The night rain poured down relentlessly.
Mr. Alfie, holding a black umbrella, glanced at the lights in front of the large courtyard gate and then silently walked inside—this was a secret office under the managent of Mr. Alfie's departnt.
From the outside, it looked like an upscale apartnt building, but inside, it was anything but ordinary.
The corridor lights, dim from not being replaced for a long ti, flickered faintly. Droplets of water dripped from the tip of the umbrella, forming a sporadic trail of water droplets.
There were also wet footprints.
He opened a door, walked in, then unlocked a wall cabinet, entering a hidden elevator that finally led him to the secret office located underground.
The bright light instantly lifted Mr. Alfie's previously heavy mood, and the sight of security personnel bustling around reenergized him.
"Sir!" His secretary was already waiting at the entrance.
Mr. Alfie nodded, removed his coat, and walked straight into his office. He was working late tonight, so after finishing a press conference, he had rushed ho for a quick dinner and spent so ti with his son before heading here.
On his desk was an urgent docunt—Mr. Alfie already had a rough idea of its contents from his journey here, but he carefully reviewed it again from the start.
After reading, Mr. Alfie frowned deeply, and the secretary could only stand silently, awaiting instructions. Mr. Alfie clasped his hands together, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling lights.
The docunt was from the President, regarding a neighboring country’s governnt's formal protest—this was a diplomatic issue.
"Zombie Bath Salts," a new type of drug originating from Mr. Alfie's country, had recently caused a huge uproar in that neighboring nation.
Hospitals had reported nurous cases of people overdosing on the drug, resulting in a high number of fatalities and severe societal harm.
"In order to absolve themselves of guilt, they hope we’ll cooperate in cracking down on the source of 'Zombie Bath Salts'... pushing the bla onto us," Mr. Alfie sighed. "Are the leaders of this country all idiots? How could they propose sothing so absurd?"
"Sir, they've already stirred up public opinion in their country," the secretary said helplessly. "The reasoning is simple: if they don’t shift the bla, the local governnt’s credibility will be severely damaged. Besides, this substance did originate from our side."
Mr. Alfie sneered coldly. "They themselves are one of the world's largest drug producers, and they dare talk like this... What have our intelligence officers found?"
The secretary replied, "They investigated the hospital, but it’s been sealed off by the local governnt and military. Entry and exit are strictly controlled, so our personnel haven’t made any significant discoveries... But we did find that many corpses were transported out of the hospital that day. Also... a large tree appeared suddenly."
"A large tree?"
"It disappeared shortly after," the secretary shrugged. "I don’t think this incident is just about drugs; there must be more to it."
Rubbing his shoulders, Mr. Alfie said, "The fact that they’re so quick to shift responsibility tells us sothing. But just seeing this presidential order gives a headache."
"What’s the President's stance?" the secretary asked gravely.
"He’s up for re-election soon..." Mr. Alfie sighed.
Understanding dawned on the secretary’s face, "So... what actions should we take?"
After a mont of thought, Mr. Alfie said, "Leak so information to the drug enforcent division. For now, follow the President's lead... If he’s made this decision, he must have discussed it with certain people."
The secretary nodded. "Our intelligence suggests that the 'Zombie Bath Salts' originated from a woman, but we still don’t know who controls the supply. The woman providing the goods remains very mysterious."
"Release whatever information we have on her," Mr. Alfie instructed, waving his hand.
"Understood," the secretary replied promptly.
"Anything else?" Mr. Alfie asked, looking up. "I need to make a few calls."
"One more thing," the secretary began. "A new religious group has erged recently, worshipping soone called 'Bucky.' A surprisingly large number of wealthy individuals have joined. Sir, I’m concerned that if this group continues to grow, it could beco a serious problem."
Expressionless, Mr. Alfie replied indifferently, "Noted. We’ve dealt with similar religious groups before. These kinds of people never cause much trouble. Set it aside for now; our priority is dealing with the President's directive."
The secretary agreed and quietly left the office.
Rubbing his temples, Mr. Alfie’s face grew darker. "Bucky? Didn’t I tell him not to be so flamboyant? If this continues, even I won’t be able to..."
His thoughts shifted to Dr. Franky's survival, causing another wave of frustration.
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Mr. Alfie focused back on his work.
But he couldn’t shake the thought of Bucky's ssenger—his power to resurrect, to grant blessings. The sudden appearance of the mysterious tree, the attackers behaving like zombies from a movie... Could there really be zombies?
It seed like he needed to et Bucky’s ssenger in person, though he was reluctant to do so.
...
anwhile, Bucky, the troubleso ssenger Mr. Alfie was dreading, was enjoying a playful ga at a villa.
Four scantily clad won were frolicking in the room, while the divine ssenger himself, blindfolded, was playing a ga of tag. The punishnt for being caught? A playful strike—the divine ssenger had been feeling exceptionally energetic lately.
It was paradise, Bucky thought.
Suddenly, Bucky lunged and actually managed to catch one of the won, knocking them both onto the bed. He gleefully began groping, but sothing felt off.
The woman beneath him remained motionless, like an empty shell. Confused, Bucky quickly removed his blindfold—worn over his mask.
He had purchased a secure mask from a mysterious maid to avoid it falling off easily during his daily disguises, at the painful cost of a considerable amount of faith units.
"Oh... It’s the beautiful and noble Miss Yōu Yè!"
Bucky observed the situation in the room. The bodies of the four won were completely stiff, as if ti had been stolen from them, frozen in place. anwhile, the maid, dressed in a black fitted dress, smiled faintly.
Bucky quickly climbed down from the bed.
On the floor, covered with soft white carpet, Bucky crawled swiftly to Yōu Yè, his eyes filled with intense greed.
