Silas reached the lowest level of the building, exiting the elevator with practiced ease.

He saw Mira and Lilura standing outside it.

Mira still had the same stoic expression.

But Lilura was different.

Instead of her normal cheerful face, her eyes were heavy.

And Silas’s eyes could see traces of something on her clothes.

"Where is Michael?" He asked with furrowed brows.

He had his own theories already, but he chose not to believe them until he heard from Lilura herself.

Lilura did not reply. She broke into tears.

"Did he tell you anything about the leader of the Crimson Fang?" Silas asked directly.

His expression did not shift a bit. He moved to the most important thing immediately.

Lilura’s gaze shook.

She looked at Silas, her eyes turning red from anger.

"You did not even flinch at the fact that your friend had died. Are you even human?" She yelled, turning around as she stormed off.

Mira looked at Lilura’s leaving figure, then at Silas.

Silas nodded at her, then looked back at Clara.

"Don’t give anyone access to me. I am done receiving for today."

He did not wait for her response. He strode into the elevator again.

"Yes, Master Silas," Clara said with a bow, not minding that Silas had already left.

The elevator doors chimed open and Silas stepped into his room.

A smile was plastered on his face as he walked toward his bed.

"That bastard, Devourer Of Souls, and I planned to play the game with him tomorrow."

Silas jumped into his bed, the smile on his face still there.

"Rion, download the new Undead Unsafe for me."

"Master Silas, I fear I cannot do that at the moment. Your heart rate has spiked too high," Rion’s cold voice came.

"If you get into a game as intense as that, you might suffer a heart attack."

Silas froze for a moment, then a drop.

Water stained the sheets beneath his eyes. Just one drop, but it showed it all.

"This mortal vessel, still suffering from something as mediocre as a heart attack," Silas stuttered as he spoke.

Time flew. Over an hour had passed but Silas had not moved an inch, neither had he slept.

His eyes were wide open in thought.

"Rion, those books on games. I want to read them."

Rion heeded instantly.

A transparent blue screen unfolded before Silas’s face, showing the list of books he had.

It was filtered to contain just those about games.

Silas chose the first one randomly.

He began to read, absorbing the knowledge as soon as he saw each word.

There was no need to read or understand. He only needed to see the sentence.

His mind took over from there, joining all the words together to form a complete manual he could use at any time.

He gazed into his mind. There were over a hundred deduction altars, planted deeply there.

"You would have enough uses soon."

...

Sunlight filtered through the window into the room.

Silas looked up from what he was doing. "It is morning already," he muttered.

He got up and went into the bathroom to take his bath.

Soon, Silas walked out, dressed in simple casual clothes.

"Rion, when is the meeting with the manager?" He asked.

"In the next five days," Rion replied almost immediately.

Silas nodded.

With slow and deliberate steps, he approached the elevator.

The doors slid open and he entered.

"Good morning, Master Silas," Clara greeted as Silas walked out of the elevator.

"Good morning, how are you doing?" Silas asked, his face beaming with a smile.

"I am good," Clara replied with equal brightness.

Silas made his way toward the dining hall.

As he had expected, the others were there.

All of them sat in their chairs, faces grim as they took slow spoonfuls of their meal.

Silas’s eyes darted through the room, checking for Lilura.

She sat alone, not even touching her food.

Silas sat beside her calmly and began to eat.

No one spoke. It seemed like everyone had agreed on silence for the day.

"Why aren’t you eating?" Silas asked with a gentle voice.

Lilura looked at him, then hissed.

Water began to form in her eyes.

Silas shook his head, then continued with his meal.

After he finished, he did not leave. He waited for the others to finish.

In less than thirty minutes, everyone was done.

Silas heaved slightly, something only he noticed.

"Rion, call Governor Max," he said mentally.

A few moments of silence passed.

No one knew Silas was calling anyone. They were about to stand up when the holographic projection unfolded.

In the centre of the table, a figure sat with a regal demeanor that would have made even the greatest sovereigns rethink their steps.

Their eyes widened. "Good day, Governor Max."

Instincts took over. Years of bowing to the same authority kicked in.

Their mouths greeted before their brains could even process what was happening.

Max nodded.

"I saw your work yesterday and I must say, I am impressed," Max said. "I have sent a team to take care of the mess. If that is why you called, it has already been handled."

"Thank you, Governor Max," Silas said.

Max nodded, his eyes drifting across all of them. "Where is Michael? Don’t tell me he went around playing games again," Max said with a tired sigh.

At the mention of Michael, the mood seemed to stiffen.

Especially Lilura, who was barely holding back her tears.

Max noticed the shift.

He shook his head. "So, it was that," he muttered.

Billie finally stood up.

Although she did not need it, she still left to get a bottle of water.

She took a little longer than usual at the freezer.

As she walked back, a dried stream of water trailed down her left cheek.

"How did it happen?" Max asked, focusing his gaze on Silas.

"I don’t know. He and Lilura were the ones together on their mission," Silas answered, turning to look at Lilura.

Max turned his gaze toward Lilura.

"What happened?"