The timeline returned to the day Vivian was captured by Tiandao.
Night, the core district of the Steam Capital, inside a hidden villa.
Under the dim yellow glow of the chandelier, Andromeda, Scorpio, and Hydra—three Hidden Star Society Executives—each occupied a corner of the hall.
Unlike their usual selves, when they wore masks to conceal their true faces.
Today, their faces were exposed to the air, as though they had shed one layer of disguise, only to put on even deeper shackles.
Scorpio swirled the wineglass in his hand, the crimson liquid tracing bewitching arcs along the crystal walls.
This dignified, luxurious middle-aged man had his brows tightly furrowed. The Gear Emblem on his chest, symbolizing one of the Steam Capital's Twelve Brass Nobles, gleamed coldly beneath the lights.
In stark contrast to Scorpio's aristocratic bearing.
Hydra, Tarn, though dressed in a proper suit, had a round, bulging middle-aged beer belly, and the way he wolfed down steak at this very moment.
Made him look exactly like a starving ghost from the Lower City who had never tasted anything good—utterly crude.
Yet interestingly, as piece after piece of bloody steak disappeared into his stomach, the crisscrossing bruises on his face began fading at a visible rate.
"Hydra, did that Calamity from the Martial Arts Heavenly Capital really fail to see through your identity?"
Scorpio's voice was the first to break the silence in the hall.
At those words, Hydra, who sat nearby at the dining table greedily devouring steak, raised his head.
"Don't worry."
His mouth stuffed full of beef, Hydra waved a greasy hand.
"When it comes to concealing my aura, I'm among the best of the Executives. At most, that one noticed I was deliberately hiding my strength."
"But there's no way they could have seen through my