Hearing the threatening words, the man was terrified, but when he realized his kidnapper was just a kid, he sighed in relief—until he noticed his glass jar, now shattered on the ground, with its red liquid spilled.
"You! Do you know what you just did?!" the man shouted, pointing a finger at Apollo.
Is this man a fool or what? Apollo thought. Didn't he just get dragged here by a kid, and he couldn't even escape my grip? He shook his head at the man's foolishness.
"I swear, kid, you won't like what happens when I report you to my superior!" the man threatened. But before he could continue, a lightning bolt shocked him to his core, cutting off his scream abruptly. He fell to the ground, convulsing, while blood from his severed hand pooled around him.
"All you have to do to stay alive is answer my questions honestly," Apollo said, staring deeply into the man's eyes. "One limb for every lie or refusal. Understood?"
Shaking, the man managed a slow nod, fully aware of his predicament.
Apollo waited until the man's trembling subsided, then asked his first question. "What's the liquid you're pouring beside the wall?"
"T-that's…" The man hesitated but then gritted his teeth. "I don't know. I was just told to pour the red liquid; they didn't say anything else."
"You're lying," Apollo replied, raising his hand as if to sever another limb.
"I'm telling the truth!" the man blurted, panicked. "I really don't know! None of us do! I'm just one of the workers assigned to pour it!"
"Oh?" Apollo lowered his hand. "How many of you are doing this?"
"There are at least seven of us, I think," the man replied.
"And where are they pouring the red liquid?"
"Three of us are doing it along the wall around the city… the others are spread evenly within it," the man answered, attempting to sit up, his face slick with sweat from the pain of his severed arm.
"Are you following a specific line?" Apollo asked, rubbing his chin.
"I see," Apollo nodded, piecing together more of the truth. He was now almost certain the wall expansion was more than just a protective measure for the city. Smirking, he raised his hand again. "That's all I needed to know."
"W-wait! What are you doing?!" the man's eyes widened in terror. "I thought you said I'd live if I answered honestly!"
"You assumed I'd let you live," Apollo replied coldly, his smile vanishing. Before the man could utter another word, Apollo slashed across his neck, and blood splattered on the ground. The man tried to stop it, but there was nothing he could do but resign himself to his fate.
Apollo stared at him with a blank expression. Killing was nothing new; he'd done it in his previous life. To him, this was just routine.
Apollo returned to his hiding spot to continue observing the wall. Once he was sure no workers were nearby, he approached it. Kneeling down, he inspected the ground but found nothing unusual. He even pressed his hand against the stone, but it felt like ordinary rock.
"It must be something that can't be seen," Apollo muttered as he looked around once more before taking out the artifact he got from the Great Serpent Headmaster.
A lamp appeared out of thin air, taken from his space ring. The moment he held the Red Energy Burner, the wick ignited with a red flame.
Seeing this, Apollo nodded, unsurprised. "There's definitely Demon energy here." With this evidence, all he had to do was report back to Axton. But as he took a step away from the wall, the flame went out. "Oh?"
Raising an eyebrow, he stepped closer to the wall, and the lamp lit up again. Taking a few steps back, the fire disappeared. He repeated this a few times to confirm his suspicion. "The liquid he poured… that must be the source of the Demon energy," he muttered, realizing the truth.
He looked down at the ground, an idea forming. Kneeling, he used the Simple Wind Sword technique on his right hand and cut out a piece of the stone. Then, with the piece of ground and the lamp in hand, he took several steps back.
This time, the red flame didn't go out, and he smiled in relief. Satisfied, he placed both items back inside his space ring.
"I'm closer to finally completing the mission," Apollo muttered as he made his way back to the Great Serpent Cultivation School. He had met with Axton earlier, but the faster he wrapped up the investigation, the faster he could complete the second mission.
All he had to do now was uncover why Klown was stealing techniques from each Cultivation School and spreading them throughout the city.
In front of the Filly Restaurant was the Skyline Savory Branch.
Manager Fu stepped out of his office and scanned the dining area. Counting the customers, his frown deepened.
"It's fewer than yesterday," he muttered in annoyance. Walking to the entrance, he stared at the competitor across the way. Filly Restaurant's customer count had soared so high that Skyline couldn't even compare. It was like heaven and earth.
Filly Restaurant had introduced something new. Besides offering new dishes, they now allowed customers to order food to take away, attracting even more patrons. People didn't have to wait for someone to finish eating to place an order; they could take their food in a basket and eat wherever they pleased.
This innovation made Manager Fu hit his head, cursing himself for not thinking of it first.
He watched as a customer exited Filly Restaurant, carrying a basket. "Just you wait. Once we've finished copying your food, we'll reclaim what's ours!" he muttered, clenching his fist.
Then, he walked toward the kitchen, where the chefs were gathered.
"How's it going?" he asked.
One of the chefs reluctantly replied, "We can't copy it. We don't know the ingredients they're using or how they're preparing it."