“Moo!”
The window shattered, glass shards and wall plaster flying everywhere.
The original curtains seemed to be pulled by an invisible vortex, instantly turning into rags and transforming into a flurry of butterflies dancing in the air.
“Moo!”
Amidst the explosion, a mighty roar rang out.
Immediately afterward, a huge dark shadow rushed in.
It stood over two meters tall, resembling an extremely muscular white man. However, Wu Ming narrowed his eyes slightly and seemed to see from behind him the image of a monstrous figure—human-bodied and bull-headed—roaring toward the sky.
“A Minotaur?”
Wu Ming smiled slightly: “Is that the only one?”
“Ahh!”
Angelina, still hiding in Wu Ming’s arms, finally let out a scream.
The white giant saw the “Book of the End” in Wu Ming’s hand, let out a strange cry, and immediately lunged forward.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Violent winds roared as sweat on his body evaporated rapidly, carrying with it a rusty, foul stench.
Crackle! Snap!
A sound like popping beans erupted from Wu Ming’s body, spreading from his limbs to his chest, and then his spine trembled as if a great dragon stirred within.
“Zha!”
He let out a low shout, and all the explosive force within his body seemed to concentrate into his right hand as he threw a powerful punch.
Bang!
It was as if a cannonball had been fired. The ground shook, floorboards cracked, and the chandelier fell.
Two vastly different fists collided. However, the one letting out a cry of pain was the white giant—his hand exploded into a mist of blood, and his entire body flew backward at an even faster speed.
“Quickly!”
Wu Ming did not pursue but instead had a glint of sharpness in his eyes as he silently uttered a command.
A beam of light, sharp as a sword, swiftly pierced the fleeing white man’s crown.
By now, Wu Ming had advanced the Great Luo Sutra to the fourth stage and personally cultivated up to the third, matching a third-level true adept. After partially regaining his strength, how could such a minor monster possibly be a match?
“Remember! When the patrol officers and others ask, tell the truth, but say it wasn’t me who drove that man away—it was another man in a black coat. Got it?”
Wu Ming turned around, staring into Angelina’s eyes, his pupils gleaming with a mesmerizing light.
“A man in a black… coat?”
Angelina murmured absentmindedly, her eyes dazed.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
The confrontation had occurred too quickly. From the Minotaur’s outburst to being punched away by Wu Ming, it had lasted only a few seconds.
After a while, the door was kicked open by an agitated Vidi:
“Was there an earthquake?”
Then, upon seeing the ruined living room, his mouth dropped open in shock:
“What the hell happened? Steven, did a cannonball hit our living room?”
“Of course not a cannonball, but something close enough…”
Wu Ming feigned shock as well, shrugging his shoulders: “Looks like… we’ve got trouble!”
Sure enough, the next moment, hotel staff rushed in followed by a group of patrol officers: “What happened?”
…
The next day.
“What? You’re saying a white man fell into the living room and was then driven off by a man in a black coat? You suspect it was a criminal chase that accidentally destroyed the hotel?”
Navi was having breakfast with others, listening to Wu Ming’s explanation after leaving the police station.
“Exactly! Those two were chasing each other, very violently!”
Wu Ming lowered his voice: “I suspect they were dangerous fugitives!”
Combined with the cover of being a high school student and Angelina’s supporting testimony, his statement passed without much doubt.
In fact, the two officers present at the time had very complicated expressions upon hearing about the white criminal suspect and immediately rushed off to call headquarters, apparently realizing there had been a major oversight in last night’s operation.
“Also, this must remain confidential!”
Wu Ming whispered.
“I know, I know, of course…” Vidi proudly puffed out his chest: “But we are citizens of the Kingdom, future taxpayers. Without evidence, they can’t do anything to us, or my dad’s lawyer will deal with them!”
“Brother, let’s leave here earlier!”
Angelina had dark circles under her eyes, clearly having had little sleep.
Although Wu Ming had used hypnosis to erase some of her memories and implant false ones, for some reason, every time she saw Steven, she felt a sense of security and dependence toward him grew even stronger.
“Yeah, we should leave indeed!”
Wu Ming rubbed his chin: “I’ve already rented a yacht. Once we finish the hotel procedures, we’ll leave—they still owe us compensation!”
At this, Philip and Lanny immediately smiled.
They already knew that due to the need for secrecy, the police classified the incident as a gas explosion.
As for the white criminal suspect and the even more mysterious man in the black coat, not a single word was mentioned.
