"Did you hear my conversation with Felix?"
Upon hearing Cipher say "stronger mercenaries," Shen thought of his conversation with Felix yesterday.
Combining that with her almost undetectable invisibility, he deduced that Cipher had been listening to their conversation since yesterday.
"Mm-hmm, that's right."
Cipher nodded, indicating that Shen's guess was correct.
"You posting a commission about me is one thing, but you also sold our team's commission to that guy named Felix, which led to us being attacked."
"The trauma your actions caused us can't be compensated for by just 100,000 credit points. So, like the Reverse Current Alliance, I've come to 'demand an explanation' from you."
Saying this, Cipher took out a wisp of aura and placed it on the table.
"100,000 credit points?!"
Upon hearing this phrase, Boss Shen's expression changed. He said, somewhat incredulously:
"The 100,000 credit points that mysteriously disappeared from my account—was that your doing?"
"You guessed right, but there's no reward. I was kind enough to only take 100,000, but now... I'll have to take all of your remaining 240,000 as well~"
The more displeased Shen looked, the happier Cipher smiled. She had no good feelings for this "Boss Shen" who posted a commission about her and sold information about the Spark Team.
Her current philosophy was: if others don't offend her, she might not necessarily offend them, but if they do offend her, she'll make sure they suffer terribly, meow!
"What are your conditions?"
After a moment of silence, Shen slowly spoke.
Hearing Shen's reply, Cipher thought for a moment, then asked something that made Shen a little restless.
"If the president of the Mercenary Association branch disappeared for a while, it shouldn't have much impact, right?"
"You want to kill me? First, even though I can't detect you, it doesn't mean I'm a lamb to the slaughter. Plus, the Mercenary Association headquarters would investigate the cause of my death."
Shen could no longer maintain his composure.
The shadows around him began to writhe, and blood-red light emanated from the eye-like parts of the shadows' heads, seemingly trying to make Cipher abandon the idea.
"Hey, hey, Boss Shen, don't get so agitated."
Seeing Shen in front of her hiss like a startled animal, Cipher calmly tried to soothe him.
"I mean, disappear for a while, not disappear forever. You just need to be a good guest at my friend's house."
Then, Cipher changed her tone and said again:
"Besides, if I really wanted your life, you truly would be... a lamb to the slaughter for me."
At this, she picked up the glass bottle from the table, then slowly opened the lid under Shen's wary gaze.
In an instant, a terrifying sensation emanated from the bottle, quickly spreading throughout the entire Mercenary Association.
It was the feeling of death.
And Shen, being the closest, felt as if his heart was firmly gripped by a cold, terrifying claw the moment the bottle opened, followed by bone-chilling coldness accompanied by tearing pain.
This excruciating pain instantly spread from his heart to all his limbs and bones, and his blood vessels seemed to be forcibly frozen by the extreme cold, stopping their flow.
Shen could no longer support himself. He clutched his heart, trembling as he knelt on the ground, large beads of sweat rapidly seeping from his forehead and sliding down his cheeks.
He felt as if he had entered a Near death state the moment the bottle was opened.
"Eh? Why does he look so much in pain?"
Looking at the agonizing Shen, Cipher frowned.
She looked at the wisp of purple aura in the bottle in her hand and muttered to herself, somewhat strangely:
"That shouldn't be right. According to the Reclusive Princess's ability, shouldn't it allow people to peacefully enter death? This is anything but peaceful."
"Besides, Claire and I were about the same distance from it before as Shen is now, and Claire didn't seem to be in that much pain, did she?"
Scratching her head, Cipher couldn't figure it out for a moment, but seeing Shen looking somewhat dead already, she quickly capped the bottle.
She just wanted to scare him, not kill him.
After the bottle was capped, Shen felt much better, but still couldn't stand up. He remained kneeling on the ground, supporting himself with his hands, constantly gasping for breath.
"How about it, Boss Shen? What's the difference between you and a lamb to the slaughter when facing such an aura?"
Watching Shen kneeling on the ground, Cipher slowly tossed the glass bottle in her hand, asking him.
After more than a minute of silence, Shen finally stopped gasping.
He looked up at the glass bottle being continuously tossed up and down by Cipher, and asked with difficulty:
"Why... are you completely unaffected...?"
He could sense that the deathly sensation emanating from this aura was spreading indiscriminately, not just targeting him.
But why... even though Cipher was the closest, he couldn't see any fear in her.
Hearing this question, Cipher showed a smile and was very willing to explain to him that she was immune to any instant-death curses.
The more people who believed, the more likely her lie would become true. She even hoped that everyone who encountered this aura in the future would ask her the same question.
"Have you thought about it? Are you going to challenge yourself again to see if you can resist this feeling of death, or will you obediently come with me?"
After explaining, Cipher returned to the main topic, asking for his choice again.
After a moment of silence, Shen slowly nodded.
"...I'll go with you."
Under this power, even standing up was a luxury, let alone resisting.
"That's right then, come on."
Seeing Shen agree, Cipher put the wisp of aura away, then turned and walked out of the room.
However, before Shen could stand up and follow, Cipher popped her head back through the doorway and added:
"Don't even think about running, because I already planted a mark on you when you weren't aware. No matter how far you run, I'll find you."
"Once I find you, as punishment, I'll make you experience that near-death feeling again."
"...I won't."
"Alright then, I'll wait for you downstairs at the entrance of the Mercenary Association."
With that, Cipher left the room again.