Return

Mai was drenched in cold sweat, his figure constantly teleporting as he rapidly shifted positions throughout Paradise.

So close, so close!

He had nearly been enveloped by that dark-blue barrier.

Though he was not sure whether that barrier could seal him away, he had already seen clearly that every one of those who had come was a formidable opponent.

They were all reincarnators close to Title-level, if not already Title-level.

He tried to assassinate them with psychic hypnosis, but the Space’s notification stated that the ability had been negated.

Then, the gaunt elderly man with graying sideburns merely snapped his fingers, and a massive explosion erupted out of thin air.

"Miss Kim, hasn’t your backup arrived yet?!"

"There are too many of them—I can’t hold them off at all!"

Mai roared into the microphone, somewhat losing his composure, but the woman’s voice on the other end remained incomparably cold.

"You don’t need to hold them off. Just play with them for a while~"

Jin Yue’an simply did not believe that someone like Mercenary Tao could have died silently in a mission world.

His stall had not disappeared, which meant that, according to the Space’s judgment, Mercenary Tao was definitely still alive. He simply had not returned due to some special circumstances.

She briefly instructed Mai to delay them as much as possible and prevent that group from finding the hotel where Mercenary Tao had been before entering the Space.

Otherwise, Mercenary Tao might return to the real world only to immediately face a siege from countless abilities and suffer an accident.

As for anything else—the survival of Paradise, whether this city would be destroyed, whether Mai would die—Jin Yue’an did not care in the slightest.

She sat in the hotel lobby and slowly removed her glasses. Her pupils immediately sharpened, her purplish-red eyes gleaming like crystals.

Beep, beep.

Another satellite phone rang. It was the phone Korea used specifically for emergency communications.

After she answered, a cool female voice spoke.

"Hold them back for half a day. I’ll bring people over."

Jin Yue’an was somewhat surprised. She had long noticed discordant voices within the March Group.

She had guessed that Li Qingzi’s relationship with Mercenary Tao was not as equal as outside rumors claimed.

Now that Mercenary Tao had met with misfortune, the other party had no intention of taking the opportunity to completely bring The Agency in Goryeo under her command.

She was even willing to risk coming here to fight?!

Jin Yue’an suddenly shifted sideways and hid beneath the window. Through the glass, she saw a young boy in the sky, his entire body seeming to have been cast from golden sand as he floated in midair.

Beneath the shroud of endless black clouds, a great sun formed from black flames hovered faintly behind his head.

"That is… Mahakala!"

Was the Great Sun of Finality trying to kill Mercenary Tao?!

The moment that thought arose in her mind, Mahakala in the sky lowered his head, his gaze locking onto Jin Yue’an’s position.

Whoosh!

Black flames exploded in the air. In the next instant, Jin Yue’an nimbly rolled backward, opening a distance of more than ten meters.

Inside the hotel lobby, pitch-black flames burned as a boy with dark golden skin stepped out from the fire.

He had already comprehended the divine power. Whenever others made all sorts of guesses about him, his Mind Reading could sense them as well.

Jin Yue’an lowered both hands, and powerful Nen Ability formed into two purple blades roughly forty centimeters long.

The polished marble floor of the lobby was immediately sliced open.

"Is that Psylocke’s mutant ability? It seems you are not without potential. Hmm… and a pair of Mystic Eyes as well. Those are…"

"Jewel Mystic Eyes with X-Ray Vision and Future Sight."

Jin Yue’an frowned deeply and forcibly composed herself. The other party clearly possessed some kind of mind-reading ability.

She had to use other thoughts to cover up that…

Mahakala watched with interest as the woman frantically filled her mind with all kinds of chaotic images, including quite a few naked fantasies that would probably have been highly enticing to others.

But he simply continued reading the woman’s deeper thoughts.

The human heart was sometimes very difficult to keep from wandering.

The more you wanted to hide something, the more conspicuous it became.

Mahakala smiled. Then, he suddenly saw Mercenary Tao’s face in the woman’s mind—not the red, twisted, grotesque appearance of his Avatar disguise in the Space.

It was a handsome young man with a slightly sinister air, his long hair seeming to move without wind behind him.

"You are very loyal to Mercenary Tao…"

He spread his hands, and black flames began blooming around them like lotuses. In almost an instant, they sealed off the hotel lobby.

"I admire your loyalty, woman. Join the Great Sun of Finality. I can make you a member of the team under my command."

"Do not try to cross these black flames. Your speed may be decent, but in a single instant, you will be burned into charcoal."

He clearly looked like a young boy, yet his words were impeccable. There was no great hostility in them, but neither did he seem easy to negotiate with.

Mahakala was also a powerful reincarnator who had held a title for so long that his original codename had gradually been forgotten, until the title itself became his codename.

As the first-ranked follower of the Great Sun of Finality, he had long been among the most elite reincarnators.

He was even stronger than Tang Sanzang, who had died in B711 World.

Jin Yue’an panted continuously before slowly withdrawing her Nen Ability. She had no chance against an enemy like this.

"Do not worry, woman. If Mercenary Tao is willing to join us, His Excellency will naturally give him an opportunity."

"In fact, His Excellency is willing to give Mercenary Tao the position of second-ranked follower."

Mahakala had made that decision on his own, but he believed that if Mercenary Tao truly accepted, His Excellency would certainly not object.

Mercenary Tao’s potential was beyond question. He was a rare talent any Supreme Expert would fight over.

Boom, boom!

Outside, explosions kept occurring throughout the various streets. That Worm capable of Teleportation was luring that fool Great Demon around, causing destruction everywhere.

Mahakala remained unmoved. He had already read the answer he wanted.

Mercenary Tao… was here!

Jin Yue’an sighed, lowering her head as though she had accepted Mahakala’s arrangement.

She slowly walked toward Mahakala, but Mahakala lowered his eyelids and sighed.

Jin Yue’an suddenly sprang into action. Her pupils lit up in an instant, and in that moment, Mahakala felt some force bind the space around his body, leaving him unable to move.

The purple light in the woman’s hand also surged in an instant, stabbing straight toward him.

Pfft!

Pain bloomed in Jin Yue’an’s chest. She watched as her blade clearly pierced Mahakala’s chest, yet it was she who had been pierced instead.

"Woman, even if you hid it well, the instant you attack, all your thoughts are exposed."

"And the most crucial point is that the gap in strength between us is like a chasm."

"Even if I pretended not to know your intentions, you still could not kill me."

Mahakala pressed his palms together, his expression compassionate. In the next instant, black flames erupted beneath Jin Yue’an’s feet.

At that very moment, Mahakala suddenly raised his head and looked toward the top of the lobby.

Boom!

The ceiling shattered, and intense Freezing Qi crashed down. In an instant, the entire lobby became a massive block of ice.

Yet Jin Yue’an had vanished.

Mahakala’s frozen eyes moved normally as he saw a pink robe fluttering in the wind beneath the sunlight outside the hotel.

Long black hair curled outward like great serpents.

Mercenary Tao had appeared.