’ve painstakingly created over the years is always at risk of being destroyed,

"The consortium’s army is just outside, once they rush in, everything will be over."

His eyes widened, his face flushed, "Are you willing to accept this? Do you want this? Even if you’re not afraid to die, even if you want to die, what about us? Are you willing to see everything we’ve done over the years overturned by them?"

He raised his hand, pointing to the north, lowering his voice like an angry young lion,

"Those old geezers who retreated from the Glorious Palace are watching you, watching your tricks, watching your ending,

"Once you die, those old geezers will come out again, turning this city back to what it was before, full of dead bodies, vagrants everywhere, poverty-stricken patients everywhere."

He lifted his gaze, glanced over the crowd, and happened to see a dark-skinned figure, "And those Wilderness Wanderers, they will all be driven out, forced out of this city, returning to the wild, back to a life of constant uncertainty."

He stared at the still calm Christos, "Even if you don’t want to maintain this anymore, what about the people who built all of this with you? Those who died to change this city, those who died to protect you, those who died to change this world, Joey, Ronald, Suote—, what about them?"

His body fully stood up, looking at the still calm Christos, angrily growling, "What exactly are you waiting for?!!!"

The surrounding people were drawn by his voice, unconsciously turning their heads.

At this moment, he seemed to realize his overreaction, he rubbed his face, lowered his head, "Sorry, I overreacted."