"This issue is not complicated," the gaunt man looked up at the beautiful woman receiving help and smiled, "As long as you forward this intel to Hawke, I can first share some ’secrets’ with you."

"Is it the kind of secret that kills you if you hear it?" The beautiful woman slightly raised her eyebrows.

"If you’re willing to cooperate and use your influence in the Ellison family and the Menshu Group to help us," the gaunt man smiled at the beautiful woman, "then it’s not a secret you die hearing, but a secret for success."

"Interesting," the beautiful woman slightly raised her head, "Then return my bracelet to me now, and I’ll send intel to Hawke."

She paused slightly, "But I must emphasize, the bounty is all mine."

"Of course," the gaunt man whispered, "You can trust me, however, you must first do something to make me trust you."

"What?" The beautiful woman slightly lifted her gaze.

Under her gaze, the gaunt man slowly raised his hand, revealing a translucent orb about the size of a palm in his palm. The orb total is glass-like, but there is a purple mist vaguely breathing within, illuminating the orb with purple radiance.

Along with the beautiful woman’s gaze, the orb seemed to breathe rhythmically, emanating some invisible and fatal allure.

"This object is called the Soul Peeping Pearl," the gaunt man smiled, seeing the beautiful woman’s gaze gathering on the orb, "It is a gift of death, with the soul itself being the authority of death."

"I think those mystical words can be appropriately omitted," the beautiful woman slightly stepped back, breaking her line of sight from the orb, quickly spoke, "Just directly say what you need me to do?"

"What Lady Medala needs to do is simple," the gaunt man held the orb in his pale hand and slowly approached the beautiful woman, "You only need to touch the orb with a finger, then relax completely as if sleeping, and then all will be fine, you will gain my absolute trust."

As he spoke, thin, long threads of purple mist inside the orb spun, like waving tentacles, reaching, touching, probing the edges.

It seemed like a fierce beast ready to break free from its sealed cage.

"So, this pearl can directly control me?" The beautiful woman slightly lifted her gaze, refusing to look at the orb even for a moment, she looked at the gaunt man and chuckled, "Do you think I am foolish enough to casually touch a dangerous Extraordinary Item?"

"The Soul Peeping Pearl won’t control you," the gaunt man smiled, his body continued forward, "It will merely absorb a strand of your soul, and then our consciousness will be shared."

"Then you’ll know exactly what I’m thinking?" The beautiful woman slightly furrowed her brow.

"Lady Medala," the gaunt man stopped in front of Medala, his dark eyes followed, staring at the beautiful figure in front, at the brown locks sticking tight against her cheek from being completely wet from the raindrops,

"You should know, given your past records, it’s hard for us to believe you won’t betray us through some special abnormal activities or some agreed code that alerts Hawke to the abnormal."

His lips curled, revealing bright red gums and pale teeth, "Smart people always complicate the world, and now, we need a little honesty."

"How to be honest?" Medala tightly furrowed her brow, she stared at the gaunt man’s terrifying and eerie smile in front, "You don’t trust me, how do I trust you to hand over my soul and consciousness to you?"

She retreated half a step again, her entire back pressed tightly against the steel pillar behind, she stared at the gaunt man, "Either you kill me, or you trust me."

"What a pity," the gaunt man sighed lightly, palm slowly forward, pushed the orb towards Medala, "Though there is some regret, this is the way it is, the world is never perfect, just like life always leads to death."

Dense purple lines lit up on the orb he retracted, lit up on the ground under his feet, lit up on the steel frame above his head, lit up on the steel pillar behind Medala.

These lines flickered, trembled, covering the Sun’s brilliance entirely, sketching out some cold and dark aura beneath the scorching day.

The surrounding air seemed to wriggle at this moment, they undulated, breathed. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Just like the purple mist inside the orb, they undulated, breathed.

For a moment, Medala even thought the factory was a translucent orb.

And she herself, at this moment, was within the purple mist.

"What the hell are you mumbling about?!" Medala suddenly gritted her teeth, a small knife swiftly sprang from her fingertips, she abruptly raised her hand, swung the blade, and swiftly sliced open the gaunt man’s neck.

It all happened so fast, and so effortlessly, even Medala was momentarily stunned.

Then she saw the neck she sliced open, slowly cracking, the opening rising and falling, a hoarse, wind-leaking-like voice seeped from the crack, "Meaningless resistance is futile, madam."

Looking at the twisted, bizarre movements, Medala’s body instinctively tensed, fear spread throughout her entire body.

And at this moment, the pale head had already drooped, staring at the transparent small knife in Medala’s hand, saying, "Biomass blades, modifying your own body is tainting life and death, madam."

As he spoke, Medala didn’t stop her actions but directly crushed a molar.

Whup——

A fierce roar arose between Heaven and Earth, like terrifying ripples spreading at the world’s base, like a silent roar from a horrific beast stirring a violent storm in the world’s base.

Causing the souls in this space to tremble at this moment.

And Medala at this moment, raised her gaze, looked at the gaunt man, her lips curling into a slight smile.

But quickly, the fierce roar vanished, the tremor it fragmented across the world seemed to completely fall silent.

The expected change didn’t occur.

Medala’s smile also completely froze.

"Weakened Angel Tier roar, only retains extremely slight positions, can mimic Angel Tier power, yet won’t harm, used as a trigger for the alert network," the gaunt man looked at Medala, "You ancient families still hide some interesting things, but regrettably,"

His neck crack began to open and close, like speaking lips, "The Angel reinforcements you wanted won’t come."

