"But..." Bruno's voice gradually faded, until it was silent.

Elise's lifeless eyes suddenly sparked with light. She quickly looked up, her gaze full of pleading.

"I beg you, for my mother, I'll do anything."

It was only when Bruno heard Elise's words that he gave a satisfied nod.

It was impossible to completely cancel Elise's debt, but giving her a few extra days wasn't out of the question.

Everything he had done up until now was just to shake Elise's mindset. Only then could he achieve his goal perfectly.

The Fire of Prometheus—from the myths Bruno knew, it was the Heavenly Fire that the Titan Prometheus stole from Mount Olympus, defying the god-king Zeus's command.

Although Bruno didn't fully understand the power of the Heavenly Fire, one thing was certain: it was a priceless treasure!

The God-King Cult, who followed Zeus, and the Unextinguished Heart, which contained the Fire of Prometheus...

The gods and artifacts from these myths made Bruno both long for them and feel a hint of danger.

As he pondered, he gently patted his thigh. Elise bit her lip and slowly stood up, her head lowered as she sat on his lap. She clasped her hands together, as if to cover the little dignity she had left.

A faint fragrance drifted from Elise's hair, intoxicatingly sweet.

Bruno chuckled softly and said, "Why are you sitting here? I just have an itch on my leg, just patting it."

Elise's face instantly turned red, losing the coldness from their first meeting. She took a deep breath and quickly moved to the seat beside him, like she was escaping.

"The man outside, who is he exactly?" Bruno asked.

After a long pause, Elise finally replied, "I don't know. All I know is that he's an agent of Bar 19, with some considerable backing."

Bar 19 was the underground intelligence exchange center in Sunset City. It was also a place where assassination contracts, bounty missions, and even certain forbidden goods were occasionally sold—things like alchemical firearms, bullets, powerful alchemical bombs, and many items that only nobles could possess.

"Things only nobles can possess?" Bruno recalled the noble identity he had traded away.

Elise nodded and said, "Special weapons, Celestial Beast meat, Celestial Beast blood, even Celestial Beast hearts, things that can enhance one's cultivation speed."

"You should have some Celestial Beast meat at your dojo as well," Bruno said, nodding. The Celestial Beast meat could reduce the cooldown of the Book of All Things, which was crucial for him.

"Aside from Sunset University and Gaston Martial Arts School, the only other people who can legally acquire these things are a few Viscounts under the Stanford Count," Elise continued.

"Lower-ranking nobles and commoners, no matter how rich they are, don't have the right to purchase them," she added slowly.

Damn, the things needed by Book of All Things were so rare that even Barons didn't have the privilege to buy them?

Luckily, he was now a disciple of Nell Gaston. Buying these things shouldn't be an issue anymore.

Since the Book of All Things wasn't off cooldown yet, Bruno couldn't make the deal with Elise right away. So, he didn't linger and, after exchanging contact information with Elise, he planned to leave.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the private room, Bruno noticed that there seemed to be more people in the bar now.

When he passed by the bar counter, the bartender, known as Black Eye, was wiping a glass. He looked up and smiled at Bruno.

"Welcome back next time, Mr. Hornes."

Bruno froze and quickly turned his head to look at the bartender.

He hadn't revealed any information about himself in front of this bartender, so how did the man know his last name?

Black Eye smiled again, then slowly lowered his gaze to the alchemical tools on the counter.

His pitch-black eyes reflected a blurry photo, and Bruno's pupils instantly contracted.

It was his photo!

Thinking back to what Elise had said earlier about Bar 19 frequently posting assassination and bounty missions, Bruno quickly recalled the Executioner that Agatha had wanted to abduct.

It seemed that the Executioner had been released, and then passed on Bruno's information to Tarnison of the Heavenly Gang.

"After investigating my information, they found out about my relationship with Nell Gaston. They didn't dare act recklessly, so they chose to post an assassination mission?" Bruno exhaled slowly.

It seemed his decision back then had been correct—before his strength grew, aligning himself with Nell had been the wisest move, especially in the face of the 7th stage Warlock-Warrior Tarnison.

But now, how could he safely leave here?

Bruno's first thought was to find a place to leave using his Bolantie identity, but he quickly dismissed that idea.

Since the Heavenly Gang had already targeted Agatha, Bolantie's identity must have been exposed.

"The cocktail earlier was quite good. Make me a Bloody Mary this time," Bruno said, sitting down at the bar.

