Upon meeting Lucius, Covey beamed and walked over to him, extending his hand to shake his: "Although it's only been a day, every encounter with Mr. Lucius is always something to look forward to."
"Thank you so much."
Hearing Covey's praise, Lucius's face lit up with joy. It seemed that receiving affirmation from people in the city made him happier than receiving praise from people in the outer city. He felt relieved, and the anger he had suffered at Caludon's place during the day dissipated considerably.
Suddenly, Lucius seemed to notice something, tilting his head slightly to look behind Covey, and asked with some confusion:
“Hey, what’s wrong with Mr. Perlman? He looks terrible.”
Upon hearing this, Kovi's face twitched imperceptibly, but he still put on his usual fake smile and turned around to look behind him.
Sure enough, even in the light of the campfire, Perlman's face remained a deathly pale, his eyes sunken, his lips dry and shriveled, appearing as if he were extremely anemic, revealing a foamy white complexion.
Lucius was too far away to see clearly, but in reality, Perlman was trembling all over, staring blankly at the campfire, his lips quivering as if he were muttering to himself.
But the sound was too low, and the others were too far away. Even behind the listening device, Fagar and Ellen turned the volume up to the maximum, but they still couldn't hear each other clearly.
Finally, Fagar shook his head and sighed, "No, I still can't hear him clearly. The ambient noise completely drowns out Perlman's voice."
Victoria's listening equipment is top-of-the-line and cannot be bought on the market.
Even so, only a faint sound could be heard of Perlman "speaking," and the content of his speech remained unknown.
Eileen did the same. She tried desperately to pat her ears to relieve the stinging pain caused by turning the volume up to the maximum, but finally sighed and gave up, collapsing helplessly onto Fagga's lap. She said resignedly:
"Let's hear what Lucius and this guy named Cove have to talk about... Fagar, I feel like we're getting close to the truth."
"I feel about the same way."
Fagga spoke softly, his fingers lightly touching Ellen's back.
It feels tingly, numb, and itchy.
Ellen let out a comfortable groan and involuntarily wrapped her arms around Fagga's waist.
"Above...a little above...to the left, a little more to the left."
"Phew... I'm going to fall asleep..."
...
On the other side, in the vast sea of sand.
Kove clearly hadn't expected that someone would have planted listening devices on Lucius, and not just one.
At this moment, he turned to look at Perlman, his words almost gentle, but his face was undeniably sinister as he spoke softly:
“Oh, you mean Mr. Perlman? He hasn’t been in a good mood lately, you know. The decline of Vision Industries has hit him hard, and on top of that, he’s suffering from motion sickness and acclimatization issues, so he looks rather downcast.”
"But don't worry, Mr. Perlman has never given up on taking back everything that belongs to him. He still has his own team in the city, and many businesses support his actions."
"You're right, Mr. Perlman, aren't you?"
Kovi emphasized the last few words.
Perlman, as if he had heard some code, stood up mechanically like a walking corpse and hysterically shouted the slogan:
“That’s right, I, Perlman, will defy the injustice of fate! I will take back everything that is mine, and let those lowly wretch die! Die!”
Covey finally nodded in satisfaction and said approvingly, "Hmm, you're in good spirits. Mr. Perlman is as energetic as ever today."
Perlman gave a dry laugh; the recent suffering had left its mark on him, and his face was so wrinkled that it could almost crush a fly.
But Covey didn't care. He reached into his pocket and felt around. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he pulled out a small cube-shaped object, which he handed to Lucius.
"【Ether polymerization catalyst】As per your request, I have made it exactly the same as the flint you need."
Lucius took it, looked down at it, and listened to Covey say...
"Just throw it into the lake of fire, and you'll get everything you want... Tenny, status, and especially the identity you've always longed for. You'll be in charge of everything in the Outer Rings as an Innerman, and no one will be able to stop you."
"TOPS Finance will welcome new members at that time."
Lucius stared intently at the [Ether Conversion Catalyst]. Usually as cunning as a fox, his eyes were unusually fiery at this moment, his olive-like Adam's apple bobbed up and down abruptly, and the sound of him swallowing was clearly audible.
After a long while, Lucius finally managed to tear his gaze away from the small cube in his hand, his voice hoarse: "But... if we use this, what about Brother Pompey...?"
"He will die, and he will become a skeleton."
Before Lucius knew it, Cove had moved close to him, his hand on Lucius's shoulder, his seductive voice whispering in Lucius's ear:
"But there's still you! You can absolutely build your own kingdom on this land in the outer ring! All you have to pay is be a stubborn, timid old man!"
"Only you are the king of the outer ring!"
Click~
Bang!
The thread of reason snapped abruptly, and Lucius gasped for breath. He only reacted when the [Ether Condensation Catalyst] in his hand creaked under his grip. His eyes burned with intensity, and he let out a long, hoarse sigh:
"Don't worry, I will definitely not let the leaders of TOPS Finance down."
"…hehe."
Kovi smiled, squinted, and waved goodbye: "Well then, have a safe journey, Lucius...Executor!"
Upon hearing the words "Executive," Lucius's gaze hardened. He nodded earnestly and turned to leave.
He needs to go back and recuperate.
When the fiery ride ends at dusk tomorrow, the golden sunlight will shine on the champion.
He, Lucius, will surely make the whole room gasp in astonishment!
…
"Target confirmed."
Inside the outer ring hotel, Fagga let out a long sigh of relief. The way his grip gradually loosened was so much so that Ellen could clearly feel the ease in Fagga's heart.
…following closely behind was an unrestrained murderous intent.
Eileen climbed up, grabbed the bedside table with her little hands, and slowly climbed up to press the light switch on the wall.
Snap~
The lights were turned off, and the world was plunged into darkness.
Only the warmth on his chest and the soft, panting breaths lingering in his ears told Fagar where Ellen was.
Suddenly, Eileen's little hand, which had turned off the light earlier, returned.
The hero who had shrunk the world to just the two of them quietly reached behind Fagga's head, his slender fingers tinged pink by the night.
The breaths whispered in the darkness, "It's getting late, go to sleep."
Another voice, its breathing becoming increasingly labored, rang out: "But if you keep doing this, our combined heart rates are faster than an airplane propeller... Hey, don't do anything reckless, hey! Hey!"
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