Five minutes later, in the command center…

“Sir!” It was the same agent, rushing anxiously to his superior’s side, reporting, “According to the footage from B1…”

“Alright,” the officer interrupted him. “I’ve seen it…” He stared at the large screen before him, his gaze fixed on a blacked-out area. “He destroyed all the video and audio collection devices within the ***-738 containment measures, correct?”

“Should we detonate the cone-shaped bomb, sir?” the agent immediately followed up.

“What would be the point?” the officer retorted without turning his head. “Since he knew to destroy all the surveillance equipment, it means he went in prepared. How could he possibly move anything to the area where the cone-shaped bomb is located?”

“This…” The agent was momentarily speechless.

“This incident reminds us… there is still room for improvement in the containment of 738,” the officer continued. “Simply placing a cone-shaped bomb in the middle of the room is not enough. We didn’t consider the situation of ‘the room being invaded when the facility encounters a major crisis and loses security personnel to guard it’… Obviously, the intruder couldn’t be wearing an explosive collar…” He paused for a moment. “Hmph… speaking of which, the actions of this D-class personnel today have sounded the alarm for us on many levels. In the future, we should add a set of ‘final protection measures in case their base experiences a complete loss of control crisis’ to all ***s.”

“Then… what should we do now, sir?” the agent then asked.

“Aren’t the people going to apprehend him already on their way?” the officer replied. “We can only hope… that before they arrive, the D-class personnel hasn’t completed some kind of ‘transaction’ that threatens us.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, sir,” the agent responded. “Generally speaking, the most a D-class personnel would choose to trade for is ‘freedom’ or something like that.”

“Heh…” The officer smiled and straightened his suit. “Steven, what do you think the IQ of this D-class personnel is?”

So, the agent’s name was Steven.

“Uh… I just pulled up his file, sir,” Steven said, taking a form from his pocket and looking down at it as he read, “This D-class personnel is designated 00250, originally named Rudy Austin, twenty-five years old this year; after dropping out of high school, his criminal record has been almost continuous, until last year when he was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder… According to testing, his IQ is 83, with a slight tendency towards violence.”

“83?” The officer turned to look at Steven and reached out to take the form. “Hmph…” he snorted coldly, “Something’s not right here.”

“What’s wrong, sir?” Steven asked.

“Do you think someone with a below-average IQ (even by American standards) would think to use ***-294 to deal with ***-173?” the officer replied pointedly. “Before this…” He looked at the form again. “Where did he hear about the characteristics of ***-294?”

“This…” Steven’s face grew increasingly grim. “Could he be…”

“That’s right…” the officer replied in a deep voice, “I suspect he is someone that the Chaos Insurgency has planted through some means.” He stuffed the form back into Steven’s hand. “If that’s the case, this information is meaningless…”

The more Steven thought about it, the more he felt the officer was right. “That’s right… Ordinary D-class personnel may not even understand the *** they are operating, let alone other ***s. But this person… caused the situation of ‘failed to generate input content’ the first time he used ***-294, which indicates that he not only understands the characteristics of ***-294… but also tested its limits right from the start.”

“In short… the capture and elimination of this person must be carried out as soon as possible. The potential threat of him being active in the base is too great,” the officer continued. “We have to control or kill him before he comes into contact with more Keter-class projects, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable…”

… … … …

At the same time, inside the containment measures for ***-738.

Due to the current state of the base, the security personnel originally responsible for guarding this place had long disappeared. They either went to the underground emergency shelter to take refuge, or they had already died somewhere else… Anyway, Brother Jue encountered no resistance along the way.

The door to the containment measures was opened by the operating console in the external laboratory, without requiring any access card.

After arriving in this experimental area, Feng Bujue carefully destroyed all the monitoring probes and sound-collecting devices in the room and laboratory, and then began to move the three-piece furniture set. He knew very well that he only needed to be careful to avoid the cone-shaped bomb in the center of the room when moving the tables and chairs.

In short, after a period of busy work, Brother Jue finally sat on ***-738-2, the high-backed chair. In front of him was the table labeled ***-738-1, and the “throne” ***-738-3 was located behind him.

“Heh… I really didn’t expect that we would meet in this way.”

Before long, a gentle, mysterious voice rang out from behind Brother Jue.

Feng Bujue turned his head and saw a black-haired man.

He was a man of outstanding temperament, who could display the youthful vigor of a twenty-year-old, or exude the mature charm of a forty-year-old. But how old he actually looked was unclear…

Secondly, he was also an extremely charming man in appearance, although objectively speaking, he couldn’t be considered a handsome man…

“Judging by that tone… you know me?” Feng Bujue replied calmly.

“Yes, you’re quite the celebrity…” the man replied with a smile, “… Feng Bujue.”

“I see…” Brother Jue smiled.

“Yes, that’s right.” The other party replied.

“May I ask your esteemed name?” Feng Bujue then asked.

