At the very moment the Thorned Iron Chain inside William's body began to tremble,
the footsteps outside the meeting room stopped as well. After waiting for three seconds, the door was slowly pushed open.
William had expected a monk in black rubber clothing, with a hideous face, who had subjected every visible part of his body to brutal punishment and kept himself in a state of pain.
Yet the person who entered was a human,
with a slender build and a height of roughly 1.95 meters,
wearing a Leather Overcoat that combined a white coat with leather clothing. Its ring-shaped collar covered his mouth and nose, leaving only two unusual eyeballs exposed.
His pupils were no more than tiny black dots. Everything else was white.
His hair was still intact and quite thick, but it was entirely white... William did not know whether this was caused by disease or torture. One lock of his bangs hung between his eyes, swaying between the tall collar as he walked.
The moment this person stepped into the meeting room, his gaze met William's.
This was their first meeting, and William could be certain that this man had never appeared in Zion before.
"William. Y. Berens... right?"
William was startled. His additional middle name had been defined by the Old World when he completed his Path, yet this man had called it out directly.
"That's right. And you are?"
"Feodor Sergeyevich Asimov."
William immediately searched the name in the library of his mind. Yet after combing through every name related to Zion, including those recorded in the books he had read, he found nothing.
Before William could ask any further, the other man had already stepped forward.
"Because you fused with the chain outside the Monastery and indirectly caused the deaths of several monks,