—

"Tap, tap, tap."

A strange sound drifted through the air.

The tattered rabbit doll finally caught up, scrambling and rolling until it came to a stop at Yue Shi's feet.

Yue Shi looked down and offered a single, stingy compliment: "Not bad."

Ghost remained expressionless on the surface, but a faint surge of secret joy rose in his heart.

He feared Yue Shi's methods, yet he craved Yue Shi's approval.

It was hard to imagine that after such a short time together, he would develop such a distorted dependence on Yue Shi.

Was it caused by that piece of base code that had been forcibly implanted into him?

Yue Shi bent over and pulled the supernatural objects from the split seams of the rabbit doll's belly, casually tossing them into the extra-dimensional space as well.

"Let's go," he said, straightening up and looking toward the deeper horizon to the southwest.

"We're heading for Lab 0."

Ghost was somewhat surprised. "So soon? Don't we need to prepare more, or wait for the chaos in Chijing City to ferment more thoroughly?"

Yue Shi shook his head. "It's not soon; I actually think it's too slow. After hacking into Jiang Yaoshan's personal terminal and scouring the Chijing City Investigation Bureau's internal network, I've cross-referenced the data and roughly pinpointed the location of Lab 0."

"Right now, they might not have fully reacted to the sudden events in Chijing City, making it the perfect time for a surprise attack. If we don't go now, when will we?"

"Alright." Ghost rubbed his hands together, eager to get started.

Yue Shi said no more. A vehicle suddenly appeared out of thin air in the open space before him.

Ghost showed no surprise at this.

Having witnessed the subversion and collapse of the Chijing City Investigation Bureau and the city being submerged by a flood, Ghost now felt that whatever Yue Shi produced or did was only natural.

This vehicle was, of course, one of the spoils Yue Shi had looted from the Chijing City Investigation Bureau. He had many other miscellaneous supplies stored within his Painted Realm space.

Yue Shi pulled open the door and sat in the driver's seat. This time, Ghost did not possess the doll; instead, he drifted into the passenger seat directly in his translucent ghost form.

The engine gave a low roar as the vehicle started and drove toward the southwest.

The interior of the car fell into silence for a while, filled only with the sound of wheels rolling over the road and the wind whistling outside the windows.

After driving for a distance, Yue Shi held the steering wheel with one hand and took out a pebble with the other.

He spoke to Ghost beside him. "This is a supernatural object. If two parties hold it together and sign a contract, the complying party can receive a random gift once the contract is perfectly fulfilled. Shall we try it?"

Ghost turned his head. "Sounds interesting."

During the subsequent journey, the two began a game of contracts.

Yue Shi: "For the next five minutes, I will not use any supernatural power in exchange for you remaining silent for five minutes."

Ghost: "I agree. The contract is established."

Five minutes later, the contract was completed.

The Oath of Luoshui seemed to flicker slightly. A faint, almost imperceptible cool breeze brushed past Yue Shi, dispelling a trace of driving fatigue.

That was it?

Yue Shi: "Before we reach the next road marker, you will observe whether there are any pursuers behind us."

Ghost: "Before we reach the next road marker, I will report my observations truthfully."

Two minutes later, they reached the marker. There were no pursuers, and Ghost reported truthfully.

The Oath of Luoshui flickered again. Ghost felt as if his information structure had been gently "groomed," which felt quite comfortable, but there were no other additional effects.

Yue Shi: "Until I say the word 'end,' you will look back once every five minutes."

Ghost: "I agree. The contract is established."

This time, Yue Shi deliberately waited twenty minutes before saying end.

The Oath of Luoshui gifted Yue Shi an extremely weak recovery of physical strength, which was almost negligible.

After several attempts, the contracts Yue Shi and Ghost signed were all trivial and easily completed.

The "gifts" from the Oath of Luoshui were also insignificant. Initially, Yue Shi hadn't even noticed them; it was Ghost who keenly sensed some changes.

He wouldn't sign an exceptionally difficult contract with Ghost just to test the effects of the Oath of Luoshui.

Yue Shi eventually put the pebble back into his space, feeling a bit disappointed.

When used for keeping a promise, the Oath of Luoshui seemed to be merely the icing on the cake, with little practical significance.

Its greatest value likely lay in being used to forcibly break contracts.

He refocused his attention on the road ahead. Due to his terrible driving skills, the ride was very bumpy.

Fortunately, Ghost couldn't feel it and wouldn't complain.

"By the way, of the people who successfully escaped from Lab 0, the only one I've never encountered is the Mage. Do you know his whereabouts?"

"No idea. That guy seems to never use electronic devices. At first, I even thought you were the Mage."