Half an hour ago, near the hotel where superhumans from various regions were staying.
Stein, wearing a brown coat, sneaked into a civilian house and mercilessly killed the entire family with a silenced pistol.
He then went to the cellar and smashed a wall with a large hammer, revealing an old tunnel behind it.
The tunnel was covered in cobwebs and the ground was piled with thick dust, looking like it hadn't been stepped on for at least a hundred years.
Stein cautiously walked to the end of the tunnel and saw a metal door carved with patterns of eyes and tentacles.
Below the door was a stone slab in the shape of a nine-square grid. Eight of the patterns on the slab were movable, with the last one being empty.
Stein opened his palm. In his hand was a small square, presumably the missing pattern.
It seemed the eight movable squares formed a puzzle, and the piece in Stein’s hand was the key. Once the pattern was correctly assembled and the piece in his hand was placed, whatever was inside could be retrieved.
The square in Stein’s hand was given to him by Bai Du, who had also explained how to complete the puzzle.
However, what puzzled Stein was that he hadn't encountered any danger along the way. Why didn't Bai Du come himself, but insisted on Stein opening this door?
Although Bai Du had signed a contract with Stein, ensuring his safety, and promised to reveal how to evade the hunting dogs after the task was done, Stein still felt an inexplicable unease. He slightly shifted his body, adjusting his position in the timeline to five minutes into the future.
This way, if anything went wrong, he could return to five minutes ago to mitigate the risk.
With a ready solution, the puzzle wasn't difficult. Stein completed the assembly with ease, then carefully placed the puzzle piece in his hand into the only vacant slot.
As the puzzle piece was placed, the square stone slab began to rotate. Then, the entire metal door, with its eye carvings, started to operate at high speed like a complex machine.
After a rather sci-fi transition, the massive metal door finally opened, and Stein saw what was inside.
The door was very thick, over a meter wide, and made of a special metal that even ordinary superhumans would find hard to budge. However, the space behind the door was not large, only a small compartment about two meters high and one meter wide and long.
The only things in the space were a twisted skeleton and a small metal box.
The inside of the metal door was covered in scratch marks. This skeleton must have been trapped in this cramped space while alive.
Dying as if buried alive in such a confined space, where one couldn't even lie down.
Whatever the skeleton's fate, it had nothing to do with Stein. He only needed to ensure he didn't end up in the same situation.
To evade the hunting dogs, Stein could smile as he sent others into such a confined space.
The small box with complex inscriptions was Stein's objective. Based on the patterns and the box itself, it seemed related to the mist.
Upon taking the box, Stein found that he couldn't open it no matter how hard he tried. And whether it was an illusion or not, the surrounding mist seemed to have thickened.
Bai Du had only asked Stein to retrieve this box, not to hand it over. So, Stein had now completed his task.
Stein then sprinkled some sand on the ground and closed his eyes, murmuring a somewhat awkward name. Bai Du had told Stein that this was how he could contact him.
After uttering the name, Stein explained the situation, and the sand changed shape, forming a line of characters.
Stein’s face darkened when he saw the characters.
The characters contained a method to escape the hunting dogs, but the method was to willingly become someone's captive!
He wished he could find Bai Du right now and let him taste the hunting dogs' fate.
But... if this was the only way to escape the hunting dogs, Stein wouldn't mind trying it.
...
The devastated streets weighed heavily on Wen Wen's heart.
He had expected Bai Du to flee decisively upon seeing several True Sequence powerhouses arrive, considering the situation hopeless. Instead, Bai Du had chosen to engage in a fierce battle, which had led to this terrible disaster.
Wen Wen sighed, then leaped up and flew to the edge of the ruins. There was a small pharmacy here, where the True Sequence powerhouses were now gathered.
Upon entering, Wen Wen saw the dust-covered True Sequence powerhouses.
Xun Qing had both his arms bandaged, Ju Shi Lang lay on the ground with his back bloody and mangled, George's shield was covered in cracks, Chai Kof had several missing teeth, and the True Sequence from the Effie region had literally become a mummy.
The fact that the seven of them had attacked Bai Du alone, and ended up in such a state, was not just about their physical injuries. The psychological damage they suffered far outweighed the physical pain.
The true appearance of seven True Sequence powerhouses was undeniably impressive anywhere, and they could walk with impunity in any part of the Federation. But they had unexpectedly encountered a monster capable of fighting seven at once.
However, Bai Du was not unscathed either. His injuries were far more severe than those of Xun Qing and the others, and he likely wouldn't be causing trouble for a while.
After all, the seven of them had come prepared, while Bai Du had no prior knowledge of anyone planning to attack him. The combined ten-plus disaster-level abilities of the seven True Sequences, each capable of inflicting severe injuries on an unprepared Bai Du.
If it weren't for Bai Du's sheer strength, he would have been completely dealt with long ago.
As Wen Wen entered the ward, he was bombarded with questions from Xun Qing and the others, as Wen Wen was the one who discovered information about Bai Du.
However, Wen Wen insisted that he had only encountered Bai Du by chance and had been scared away by him, refusing to mention the negotiation between Bai Du and himself.
Fortunately, Wen Wen had previously provided information about Iliyat, so he was not suspected by the group. After all, even they hadn't expected someone as monstrous as Bai Du to exist below the disaster level.
As they were chatting, George frowned, pushed open the pharmacy door, and walked out. He then beckoned to the people inside the pharmacy.
"Come out and see, something is not right."
As Wen Wen stepped out, he noticed the abnormality. The mist now seemed much thicker than before.
While Nim City always had mist, the mist density at different times of the day was generally stable. This should be the time of day when the mist was thinnest, so why did it look much thicker than in the early morning?
This mist was clearly abnormal, yet the group perceived no trace of supernatural power.
The absence of perception did not signify anything good. It meant that the source of this mist was more hidden than they had imagined.