Pops was somewhat speechless.
His smiling face couldn't quite hold its shape anymore. He gave an annoyed roll of his eyes and spoke to Sword-man.
"Anomalies, of course! What else did you think I was asking him to hand over? Your brain?"
Sword-man said indignantly, "Of course I knew it was Anomalies..."
However, under Pops' seemingly gentle but actually dangerous death stare, his voice grew smaller and smaller.
In the end, he very submissively shrunk his neck back and turned his head away, muttering in a voice like a buzzing mosquito:
"What Anomaly could be more dangerous than this kid himself?"
Naturally, his muttering didn't catch anyone's attention.
Evans watched Pops coldly, his attitude guarded.
"I ate them all."
Evans gave a cold snort.
"Since you know what I am, you should know that Anomalies are just food to me."
"Old man, why do you think a hungry beast would keep food by its mouth as an ornament?"
Faced with the youth's almost provocative attitude, Pops showed no sign of anger. He even nodded as if in agreement.
"I did find it a bit strange, and I can feel that you are very weak right now. Theoretically, you should be in a stage of extreme hunger."
At this point, Pops paused slightly.
"But right now, I can indeed feel the fluctuations of several Anomalies on you."
"Although I don't know why you haven't eaten them, rules are rules."
"Please hand them over. Don't worry, once we've finished talking business, this old man will return this food to its original owner."
He can sense Anomalies?
Ren Yi remained silent, not taking any unauthorized action.
Evans stood in a standoff for a full half-minute before finally yielding.
He let out a deep sigh, then opened his mouth expressionlessly and began to reach into his own mouth with his hand, pulling things out quite roughly.
"Ew..."
Sword-man made an odd noise from the side, receiving a glare from Evans.
Soon, Evans pulled out several iron boxes and threw them directly at Sword-man's face.
"Whoa! Where are you throwing those!"
Sword-man, who had just been acting disgusted, was suddenly thrown into a fluster. He eventually had to use the hem of his trench coat as a cushion to catch the heavy iron boxes in his arms.
Looking down, Sword-man exclaimed in surprise.
"How are there so many? Did you rob a Sky Eye Organization warehouse?"
Evans didn't speak, just stood there with a cold face.
Robbery? He hadn't robbed anyone.
But 'they' had blown up a Sky Eye Organization land ship.
Looking at the iron boxes in Sword-man's arms, the smile on Pops' face didn't change as he calmly uttered two words:
"More."
"Huh?" In the heavy atmosphere, Sword-man took it upon himself to express his shock loudly.
With a look of displeasure, Evans reached into his shirt and pulled out a wooden cross with facial features.
Then, with a 'clack,' he tossed it onto the top of the small mountain of iron boxes Sword-man was holding.
"Huh? Master! How could you just sell me out like this?!"
The moment the Wu Erhun Cross landed, the carved wooden features on it were struck with terror.
Hidden inside Evans, Ren Yi lightly massaged his forehead.
This brainless idiot!
He quickly used an illusion seed to transmit a voice that only the two of them could hear.
"Shut up! From now on, you are not allowed to say a single word. Just be a low-rank Anomaly."
"If you expose my existence, I'll make you taste what it's like to be locked in the 'dark void' for another ten thousand years!"
Wu Erhun shuddered.
However, Wu Erhun's shout just now was enough to catch the attention of Sword-man.
"Oh? It can talk?"
Sword-man no longer cared about being disgusted.
With eyes gleaming, he freed a hand and, with great interest, reached out two fingers to pinch the Wu Erhun Cross.
This caused Wu Erhun to let out a series of muffled cries.
Watching this scene, Pops, who had been standing quietly, finally gave a slight nod.
Only at this moment did Ren Yi, hiding in the shadows, let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.
At the same time, he finally understood Evans' plan for proactively cooperating with the 'security check.'
Inside Ren Yi's own body, there were still several Anomalies, including the Honest Gift.
But toward Ren Yi himself and these items, the Pops before him showed no reaction.
Is it because I am not an Anomaly myself, so I've shielded the items inside me, and Pops can't detect them?
Ren Yi came to a slight realization.
This way, he had unknowingly kept a hidden trump card.
"Alright, since the items have been handed over, let's not stand out here in the wind."
Pops put his hands behind his back, turned around, and took the lead in walking toward the building ahead.
The plaza was gradually left behind. As they went deeper, the steel corridors became wider.
The alloy walls on both sides were covered with various precision energy transmission pipes with a heavy industrial style.
After walking for about ten minutes, Pops stopped in front of a door that looked incredibly thick. He reached out and pressed it lightly.
Rumble.
The door slid open to both sides, revealing a lounge inside that was decorated somewhat like a study.
In the lounge, besides a large solid wood desk and a few peeling old sofas, the most conspicuous feature was the three walls lined with rows upon rows of paper books.
"Sit, no need to be formal."
Pops walked behind the desk and sat down. He habitually pulled a teacup from a drawer, tossed in a few dried leaves, and poured in hot water.
Evans walked over to the opposite sofa and sat down expressionlessly.
Sword-man, holding the pile of iron boxes, huddled in a chair in the corner, still tirelessly studying the Wu Erhun Cross, which was on the verge of a total breakdown.
Pops picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"It feels like there's quite a lot to talk about. Why don't you ask the questions?"
Evans took a deep breath and spoke candidly:
"Old man, when you sent me out of the Deep Abyss years ago, you said... that as soon as I returned here and made the final decision, you would tell me the core secrets of the New Era."
"The Sky Eye Organization says the New Era can resurrect the dead and recreate the world."
"I want to know if that is true."
"And... what exactly do I need to do to start this so-called 'New Era'?"
Hearing Evans' almost interrogative words, Pops, sitting behind the desk, did not answer immediately.
He put down the teacup, making a dull thud. Then, he gave a strange, somewhat playful chuckle.
"Of course, it's true."
Pops looked up.
"However, before we explain that, we should talk about you first?"
"Do you know... how you appeared in this world?"
Evans frowned and said, "I know that in the Sky Eye Organization files, I appeared from the moon in the sky, but I only remember a few scattered fragments."
Pops smiled.
That smile carried both the weight of time and a sense of mockery.
"Since you still have those blurry, scattered fragments in your mind, it means that before you fell from the moon to the surface, you already possessed a certain level of consciousness, right?"
Evans hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.
Pops' smile grew even more brilliant.
His lips parted slightly as he spoke.
"Do you know? This is already your... fourth time falling to the ground from that moon in the sky."
Rate on N.U.
