After talking for a while, Zi Yi chose to return to the library located within Amaharpe Palace. There were still a large number of books left for her to read. She had to get in as much reading as possible before later tonight due to the promise she made with her elder sister.
During their small talk, Izroth tried to offer Zi Yi some gold as a commission fee for helping him with the negotiation, however, she turned him down. Her excuse was that she was already within his debt and this was just a small way of repaying him.
Of course, Izroth would not pursue the matter since her reason was well justified. But, he was not the type of person to let those who assisted him go unrewarded. Therefore, he told himself that he would not allow Zi Yi to use the same excuse next time.
Izroth briefly visited the auction house to convert the 25,000 gold coins he received from Mariposa into RMB. It had not been that long since his last visit to the auction house and so the exchange rate was still 1:842.
After the conversion fee was taken out of the 21,050,000 RMB, Izroth was left with 18,945,000 RMB. Adding that to the previous amount of RMB Izroth earned, he now had 21,620,355 RMB in his bank account!
When he finished up at the auction house, Izroth decided to take a trip to Amaharpe's Palace. It was not that he had any business there, but rather it was the perfect place to go without having to worry about any potential distractions.
One of the NPC servants of the palace escorted him to a room on the first floor used to receive a guest.
'This place will do.'
Izroth removed a total of four items from his inventory. The Sword of The Storm, True World Treasure Chest, and two Rare Item Treasure Chest.
Name: Rare Item Treasure Chest(Soulbound)
Rank: Rare
Usage: Contains a single Rare item inside.
Special Note: This item is soulbound and cannot be traded or sold.
Name: True World Treasure Chest(Soulbound)
Rank: True World
Usage: Contains a single preserved relic of the True World.
Special Note: This item is soulbound and cannot be traded or sold.
Just as Izroth was about to review the Sword of The Storm, all of his items immediately returned to his inventory.
'Hm?'
〈System Alert: Warning! Player device is experiencing interference with temperature control and ventilation monitoring features.〉
Izroth concentrated for a brief moment and noticed that his body in the outside world felt strangely warm.
However, it was such a miniscule change that he would not have noticed if he did not actively search for it. This was due to how much more resilient his body was compared to mortals from cultivating the Heavenly Golden Body physique.
〈System Alert: Player Carbon Monoxide levels are at critical levels! System override, engaging forced logout for Player Izroth. Protocol Alpha-5381 activated. Potential Hazard: Protocol Alpha-5095 activated.〉
'What's going on?'
Before Izroth had the chance to do anything else, his character vanished from within RML.
〈System Alert: Player Izroth has logged out.〉
...
One hour ago in the real world at the main Dragon Stone gang's headquarters...
"Breaker, you better have some good news for me. I'm in no mood to hear anything but good news." A big and roundly shaped man spoke from the chair located behind the desk. That man had on an expensive looking suit with golden rings on each one of his fingers.
He appeared to be in his forties or fifties, however, one would have a hard time separating the fat from the wrinkles on his body. His hair was slicked back and black in color with streaks of gray. At the moment, he had a vicious and angered expression on his face.
He was still in a bad mood after receiving news that someone dared to attack one of his hideouts. Did they no longer have the will to live?
"Boss Marian, I've found a lead. After digging around a bit and questioning those incompetent fools, I've managed to find out something quite interesting." Breaker said. He was a very handsome man within his thirties with a thin yet fit build, neatly kept blonde hair and piercing baby blue eyes.
"Those fools ruined our trade route in that area. Now, even if the boys at the department wanted to cover it up, it won't be possible. We have to find a way to get that route back on track as soon as possible or we risk losing millions! Tell me, who is the one behind all of this? Is it Bones and his people?" Marian said.
"No, that was the first thing I made sure of. There have been no movements from Bones and his people that would suggest that they had anything to do with this. In fact, the movements behind this entire situation are strange. No matter how many people I question, in the end, they say that it was only one man." Breaker explained.
"Ah, yes I've heard about him. They're already calling him the Phantom Reaper. What a joke!" Marian grabbed onto a drinking glass that was placed onto his desk and tossed it towards Breaker.
Breaker did not move to try and avoid it as the glass struck the ground next to him and shattered. He then snapped his fingers as one of the servants rushed over to clean up the mess. This scene was not anything uncommon when Marian was angry and so Breaker was used to dealing with it.
"I also believed that it is a bit far fetched that one man caused so much damage alone. However, when everything else has no evidence to back it up we have to take believe whatever is left over, no matter how unlikely, as the truth. That's why what I'm going to say next may seem a little crazy." Breaker said.
"Crazy? Stop wasting my time, Breaker! Do you have a name or not?!" Marian asked as he grew impatient with Breaker's endless rambling.
