Chapter 598: Have You Seen Him?

    T-Ten minutes?!

    Jin Jiuchi gaped, utterly flabbergasted. Where did this warning even come from?? He was so taken aback by the sudden turn of events that he forgot he was currently in a brawl with the Divine Oracle— or a one-sided beating, to be exact.

    But the second ranked player was not to be underestimated.

    Among the top 100 players on the leaderboard, he was legit the one with the most experience in challenging high-level Cycles. As soon as this warning was issued, before anyone could even react, he sprang up like an agile carp as though Jin Jiuchi’s punches did nothing but tickle him. And in an instant, their roles were reversed with Jin Jiuchi being the one slammed to the ground!

    "—Ohok!" Jin Jiuchi choked on his own saliva, his vision distorting for a split second as his left eyeball bounced out of the socket.

    And the more unnerving thing was, Noir had not lied to him; the cybernetic eye was still working perfectly fine, providing him a clear image where he saw himself sprawled on the ground with the oracle looming above him. The same scene was transmitted to him through two different perspectives, leaving him so dizzy that he couldn’t help but retch.

    Even then, he did not forget to reach out for the eyeball that had rolled somewhere far away, howling in deep anguish, "My eye... MY BEAUTIFUL EYE—!"

    "Oh dear!" XXX gasped in mock surprise. "Sorry for that, I didn’t do it on purpose!"

    Prince Kaivia, who witnessed this scene, was so excited that his breath turned frenetic. He kept shouting from the sidelines despite being out of breath, cheering for the sea witch, "Get him! Tear him apart limb by limb!"

    The warning from the notice tutorial vanished as suddenly as it appeared, leaving Noir momentarily stunned. In an instant, he figured out that the native should be referring to the young siren, who was the only non-player in the room.

    However, there was no further instruction on how they should proceed nor were there options to guide them down the storyline as if the tutorial, too, was rendered speechless by the sudden chaos.

    And so, Noir did the only thing he could do. In a blur of motion—so swift it almost looked like he was teleporting—he moved behind the young siren. By the time Kaivia sensed the looming danger, it was already too late. The back of his neck was accurately pinched and he lost consciousness in an instant, becoming a pale and limp fish.

    —This was the scene Master Nasser and the guards saw when they barged into the storage room.

    Nasser’s sharp eyes swept over the chaotic scene, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. But as the ruler who had reigned over the land territory for decades, his mind worked quickly as he put two and two together. Without hesitation, he ordered the guards behind him to detain the only suspicious figure in the room.

    "Catch him!" he commanded, pointing at the Divine Oracle.

    XXX gave a spectacular performance worthy of the cunning sea witch. He knocked down half of the guards and nearly slipped away, only pretending to struggle when Noir took action.

    The two’s gazes collided in midair, reaching a mutual understanding without a word.

    In the next moment, they lunged at each other in a ferocious ’life-and-death battle’, their movements so fast that they nearly blurred into afterimages. It was a battle that left everyone in awe, and in the end, the Eldest Young Master managed to take the cloaked figure down with much difficulty.

    By then, his body had retained a few large gashes from the other’s razor-sharp claws, yet not even a single drop of blood was spilled. What the sea witch had torn was only his organic skin, while his entire body had been wholly forged from iron and steel. Mere sharp claws were no longer enough to hurt him.

    He was the Eldest Young Master, a breathing and living arsenal, and also his father’s greatest masterpiece.

    Alas, it was apparent that Master Nasser was not pleased with his eldest son’s performance, for his thick brows gathered into a disapproving frown. But not wanting to speak harshly in the presence of outsiders, he could only restrain himself for the time being and shifted his attention to the cloaked figure instead.

    "Who is this?" he asked in a low voice.

    With nary a change in his expression, Noir replied, "I do not know." Truth to be told, he already had a hunch on the other person’s identity, but he deliberately said this for fear of what Nasser would do once he found out. With the young siren unconscious and Jin Jiuchi groaning and moaning on the ground, no one could provide a clear answer and thus his statement became the most credible. "I suspect he’s a siren who has slipped in to rescue one of his kind. Father, leave him to me. I will make sure to interrogate him properly."

    Nasser tightened his lips, clearly dissatisfied with the answer. But fortunately, he did not ask another question and simply handed the cloaked figure over to Noir. "What about your brother?"

    "The sequelae is acting up," he stated, successfully diverting the other person’s attention. How convenient it was to pin all of his irrational behavior on the so-called sequelae. Noir couldn’t help but scoff internally. This bastard really got off too easily.

    Noir didn’t bother staying to watch Nasser deal with the aftermath. Instead, he opted to leave directly. The crisis had been momentarily solved and he saw no other reason to linger. The only trouble that could crop up was Jin Jiuchi carelessly running his mouth off and drawing unwarranted suspicion from their cheap father, but that was not Noir’s problem to solve.

    He had a more important matter to investigate.

    Carrying the ’unconscious’ sea witch as easily as a weightless doll, Noir made his way to the elevator capsule.

    This research facility had a dungeon that was used to confine experimental subjects, and due to the high confidentiality, the area was not equipped with monitoring cameras, making it the perfect location for a secret conversation. It was also the most suitable location to detain a suspicious siren. Even if Master Nasser were to investigate, he wouldn’t have anything to pick on.

    Noir had everything thought out well.

    Giving a faint nod to the guards stationed outside, he stepped into the dungeon.

    Rather than a dimly lit basement with brick walls, what met him was a sterile room illuminated by blue ceiling lights. On either side of him were... metal cages where various unidentifiable creatures were locked up, hissing and growling defensively when they sensed the presence of the newcomers.

    But Noir paid them no heed, his calm gaze fixed straight ahead. He chose a relatively large cage that resembled a prison cell and placed the other person inside.

    After making sure that no one was in the vicinity, he said in a low voice, "You can wake up now, it’s safe."

    The motionless Divine Oracle peeked one eye open before stretching his body and pushing himself into a sitting position. "Oh my, oh my..." he rolled his shoulder with a muffled groan. "My entire body is so sore. JJ sure is merciless. By the way, can you give me a bucket of water? I’m a little thirsty."

    Without a word, Noir turned away and returned a moment later with a huge basin of water.

    XXX didn’t hesitate to pour the water over his own body despite claiming that he was thirsty. Soaked from head to toe, he tossed the basin aside and relaxed his body against the cage, a blissful sigh slipping out of his mouth, "Ah, I’m alive again! God knows how confused I was when I was suddenly summoned— so much for wanting to lie down until the end!"

    Noir didn’t beat around the bush. "You’re the sea witch?" he asked to confirm.

    What welcomed him was a playful arc of the other person’s lips. It was unknown what the cloak was made of, but despite all their maneuvers earlier, the sea witch’s hood remained on, firmly concealing his face from sight. And now that the fabric was drenched, it stuck to his head and body, revealing nothing more than a glimpse of pale-colored lips and sharp chin.

    "Don’t you already know the answer?" The oracle teased, but Noir was not deterred and continued asking,

    "Have you been under the sea all this time?"

    "Yep, more or less."

    Noir did not press the man to elaborate what he meant by ’more or less’. After hearing the answer, he lowered his gaze in thought.

    "An Elite player, male, ranked 37th, nicknamed... Xinxin," he blurted out this string of words out of nowhere before inquiring with a faint exhale, "Have you seen him there?"