The rich, savory steak exploded in his mouth, the layered aroma of red wine lingering in his nostrils.

The pristine white tablecloth, the pure silver cutlery, the finest bone china plates and teacups, all bathed in the dim, ambiguous lamplight.

In the corner of the room, a female pianist sat before an antique piano rumored to be three centuries old, playing a piece as light and flowing as water. The pianist was beautiful, and her long white gown was equally exquisite.

After consecutively consuming six extra-large servings of steak and draining six bottles of prized vintage red wine, Gu Xiachen contentedly ordered a cup of coffee.

Looking out through the floor-to-ceiling window, slightly fogged by the passage of time, at a scenic neighborhood park across the street, Gu Xiachen sighed in comfort.

This, he thought, is living! What the hell kind of life was that on Heaven Star? He shook his head vigorously, trying hard to recall the days and nights on Heaven Star, only to be stunned to realize he couldn't remember what he ate or drank there. The exquisite feast he had just enjoyed had erased most of his memories of that place.

"Eh, who cares?"

A mustard-yellow car rolled down the street, stopping at the entrance of the park. As the car door opened, a sturdy Labrador bounded out, enthusiastically chasing a green baseball. Amidst the dog’s enthusiastic barks, a middle-aged, bald man emerged from the vehicle, meticulously and deliberately locking the door, then tugging firmly on the handle.

The large dog happily trotted back with the ball, its front paws resting on the middle-aged man's shoulders, its big head rubbing against his bald scalp.

Gu Xiachen surveyed his surroundings carefully, hesitantly releasing his mental energy outwards to sense the surrounding atmosphere. Everything was peaceful; there were no bothersome presences. The people in the restaurant and on the street were all ordinary folk. The strongest individual was inside the convenience store on the corner across the road, but his aura was pitifully weak. He instinctively glanced at that convenience store just as the strongest person in his mental scan pushed the door open and stepped out. Gu Xiachen shrugged; it was just a kid, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, wearing a white judo gi belted with a black sash, happily drinking from a can of cola.

"Ugh, I was certainly being overly cautious," Gu Xiachen chuckled self-deprecatingly, muttering under his breath, "But who can blame me? This is New York."

He snapped his fingers, summoning the restaurant waiter, and paid the bill with a large stack of cash. He also left a generous tip for the beautiful pianist; she had given him a very good impression.

Especially her music, which had almost made Gu Xiachen forget the vast expanses of blood and flesh in the boundless jungles of Heaven Star. He walked out of the restaurant, jogged across the road, and pulled out the baseball cap that his Azure Jade Dao Crown had transformed into, placing it on his head. The long brim shielded half his face. With his hands tucked into his pockets, Gu Xiachen followed the bald middle-aged man into the park.

The joyous Labrador darted around, an evidently lusty dog that kept intentionally—or unintentionally—circling several young mothers pushing strollers in the park.

The middle-aged man, carrying a paper bag, called out loudly, "Whoa! Bobby, go play by yourself! Don't scare anyone! Hey, good Bobby, nice Bobby, go on, play!"

The large dog barked happily, wagging its tail furiously as it bolted towards a blonde woman sitting on a long bench in the sun, pushing an infant stroller several dozen meters away.

The middle-aged man burst into laughter. "You little rascal, hehe, you little rascal!"

Carrying his bag, he walked to the small fountain plaza in the center of the park and sat on the fountain's retaining wall. He opened the paper bag, pulled out a piece of bread, crumbled it roughly, and tossed it onto the ground.

A large flock of pigeons descended from the sky, cooing softly as they gathered around the man, scrambling for the crumbs.

Gu Xiachen adjusted the brim of his cap and slowly walked toward the bald middle-aged man.

He had exerted every effort to conceal the aura emanating from his body, but animals possessed a superhuman sensitivity to certain smells. Gu Xiachen had committed too many killings on Heaven Star; even after all this time, a faint scent of blood clung to him—a scent that could only be condensed from the deaths of at least a thousand lives.

The flock of pigeons shrieked in terror and took flight, wings flapping wildly. Some were so frightened they forgot how to fly, scrambling clumsily along the ground before tumbling miserably into the fountain pool to struggle in the water.

"Hey, hey, what's going on? What's wrong with you all?" the bald middle-aged man shouted in surprise, his ash-gray eyes wide with astonishment.

"Shh! Bill Rox, how are you?" Gu Xiachen softly hissed, quietly approaching the man.

Bill Rox stared at Gu Xiachen in shock. He touched his smooth head, his sparse eyebrows leaping up in astonishment—a comical sight that made it seem as if his eyebrows wanted to relocate to his scalp and pretend to be hair. The paper bag in his hand slipped with a soft pat to the ground. Bill Rox grabbed Gu Xiachen's arm and hurried him towards a small grove of trees at the edge of the plaza.

