John was sowhat srized, the familiarity of the person in front of him making him montarily believe he was still in Stellarburg.
Seeing John staring blankly at her, Seraphina's face unconsciously flushed with a hint of red.
She glared at John, her voice cold, "Have you seen enough?"
"What's the big deal with looking? It's not like it'll cost a piece of flesh," John retorted, snapping back to reality almost instinctively.
Before Seraphina could respond, the door to the hospital room creaked open.
Vincent appeared at the doorway, cigarette in hand.
Surprised to see Seraphina in the room as well, he paused for a mont.
Then, his gaze shifted to the orange in Seraphina's hand, and back to John and Seraphina's still-flushed faces.
With an odd expression, he said, "Should I co back later, after you two are done?"
Hearing Vincent's words, Seraphina's pale face turned even redder.
She placed the orange on the bedside table, got up quickly, and said with forced calm, "Since you're okay, I'll be leaving now."
Without waiting for John's reply, she briskly walked out, as if being chased by so ghoul.
Vincent watched Seraphina leave, chuckling, "You're quite sothing, kid. Quietly capturing the heart of House Harris's genius girl. She has quite a few admirers in the Imperial Capital, you know."
John rolled his eyes, "She just ca to visit out of fellow townsmanship, nothing more. You're reading too much into it."
"Perhaps," Vincent shrugged noncommittally.
Being experienced, he understood so things at just a glance.
However, considering it was their personal matter, he preferred not to pry further.
Closing the room door behind him, Vincent mused, "You really are sothing, making such a significant achievent on your first day in the Imperial Capital."
John's interest piqued, "Any leads on the Immortality Organization?"
He wasn't aware of the developnts, but from Vincent's expression, John surmised that there had likely been a major breakthrough in the investigation of the Immortality Organization.
Vincent, with a profound look in his eyes, revealed, "Nicholas's Life Pharma Group has substantial connections with the Immortality Organization; he was their partner in the Imperial Capital."
He paused before continuing, "They fell out due to internal disputes this ti. The Immortality Organization kidnapped Nicholas's daughter as leverage. If it hadn't been for your elimination of Sebastian, we wouldn't have been able to catch the tail of the Immortality Organization.
Yesterday, Chief Captain Emily led a team to raid one of the Immortality Organization's branches in the Imperial Capital, delivering a heavy blow to those rats lurking in the shadows. They'll likely keep a low profile for a while now."
John nodded in understanding upon hearing Vincent's explanation.
The relationship between Nicholas and the Immortality Organization was indeed not ordinary; otherwise, the Immortality Organization wouldn't have tasked Sebastian with keeping such a close watch on him.
Then, John raised an eyebrow, half-jokingly suggesting, "With such a significant contribution, there ought to be a reward, right?"
Vincent chuckled, "Don't worry, your efforts won't go unrecognized. Chief Captain Emily is currently dealing with the aftermath and is swamped. I ca here on her behalf to discuss your reward."
He pulled out a black card from his pocket and handed it to John, "The Immortality Organization mission is classified as A-level, plus your completion of a D-level mission at the start, and the rit points for killing Sebastian. Taking into account your overall performance in this mission, you've earned a total of 20000 rit points, along with 50 million federal coins.
The money is on this card, and the rit points have already been deposited into your Hidden Stars account. You can check it with your Hidden Stars badge."
Upon hearing Vincent's words, John's eyes lit up.
Hidden Stars truly was generous, making his efforts in taking down Sebastian all the more worthwhile.
He eagerly accepted the black card and checked his rit points on the terminal platform, indeed finding the 20000 rit points credited to his account.
Seeing the balance and rit points in his card, John felt a delightful sense of satisfaction.
With these 20000 rit points and fifty million federal coins, he wouldn't have to worry about money for a good while.
Seeing John's joyful expression, Vincent temptingly said, "What's this amount of money? We, the Judicators, are even more generous. If you join us, the rewards you could get would be at least doubled!"
John frowned, "Really, doubled?"
Vincent affird seriously, "At least doubled!"
John, however, made a face, "Still, I'm not going."
Vincent was exasperated.
Why show interest if you're not going to join?
That's just playing with my feelings!
John was actually sowhat tempted.
