Another figure in a top hat and mask wound his way along the mountain path toward another room near the summit.
After entering, he glanced at the two corpses on the floor.
Both bodies had been pieced together from scraps of flesh. Their faces were no longer clear, but they were still faintly recognizable as Alexander Ivanov, First Vice President of the Lotus Cloud Merchants' Association, and Dmitri Ivanov, Minister of Armaments.
The man removed his mask, a trace of sorrow in his eyes. He was Jerry Warren, the Warren Family's highest-ranked member on the Tiger Cards.
He gazed silently at the two bodies, then two faint flames sprang from his palm and quietly settled over the mutilated remains on the floor.
Within moments, flesh and blood turned to ash.
With a casual wave of his hand, the ashes drifted as though guided into two urns he had prepared beforehand.
"Dealing with things after the battle delayed me a little. We've known one another for so many years. Your sudden departure has left me feeling terribly empty. I know you're still waiting along the road, so I hurried here to lay you to rest. I hope you can rest in peace."
With that, Jerry made the sign of the cross over his chest, then pressed his palms together in silent prayer.
[Earth Era, January 2, 2011] [Western Calendar, Sunday] [Xia Calendar, Gengyin Year, eleventh month, twenty-eighth day. Auspicious for ancestral rites; undertake nothing else.]
There had been little festive atmosphere in the Safe Zone on New Year's Day the day before.
Perhaps ordinary people and ordinary Sequence Ability Users had still celebrated at home, rejoicing that they had survived another year and eagerly welcoming the arrival of a new one.
But among those whose voices determined the mood