Once inside the small wood, Bill Rox trembled as he pulled a cigarette case from his pocket, his hands shaking as he fumbled a cigarette into his mouth. Gu Xiachen took out a lighter and helped him light it. Bill Rox was utterly panicked; his lips trembled violently, and the tip of the cigarette nearly touched the flame several times. It took a full ten seconds before he managed to draw a deep breath and slowly exhale a plume of smoke.

In just two or three puffs, the cigarette burned down close to the filter. Bill Rox tossed the butt away and glared at Gu Xiachen, his voice low and sharp, "My God, Mr. Gu, how dare you come back to New York?"

His fingers toyed lightly with the lighter, its pure gold casing catching the light and throwing off a mesmerizing golden sheen between his fingers. Gu Xiachen leaned casually against a white birch tree, smiling faintly at Bill Rox.

"Why shouldn't I come?"

Bill Rox glanced fearfully left and right, lowering his voice cautiously as he spoke. "The Chairman he..."

He raised his index finger and blew gently on his lips. Gu Xiachen smiled wickedly. "Oh, him? Hmm, you think that since I dared to show up here, what could he possibly do to me? ... Besides, unless you betray me to him, who would know I’ve come to New York? Right, Bill? You wouldn't rat me out, would you?"

Frustrated, Bill Rox slapped his bare scalp with his hand, complaining bitterly. "Oh, come on, Mr. Gu, betray him? Unless I’ve gone completely mad!"

Bill Rox's gaze was clear; though there was apprehension, his eyes were clean, without any trace of other impurities.

Satisfied, Gu Xiachen nodded and inquired, "Alright, let him go to hell. Bill, Bill, how have you been, you micro-engine expert?"

Bill Rox blinked, cautiously looking around, then gave a wry smile. "How else could I be?"

Bitterly stuffing another cigarette into his mouth, Bill Rox exhaled several quick smoke rings and murmured in a low, bitter voice, "Mr. Gu, if only you were still at the Gu Group..."

"Micro-engine expert? Oh, do you know how long it's been since I’ve encountered any of those little darlings? Ever since you suddenly vanished, all of us who worked under you—those they call your people—were suspended."

"Suspended? What about your research? Weren't you developing the next generation of micro-propulsion engines? Wasn't the lab you led trying to replicate the Romanians' micro-propulsion combat armor?" Gu Xiachen’s fingers froze. He shoved the lighter into his pocket and spoke urgently, "For that research, I recall allocating over thirteen billion in funding to you!"

A film of moisture clouded Bill Rox's eyes. He spread his hands and mumbled quietly, "Research? Stopped... All our data was taken away by personnel sent from headquarters... Now we just collect a basic salary, everyone stays home. I'm fine; I have a wife, children, and Bobby. But people like Alexander, Zivakov, and Odette—the three of them—they've been drinking heavily every day. Sometimes the police bring them home, other times I drive them home. That’s how it is."

Alexander was the Gu Group's best mechanical expert; Zivakov, their best expert in electronic conduction and microchip technology. Odette was a rare genius; it was he who managed to sketch out the complete structural diagrams and calculate eighty-five percent of the energy transmission conduits from a salvaged, wrecked Raman energy armor.

The micro-propulsion combat armor, codenamed Project Hercules Armament within the Gu Group, was research into the super-combat suits only seen in science fiction novels, capable of increasing a soldier's strength, speed, reaction time, and firepower tenfold. When Gu Xiachen managed this project, the research was nearing success. Gu Xiachen estimated that once completed, the more than ten billion invested in research would yield returns several hundredfold—the Federal Military would go mad for armor that could so drastically enhance individual soldier capabilities.

"Is anyone still continuing this project?" Gu Xiachen frowned.

Bill Rox shook his head, letting out a cold sneer. "Professor Prus tried to take over, but the most core data for Project Hercules Armament is locked inside our heads. He can't even understand the schematics or the materials; all the data is currently stored in the vault at Group Headquarters. They've probably forgotten about the project by now."

Professor Prus, Gu Xiachen's absolute confidant, was the chief controller of the Gu Xiachen research system. His primary research focused on biotechnology and human potential activation, which happened to align with Yuris's research direction. The difficulty for him to take over Project Hercules Armament was therefore immense.

After a moment of contemplation, Gu Xiachen placed both hands on Bill Rox's shoulders. He gazed at Bill Rox and smiled faintly, "So, are you still willing to work under me? Hmm? Double your previous salary, and your benefits and bonuses will also be doubled... The research funding allocated will also be double what it was before... Heh heh, I happen to have quite a bit of disposable income on hand now, even tens of times more than what I controlled when I was at the Gu Group. I want to do something substantial." Bill Rox's eyes lit up; he excitedly gripped Gu Xiachen's hand. "Continue Project Hercules Armament?"