Ten at night.
The sky was ink-black, a heavy, murky darkness that seemed to spin overhead, oppressive and dizzying.
Looking toward Night Spirit City from here, the clouds above it were piled frighteningly thick, and a blizzard was still raging.
Nights in the Refugee District were unsafe.
There were no rules here. It was even more chaotic than the camps in the Wilderness; by comparison, those camps were safer.
The only advantage this place might have over the camps was the regular exchange of resources with merchants from Night Spirit City, or the chance to provide cheap labor.
The wind howled, whipping scraps of paper and dust off the ground.
Duke Han Xi studied the young man. He wore a simple trench coat over a lean, wiry frame, with a sharply defined jaw and fathomless black eyes.
He frowned, seemingly impatient. "Since when were you qualified to speak to me? Forget it. Why am I still bothering with such things? I've already sent the password. In just twenty minutes, Night Spirit City will explode."
"Humans and gods alike."
"But you'll be going ahead of them."
"Let me tell you a secret. The supreme Five-Person Council once issued an execution order for you, but someone among them objected, so the order kept getting held up."
"I'm curious. What secrets are you hiding? That execution order was issued before you became Doctor Chen's test subject. It had nothing to do with the incident involving him."
Secrets?
Now wasn't the time to think about that. Stopping the password from being sent was the most urgent matter. Otherwise, everyone in Night Spirit City was doomed.
A battle-hardened Sequence 7? I've faced that woman from the Young Wives' Club before, but I wonder who's stronger-her or the noble standing before me.
Even if he was