The vast majority of people had already left the conference room.

On a long sofa to one side sat a man who looked to be in his early fifties.

The man looked tired.

But this was of no concern to the person next to him.

"Calling you over so abruptly was a last resort," the man said with a wry smile. He was the host of the meeting, and the current Minister of the Night Watch Executive Department. "Although I am the Minister in name, all decisions must be approved by the Council of Elders."

Gong Zhe picked up the teacup in front of him and took a small sip. "Even if you didn't notify me, as long as I knew, I would have come."

"You're the only one who can deal with those old geezers." The man leaned back against the sofa, holding a cup of warm tea. "But speaking of them, seeing them sometimes gives me nightmares at night. Some of them have lived three times my age and still aren't dead. Looking at them for too long…" He paused, his tone suddenly becoming serious, "It's like they crawled out of hell."

"We're all the same," Gong Zhe said calmly. "We won't die of old age, only be eroded little by little by the curse, turning into the people we hate the most."

"Like you said just now, to kill a devil, you must first become a devil."

The man exhaled and looked at Gong Zhe with a solemn expression. They had known each other for a long time and were considered to be among the few friends in the Night Watch. "If only you hadn't left back then, this position should have been yours." His tone was full of emotion.

"That incident 20 years ago…"

"Don't say it," Gong Zhe interrupted immediately, a hint of displeasure on his face.

The man realized that he had been lost in memories of the past and had not come out of it for a while. Only now did he realize that he had said something he should not have said.

He had mentioned his old friend's heartbreak.

"Right." The man changed the subject. "How will you explain using the ring this time to the Xia family? Xia Yuan, he…"

Hearing this, Gong Zhe turned his head, his gaze towards the man filled with a strange look that the latter could not decipher. "No explanation needed," he said. "This is the Xia family's decision."

"But not Xia Yuan's, it's the Xia family's young lady, Xia Meng's intention." Seeming to recall the girl's instructions when she handed him the ring, Gong Zhe slowly straightened up, his expression solemn. "She said that this decision must not be implemented. If it is, what difference would there be between us and Crimson?"

"We will never betray those comrades who shed their blood for us. There's no room for discussion."

"What if this decision is passed?" the man asked. After all, the Xia family only had one vote, and even with himself, there were only two votes.

They had no ability to secure victory.

Variables were likely to occur.

And what would happen once variables appeared?

The man suddenly became curious about this question, just like he was about that willful girl in his memory. The last time he saw her was 10 years ago.

He instinctively felt that there would be some unexpected answers waiting for him.

Hearing this, the man called Gong Zhe suddenly smiled. He slowly put down the water glass, then looked into his old friend's eyes, and after a long while, suddenly said, "Then we may have to consider new allies."

The man was stunned at first, and then his expression slowly changed, eventually revealing a hint of coldness.

...

Night fell, and the rain outside was still pattering down.

Gong Zhe walked alone with a black umbrella towards the outdoor parking lot.

A black car was parked in a remote spot above.

It wasn't a luxury car.

The appearance was very low-key.

But the performance was quite powerful. The money spent on modifications should be enough to buy a brand new luxury car. He was used to walking to the passenger seat.

The driver was waiting for him in the car.

He opened the car door, glanced at the driver, then shifted his gaze to the rearview mirror.

The driver was looking straight ahead, not moving at all.

His eyes… were closed.

A figure slowly sat up in the back seat.

It was a young man wearing a long black trench coat, soaked to the bone, the hem of the trench coat constantly dripping water.

This was the Night Watch's trench coat, but it looked very disheveled at the moment.

Strands of hair, scattered and wet with rain, stuck to his face, slightly obscuring the young man's eyes.

But even more eye-catching than these things were the young man's firm face, and the sharp brow at the corner of his eye.

"How is it?" the young man asked, his tone suppressed, as if he really wanted to know something.

"Crack—"

A burst of fire erupted from the passenger seat, illuminating a face with a scar on its jaw.

The features were as three-dimensional as if they had been carved with a knife, especially the eyes hidden in the darkness, sharp as a blade aimed at the brow.

Gong Zhe struck an old-fashioned long match and lit the cigarette in his lips.

He took a deep drag of the cigarette, then casually threw away the extinguished match. The sound of the tobacco burning violently was even clearer in the small space.

Seeing Gong Zhe like this, although the young man was anxious, he did not urge him.

He knew that the other party was not a man of broken promises.

He had agreed to his request, and his reward would certainly satisfy him.

"Did you catch the person?" Gong Zhe asked.

"Caught him," An Xuan replied. "I intercepted him on the road you mentioned. There was no conflict. As you said, he was not harmed in any way."

"Did anyone see?"

"No, the rain was heavy, the rain screen covered everything, the sound, and the line of sight." After a moment, An Xuan continued to ask, "What about what I want?"

His voice was very low, like a growl.

"The squad sent to snipe Number 4 was taken care of. There was only one survivor, named Wan Yuanning, Rank A. The serial number has been removed from the archives by the Executive Department."

"Oh, she's not dead. Crimson didn't kill her, but took her out of the gate."

"Took her out of the gate…" An Xuan frowned and asked, "What about Number 4? How is he?"

"He was severely injured by Wan Yuanning, who forcibly unlocked the seal. The gate in his body was almost destroyed, leaving him with only half a life."

Speaking of this, Gong Zhe looked at An Xuan in the back seat with interest. From this young man, he smelled a familiar scent.

An Xuan subconsciously pulled down his trench coat cuffs, covering his hand.

"Unless absolutely necessary, I advise you not to forcibly open the gate on your body. That is power from a devil. After borrowing it…" He paused, "There is a price to pay."

An Xuan's expression changed as his thoughts were exposed.

"Don't be nervous." Gong Zhe lowered the car window, put his hand out of the window, and tapped the cigarette butt. "I'm not interested in the gate in your body, otherwise you wouldn't be alive now."

An Xuan knew that what the other party said was true, so he simply let go. "Something on you attracts me." He paused and said truthfully, "I mean… the gate on you."