"Speak up, Old Eccentric."
I roared again, downed the wine in my glass in one gulp, and then slammed it onto the table. The force was too great, and the glass shattered instantly. I panicked for a moment, but suddenly the shards of glass froze in midair. I looked at 001; a white glow radiated from the finger she held aloft.
The glass shards slowly dissolved, then reformed into a cup and landed steadily on the table.
"What is this?"
I stared at 001 in astonishment; what she was doing now was just like what she could do in the Living World.
"This is another effect caused by Rachel Lan's power. It's just that the power here isn't as strong as in the Living World—maybe only one ten-thousandth."
I gave a quiet "oh," glanced at Old Eccentric, and apologized. He remained silent, quietly eating and drinking.
But right now, the only thing on my mind was the family Ouyang Yi mentioned. Why did Old Eccentric come looking for me just two hours after I arrived in City A? The only explanation was that Ouyang Yi told him about my arrival, so he came straight here to find me.
I still couldn't be sure whether Old Eccentric had betrayed the Ghost Burial Squad, but judging by his hesitant look and everything that had happened in just two hours...
"Did you survive by abandoning the others? Or did you make some kind of deal with the Immortality Society, so you came back while the others never could?"
Earth Soul spoke up. I turned my head to look at him.
"That's right, Ethan. A few days ago, Skylar Tian also came to see me. I called him here, and I've officially made him the chief of the Ghost Burial Squad."
"What do you mean?"
I asked. Old Eccentric drained his glass, tilted his head back, and let out a long sigh. I saw a tear slide from the corner of his eye. He quickly sniffed and kept wiping his tears with his sleeve.
"What's wrong? It's been so long since I've cried."
In an instant, one of my Specter Webs shot straight into Old Eccentric's body. He managed a faint smile.
"I've already had special treatment. You can't use your Specter Web to find anything, Ethan. Stop it, my body can't take much more."
I slowly withdrew my Specter Web. Old Eccentric held his glass as 007 refilled it for him. He took another sip, but his tears kept falling.
"A cat crying over a mouse—pretending to care, huh? Heh..."
"Enough."
I stared fiercely at Earth Soul. At this moment, Stanley Stone lifted his head to look at Earth Soul, then swept his gaze around at all of us.
"I'm just an ordinary, pathetic old man, Ethan. I'm sorry, I'm just a regular person, I have no power at all..."
He still broke down in tears. Stanley Stone sobbed loudly like a child, his cries full of grief. I placed a hand on his spine and gently patted him.
"If you don't want to talk, just have a drink. Wait until you feel better, then you can speak."
Stanley Stone nodded. After a long while, he seemed to calm down, but the crying and helplessness I saw in him made me sense that things might be far worse than I imagined.
The hotpot was nearly finished. Stanley Stone, tipsy and dazed, wore a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Let's go to sleep. We've been playing all day."
Agent Seven urged us on as well. It seemed that both Sylvia Blue and Agent Seven didn't want Entity 001 to hear any of this—after all, she was barely twenty. I looked gratefully at Sylvia Blue, who smiled gently, nodded, and led Entity 001 into the room.
"Ten to a group..."
Finally, Stanley Stone spoke. He lifted his head, his face ashen, and muttered a sentence.
"What do you mean?"
"To dig out what they call 'talent,' we were forced into groups of ten. In the end, I survived."
I stared in disbelief at Stanley Stone, my mind racing. He hadn’t made it clear, but a chill rose from the depths of my heart, and my scalp began to tingle.
Stanley Stone gave a bitter laugh.
"At first it was ten to a group, then two to a group, then again two to a group, group after group, until finally only Howard Lee and I were left..."
With a thud, Stanley Stone fell backward, collapsing to the ground, then burst out laughing.
His laughter was filled with desolation and sorrow. The smile faded from Earth Soul’s face; he said nothing, but I still wanted to know the truth. Now, it seemed everything was painfully clear.
"Not bad, huh? Making them kill each other—the ones who survive are usually the talented ones. Fair enough, don’t you think, Ethan?"
"Shut up."
I looked toward Earth Soul. He stood up, holding his cup, and took a sip.