The orange radiance descended from the firmament, almost spreading across the entire sky, and then quickly extended forward, towards the end of that sky, spreading further.

It was evident that the Eternal Light was continuously channeling power into the Netherworld from just the point it had newly entered, and it was spreading into the deeper reaches of the Netherworld.

It seemed to have discovered something and was attempting to extract something from the Netherworld.

Deep within the Netherworld, that resplendent sky was also violently distorting, blocking the orange brilliance at the end of the sky.

Clearly, the Grim Reaper was not prepared to allow the Eternal Light to delve further into the Netherworld.

The forces of the two Divine Beings thus became locked in a struggle.

He Ao withdrew his gaze from the end of the firmament, holding the illusory badge in his hand, and continued to move forward slowly.

The surface of this badge was clinging to some faint shadows, which were the blank souls of those ’Hell Managers’ who had not completely dissipated yet.

Under the disturbance of these souls, the surrounding white, misty space was revealing faint, distorted mutations.

The ’Interstitial Space’ He Ao found himself in was different from what he had previously anticipated.

Perhaps because it was not truly the Netherworld, this interstitial space had no wandering souls, only a twisted, white, misty scene.

He Ao could almost feel that this space was ’expanding’ outward, extending.

He lifted his gaze, staring at the white, misty expanse ahead, then picked up the badge in his hand, sensing the changes around him.

As his consciousness sank in, he could distinctly feel the badge in his hand tending towards a certain area.

At this moment, in the dungeon world, the Gates of the Netherworld that had opened were probably more than just the one in Dawn City; there was likely another.

Although the Gate of the Netherworld in Dawn City was destroyed, the other one likely still remained intact.

And the Gates of the Netherworld, in essence, were just Space-Time Channels, connecting both places into this interstitial space of the Netherworld.

Normally, traversing long distances across land would take a long time, but through an interstitial space of the Netherworld, it was merely the distance from one gate to another.

Moreover, this interstitial space seemed to lack the precise concept of space and distance because it had not fully formed.

In such a situation, by following mysticism, one could often reach their destination in a short period of time.

As he pondered, He Ao’s steps were already slowly moving forward, passing through the white, misty space. In that moment, the surrounding space underwent violent changes in his field of view.

——

Limen City

A straight-backed middle-aged man stood in the middle of the shadowy street, where dense fog was spreading through the dim street.

The middle-aged man raised his wrist and glanced at the information and address on his wristband, then turned his gaze towards the street sign standing before him.

’Sunflower District’

He lowered his head and quickly walked into this district.

——

Netherworld: Interstitial Space

The ancient street reflected bustling reflections, with crowds on both sides coming and going, and vehicles flowing steadily on the street.

He Ao turned back and looked behind him.

The street behind him stretched out into the distance, with towering buildings overlapping in the space behind him.

All the white, misty expanse around him seemed to be just an illusion he had just seen; what he saw now was the reality of everything.

He Ao walked on this quiet street, watching the crowd.

The crowd busily passed by his side, seemingly oblivious to him, or perhaps they didn’t see him at all.

He was like a ’transparent person’ walking in this bustling city.

Or, this city was like a section of a holographic image being played, unable to interact with him in any capacity.

He walked quietly on this road, gazing at the scenes on the street.

Soon, he passed through the busy street, turned into a small alley, and walked inside it.

A quiet green forest and a villa appeared in his field of view.

He gazed at the old villa standing in the green forest, silent for a moment.

That was the residence left by his grandfather to ’Hawke.’

His ’home.’

This city was etched into Hawke’s memory as the place where he grew up, Fro City.

He Ao lowered his head, crossed the door, and entered this ancient villa.

A thick carpet of fallen leaves had accumulated in front of the villa’s door, as if no one had been here to sweep them for a long time.

Since his grandfather’s passing, especially after Hawke’s wife’s death, he rarely returned here.

The servants here were shifted from monthly hire to being outsourced to a cleaning company for regular cleaning. Only one or two old employees left by his grandfather still lived in the villa.

He Ao pushed open the thick door, walked through the somewhat old-fashioned hall, and went up to the second floor.

Most rooms on the second floor were tightly closed, just as he remembered.

But when he reached the master bedroom on the second floor, he paused slightly.

The door to the master bedroom was slightly ajar, indicating that someone was living inside.

He grasped the doorknob and pushed open the door to the master bedroom.

The room was very quiet, with no one inside, only a slightly turned-down quilt and a book laid open on the desk.

He Ao walked to the desk and looked at the book placed on it; the book’s content was "What Happened in Dawn City."

This was a book about Dawn City and Christos’ policies, published by Yino Media Publishing House.

Ring ring ring——

The crisp sound resonated in the empty room.

He Ao lifted his head and looked towards the source of the sound.

It was the master bedroom’s window, which was open, and a wind chime hung on it, jingling with the breeze.

The door to the adjacent walk-in closet was also open, and He Ao walked towards it and looked inside.

There were only a few simple clothes hanging inside.

He Ao withdrew his gaze and walked to the bed with the covers thrown back.

The owner of this bed seemed neither honest nor diligent, leaving as soon as they threw back the covers in the morning.

He Ao bent down, stretched out his hand, and slowly tidied up the chaotic bedding.

He lifted his head and looked at the nightstand.

On the nightstand was a group photo, the mother bending down to gently embrace the smiling boy, while the father, exuding authority without anger, stood behind the boy, gazing at the camera.

Time seemed to have frozen at that moment.

Ring—

The wind chime rang crisply outside the window, brushing against the gentle breeze.

He Ao stood up and returned to the door.

He glanced at the neatly arranged bed, then slightly extended his hand to close the door.

