[Faction War in Progress]

The story shifts back to the time when the Inspection Bureau first started moving.

Druid and Black Cat were still busy grinding their faction dailies, occasionally visiting the little girl still recovering in the hospital. Life in the game was peaceful and fulfilling.

They had just helped an NPC, who had lost their home, move back into a new one. Carrying the gifts they had received as thanks, they were suddenly blocked by a mysterious figure on their way out.

“What’s going on?”

“An enemy?”

Druid and Black Cat immediately dropped the gifts and looked warily at the black-robed figure standing in front of them.

“No need to be nervous. It’s me,” came a somewhat familiar voice from under the figure’s hood.

Druid hadn’t reacted yet, but Black Cat recognized him immediately: “Karens?! You—you’re okay?!”

Even though the gang had tried to block the news, players who were present had already leaked it. It was no secret that Karens had supposedly been attacked by the Inspection Bureau faction and had gone missing.

“As expected, you have your own special communication channels,” Karens said, stepping back into a blind spot between the walls, out of the surveillance cameras’ range.

Druid and Black Cat exchanged a look.

Is he talking about the player forums?

Yeah, probably.

“Never mind. That’s exactly why I came to find you,” Karens continued. “Following the will of our Lord, we must bring down harsh judgment on those who dare offend the Secret Church. For that, I need to gather those willing to take part in this operation.”

At the same time, a system prompt popped up in Druid and Black Cat’s ears:

[Special Mission: Faction Summons!]  

Mission Content: The Inspection Bureau launched a surprise attack on Karens, the leader of Black Poker, nearly killing him. In return, we must strike back with a storm of our own.  

Mission Requirements: Faction Honor Points above 200 / Favorability with any faction NPC. Players must not reveal any information about this mission before the faction war begins. Participation is by invitation only. Choose your allies wisely.  

Participant Limit: 400 players.

A special mission! And a prelude to the faction war!

Druid and Black Cat gasped, excitement flashing in their eyes as they stared at Karens.

“You know what you have to do,” Karens said. “Our Lord will also be watching this operation closely. I hope… you won’t disappoint Him.”

“Yes, sir!” Black Cat and Druid answered without hesitation.

Karens’s figure vanished mysteriously. Druid and Black Cat exchanged a glance, seeing the excitement burning in each other’s eyes.

“You already have good candidates in mind, right?”

“Of course,” Druid stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Anyone from the previous versions should be fine. We’ll need to be more careful with the newcomers. The most important thing is—”

“Make sure not to invite anyone from the big guilds, especially anyone from Starwatch Guild,” Black Cat added. “Alright, let’s move!”

And so, while everyone was distracted by the open chatter on the forums, a group of players quietly began gathering their friends and allies in secret, communicating through private faction channels.

Waiting… all the way until Karens’s summons!

—-

*Cough, cough, cough, cough!* As a force dragged him out of the wreckage, Edie felt like he could barely breathe. Shrapnel had hit half his body before he could dodge, and every breath was a heavy burden on his lungs.

Even though he had become a transcendent being, most investigators’ physical durability remained at an ordinary human level. Unless someone had a body-strengthening origin ability, very few at the lower levels could break through the basic frailty of the human body.

Just like now—a single bomb could easily kill them.

But if they weren’t killed on the spot, it became a different story.

[Healer]

A warm white light rose from Edie’s body, and the pain he felt quickly faded away.

“You alright, Edie?” Job pulled him up.

“I’m fine, thanks, Captain.”

“What are you thanking me for? We’re a team,” Job said, glancing around. He also healed Dana and Eunice, who had suffered lighter injuries since they hadn’t directly entered the room.

But it was clear—this was a trap.

Job looked around, lips pressed into a tight line. Who could it be…

Because of the explosion, the office had completely collapsed. They couldn’t see what had happened to the person inside—it was possible they were still trapped, or had already escaped through a hidden passage.

