Inside the dungeon, it was dark and damp, the air stifling.

Zhou Huai stood quietly in place, only snapping back to reality after a long while.

That eerie, cross-spatiotemporal eye contact and the man's gaze overlooking all living beings still lingered stubbornly in his mind.

"That man... is Mr. Duan?"

"My own uncle?"

He hadn't expected his first meeting with him to happen in such an incredible manner.

With just one look, Zhou Huai's scalp felt numb, and his soul trembled.

He calmed down and analyzed everything that had just occurred.

Chu He and Mo Hen, these two S-Rank Experts, were not as loyal to the faith of the Dawnbreaker Guild as Zhou Huai had initially thought.

That they could obey Mr. Duan's orders so fanatically—even revering him as a deity—was largely because they had fallen victim to some secret method of his. It was either a high-dimensional mental imprint or a soul restraint similar to his own 【Demon Lord Contract】.

Meanwhile, Zhou Huai had relied on the rule-based power of Li Er's Words Become Law to forcibly sever that invisible line of control.

However, this act of subjugation had triggered a fatal consequence—it completely exposed him to Mr. Duan!

The contingency plan left deep within the two's souls by the other party was triggered, thereby locking onto him.

This was both a warning and a gaze.

"The pressure is too great..." Zhou Huai took a deep breath.

The overwhelming pressure Mr. Duan exerted on him was far greater than that of Kujo Naruya, the once-arrogant SSS-Level Amaterasu.

Zhou Huai had a strong premonition that the other party had developed a keen interest in him.

He believed that before long, this mysterious Mr. Duan would likely come looking for him in person.

For the current Zhou Huai, this was certainly not good news.

Even though he now possessed two SSS-Level combat forces and numerous SS-Level Avatars as trump cards, when facing that mysterious and ruthless Mr. Duan...

...Zhou Huai had no confidence that he could stand against him.

"I have to think of a coping strategy in advance; I can't just sit and wait for death."

But before that, he had to figure out what this Dawnbreaker Guild was actually up to.

Zhou Huai glanced at Chu He and Mo Hen on the ground, who were still in a deep coma and starved to skin and bones. With a thought, he issued a command to Gabriel outside via the soul link.

"Gabriel, go to the kitchen, find some high-calorie food, and bring it over."

Before long, the heavy iron door of the dungeon was pushed open once more.

The six-winged angel Gabriel, emanating a holy light, walked in. His handsome face was devoid of expression, and he held a huge metal tray stacked high with freshly roasted alien beast meat. Sizzling grease popped on the surface, releasing a mouthwatering, rich aroma.

To Chu He and Mo Hen, who had been starving for over ten days, this aroma was both a poison and an antidote.

"Ugh..."

Strongly stimulated by the scent of food, their shriveled bodies twitched before they slowly woke up.

Chu He opened his eyes, his dim gaze brightening. He stared at the tray in Gabriel's hands with eyes shining, a beast-like low growl escaping his throat.

"Meat! It's meat!"

Disregarding all dignity as an S-Rank Expert and completely ignoring the heavy magic-inhibiting chains on his wrists, Chu He scrambled over, grabbed a piece of scalding-hot roasted meat, and shoved it straight into his mouth, swallowing it directly without even chewing.

"Hot, hot, hot! Delicious! It's so delicious!" He gasped at the heat while wolfing down the food on the ground, using both hands. His face became covered in grease as he devoured it ravenously.

Beside him, although Mo Hen was also starving to the point of seeing green with trembling slender fingers, he ultimately maintained his final shred of rationality.

He sat up with difficulty, took a small piece of roasted meat from the tray, blew on it to cool it down, and chewed it in small bites. Though his movements were quick, he still tried his best to maintain an air of delicacy and elegance while eating.

"You vulgar brute, slow down, or you'll choke yourself to death," Mo Hen said in a raspy voice, taking stabs at Chu He while chewing slowly.

"What the hell do you know? I could eat a whole cow right now!" Chu He retorted indistinctly without even looking up.

Half an hour later.

The mountain of roasted meat on the tray was devoured completely, swept away like clouds by a gale.

Chu He finally recovered much of his energy. He lay sprawled on the ground, letting out a loud burp with his mouth wide open, rubbing his visibly bulging belly with a look of utter satisfaction on his face.

Mo Hen sat in place, gently raising his sleeve to wipe the grease from the corners of his mouth, and then tidied the hem of his tattered clothes.

The two exchanged a look. In their eyes, there was no longer any of the former frenzy or resistance—only absolute submission from the depths of their souls.

The 【Demon Lord Contract】 had completely reshaped their faith.

Shortly after, both struggled to flip themselves over. Facing Moria, who was controlled by Zhou Huai, they fell to their knees, burying their heads deep against the dusty stone floor, bowing heavily toward Zhou Huai.

"Thank you, Lord, for granting us food," they said in unison.

Chu He raised his head, patted his chest, and declared loudly and solemnly, "Lord! Ask whatever you wish! I, Chu He, will tell you everything I know without reservation! Even if you tell me to dig up the ancestral graves of the Dawnbreaker Guild right now, I wouldn't bat an eye!"

Mo Hen was not as excited as Chu He, but he also lowered his head and added respectfully, "Lord, whatever information we possess is at your disposal."

The contract's effect was perfect, bringing Zhou Huai a sense of calm.

Controlling Moria, he looked down at the two and spoke in an ethereal voice, "Tell me. What exactly is this Dawnbreaker Guild trying to do?"

Hearing this question, Chu He scratched his messy hair, furrowing his brows as he recalled carefully.

"Lord, in truth, the tasks we receive ordinarily are very straightforward," Chu He reported honestly. "We simply follow Mr. Duan's orders to continuously search all over the world for Classer with immense potential or high class grades, then use various means to win them over and make them members of our Dawnbreaker Guild."

"For instance, in Great Xia Nation, Sakura Country, and the Freedom Federation, we have hidden agents deployed. As long as someone is a prospect above A-Level, we try every possible way to contact them."

Hearing this, Zhou Huai keenly caught the suspicious point in his words and pressed coldly, "But what is the reason for doing this? Just to expand the guild's strength?"

Facing Zhou Huai's barrage of questions, Chu He froze and scratched his head in embarrassment, "This... I really don't know about this."

Beside him, Mo Hen shook his head and took over the conversation, "Lord, we do not know the specific reasons either. In fact, the two of us are merely bottom-tier enforcers in the organization."

"The true core secrets of the Dawnbreaker Guild are known only to Mr. Duan and those dozen or so high-level enforcers. We only need to obey orders implicitly and have no right to ask about the reasons at all."

Saying up to this point, Mo Hen paused slightly, suddenly recalling something and saying:

"However, when Mr. Duan recruited us back then, he once bestowed a blessing upon us, and at that time he told us the ultimate purpose behind doing all this."

"And that is to recreate a new world."

"A new world?" Zhou Huai raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, a perfect new world." Mo Hen's tone became somewhat ethereal. "Mr. Duan said that in that new world, there will be no wars between nations, no exploitation of civilians by high-Level Classer, and no brutal alien beasts."

"There, there won't even be so-called Classer."

"Everyone will be an equal, ordinary person. Everyone can live and work in peace and contentment under the sun, following the natural cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. No one will ever need to live in fear to defend against alien beast invasions, nor suffer humiliation due to differences in Level and talent."