Beep, beep, beep!
Arthur, the man who had brought him in, picked up his phone and listened in silence for a while.
"I understand."
He sighed, left the room, and made his way to a vast, imposing conference hall.
It was a venue for large assemblies, with seats for thousands. Its layout resembled an enormous movie theater.
The entire hall was dark.
Only a few lamps shone over the front row before the dais.
Seven or eight Returners sat or stood there, talking quietly.
Sage Harper still wore his crisp white suit. Holding a drink and clenching a cigar between his teeth, he waved to Arthur from afar.
Arthur walked over with a gentle smile plastered on his face.
"Are you discussing how to punish him?"
"No," Harper said mildly. "We're discussing whether he has a certain ability."
"What ability?"
"To teleport the entire Returners' Alliance fortress into space."
“That's taking things too far, haha.” Arthur laughed.
Harper set down his cigar, lowered his gaze to the wine swirling in his glass, and spoke slowly.
“Old Arthur, everyone knows your perception is the strongest. Only you can detect unusual dimensional fluctuations across the globe and bring Returners here.”
“So we still need you to explain what happened. After all, this concerns the entire Alliance. Don't you agree?”
Seeing how Harper had put it, and how grave everyone looked, Arthur could only sigh.
“Henry did violate the Protection System. He slipped through the protective barriers and went to threaten Xu Yuan.”
"And then?"
“Hell, those were Alliance barriers. Henry is a Treasure Hunter; he can worm his way through them. I can't.”
“Has Henry come out?”
"No. He never came out."
No one spoke, but the mood shifted.
"All right. Has Xu Yuan ever killed anyone before?" Harper asked.
“Before this,