"Why?"

In an instant, Luobing's mind was filled with negative thoughts.

"Could it be that my father has been kidnapped?"

"No, it's much worse than that."

"What exactly happened?"

"This is just my personal speculation, and it's possible that I'm being overly suspicious, but I feel that something is off with Luo Qingyuan's state. The person who called me just now... wasn't Luo Qingyuan."

"What's off? It seemed normal to me," Luobing thought Xu Fang was being too suspicious.

As Lu Qingyuan's son, Luobing naturally knew his father well. The tone and voice during the call with Xu Fang were familiar to him. If someone were impersonating Lu Qingyuan, he would have noticed it immediately.

Although he thought that way, Luobing was still extremely worried. He instinctively avoided the worst-case scenario. Fortunately, Xu Fang didn't sound very certain, which gave him a glimmer of hope.

"Is there a young woman named 'Li Xin' around Lu Qingyuan?"

"I don't remember, what does she look like?"

No matter how vivid the description, it's still difficult to portray a person's specific appearance in words. Xu Fang took out a piece of paper he carried with him and created a portrait using energy burning.

Although it was only in black, white, and gray, it looked as real as a photograph.

Taking the paper handed to him by Xu Fang, Luobing stared at the person on it for a long time before shaking his head.

"I haven't seen her before. Should we ask someone to search online?"

"Forget it, it would raise suspicions. Destroying the phone was already risky enough."

Luobing was greatly puzzled and pointed at the broken phone fragments on the ground. "I haven't asked about this yet. Why did we destroy the phone just now?"

"Because I didn't want the spirits to hear our conversation."

"You mean that thing can monitor us through the phone?"

"Yes, and it can possibly move back and forth through the phone's electromagnetic waves."

"What should we do now? Should we stay away from our phones?"

"We can't do that. Besides phones, any item that can transmit signals will become a tool for the spirits to monitor us. As long as we don't disconnect from human society, we can't completely avoid the spirits' surveillance."

"Is it really that terrifying?"

Following his words, Luobing pondered on a strategy. Soon, he realized that he had walked into a dead end: in order to eliminate the spirits and ensure Lu Qingyuan's safety, they would have to go to the United St(No, Gu Xi has a fifty percent chance of being the author, and calling herself a "magical girl" is just a disguise. So... why did the author ask about Li Xin? Did they exchange information, or did they already know each other?)

"Guste, the plan has changed." Joseph sat up straight again and spoke sternly.

"You may proceed," Guste said.

Lu Qingyuan - no, he should be called Guste - took a sip of the red wine in front of him, his expression somewhat frightening.

"First, Lu Qingyuan's shares don't need to be transferred to me through other channels. I won't take a single share. Second, we need to immediately dispose of Lu Qingyuan's body and eliminate all related evidence. And the last point, which is for you, give up on seeking revenge against the Lu family. Of course, our collaboration will continue, but the conditions will change."

"Hehehe, hahaha..." Guste seemed to have heard a very funny joke and laughed, "Are you serious? are you scared?"

"Do you remember that woman named 'Li Xin'?"

"I don't remember, you've mentioned her several times, only you know if she's real or fictional."

"But it was you who begged me to kill her back then, and now you've forgotten."

Joseph stared at him, "This world is made up of countless parallel universes, and there are countless different versions of you in those parallel spaces, but there is only one 'author,' the one who is anchored to the countless dimensions. No matter how the surrounding space changes, the 'author' remains the same. So I can retain memories of Li Xin, and you will forget."

"I won't listen to this kind of explanation. It doesn't make any sense to me." Guste pointed at Joseph's nose, "Instead of that, it's better to make me an 'author' as soon as possible. I want to see what that website is all about."

"It's not up to me to decide."

"Alright, my partner. Let's get back to business. What were you trying to convey by mentioning Li Xin?"

"In the circle of authors, there is a written rule that prohibits political involvement. We will not take sides with any country, and therefore no government will stand with us. The reason I killed Li Xin, besides wanting to continue our collaboration, is because she became aware of my existence. I couldn't let her provide any information to the ICPO, so I eradicated her presence."

"I am a cautious person. I don't like taking risks, even if it's just dealing with ordinary people in the secular world. I always have to be prepared."

"You humans are a group of timid and cowardly creatures."

"The 'author' does not belong to the 'human' category."

"There's no difference, your souls are fragile, and to me, you are just a group of slightly troublesome humans." Guste manipulated Lu Qingyuan's body and his voice became hoarse, "I've done experiments before, and my abilities can also affect you authors - not just limited to other creatures on Earth. I am your natural enemy."

Joseph remained silent, waiting for Guste to continue.

"In fact, I am very interested in that little girl with the monstrous appearance. She has powers beyond humans and astonishing attack methods. Ah, she would be an excellent experimental subject!"

"I advise you not to provoke her. Perhaps our abilities are not enough to confront her."

"Coward. What about your association? Can't you ask for help from them?"

"I am only collaborating with you in my personal capacity. If the association finds out about your existence, the terms of our collaboration won't be as favorable."

"Have you found Lu Xiaoming yet? I want to kill her."

"Not yet, but she definitely hasn't left Boston. Give up, Guste. Don't underestimate any 'author.' Leave before that 'author' arrives. If you really want to retaliate against the Lu family, wait until she leaves and find an opportunity then."

"Don't you want to get rid of her?" Guste asked, "I remember you said that killing an author can bring generous rewards. Now that we have joined forces, using your tools and my special abilities, we can find an opportunity to directly eliminate her! What do you think?"

Joseph shook his head, "Guste, 'authors' are not as simple as you imagine. Like you, they also have the ability to communicate with other worlds. They may also possess powerful tools that we have never seen before. It would be very unwise to attack without knowing their true capabilities."

"In the end, you think the risks outweigh the rewards, so you're backing down? Heh... you humans..."Gesite slammed his wine glass heavily on the table, spilling red wine all over. He leaned in close to the blond man and said, "Are you going to help me or not? If you don't, our cooperation ends here. I have no interest in dealing with a coward."

Josiah rubbed his forehead, regretting lending "the seed of destruction" to Gesite.

Gesite was the first "outsider" he had encountered, and only by working with Gesite did he have a better chance of understanding the bizarre events. And as long as he could control Gesite, he had a trump card that no tool could replace.

Gesite was astute, but held grudges and had a self-centered nature. Although it was the nemesis of intelligent beings, it still had weaknesses.

For example, human nuclear weapons could easily kill it...

"Okay, let's discuss a strategy." Josiah compromised with Gesite.

Gesite seemed to anticipate that he would say that and grinned, "Partner, don't worry, I'm not a fool. I also understand the importance of information. Get information from your magical website, what are our chances of winning? What are her weaknesses?"

"No need to ask, unless we go against Guxi, our chances of winning will always be 50%. She won't provide any information that benefits me," Josiah replied.

"Just a fair judge," Gesite sneered.

"But our advantage is clear, she is in the light, and we are in the dark. Guxi doesn't know that her identity has been discovered by us. Even if she realizes your existence, she will never expect there is an 'author' behind you."

"We have to kill her instantly, not giving her a chance to activate any life-saving props."

Not all authors have life-saving props, but since facing such an opponent, Josiah, as an author too, would carefully consider all possibilities.