Zurich. Time had failed to wash away the heavy scent of old money; it remained the Earth Federation’s most crucial financial hub. Just as it had been hundreds of years prior, the city still enjoyed legal immunity; nothing stored within any of its subterranean vaults could be investigated by the Federation's judicial departments.

Gu Yechen brought Jack to Zurich, renting a small safety deposit box in the Earth Federation Bank—a service that charged extortionate fees—and securely stored the two crates of ‘ill-gotten gains.’

Standing in the empty private viewing room, Gu Yechen closed the heavy alloy door and turned the massive mechanical combination lock. He then retrieved three keys from the door panel, handing one to the anxious Jack, who stood nervously beside him. “There you go, Jack. Stick with me from now on, and this third of the wealth is yours forever! Three keys are needed; without any one of them, we can’t open this vault. I keep two, you take one. Fair and square, wouldn't you agree?”

Jack snatched the key as if grabbing at salvation, clutching it tightly to his chest and squeaking out, “A third? You’re really giving me a third?”

Gu Yechen glared at Jack, clearly displeased. He quickly strung the two identically crafted keys, made of specialized alloy, onto his mercenary card and hung them around his neck. While busy securing his belongings, he reprimanded, “I keep my word. Were you hoping I’d just kill you and claim all this treasure for myself?”

“Certainly not! You are a man who honors his commitments!” Jack shamelessly plastered a smile on his face and offered Gu Yechen a bit of flattery, carefully mimicking the elder man by threading his own key onto his mercenary card. Once everything was neatly arranged, Jack patted his chest and sighed contentedly. “No one would ever guess this tiny key is worth at least three billion!”

Gu Yechen turned toward the door of the viewing room, walking away with a slight, cool smile. “Remember, stick with me, and there will be more. But you must constantly remind yourself: if you breathe a word of this, you won't get a single cent out of here! We can’t touch these treasures for at least three years; we must wait for the right moment to move them on the black market. Do you understand?”

“Of course, I understand!” Jack followed closely behind Gu Yechen, proudly boasting, “I’m an expert in this line of work, fencing stolen goods, moving hot items—there’s nothing I don't know! I’m a true expert, Ye... Boss! I’m a real expert, Boss!”

Gu Yechen squinted and smiled. Jack was right; he was an expert in certain fields, and that was exactly what Gu Yechen needed right now.

Just as they stepped out of the main doors of the Federal Bank, ready to hail a taxi, a silent black motorcade pulled up to the curb. Three elderly men emerged, escorted by a large retinue of bodyguards, and ascended the steps leading to the bank’s entrance. Gu Yechen’s face twitched. He gave Jack a brief instruction and walked down the steps, his expression unreadable.

One of the three elders was thin and withered, a skeleton draped in desiccated skin. An aura of malevolence radiated from him. Between his eyebrows sat a thumb-sized lump of flesh, appearing like a bruise, within which faint circles of crimson light spun, giving the impression of a third eye. This old man wore a faded, coarse white tunic and boots whose edges were frayed from wear, making him resemble a mummy just crawled from an ancient tomb. The deathly chill emanating from him was even heavier than that of Zhenghua, the true Ghoul Gu Yechen had encountered only hours before.

The second elder was well-proportioned, handsome, and likely a notorious heartbreaker in his youth. Clad in a black kimono with a katana strapped at his waist, he nonetheless seemed to hold the lowest status. He followed the withered elder with great deference, constantly bowing and murmuring submissively.

The third elder was someone Gu Yechen knew well.

Tall and imposing, his long, snow-white hair cascaded down his back like a lion’s mane. The elder’s complexion was purplish, and his sharply focused eyes held a faint violet hue, appearing like two exquisitely carved amethysts. Dressed in a light silver double-breasted greatcoat, he walked with his hands clasped behind his back, exuding an inherent authority, as if a king were surveying his domain.

“Gu Juechen!” Gu Yechen muttered inwardly. Since merging with the Christo Crystal Sphere, the previously gaunt Gu Yechen had become significantly more robust and imposing. Combined with his hair only having grown out into a short layer, he was virtually unrecognizable. Maintaining his expressionless facade, Gu Yechen passed by Gu Juechen with Jack trailing him. Gu Juechen failed to notice him at all.

Walking steadily down the steps, Gu Yechen was about to flag down an empty taxi when the withered elder, who had just reached the top of the steps, suddenly stopped.

“Elder, what is it?” Gu Juechen asked, perplexed.

The withered elder slowly turned around. He appraised Gu Yechen from head to toe, and a savage grin suddenly stretched across his dry, ugly face.

His dark, withered right palm waved gently, and the withered elder spoke calmly, “Jizo-ji Temple. Kill that young man in black. What luck—to escape my Soul-Slaying Yin Lightning! Fortunately, I remember your scent!”

Gu Juechen’s face turned ashen. He spun around to face Gu Yechen, disregarding their location in front of the Federal Bank headquarters, and decisively pointed. “Kill him!”

The bodyguards accompanying Gu Juechen numbered at least a hundred. Upon hearing the command, all hundred men simultaneously reached inside their coats, drawing various firearms. However, the gallant elder in the kimono moved faster than any of the bodyguards. The instant the withered elder gave the order, the kimono-clad man shimmered in place and vanished. The next moment, he was beside Gu Yechen. He flicked his right index and middle fingers lightly against the katana hilt, and a searing streak of ink-green blade energy erupted from the sheath with a piercing, high-pitched shriek.

The powerful blade energy swept out, slicing toward Gu Yechen and Jack at waist level. Jack shrieked in terror, but Gu Yechen scooped him up and leaped high into the air like a flea. The ink-green energy grazed the soles of Gu Yechen’s boots with a sickening crunch. Ahead of them, a dozen cars on the road were struck by the energy; the vehicles exploded, and the occupants were first sliced in half by the force, then pulverized in the resulting blast.

The two energy vortices at Gu Yechen’s Yongquan acupoint spun rapidly, spraying forth two streams of Innate True Qi. Gu Yechen, carrying the now-unconscious Jack, leaped dozens of meters diagonally away, vanishing into the throng of pedestrians and traffic within a few swift movements.

The elder named Jizo-ji managed only a few pursuing steps before the panicked vehicles and pedestrians on the street blocked his path.

“Enough! This is Zurich!” Gu Juechen growled through clenched teeth. “Stop them all!”

“I give you three days. Find him and kill him! This time, bring me his head!”

×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××× There you go, the second chapter for today, comrades. If you have recommendation votes, throw them my way... the following content gets even more thrilling! /