“Vincent,” Vincent replied casually.

“Oh?” Feng Bujue’s eyes changed slightly, and he immediately sized up the other party again. “Heh… I’ve heard a lot about you… I’ve heard a lot about you…”

These two “I’ve heard a lot about you” didn’t carry any sarcasm or hypocrisy. Brother Jue had truly heard a lot about his name.

“Heh… Woody must have said a lot of bad things about me to you, right?” Vincent leaned his right elbow on the armrest of the throne, cupped his cheek with one hand, and looked down at Brother Jue from above with a dashing posture.

“If you really are Vincent, then there’s no need to ask this question,” Feng Bujue pointed to his temple. “Wouldn’t it be easier for you to find the answer inside?”

“My dear friend…” Vincent revealed a charming smile, “You have to know, many times, the ‘answer’ is not the most important thing.” He paused for half a second before continuing, “Whether it is the limit of mortal wisdom, or the deified strongest wise man… they ultimately stop at the level of ‘answer’. But what is the point of that? When the former is asked what one plus one equals, he instantly gets the answer ‘two’; the latter already knows the question before someone asks what one plus one equals, and also knows that the final answer is ‘two’.”

Speaking to this point, he stared at Feng Bujue, waiting for a moment: “Heh… but why do you and I have to be so… simple?”

“You certainly aren’t simple,” Feng Bujue said, grabbing the chair and turning it around, so that he was sitting face to face with the other party. “You said a bunch of seemingly correct nonsense, not only didn’t give me an ‘answer’, but even negated my ‘question’ along with it.”

“Hahaha…” Vincent shook his head slightly and laughed heartily a few times. “Your reaction is very ‘clever’, Feng Bujue… Your first sentence to me was a test. When I called out your real name directly, the test yielded results, and you smoothly entered another state… I’ll call it – ‘Feng Bujue’s serious state’ for now. In this state, your thinking speed, method, etc., have obviously improved, and you have clearly reached a ‘meta-dimensional perspective’.”

He pursed his lips, and the look in his eyes as he looked at Brother Jue also became a bit complicated. “Observing yourself from your own perspective, while observing yourself from the perspective of an observer, and then observing this observer with a personality as vast as the universe… in order to solve all the problems in time, space, subjective consciousness, and objective reality…”

As he spoke, Feng Bujue’s expression also changed, and a rare, genuine solemnity appeared on his face.

“There are only a handful of people in the human world who can reach this level…” Vincent continued with a smile, “You deserve to be the existence ‘chosen’ by Woody, heh… it seems that his deal with ‘that person’ wasn’t a loss after all…”

“His deal with who? What deal? What does it have to do with me?” Feng Bujue asked three questions in a row.

“Don’t worry…” Vincent raised his left hand and waved his fingers. “Some things, when the time comes… you will naturally know, I guarantee it.”

“Can you respond to my question with something other than nonsense?” Feng Bujue said coldly.

“Yes,” Vincent replied with two very short words, and then stopped talking.

“Hey hey…” Brother Jue was also silent for two seconds, then complained, “You’re not going to tell me that this ‘yes’ counts as an answer that’s ‘not nonsense’, right?”

“That’s right,” Vincent said with a smile, “This ‘that’s right’ counts too.”

Bang—

The next second, a gunshot rang out.

“Why do you have to do this?” Vincent looked down at the bullet hole in his chest. Although the bullet went in, no blood flowed out at all. “I thought you and I had a similar sense of humor?”

“Yes, I’m exercising that sense of humor,” Feng Bujue said, raising his assault rifle again and aiming at Vincent’s crotch.

“Alright, alright… let’s talk properly,” Vincent turned to the side and crossed his legs. “Don’t do these superfluous things.”

“Then I won’t beat around the bush with you either,” Feng Bujue knew that the wisdom of the demon in front of him was at the same level as Woody’s. When smart people talked, it could be very profound, or it could be very direct. “Just be aware and tell me everything you can.”

“Don’t be like that~” At this moment, Vincent’s tone suddenly changed. It couldn’t be said that he was deliberately acting cute, but that was kind of the intention. “You are on ***-738 right now… the_devils_deal, as the name implies… we are going to make a deal.” He leaned back on the back of the throne and spread out his hands. “You won’t get any substantial rewards without paying the corresponding price. I can’t do anything about it.”

“Is that so…” Feng Bujue said, “Then next, are we going to stage a scene of ‘the devil luring mortals to take the bait’?”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll start now,” Vincent tilted his head slightly and looked at Brother Jue with a sincere gaze.

“Sure~ Go ahead,” Feng Bujue replied weakly.

“Ah~ Fame, power, wealth… everything in this world… is here with me…” Vincent recited passionately, like a poetry recitation. “Mortals~ what do you want, say it!”

“Is this how you lure others into making deals?” Feng Bujue squinted and responded to Vincent with a contemptuous look. “I can’t help but ask… how did you become Satan’s confidant?”

