"Glug, glug..."
Bubbles rose from the broken opening in the wall and vanished as they entered the amber beam.
Amid heavy breathing, the beam wavered, and even its glow seemed to dim.
Xia Lun reached up to adjust a clasp on his chest harness, steadying the lamp.
"Why are you so sure Roman wrote the first appendix as a news release?" he asked as he worked.
"I know her reporting style. She likes using the first person in her examples to draw readers in," Carson answered at once. "And she uses the line 'another noble soul has fallen victim to the Blue Wilderness Company's ambitions' in practically every report."
"Fuck," Manhunter swore. "That bastard Roman really has been hiding something from us. Traitors are worse than corporate lapdogs."
"She might not even be human." Carson's voice darkened. "According to this Secret Document, Code 18 definitely isn't the Wheel of Moxie. Damn it, she played me!"
"Then what is Code 18?" Manhunter looked at Xia Lun, bewildered. "Sir, you're the wisest one here. The more I read that cryptic document, the more confused I get."
Xia Lun considered it for a moment but did not answer right away.
The Secret Document contradicted itself, even explicitly overturning its earlier conclusions later on. Broadly speaking, though, Code 18 was one of four things: an individual capable of bending reality through sheer will, a Secret Art Scholar, an evil spirit, or a supernatural phenomenon.
Whatever Code 18 was, confronting it head-on certainly did not fit his guiding principle of keeping a low profile and doing the bare minimum. After all, Code 18 might even be bait laid by a Secret Art Scholar.
With that in mind, Xia Lun said decisively, "I don't know either."
"Whatever Code 18 is, I'm sure you're the key to