"Why didn't you just say so earlier? I wouldn't have had to go to all this trouble," Lin Luo grumbled, using the steel pipe to flick the other man’s trousers back up, covering his bare backside... he found the sight itself disgusting.

"I ask you, what was your purpose in sneaking in here?"

Though the steel pipe had moved away, the man still felt a shocking coldness on his rear. He answered truthfully, "To kill you."

Holy crap, that was direct!

Lin Luo felt conflicted. "Do I have a grudge against you?"

"No."

"Do we have any past enmity?"

"No."

Lin Luo was frustrated. He scratched his head. "Since we have no prior grudges and no recent disputes, why would you want to kill me?"

"Killing you was one objective, but the more important one..." Scarface hesitated for a moment, then finally, under the pressure of Lin Luo's gaze, he spoke, "The more important objective concerns that girl from just now."

Pao Jie? Lin Luo blinked. "What does she have to do with this?"

"That... I cannot say."

"Damn it! It seems you really want to be mutilated..." Lin Luo didn't press further, simply walking over to the side and picking up the steel pipe again... He had initially assumed the threat was directed only at him, so he hadn't been too concerned; with Pao Jie backing him up, everything else was trivial. But now that the target was Pao Jie herself, this matter was clearly far more complicated.

"Wait! Wait! I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you everything..." Scarface said loudly, his face pale green. "I am acting under orders from my Master to bring that girl back; to obtain the World Heart within her."

"What did you say? The World Heart!" Lin Luo jolted, striding quickly to the man’s side and seizing him by the neck. "Tell me everything you know!"

"During the day, my Master unintentionally discovered you two and realized that the girl is not a resident of this world, but an extra-dimensional being possessing the World Heart. So, he commanded me to bring people here to scout: if your strength was formidable, we were to avoid confrontation; if you were weak, then kill you directly and capture the girl. But..."

This time, Scarface held nothing back and began spilling details nonstop. Perhaps feeling that since the core secret was out, a little more wouldn't matter. However, by the end of his speech, his face turned sullen, as he recalled being instantly electrocuted by Pao Jie upon arrival.

The World Heart! An extra-dimensional being! What was going on?

After listening, Lin Luo was utterly stunned!

He had long known this whole affair was far from simple, but he never imagined it would be like this—the other party not only knew Mikoto's identity clearly but also knew about the World Heart!

The World Heart—even Lin Luo himself did not fully grasp this thing.

What exactly was the World Heart attached to Mikoto’s body? And how much did it relate to her transmigration to the real world? Honestly, Lin Luo had been pondering the truth of this matter for a long time, but his own level was too low, and the Contract Book offered no clear guidance, so he had shelved it, waiting until he officially contracted with Mikoto for some clarity. Yet, this man seemed alarmingly knowledgeable...

"What exactly is the World Heart? And how do you know she's from an extra-dimensional world?"

"I don't know the specifics very well, I only heard my Master mention that if he obtains the World Heart, he can level up."

Level up!

Could the other party also possess a Contract Book?

This thought instantly sparked a sliver of danger in Lin Luo’s mind. Then, he reconsidered—it seemed unlikely. If the opponent truly held a Contract Book, he should be trying to form a contract with Mikoto, which requires Affection Points; there’s no way he’d be in an adversarial position like this now.

Of course, one couldn't rule out the possibility that the enemy was staging a performance, trying to play the role of the hero saving the damsel.

In fact, Lin Luo himself had once considered that tactic, but the vast disparity in their respective martial power made it completely unfeasible.

"What else do you know?" Lin Luo pressed on.

Scarface looked miserable. "Nothing more. I've told you everything I know."

"Really?" Lin Luo threatened, "There are so many people lying here. I can question them one by one later, and if I discover you told even one lie, I’ll have you playing ‘with the steel pipe’ for company."

"They were only following my orders; they only knew to come here to kill and abduct people. They know nothing about the girl."

Killing and abducting? You’re quite the word-smith, Lin Luo mused internally. Although Scarface was terrified, his tone didn't sound like he was lying. Naturally, Lin Luo wasn't going to trust him that easily. He woke up a few of the others nearby and asked a couple of questions, discovering that, just as Scarface claimed, their sole purpose was killing and abduction; they knew nothing further.

He hadn't expected his luck to be so good as to capture the leader first. Lin Luo stroked his chin. Scarface didn't know much, which meant if he wanted to uncover the truth of this matter, he would have to seek out that mysterious Master.

Hmm... Master? What a peculiar taste.

"Then, for the next question: Who is this Master of yours?"

"He is... Liu Ziwen."

"Liu Ziwen?" Lin Luo paused slightly, feeling the name carried a faint ring of familiarity. After a moment of deep thought, his memory cleared instantly.

Liu Ziwen was a classmate from his high school days... a fu'erdai (second-generation rich kid)... something Lin Luo particularly disliked. He was a prominent figure in school, possessing an annoyingly handsome, clean-cut face that made him the idol of countless naive girls... Lin Luo despised this aspect even more.

Although Liu Ziwen outwardly maintained the façade of a polite, honest, and kind gentleman, he was, in reality, a treacherous and cunning schemer, petty and vindictive to the extreme. Lin Luo was one of the few who knew this hidden truth. During their school years, the two were like fire and water, constantly undermining each other both openly and covertly. While Lin Luo always believed himself intellectually superior, the other party's background was significantly stronger, so he dared not push things too far when dealing with him. Conversely, Liu Ziwen, for similar reasons, never dared to strike a fatal blow.

It wasn't until Lin Luo’s senior year, when his parents died tragically in a car accident, that fearing retaliation from Liu Ziwen, Lin Luo quickly moved out of their original city and relocated here. Since then, the two had never crossed paths again.

Yet, unexpectedly, this guy had resurfaced now, shrouded in mystery...

"It seems things are getting interesting," Lin Luo muttered to himself. "Perhaps it’s time to team up with Pao Jie to run some dungeons." Then, his cold gaze fixed upon the Scarface lying on the ground. "Last question: Where is Liu Ziwen right now?"

He quickly replied, "Haitian Villa, twenty li outside the western suburbs of the city."

(Please recommend! The recommendations seem rather weak~~)