“Captain, we need to get out of here first!” Edie said urgently. He glanced at the portable screen on his arm; the blast had destroyed all his electronic equipment. There were replacements in the car. “If this was a trap, they’re not going to just let us go.”

Job knew it too. His instincts screamed at him: ‘It’s not over yet.*’

“Let’s move!”

Before they could get sealed in underground, they retraced their steps, took the elevator, and made it back to the surface. Edie, eager to replace his broken gear, rushed forward—but Job grabbed him back just in time.

A black bullet mark appeared right where Edie was about to step.

A sniper!

The realization hit them all at once. Edie gritted his teeth. “They’ve set an ambush!”

But how? Their attack on the boss had been decided at the last minute. With Edie’s [Cyber Phantom] ability watching, every phone, computer—any device capable of communication—had been under surveillance. There hadn’t been time to leak anything.

Wait, maybe there was.

Dana suddenly said, “Before, Destiny is in My Hands split off from our team for a bit.”

“But that was just a short while, right? If you put it that way, Edmund back at the base is suspicious too,” Edie muttered.

“Stop arguing. Right now, the priority is to break through their net. I’ll go out and draw their fire,” Job said calmly.

“Captain?!”

“It’s fine,” Job remained composed. “My origin ability, [Healer], works much better on myself than on others. As long as they don’t land a killing blow, I can recover quickly.”

“But what if they go for a headshot?” Dana frowned deeply, clearly against the plan. “The chances of that are slim, and aren’t you just as much…?”

They didn’t argue further—because the immediate crisis was already solved. Destiny is in My Hands and the others arrived in two cars, faces full of panic.  

“Get in, quick!”

Damn it, this faction war is such a scam. 4 versus 400? How are they supposed to win??

Destiny is in My Hands was starting to doubt life himself. Right now, their only hope was that the developers would stick to their word about balancing the power levels. If that was true, their side’s NPCs should be strong enough to hold off 400 players, right??

Hopefully!

Job and the others didn’t waste time. All four of them piled into the first car. The cars were divided like this:

– First car: Destiny is in My Hands, Job, Edie, Dana, Eunice

– Second car: Starwatch Rachel, Starwatch Fatty, Starwatch Gomoku

In the car, Edie grabbed a new portable computer, immediately calming down. He quickly got to work, skillfully hacking into all the street cameras.  

“Drive down this road!”

The two cars sped away from the block.  

Up on the rooftops, one of the gang’s snipers hesitated.  

“Boss, should we chase them?”

“No need. We’re not the ones who should take the fall,” came the boss’s voice through the earpiece, still alive after the earlier attack.  

“Besides, those crazy cultists are already raring to go.”

They were right. After the two cars left the block, they were hit by sniper fire again.

The first shot shattered a window, nearly blowing Destiny is in My Hands’s head off. Cold sweat instantly broke out all over him—if he died here, in an NPC’s sight, there’d be no respawning!

“Captain Job, we’ve got snipers.”

“I know, Edie.” Job glanced at him.

“I’m on it, I’m on it.” Edie kept his head down, working the computer furiously. Using the angle of the shot, he dispatched a drone through the window to interfere.

The snipers switched targets, focusing on the second car behind them—the Starwatch squad immediately fell into chaos.

—-

In the player chat:

“Man, you guys suck at shooting,” Baba said while reloading, clearly unimpressed.

“No choice,” Ye Ye replied in the channel, “Sniping needs at least 50 points in the shooting skill! What about you? Oh right, you cheated and pulled a sniper card, didn’t you?”

“Heh~ Opportunities are for those who prepare,” Baba replied smugly, lying prone on the rooftop again. This time, his rifle was aimed at the rear car’s tires.  

“Stick to the plan—split them up first.”

[Shooting: Success]

With a loud bang, one of the tires on the Starwatch squad’s car blew out, and their speed instantly dropped.

“Damn it! They’re serious!” Fatty wailed from inside the car.  

