Time seemed to stretch on endlessly.

The interior of the storage room on the second floor of Cat Boss Restaurant was quite dim. A few weak rays of light from the window barely pierced the thick curtain of rain and the drawn curtains, casting sporadic patches of light on the floor.

It didn't resemble a traditional storage room but rather a hidden secret chamber. The room relied solely on a few dim, yellowish hanging lamps for illumination, and each sturdy wooden plank appeared heavy and time-worn.

In the center of the room, a man was bound to an iron chair. His body leaned forward, his head drooped slightly, his eyes were tightly closed, and his cheeks were pale. His hands and feet were firmly tied with tough ropes. His dark clothing, under the dim light, showed dust clearly, as if he had been dragged across the ground.

When the door was closed again, the entire warehouse fell into a deep silence, with only the faint sound of rain constantly pattering against the windows, a soft, continuous lullaby.

The warehouse remained in this unchanging state.

"..."

Until Phoenix's brow finally began to furrow, and his eyelashes fluttered slightly, signs of regaining consciousness.

His mouth twisted, and a low growl escaped his throat, as if tormented by some kind of pain.

He tried to recall, but his mind was filled with hazy, blurred memories, making him feel exhausted.

Then, Phoenix's tightly closed eyes slowly opened, revealing a cold, sharp gaze.

He felt the support of the hard wooden chair back against his spine, his hands tightly locked to the chair's armrests with cold handcuffs. He tried to make sense of his situation, but all he felt was anger and resentment.

The curse upon him had not been lifted; it was clearly a terrifying curse far beyond his level, leaving him as weak and near death as a seriously ill person.

The lingering sting from the mental trauma that had knocked him unconscious earlier still made his brain feel like it was trembling.

He barely managed to raise his head and look forward. A dark wooden table dominated his field of vision, with several documents and two teacups on it.

And on the other side of the table sat two figures he knew all too well.

Lan Qi leaned back in his chair with composure, the teacup in his hand steaming gently. He blew on it lightly, savoring this moment of tranquility.

Hyberian sat beside him, her pen poised over the paper, ready to record every detail that followed.

Besides them, someone adjusted the angle of a bright lamp in front of the table, the beam shining directly into Phoenix's face. He involuntarily squinted and averted his gaze, the muscles in his face tightening against the sudden stimulus.

"Do you know why you're here?"

Lan Qi put down his teacup, scrutinized Phoenix, and asked calmly.

"Lan Qi! You shouldn't be holding me! I demand to see our academy's professor!"

Phoenix quickly composed himself and spoke righteously.

Even if he had failed, these guys had no way of confirming his identity, let alone convicting him.

The civilians in the restaurant had all been controlled by the Grand Puppet Theater, so they couldn't even produce witnesses to his attempted assassination of the duke's daughter.

Lan Qi didn't speak, seeing Phoenix's attitude.

"Phoenix, male, 19 years old, born on May 11th, 1778 in the Solar Calendar, citizen of the Kingdom of Yaroland, unmarried, currently studying at the Royal Academy of Yaroland, no criminal record, no loans, parents deceased, has one younger sister."

Lan Qi picked up the documents on the table, reading as he looked up at Phoenix.

Before coming, he had asked Frey to investigate the personal information, social connections, family backgrounds, and everything else about every student and teacher in the academic visiting team from the Kingdom of Yaroland.

"You've been hiding pretty deep, Resurgent cultist."

Lan Qi put down the documents in his hand and said with a sigh as he looked at Phoenix.

"This is slander, defamation, and a violation of my personal freedom!"

Phoenix roared at Lan Qi, looking indignant.

Phoenix was certain that as long as he refused to admit anything, Lan Qi would have no way to deal with him, because Lan Qi would have no evidence to prove that he was a Resurgent cultist.

They couldn't keep him locked up for long or inflict any private punishment on him here in Hutton's capital, Iketerith!

Otherwise, if the Iketerith Academy discovered that a student from the Kingdom of Yaroland's academic visiting team had gone missing, they would definitely launch a thorough investigation. When the investigation led to Lan Qi, Phoenix would still be able to bite back.

"Phoenix..."

Lan Qi's voice was gentle and full of authority, his speech unhurried, each word pronounced clearly and powerfully.

"You know, in all my years in this line of work, I've seen all kinds of bad students. Some repent, some are unrepentant to the end. But in the end, they were all corrected. How long do you think that process would take if it were you?"

Lan Qi just sat patiently at the table, his fingers interlaced, supporting his chin, watching Phoenix with a smile.

It made Phoenix feel a little apprehensive for a moment.

He wanted to reason, but Lan Qi simply wouldn't listen.

As the saying goes, the soft are afraid of the hard, the hard are afraid of the stubborn, the stubborn are afraid of the reckless, and the reckless are afraid of the insane.

Lan Qi was clearly the last type.

Phoenix lowered his head and thought through gritted teeth.

Thinking carefully, Phoenix still didn't understand why his perfect plan had suddenly taken a sharp turn for the worse in the middle of its smooth progress, and then he had fallen into Lan Qi's hands.

It was as if from the moment he arrived in the Kingdom of Hutton, he had become the real prey.

Everything was very wrong.

Clearly, Lan Qi was in the open, and he was in the shadows!

Phoenix's heart was now filled with strange fear and regret.

Why did he have to provoke this guy? He had instinctively felt that he was quite ominous when he first met this thing in the Purgatory Corridor Academy.

At that time, Phoenix had not been able to recognize that the radiant demon principal was a Challenger, and he didn't even know there was a person named Lan Qi, until he returned to the real world and received intelligence from the Resurgent Church—

That radiant demon was played by a student from the Iketerith Academy named Lan Qi.

"Phoenix, whether you admit that you are a Resurgent cultist or not, and whether we have a way to make you admit it or not, is not important to me, because it is the truth."

Lan Qi picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and then looked at the other figure standing beside him.

"Teacher Lanfu, please do some ideological education work."

The Great Poet, who had just shone the light in Phoenix's eyes, nodded and released the lamp, walking towards Phoenix and looking him up and down.

"Who exactly are you?!"

When Phoenix clearly saw the figure of this gray-haired female demon again, he couldn't help but tremble, as if out of instinctive fear.

He was sure that this was the guy who had treated him like an ant.

Now, she seemed to have shed her disguise and returned to her most authentic self, no longer using a cold face to conceal her evil.

Yet, before she took action, she still only seemed to be at Tier 1!

"I am the Great Poet."

The Great Poet wore a black jacket, the hem of her dress fluttering gently in the wind. On her head was a warden-like hat. She had recently started asking Lan Qi to buy her new clothes, but her taste was very strange.

"It's a pity that the Three Stooges aren't here, otherwise I wouldn't have to bother myself."

The Great Poet sighed faintly.

Those three clergy members, deeply influenced by her and Lan Qi, should be able to pry Phoenix's mouth open in less than an hour.

"..."

Hyberian's eyes twitched. Of course, she remembered what the "Three Stooges" referred to.

She only hoped that the three of them wouldn't become too famous when she and Lan Qi went on vacation to the Northern Continent.

(End of Chapter)