As he spoke, the mist inside the orb in his hand contracted again, while the mist in the darkness also fluttered for a moment.

"Mr. Boris never leaves Ains." Medala frowned deeply, she looked up, took a glance at the surrounding space, the window once illuminated by Sunlight now dimmed completely, as if outside was night, instead of daytime.

At this moment, a thought surfaced in her mind, she withdrew her gaze, staring at the gaunt man, brows tightly locked, "You cut off the Angel alert network sensing in this factory? How did you all do it?"

She stepped back again, her right shoulder brushing against the steel column behind her. "No, the Angel warning net scans all areas of Ains in real-time. Did you find some kind of disguise method to deceive the perception of the warning net?"

At that moment, she suddenly realized something and looked up at the slender man. "Someone among Ains’ Angels is helping you? Why would they do that?!"

"It seems the knowledge you possess far exceeds that of ordinary people." Hearing this, the slender man paused slightly, gazing at Medala with a smile. "Originally, I thought you were just a useful bait, but now it appears you are indeed very clever."

As he spoke, he directly raised his hand, lifting the orb in his palm slightly, touching it towards Medala’s body.

Medala flipped and leaped backward, but the space around her seemed to have a life of its own, naturally breathing and swaying, causing her body to naturally touch the orb held by the slender man.

She watched the orb getting closer and gently clenched her teeth.

"What are you waiting for?" The slender man smiled as he looked at Medala and continued, "Are you waiting for your family to find you, guided by the scent of jasmine?"

Medala suddenly lifted her gaze and looked at the slender man.

At that moment, the white-robed figure behind the slender man suddenly raised its hand, revealing a slender hand wearing a snowy white glove and the small iron box held within it. "The jasmine honey used on you, is this the scent?"

Upon seeing the small iron box, Medala’s gaze lowered, and she took a deep breath, biting her teeth again.

But before she could tense her cheeks, a pale hand suddenly reached out, gripping her face and using force.

Crack—

Along with a soft sound, several bloodied white teeth spat from her mouth.

"Self-destruction is not an option," the slender man lowered his head, directly slamming her to the ground, bending down to smile and gaze at her. "Death can come at any moment. If it weren’t for your current usefulness, given what you did with Hawke to kill Wild, you’d be dead long ago."

Upon hearing his words, Medala’s gaze slightly fell.

"Don’t think you’ve hidden so well," the slender man laughed softly, "The number of people revealing your secrets is more than you imagine."

At this time, Medala moved her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.

The slender man loosened his hand, quietly gazing at her.

"You’re quite rough," Medala smiled, "Don’t you know how to care for beauty?"

"You’re so ugly, there’s no need to care for beauty." The slender man shook his head.

Medala’s eyes instantly widened.

The slender man glanced at her and gently waved.

The white-robed figure behind him came over.

Then he raised his hand, lifting the hood of the white-robed figure, revealing the hidden white skull beneath.

Hidden under the hood was not a human figure but a walking skeleton.

Medala froze slightly.

"See," the slender man gently extended his hand, stroking the cheekbone of the white-robed figure, "Look at these fair bones."

He raised his hand again, lifting the sleeve of the white-robed figure, "Look at this slender arm bone, look at this translucent bone quality."

He lowered his head, looking at Medala on the ground, her mouth corner stained with blood, "Which one isn’t more beautiful? Isn’t more charming?"

He said, pulling the white-robed figure, "This is the real beauty, you understand?"

He raised his hand, gently hugging the waist of the white-robed figure, looking down at Medala, "You ugly freak."

Medala:······

"Cough—" Medala coughed up a mouthful of blood, looking at the white-robed skeleton, "Is this your wife?"

"Of course," the slender man released his grip, his gaze somber, "Now, we have become one."

He held the orb in his hand, looking down at Medala, "I’ll give you one last opportunity; you can still choose to cooperate with me. As long as you actively give up resistance and contact the Soul Peeping Pearl, you can still live."

Within his dark pupils, a trace of purple light flashed, "Throughout your life to climb upward, you have betrayed countless people; betraying one Hawke, is that really that difficult? From the beginning, wasn’t it your intention to use him? Use him to solidify your position in the Menshu Group, use him to eliminate Wild, to boost your standing in the Ellison family."

He subtly curved his lips into a menacing, horrific smile, "Your starting point was exploiting, using now is just normal, isn’t it?"

"Don’t paint me as so evil," Medala smiled, glanced at the orb in the slender man’s hand, then swept her eyes over his face, paused, and rasped, "Do you have a cigarette?"

The guard beside him, resembling a sculpture, raised his hand, tossing a pack of cigarettes.

Medala reached out to catch the cigarette pack, took a cigarette from within, and lit it with the lighter at the pack’s bottom.

She inhaled sharply, her body trembling slightly, as if she would cough, but forcibly suppressed it.

Then she removed the cigarette, gazing at the dark ceiling of the factory’s top, rasping, "In one’s life, it is about seeking thrill; after betraying many people, one suddenly doesn’t want to betray anymore, besides, I actually haven’t betrayed anyone, changing now is still possible."

She looked at the slightly sunken face of the slender man, continuing, "Alright, let me say it in words you’ll understand."

She smiled, "I don’t want to betray my friends, is that okay?"

"Stupid." The slender man shook his head, moving the orb in his hand to touch Medala’s forehead.

"Actually, this is quite good." Medala gazed at the black sky above her head, strands of wet hair clinging to her face, water droplets sliding down her cheeks, reminiscent of flowing blood.

The orb with a purple glow enlarged in her field of view.