Cen Yu had been wary of the masked man, trying to guess his reaction to her answer... but to her surprise, the man simply nodded, seemingly without any reluctance.

“Don’t worry,” the masked man said softly, “it’s just a friendly offer.”

“I won’t force anyone,” he said to Cen Yu through his mask. “Being a warrior in the tower is a good opportunity for you.”

The tower contains no dangerous instances, no corruption or mutations, making it a rare "paradise" in the apocalypse. Of course, all of this comes with certain conditions—

Living inside the tower requires points.

The higher a person's score, the greater the privileges they can obtain.

Eating, drinking, sleeping, and even leveling up—everything requires points.

Warriors can earn points in each battle and use those points for their daily lives. If there are sponsors, it's even better; they will provide resources and money for the warriors to live a luxurious life here.

The premise is that you keep winning and provide exciting battles for the sponsors.

There were no living losers inside the tower; all the losers turned into fragments on the ring.

Furthermore, warriors who sign contracts with the Tower must engage in at least two arena battles every week... In short, as long as you have points and nobles willing to spend money to sponsor you, warriors can enjoy a lifestyle experience within the Tower that is no less than that of nobles in the first district.

“But there’s one thing I’m curious about,” the masked man added, “How did you defeat Luther?”

He looked at Cen Yu through the mask. "I spent a lot of money on Luther..." His tone was slow and his voice was not loud. He didn't seem to be angry about Luther's death; he was just curious.

“I spent…” he thought for a moment, “enough to buy the points of all the outcasts in the entire Degenerate Zone” on him.

"Sorry, I forgot you're a resident of the Fallen Zone." He smiled apologetically, but there was little sincerity in his tone.

Cen Yuxiang, a nobleman from District One.

The nobles of District One crave excitement and naturally enjoy these small competitions within the tower... Those who can so condescendingly comment on the residents of the Fallen Zone are basically the bastards of District One—that's what the original owner always referred to the nobles of District One.

“Gene enhancement won’t harm the mutation direction that will kill him.” He looked at Cen Yu. “So, how did you do it?”

He seemed to care a lot about this.

Cen Yu glanced at the golden birdcage still hanging there... Given the 001 VIP room guest's say-so-so, he said no, he absolutely could not leave this underground fortress.

"My ability."

Cen Yu said, "It's my mutation ability."

He stretched out his hand, but did not step back. He seemed unafraid that the man would suddenly activate his mutated ability. On the contrary, he looked at the outstretched palm with great interest... and then stretched out his hand as well, stopping less than 2 centimeters away from Cen Yu's fingertips.

“Your hands aren’t very big,” he said, looking at Cen Yu’s palms.

“Luther’s hand was at least three times the size of yours.” He spread his five fingers, comparing them to Cen Yu’s palm from a distance. “But you used it to kill Luther.”

The man was also wearing white gloves.

Seemingly genuinely curious, his hand slowly landed on Cen Yu's hand.

"Just an ordinary pair of hands," he commented, grasping Cen Yu's hand through his gloves.

"So what is your mutation ability?" He flipped Cen Yu's palm open, then flipped it open again before finally letting go... and then threw the glove into the trash can right in Cen Yu's sight.

"By consuming my own lifespan, I can instantly eliminate any living creature within one meter of me," he said, looking at the masked man. "So, this is an ability with a limited number of uses."

"Of course it's fake," Cen Yu thought.

In the apocalypse, everyone awakens to different forms of mutation; some undergo physical mutations, while others experience mutations in their abilities...

As a resident of the corrupted zone, he was exposed to potentially mutated substances for a long time, and his abilities underwent a certain mutation.

His ability is related to his childhood games.

[123, freeze!]

This ability covers a 2x2 square area, 1 meter away from the main body, each time.

[Once activated, any creature moving freely within the area will be instantly annihilated within 30 seconds.]

This ability can be improved, but it is random and unpredictable, and the user's physical strength will be reduced by 90% after successfully using the ability.

[After the ability is upgraded, its range and duration of effect will increase, and it will also reduce some negative damage.]

This is an extremely useless ability for the original owner. As a resident of the Fallen Zone, the other party's body was in poor condition after being infected. Once this ability was used up, the weakening effect on his physical strength would make him collapse.

In other words, the system cheated by using his own physical abilities, which allowed him to remain standing in the arena even after using this ability.

After hearing Cen Yu's words, the masked man looked him up and down a few times.

"Really?" He clearly didn't believe it.

“This isn’t a skill I can use to fight inside the tower,” Cen Yu said. “The arena matches twice a week would kill me.”

"This ability is also ineffective against those more advanced mutants."

The masked man didn't seem to believe it or not. He turned back to look at the golden birdcage. "Is that really your boyfriend?"

Cen Yu glanced at the birdcage hanging behind the glass—

"A friend."

He always publicly proclaimed that about their relationship.

"Ha." The masked man chuckled again.

He pressed a button, "Ryan".

Just as Cen Yu was pondering who Ryan was, he noticed the blond man emerge from behind the door—he first respectfully greeted the masked man, then looked at Cen Yu, "How did your conversation go?"

“Obviously, he’s unwilling.” The masked man sighed dramatically.

"He yearns for the outside world."

He took a few steps back and sat on the pure white sofa in the private room... then waved to Cen Yu, "If you change your mind, you're always welcome here."

That concludes the conversation.

Cen Yu thought for a moment, then looked at Ryan and asked, "Can I go now?"

“Of course,” Ryan said generously. After greeting the guests in VIP room 001, he left with Cen Yu... Then, after the door closed, he tossed something that looked like a watch into Cen Yu’s arms.

—It stores credits that can be traded in the wilderness, the tower, and even the Fallen Zone.

“The money you won has had its transaction fees and other charges deducted,” Ryan said, looking at Cen Yu.

“…?” Cen Yu glanced at the credit points inside. “How much did you deduct in fees?”

“Half of the handling fee,” Ryan said shamelessly. “Taking an angel always comes at a price—this is compensation for temporarily withdrawing from the sale.”

He took a business card out of his pocket and slipped it into Cen Yu's hand.

"If you're willing to come back."

“You’re always welcome at Tower.” He winked at Cen Yu. “Contact me, and I can waive your agent’s commission and handling fees.”