Chapter 221
Chapter 221
Jeffrey was about to offer more words of comfort, but his hand froze mid-air, just before it could pat Charles on the shoulder. His mouth twitched for a moment before he managed to speak. "Charles, man, what were you thinking? You know killing someone on a mission..."
Charles shook his head and recounted the events of the mission world in detail.
After listening, Jeffrey also shook his head in silence and let out a heavy sigh. "People are scarier than ghosts in this world."
Charles stood up and patted Jeffrey on the shoulder. "Get some rest. I'm gonna catch up on some sleep. I'm beat."
After saying goodbye to Jeffrey, Charles returned to his room alone. He opened the laptop Fiona had given him and connected a professional equipment drive he had brought from the outside world.
As soon as he logged in, a message from Opossum Outlaw popped up.
Turned out, that the high-stakes assassination mission he got from Fiona was linked to the organization behind the target, which had ties to Shadow Syndicate—the same group that had tried to ambush him in his apartment.
Charles was taken aback.
If this line of reasoning was correct, then the death of the senior member Beckett at Tower House might also be connected to Shadow Syndicate!
Moreover, there were likely members of the Shadow Syndicate lurking within the Mistveil Realm.
But it was still unclear how the people in Tower House were connected to Shadow Syndicate, and why Beckett had been killed so easily.
Fiona had mentioned that high-level Eerie Artifacts obtained in the mission world were bound to their owners, regardless of whether the owner was alive or dead. Therefore, someone couldn't kill for low-level Eerie Artifacts at such high risk.
Beckett was a well-known figure in the Mistveil Realm, formidable in both strength and skill. If it wasn't for his Eerie Artifacts, why would someone take such a huge risk to kill such a prominent figure?
Charles was filled with curiosity and apprehension about Shadow Syndicate's motives for murder.
There had to be a meticulous plan and powerful backing behind this.
Without some significant incentive, why would they risk the curse of the Mistveil Realm, just for an exaggerated bounty that involved dangerous room missions and the assassination of a high-level target with a low success rate?
It didn't make sense.
These clues suggested that Beckett's death was closely tied to some extraordinary secret.
But as for what that secret was, Fiona and Rebecca hadn't planned to tell him. He even suspected that the entire Tower House might not be fully aware of it.
Suddenly, Charles remembered the three eerie letters with their strange postscripts.
A peculiar thought crossed his mind: Could there be some bizarre connection between these two matters?
Half-lying on his bed, he scrolled through the messages from Opossum Outlaw, propping his head up with one hand. After thinking for a long time, he finally replied: [I'm sending you an organization. Help me investigate them and see if you can arrange a meeting with their leader.]
After sending the message, he quickly fell into a deep sleep, though whispers seemed to echo in his dreams.
The next day, after having lunch with Jeffrey, Charles took a cab back to his apartment in the outside world.
Instead of going straight to his room, he went to the "warehouse" next door. As soon as he entered, he took out the phone he had collected from his "target" on Fiona's orders, sealed it in a plastic bag, and wiped off any fingerprints.
Soon, a young man with a wild afro arrived at his apartment door and rang the bell.
Charles didn't go out. Instead, he slipped the phone through the crack in the door.
The young man took the phone and quickly walked away.
Back in his room, Charles decided to open the computer of Serpent Sentinel.
To his surprise, Lunar Lurker was online and had replied to his previous message!
...
Lunar Lurker: [Not interested. No meeting.]
Lunar Lurker: [Any progress on the letters I asked about?]
...
Charles felt his heart race as he read the chat.
His fingers lightly tapped the keyboard, and he soon replied: [No progress. The other person is in the same boat as you. If you can, could you provide some clues from your end? We might be able to piece together some useful information.]
Lunar Lurker remained silent for so long that Charles thought she had logged off. Suddenly, a picture popped up in the message box.
The image was eerie.
It depicted an endless darkness, with no light in sight.
In the middle was a narrow, straight path, just wide enough for one person, flanked by bottomless abysses. One misstep would lead to eternal darkness.
At the end of the path was a large door covered in blood.
This door was different from the one in Tower House. It was completely soaked in blood, and even through the screen, Charles could almost smell the strong scent of blood.
A tall man stood in front of the blood door, his back to the viewer. His clothes were tattered, his left hand clutching his stomach, and his blood-soaked right hand clenched into a fist, pounding on the door.
But the door was too far away, and the man's figure was blurry, making the scene look more like a dreamscape, with all the details hazy.
Lunar Lurker: [This was included with the letter. Notify me immediately if you find any leads.]
After sending this message, Lunar Lurker logged off decisively.
Charles stared at the picture, a mix of fear and curiosity welling up inside him.
What terrifying secret lay behind that blood-soaked door?