As soon as the elevator doors closed, Benjamin Clark gave Brian Carter a thumbs up. “What you did was really smart. If you keep stalling them for a few more days, you’ll definitely get better terms, and more companies will join the competition.”

……

The Peninsula Palace Hotel is located on Beijing’s famous Wangfujing commercial street, with convenient transportation and an impressive level of luxury.

There are many well-known five-star hotels in this big city of Beijing, but those that have actually hosted presidential-level dignitaries—besides Diaoyutai—are few and far between.

Back in the old days, a U.S. president once stayed here during a visit to China, which shows just how prestigious it is.

After moving out of the leather factory dormitory area, Brian Carter temporarily stayed here.

Originally, Brian Carter had booked a standard room at 450 yuan per night, but when he showed his A-level citizen passport at check-in, the manager immediately upgraded him to a business suite costing 2,800 yuan per night, while still only charging him 450.

Brian Carter wasn’t the type to be overly polite—he moved in without hesitation, gladly accepting all the complimentary drinks, fruit, and vouchers sent to his room, not holding back in the slightest.

After a hot shower, Brian Carter collapsed onto the soft bed, ready for a good night’s sleep.

The sheets, carefully woven from Egyptian long-staple cotton, gave off a faint, pleasant fragrance. “Now this is living,” Brian Carter stretched lazily and turned off the bedside lamp.

“Huh?” Something strange happened.

The moment the light went out, Brian Carter suddenly noticed that his surroundings had changed—he found himself standing on a dimly lit street.

The wide concrete road was smooth as a mirror, and a lone, ghostly yellow streetlamp flickered on and off.

“Damn! Where is this place?” Brian Carter was quite annoyed. He was clearly in a five-star hotel room—how did he end up in the middle of nowhere in the blink of an eye?

“That’s right, you really have seen a ghost.” A desolate voice spoke.

A chill ran down Brian Carter’s spine. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tall, thin shadow slowly walking toward him.

“Hey man, don’t you know? Ghosts don’t have shadows,” Brian Carter said.

“Is that so?”

Before the words had even faded, the person suddenly appeared right in front of Brian Carter. “But I’m a ghost who just happens to have a shadow.”

Brian Carter tensed up inside. “He’s so fast—how did he get here?”

His suspicion grew, but Brian Carter didn’t let it show.

He carefully sized up the person in front of him. He was about 1.7 meters tall, couldn’t weigh more than 100 jin, and under his black trench coat, his legs were as thin and straight as chopsticks.

He had a big mouth that curved downward, thin lips, and eyes of a strange brown color. A black mask covered his forehead and nose.

“Who are you?” Brian Carter asked. “And where is this place?”

“I am Shadow, and this is my mind space,” the man in black replied.

“Shadow? The super assassin Shadow?”

“That’s right.”

“The same Shadow who got me thrown in jail on Blue Ocean Star for half a month?”

“Uh… that’s right.”

“The unluckiest assassin in the universe, Shadow?”

“Well…”

The man in black mumbled for a long time but didn’t answer.

Brian Carter was very familiar with Shadow’s story. Legend had it that this Shadow had only ever killed one person in his life—and even got the wrong guy. Because of that, he was listed as a top wanted criminal in the universe and hunted for life.

“I don’t believe it.” Brian Carter shook his head.

The man in black waved his hand through the air, and the surroundings suddenly changed.

Brian Carter found himself on the peak of a mountain, surrounded by bottomless chasms, with a cold wind howling past him.

“How about now?” the man in black asked again.

Brian Carter was dumbfounded. Everything had happened so suddenly, he didn’t even have time to think.

“Damn it! How did you do that?”

“Damn it?” The man in black seemed confused.

Brian Carter thought for a moment. “Damn it means… it’s pretty good.”

“Oh.” The man in black nodded repeatedly. “This is my consciousness space. Everything here is up to me. Let me show you something even more ‘damn it.’”

As soon as he finished speaking, Brian Carter was transported to a desert, where countless bizarre, massive crawling creatures lived—each one as big as a tank.

The moment they saw Brian Carter, these bugs went wild, charging at him with fanged, jagged mouths and scythe-like, razor-sharp arms—truly terrifying.

“Alright, if you want to be Shadow, then be Shadow. Let’s switch to somewhere more normal,” Brian Carter said, forcing down his fear.

With another flash, Brian Carter found himself on a beach, soft sand beneath his feet and waves rolling in the distance.

“What were those bugs just now?” Brian Carter asked, still shaken.

“Those are the enemies of the Pan-Human Alliance—the Zerg.”

“So why did you bring me here? What do you want?”

“First, this is just an illusory realm—it doesn’t really exist. Second, I saved you,” the man in black said seriously.

“You saved me?”

“Yeah. Do you remember taking the gene optimization serum and then passing out last night?”

Brian Carter rubbed his head. “I think so… but what does that have to do with you?”