Chapter 57: Loyalty: 20

Ying Duo reinstalled the reassembled colored lanterns, securing them and connecting the power.

"Buzz!"

A beam of indescribably brilliant light, with a strange dazzling quality, suddenly erupted.

It was no longer the chaotic color patches of before, but a flowing aurora‑like spectrum band, with clear layers, natural and soft color transitions, yet bearing the distinctive brilliance of luminous energy.

The light spots slowly rotated and morphed on the walls and ceiling, pulsing faintly with the music's rhythm, rendering the entire bar like a dreamy alternate dimension.

"Wow—!!!"

After a brief silence came a deafening, awe‑filled, ecstatic cheer!

"Miracle! Another miracle!"

"His Holiness, the Holy Son, can even transmute light!"

"This radiance... it's too beautiful! Is this the 'Entropy Light'?"

"I seem to have grasped the true essence of chaos!!"

Cai Mao, moved to tears, bowed again before Ying Duo in reverence.

"His Holiness, the Holy Son! You truly are the beacon sent by Heaven to guide us! My Entropy Light Secret Cult will surely flourish!"

Ying Duo watched the increasingly fervent scene, noted the system prompt 【"Brilliant Color Glory" (Entropy Light Secret Cult) Reputation: Worship (max)】, and glanced at his 【Modification】 skill proficiency, which had just ticked up from the successful retrofit.

He silently took a sip of the cloyingly sweet "Holy Drink".

【You consumed the Holy Drink (non‑alcoholic version), successfully unlocking the "Holy Drink" recipe.】

These NPCs...

are completely beyond saving.

Never mind, the player will tolerate these artificial idiots.

After agreeing to join the organization now called "Entropy Light Secret Cult," Ying Duo noticed a new 【Guild】 option automatically appearing on his game interface.

He clicked it out of curiosity; the interface was clean and clear, showing the guild name, influence (currently limited to District 8's bar), member list, and other details.

As he had "reformed," the guild name had indeed changed to "Entropy Light Secret Cult."

However, his role was 【Administrator】, while the Guild Master title remained firmly attached to Cai Mao's (real name Cai Mao) ID.

Ying Duo originally didn't mind, after all he couldn't develop an organization here; even his agreement to join was merely a spur‑of‑the‑moment, poverty‑driven decision.

Since he hadn't needed money before, he paid no heed until Cai Mao mentioned it, prompting him to check.

The result: he only had a pitiful few dozen coins on him.

Putting those sad facts aside, Ying Duo's gaze casually swept the member list and landed on the detailed info of Guild Master "Cai Mao".

Most of the info was ordinary: low level, average combat power, no Aberrant Arts awakened...

But when his eyes fell on the 【Loyalty】 column at the bottom, his hollow golden eyes froze for a moment.

【Loyalty: 20】

A bright red, pitifully low number.

Yang Yixie snapped to clarity.

The NPCs' absurd storyline and the chaotic scene made him join the bunch of NPCs in madness without any sense of incongruity.

Ying Duo's face remained unchanged, as if he noticed nothing.

He naturally lifted the "Holy Drink," sipping it in small mouthfuls, seamlessly blending into the surrounding raucous revelry like a young man relaxed by the atmosphere.

Sure enough, shortly after, Cai Mao approached with a wine glass, his face beaming with enthusiastic smiles, casually beginning to probe.

"His Holiness, the Holy Son, you are clearly not of this world! Where do you usually hold a position? To have produced someone like you must be extraordinary!"

Ying Duo lifted his golden eyes, looked at him calmly, and answered directly in his unruffled tone.

"Mitra Academy."

"M-Mitra Academy?!"

Cai Mao's smile stiffened for an instant, a flash of unmistakable shock and apprehension flickering in his pupils; he forced a dry laugh twice and hurriedly flattered.

"Ah! So it truly is the top academy! No wonder His Holiness, the Holy Son, is... uh, brilliant and mighty, with extraordinary bearing!"

Mitra Academy?! This kid is actually from Mitra Academy?!

Cai Mao's heart instantly roiled with a storm of surprise.

Trouble... it's actually someone from the academy; those people each have very complicated backgrounds, and they're famously protective of their own.

I originally planned to trick a somewhat capable wild Special Ability Practitioner into being a gunman; how did I end up with an academy recruit? If this blows up and the academy investigates, my frail body can't take the heat...

Cai Mao subconsciously frowned, though he quickly relaxed; that momentary awkwardness was still caught by Ying Duo.

Cai Mao forced his unease down, continued probing, his tone even more cautious.

"I heard... the academy should have started classes these past few days, right? Holy Son, how did you find the time to visit our little place?"

Ying Duo remained blunt, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself.

"If the Heresy Tribunal hadn't intervened, I would be at the academy right now."

"Heresy Tribunal?"

Cai Mao's voice nearly cracked, and the drink in his hand almost spilled.

For a moment, he felt he wasn't recruiting underlings but dancing on the tip of a knife.

Both the academy and the tribunal—this "Holy Son" has a background a hundred times more dangerous than he imagined.

He originally thought the lunatic just glanced in and left, assuming it was a mistake, but now this kid truly has ties to the Heresy Tribunal?

Cai Mao forced a dry laugh, dared not probe further, could only vaguely flatter a few more times, then excused himself to attend to other brothers and hurried away.

In the shadow of an abandoned building opposite the "Psychedelic Vortex" bar, a pair of black eyes stared coldly at the chaotic revelry inside the bar.

Chi Jinan, who came and went, had not fully set aside his doubts.

He always felt that those golden eyes, and that faint, odd aura, were truly unsettling.

Chi Jinan concealed his breath, hiding in the shadows, like a predator in the dark night, carefully Observation Key.

The youth sporting a head of Ying Guang Lu, holding a cup of strange drink, seemed no different from the surrounding gangsters with multicolored hair and exaggerated behavior, perfectly blending into this chaotic, degenerate environment.

He saw Cai Mao Ge step forward to talk, and the two seemed very familiar with each other.

Aside from eye color, the two share no other similarities; their strength differs by orders of magnitude.

"Is it really just a coincidence......?"

Chi Jinan muttered softly, and the last trace of doubt vanished.

That attacker may have used some special means to disguise or temporarily boost himself, but his true form could never be that weak.

He confirmed once more that there were no other powerful energy reactions in the bar, then did not linger.

His figure, like a melting wax statue, vanished silently into the dense night, truly leaving this area.

Inside the bar, Ying Duo raised his eyes as if sensing something, glanced at the pitch‑black night sky outside the window, then lowered his head again, watching the kaleidoscopic liquid in his cup.

His golden eyes, illuminated by the shifting "entropy light", reflected a cold, inorganic sheen.