Honestly, ever since the system warning popped up, they’d all been in despair. 4 versus 400? There wasn’t even enough of them to go around!

He even asked the guild for help, but the response he got was this:

Guild:[ Sorry, we didn’t get any intel about this beforehand. We have no idea when they planned this attack. None of our people managed to infiltrate the 400 players either.]

Fatty: [Then what are we supposed to do??]

Guild: [Uh, just hang in there as long as you can. Right now we’re trying to buy the accounts of those 400 players.]

Hope instantly flared up in Fatty’s heart: [Buy their accounts to come help us?]

Guild: [No, no. Just don’t die too quickly. We’re seeing how many honor points we can farm off this.]

Guild: [Don’t worry, the guild won’t treat you unfairly. We’ll compensate you.]

Fatty: ???

Is that something a human being would say??

Guild: [Just kidding. (shrug) We do want to run some tests, but… maybe next time. Our guild members are still rushing over. Hold out a little longer.]

Fatty switched to the team chat:  

Fatty: [Captain, help!!!]

He didn’t even need to say it. Destiny is in My Hands never intended to abandon his team anyway. He was just about to slow down when suddenly, a bunch of players riding motorcycles burst out of the side alley.  

They had fully unleashed their wild side, screeching and hollering like a real biker gang, throwing nails onto the road to separate the two vehicles.

“Tsk! Let me drive!” Edie instantly hijacked the car’s control with his ability.  

In the next second, just before the car’s tires hit the nails, he made a sharp turn into a side alley.  

Fatty, gritting his teeth, slammed the gas pedal, ramming straight into a motorcycle trying to block him and forcing his way through.

But soon, both cars were forced to a stop.

Ahead of them, Edie glared at the players setting up roadblocks and abandoned motorcycles in the alley.  

“This is a trap…”

This area was nearly deserted and had no surveillance cameras. Edie hadn’t noticed that they’d been deliberately herded here.

“Hehe, rewards, here I come!”

The players rushed forward, excited. After all, defeating enemy NPCs was worth 500 honor points each—an absolute jackpot!

Inside the car, Job and the others immediately pushed open the doors without hesitation.  

But someone was even faster—Dana was the first to step out, twin folding knives gleaming in her hands.  

One player, trying to slam into her on his bike, suddenly saw a flash before his eyes—and completely lost control of his arm.  

In the corner of his vision, he actually saw his own hand flying through the air as his motorcycle crashed into the wall.

At the same time, Eunice stepped out with a wide smile on her face.  

She grabbed the first two players rushing her, one in each hand, and flung them across the area with her seemingly frail wrists.

Eunice’s origin ability, Mighty Strength, was a simple but deadly body enhancement. In close quarters, she was basically unstoppable.  

Working together with Dana’s twin blades, the two of them tore through the players like a knife through butter.

The players had originally planned to overwhelm them with sheer numbers, but in the narrow alleyway, it was the two NPCs who completely dominated the battlefield.

“What the hell??”

The players were stunned. Normally, when you outnumber an enemy, you get a bonus roll.  

But even with that advantage, they couldn’t break through these two.

Hiding inside the car, Destiny is in My Hands finally let out a breath of relief.  

He remembered the earlier announcement about balance adjustments and felt hope rise in his chest.  

No doubt about it—these inspectors were counted as part of their faction’s strength.  

Which meant… they could actually fight against the players.

“Shoot from a distance, stay away from her!”

Black Cat’s voice came through the player channel.

The players who had been about to rush in for close combat immediately stopped in their tracks and backed away.  

At the same time, a new group of players behind them excitedly raised their guns and aimed forward.

This was exactly why Karens wanted the players to lure the enemy faction into an alley fight.  

In tight spaces, no matter how strong they were, they couldn’t dodge a hail of gunfire.

And with the alley offering no cover, it was practically impossible to dodge — people were just moving targets here.

Eunice was instantly shot in her limbs.  

