When the cloth gag was removed from his mouth, he was on the verge of tears.

Ethan learned that he was also an investigator for the Reception Bureau, a colleague of the person who died on the execution platform. Not long ago, one day Wilson's men suddenly found them, under the pretense of investigating the "Red Death", deceived them into coming here, and after that, it was endless torture and execution.

Although Aisoke's death had nothing to do with them, and even though they confessed everything, the brutal Wilson still refused to let them go.

He watched with his own eyes as his colleague was tortured to death. While he was still alive, Wilson cut off his limbs and used a red-hot iron to roast every inch of his skin. As for another worker from Fireplace Bay, after confessing everything, was stuffed into an iron maiden, never to make a sound again.

Wilson had gone mad.

No one had expected him to be a follower of the Evil God.

The investigator trembled uncontrollably as he spoke, constantly glancing at the shattered "puzzle" on the ground, as if to confirm whether the brutal demon Wilson was really dead.

Soon after, Rattlesnake burst in, and after understanding the investigator's situation, only uttered, "I'll handle the clean-up work."

This was part of her daily routine.

Every day in the past, as Flor's secretary, she had countless clean-up tasks to handle, and she had long since become adept at it.

She told Ethan to return to the consortium's base to rest for a day; she would take care of the voting work.

...

For the followers of Sincaro, it was a completely disastrous day.

As night descended, the consortium's high-level officials learned a shocking piece of news—Wilson was dead.

Truly dead, never awakening from the Pool of Rebirth, his soul scattered.

The voting time was also moved forward.

Recently behaving erratically, Flor finally emerged from the temple; he was the one who advanced the voting time. Although he looked somewhat haggard, he seemed to have recovered significantly.

He claimed to have heard the Lord's oracle in the temple.

Protect Rattlesnake.

More importantly, make Heisenberg participate in the ritual.

Upon hearing this news, the consortium high-level officials all furrowed their brows.

"How do we know if you're making this up?"

Someone voiced doubt.

They were still unwilling to trust a god-chosen one who had behaved like a madman after the failure of the Ophira incident. Such a thing had never happened before; every time before a ritual, many candidates' lists would emerge among Sincaro's followers, and even Flor himself had experienced this tradition.

Compared to their neighboring followers' one-sided selection, they had a more advanced voting system.

This time, however, the Master suddenly designated a name, and that person wasn't even a real follower!

"I'm just conveying the Master's order."

To the consortium high-level officials' questioning, Flor couldn't be bothered to explain, "You can gamble on whether I'm lying."

Upon hearing this, the meeting room fell silent.

This was a gamble with life at stake.

If Flor fabricated the Master's orders, he would inevitably face the harshest punishment. Similarly, if they ignored the Master's order and ended up electing an unrelated candidate, each one of them would face severe consequences.

The key was whether the risk was worth betting on for them.

The high-level officials looked at each other.

——Not worth it.

They saw the obvious answer in each other's eyes. In their opinion, Flor had no more cards to play. Once the ritual ended, a new god-chosen one would replace him. After losing his position as the consortium's leader, Flor would have to take responsibility for the failure of Ophira.

The restructuring of the Deep Sea Council had rendered their past "investment" futile, and many industries had now been directly expelled from the Western Continent. The economic losses had become immeasurable, and someone had to be held accountable.

They were all waiting for this moment to come.

"In that case, the result of the meeting is quite simple."

Rattlesnake said expectantly; she hadn't anticipated Flor's sudden change. She didn't even need to speak at tonight's meeting; from the helpless glances of others, she could guess the result of the vote, "Those who oppose Heisenberg as the candidate, please raise your hand."

The meeting room remained silent.

Only one person raised their hand halfway, but after seeing no one else respond, they resentfully pulled it back.

"Then, according to the meeting vote result, Heisenberg will serve as the candidate."

Rattlesnake announced the meeting result.

The unstable factor Wilson was dead, and Ethan had become the new candidate.

Things were progressing according to her plan, yet she couldn't feel happy. Based on her past experience, when things were progressing too smoothly, it often meant impending danger.

Where exactly had something gone wrong?

Leaving the meeting room, Rattlesnake was deep in thought.

Suddenly, she sensed something unusual, forcibly changed her route, and headed towards her mansion.

It was the safest place in Upper City—she had told Ethan so, and thus decided it was the most prudent to temporarily shelter the Reception Bureau investigator in her mansion. At this critical juncture, no one would break into her mansion looking for someone, not to mention everyone's attention was now on the ritual and Heisenberg, and no one would waste their time on an insignificant investigator.

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