"Yes. It's only a small chance, but even if we're wrong there is no price to pay for it. I have a way to verify the information and potentially lure this so-called Phantom Reaper to us." Breaker replied.
"Then do whatever you have to do. I don't care if you have to tear this city apart piece by piece. I want whoever is behind this to pay!" Marian said with a darkened expression.
"Understood." Breaker gave a slight bow out of respect before turning to leave the room.
...
"Reilei, you can take off after you finish that last table!" A woman shouted from across the restaurant.
"Yes!" Reilei replied as she moved swiftly to finish up her remaining task. She had kept her promise to Izroth and quit two of her jobs. Now, she only had one job and worked normal hours. It had been so long since Reilei had actual free time to herself that she did not know what to do with it.
She felt more energized, rested, and just by looking at her one would feel as like a refreshing wave washed over them.
"Hey, have you noticed how Reilei smiles more often these days?" One of the employees at the restaurant asked.
"Really? I hadn't noticed." The other employee responded in a sarcastic manner.
"Maybe she finally got a man in her life?" The first employee said.
"That would certainly expla-" As the other employee was responding, she heard a loud voice yell from behind her.
"Hey! Stop slacking off and get back to work! I don't pay ya to stand around!" The manager of the restaurant, Benson, shouted as the employees scrambled back to work as laughing a bit.
"Reilei, come over here for a moment." Benson said.
"Yes, coming." Reilei gave a polite bow to the customers at the table as she took her leave and went over to see what Benson wanted.
"Is there something you need me to do, manager Benson?" Reilei asked.
"No, I just wanted to let you know that you've been doing an amazing job. I know that I can be a bit hard on you sometimes, but that's only because I have to put the interest of the restaurant before anything else. However, do not think that I am ignorant of your hard work in this place." Benson said as he pulled out an envelope.
He then continued, "This is from the owner of this establishment. You may not know this, but the number of customers that return to this place because of your excellent service is groundbreaking. As a small token of appreciation, the owner has asked me to deliver this to your hands."
Reilei blinked a few times before looking down at the envelope and taking it into her hands.
"Go ahead, open it." Benson said with a rare smile on his face.
Reilei nodded as she opened the envelope. She lightly gasped in shock when she discovered what was inside of the envelope.
"Two days worth of pay with a small bonus included. I have already reorganized the schedule for your next two shifts, so enjoy your time off." Benson said before he returned to his other duties at hand.
Reilei was still in a state of disbelief. It appeared that lately, her entire life has been slowly making a 180-degree turn. At last, things were finally starting to look up and she could see an actual road ahead for the first time in many years.
"Thank you." Reilei said as she gave a polite bow. She quickly wiped the happy tears that were about to fall from her eyes.
After changing out of her work clothes and saying goodbye to everyone, Reilei began to make her way home.
"Two days off, I wonder if Jin wants to go anywhere..." Reilei muttered to herself as she walked. The last time she had a day off was when Jin was hospitalized. However, she wondered if it was possible to pull Jin away from that video game of his.
But, Reilei had a look of determination on her face. She would definitely find a way to spend some time with Jin during this time off!
A few moments later, Reilei entered into her apartment and the first thing she did was lightly knock on Jin's door before opening it. She saw him lying down peacefully on his bed with the virtual reality headset on as a smile found its way onto her face.
Not wanting to disturb him, she gently closed the door and went towards her room. After taking a shower and getting settled in, Reilei turned off the lights and collapse down onto her bed closing her eyes.
Before she knew it, she had drifted off into a deep sleep. For the first time in a long time, she had completely let go of her worries.
However, unbeknownst to Reilei, two figures were observing her apartment area.
"Hey, are you sure about this dude?" One of the figures said as he saw the lights go off in the apartment.
"Do you want to stay a simple lackey forever? I don't! You can chicken out, but don't expect me to share the credit with you!" The other figure said.
The first figure appeared to be troubled, however, he soon nodded his head as he decided to go through it anyway.
The two figures waited for around 45 minutes before finally making a move.
"Let's go." The second figure said as he checked the surroundings. After seeing that no one was around, he moved towards the apartment. When he reached the front door, he removed a few lockpicking tools form his bag and got to work. It only took a few moments to open the door.
The two figures peaked inside the apartment as they slowly opened the door and found that there was no one there as it was completely silent.
"Do it quietly." The second figure said as the first figured nodded and removed the bag from his back. As he gently set it down on the floor it opened up and one could see paint containers.
However, a strong smell filled the air as he opened the lids of the paint containers. Inside the container was not paint as one would expect, but rather a foul-smelling liquid. It was gasoline!