She let out a pained grunt as Edie quickly pulled her back into the car for cover.

But everyone knew it was just delaying the inevitable.

*Bang! Bang!*

“These lunatics!” Edie noticed that the gas tank behind them had been punctured.  

If it exploded at this range, not only would they die, but the players would be caught up in it too.  

Yet the players didn’t seem to care at all—  

Edie even caught sight of someone raising an incendiary bomb.

“No choice left, Dana.”

“I know, Captain.” Dana took off her glasses.

*Whoosh—*

The players behind them couldn’t wait to claim their reward.  

A bomb over the heads of the crowd, drawing a perfect arc before landing right next to the leaking gas tank.

In an instant, a massive fireball and explosion filled the narrow alley.

“Cough cough cough cough!”  

“Which psycho threw that? We hadn’t even pulled back yet!”

“Damn it, how are honor points going to be calculated now? Don’t tell me one person’s gonna get all the credit??”

The players broke into an uproar.  

But when the smoke cleared—there was nothing left.

Exactly as it sounds: the car was blown to pieces, but there were no bodies.  

No blood. Nothing.

The player who had thrown the bomb scratched his head.  

“I didn’t get any points…”

What is going on?

“Teleportation,” Karens murmured from afar, observing the battlefield.  

“Hacker, melee, healer, and now disengagement… quite the well-rounded team.”

“Well, they are elite inspectors,” Ranen said calmly.  

“If they couldn’t even pull that off, I’d be more surprised.”

“But if they think it’s over just because of that, they’re way too naive.”

This faction war was also an opportunity to completely clear Edmund’s name.

Edmund had come under suspicion because of the player team.

Now, they just needed to utterly destroy the player team’s credibility in the eyes of the Inspection Bureau.

Destiny is in My Hands suddenly felt his vision go black—and then light returned.  

The surroundings had completely changed.  

He sat there in a daze for a long moment, only snapping out of it when Job had already finished healing the team.

Wide-eyed, he asked,  

“What was that just now? Teleportation?”

Dana glanced at him and put her glasses back on.  

“Something like that. But it’s not that convenient.”

It was clear she didn’t want to talk about it further.  

Destiny is in My Hands didn’t mind either.  

He knew very well that he had only been brought along because he happened to be in the car.

Wait a minute… if that’s the case…

Destiny is in My Hands blurted out,  

“My… my teammates… what about them…?”

Job gave him a timely apologetic look.  

“Sorry, we didn’t have time to think about that back then.”

In the player team’s channel:

Fatty: “Bro—save us save us save us!”

Gomoku:  “They’re insane ahhhhh!”

The rest of the Starwatch Squad, aside from Destiny is in My Hands, had been in another vehicle, following right behind the NPCs’ car.  

When the explosion went off, the shockwave flipped the players’ car over.  

As if that wasn’t unlucky enough, with the NPCs now missing and the players who hadn’t earned enough points going mad, they were being hunted down.

“Don’t run! You won’t die anyway, so what’s wrong with letting us cut you a few times?!”

Fatty: “Bullshit! You’re chasing me with a knife, who wouldn’t run?!”

“You don’t even feel pain and you can’t die!”

The three remaining Starwatch players were being chased like crazy, practically feeling their scalps going numb.  

It was obvious the others were trying to farm them like respawnable mobs!

“Players shouldn’t make things hard for other players!”

“You’re the ones standing on the other side! Who else can you blame? Just stand still and let us slash you a few times.”

“If we stop, we’ll get mobbed to death! Who would stand still?!”

While running for their lives, Fatty and the others were frantically sending distress signals to Destiny is in My Hands and the guild.  

A whole pack of wolves was chasing after them—just hearing about it would make anyone tear up.

Destiny is in My Hands broke out in a cold sweat after hearing about their situation.  

Thank goodness he has gotten in the right car!  

He couldn’t wait to ask,  

“What do we do now?”

