"Boss, Big Brother Sean says your punishment is ending early. You're being swapped out."
Inside the steel cage, a dense swarm of metallic, giant-jawed centipedes was instinctively devouring everything edible in sight.
Moza sat shirtless, his face ashen. Waves of bone-deep agony washed over him.
Relying almost entirely on sheer willpower to endure the excruciating pain, Moza forced his head up just a fraction. "Rules... can't be broken... Big Brother... is being too immature..."
The subordinate massaged his temples, nursing a headache. His boss's brain was definitely fried...
Then again, Big Brother Sean really did know him better than anyone...
He raised his voice. "Big Brother wants you to work—there are a ton of people who need interrogating! He also said that if you don't come out right now, he's never taking you out with him again!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the cage door clicked open.
Moza walked out, trembling from head to toe. He was covered in purplish-red bite marks, his legs shaking so hard his knees knocked together.
His face perfectly calm, he accepted the clothes from his subordinate and shiveringly pulled them on. Even though the tight shirt, vest, and suit jacket rubbed relentlessly against his wounds, he fastened every button with meticulous care.
"Big Brother... really is immature. Without me around, who's going to keep him safe? Where are the people who need interrogating?"
Watching his boss's temples twitch in agony while his face remained utterly expressionless, the subordinate couldn't help but clap in awe.
"Down in the dungeons—mostly people from the Inspection Bureau. Even the director got caught, along with a few from the other three major factions."
Moza's expression froze. "What happened?"
By the time the subordinate finished explaining the details, Moza's eyes had turned ice-cold.
"Big Brother... is still too kind. So immature."
The subordinate: "..."
Listen to yourself! Is that something a sane person says?
What did he mean, 'kind'? Wasn't this all happening just because those people had tried to abduct Big Brother Sean...?
If he hadn't seen his boss take women into his room with his own eyes, he would have suspected the man was in love with Big Brother Sean.
Then again, was there even a difference at this point?
Either way, someone was about to suffer, and luckily, it wasn't going to be him.
The subordinate let out a gloating chuckle.
After turning down Red Ridge and the others' demands for a meeting, Sean strolled leisurely back to his own courtyard, looking for all the world as if he'd just been out walking the dog.
How amusing—running right up to a gang's doorstep to preach about laws and regulations?
Sean was starting to feel that the original owner's past methods had been far too soft.
To think he'd actually let certain people in Paradise City believe the Gold Ghosts were a law-abiding organization.
Sean wasn't some mindless brute who lost all reason the second he got angry, but today's incident had happened right at the Gold Ghosts' front gates. Try to reason with them? That would just be humiliating!
Leaning back in his chair to think, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
To resist external threats, one must first secure the interior. Before dealing with the ravenous enemies outside, the Gold Ghosts needed a thorough internal purge.
Moles, cowards... From here on out, the Gold Ghosts were going to be the sharp blade in his hand, ready to slash through the entirety of Paradise City. He would never tolerate a single speck of rust on them.
However, one problem still stood in Sean's way.
He looked in a certain direction—the place where the Gold Ghosts' true soul lay slumbering.
Jin Kui...
This mastermind boss, who had only ever appeared once in the game, had remained quiet even after the closed beta ended.
Yet after that, a poll had popped up on the forums: When the game officially launches, who will be the final boss?
Jin Kui had taken first place with 68% of the vote—for no other reason than that his single appearance had been utterly breathtaking.
Knowing full well just how terrifying the man's true strength was, Sean fell into deep thought. Would Jin Kui stand on his side?
While he was thinking, his subordinate returned to the courtyard with Qiong Ying in tow.
The maid had been brought outside, where she had hidden at a high vantage point and watched the entire spectacle unfold.
Sean waved a hand, gesturing for the increasingly timid Qiong Ying to come over.
He patted his thigh. Wearing a conflicted expression, she hesitated for a long time before finally sitting stiffly on his lap.
Sean didn't make any out-of-line moves. He merely let the tense girl rest against his shoulder while his fingers gently combed through her light blue hair.
"Did I go too far today?" he asked out of nowhere.
Qiong Ying only dared to shake her head in silence.
Sean didn't mind her reaction; he just chuckled to himself. "Do you think the Academy will pay to ransom you back?"
Qiong Ying instinctively shook her head again, only to catch herself a moment later. She observed his expression with extreme caution.
"Are... are you willing to let me go back?"
Sean wrapped his arms around her, letting the rigid girl rest her face against his shoulder.
He toyed with her hair and smiled. "Why wouldn't I be? As much as I'd love to get a taste of you, for the sake of profit, I'm more than willing to deny myself."
Qiong Ying trembled, not daring to look up at his face. Biting her lip hard, she whispered, "I... I can swear an oath. I will never breathe a word about anything I heard or saw here."
The fabric of her tailored maid uniform was smooth to the touch. Sean stroked her back gently, saying with careless ease:
"That's a minor detail. Once you get back, the interrogations, the screenings, even the physical scans—you won't escape a single one. You should be intimately familiar with that."
Qiong Ying pursed her lips. "I'll do my best..."
"No need to rush into promises. You're the Dean's Student, after all—the more trusted someone is, the more suspicion they naturally attract. Besides, I don't need you to keep any secrets for me. I only have one... request."
For some reason, Qiong Ying suddenly felt that this man wasn't quite as terrifying anymore.
When this fiend was acting normal, he was actually surprisingly understanding...
Still...
She shifted uncomfortably, though her tone remained firm. "I won't become a spy. The Academy is my lifelong faith."
Sean let out a light laugh. "Does your faith include kidnapping innocent people?"
Qiong Ying's expression stiffened. She instinctively tried to explain, "The Academy raised me. I... I'm bound to follow orders."
Subconsciously, she had already begun to accept Sean as a kidnapped innocent.
Sean remained noncommittal. "Never questioned them?"
"Never." Qiong Ying instinctively raised her chin—the Academy was her everything.
As her head jerked up, however, the top of her skull accidentally bumped against Sean's face. Qiong Ying froze, but the reprimand she imagined never came.
Sean just lazily kept playing with her hair.
"You might trust the Academy, but the Academy might not trust you—"
"That's impossible," Qiong Ying cut him off flatly.
Sean laughed out loud. "For a proctor who leads teams on her own, you're a lot more naive than I expected. Tsk, did your teacher send you out here for practical experience?"
Qiong Ying ground her teeth together as a surge of humiliation washed over her.
"I've been leading teams for over a year!"
"And then you fell into my hands without putting up the slightest bit of resistance?"
Qiong Ying's face darkened. She had no choice but to admit that both she and the others had underestimated this normally decadent, lawless thug—even though she had always approached every mission with the mindset of a lion using all its strength to hunt a rabbit.
Yet in hindsight, it only took a moment's thought to realize the truth—the second she put herself in the position of the lion and cast Sean as the rabbit, the situation's outcome was no longer something she could predict.