“Heh…” Vincent smiled. “Okay, I’ll be a little more serious.” He cleared his throat. “How about I give you Li Ruoyu?”

“What did you say?” Feng Bujue’s expression changed immediately when he heard those three words, becoming cold and intimidating.

“Look~” Vincent replied smugly, “Someone’s getting angry… Why is that? Because I touched the most unguarded place in his incredibly powerful inner heart.” As he spoke, his face seemed to be covered with an invisible shadow. “This is ‘mortal’, Feng Bujue, experience your own fragility… the human soul is beautiful and brilliant because of this. In contrast… we ‘deified’ existences are just ugly rogues, lackeys, opportunists, and destroyers… I hate myself, Feng Bujue, but at the same time, I don’t care… Can you understand this contradiction?”

“I’m afraid not,” Feng Bujue replied coldly.

“Yes…” Vincent replied dejectedly, “I know you can’t… but I just hope you will think about it.”

“What if I think about it? Will it get me closer to your so-called deification?” Feng Bujue said.

“Heh… who knows?” Vincent avoided the sharp question. “Let’s get back to the point… You’ve also seen, I… know how to tempt you, or threaten you… In this respect, I’m no different from Woody.” His tone changed slightly. “But don’t get me wrong, you are not ‘acting according to our will’. I’m not saying this to consider your self-esteem… This is the truth, you understand it yourself.”

As he spoke, he gently shook his finger. With his movement, a piece of parchment, a quill pen, and a bottle of ink flew out of the drawer beside the throne.

“I’ll ask again, how about I give you Li Ruoyu?”

“What do you mean by ‘give’?” Feng Bujue didn’t give an answer, but instead asked further.

Since it was about the substantive content of the transaction, Vincent had to tell the truth. “As long as you agree, she will be yours, from her heart, to her body, everything about her…”

“Are you saying… control her mind?” Feng Bujue interrupted.

“Of course not,” Vincent said. “With her soul strength, I can’t control or change her autonomous consciousness.”

“Then what are you going to do?” Brother Jue asked again.

“It’s very simple…” Vincent said, “Just unlock her ‘seal’.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Bujue’s expression immediately changed. “You can unlock the seal placed by Woody?”

“Who told you… that the ‘seal’ was placed by Woody?” Vincent asked back.

In that instant, countless fragments flashed through Feng Bujue’s mind: “So it was you…”

“Yes,” Vincent said. “It was me.” He paused for a second before continuing, “Li Ruoyu is also in this ‘gamble’, and I am her bettor.” He had already taken the quill pen in his hand, dipped it in the ink, and said to the parchment floating in mid-air, “I can tell you clearly that as long as I unlock the seal, she will find that she has fallen in love with you. How about it? That way, you don’t have to be blackmailed by Woody anymore. Do you want to make a deal?”

“What are the conditions?” Feng Bujue asked immediately.

“Heh… very simple,” Vincent said. “In a few years, at the moment your life ends…”

Boom—

A loud bang interrupted Vincent’s words.

The door that had been closed by Feng Bujue was destroyed by a fixed-point explosion from the outside. In the smoke and dust, a dark crowd of figures filed in. One of them roared at Feng Bujue, who was still experiencing tinnitus, “Don’t move!”

The frequent sound of footsteps and the sound of guns being loaded quickly surrounded Feng Bujue.

“Sigh… what a pity,” Vincent sighed. “Perhaps this is fate…”

“Wait…” Feng Bujue said, “Even if we can’t make a deal now, in reality…”

“That’s impossible,” Vincent knew what he was going to say, so he directly denied it. “In other situations, I have no authority to provide this level of transaction. It is only a special case when you sit on this ***-738, and… this is the only opportunity. The next time you sit on this chair, the demon that appears may not be me.”

“Hmph…” Feng Bujue also snorted. “Alright… perhaps this really is fate.”

“Don’t talk! Drop your weapon on the ground, stand up, and raise your hands!” The fully armed security personnel were shouting at Brother Jue. They couldn’t see or hear Vincent, but could only faintly hear a distorted, distorted sound echoing around the throne.

“Sorry, let’s meet again if fate allows,” Vincent said, and then disappeared from the throne out of thin air. And the parchment, quill pen, and ink that were floating in mid-air all flew back into the long drawer by themselves at lightning speed.

“Do it now! Or we’ll shoot!” The security personnel gave a final warning.

Helpless, Feng Bujue had no choice but to put down his weapon, raise his hands, and stand up. He knew… these guys at ****** weren’t police officers. This group of people really didn’t mind “executing” their targets, not to mention D-class personnel, they wouldn’t even blink an eye when killing their own people.

Three seconds later, several burly men rushed up and subdued Feng Bujue to the ground, and re-cuffed his hands.

The security team member who had just shouted picked up the communicator and reported, “Sir, the target has been secured. Request further instructions…”