“But, boss—” us tried to speak.


    The p came again, harder than the first. His head snapped to the side.


    What he wanted to say died in his throat: Boss, everyone here is afraid of you-so how can you be this terrified of one young man?


    But the boss didn''t let him finish a single word. He seized us by the cor and dragged him down the stairs, barking hurried orders for everyone to move quietly— slow, careful, not a sound-terrified that even the smallest noise might disturb Alex. Pauline froze. Just moments ago, those people had gone upstairs with confidence.


    Now every single one of them had retreated back to the first floor, faces pale, bodies stiff, as if they had just seen death itself.


    "us," the boss said. "Do you know who that man is?"


    "I... I don''t know," us answered honestly. For the first time, he saw pure fear in his boss''s eyes.


    "Good," the boss snapped. "Then listen carefully. Say nothing about using here. Whatever he wants-whatever you prepare it. Food. Drink. Anything. Even if he wants every treasure in this ce, you give it to him. You don''t charge him a single cent."


    us stared at him, stunned beyond belief.


    "Boss... are you sure?"


    The boss struck his own head in frustration. "If you still want that head on your neck, you''d better do exactly what I say. Understand?"


    "Yes—yes, boss," us replied quickly, though none of it made sense to him.


    “But boss,” he asked weakly, "who is he?"


    The boss leaned in, his voice turning cold and ruthless. "You don''t need to know who he is. You only need to know this-if he feels dissatisfied, I''ll take your head and offer it to him myself. I''m not dying with you."


    us''s eyes reddened. He was on the verge of tears.


    The boss didn''t stay another second. He turned and fled with the others, vanishing from the ce as fast as they could run.


    As he fled, the memory wed at his mind.


    Two years ago, this same young man had appeared. One man alone.


    By the next morning, countless underworld bosses were gone erased overnight.


    He had survived only because he was insignificant, a nobody too small to be worth killing. But the great bosses? Everyst one of them died by that man''s hand.


    That man now stood at the top of the entire underworld. And he a minor boss, a disposable pawn-would be insane to provoke him.


    He wanted to live.


    Inside Thorn & Coin, us stood alone, trembling.


    He didn''t know what else to do.


    He immediately called the female staff, ordering them to prepare the best food they had everything good, everything clean-for Pauline and Alex.


    Alex didn''t even look up when the food wasid out neatly on the second-floor table.


    Pauline stared at the dishes, uneasy. "Alex... they suddenly prepared all this for us. Are you sure they didn''t poison it?"


    "Why don''t you use your scanner and check," Alex replied calmly, his eyes never leaving the book in his hands.


    He waspletely absorbed.


    The pages were filled with astonishing knowledge-formations.


    Formations to gather energy for cultivation.


    Formations to conceal one''s presencepletely.


    Formations that could ignite fire from nothing.


    It was like reading magic itself—ancient, precise, terrifyingly powerful.


    Alex turned the page slowly, his focus sharp, unaware or perhaps uncaring of the fear he had left in his wake.


    "Really interesting." Alex mused


    Half of the book described another formation-one designed to refine a supreme elixir.


    An elixir that could strengthen the body, extend lifespan, and achieve effects far beyond anything the modern world could even imagine.


    Alex stared at the pages for a long time, dissecting every word, every line.


    He had found a treasure.


    No-this was the ultimate treasure.


    By the time Alex finished reading, Pauline was already seated at the table. Most of the food was gone. She scrolled through social media” casually, chewing without concern,pletely at ease.


    us sat nearby, stiff and upright, like a loyal but terrified butler.


    “Sire,” us said carefully. "We sincerely apologize for what we did earlier. If you see anything you like here, you may take it with you."


    Alex lifted the nameless book and gave it a small wave. "This book is interesting. Tell me where did you get it?"


    us bowed deeply, his movements sharp and respectful. "It came from a Prussian general who fought on the front lines against the y cultivators. After the victory, they looted the enemy''s valuables."


    ????


    He swallowed before continuing. "These items are leftovers from that plunder. The truly valuable ones were already taken by the government and sold off. What remains here... can only be called scraps."


    Kon


    Alex nced at the stacked wooden boxes around him. For a brief moment, he wondered if another treasure might be hidden among them.


    But he already knew the truth—everything here had been picked clean, sorted from the most valuable to the most worthless.


    This book was different only because he had discovered the hiddenpartment.


    He walked over to one of the wooden boxes and reached out to open it.


    "Wait!" us blurted out instinctively.


    Each box was supposed to be a mystery box, priced at one million dors. No one was allowed to open one without paying first.


    Alex turned his head slowly. "What?"


    us froze. Then he remembered his boss''s warning. His face tightened. "N-no. My boss said... if you like anything here, you may take it freely."


    Alex opened the box.


    He dumped everything inside onto the floor and inspected the box itself. Then he moved on to the next.


    One box.


    Two boxes.


    Five boxes.


    us''s face turned pale. Cold sweat soaked his back. He could already imagine the nightmare of exining thister.