He quickly recognized the surroundings:  

They were at a service area they had passed before leaving the bustling city.  

They had even stopped here earlier, and Dana had gotten out at that time.  

Destiny is in My Hands couldn’t help but guess that this place might be connected to her ability somehow.

“This distance still isn’t safe,” Dana said.  

“Let’s drive a bit further.”

No one objected.  

Edie used his ability to find another car, and everyone piled in.  

As they drove, they started discussing the ambush.

“We need to figure out who those people were first,” Job said, his frown tight enough to crush a fly.  

“And why our operation was leaked.”

The car fell into silence.  

But for some reason, Destiny is in My Hands felt an ominous chill.

In his understanding, Job and the others had only revealed their destination after they left (since Job had intentionally kept Edmund’s situation hidden from the Starwatch Squad—meaning they thought Edmund had already fallen out of favor and didn’t know about this operation).

Which meant:  

The only ones who should have known about today’s mission were people from the Inspection Bureau—and the Starwatch Squad.

Compared to his own people, Job would definitely be more suspicious of outsiders like them.

“I think… maybe we were spotted when we entered the district or something?” Destiny is in My Hands suggested.

“They were way too prepared. That’s unlikely,” Edie shook his head, rejecting the idea.  

Their current suspicion wavered between Edmund and the Starwatch Squad, but compared to Edmund—who had already passed the inspection—the Starwatch Squad was clearly more suspicious.

And as if to confirm their suspicions, the car hadn’t even driven a hundred meters before they were attacked by players again.  

Edie struggled to maneuver the car and dodge, while the others’ faces turned grim.

The truth was:  

Because Karens had secretly left a mark on them, Job’s group could be tracked at all times.  

Their location was being sent to Black Cat, who then broadcasted it to the faction channel.  

That’s how they kept running into waves of incoming players.

But Job and the others didn’t know any of this.  

From their perspective, it felt like no matter where they went, pursuers were constantly closing in—a horrifying, inescapable nightmare.

If the earlier ambush could still be pinned on Edmund, now that Edmund wasn’t even present, and yet their location was being exposed again and again, there was only one possible explanation.

A gun barrel pressed against Destiny is in My Hands’s temple.

“Get out,” Dana said coldly.

Destiny is in My Hands said desperately,  

“…I’m really not a spy! I didn’t betray your location!”

Just as he finished speaking, he caught sight of another car in the rearview mirror—and the people in it were very familiar.

It was the three remaining members of the Starwatch Squad.  

They were being herded in this direction by a bunch of players, like sheep being chased by sheepdogs.

The humiliation was bitter, but they had no choice.  

It was obvious the players wanted to group them together to make farming points easier—and to quickly end this event whenever they wanted.  

If they didn’t cooperate, the players would simply farm them on the spot.

Fatty and the others had also seen the combat power of the Inspection Bureau NPCs earlier.  

If they could pick a good terrain and split the battlefield, there was still some hope of killing a few Secret Church players, so they had half-reluctantly agreed to converge with the NPCs.

What Fatty didn’t know, though, was the awkward situation Destiny is in My Hands was facing right now.  

He had just finished saying, “I didn’t leak our location,” only for his teammates to clearly and directly show up right after.  

How was he supposed to explain that?

“Get out. Don’t make me say it a second time.”  

Dana’s gaze grew even colder.

Destiny is in My Hands had no choice but to get out of the car and wait for his teammates to pick him up.

But during the short time they stopped, more and more motorcycles and vehicles began to gather around them.  

When they were still at the service station earlier, there had been plenty of people around.  

But the further they advanced toward the city, the fewer pedestrians they saw.

Edie glanced at the rearview mirror and felt an ominous premonition.

And that premonition quickly came true.

A smoking bomb was hurled from the side of the street.  

Job shouted for everyone to jump.

Doing his best to maneuver the car, Edie was suddenly grabbed by Eunice, who hauled him out the door.  

The next moment, the car they had been riding in exploded into pieces.