However, he knew well that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
The generous rewards from the Judicators would surely co with significant restrictions.
He felt quite content with Hidden Stars and saw no need to switch to the Judicators just for the sake of rewards.
Vincent, unable to sway the unyielding John, cald his emotions and suddenly brought up another matter.
"There's actually another reason for my visit; there's sothing I want to inquire about," Vincent stated.
With the conversation shifting to serious matters, John's deanor beca earnest.
He nodded, "Go ahead, I'll share what I can."
However, Vincent's next words left John frozen in place.
Vincent asked seriously, "What do you know about Alex?"
John had never expected to hear Alex's na from Vincent.
After all, they were from entirely different worlds.
John pondered for a mont, unsure of the context, and could only tell the truth, "He was a classmate of mine in high school. The last ti we t was during the Dusk Sect uprising in Stellarburg. After that, I haven't seen him up to now."
Not obtaining the information he was seeking, Vincent sighed in a sowhat disappointed manner.
However, he had anticipated this possibility; his visit was more about exploring any unexpected gains.
Vincent advised, "Alright, I understand. Rember to notify if you co across any information about him."
John agreed, then seized the opportunity to ask, "What's happened with Alex?"
If it wasn't a significant issue, John believed soone of Vincent's stature wouldn't specifically seek him out for information about Alex.
Vincent hesitated, then shook his head, "This matter is still confidential at the mont. Knowing about it wouldn't do you any good. It's better if you pretend you haven't heard anything."
John's curiosity was piqued.
But seeing that Vincent had no intention of continuing, he didn't press further.
After all, he and Alex were just ordinary classmates, their relationship wasn't particularly close.
If it had been Daniel in trouble, John definitely would have pursued the matter.
After Vincent left, Albertus and the trio from Fire Badger also ca to visit John.
The trio from Fire Badger wanted to express their gratitude for John's lifesaving assistance, while Albertus ca to express his astonishnt.
Seeing John wrapped up like a rice dumpling, Albertus exclaid in shock, "Damn, bro, how co you end up severely injured wherever you go? If I'm not mistaken, you just recovered last month, right?"
John could only respond with a bitter smile to Albertus's teasing.
He used to think he was quite lucky.
But it seed that was only the case in dungeons.
In the outside world, his luck was worse than stepping in dog poop every day.
...
At the sa ti, in a dimly lit, damp old sewer.
Black, fetid water churned through the channel, carrying an assortnt of trash and filth, with the occasional bloated limb drifting by.
In the shadowy corners, poisonous insects and cockroaches thrived, and fat rats with eyes as big as green peas scavenged in the dark.
Suddenly, a pale hand reached out from the darkness, swiftly grabbing a plump rat.
"Squeak!" The rat struggled desperately, emitting shrill cries of distress.
But before it could struggle further, a disheveled, dirt-streaked figure opened his mouth and bit down hard.
"Pfft!"
Warm blood splattered his face as Alex, wild-eyed, gulped down the blood with frenzied thirst.
The rat's body visibly shriveled at an observable rate, soon ceasing to move.
Casually, Alex tossed the rat's carcass into a corner of the sewer.
There, a pile of various animals' bodies, including rats and bats, lay desiccated, devoid of any flesh or blood.
Gazing into the murky sewer, Alex's savage eyes gradually turned numb.
Who would have thought that the once carefree scion, now reduced to being hunted and forced to hide in sewers, was no better off than the outcasts of the outer city districts?
At this mont, Alex's thoughts unexpectedly turned to John.
It seed that the annoying guy had once lived in such an environnt.
And yet, he had climbed up from the very bottom, becoming Stellarburg's foremost genius.
A self-mocking smile played on Alex's lips.
What he was enduring now was sothing others had already overco long ago.
It turned out the gap between them was much larger than he had imagined.
Dejected, Alex slumped against the sewer's stone wall.
His body was in tatters, covered in wounds, with a large hole piercing through his abdon.
Black and eerie green energies swirled around the wound, corroding each other and emitting a sizzling sound.
In the darkness, an angry voice erupted from Alex.
Rean, with rage, declared, "These damned Judicators, the damned Vincent, sooner or later, I'll flay their skins, feast on their flesh and blood, and make them wish they were dead."
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