Messenger X Villa X Identity

Shattered Eye had not been gone long, but to Iron Wall and Gray Beak, the wait felt especially long.

It was as though time had slowed down.

When the door opened again, Shattered Eye slipped in sideways first, nodded to Jiang Ye, then tilted his head toward the doorway.

The next second, a figure followed him inside.

The man wore a gray cloth jacket, its sleeves rolled up to the middle of his forearms, exposing the lean bones of his wrists.

But when he crossed the threshold and saw the scene inside, he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Jiang Ye sat behind an old wooden table in the middle of the room, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded on the tabletop.

Iron Wall stood to his left and Gray Beak to his right, one on either side, their backs straight and their eyes fixed on the doorway.

Three pairs of eyes fell on the man at once, and an invisible pressure arose.

At the sight, the messenger's Adam's apple bobbed.

He could feel the weight of the gazes pressing in from both sides, their scrutiny undisguised.

The gaze from the center made cold sweat seep from his back in layer after layer.

The child sitting behind the table did not speak or even rise. He simply watched him in silence.

The messenger took a deep breath, suppressed the tightness in his chest, and stepped forward twice. He stopped three paces from the table and bowed slightly.

"Leader of the Rust Remains Alliance."

"Elder Grey wishes to see you."

He did his utmost to make his voice sound friendly.

But Jiang Ye did not answer.

His fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop twice. Tap, tap.

The sound was not loud, but it stood out in the quiet room.

The messenger waited a few seconds with his eyes lowered. When no response came, he could not help lifting his eyes to glance at Jiang Ye, then quickly lowered them again.

The expression on the child's face did not change. He showed neither surprise nor resistance.

He simply watched him expressionlessly, without the slightest sign of panic.

Another layer of sweat broke out on the messenger's back.

He had seen many people at Grey Elder's side.

Gang leaders summoned by Grey Elder, black-market merchants there to discuss business, scavengers pleading for mercy-but none of them had made him feel like he did now.

The shortest person in the room was sitting in a chair, yet he felt like he was the one being looked down upon.

He even had an absurd thought.

The pressure this child exuded was greater than Grey Elder's!

Just then, Jiang Ye's fingers finally stopped tapping.

"Let's go."

The two words eased the oppressive atmosphere for a moment.

The messenger was visibly taken aback by the answer.

He had prepared to be refused, questioned, and made things difficult for, and had even prepared a way to save his life if the other party attacked.

But he had not prepared for those words.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ye had already risen from his chair and walked around the corner of the table toward the door.

Iron Wall and Gray Beak both took half a step forward, only for Jiang Ye to raise a hand and stop them.

Iron Wall's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but Jiang Ye did not turn around.

He merely tilted his head and glanced at Iron Wall out of the corner of his eye.

That simple glance stopped Iron Wall in his tracks. He looked as though he wanted to speak, but ultimately chose not to.

He had seen that look in Jiang Ye's eyes before.

It was not a discussion or a request for opinions; he had already exercised his sole decision-making authority.

No one was allowed to question or oppose it!

Gray Beak, who understood this as well, silently stepped back to his original position.

Shattered Eye stood by the door, a complicated glint passing through his pale eyes, but he said nothing either.

Jiang Ye reached the doorway and turned his head to glance at the messenger, who was still standing there in a daze.

"Lead the way."

The messenger finally came to his senses and hurriedly turned toward the door, walking a little faster than he had on the way in.

Jiang Ye followed him out of the room, the daylight filtering through the gloomy clouds and falling on his shoulders.

They walked for about twenty minutes.

After passing through the scattered scrap heaps and makeshift shacks on the outskirts of the Rust Remains Alliance's camp and rounding two rows of abandoned shipping containers, the view suddenly opened up.

Before them was a cleared scavenging yard. The scrap on the ground had been scraped away, exposing a hard layer of grayish-white soil beneath.

A villa stood in the very center of the yard.

The villa was completely out of place among its surroundings.

Its exterior walls were painted a creamy white, its doors and windows framed in dark wood, and several potted green plants that were barely surviving sat along the edge of the second-floor balcony.

Under Meteor City's gloomy daylight, the building looked like a museum piece placed in a garbage heap: exquisite and clean, yet with an indescribable sense of incongruity.

Jiang Ye did not pay much attention to the villa's exterior.

What concerned him were the details along the way.

On the short, two-hundred-meter path from the edge of the scavenging yard to the villa's front entrance, he counted seven concealed guard posts.

Some were hidden behind scrap heaps, some crouched on overhead beams, and two stood in the shadow of the villa's porch.

Their collars matched, and they stood with disciplined posture, completely unlike the lax scavengers around them.

There was no need to think twice; they were surely Grey Elder's men.

Jiang Ye looked away without slowing his pace.

The messenger brought him to the villa's front entrance, where the iron gate was pulled open with a creak.

A man in a black uniform stood inside the gate and blocked Iron Wall and Gray Beak, who were following Jiang Ye, his face expressionless.

"The elder invited only him inside."

Iron Wall's brows drew sharply together.

He took half a step forward, his shoulders sinking slightly as he raised a thick arm.

Gray Beak also shifted a step to the side without a sound, his fingers hanging beside his leg, ready to fight at any moment.

The atmosphere grew tense in an instant, like a string that might snap at any moment.

Jiang Ye did not turn around.

He merely raised his right hand and gave a slight outward wave of his fingers.

Iron Wall stopped.

Gray Beak drew back his fingertips as well.

Jiang Ye stepped through the iron gate without looking back.

The man in the black uniform led the way, taking him into the villa's main hall before pushing open a heavy wooden door on the left and stepping aside.

Jiang Ye paused in silence for a moment, then went in.

The room was small, a reception room.

It had dark wooden furniture and half a glass of dark red liquid on the coffee table. Heavy curtains covered most of the window, letting grayish-white light through only a narrow gap.

The dim yellow light cast long shadows across the room.

Grey Elder sat in an armchair opposite the coffee table.

He wore a gray robe, and his graying hair was neatly combed back, revealing several deep wrinkles on his forehead.

His eyes were small, but exceptionally bright in the dim light, like two pieces of flint worn smooth by time.

A closer look showed that he was holding a wineglass, its rim resting against his lower lip, but he was not drinking.

Instead, he was looking at the child entering through the doorway, by the grayish-white light coming through the narrow gap in the window.

After Jiang Ye entered, he stopped by the door for a moment.

He watched Grey Elder, and Grey Elder watched him.

Time in the room seemed to have been paused.

Both men were scrutinizing, weighing, and probing each other.

Grey Elder spoke first, his voice carrying the hoarseness and composure unique to one in power.

"You're the scavenger who unified the Rust Bone Gang?"

He set down his wineglass, leaned back against the sofa, and looked the child before him up and down.

Jiang Ye did not rush to answer.

He took two steps forward, pulled out the chair opposite Grey Elder, and sat down.

Gazing at Grey Elder across from him, he wore the hint of a smile.

"Scavenger?"

"Heh, I wouldn't have held it against you if you'd called me a scavenger before."

"But now..."

He leaned back in his chair, his hands folded on the armrests, his posture identical to Grey Elder's.

"I've unified all of District 13."

"Tie Liao is dead, and so is Shu Mu. Their territory and people are all mine, brought together to form the Rust Remains Alliance."

He paused, looking into Grey Elder's unusually bright eyes as he spoke each word distinctly.

"So now... what should you call me?"