Lord South.

Mickey's eyes fluttered open, and found himself being carried by the shoulder like a sack of rice.

'These mountains, this must be the western part of Acoustic City, deep into the forest.'

It was early autumn, but this place was already snowing.

Although feeling cold, Mickey didn't mind it. His eyes wandered to a place where some of the snowflakes were gathered.

He commented teasingly, "Your hips don't lie."

Mei Lin's grip on Mickey tightened as she sensed something amiss.

'This doesn't add up. From what I know of him, he's not one to be easily swayed by a woman's physical appearances. He'd likely ignore or even assault a girl who tried to distract him. So, why is he suddenly making lewd comments?'

Her eyes narrowed in realization, 'He is doing this on purpose! Does he think he has a chance to escape?'

Mei Lin snickered in her mind before she spanked Mickey's behind.

"Keep acting like some brat, and I will hit your ass even more."

The young man felt chills all over his body, or it was just the pain from his behind. "Please let me walk on my own. Since you took everything in my Primeval World, you must know I have no means of escape."

Mei Lin didn't see any reason to refuse his request and threw him on the ground with a thud.

"Follow me."

The two walked on the snow for a few minutes before they noticed a tributary of the Symphony River. Unlike the other tributaries, this one was ice cold. Only wolf-fish could be seen moving in it. Their sharp fins would slice through the snow if it got too hard.

Seeing this profound beast at the Battle Realm with the same strength as a legend legend realm cultivator, Mickey couldn't help but break a sweat.

'At the moment, I need to abandon the idea of getting out of here alive. I am positive there are snow bears hiding around here.'

Although feeling scared, Mickey had a tranquil expression, as if nothing was bothering him.

He just kept on following the purple-haired girl who was walking towards an isolated mountain on the southwestern side of the city.

As they got closer, more green life could be seen, and the temperature had risen to a good degree.

There was a path leading to the top of the towering mountain, but Mei Lin didn't use it. She went to the right of the mountain and raised a brow at how calm Mickey was about everything.

'Most people his age would be freaked out by coming here, or maybe it is because his face is hidden underneath that mask. But his body isn't shivering at all, not even from the cold.'

Mei Lin just brushed it off, maintaining her cold look.

'Could he have such an expression after meeting with Lord South? There is a possibility that he might die on the first experiment. Missy would be delighted about that, right?'

The two walked past a few trees and saw a carving on a mountain rock saying, 'South Beach.'

Mei Lin pressed on the carving, and a pathway opened up with the sound of wind cutting grass. "Don't lag behind; there are blood bats in here."

Mickey didn't object, despite knowing that blood bats don't live in such shallow spaces. He followed behind with his ears on alert.

Tap… tap… tap…

Only the sounds of footsteps could be heard through the whole pathway. These were Mickey's guide to where he could go. The place was so dark that Mei Lin's silhouette wasn't even visible. He knew that trying to go in the wrong direction would get him killed.

A dim light appeared in front of them, and the stench of raw blood assaulted them, but they were used to such a smell.

When they reached the end of the pathway, they were greeted by a messy laboratory; broken apparatus lay everywhere, different types of liquids were on the floor, and lastly, human limbs that had all sorts of deformations on them. Some had many fingers, pimples of different colors, and worse, some had a mouth or hand on them.

Just this sight alone was enough to give the two goosebumps all over.

They all looked at the far end of the room where an old man with a hunched-back who looked to be in his seventies was sitting. His skin was pale like the snow outside, his wrinkles weren't many as they had just started developing, the nails were strangely sharp and were colored black, matching with his messy long hair.

His eyes were sanguine red and were glaring at the big breasts of the woman who was in his arms. She didn't have anything on, letting the man's fingers caress her voluptuous thighs.

Just then, his fangs were sank into her nape as he drank up all her blood.

Mickey continued to stare indifferently until the girl resembled a twig. All her previous beauty was no more, and she looked like she had died a long time ago.

Lord South raised his head, with blood streaming at the corners of his lips before he licked it.

He raised his eyes, and Mei Lin was the first to talk.

"The one who killed that trash is none other than your favorite, Maple-Leaf Stepping Stone."

Lord South let out a joyous laugh that echoed through the whole cave. "Good, good, I might have lost my source of income, but I gained something more valuable."

Zhu Yichen used to ask for spirit coins from Mo Xie to fund Lord South's experiments, and the old man was really hurt when he died. He could use the cult's money, but there were many areas where such an amount could be used.

But now, seeing Mickey, Lord South wasn't angry, because the killer was a person he had been wanting to do experiments on for a long time.

He had been following Maple-Leaf Stepping Stone from his very first match. Someone who is able to stand up even after being beaten to a pulp was worth doing an experiment on.

Lord South's released a lot of pressure from his jindan, and Mei Lin's jindan was the first to strain under the great pressure pressing on it, making her groan in pain.

"Argh!"

She felt like her chest was going to burst out, and was forced to kneel on the ground.

However, Mickey stayed straight like a sword. Blood could be seen dripping from his mask, a testament of how much pain his jindan was bringing upon his body.

Lord South laughed.

"Maple-Leaf Stepping Stone! Do you want to be my ghoul?!"

Mei Lin wasn't able to understand the language, but Mickey knew this language—it was the one his mother on Earth used.

"I… don't want to."

---

At Levels High School, Chi Di presented Hugh Qian with a stack of police accusations against Mickey.

The young police agent's anxiety was palpable, who knew what a Book Lord would do to him, for bothering her?

However, Hugh Qian, known for her compassionate nature, surprisingly showed willingness to cooperate. Her suspicions about Mickey's involvement in the crimes dated back to Mo Bing's kidnapping.

'Why did he go to such extremes, burning the orphanage and killing those in his apartment?"

She could only sigh at Mickey's actions. Hugh Qian had been aware of Mickey's dark nature since childhood. To her, he was like a fragile mirror – beautiful on the surface, but capable of shattering into a monstrous reflection.

On the very first day they met, Mickey killed people in front of her. He was only seven but didn't seem fazed by taking a life.

She took a deep breath and looked at the police agent sitting across the lab desk.

"How may I help you?"

Chi Di showed a faint smile.

'The rumors are true, she is not like other Book Lords. I'm glad she is willing to cooperate.'

Qian saw the look in his eyes and immediately tried to contact Mickey, but he didn't pick up.

"He is not picking up, that's odd. Mickey answers my calls right away."

She was the sole contact he had saved, so it is only natural.

Chi Di took a deep breath. 'Even the police didn't find his number. Mickey didn't have any social media platforms registered in his name - like a ghost.'

His expression turned serious.

"If you don't mind, can I have that number?"

Hugh Qian didn't reject and gave the police agent what he wanted.

She could only feel worried.

'Mickey, I hope you are not doing anything dangerous.'

With Mickey's number in hand, Chi Di expressed his sincere gratitude to Hugh Qian before taking his leave.

Hugh Qian chose not to reveal that Mickey had become a Book Lord. Since she hadn't been asked, she saw no need to share this information.