Although it sounded ridiculous, the hotel was likely to suffer greatly.
After all, with such a safety issue, it would definitely have to pay compensation and its reputation would be ruined—whether it would still attract guests in the future was now questionable.
Just then, Wu Ming suddenly lifted his head, gazing at the steam clock tower in the center of Victoria Harbor, his eyes flashing with contemplation.
…
Click! Clack!
Inside the steam clock tower, countless gears meshed together, driving many precise and complex metal rods to work tirelessly day and night. Somewhere, the sound of steam engines whistled continuously.
As a landmark of Victoria Harbor, the steam clock here was accurate to the second—an extreme rarity worldwide.
Inside the tower, there was an enormous space. A spiral staircase wound upward continuously until reaching the core of the clock, where suddenly two figures appeared.
“Damn… finally shook off those sticky bastards…”
Joseph looked at his disheveled state and shook his head: “Is Zak hiding here?”
“Exactly!”
A gorgeous woman in red high heels walked with a feline grace: “The Tactical Search Unit members outside would only think we fled to the suburbs. After escaping with difficulty, they’d definitely stay far away, so we’ll come in here instead to catch them off guard, hehe…”
“Now is not the time to show off your little tricks!”
Joseph was furious: “The aura from the ‘Book of the End’ has vanished. How are we supposed to find it again?”
“More importantly, I’m curious why Zak failed?”
The woman’s expression turned serious: “Could there be an Army Black Tiger tank hidden in the harbor?”
“Isn’t that something we can ask him directly?”
Joseph showed growing impatience: “Zak! What are you waiting for? Come out already!”
“There’s something wrong!”
After repeated calls received no response, the woman and Joseph exchanged glances, their bodies tensing.
“We shouldn’t have entrusted this task to Zak in the first place. You and I both know his intelligence level…”
Joseph’s face showed unease, anxiety, and even a hint of fear. Suddenly, he sniffed the air.
“It’s here!”
He quickly opened a small wooden door. Inside were numerous crates filled with engine oil and gears—evidently a maintenance storage room. In the darkness, a figure was curled in the corner, seemingly still trembling.
“Zak… is that you?”
The woman relaxed slightly and stepped forward. Suddenly, she screamed.
“Zak… you…”
Joseph also approached, then was immediately shocked by the scene before him.
The figure curled in the corner was indeed Zak, but now his back was hunched, his hair white, as if he had aged forty or fifty years in an instant!
Moreover, one of his hands was completely broken, showing signs of comminuted fracture, continuously oozing blood.
Given Zak’s Minotaur regenerative abilities, reaching a point where he had to consume his own life force to heal was simply inconceivable.
“What did you encounter?”
Joseph and the woman exchanged glances, asking in unison.
“A… a… person!”
Zak’s teeth chattered, clearly terrified beyond reason.
“Explain yourself clearly!”
Joseph’s face darkened with rage as he suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Zak’s shoulders and shaking him violently: “What ambush did you face? Where is the ‘Book of the End’? Where is it?”
“I don’t know… I don’t know…”
Pain flickered across Zak’s face as he hugged his head and began shouting.
“Ahh!”
Suddenly, his facial muscles twisted, his eyes popped open wide, rolling upward, and his body slowly slumped to the ground.
“Zak! Zak?!”
Joseph released him, stepping back with fear in his eyes.
“He’s dead…”
The woman stepped forward and shook her head.
“What kind of existence could easily kill Zak?”
Joseph’s lips trembled, a massive sense of fear suddenly attacking his heart, making even his hands and feet involuntarily tremble.
“What do we do now?”
Normally, he would never lower his pride to seek advice from a woman, but now, Joseph did so without hesitation.
“We leave!”
The woman stood up, exhaled deeply, and spoke slowly.
“Leave? What about the holy scripture? Are we just giving up on it?”
Joseph was extremely surprised, his voice dry, though he didn’t seem particularly determined to reject the suggestion.
“At most, it contains only a portion of our secrets. For ordinary people, deciphering it might be a world-shattering event…”
The woman stared into Joseph’s eyes: “But was that person an ordinary man?”
“True…”
Joseph couldn’t help but nod.
“Furthermore… with our organization’s strength, we might still track it down and reclaim the book, but at what cost? Would it be worth it?”
She reminded him: “Don’t forget our original plan!”
“So we just leave?”
Joseph asked.
“We leave. Let the junior agents continue the investigation or hire another detective agency!”
The woman thought for a moment: “Such an existence must have left traces somewhere!”
…
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