September 30th.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky turned dark.

On the rooftop of a high-rise hotel, Xiang Nan stood calmly, watching Yorknew City light up—neon signs flickering on one by one, traffic lights reflecting off the steady stream of cars below.

"Still no sign... Did I mess up the timing?"

He frowned inwardly.

He'd been convinced the intruder would appear here in Yorknew. But so far, the city had been quiet—almost unnaturally so. Not a single ripple.

Even after checking news from the other continents—still nothing. No trace. No activity. No anomalies.

What the hell's going on?

Just then, the door behind him creaked open.

Pariston walked up in his signature yellow pinstripe suit, the wind ruffling his long blond hair. He stepped up beside Xiang Nan, casually taking in the view.

"Nice night, huh?" he said with a slight smile.

Xiang Nan didn't respond.

"Man… Yorknew's a great city," Pariston continued. "I liked it the moment I arrived. No wonder you've stayed here so long."

He was clearly implying something more—subtle jabs layered beneath polite words. He was trying to provoke Xiang Nan.

It had been nearly a week. Cheadle Yorkshire's investigation for the Association was almost done.

Which meant this tension between Xiang Nan and Pariston was coming to a close.

And once the conclusion came down, Xiang Nan would have to honor his promise: go to the Association headquarters and apologize to Pariston. In front of everyone.

A pretty humiliating outcome—and one Xiang Nan brought on himself.

He was the one who deliberately manipulated Cheadle into focusing on Marco and the others, forcing them to stay in Yorknew. At first, Pariston had been ready to take the fall—to "confess," end the drama, and give the board and Chairman Netero an explanation. But that changed the moment he realized what kind of person Xiang Nan really was.

To Pariston, Yorknew was dangerous.

That was the conclusion he'd come to—probably because of Nameless Town and its secrets.

On day one, when he first saw Xiang Nan in Yorknew, Pariston had already wanted to shut the whole operation down. That way they could leave immediately and return to HQ.

But Xiang Nan saw through that. He made himself the bait—played innocent, pretended to bow his head—just to guide Cheadle's hyper-rational mind in the direction he wanted.

He knew exactly how her brain worked.

And by doing so, he blocked Pariston's "escape."

What Xiang Nan didn't realize… was that Pariston never actually planned to escape.

That whole "I should leave" act? Pure bait.

And just like he expected—Xiang Nan took it.

Now that the expected event hadn't happened, Xiang Nan had played himself.

"Tell me, Xiang Nan... do you enjoy lying?"

Pariston leaned against the railing. The breeze gently lifted his blond hair.

He stared at Xiang Nan's unreadable face and chuckled.

"That whole bit where you said you didn't hate me or dislike me—that was fake, wasn't it?

Your expression was flawless, but… I can still smell a lie on you."

His tone shifted mid-sentence. He was still smiling, but the warmth was gone.

He no longer sounded like the friendly, charismatic Vice Chairman everyone knew.

"Heh."

Xiang Nan let out a small laugh. He pulled a cigarette from his coat, lit it, took a slow drag.

"You're not as dumb as you look, I'll give you that."

"Oh? Thinking about surrendering already?" Pariston said mildly. "If so, that'd be a real letdown."

Then Xiang Nan's tone changed.

"You know about the other worlds, don't you?"

"You mean the Zaban City mess? Yeah… I've heard a little. From Marco and the others—Hunters from Nameless Town like you.

But the info's patchy. They definitely left things out. Feels like there's some kind of restriction. Like… if they say too much, something really bad happens."

Pariston didn't hide anything—he was being honest.

Right now, the two of them almost sounded like they were just having a normal conversation.

You'd never guess they were enemies.

"So… the Chairman knows too. And it's probably not even a secret to V5 anymore."

Xiang Nan nodded.

Pariston looked up at the dark sky.

"Your plan's not that complicated. Use the Association—use the Chairman—to drag me here.

Which means this city… must be where those mysterious guys are supposed to show up, right?

And since you're from Nameless Town, you're probably connected to them in some way.

Planning to sic them on me?"

"If you already figured it out, why say it out loud?" Xiang Nan replied, narrowing his eyes behind a puff of smoke. "Takes the fun out of it."

"Putting your hopes on something you don't control… big mistake.

Even as a Nameless Town guy, you clearly aren't calling all the shots.

Honestly, I'm kinda disappointed.

I wanted to see how far you'd go."

Pariston smiled.

"Wow, not even pretending anymore? Done with the whole innocent act?" Xiang Nan scoffed.

"I mean… for you Nameless folks, hiding your identity is pointless, right?

You already know who I really am.

Honestly, I thought you'd tell the old man about my connection to Beyond."

His eyes sharpened—bloodlust flickered in them.

"You came here to mock me. To piss me off.

Using your knowledge about Nameless Town to try and shame me—make me hate you even more.

Like if I didn't hate you, you'd be disappointed.

A normal person would avoid you or just ignore you entirely.

But me?

I'm gonna kill you."

"Unless something goes completely off-script, we're headed back to HQ tomorrow morning," Pariston said coldly.

"And you're not touching me. I'm the Vice Chairman. You're still an Association member.

As long as I'm in the Association, you'll always be my little toy."

His voice was sinister now. It oozed threat. It was psychological warfare.

And he knew Xiang Nan couldn't stand it.

Just like when Xiang Nan slaughtered Margo and the others—it didn't take much to push him over the edge.

"Heh."

But Xiang Nan just grinned, flicked his cigarette to the ground, and crushed it with his heel.

He leaned in, closing the distance between them, smirking.

"Quit the act.

You want me to kill you.

That's your whole plan, isn't it?"

"You're insane. Willing to sacrifice yourself just to trap Netero."

"I'm just a pawn to you—a means to drag the Association into chaos. Padokea, Kakin, V5… I've known all along. You picking a fight with me had nothing to do with me. It's always been about the old man. You're disgusting."

If Pariston's plan actually worked, it wouldn't just take down Netero and the Association.

It'd blow up Padokea and V5 too.

Not just killing two birds with one stone—this was total wipeout.

Xiang Nan snorted and turned to leave.

Behind him, Pariston's dark energy faded again—back to his cheerful, sunny exterior.

But his eyes trembled slightly.

He hadn't expected Xiang Nan to read the game this clearly.

With his back turned, Xiang Nan said calmly:

"We're both playing this with our cards on the table, so cut the crap. You're in the game because I let you in… and I'm gonna make sure you enjoy it."

"Heh heh…"

Behind him, Pariston chuckled quietly, smiling once more.