In the dead of night, Luqi returned to his doorstep, took out his key, and began to unlock the door.

He did not notice that under the eaves above him, a mosquito was quietly perched there.

And a pair of eyes, through this mosquito, were silently observing Luqi's every move.

Luqi lived in a residential area for commoners, and in another corner of this area, Naya was sitting in a room quietly watching Luqi's actions.

This house belonged to Pries personally, and it was just right for this task.

Although Luqi lived in the commoner district, the furniture and decorations in his home were extraordinarily luxurious.

Even a random chair from his home would sell for hundreds of Gold Coins on the market, something ordinary people cannot afford.

If Luqi did not want to draw too much attention, he would have moved to the wealthy district long ago.

But that would be too conspicuous; he needed to keep a low profile, so he had to rely on the luxurious interior decor to satisfy himself.

Luqi took out the wooden carvings from the Space Ring one by one and placed them on the table.

He took out a pristine towel and meticulously wiped these wood carvings, ensuring every speck of dust was cleaned away.

Under the roof, Naya watched these wood carvings through the mosquito, recorded all this information, and sent it to Pries.

On Pries' side, he was constantly reviewing the feedback reports from various subordinates, assessing the action plans.

Herag stayed at the inn; he had already seen two or three people lurking stealthily around, their target seeming to be Max.

Another person transformed into a shadow, blending completely into the night, swiftly entering the residence where Max was.

Herag kept a close eye on Max, noticing that he was solely focused on carving with a carving knife, completely unaware of the intruder's entry.

That person concealed their presence perfectly; if not for Herag's environment detection through Shenlan, it would have been difficult to notice.

Shaq, upon entering the house, did not get too close to Max but instead quickly examined the situation inside the house.

He scanned the first and second floors before discovering a small attic on the third floor and noticed the Magic Lock on the door and the unknown Witch Array behind it.

Shaq was unsure of the Witch Array's specific effects, so he dared not approach it for investigation, simply noting the situation down.

He glanced at Max, who was deeply focused on carving, and didn't linger long, choosing to leave immediately.

Shaq's purpose on this trip was to investigate, and any unnecessary actions were to be avoided to not complicate matters.

...

The City Hall, inside Serlandir's building.

Pries looked at the parchment in his hand, which was filled with reports from various subordinates.

He reviewed these reports; there were no major issues, and preparations were almost complete.

Pries glanced at the busy people in the room and waved his hand: "Commence the operation."

A group of people instantly vanished from the room, and the previously noisy office turned silent in an instant.

Kawat Commercial District.

Max sat on the ground, dedicatedly carving a sunflower.

The hand holding the carving knife was very steady; each cut was extremely precise and just right.

The once plain piece of log was slowly taking the shape of a sunflower.

After carving out the general form, the next task was to engrave the details.

This was a task that required much patience, but Max was always very patient.

He took the carving knife and began to slowly outline the petals of the sunflower.

Everything was progressing smoothly until suddenly, a deviation occurred in his carving, causing one cut to go astray.

This deviation essentially nullified all the previous work.

This is the tricky part of carving; the further along you go, the more cautious you need to be, as even a slight deviation can result in wasted effort.

Although it could be repaired and corrected, Max always pursued perfection.

Especially with his carving works.

In the past, Max would have simply wrapped up, found another suitable piece of wood, and started anew.

But this time, there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"I was clearly very focused on this cut, so mistakes shouldn't have occurred. Why… could it be that the Gods are trying to convey some message?"

The intuition of a Wizard tends to be very sharp, and Max, as a Level 1 Liquidation Wizard, naturally possessed sharp intuition.

He had an ominous feeling lurking in his heart, but upon reviewing recent events, he found nothing unusual.

Max believed that his slip was likely a warning from the Gods.

He always trusted the Gods, and since they offered a hint, he felt he had to take some action.

Max, although uncertain about the source of his unease, knew he couldn't just sit and wait.

Staying here would probably lead to trouble; his immediate priority was to leave quickly.

Max set down the carving knife, standing up, ready to leave immediately, not bothering to pack anything.

He was a man of action, doing what he wanted without hesitation.

However, just as he prepared to open the door and leave, a strong surge of Magic Power rippled around him.

Max's heart instantly raced, and he immediately realized something was amiss. Instinctively, he glanced toward the direction of the small attic.

He was about to use his will to activate the Witch Array in the attic, intending to reduce the entire three-story building to ashes.

Just then, darkness enveloped his vision, and he fell into unconsciousness.

Pries appeared behind Max, holding a gray-white translucent chain, which was inserted into Max's body from the back of his neck.

Pries gave the chain a slight pull, and a gray-white Spirit Body was extracted from Max's body.

"Lucky I was decisive enough, or you might have succeeded."

The chain in Pries's hand was binding Max's soul, which was now in a slumbering state.

Until Pries decided to awaken him, Max would remain asleep in darkness.

Meanwhile, outside the small building, a huge golden pillar of light enveloped the entire three-story residence.

The earlier Magic Power surge originated from this Witch Array, effectively preventing any combat fluctuations from affecting the surrounding buildings and residents.

Pries appeared behind Max almost simultaneously with the activation of the Witch Array.

The chain in his hand was a piece of Necromancy Witchcraft Artifacts, directly binding Max's soul.

Once the soul was extracted, it wasn't easy to return it, and Pries didn't plan on letting Max's soul return to his body.

According to the information Naya obtained, the wooden carvings in Luqi's possession were all objects that could seduce and manipulate minds, tools used by Abyssal Cultists to recruit members.

Luqi had already been captured by this time, and under the Wizard's techniques, he'd confessed everything.

Those snake-headed wooden carvings were also cut open, and indeed a kind of red worm was found inside.

With this, the crimes of Max and Luqi were thoroughly confirmed.

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