He wasn’t greedy for Yōu Yè’s beauty, but for the item in Yōu Yè's hands—a tray.
The tray was covered, but Bucky could already sll the contents, sothing that aroused him more than any number of won could.
at.
Bucky didn’t consider himself a glutton; he thought the greatest pleasure was playing with won. But now, more than playing with won, a deadly craving had risen above everything else.
The craving for at.
at, at, at, Yōu Yè’s at… at that made him feel incredibly comfortable, filling his body with energy!
"Do you want to eat?" The maid smiled faintly.
Bucky, now on all fours like a dog, propped himself up with his hands, his head tilted upwards. He opened his mouth, licking his lips, and nodded frantically.
"Fifty units," the maid said softly.
Without a second thought, Bucky agreed, barely considering it. As his followers increased, his daily inco of faith units had grown continuously. Not just fifty units, even five hundred units, he could easily afford.
"Deal," the maid smiled.
Under Yōu Yè’s smile, Bucky felt like a lost wanderer in a desert who had just found water.
His eyes were fixed as the maid slowly lifted the cover of the silver tray—inside was a piece of brown muscle tissue, oozing dark green blood.
The at was raw, completely unprocessed!
Yōu Yè casually turned his hand, letting the at slide off the plate. Bucky quickly caught it and imdiately stuffed it into his mouth, devouring it ravenously.
Blood dripped from his fingers, but Bucky didn’t let it go to waste. He bent down and started licking up the ‘strays.’
As he watched the pitiful sight of Bucky, Yōu Yè chuckled softly, "What a greedy child."
"Tasty! Tasty! More, I need more!"
"Then earn more faith," the maid’s voice was filled with irresistible temptation.
"I will, I will... Tasty! Tasty! I’ll earn more..." Bucky had already descended into a frenzy, like those followers who offered themselves to him for his blessings.
"What an obedient child." The maid nodded in satisfaction.
Behind Bucky, a faint shadow slowly beca more defined.
"No wonder Lucifer gave you the highest-level contract... Mammon, the legendary demon of greed."
At so point, the maid had left, taking with her the fifty units of faith she'd earned.
The four won in the room had not yet recovered, while Bucky continued to frantically chew the at on the floor.
After leaving the villa, Yōu Yè glanced at the rainy night and murmured, "I wonder if Master has had a midnight snack… so boring."
When did this feeling of boredom start?
...
The door suddenly swung open. As it did, the servants in the Cold Residence’s hall stood in two lines, greeting in unison, "Welco ho, Miss Ying, welco ho, Young Master Qiu!"
Song Ying was in high spirits, imdiately announcing that everyone would receive a red envelope, turning her into a generous benefactor.
It had been six days since that incident, and after various examinations and the Song family’s behind-the-scenes efforts, Luo Qiu and the others were finally discharged from the hospital.
"You’re back," Song Tianyou, leaning on a cane, ca out, smiling.
Master Song dismissed the lined-up servants and said, "I’ve had the kitchen prepare so nourishing food. It should be ready soon."
"I’m going to take a bath, Grandpa. See you in the dining room later!" Song Ying waved as she headed straight to her room.
Master Song watched her lovingly before turning to Luo Qiu, "Kid, I didn’t expect you to experience such a thing right after coming to the Song family. Were you scared?"
"Let’s just call it an unforgettable experience," Luo Qiu smiled.
"You do look fine, that’s good." Master Song nodded approvingly, then added, "Before dinner, co with to the ancestral hall to offer incense to our ancestors, to let them know you’ve returned safely."
He didn’t call for Song Ying… Though he adored his granddaughter, Song Tianyou’s traditional preference for males was still apparent.
The ancestral hall was rarely entered by won; it was mostly for the n of the family.
Luo Qiu didn’t mind and didn’t refuse, following Master Song to the Cold Residence’s ancestral hall for the second ti.
To Luo Qiu’s surprise, there was soone else in the hall apart from the Song family n.
Mr. Blind.
As Mr. Blind turned toward him, Luo Qiu remarked thoughtfully, "Master Song, this doesn’t seem to be just about offering incense."
Song Tianyou was montarily taken aback by Luo Qiu’s distant way of addressing him, but didn’t dwell on it. He slowly said, "That’s right. Besides offering incense, there’s another matter. Mr. Blind wanted to et you."
After a pause, he added, "Originally, I wanted to arrange for you two to et earlier, but it was inconvenient at the hospital. Moreover, Mr. Blind had other things to attend to, so it was delayed until today."
What Mr. Blind had been doing, of course, was exploring the underground cellar of the old castle.
Luo Qiu nodded and greeted Mr. Blind politely, not caring whether he could ‘see’ him or not. Courtesy was all that mattered.
As he walked past Mr. Blind and approached the altar, Uncle Wu handed him the prepared incense. Luo Qiu bowed three tis before carefully placing the incense in the burner.
At that mont, Mr. Blind suddenly said, "Young Master Luo Qiu, do you know that with each bow, the Song family’s fortune has been increasing dramatically?"
Luo Qiu slowly turned around.
Mr. Blind faced Luo Qiu and solemnly continued, "With each bow to your ancestors, the Song family’s fortune thickened. After three bows, their fortune is now more than double what it was yesterday."
"Fortune? What’s that?" Luo Qiu blinked in curiosity. "Is it so kind of feng shui thing?"
Mr. Blind suddenly opened his usually closed eyes, and in the instant that his cloudy eyeballs were revealed, he imdiately shut them again... He took a small step back.
Taking a deep breath, Mr. Blind cupped his hands in respect, "It seems the heavens are backing you… Please forgive my impertinence, noble one."
Master Song was utterly shocked by Mr. Blind’s attitude, his mouth agape...
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