Lex tilted his head back, poured the golden liquid from the glass into his mouth, and swallowed, feeling a line of fire extend from his esophagus all the way to his stomach.
He exhaled, dropped a few coins, stood up without a word, and was about to leave.
"Wait."
The Bartender quickly called out to him, "What are you doing?"
Lex spread his hands, "Of course, I'm going back to the hotel to sleep. Since you've lost the treasure map, it seems this mission is destined to fail. I might as well save my strength and go back to sleep early."
Siril, with brown hair and green eyes, said helplessly, "Listen to me, even though the treasure map is lost, I roughly know where to look for it."
"The White Bear Gang, the treasure map must be in their hands!"
White Bear Gang.
Lex recalled the Feysac strongmen he had seen at Champagne Manor yesterday, then looked at the Bartender, wanting him to explain.
Siril put down his glass and said, "Most of the habitual thieves and burglars in Grand Town deal with the White Bear Gang. They take the stolen goods to the White Bear Gang to exchange for money, and the White Bear Gang helps them sell it, of course, charging a certain 'handling fee'."
"So, if you can go to the White Bear Gang's lair, you should be able to find that treasure map there."
Lex straightened his back and smiled, "Then, where is the White Bear Gang's lair?"
…
The night was deep, and Lex appeared on 'Moon Boat Street' in Grand Town. This street was almost devoid of pedestrians, and the gas lamps along the roadside emitted a hazy yellow light.
Fine snowflakes drifted lightly from the night sky, landing on window sills, on treetops, on streetlights, accumulating into beautiful piles of silver-white.
Lex looked up at building No. 12 ahead. It was a three-story building, which, according to Siril, was a rental building for various tenants.
The White Bear Gang occupied the basement floor of the building, which was their fencing den and also their 'treasury'.
Lex briefly observed the building and noticed that a balcony door on the second floor was clearly not closed. He looked around, found no suspicious individuals, then climbed to the second floor and slipped in through the open balcony door.
Inside was an unoccupied room, very small and without furniture.
Opening the wooden door, he saw a corridor, at the end of which was the stairwell.
Lex came to the first floor and found the entrance to the basement. He took out the 'Sleep' Charm, infused it with spirituality, recited the corresponding Hermes words, and then threw the Charm down.
He clearly felt a 'sedative' power spreading down the stairs.
After a moment, Lex walked down the wooden stairs, quickly reaching the bottom. At the turn of the stairs, he saw a figure.
That should have been a guard of the White Bear Gang. He was lying on the ground, a revolver clutched in his hand, seemingly fast asleep.
Lex was about to pass by him when he suddenly felt something was wrong. He nudged the Feysac man with his foot, flipping him over. In the Light from the nearby gas lamp, Lex saw that the man was no longer breathing. His eyes were bulging, as if he had seen something terrifying.
Hoo.
A cold wind blew from ahead.
Lex gently exhaled, assessing his current condition. His shoulder was injured, and any movement of his arm would pull at the wound, causing stinging pain and inconvenience.
Perhaps I should withdraw. It seems someone has already gotten here first, and it might even be someone from the Secret Order.
Not knowing the number of opponents or their Sequence levels, rushing in would be unwise.
Once he made up his mind, Lex began to retreat, but before he could even reach the stairs, he heard a strange sound from not far down the corridor.
"Ho ho."
It sounded like someone was gasping for air. Soon, Lex saw a figure appear in the corridor.
It was a man, dressed in a suit, with his back to Lex.
He occasionally twisted his neck and moved his arms, all these actions making him emit strange 'click-clack' sounds, as if his body contained various parts that would make noise with every movement.
The man standing there made a 'ho ho' gasping sound, then he walked backward. As he walked, his head turned backward. He seemed to have no bones, his head actually twisted to face his back.
Suddenly, Lex saw a face covered in granulations, but with no eyes, no nose, and no mouth!
He gasped.
What kind of monster is this?
Or, is this an out-of-control Beyonder?
There was no extra time for Lex to think. The monster with no facial features and a granulated face suddenly quickened its pace and lunged at Lex.
Lex immediately raised Blood Praise and fired a shot at its head.
This Faceless Man did not even dodge, allowing Lex to hit him, allowing his head to explode, yet still facing away from Lex, he strangely and swiftly walked backward towards him.
His two arms twisted backward, reaching out to grab Lex's neck!
Boom!
Crimson flames erupted from Lex's feet, propelling him into the air. He did a backflip, passing over the Faceless Man's head.
During this process, he saw the Faceless Man's clothes open, revealing his chest and abdomen, where many mouths of various sizes grew.
Those things opened and closed, emitting 'ho ho' gasping sounds.
Landing on the ground, Lex pressed his hand against the floor, and the light in the corridor suddenly dimmed, as if a black veil had opened, 'enveloping' the space of the corridor.
Black Room!
As soon as this ability was released, the Faceless Man behind Lex immediately stopped moving. His Faceless head, twisted to his back, looked left and right.
Suddenly tearing off his sleeves, the Faceless Man's two arms successively opened up many eyes. These eyes, without eyelashes and with varying pupil colors, looked in different directions. Even as they swept over Lex, there was no reaction at all.
Lex seized the opportunity to shake his left hand, and a long whip of burning crimson flames emerged from his hand. This whip glowed brightly, emitting intense heat, its temperature significantly higher than before.
With a flick of the flaming whip, it whistled and struck the Faceless Man, sending out bursts of flames that split the out-of-control Beyonder in half.
The Faceless Man's body, 'torn' open, suddenly thinned, turning into shattered paper figures that burned to ashes.
A flame that landed near Lex suddenly flared up, and the Faceless Man leaped out of the flame. The many eyes on his two arms looked at Lex in unison.
He had already left the range of the Black Room, could see things again, and saw Lex!
He spread his arms, as if to embrace Lex.
His ten fingers sprouted granulations like 'bamboo shoots after rain'. Those granulations rapidly 'grew', turning into arms, which then grew hands.
These newly formed arms again sprouted granulations, and the granulations once again 'grew' into arms. After repeating this several times, a large net woven from hundreds of 'arms' descended upon Lex.