He stood in front of the door, quietly lingering for a moment, then slowly shut it completely.

Time seemed to fall silent at that moment.

Ever since Erian was born, the master bedroom on the second floor had been his residence.

However, after his wife passed away and Erian went to college, he rarely came back to stay.

He Ao turned his gaze, looked at the long corridor behind him, then slowly proceeded downstairs, walked through the doorway, and left the villa.

The name on Suote’s character card was ’Circular City.’

The destiny power entwined on this card eventually exerted some influence.

He Ao took one last look at the villa, held the badge in his hand, and left, continuing across the street, following the direction indicated by the badge.

Soon, an old door appeared in his field of view.

Above the door hung an old sign of ’Fro City Cleaning Company.’

The lettering on the sign was somewhat faded, appearing unclear.

A young man was sweeping in front of the cleaning company, chatting and laughing with the older cleaning workers around him.

Just then, a cleaning truck drove up, and those workers immediately activated the machines nearby to sort the garbage from the truck.

The young man, lacking a machine, found himself idle.

A gentle breeze stirred the dust on the street, blowing a plastic bag from the corner past He Ao.

Seemingly hearing the rustling of the plastic bag in the wind, the young man turned around, looking behind him.

And then his body momentarily froze.

He lifted his head, looking at He Ao standing behind him, his mouth slightly opened, as if he wanted to say something, but he was momentarily speechless.

He Ao bent down, picked up the plastic bag from the ground, and slowly walked over, dropping it into the recycling bin beside the young man.

Then he stood beside the young man, looking at the surrounding workers swiftly sorting garbage, and softly asked, "Do you like it here?"

"Great-grandfather left many things," the young man stood beside He Ao, raised his hand, pointing to an old building not far away, "That’s an employee dormitory, just one of many buildings; great-grandfather bought many during his time, and now they are nearly all occupied. The company is following his original plans, preparing to demolish the oldest one and build a bigger, newer building."

He retracted his gaze, looked at the construction workers ahead, "That uncle is sixty-five this year. He always says I should call him ’granduncle’ instead of ’uncle,’"

Pausing, he turned to glance at He Ao, "He doesn’t know, you are much older than he is."

Then the young man returned his gaze forward, continuing, "Great-grandfather set up a retirement investment fund within the company, and that uncle has already completed enough years, so he can start receiving his pension this year."

"Federation’s social security companies have pensions, right?" He Ao softly asked.

"If those employer companies purchase it for their employees, indeed there is. But you know, in Fro City, Rockville Energy Group doesn’t buy pension insurance for the most basic employees," the young man shrugged,

"Even if they do, the pension distribution ratio from the social security fund is quite low. In Fro City, although the cleaning company pension isn’t the best, it’s relatively good."

He paused, then continued, "Great-grandfather allocated part of the cleaning company’s profits into pensions to ensure the pension’s smooth disbursement."

"I wondered why this company’s profits were so low," He Ao replied calmly.

"Sounds like something you’d say," the young man glanced at He Ao, then at the cleaning company’s sign, "You and uncle never understood what great-grandfather left behind for you."

He gazed at the somewhat old sign, "Every employee of the cleaning company has health insurance, and their families can apply for certain medical allowances. Moreover, it employs the most workers in Fro City, second only to Rockville Energy Group, and these employees spread across every corner of Fro City, they also have families."

He turned back to look at He Ao, "Your quick-sale brand all those years ago took off because these people supported you; uncle became a Congressman for Fro City so quickly because they campaigned for him."

He retracted his gaze, hands behind his back, watching the people sorting garbage, "In some sense, great-grandfather left you a very precious legacy."

"When I was young," He Ao also looked at the employees sorting through garbage, speaking hoarsely,

"Grandfather sold the company, preparing for retirement. He told me that Rockville Energy Group promised him they wouldn’t recklessly lay off employees after acquiring the company, so he agreed to sell it,

"But once Rockville Energy Group took over, they started insanely cutting staff and lowering wages."

At this, He Ao paused slightly, then continued, "One year, grandfather’s factory employees blocked our house, hoping for an explanation from him. At the time, I only thought they were unreasonable bullies. Their joblessness was their problem, not grandfather’s responsibility.

"But grandfather patiently communicated with them. One day, he set up the cleaning company, and when I asked him why, he said he just wanted to venture into business once more.

"Except this time, he didn’t earn a penny, instead investing all his retirement savings, but by then, father had already made a name for himself in Ains, so he didn’t need grandfather’s money.

"Otherwise, father would surely have come home and had a big fight with grandfather."

The young man quietly listened to He Ao’s account, as if to an age-old tale.

After a while, he softly said, "Great-grandfather saw further than any of us."

Then he lifted his head, looking at He Ao, "I’ve always wanted to ask, did you let the cleaning company develop freely because you saw these things?"

"I’m not as good as you think," He Ao shook his head, casually saying, "I just didn’t want grandfather’s effort to be destroyed."

Hearing this, the young man’s eyes slightly lowered.

"However," He Ao continued with a hoarse voice, "I’m not as bad as you think either."

The young man suddenly lifted his head, as if hearing something inconceivable, eyes widened, looking at He Ao, "You..."

"What," He Ao glanced at him, smiling, "Haven’t I ever been young? Just as you’re youthful and full of fantasies?"

He turned his gaze to the cleaning workers, "Many of the welfare systems in the cleaning company were ideas I and your great-grandfather came up with. Only, I never thought the company would grow to what it is today."

The young man’s mouth slightly opened, looking at the elderly figure beside him.

It seemed like he was meeting this elder for the first time, realizing for the first time that what he thought he knew was different.