Although the Grand Scholar was a Tri-Eyed Clan member, he was impossible to dislike. He looked like a happy old man completely absorbed in the pursuit of knowledge.

Fatty Xu's eyes darted around craftily, and he snickered. "Sure! When the time comes, I'll invite you to visit our place. Our boss is especially warm and hospitable, and he's very wealthy. He can support you in studying the surface world's knowledge."

During their exchange with the Grand Scholar, Fatty Xu received a disappointing piece of news.

The Tri-Eyed Clan, which they believed to be a prehistoric civilization, had also experienced multiple gaps in their recorded history. By now, their historical records were actually very short, and many events had been passed down only as myths and legends.

However, Fatty Xu was far from foolish.

This old gentleman, the most knowledgeable man in the Nasha Kingdom, was a living database.

If they could bring him back, they could pick his brain and investigate all kinds of information about the underground races.

Agravain glanced at Fatty Xu and added, "When it comes to cultural preservation, don't we in Britannia do a better job?"

Fatty Xu retorted indignantly, "You've got some nerve talking about things you stole!"

Agravain's words caught in her throat. She found herself utterly unable to refute Fatty Xu.

The three of them passed through several doors within the shaking building, running toward the entrance of the Holy Spirit Hall.

By now, a look of anticipation for the future shone in the Grand Scholar's eyes.

"Two different 'human' civilizations colliding... what brilliant sparks will be born? How exciting!"

"I've always wondered about the origins of the Tri-Eyed Clan, and whether there are intelligent beings beyond us in this world. Now, that opportunity has finally arrived."

He clutched the notebook tightly to his chest, unable to contain his excitement.

Just as they rounded a corner in the corridor, the sound of a gunshot rang in their ears.

"Bang!"

The crisp echo reverberated through the white hallway.

A spray of blood splattered across the floor. The Grand Scholar's gaze instantly went blank.

His massive body continued its forward motion for a moment before slowly collapsing like a deflated balloon.

Fatty Xu, who had been frowning and ready to argue with the Grand Scholar, turned around at the sound of the gunshot. The next moment, his face turned deathly pale.

Because he saw the blood spattering from the Grand Scholar's chest and his heavy body crashing to the ground.

*Boom!*

The enormous body hit the floor. Agravain froze for a moment, never expecting someone to be lurking in the shadows and taking a cheap shot.

She whirled around to look at the direction the bullet came from and saw a woman with short silver hair and cold, indifferent eyes, holding a silver pistol aimed at them.

"Lamorak!"

Seeing that it was her companion, Agravain breathed a sigh of relief. But then she turned to look at the Grand Scholar sprawled on the ground and frowned slightly.

His chest was stained red, his white clothes soaked through. Lamorak's shot was meant to kill—it had pierced straight through his heart.

Fatty Xu walked over to him in disbelief. Coming to his senses, he quickly pulled out medication and injected it.

"Hey, old man! Hang in there! Don't you die! You're supposed to come with us to the surface world and study human culture and history together!"

The Grand Scholar lay weakly on the ground. He turned his head to look at Fatty Xu, his eyes dazed.

He didn't understand why he was dying. Why someone would want to kill him.

But he was already too old. His frail body and pierced heart left him with no strength to speak another word.

With the last of his strength, he handed his notebook to Fatty Xu. Then, the light faded from his eyes.

Even in death, his eyes remained open. Fatty Xu could see a fierce unwillingness in them.

He was so close—so close to seeing a different world.

Why, just one step away, did he have to die here? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He couldn't understand.

Lamorak walked toward them step by step. Seeing the fat man trying to stop the Tri-Eyed Clan member's bleeding, she frowned and aimed her gun at him.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Fatty Xu turned his head. For the first time, he didn't show fear in the face of a gun. Instead, he asked in grief and anger:

"Why did you shoot? Why did you kill him?"

Lamorak was taken aback, then let out a mocking laugh. "He's a Tri-Eyed Clan member. Do I need a reason to kill one? And you—I just saved your life. Aren't you even going to say thank you?"

Lamorak was baffled.

She had sensed footsteps nearby and rushed over, only to see a Tri-Eyed Clan member chasing her companion and another human.

Without a second thought, she shot and killed that Tri-Eyed Clan member.

But what was happening now?

A human, glaring at her for killing a Tri-Eyed Clan member?

What the hell!

Fatty Xu roared in fury, "But he was just an old man who reads books all day! He never did anything to us! He was going to help us get out of this godforsaken place!"

Lamorak was stunned.

Since arriving here, every Tri-Eyed Clan member they had encountered treated humans as livestock.

But now she was seeing a human empathizing with a Tri-Eyed Clan member.

"To borrow a phrase from you Huaxu Kingdom folks, this is what you call 'being a saint'!"

Lamorak sneered.

"No matter how he treated you, an alien is an alien. A race that feeds on humans—killing one is never a mistake!"

"You, on the other hand, are supposedly human, yet you empathize with a cannibalistic race. How stupid!"

Fatty Xu was momentarily speechless.

He couldn't find the words to refute Lamorak.

Though it was a tragic misunderstanding, was Lamorak wrong?

The Grand Scholar might have been kind to them, but in a kingdom that treated humans as livestock, he must have consumed native humans too.

A flood of conflicting emotions surged through Fatty Xu. He fell into a state of utter turmoil.

Agravain walked over and said to Lamorak, "He's one of Chaos's men. It looks like..." She glanced at Fatty Xu and gave her verdict slowly: "A useless piece of trash."

She had noticed this long ago.

Back in the library, Fatty Xu's behavior was nothing like that of a powerful individual.

Because the strong also possessed a strong demeanor and will.

Fatty Xu gave off the vibe of a harmless, easily startled fat man.

Lamorak didn't waste words. She pulled out a self-destruct collar and tossed it to Fatty Xu.

"Put it on yourself!" she said coldly.

Two against one, and facing Fatty Xu, a coward with a superhuman ability index of only 8,000 points, his capture was inevitable.

But isn't this world exciting precisely because miracles can happen?

Looking at the Grand Scholar, who had died with his eyes fixed on the sky, yearning to see the surface world, Fatty Xu felt an uncontrollable rage burning in his heart.

"I don't understand any grand principles. I don't care about human or Tri-Eyed Clan or any of that bullshit. All I know is, when he was telling me those things, he was sincere with me!"

His right hand pressed against the ground. The next moment, surging white mist erupted from hundreds of vents in his exoskeleton mech. Within a single second, the temperature of the entire corridor plummeted to minus twenty degrees Celsius!