After a brief memorial, Middle-aged Man raised his head, silently gazing at the photo of the deceased in the mourning hall, and sighed softly, “Another one is gone.”

Behind him, the young Assistant lowered his head in sorrow, saying nothing.

After a long silence, The York Middle-aged Man turned to look at William Carter: “Are Mr. and Mrs. Lu’s daughter here? If possible, I’d like to see her.”

William Carter looked awkwardly at the mourning hall and the outer lobby, but couldn’t find that lost figure, and could only sigh helplessly, “She was supposed to be here, but ever since her uncle and aunt passed away, her emotions have been unstable. Please wait, I’ll go look for her.”

“No need.” Middle-aged Man shook his head. “We’re already intruding by coming here, there’s no need to trouble Dr. Lu’s daughter further.”

William Carter was taken aback: “Is that alright?”

“It’s fine. I suppose Dr. Lu wouldn’t want her to get too close to us anyway?”

He gave a bitter smile and slowly shook his head. “I’ve heard about you from Dr. Lu. With you here, I suppose we don’t need to worry.”

His words left William Carter stunned; he hadn’t expected that, even before graduating from university, his uncle would value him so much.

“If you need anything, please call the number on the business card. I can still help with small favors.”

He seemed to sigh with some complexity, patted William Carter on the shoulder: “No need to see us out, goodbye, Mr. Carter.”

With that, he took his Assistant and turned to leave.

Whether it was decisiveness or efficiency, William Carter couldn’t shake the feeling that these two guests had a strange sense of urgency, as if they were racing against time.

Puzzled, he pulled out the business card from his pocket, and was startled by what he saw on it.

‘Mike Dawson International Security Company, Department Three Director Henry York’

“International security company?”

……

The burly Middle-aged Man named Henry York returned to the car with his Assistant, but didn’t start the engine right away.

He seemed to be deep in thought. After a long while, he took out his phone and dialed an international number.

After a brief busy tone, the call connected, and an elderly voice spoke in Russian: “This is Evgeni Plushenko.”

“This is Henry York.” Henry York replied in fluent Russian, “I just visited Lu’s home.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then a low voice asked, “Is it… really true? They’re dead?”

“Yes.” Henry York sighed, “I can’t sense the life patterns of either of them. I’m afraid they’re both gone.”

After a long pause, Evgeni Plushenko sighed and murmured, “So that’s how it is.”

“Ever since ‘Odin’ broke out of prison, more and more espers have been dragged into this cycle of revenge.”

Henry York said in a low voice, “Is this his revenge? Everyone who hunted him back then has died, one by one, over the past two years…”

Hearing this, Evgeni Plushenko on the other end of the line let out a scornful laugh: “The Dawson Foundation has never feared anyone’s revenge, not even the King of Apostles.”

“But Lu is still dead.” Henry York suddenly raised his voice, “He withdrew more than a decade ago—why was he still caught up in this?”

Evgeni Plushenko was silent, as if unwilling or unable to answer.

Perhaps out of guilt, the old man, always forceful and never one to explain, actually sighed again: “Yao, I personally stamped all the files from that operation with a ‘Never to be Unsealed’ top secret mark. Don’t force me.”

Henry York fell silent, hung up the phone, and suddenly said, “Sam Clark.”

The Assistant in the driver’s seat turned his head, looking at Henry York who was reclining with his eyes closed in the back seat: “Yes?”

Henry York tapped his fingers on his knee, then suddenly said, “Do you remember that person named William Carter?”

Sam Clark thought for a moment: “The one at Mr. Lu’s house?”

“Mm.” Henry York mused, then asked in a low voice, “What impression do you have of him?”

Assistant was taken aback, and replied with some confusion, “Very young, good attitude, and probably quite popular with girls?”

“Idiot…” Henry York sighed helplessly, shooting Assistant a look, “That’s not what I meant for you to notice.”

Chided by his superior, Sam Clark wasn’t upset, just chuckled.

“Did you notice?” Henry York raised his left arm in the car’s headlights, “When he looked at my wrist, his reaction was interesting.”

Under the car’s lights, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a large, intricate tattoo, fierce as a tiger.

In an instant, Sam Clark frowned: “You mean the life pattern? Ordinary people can’t see it, right?”

Henry York nodded in satisfaction: “Mm, he should be able to see it.”

Sam Clark was stunned, and lowered his voice: “An unknown esper? Should we report it?”

“No need, he’s just a kid who hasn’t awakened yet.”

Henry York shook his head, a bit helplessly: “Besides, there’s no need to drag Lu Fei Tie’s descendant into this any further. Let’s keep this from the Foundation.”

“Okay.” Sam Clark nodded.

Henry York leaned back in his seat again: “Drive.”

“To the airport?”

“No, find a hotel.”