Entrance, Illusion Clad! Thanks to Alliance Master Overly Gentle for the Generous Reward

The pitch-black night set off the city's splendor high above a five-star hotel in downtown Calgary.

In the magnificent, brightly lit hall, tables draped in white cloth were laden with fine wines. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows lay the city's dazzling prosperity, while elegantly dressed figures conversed.

Symbols of wealth, status, and power converged, weaving together the Energy Domain's premier gathering of the night!

And at the center of the venue, among the highest echelon everyone present looked up to—

"What a pleasant surprise. I'm very glad to see you here tonight. I thought you certainly wouldn't accept an invitation like this."

Sitting on an expensive pure-white sofa, wearing an arrogant social smile with an irritating air of hypocrisy, Mephisto fixed him with a burning gaze.

"Come to think of it, the first time I met you was at a reception like this."

"Sir Andre."

Seated across from him, Andre's expression darkened at those words.

Sharp and capable enough to become the top executive of Future Conglomerate's subsidiaries, Mephisto naturally had not been an unknown figure in the Energy Domain before this.

Over his decades-long career, Andre had met him long before he had climbed this high.

But what made his expression grim now was not that a former junior had risen to stand on equal footing with him.

It was—

"By the way, Sir Andre, what brings you all the way from Houston?"

Mephisto spoke with a smile, his eyes carrying the seemingly ignorant concern and curiosity of someone who knew nothing.

"As far as I know, the situation at Essenkefmei's branch here shouldn't warrant a special trip from you."

He knew perfectly well and was asking anyway!

Hearing Mephisto say that, Andre's brows drew tightly together.

He had set aside his busy official duties and come to Calgary because