At this moment, Destiny is in My Hands had just gotten into Fatty’s car.  

The Starwatch Squad had finally regrouped—but before they could even say a word to each other, they saw the Inspection Bureau’s vehicle ahead get ambushed again.

Fatty let out a relieved sigh and said,  

“Boss, good thing you weren’t still in the car. Otherwise, we would’ve already lost someone.”

The only female member of the Starwatch Squad was completely numb.  

“Honestly, we might as well have just died in front of the NPCs. Otherwise, do you really want to become a tool for those players to farm points?”

Just thinking about that fate made everyone in the car shudder.  

It was obvious what those players were up to.

Anyone could tell: they wanted to use the respawn mechanic to repeatedly farm them for points.

“We can’t give up yet. Just hang on a little longer,” Destiny is in My Hands gritted his teeth.  

“People from our guild are already on their way. There aren’t that many players on their side—we still have a chance!”

But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw more black vehicles appear around the explosion site.  

These cars quickly stopped, and a group of armed thugs piled out.

Leading them was A-Long.  

He glanced at the Starwatch Squad’s vehicle, then waved his hand broadly.  

“Split the battlefield. You guys ignore those people—focus on the ones over there!”

He was pointing at the Inspection Bureau NPCs.  

When Druid had contacted A-Long’s group earlier, they had come up with a devious plan:  

Sure, they wanted to farm points—but they also wanted to keep as many NPCs ^[1] Their faction alive as possible!

Right at this moment, Black Poker’s people had spread the rumor that the Inspection Bureau was the true culprit behind Karens’s “attack,” and that they would also hunt down any surviving leaders from the banquet.  

Naturally, those leaders didn’t want to sit around and get slaughtered.  

For once, they banded together and temporarily lent their forces to the Secret Church’s command.

Although Dana’s ability had allowed them to escape for a while, the situation was still under control.

“These are the ones hunting our leaders?”

“Looks like it.”

“Get ‘em! Beat them up!”

The enemy’s numbers swelled rapidly.  

The players behind them grinned viciously as they charged forward.

Destiny is in My Hands clenched his teeth.  

“Fight them!”

On the Inspection Bureau’s side:  

Although they had managed to jump clear of the vehicle before it exploded, no one had died.  

Job quickly healed everyone’s injuries.

The four of them stood back-to-back, facing the gang members and players surrounding them.

Job spoke softly:  

“Edie, call for reinforcements. Dana, Plan A.”

“Got it,” Dana and Edie replied in unison.

After working as investigators for so long, they were no strangers to crisis situations.  

They naturally had escape plans ready—it wasn’t time to despair yet.

Edie immediately used his ability to send out two distress signals—one to their base, where Edmund, Chris, and Archie were stationed, and one to the police department.  

Although the headquarters was too far away for immediate help, as official investigators, they had the authority to mobilize local police forces temporarily.

“Twenty-five degrees northeast,” Edie said quietly.  

“That’s where the first reinforcements will arrive.”

At the same time, Edie used his ability Cyber Phantom one last time.  

The half-broken portable computer in his hands sparked violently, and all the surrounding vehicles suddenly blared with deafening alarms.

Edie let out a muffled groan, blood trickling from his nose, his face deathly pale.  

He had already overexerted his powers today.  

Eunice slung him over her back and, taking advantage of the confusion, charged into the crowd.

Meanwhile, Job and Dana broke out in a different direction.  

Right before the two teams split up, Dana secretly tucked a red insignia into Eunice’s arms.

This was their Plan A, the escape tactic Job’s squad used most often.  

It wasn’t particularly complicated—  

In fact, it was quite simple in principle:  

They would split into two teams to force the enemy to divide their forces.  

Because of Eunice’s deceptive appearance, enemies would often mistakenly focus more of their strength on Job’s side.  

The farther apart the two groups got, the better.  

When the timing was right, Dana would use the “marker” to instantly teleport back to Eunice’s side, then they would regroup and break through together.

