Cipher stepped out of the basement. She wasn't alone; a weary-looking man followed closely behind her.
That man was Shen Yan.
"Big boss, you're out? Are you... letting him go? Nothing else to ask?"
Seeing Cipher emerge, Lu Zhaoran stood up from the living room sofa. She glanced at Shen Yan before shifting her gaze back to Cipher with a puzzled expression.
"I know most of what I wanted to know. Xiao Ran, send him back first."
Cipher pointed to Shen Yan behind her.
"As for other questions..." Cipher paused, turning her head toward Shen Yan. "If I have more later, I'll just ask while visiting Mr. Shen's home, right? I'm sure Mr. Shen won't mind."
Hearing the hint of a threat in Cipher's voice, Shen Yan calmly wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead and nodded obediently.
"I have no objection."
"See? All settled."
Cipher looked back at Lu Zhaoran, the corners of her mouth curling upward.
"Alright, we'll do as you say, big boss."
Lu Zhaoran nodded, completely indifferent to the interaction. She walked toward Shen Yan and gestured to the door.
"Follow me. I'm taking you back now."
As she reached the doorway, Lu Zhaoran suddenly stopped as if remembering something. She turned back to Cipher.
"Big boss, Luo Lin and the others are still unconscious. If you need to go out, could you wait until I return? Please protect them in the meantime."
"Of course!"
Cipher agreed without a second thought. She had no intention of leaving three unconscious people alone. While she could use Chrono Surge to dump Shen Yan at the mercenary association instantly, she didn't want to expose her abilities unnecessarily. Besides, Shen Yan looked a bit grimy, and she had just finished her bath!
She'd rather stay in the house for a while longer.
★ ★ ★
Inside Lu Zhaoran's car, Shen Yan sat in the passenger seat, staring blankly out the window.
Crumbling walls, dilapidated houses, and numb crowds moved through piles of trash. Sewage flowed freely. In a corner, a child clutched a fallen middle-aged man, crying helplessly. The man's body bore multiple gunshot wounds—likely a mercenary who lost his life carrying out a request to provide for his child.
"What is it? The 'Shadow Demon' himself, a B+ rank powerhouse who usually refuses to leave the mercenary association, is actually spacing out over commoners in the Pit?"
Hearing Lu Zhaoran's voice, Shen Yan turned his head back to the front.
"No, just feeling a bit sentimental. After all these years, the Pit hasn't changed. It's exactly like it was a decade ago."
He turned to look at Lu Zhaoran as she drove.
"What about you? A former Purging Knight with a rare and powerful spatial ability—your strength should be A-rank at the very least. Why are you so... toward Cipher, who is only A+ rank? Or did I misjudge her strength again?"
Shen Yan stopped mid-sentence, searching for a word that wouldn't offend her. Finding none, he simply skipped over it.
Lu Zhaoran chuckled, filling in the blank for him.
"You wanted to say 'lackey,' right? Though technically, I'm a cat-lackey."
Shen Yan remained silent, waiting for her explanation.
"I don't mind telling you. You're right; you misjudged again. We went to trade with the Backcurrent Alliance this morning. Guess what we ran into?"
"An ambush by an A+ rank Vice Leader and three A-ranks?" Shen Yan frowned, offering his best guess.
Lu Zhaoran responded with a look of pure mockery.
"Jinchuan, Feng Wuya, Chu Qingyu, and an unknown A+ rank combatant not mentioned in any intel. All four ambushed us."
Shen Yan's eyes widened. His calm facade finally shattered.
"Three A+ ranks and one near-A rank surrounding you? And you managed to escape..."
Lu Zhaoran cut him off.
"Cipher and I were separated by a spatial lock. I faced Chu Qingyu and the unknown A+, while Cipher dealt with Jinchuan and Feng Wuya."
"The result? After I struggled to hold on for a few minutes, my enemies fled. Why? Because within those few minutes, big boss Cipher already killed those two Vice Leaders."
"Now do you understand why I act this way?"
Silence. Shen Yan didn't utter another word. He turned his gaze back to the window and sat motionless.
A while later, the car screeched to a halt in front of the mercenary association.
"Mr. Shen, the association maintains its standing across cities and nations by remaining neutral. I believe you're a smart man."
Lu Zhaoran signaled for him to get out. Shen Yan opened the door and stepped onto the pavement.
"Goodbye, Mr. Shen. I'm heading back; the big boss is waiting for me."
The engine roared as the car pulled a U-turn and vanished.
Shen Yan watched until the vehicle was out of sight before entering the association. The familiar scent of alcohol mixed with sweat greeted him. Nothing changed during his day away.
He overheard some drunks discussing the mass blackout from the previous night, speculating on the cause.
"It was an S-rank powerhouse releasing their pressure," one claimed. Others argued that an S-rank would never come here, insisting it was an A-rank, though many felt an A-rank shouldn't have been able to knock everyone out. Everyone had a theory, and since no one was hurt, it became perfect tavern gossip.
Shen Yan retreated to his room behind the counter. He felt beneath his desk until a hidden compartment popped open, revealing a notebook and a specialized pen.
He flipped through pages filled with dense notes: Backcurrent Alliance Leader, AMA, Gene-editing experiments...
He reached a blank page and wrote a heading: Cipher.
He recorded everything he experienced, heard, and saw. Finally, he scribbled the concluding line:
'Summary: Cipher. Origin unknown. Appeared three days ago within Spark Squad. Likely strongly linked to the "Cult Expulsion" request. Relatively friendly personality toward associates. Likes Stellar Jades. Capable of stealing credits without triggering AMA network protections; hacking skills unquantifiable. Strength suspected S- (crossed out) S-rank. Must not offend; potential for cooperation.'
He closed the notebook and replaced it in the hidden compartment.
"Sigh. An unknown S-rank with no prior record arrives in the Pit and kills two Vice Leaders of the Backcurrent Alliance. It looks like the power distribution here is about to shift again..."
Shen Yan picked up his personal terminal and dialed a number.