Elise looked at Bruno with a puzzled expression. Just moments ago in the private room, Bruno hadn't drunk a single drop of alcohol.

"You're too kind, please wait a moment," Black Eye said with a smile as he began preparing the drink.

Soon, a perfectly made Bloody Mary appeared in front of Bruno. However, he didn't pick it up to taste it. Instead, he spoke up.

"I'd like to buy some information."

Black Eye shook his head and replied regretfully, "Sorry, the information you want to buy doesn't follow Bar 19's rules."

"Customer privacy cannot be disclosed easily, but... you can take on a task..." he added.

Bruno nodded. Black Eye pushed a set of alchemical tools toward him.

[Bruno Horn, Male, 16 years old, 2nd stage Warlock-Warrior, Disciple of Nell Gaston, Master of the Perfect Tiger-Wolf Combat Technique, High Rank Meditation Technique.]

[Task Reward: 2000 Gold Coins, 200g Celestial Beast Blood.]

[Current Acceptors: 3.]

Looking at the assassination task details, Bruno quietly exhaled in relief. Only three people had taken the task, which was good news for him. After all, not everyone dared to oppose Nell Gaston.

However, this also meant that the assassins willing to take the task were definitely not simple.

"200g of Celestial Beast blood—does that price seem high?" Bruno asked, looking at Black Eye.

Black Eye took back the alchemical tools and replied, "It's worth about 6000 gold coins. Compared to your identity, the reward does seem a bit low."

How much?

6000 gold coins?

1g of Celestial Beast blood was worth 30 gold coins!

A whole piece of Celestial Beast meat at the dojo only cost a little over twenty gold coins.

Without realizing it, he had gone from a down-and-out small noble to a "hot commodity" worth 8000 gold coins.

"Do you have any Celestial Beast blood?" Bruno asked, wanting to test what effect the 30 gold coins per gram of Celestial Beast blood would have on the Book of All Things.

Unfortunately, Black Eye explained that Celestial Beast blood was far more valuable than Celestial Beast meat. Whenever it became available, it would be snatched up by Warlock-Warriors. Bar 19 didn't have any excess Celestial Beast blood.

Bruno picked up the Bloody Mary in front of him and drank it in one go.

Just as he was about to pull out some gold coins to settle the bill, he heard Black Eye's voice.

"This one's on me, Mr. Hornes. You'd better head back soon."

Bruno agreed with that thought. The assassination task had probably just been posted, and not many had accepted it yet.

But as he reached the door, he pulled out his communicator and contacted Elena. He needed to talk to her about Elise's request for a debt extension as well.

Meanwhile, inside the bar, Black Eye's expression suddenly became tense. He hurriedly called out to Bruno.

"Mr. Hornes? Are you waiting for someone?"

Bruno waved the communicator in his hand and replied calmly, "I'm waiting for Elena."

Immediately, Black Eye's tense expression eased a little, but he still sighed heavily before forcing a smile and heading toward the bar's backroom.

Once inside the backroom, Black Eye's first action was to extend his hand and call over a staff member. He quickly gave orders, "Tell everyone to move the important items in the bar to the warehouse."

"Remember, no matter what happens later, don't act impulsively."

...

Outside Bar 19, Bruno's phone vibrated. He opened it to find a message from Elena.

Elena was nearby.

Bruno thought for a moment, then decided not to hurry Elena's arrival.

The assassination task had already been accepted. To avoid future trouble, it might be better to draw out an assassin and make an example out of one.

It was risky, but the risk was manageable.

After all, Elena, had reached the 12th stage!

He told Elise to stay there for now, then slowly made his way toward the bar's exit.

This was the wealthy district, and there weren't many people around. Only a few servants hurried by, and some pedestrians were resting along the road.

As Bruno passed by a large tree, he heard the rustling of leaves, even though there was no breeze.

With his High Rank Meditation Technique, Bruno's mental strength had reached an advanced level, allowing him to sense even the faintest sounds around him.

Under the influence of his heightened senses, Bruno instinctively took a step back.

"Clang!"

A longsword struck the hard ground, sending sparks flying.

"Kid, I've been waiting for you. Finally, you're out," a masked assassin said, quickly raising his sword again and charging toward Bruno.

The assassin was fast—much faster than Bruno, at least on the level of a 4th stage warrior.

"Die!" the assassin shouted, swinging the longsword in an arc aimed straight at Bruno's neck.

Bruno remained completely calm. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Elena!"

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