This was one of their standard team maneuvers.  

Dana’s Origin Ability, Courier, allowed her to teleport herself and others to a previously placed marker.  

The more people she brought, the shorter the teleport distance.  

She could only place one marker at a time, and the marker had to be a red triangular object.

However, none of them noticed:  

A strange plant was hiding among the thugs, as if existing in another dimension.

Previously, Ranen had instructed Karens to plant a true believer among the gang members.  

The real reason was to sow a Seed of Spirituality and broadcast the scene live.  

Because of this, they managed to catch the moment Dana placed the insignia.

Recalling how the Inspection Bureau members had suddenly disappeared earlier, Ranen narrowed his eyes.

The small seedling instantly began to grow.  

Guided by Ranen’s will, it sprouted flexible tendrils.

Just as Eunice was fully focused on fighting off the surrounding gangsters and players, one of the tendrils lightly flicked and plucked the insignia from her arms.

In the divine kingdom, Ranen opened his eyes.  

The red triangular insignia appeared in his hand.

After a moment’s thought, Ranen handed the insignia over to Karens.

Since Karens wanted revenge personally, Ranen decided to grant his wish.

—-

At the base, Edmund received the call for backup and walked out of his room.

For some reason, he had been feeling dazed lately, as if he had forgotten something.  

But when Edmund carefully searched his memory, he couldn’t find anything missing.

Forget it, he thought.  

The most important thing right now was to find the captain and the others.  

They must be in trouble—maybe even locked in a tough battle.  

He had to hurry and help them.

Straight down the hall from Edmund’s room was Archie’s room.  

As he passed by, a cold voice drifted from inside.

“Where are you going?”

“…Ah, to buy food,” Edmund answered instinctively, relieved that Archie couldn’t see his expression—otherwise, he might have seen through him.

Before leaving, Job had reminded Edmund to keep an eye on Archie and not let him leave the base.  

Fortunately, Chris was still around, so he could probably watch over Archie for a while in Edmund’s place.

Suddenly, the door swung open.  

Archie stood at the threshold, staring directly at him.

Startled, Edmund instinctively averted his gaze.

Archie glanced up at the hallway surveillance camera.  

The red light that had been on all along was now off.  

It seemed the hacker outside was too preoccupied with the chaos to monitor this place anymore.

Good.

Archie stared into Edmund’s eyes and silently mouthed two words:

Ranen.

Edmund recognized the name.  

Strangely, it felt as though the word had already been deeply engraved in his mind.

In the next moment, the memories that had been suppressed surged back.  

Edmund immediately remembered everything once again.

He remembered that he had been living under the constant threat of having his identity exposed.  

And he recalled what Ranen had told him not long ago—

To completely separate the identity of the Gatekeeper from Ranen.  

To never think of them as one and the same.

Looking back now, this may have been a hint from long ago: in a crisis, he should completely forget Lord Ranen’s identity, preferably to the extent that he could even deceive himself.

Just at that moment, Archie appeared beside him, making Edmund feel that he completely understood Lord Ranen’s intention. 

The best way to resolve the crisis was to forget everything temporarily—  

So that even under interrogation or a lie detector, he would pass, because he truly remembered nothing.

Thus, he had gone to find Archie, just before the Starwatch Squad approached Job and accused Edmund of being a mole.  

At that moment, Edmund had already forgotten Ranen, and his relationship with Archie had grown distant.  

From Job’s perspective, Edmund had always kept a careful distance from Archie—  

A subtle misalignment in timing.

Later, he passed the Truth Helmet because, at the time, he genuinely remembered nothing.

And now, Archie judged it was time to lift it.

The keyword trigger was, naturally, the very faith they both shared.

Edmund’s lips curled.  

His once-docile smile twisted into something wild and manic.

“Things are getting lively out there,” he said.  

“Perfect. I’ve been wanting to join the fun myself.”